Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews
chapter 11, and we'll read from our text verses 17 through to
19. Hebrews chapter 11, and reading from verse 17 to 19. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able
to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received
him in a figure Hebrews 11 and verses 17 to 19 and really though
the text speaks of Abraham and of Abraham's faith the subject
that I desire to bring before you this evening is Isaac another
one of the types in the Old Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ and as we said last Thursday regarding types they don't follow
through in every particular and certainly with Isaac He not only
is a type of Christ, but he is also a type of the Church as
well. And so we may see those different
aspects, but it is the way in which he is a type of Christ
that I desire to look at this evening. We have Abraham when
he was 75 years of age called by God to go out from Ur of the
Chaldees and to go into a place which God would tell him of and
after the death of his father-in-law, then he went into Canaan, departed
from Haran, and he was 75 at that time, some 2,000 years before
Christ. When he comes into that land,
the Lord is pleased to then first give him those promises of a
seed and promises that he would bless him and multiply his seed. We find that in the 12th chapter
of Genesis, where the Lord says in verse 2, And I will make of
thee a great nation, and will bless thee and make thy name
great and thou shalt be a blessing. And so there was that expectation
of the children and of a family that he would have. But then
when we read further on and we get through to chapter 15, then
again the Lord says to him and blesses him, Fear not Abram,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said,
Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And he says, the steward of my
house is this Elisa of Damascus. But the Lord said to him that
this shall not be thine heir, but that which should come out
of his own bowels. And we read of that encouragement
from the Lord at that time but then he was still to wait and
we find that 11 years after he came out of Haran then he took
things into his own hand and took Hagar his servant and Sarah's
maid and had a child by her which was Ishmael and then The Lord again said that that
should not be his heir. The heir was to be one that was
promised and so then it was not until Abraham was 100 years old
that Isaac was born. From that first promise to when
he was born was 25 years that he had to wait and we cannot
really blame Abraham for putting his hand unto the matter and
though it was Sarah's suggestion but to go along with that and
yet it only did cause sorrow and yet in God's hand there was
a type even in that which we notice a little later but then
Isaac then was born and so it is with the view of what we have
in the picture of Isaac that I want to look with the Lord's
help this evening at these types of our Lord Jesus Christ And
I want to divide it up into three sections, firstly to look at
the types of Christ as seen in Isaac himself as a person, Isaac. And then secondly the types of
Christ seen in the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, that which we
read together in Genesis chapter 22. And then lastly the type
of Christ as seen in Isaac taking a bride, remembering of course
that Christ is set forth as a bridegroom and the church his bride. So the Lord help us then firstly
to look at Isaac himself We find that Isaac was given
in Genesis 17 and verse 19 a name before that he was born Abraham had said unto God, O
that Ishmael might live before thee. But God said, Sarah thy
wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his name
Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting
covenant and his seed after him. And so he was given the name
of Isaac before he was born, And we find that that is, again,
what our Lord Jesus Christ was given. Right through the Old
Testament, in all of the types and shadows, and when the Lord
appeared to Menorah and his wife, when he appeared to Jacob, when
he appeared to Gideon, Nefer was, even though they inquired
after his name, Nefer was a name given. Many names, of course,
are given in Isaiah as wonderful counsellor, the Eternal Father,
the Prince of Peace, but never the name of Jesus. And yet when we open to the New
Testament, we find the declaration, Thou shalt call His name Jesus. for he shall save his people
from their sins. And the significance of that
name that was kept silent right through the Scriptures, only
known as Immanuel God with us, and yet when we read in Philippians
that thou hast given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and there's great
significance in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
and when we think here of Abraham and the expectation of the birth
of his son and we think of again later on where the Lord appeared
to Abraham again in the angels that met with him before they
went on to Sodom, and the Lord saying, is anything too hard
for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will
return unto thee. And we find right at the beginning
of the opening up of the Gospel, the promises of the Lord Jesus
Christ after the flood in Abraham, we find this asking, is there
anything too hard for the Lord? When the Lord, when the angel
appears to Mary and tells Mary of the birth of her son or the
conception of her son, then it is for with God nothing shall
be impossible." And it's as if we go from the very beginning
with Abraham and then the coming of our Lord, on one hand there
is that nothing shall be, is there anything too hard, and
then on the other hand with God nothing is impossible. And yet
you see Abraham had to prove this, he had to wait wait for
the birth of this son and then the son was named and told and
given a name and then within a year or so of this he was born
