Well, if you turn back in your
Bibles with me to Genesis 22, and Abraham is declared to be
the father of the faithful. And he received the promises.
as the father of the faithful, and all those who are blessed
are blessed along with faithful Abraham. So Abraham, in this
passage of scripture which we well know and we looked at it
some little time ago, so I don't want to butt some, just look
at certain aspects of it in the limited time we have left, but
in verse 5 of Genesis 22, Abraham said to his young men, this is
at the foot of Mount Moriah, the foot of the mountain where
Jerusalem was, the foot of the mountain where the Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified. And he says unto his young men,
abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. So let's go back to the
beginning and I want us to just examine something of Abraham's
briefly here and his journey with Isaac up this mountain so
that we might see something more of what worship is. This is the
first mention of worship in the Scriptures. And so when the Scriptures
mention something the first time, there is a foundation laid and
everything else that might in some way enhance that or expand
it to our understanding is always going to be laid on that particular
foundation. So if we would worship God in
spirit and truth, then we're going to worship God like Abraham
did. And it came to pass, verse 1,
after these things that God did tempt Abraham. That word is to
test him, to try him, to prove him. And such is the case of
the trials that all of the Lord's people go through. You are either
going through a trial right now, or you have been through one,
or you will be going through one. That's just life. That's
just life in this world. And we mustn't think ill of God
in bringing these trials upon us. The purpose of these trials
are always good. He only ever works good for his
children. And the purpose of this trial,
this particular trial, was to prove to Abraham in a way that
he could never have understood without this particular trial,
the reality of his faith. The reality of his faith. And
to reveal to Abraham the wonders, the beauties, in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
a picture of, isn't it, for Abraham it was going to be a picture
of the faithfulness of God to his covenant, the faithfulness
of God to his character. And at the end of the trial,
at the end of the trial, under the good hand of our God, we'll
actually know two things much better, Lord willing. One, we'll
know ourselves a bit better. And if we know ourselves a bit
better, we'll know ourselves to be absolutely and utterly
dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. and you'll know something
more about God. So we don't welcome trials personally,
and we grieve with our brothers and sisters when trials come.
But God works them for good, and that's why James says, count
it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing
this, that the trying of your faith works patience in God's
people. And blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord has promised them that love him. And so Abraham
had been prepared in all of his trials and previous trials. If
you read the previous chapters there are many trials and some
of the trials that Abraham had were a result of Abraham's wickedness. Try it twice, he lied about Sarah. Imagine how she must have felt
when Abraham said she's my sister and she ends up in the harem
of a king. And both times, both times, God
preserved her and Abraham. God does all things on time,
in particular times and for a particular purpose. And this obviously is
an extraordinary trial. Listen to what God says in verse
2 and these words. You can just imagine how much
they must have been like a dagger into the heart of Abraham. He's
just got rid of Ishmael and he loved Ishmael. And I'm sure he
had a great fondness toward Hagar. And to cast them out from his
presence under the command of God must have been terribly severe,
but listen to what next happens almost. He says, verse two, take
now thy son, thine only son. God sees the only children as
children of the covenant, children of promise. Take now thy son,
thy only son. Thine only son, Isaac. Isaac's name means laughter or
delight. Take now thine only son, Isaac,
whom thou lovest. and go, get thee into the land
of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one
of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." Abraham was going
to call this worship before he knew what the end result of this
was going to be at that particular time. It is, of course, a picture
of the Father. The story here is a picture of
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? All of those
words there, thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only Son
of God, thine only Son, the one who is loved, God, this is my
beloved Son, and offering there, not just a sacrifice, listen
to what it says, it's a bird sacrifice. He not only had to
slay his Son, but he had to It's horrible to even think about
it, but he had to dismember him and burn him. What an extraordinary
act that Abraham was to go through, and God doesn't tell him why. It seems contrary to reason. It seems almost contrary to the
covenant. Thankfully we know what Hebrews
11, Hebrews 11 reminds us that Abraham reasoned that God was
gonna be able to raise the dead, that he told these men that he's
gonna come back down the mountain to David. But still, Abraham
was a man like us. He was a man like us. And Abraham knew that if he obeyed
God, it was going to be extraordinarily costly. Listen to Abraham's response.
This is all a path to worship, brothers and sisters in Christ.
