If you turn in your Bibles to
Genesis 22, read the first 14 verses. And it came to pass, after these
things, that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And
he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and 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. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went unto the
place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I, the
lad, will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son.
He took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, my son. God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. So they went both of them 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. And Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 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 thy 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. And 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 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." We're going through
these what I've found delightful, pictures of the character of
God as it's revealed, as He is revealed in the scriptures. And
Jehovah-Jireh means the Lord will see. It means the Lord will
provide. It can also mean the Lord shall
be seen. What a wonderful journey the
Lord has taken Abraham on. A journey which Abraham wouldn't
have dared to contemplate had the script been laid out before
him. But it was a journey that God took him on. He, like all
of the children of God, He is the Father of the faithful. He,
like all of the children of God, is led by God to see who the
Lord is and to see that in Him, in the Lord Jesus, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And he is caused by the provision
of the Lord to see that he who promised and he who became the
surety for his own in eternity has sufficient now in heaven's
glories to pay for all you need, to pay for all you need at the
last, to pay for all you need at the present. He has provided,
He has seen and He will. It's from His fullness, I love
what John says, isn't it, of His fullness have we received
grace for grace. God's children are always the
recipients of grace. There is enough in God to comfort
us in all conditions and out of His fullness. Out of that
fullness is grace for us. There is sufficient in Christ
to comfort and relieve in the worst of times and in the worst
of circumstances. I love what David said in 1 Samuel
30 when he had lost his wives and lost all of his possessions
and things looked very grim. And it says that David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God. He encouraged himself in looking
at who God is. He encouraged himself in looking
at the promises and the prophecies of Christ. The reality of the
scriptures and the reality of the lives of these people is
that the Lord takes His beloved friends and His children to places
of extreme need and extreme inability and then He reveals Himself afresh
and He reveals His character and He reveals His character
as it relates to His saving grace in our Lord Jesus. As I said,
He's like this extraordinary, amazing jewel that each time
you turn it, there's another facet and it reflects light and
radiates something of what it comes from. Just glorious. But as you probably have noticed
as we've gone through these last few weeks, we've actually seen
again and again that the Lord actually is revealed and reveals
something of His character and His purposes and His provision
every time in a crisis. Do you see? You think about it,
wasn't it? At the waters of Mara. the provision of the manor in
the desert, each of the time when there is no water is revealed
as that rock that followed them as they went through the times
of the wilderness. It is such a constant theme in
the scriptures, it's good for us to reflect on a little bit,
that all of these names of the Lord Jesus we have been looking
at and the ones that we will be looking at are all revealed
in times of crisis. We just turn to a few scriptures
because I think it's really instructive. In Jeremiah 23.6 we have that
verse that we quote often. In his days Judah shall be saved. and Israel shall dwell safely,
and this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness." And you know that that becomes the name of
the church, as his name is, the bride's name is. But if you go
back in that same chapter in Jeremiah, the situation In Jeremiah's
time, in Jeremiah 23.1 it says, Woe be unto the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God of Israel against the pastors that feed my flock. You have
scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited
them. Behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doings, says the Lord." And then the Lord
goes on to talk about His gathering of His remnant. in those verses. And so there He is revealed as
the Lord our righteousness, the Lord who is the righteousness
of His people at that particular time, in the midst of that dark,
dark day, He is revealed again in great glory. In Isaiah chapter
28, those verses that we often look to, he is that tried and
precious cornerstone. Behold, verse 16, I lay in Zion
for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
what a great description of our Lord Jesus Christ, a sure foundation,
he that believeth shall not make haste. But if you go back just
a couple of verses, what's the situation that Isaiah found himself
in when the Lord is revealed as a rock? Verse 14, just a couple
of verses beforehand. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in
Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have
made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement,
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us. For we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves? The Lord Jesus is
revealed afresh to Isaiah in the midst of those trials. And for Isaiah personally, in
Isaiah 6, we won't have time to go there, but in Isaiah 6
it's the Lord who is revealed as holy, holy, holy, and Isaiah
