All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back with me to Genesis 22, Genesis chapter 22. The Lord has told Abraham, take your son, your only son
Isaac, son that you love, and you get
into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering." And Abraham understood, believed
God, and the scripture declares that he arose, verse 3, early
the next morning, and made all the preparations that needed
to be made to do that which the Lord had commanded him. He took Isaac, he took two young
men with him, an ass, a knife, the wood, the fire. He comes to the place where the
Lord shows him And he tells the two men, you stay here. The lad and I will go yonder
and we're gonna worship. We're gonna worship God and we're
going to come back to you. Now here we behold Abraham's
work of faith. 1 Thessalonians says, labor of
love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the
sight of God in our Father. What ultimately mattered to this
child of God, this son of God, this vessel of God's mercy was
the word and the will of the Lord. That was what mattered
to him. He loved Isaac. The Lord told
him he did. You take your son, your only
son, the one that thou lovest. He loved this boy. But God told
him to offer him for a burnt offering, and that's what he's
going to do. And the scripture says in verse 6, Abraham took
the wood of the burnt offering, laid it upon Isaac, his son,
He took the fire in his hand, a knife, and they went, both
of them, together. Now, the preciousness of that
verse of scripture right there is set forth in not only who
went up, what they brought, but how they went up. Who went up was Abraham and Isaac. That's what he told the young
man. The lad and I are going to go. And what they brought
up was he brought the wood for the burnt offering that was laid
upon Isaac, a fit picture, type, shadow of him who would bear
his own cross to Calvary. The fire and the knife were instruments
of Isaac's suffering. Isaac being a picture, a type
again of the Lord Jesus Christ, set forth that the hand of Almighty
God, our Lord's Father, our Father, would be spewed out upon him.
He had the fire of God's wrath that was spewed out upon the Lord Jesus Christ because
he was made sin for us, he who knew no sin. And the knife, that
knife picturing the sword of God's law that would be plunged
and consumed in him, Christ laid down his life and put away the
wrath of God Knife of God pictured in that which would be the implements
of Isaac's death, picturing the Lord Jesus Christ, but how they
went up. This is what I wanted to get
to, how they went up. The scripture says last part,
they went up both of them together. Now, never let us forget what
our Lord told two on the road to Emmaus, starting in Moses
and all the scriptures. He's spoken to them of all these
things in the scriptures concerning himself. Here is a picture of
the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture sets
forth, of course, not only is he a picture of Christ, Isaac's
also a picture of the believer who will, before he is, has the
knife plunged into him, God's gonna stop him, put a ram there. Sacrifice. There's a beautiful
picture of Christ, beautiful picture of us in Christ. But the scripture declares that
they went up, both of them, together. Now here's a beautiful picture
of union and love between Isaac and Abraham, father and son. But it glorifies that unity.
They went up together. We're going to go up together
and we're going to worship God. That's what we're going to do.