so he would be reminded in Isaac we look to that blessed name
given to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and when a name
is given then there's that expectation and you know with Isaac I believe
it means laughter and joy and there is a tying in as it were
with that because with Sarah, when she heard in the tent that
God was promising again this child, she laughed. And later
on, when she had Isaac born, she said, that has caused me
to laugh. And it was a joy, a joy to her. And I often think of in the Hebrews
there where Abraham's faith is commended and Sarah's and yet
when you compare the actual accounts you see there's aspects where
there was unbelief and yet they were still given a place amongst
those worthies that by faith. One of our hymns says this, dream
not of faith so clear as shuts all doubtings out, and the Lord
knows for he has given to his dear people faith. Well here is then the type of
our Lord, a name, But then there is a promised seed. This was not like Ishmael that
he was born through not a miracle but through in a natural way. With Abraham it was how could
he father a child or how could Sarah bear a child when they
were very old. But the emphasis is that what
mattered was that it was through promise. It was that which was
promised by God. And Paul, he takes this up in
the Galatians and he compares the two of Abraham's sons, the
one that was born by taking matters into his own hands as answering
to Sinai or to the law after the works of the flesh, And then
comparing Isaac to the seed of promise, which is the gospel,
which is the new covenant in Jesus' precious blood, and he
says then that these things are an allegory, they are a type,
and we are to be led from Sinai, from the works of the law, from
the works of the flesh, to that which is impossible to man, but
not impossible with God, and is to that which God has promised,
even eternal life and those blessings in the covenant, is the comparison
between law and grace and you can read that in Galatians in
chapters 3 and also chapter 4 especially chapter 4 in the comparisons
there and so we would in Isaac and then comparing with his stepbrother
with Ishmael see those gospel truths, truths which many of
the people of God learn by experience when they, like Abraham first,
in their desire of salvation, in their longing and desire to
be saved, will turn to the law. Bunyan, he portrays that Mr. Worldly Wise Man, he directed
his Christian to go to Mount Sinai and as he went there then
in Pilgrim's Progress it pictures the mountain all on a smoke and
the great fear and trembling that he had as he was under that
mount and lore and terrors the hymn writer says do but they
terrify, they When they work alone they don't work for good,
but with the gospel that brings peace and life. By the works
of the law no man living shall be justified. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. And by the law is the knowledge
of sin. It was never ever meant to give
new life. It was never to be the remedy,
but it shows forth the malady. And Christ is raised up, given
the name of Jesus to save his people from their sins. And Paul
says that the law is our schoolmaster unto Christ. We are directed
unto Christ. But what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son,
and in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. Then we have another type set
forth in the words of our text where we read that he offered
up his only begotten son. He that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son. With Isaac he held this
position that he was an only son. The only son of promise. It wasn't as if this one could
be slain and then there was another one that he could take. This
was the one begotten. This was the one in his image. This was the seed. This was the
line. and the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the only begotten Son of the Father. And when you think of
that word begotten, with Adam, he begat a son in his own image. In other words, the fallen sons
of Adam. But when we think of God begetting
His Son, it is another evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the eternal God. He is God himself. I and my Father
are one. If you've seen me, you've seen
the Father also. The Lord Jesus Christ to be worshipped
as God. For in the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This is
the true God says John in his fifth chapter in that first epistle
and eternal life and the Lord Jesus Christ then is that great
anti-type with Isaac the only begotten son and we're pointed
again to our Lord Jesus Christ in that position and then we
have the love that the Father had to the Son, and this is emphasised
by God very much, especially in the context of the offering
that was to be made, that He offered up the one that He loved,
whom He loved, and that is really emphasised, and right through
the New Testament is emphasised the love of the Father, greater
love, The Lord said, hath no man this, than a man lay down
his life for his friends. But the Father loveth the Son,
and he hath given all things into his hands. And that love
that is between the Father and the Son, we can hardly measure
what that can be. The source of all love is in
God. God is love, and they that are
begotten of God also begotten in love. And our Lord says of
his people, the Father himself loveth you. And so with Isaac,
with what is so emphasised in the context of the sacrifice,
was the love. And we might think, how could
it be that Abraham could do that with his son? And we think how
could it be that God would do that to his beloved son? And
the mysteries of that love that God has for his people that would
not withhold his only begotten son. And when we can look past
Abraham, when we can hear what God is saying to him, and saying
to him of that love that he had unto his son and that he had
not withheld him, that he had offered him up. He says, By myself