is revealed as someone who pronounces woe on himself. The theme continues
in so many passages of scripture. In Ezekiel 34, the Lord Jesus
is revealed as the shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep,
and you go on and read the rest of that wonderful prophecy of
the Lord Jesus Christ, His glory and His character is revealed
going over hill and dale and searching for His little ones
and doing everything and then He makes them to rest. Just read
it and you'll find it delightful. But the context again, is a context
of trial and suffering for Ezekiel and the children of God. Son
of man, Ezekiel 34.2. Son of man, prophesy against
the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel
that do feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks. You eat the fat, and you clothe
yourself with the wool, and you kill them that are fed, but you
have not fed the flock. I think we go back to Genesis
3 and I won't read it, but Genesis 3 we have the Lord Jesus revealed
as the seed of the woman at the time of the fall. Adam has fallen and the Lord
Jesus as revealed is that one who will crush the serpent's
head. My point is pretty simple, isn't
it? That it's in times of trial and great trial and great difficulty,
that's when our great God is revealed and His name is revealed
in new and fresh ways and He comes to His people and He reveals
Himself in remarkable ways. He reveals Himself, He reveals
His characters, He reveals His promises of faithfulness. He's
revealed, of course, in His motions of love towards His people. He's
always revealed in His acts for us in eternity and in time, particularly
at the cross and at that time of love. And He reveals Himself
living in His people. He reveals His presence with
His people, with His church. And He reveals, in the same time,
He reveals us to ourselves and He takes us to a place again
and again where we are utterly helpless and utterly dependent. And there He brings Himself to
be revealed. You see, true faith, as the Lord
said to Abraham, true faith is going to be tested And in that
testing is going to be something glorious revealed, revealed again. Abraham, of course, sets up a
memorial, a memorial to his God. And such should be our journey,
brothers and sisters. There are times when we have
been taken through great trials and great tribulation and the
Lord has come in remarkable provision and we raise a memorial to Him. Abraham 22 verse 14, He 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. The Lord will see, the Lord will
provide, and the Lord shall be seen. See, Abraham was sustained,
wasn't he? We've studied this passage before
in the past, and I don't intend to go through it all with you
verse by verse tonight, but we actually see Abraham sustained
remarkably by the Lord, wasn't it? He was sustained before and
during and after this trial. He was given the faith in verse
3, wasn't he? Abraham heard this word from
God. He simply believed God. He simply believed God. And he believed God regardless
of what he could see through his eyes of flesh. He was given
the faith. You see, I love what it says
there, isn't it? Verse 3, he was told to take his only son,
Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering. And the very next words
in verse 3 are, and Abraham rose up early in the morning. He didn't say a word to anyone
about what he was going to do. He rose up early in the morning. What the scriptures show us is
that our unbelieving thoughts are silenced by the Lord revealing
Himself and the Lord speaking to His people. We know, as Abraham
had learnt, We know that God can create life where there is
death. The Lord can give faith and life
where there is nothing in the flesh of men. He creates natural
life in Abraham and Sarah as a reflection of the spiritual
life that He creates, that new creation that He creates in the
lives of His people. And He does it always as a sovereign. He does it always with supreme
power, isn't it? Whatever he desires, I love what
Job said, we know that whatsoever his soul, speaking of his God,
whatever his soul desires, even that he does. Such nonsense in
the face of scripture to turn around and say that God wants
to do something and can't do it because he's frustrated by
the worms of this earth. He says in Psalm 103, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Abraham was remarkably
and graciously given the faith, a supernatural faith, to just
get up early in the morning and go to the place that God had
shown, would show him. Jehovah-Jireh will never break
His promise and He will never alter His word. He has magnified His word above
all I know. He promised to Abraham, hadn't
He? This is the promised child. Through Him your seed shall be
no more. And Abraham, according to Hebrews
11, he believed, even if it meant that Isaac was going to be resurrected
from the dead. In the mind of Abraham, that
was exactly what happened. I love what Romans 10 says, that
he, for the scripture says, whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. As we saw out of Hebrews 11,
on Sunday morning. These all died in faith, having
not seen the promises fulfilled, but they saw them afar off, they
were persuaded of them, and they embraced them, and they confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, that their
home was in a better country. They were looking for a spiritual
home. They were looking for a city
that has foundations, because Abraham couldn't find a physical
place that had foundations on this earth. Abraham's trial gave
him a new name for his God. The trial brought forth from
God a new manifestation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I love what verse 8 says, isn't
it? It's really interesting. Even when I write it out sometimes,
I write it wrongly. I don't know why, but anyway. And Abraham said, my son, just
listen to the words and look at them. My son, God will provide
himself God will provide Himself a land for a burnt offering.