We're going to worship God. Isn't it wonderful to be able to worship
God together? Worship God together. I mean, to be able to look out
there and just see you, see your faces. Brethren, they're gonna
go up together, but it glorifies the immeasurable union, unity,
and love between the Heavenly Father and His only begotten
Son. Turn with me again. Hold your
place. Put your marker there. Turn to Proverbs 8, 22. Proverbs
8, 22. Oh, how many times have we referenced
this particular passage? Proverbs 8, I want to
read Proverbs 8, 22 to 31. Now listen. 8, 22. The Lord, Jehovah, you know all
caps there, Jehovah. possessed me in the beginning
of his way. Before his works of old, I was
set up. Not only does that word mean
installed, but it also means in same word in Psalm 2, 6, it
means anointed. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no
depths, I was brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. Now, I'm making an emphasis here
on the certainty of His being. While as yet He had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was there. When
He set a compass upon the face of the depth, when He established
the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
He gave to the sea His decree that the water should not pass
His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth
then I was by him. As one brought up with him, I
was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing
in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with
the sons of men. Now, the scripture declares concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, he was set up. He said, I was set up
from everlasting. Everlasting, everlasting. He possessed me in the beginning
of His ways. Now, how do you, in the beginning
of His ways? What does that mean? Everlasting,
everlasting. I was, I was. He was set up in
the divine decrees of Almighty God according to God's everlasting
covenant of grace. in both natures. As the God-man, I'm going to
prove this to you. I'm making a point here. Hang
on just a second. I'm going to prove this. I was set up in the
beginning of His ways, both natures, God-man mediator, before being
made flesh. I was. He said, I was there. is the wisdom of God, the pattern
concerning the future actual creation of man, Genesis 126. And God said, let us make man
in our image. After our likeness, Christ is
the image of the invisible God. After our likeness, let them
have dominion over the fish, the sea, over the fowl of the
air, over the cattle, over all the earth, over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon earth. In His holy character as God-man,
again, not openly revealed until the wisdom of God decreed that
He would be, but the Lord as the God-man mediator was. when there were no depths, no
fountains of water before any acts of God's creation had taken
place. Won't you turn to John 1.1. John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The word was with God. That's what he said in Proverbs
8. And the word was God. Verse 14
says, and the word was made flesh. He was before he was made flesh. And he was together. I was ever
before him. But though nothing was physically
created, the glories of himself as the mediator, the salvation
of his glorious bride, his being as being slain as the lamb, according
to the will and purpose of Almighty God, was before the foundation
of the world. He was. He was. These things
are only known by faith. We believe this. Someone might
say, do you really believe that before the foundation of the
world that the Lord Jesus Christ was as the God-man mediator,
the Word, You truly believe that? I absolutely believe it. Why? Because God said it was. He was. The scripture says back in Genesis
22, verse 6, And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering,
laid it upon Isaac his son. He took the fire in his hand
and a knife, and they went, both of them, together. Together. to worship God. Verse
7, And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and he said, My father.
And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Now here, Isaac asked the question
of all question when it comes to worship. Worship. You remember the woman at the
well, the woman of Sychar. The Lord told her, he said, you
know not what you worship. We know what we worship. We know,
we know, we know. Worship has an object, and the
object is the Lord Jesus Christ. Where's the lamb? Here's the
question of all questions. When you hear preaching, hearing
men stand up, where is the lamb? If I don't, if I don't, you'll
be telling me all kinds of things that are true. I gave you the illustration concerning
the ark. Noah built an ark. Took him 120
years. He finished the ark. God put
Noah, his wife, three sons, three wives in the ark with the animals. Everything I told you was true.
But it wasn't the gospel. Why? I didn't set forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ in that truth. The gospel is concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of truthful things being
said. Unless you see, behold the Lamb slain, you did not hear
the gospel. The gospel is concerning him. So here, Isaac, he sees the knife,
he sees the fire, I mean the wood, he's bearing it. There's the knife and the fire
and the wood. Where is the lamb? We're going
to offer a burnt offering. We're going to offer a burnt
offering. And I don't see the sacrifice. Where is the sacrifice? How are you going to worship
God without a sacrifice. Cain and Abel both gave an offering,
made an offering. One of them worshiped, one of
them didn't. Where's the lamb? Without a lamb,
there'd be no burnt offering. Without the shedding of blood,
which pictured the Lord of glory, there'd be no worship. Isaac
was obviously well taught concerning the worship of God. Where's the
lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. You know, that
is, we've read that scripture so many times. Think of this.