have I sworn saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing
and hast not withheld thy son thine, only son and it is the
son that he truly loved and so we have in Isaac himself in that
relationship to his father in his birth in his name in who
he is a type of our Lord and in these points I decided to
bring before you tonight is separating the person and the work and the
thing that was done. We need to do that with our Lord
Jesus Christ. We have the work that he accomplished
upon the earth, the righteousness that he wrought out and the sacrifice
at Calvary, but we have his person and we don't worship the work,
we worship the person, we worship the God. We bless Him for His
work, but the dear disciples, they loved Him. And if we have
loved ones, then we may be very thankful for what they can do
for us and the blessings that they give us. But really what
is the important thing is we love them for who they are. We love their persons. and we
look upon them, we see their face, we see them and this is
what I desire to see with seeing Isaac and we look past Isaac
and we see our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and we see the love
that his Father had to him and that he has to his dear people. So may we then look from the
person of our Lord and from the person of Isaac and now through
the times is seen as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. I want to just mention firstly
the actual place. We said that it was 2,000 years
before Christ that this took place. 1,000 years after this
would mean the time of King David. And when David then numbered
the people at the end of his life, a couple of years before
he died, then it was in this very same place. that after the
plague he went up and that he raised up an altar in the threshing
floor of Arona, the Jebusite, which was here. And it was here
then that the temple was built, the first and the second one,
and then not far from here, outside of Jerusalem's gate, that our
Lord suffered. And so we think of that spot
of ground, as it were, and over those 2,000 years, what significance
and what pointing, what things happened there. But the first thing then that
I'd say is regarding the sacrifice here. We find that Isaac is at
one with his father's will in going on this journey and going
up the mountain. They went on together. Of course,
he has the searching question to his father, my father, the
fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? There's a wonderful answer of
faith that Abraham says forth, my son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. Of course, we look past Isaac,
we look to our Lord, we look to what Abraham did when our
Lord said, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced at it. Saw Christ's
day. And yet we see in all that happened
there on the mount, there is not a protest recorded by Isaac
at all. he goes along with his father
to be bound to be laid upon the altar is a complete oneness and
we marvel at that in a natural level but if Abraham was commended
for faith we view that same faith same trust with Isaac and We
think of our Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but Thy will be done. The willingness of the
Lord to receive the people, Thine they were, Thou gavest them me. And yet they were a people that
were lost and ruined by the fall, and that had to be redeemed.
And He knew the cost when He accepted them, when He received
them at His Father's hand. he received them knowing what
it would cost him and the willingness in coming to
this earth all of the types, all of the shadows, all of those
years they pointed to the coming of the Lord and that time came
and we find him so willing in the volume of the book it is
written of me and he comes to do thy will O God! He bids us pray in like manner,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we see then
with Isaac that type of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his willingness
to save, in his willingness to suffer, God commendeth his love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us,
that willingness to lay down his life for his sheep and to
take it again. We find as well that Isaac carried
the wood for the offering, and our Lord Jesus Christ must also
bear his cross and carry that cross upon which he was to be
offered at Calvary, the great antitype, that which fulfilled
all of the types of all of the sacrifices, and our Lord was
to be placed upon the wood, the accursed tree. Accursed is every
one that hangeth upon a tree. And so again we have a type of
our Lord Jesus Christ there. We find as well the emphasis
in Genesis 22 that Isaac was to be offered and the very charge
that was given to Abraham was to take thine only son, whom
thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer
him there, offer him there. Our Lord Jesus Christ was offered
and a free will offering. We read in our text that he that
had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son. A most blessed offering unto
God. You know the Jews in all of the ceremonial
law had many, many offerings, things that they were to bring
before God and bring as a sweet savour, sweet savour of Christ. Christ was an offering, acceptable
unto God, offered up, spotless and pure, like the sacrifices
must, needs be. And so, again, Isaac was at that
time offered unto God. We find also that it was a burnt
offering And that is emphasized several
times in this passage as well, not just with the fire and the
wood as well, but it was to be, as in verse 2, offer him therefore
a burnt offering from one of the mountains. It was to be an
offering of which it should be consumed with fire or burned
with fire and so the apostle when he writes to the Ephesians
and he says to them in the fifth chapter is a exhortation to walk
in love as Christ also had loved us and hath given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour."