He's going to worship, and to worship God, there must be a
burnt offering. And to worship God in spirit
and truth, there must be a burnt offering of God's provision. One that is God's satisfaction. The Lord will provide. Name of God can mean the Lord
will see. He sees all the path that's laid
out before you. This wasn't Abraham wandering
in some random way. This is Abraham taking those
steps which are exactly according to the purpose and the providence
of God. The Lord will provide. The Lord
will provide a substitute. The Lord will provide A substitute,
as Abraham wasn't to know until it happened, he provided a substitute
for Isaac. Ishmael didn't know what on earth
was going on. This was a private matter. When
people talk about Abraham's faith in action, it was just simply
between Abraham and God. Acts of faith don't need the
witness of men. God sees the hearts of His people
and God provides. God provides what God delights
in. He provides the faith as He provides
the sacrifice and He finds it worshipful. It's extraordinary to contemplate
what must have gone through Abraham's mind emotionally. And we are
not told. He didn't, according to the scriptures,
say a word to Sarah about this. According to the scriptures,
he didn't say anything to the young men. In fact, what he said
to the young men, he says in verse 5, great words of faith,
isn't it? Abraham said unto his young men,
you abide here. with the ass and I and the lad
will go yonder and worship and listen to what he says and come
to you again." But what anguish must have been in his heart as
he loaded that wood and took that fire and spent those nights,
those three nights, contemplating the deep, deep love that he had
for his son and contemplating what lay before him. But he had something that all
of the children of God have as their birthright. They had the
promises of God. I love that one of the old writers
said, the promises of God. are the divine conveyances of
good things to come. They are God's means of bringing
to His people His promises and bringing to His people a manifestation
of Himself. See all of these promises, they
originate from Him. They were made to Him, as we've
seen in Galatians, the Lord Jesus is the holder of the promises
of God. The covenant was made with Him
and He holds the promises. They're in His hands and He's
in His hands as our representative and our substitute and our surety. They were made to Him and they
flow through to the body, through the head. You see, the Lord Jesus is the
portion of his people, aren't they? There is enough in him
to relieve, and to aid, and to help, and to succor in all the
worst of times. I love what the scriptures say
in 2 Corinthians 1.20. It says, all the promises of
God, every single one he's ever made, are yea and amen in him. I love what yay means. Yay means
affirmation, doesn't it? And amen means truly, truly confirmed. So all the promises of God are
affirmed and confirmed in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the promises
of God are affirmed and confirmed in their necessary flowing down
to us. The greatest comfort And peace
and rest for believers comes from the sight, through the Word
and the grace of the Spirit. It's a sight of the Lord Jesus. It's seeing Him again through
the eyes of faith, to see Him in His fullness. to see Him in His excellency,
in His majesty and in His glory. In every way and in every situation,
every situation of need and despair and distress and anguish and
concern about what might be, There is in seeing Him, there
is in looking to Him, there is in His revelation of Himself
enough to cast them all into their right and proper place. Revelation 5, we turn there just
briefly. John was in heaven. And John, it says, he's asked
a question, isn't it? There's a question in heaven.