What God demands, God provided. He provided himself. He could accept nothing but that
which is of himself. Father and son went up together. Abraham said, my son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Here it is. So they
went both of them together. They're going together. And that
was surely the only answer which afforded the father's heart any
comfort. Abraham knew God will provide
Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. God who would Himself provide
the lamb, but God who would provide Himself as the lamb. God must please Himself. So therefore, He provided Himself. Nothing a man could ever meet
the divine requirement of God's demand. So if a sacrifice for
sin would be provided by God and for God, then it would be
accepted of God before the blessing of salvation of men. Before that
can be provided, turn to Romans 3. God's justice is going to
have to be satisfied. Before we can save a sinner,
justice. Romans 3, verse 24, 26. Being justified. Remember what
I said about justification, justified. What does that mean? No charge. No charge. No record, no record,
no record. You can say no charge and say,
well, it's just been acquitted. It's been pardoned. Let it off good behavior. But when you say no record, justified. The law says no guilt, no guilt. Being justified freely, How can
it be that there's no guilt justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus? That's how. Christ bore the guilt. He bore the guilt which God has
set forth, Christ Himself set forth to be a satisfaction, propitiation,
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth
in Jesus." How can God be just? in demanding payment. How can
God be just in demanding payment for sin and then say there's
no charge? Only in Christ. These things
are too high for us. My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went up both together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Of all the things that can be
considered here is two undeniable truths. First, the obedience
of Abraham. They've come to the place revealed
by the Lord. Go to the place where I'll show
you up. He came to the place and without any recorded comment,
the scripture declares that he built an altar. Started building
an altar. Was it wood? I'm sorry, rocks? Just pile them up. Was it dirt? It doesn't say. It just said
he built an altar. He built an altar. laid the wood upon the
altar, the wood that he had taken before he ever left home, split,
made ready, laid it on the altar. Then he bound Isaac. He bound
him, tied him up, and laid him on that altar. Now, I've told
you that I've read many, many accounts. How old was he? Nobody
knows for sure. It's a, they don't know. He could
have been a young teenager. He could have been, one man said
he could have been 30 to 35 years old. I don't know how old he
was, but he wasn't a child. Wasn't a child. Abraham's an
old man, well over 100 years old. This young man, his son,
here's his dad. Dad, old. He was 100 years old
when Isaac was born. And he binds Isaac and he lays
him on that altar. And here's the second great truth
set forth. I want you to note the absence
of any record of Isaac's questioning his father's actions. Isaac,
obviously voluntarily, voluntarily surrendered himself to Abraham,
his father. This young man knew his dad loved him. He knew that. Isaac loved his dad and his dad
loved him. What a picture of the father,
the son. Isaac knew that this was a burnt
offering. He knew it was a burnt offering.
Where's the lamb? He knew why they were there.
His dad's tidy mother. Without a doubt, he knew that
the burnt offering was an offering that had to be given willingly. Abraham took that boy at the
Lord's command. laid that boy, I just, in my
mind's eye, I'm just thinking, this man's, he's old, he's old,
how old, 115, 120, 130, I don't know. Can you imagine that old
father laid him up there? I don't doubt for one second
that Isaac kind of, you know, didn't resist him. Just, Helped
him, almost probably helped his dad. I'm not trying to overly
speculate. I'm just thinking in my mind,
this boy was not a kid. He wasn't an infant. He laid
him on that altar. Here he was submitting to his
dad, yes, but not ultimately submitting himself unto almighty
God. The God that was to be worshiped.
Where's the lamb? God will provide himself a lamb. Oh, do we not see the willingness
of the Lord Jesus Christ to lay down His life? John 10, 17, 18.
Therefore doth my Father love me. Isaac knew Abraham loved
him. The Lord Jesus Christ says, therefore
doth my Father love me because I lay down my life. that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Philippians 2 being found in
fashion, in habit, as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Abraham built an altar. laid
the wood on it, bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the
altar upon the wood. Verse 10 says, and Abraham stretched
forth his hand, and he took the knife to slay his son. I told you before, when God commanded
him to offer him as a burnt offering, that boy was dead. In Abraham's
mind, he's dead. Abraham believed God. Faith never talks about what
it will do. Faith believes God, and the Lord
Jesus Christ said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and what? They follow. They follow me. Faith longs after, strives after,
and does according to the will, faith, and strength of the Lord,
does what the Lord commands. We see something in these scriptures.