And that offering unto God is a burnt offering he gave himself
and offered himself. In all of the offerings of the
Old Testament it was a burnt offering. We have a little type
of what the Lord was to suffer of the wrath of God against sin. Often think of that upon Mount
Carmel when the children of Israel had sinned, and Elijah brought
them there to make trial between Baal and the true and living
God, the God that answered by fire, that he was the true God. And it was in answer to Elijah's
prayer that the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed
not only what was on the altar, but the offering, the wood, the
stones, licked up the dust that was in the trench, all the water,
consumed everything. And we get a little type of the
wrath of God and the vengeance against sin. And so it was with
Isaac that it was to be this burnt offering. May we look past
Isaac and we view the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Abraham received
Isaac in a figure. We read this in our text that
he was tried, he offered up Isaac, and he that received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able
to raise him up even from the dead. from whence also he received
him in a figure. Of course of the people of God,
the church of God, the substitutionary offering of God in the ram which
was held by its horns so as not to have its fleece torn and offered
up in the stead of his son. But the type with Isaac is that
our Lord Jesus Christ of course there was no substitute, there
was no other ram or lamb. He must endure the wrath of God. he must enter into death himself. Isaac was not called to die at
that time, nor was he raised up again from the dead. But as
Abraham by faith saw Christ's day, that's what he saw, that
the promised seed, or the great anti-time would actually do he
would rise again from the dead and so Isaac is a beautiful type
in that way as we view our Lord rising the empty tomb he has
risen again God giving assurance unto all men in that he has raised
him from the dead and so we look past Isaac But in seeing these
times, sometimes it's hard to grasp the love of a father, or
God the Father, but when we can bring it into one that we can
picture ourselves as a father, and as a son or a daughter or
a loved one, and enter into the path of Abraham, and then know
a little of the love of God the Father and also the willingness
of our Lord to suffer in this way and to walk in this path,
to go beyond His person and to look at His work, because it
is at Calvary that the Lord Jesus Christ put away the sins of all
His people. The Lord demanded the shedding
of blood, without the shedding of blood there is no remission. It must be that if sin put away,
that it must be punished, it must be atoned for. And so there was no substitute
turning away from Calvary. When they brought forth the swords
in the garden, the Lord said, Thinkest thou not that I may
pray my Father, ye presently give me twelve legions of angels? But how then? Should the Scriptures
be fulfilled? How would these types be fulfilled? But most importantly, how should
it be fulfilled that Christ should suffer, that sin should be put
away, and also that all of those like in this Hebrews 11 that
had died in faith, that their faith stood firm, and with God
he must fulfil, he must go through with all what he has promised,
and so he most certainly did, and we see this with Isaac, going
all the way, and the Lord intervening at the last, and Abraham receiving
him as from the dead. We view in our Lord Jesus Christ
the atoning provision of God for his people's sin at one moment,
a wrath-appeasing sacrifice, a sacrifice that quenched the
wrath of God, that reconciled God and man, that put away his
people's sin. And the Lord has said, I, if
I be lifted up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. and
it is in this sacrifice that we are to be drawn unto Him which
is another reason when we look at Abraham and look at Mount
Moriah then may we truly pray that the Lord would cause us
to look and help us look from that to Calvary. I want to then
look in the third phase of the type of Isaac as taking a bride. What would Christ be without
his church? What would a saviour be without
sinners to save? Where would be the line to Christ
if Isaac was not married and was not provided for? And so when we Read the account
in Genesis 24 of the obtaining of a wife for Isaac. It's a very
long chapter, a very detailed chapter. And again there are
beautiful times where we see Isaac as a type of the bridegroom
and Rebekah as the bride, Isaac as Christ, Rebekah as the church
or the individual members of that church later on in what
she bore. And so in thinking of that and
the Church of God as the bride of Christ The Lord has said regarding his
people, which are his church, individual members of it, that
no man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me
draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. And we find
the case with Isaac that when his servant comes, he's coming
with Rebekah, and in effect we have the church, we have his
bride being brought to Isaac and we look at those things that
happened to bring her to him but in the gospel that is what
happens the church is attracted and is drawn to Christ and brought
to Christ and of course in separable nature of the Trinity, them also
I must bring, but it is the Father that draws. And so we have that
tie with Isaac. Isaac is remaining there in Canaan,
in the promised land, and his bride is brought to him, not
the other way around. He is not to go to where his
bride is, but the bride is to go to him. and the church is
to go to Christ Christ is ascended up on high and we are to be brought
from this world and unto Christ let us go out unto him without
the gate bearing his reproach we are to be separated from this
world and separated unto Christ and so Isaac in that sense had