According to God, this is a path to worship. Listen to what Abraham's
response to this was. Verse three, and Abraham rose
up early in the morning. He saddled his ass, took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He claimed the
wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place. He went unto the place. Abraham
didn't consult any man about the worship of God. He just heard
a word from God as a command. And you might say, well, I could
never do that. There's a whole bunch of things that we can never
do when we look from a distance. You children of God will do it
when God gives you the grace to do it. People wonder about
what it's like to die and what grace you might receive. and
we wonder about it from a distance. But at our time of death, children
of God, you'll receive dying grace at the time you need it.
And we don't need it now. Maybe not. But that's the attitude
of worship, isn't it? You rise up early and you go. And Abraham had three days on
this journey. Abraham had three days to contemplate
what might happen to his son. Verse four, and on the third
day Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw the place afar off. So often the place of substitution,
so often the place of worship, and so often God's provision
in those things seems afar off. It seems afar off. but it's the
preparation for worship. And Abraham, verse five, said
unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship. And listen to the words of faith.
And we're gonna come again to you. Abraham reasoned that even
if he offered Isaac as a burnt sacrifice on that mountain, Isaac
would be raised from the dead, he'd be resurrected there, and
they would come back down that mountain. Worship, as we saw
earlier, worship and faith and grace all go hand in hand. 6 And Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering, and he laid it upon Isaac. Obviously here
are all the pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Father
and the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the
cross of Calvary. But Abraham took the fire in
his hand and the knife, and they both went both of them together. We will go yonder and worship. The instruments of sacrifice
are in the hands of God the Father, and it's all laid upon the Son. See, worship, as we see in these
verses, is reliance on the promises of God in covenant. And worship has an object. And Isaac asked a great question.
Isaac asked the best question that could be asked, a question
that we ought to ask every time and every place where we think
that we are worshipping God. Isaac in verse 7 spoke unto Abraham
his father and said my father he said and Abraham said here
am I my son and he said behold the fire and the wood But where
is the lamb for a burnt offering? That's an absolutely critical
and essential question that needs to be asked about every message
that you hear that purports to come from God. Where's the lamb? I've been listening, I'm hoping
to speak on the Good Samaritan last week. I've listened to so
many things on it and you can imagine how it's used all the
time. We've heard it so many times and I keep Where's the
lamb? Where's the lamb? They've preached
millions of sermons on the Good Samaritan and there's no lamb
in their story of the Good Samaritan. The lamb's there, the lamb's
giving the story and yet they can't find him in the story.
Where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? You find the
lamb and you'll find worship of God. You'll find God the Father
honored in the lamb. And I love what Abraham said. God, Abraham said, verse eight,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb. Just listen to the words
that God says there. God will provide himself a lamb. The transaction of salvation,
the transaction of truth that causes true worship is a transaction
between God the Father and God the Son. God is in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. God will provide himself a lamb. See, worship's faith is in a
promise, isn't it? Worship's faith is in a promise
and worship's faithfulness that God is faithful, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Verse nine, 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 bowed Isaac his
son. It's remarkable, isn't it, in this story we have the extraordinary
faithfulness of Abraham and the remarkable obedience of Isaac. Remarkable obedience, he wasn't
a young man at this time, Isaac. And he laid him upon the altar
of wood, and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife
to slay his son. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ bound upon the altar. Abraham stretched forth his hand
to kill his son. Abraham met with a glorious substitute. And the angel of the Lord, almost
always in the Old Testament when it's spoken of the angel of the
Lord, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the messenger of God. He
is the message from God. He's the messenger of God. The
angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven. This is where
substitution comes from, isn't it? In true worship, the substitution,
where's the lamb? The lamb comes out of heaven.