What does a believer want to do? Right there, that's what
I want to do. That's what I want to do. Abraham wasn't pretending to
obey. Abraham obeyed God. He was convinced that the Lord
was going to raise Isaac up. God knew that he was able, what
scripture says, Hebrews. Able, by faith. He offered up
Isaac. The scripture set forth, God
had told Abraham in Genesis 17, 21, but my covenant shall be
established with Isaac. which Sarah shall bear unto thee
at this time next year." Abraham knew, this is the son of promise. This is the one through whom
the Messiah was going to come. He believed him. And the scripture
says, he laid that boy on that altar and he stretched forth
his hand and he took the knife to slay his son. That knife is
raised. He stretched forth his hand,
he took it, to slay his son. Abraham, I don't doubt for one
second, he loves this boy. And he's looking down at this
boy, and I don't doubt that this boy's looking back. And he sees
the knife, and he's on the altar, he's bound, he knows what's getting
ready to happen. And Abraham looked with him,
I don't doubt with the tenderest of all affection, in a moment,
that boy's gonna be dead. This knife's gonna, you're gonna
cut his throat. That's how they sacrifice. And
at that moment, that knife ready to be plunged, and verse 11 and
12, and the angel of the Lord, without a doubt, this is the
messenger of the covenant. Listen to what he's saying. And
the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he
said, lay not thine hand upon the lad. Neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from
me." Now here, the Lord speaks as if, sounds as if, the way
it's read, that he just finally realized that, he come to the
conclusion, now I know, now I know, the Lord knew. The Lord knew. The literal, Young's literal
says this, for now have I known that thou art fearing God. What the Lord did was give Abraham
a command that would expose before all that which only God truly
knew. The Lord would bless Abraham to exercise that which Abraham
would actually do. He'd believe God. He gave him
faith. Here was Abraham, Isaac. He's on that altar. He's ready
to slay him. What God gives, God proves. All that he gives
is still his. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And it's right if he's pleased to take it back. I told you the other day, I go
in for a physical or something like that, and the doctor says,
well, how are you doing? I said, well, as far as I know,
right now, I'll wait and see what you say. I don't know. If the Lord's pleased to take
away my health, it was his. If he takes away
anything I have concerning wealth, it's his. If he takes my children,
or any of my family, other part, any of my family, they're his. It's right. He has a right. He was pleased to tell Abraham
that Abraham must give his son back to the Lord, and God stopped
him. He was pleased to spare. Isaac,
Romans 8, verse 32, says this, 31, 32, what shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How? Shall he
not with him also freely give us all things? God spared Abraham's
son. But he didn't spare his own.
For had he spared his own, none of us would have had any hope.
There had to be a payment. Justice had to be satisfied.
Sin must have an atonement. Had Abraham never been allowed
to stretch out his hand and slay that boy in his heart. He would
have never known the depth of a redeemer, an absolute substitute. He knew. He knew the joy. You know that
scripture when the Lord says, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced? I wonder, Neil, if it was right
here. I wonder, I wonder. But look at this, you think in
closing, you think this is not the most beautiful thing. That
boy was gone, gone. He believed he was gonna raise
him up, but he was gonna have to kill him. In Abraham verse 13, 14, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram, offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh,
as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord, it shall
be seen. Jehovah-Jireh, in my margin, it says the Lord will
see, or the Lord will provide. You know, without trials, what we know concerning the sufficiency
of God's grace, without trials, what we know is theory. And the Lord would not have us
know him that way. David said in Psalm 1, 1971,
it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statutes. It's good for me. It's good that
we suffer. It's good that we be tried because
being tried declares the glorious sufficiency of our God to provide. The Lord had brought Abraham
through the greatest of trials and delivered him. Abraham called
that place, the Lord will provide. How many occasions, I wonder,
has there been in your life, my life, when the Lord has provided
Jehovah Jirehs for us? The Lord will provide. We get
into a situation and our hearts are heavy, We start thinking
about the scriptures casting all your care upon him. He cares
for you. You have not because you ask
not. All these scriptures come back. Oh, Lord, please have mercy. Lord, have mercy. And then when
we behold the sufficiency of his provision, how thankful we
are. How thankful to be able to call
upon him and see him deliverance. See his deliverance. proves His
presence, His love, His care for us. Oh, what a picture of
deliverance the Lord will provide. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for His glory and our good.