his bride brought to him. The church is brought to Christ
as a prepared church. We think also of how it was that there was the use of a servant
the servant it was that was sent to get the bride and we read
of all what the servant did and especially when he comes to the
well and when he is offering supplication and praise that
the people of the city might come out that there might be
this token for good that the woman that thou hast appointed
to be my master's son that when she was asked concerning water
that she'd be willing not just to give him water but to draw
for the camels also and he'd just done speaking when Rebecca
comes out and it is fulfilled exactly as he's asked. But what
I want to notice is that servant knew that there was one appointed
for his master. He wasn't going on an errand
thinking, well now it's up to me, I must find, is it this woman,
is it that woman, is that? No, he knew that in God's appointment
there was one and You know, in the ministry as the servants
of the Lord, we know that the Lord has his appointed people. We're not just running on an
errand and it's up to us to find them. Yes, we go, we pray, we
present our petitions, but the great knowledge is the kingdom
of God stand us sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his, and he seeks, he finds them out, And they have
found out through the gospel ministry, the servants don't
know them. This servant that went for a
wife for Isaac didn't know, but the Lord directed his way. And so he comes to that place
and these prayers, these petitions are answered in this way. and appointed one, a bride, for
his master's son. What was very evident with the
servant in all that he said, and remember he'd been sent back
to relatives of Abraham, and so in that sense and if we'd
have continued reading in chapter 22 of Genesis then we would have actually
seen that line there perhaps we should have read it because
then we read that and Bethuel begat Rebekah these eight milker
did bear to Nahor Abraham's brother So there is a relationship. He is sent back to his brethren
and our Lord truly is sent to his brethren and there's already
a relationship between Christ and his church. There are already
a people that have been loved with an everlasting love and
foreknown. And in that sense, there's a
type of Isaac and the Lord. And so the Lord went before and
Abraham's servant, he marveled at that again and again. I hope
those of us in the ministry and all of the people of God that
they really notice this, where the Lord goes before where prayer
is answered, the way is made, and we're directed to the place
where the Lord's people are, and come where they are, and
in their ministry too. We come where they are, in their
soul troubles, in their tribulations, in their sorrows, in their needs.
and the Word speaks to them. My Word shall not be returned
unto thee void, it shall accomplish the thing whereto I sent it. And so in the gathering of the
Church of God, the Bride of Christ, there's seen much of those same
Beautiful providences. You know, when Bethuel, when
Laban heard from the servant what had happened, they said,
the thing proceedeth from the Lord. Can you say that? Some
providence tonight, the Lord's blessing, the Lord's helps in
this last week, answers to prayer, the thing proceedeth from the
Lord. If you traced it back, You might
say it's just a providential thing. We'd go to Abraham's servant
and say it's just a providential thing. You went to the well,
you prayed, Rebekah came, and your prayer was answered. You're
brought to Rebekah in her household, and then you bring her back to
Isaac. It's all providence. But that's
not how they viewed it. They viewed it as the Lord going
before. and the Lord answering prayers,
and the thing proceeded from the Lord. That's the most wonderful
thing, isn't it? Has things this week proceeded
from the Lord? And you've acknowledged that,
you've felt that, and you see the Lord's hand in it. Well,
this is the bride of Christ being brought to Christ, and in this
beautiful type here with Rebecca and with Isaac. And so she was
made willing. Are we willing? Are we willing
to follow the Lord's servants as they point to Christ? To follow
Him? To go with Him? To be with Him? To be with Him for time and eternity? It's a blessed thing to be made
willing. My people shall be willing in
the day of my power. Dear Rebecca, she says, I will
go. I will go. You know, later on,
when Rebecca had the children, and of course they didn't have
scans in those days, you didn't know, and the children, they
struggled in her womb, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? If this is the promised seed,
if God is with me, why all this commotion inside me? And we read
that God told her that there are two nations in thy womb,
the elder shall serve the younger, and of course when they are born
then there is the twins there is Jacob and Esau and we get
a little picture of the church of God or the people of God and
they've got the old nature within them they've got the new nature
and the conflict between the two the struggles that go on
in the souls of the people of God do we know what that struggle
is? the old man struggles hard to
gain mastery yes over the new man of grace and the people of
God know what that is for dear Rebecca as a type she knew that
as well and no doubt with Isaac looking on feeling for her as
well the Lord knows the struggles of his church his people he loves
his bride he tends her cares for her and so in this I hope
that in looking at Isaac we've had some glimpses and to be able
to look past him and see the Lord and it might be like that
up on the mount they saw no man but Jesus only and we lose sight
of man And we see the great antitype and we see the Lord Jesus Christ
and worship Him and bow before Him. May the Lord add His blessing. Amen.