Out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I
am. And he said, lay not thy hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son from me. We see a glorious picture of
substitution, don't we? We're going to worship God. We're
going to worship God in the substitutionary sacrifice. And here is this substitution,
substitute picture. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and behold, behind him, a ram caught in the thicket by his
horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and 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. You worship God as told, and
the Lord's substitutionary sacrifice may not be seen. It's behind
him, he was there all the time and he didn't see it. But it
is there. God must be faithful. Abraham looked. Faith comes by
hearing. Look unto me, says the Lord,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. The Lord provided a ram as a
substitute to die in the place of Isaac. And I love the name that Abraham
gave that place, Jehovah-Jireh. People sing songs about it, don't
they? It's the place of worship. It's the place where Abraham
went to worship for the very first time we have recorded in
the scriptures. And it has three different ways
it can be translated, and all of them are beautiful, aren't
they? It can be translated, the Lord will see. or the Lord will
provide, or the Lord shall be seen. And all three of them are
wonderful, aren't they? The Lord will see faithfulness
and will see worship. The Lord will provide worship. The Lord will be seen, shall
be seen in worship. Isn't it wonderful to think that
the Lord sees everything, all the time. And true worship is
heart worship. He sees, he sees our heart worship. God will provide, God will provide. In effect, God saying, I'm gonna
take care of it. I'm taking care of all things,
I will provide it. The Lord will see, the Lord will
provide, and the Lord shall be seen. This is what happens at the place
of worship where you see the substitutionary sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's always successful. His people
always come away from his sacrifice, from his worship, being satisfied
with the provision of the Lord. He sees, doesn't he? He sees
what we are, and he sees our need. We need a saviour, and
he provides. He provides Christ, He provides
His own Son, and in the provision of Him, seeing our need and providing
what we need, the Lord is actually seen in all of His glory and
His true character. That's what it is to worship
Him in the beauties of holiness. What must it have been like for
those two to walk back down that mountain? There wouldn't have been a word
about how wonderfully faithful Abraham was, would there? Wouldn't
have been a word about how wonderfully obedient Isaac was. And that's
what happens in true worship, isn't it? When the Lord reveals
Himself. It's He who has done it all. He who has done it all.
He's created the faith. He's the one who's made the promises.
He's the one that sealed those promises to the hearts of His
people so that they act in ways that this world thinks is crazy.
And yet he is worshipped. He worships provision, all that's
needed to be in the presence. He who dwells in the beauties
of holiness is provided in the death and the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The lamb, the ram was caught
in the thicket by his horns. That's the representation of
his power and his glory. And he was held there. The Lord
Jesus Christ was bound in the eternal covenant and he was the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he must, he
must come into this world and he must die. He must be lifted
up and he must save his people from their sins. He will provide. They worshipped
on the way down the mountain. God will provide. He provides
everything that's needed. in salvation. He provides everything
that's needed in righteousness before God. He provides everything
that's needed in punishment and payment for all of your sins.
He provides everything in all of your trials. He provides everything
in all of your obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's finish
by looking at Romans 8. I know you know it well, but
it's such a glorious, glorious description. Verse 31, if God be for us, who
can be against us? You ask the questions. If God
be for us, who can be against us? These questions are asked
to all this world, aren't they? Demons and enemies of God. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. That's all of the people that
got this spoken about in Romans 8, 28 and following. How shall
he not with him, also freely give us all things. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's own neglect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather than is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,
as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all day long, we
are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, are you persuaded? I'm persuaded, Isaac and Abraham
are persuaded, I'm persuaded that neither death principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I'm persuaded. Let's pray. Our dear Heavenly
Father, we do thank You for the remarkable revelation of Yourself,
the wonder of the fact that You see and You provide and You will
be seen glorious in that provision. And we thank You, Heavenly Father,
for sending Your dear and precious Son into this world to save wretched
sinners like us, Heavenly Father. We thank You that He came to
the lowest of the low to find his bride, that we might find
our all and all in him. We do pray, Heavenly Father,
that you would grant us the extraordinary grace and amazing privilege of
being able to worship you in spirit and truth. And oh, our
Father, we pray that we might look again and again to that
extraordinary transaction on the cross of your dear and precious
Son, who has made sin for us, that we might be made the very
righteousness of God in Him. Once again, Father, I pray that
you would cause Him to be precious to us. that we would sustain
his company and his honour and his glory above all the riches
of this world. And we Father, we do pray that
as you led Abraham to live in faith in extraordinary circumstances,
you might grant us the grace, Heavenly Father, to walk the
little journey left for us in this world, in worship and in
faithfulness, simply looking away and looking to your Son,
who gave himself for us, that we might be called your sons
and that we might call us, call you, our father. We do pray these
things for your glory, for the glory of your son, and for your
protection and preservation of us in this world, our father. For we pray in Jesus' name.