Question in heaven in verse two, who is worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven or in earth
or neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. And I wept much. I wept much. And where does John's
comfort come from? Where will our comfort come from,
even in that remarkable situation? One of the elders, verse 5, said
unto me, Weep not. See, what's the solution to a
weeping saint even in heaven? Weep not. Behold is the word. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into all the earth. And he came. and took the book
out of the right hand. It's his book. It's his book. All of your days, every event
in all of history is in his hands. Weeping saints, you will be taken
to places like Abraham where there will be deep, deep anguish
of heart, anguish of heart that is so intense that it's so difficult
to share even with people who are remarkably close to you. It is like Abraham, the Lord
takes his people to a private place with him. But the solution,
the solution is always going to be, brothers and sisters,
in him revealing himself. And that's exactly what he does
to Abraham, as he did at the waters of Mara, as he did at
the Rock of Horeb, as he did and he will do again and again. It's all a picture, of course,
isn't it, of our Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Lord Jehovah-Jireh
is revealed here as that substitute The Lord said in John 8, didn't
he? He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day. He rejoiced to see my day and
he saw it and was glad. The Lord will see Jehovah-Jireh
The Lord will see all of our circumstances. They are from
Him. The Lord will see our great need. He's taken us to that place of
our great need. He's taken us again and again
to a place where we must be dependent upon Him. He keeps taking us
to that place in grace and mercy to strip us of our self-righteousness,
to strip us of our abilities and so that we will find Him
to be all in all. He sees, the Lord will see, He
sees in us all of the world and even those close to us can't
necessarily see. We shall be tried like Abraham
and we shall be tested that we may in the midst of that be granted
again the grace of faith. to know that Jehovah Jireh sees
you. Jehovah Jireh will provide for
Himself, provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. There will
be sunshine when the clouds are removed. The greatest gift that
God gives us is His Son, and if He gives us His Son, then
He will freely give us all things. in the midst of the trials, as
Abraham found. God's gift of the Lord Jesus
has dealt with the greatest problem we ever had. It's just interesting
listening to people talking about God, and they talk about God
in ways that want to be intellectually satisfied or they want to be
emotionally satisfied. God deals with the one thing
that matters. He deals with our souls and he
deals with sin. All of the other things of this
world are trivial. That's the Lamb, isn't it? Isaac
is a great picture of substitution. He's at the point of death, and
at the point of death with that knife raised above him, with
Abraham's heart breaking, no doubt, in anguish. At that point,
the substitute is revealed. Just at that point, just at that
perfect time, just at that only time, he will be revealed. Christ comes to those who need
him. but He always comes to those
who need Him. He always comes in His own time
and in His own way. He will be Jehovah-Jireh. Jehovah-Jireh the Lord will see
and because the Lord sees and sees absolutely everything, He
provides and He provides what He alone can provide. What a substitute, what a saviour. He says, doesn't he, in Job 33,
he says, deliver them from going down to the pit. That's all that
our works of our flesh have earned in this life, isn't it? Deliver
them from going down to the pit. Deliver this particular group
of people from going down to the pit. I, I have found a ransom. I have found an offering, an
offering suitable to me. And Isaac lived. Isaac lived. Such is how this Jehovah-Jireh can
be seen again. It says, it means the Lord will
be seen. The Lord is in the business of
revealing Himself to His people. He will be seen. This Mount Moriah
that Abraham was taken to, it was a particular mountain, wasn't
it? It was the mountain upon which David built that temple. It was that mountain where for
all of those hundreds and hundreds of years and those tens of thousands
of sacrifices, they all spoke of one great sacrifice, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I have no doubt that the temple
was built on the exact spot where Isaac were seen to be saved by
a substitute on that exact spot where Abraham in his darkest
hour was given a place to see the Lord Jesus and him crucified. The perfect substitute The Lord
will be seen. He will be seen on Mount Moriah.
He will be seen physically on Mount Moriah. God will leave
a destiny for all of this world, for all time, to all people. The Lord will be seen in the
Gospel. The glorious gospel of substitutionary
atonement. The glorious gospel of an atonement
and a substitution that causes the people of God to worship
Him. He seeks them, He finds them. The Lord will be seen at Mount
Calvary. The Lord will be seen on Mount
Zion. The Lord will be seen in the
city of His people. And the Lord will be seen, as
Job says, with these eyes. 3,000 years, 4,000 years ago,
sorry, Job wrote those words, didn't he? He says, I know, I
know that my Redeemer liveth, and I'll see Him. With these
eyes I'll see Him. We'll finish with John 3 about
seeing him. First John 3. Behold. I love that word, behold. Look,
look away from all the circumstances you see with your eyes. Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. Not behold what manner of love
we have earned. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons
of God. Therefore, because we are the
sons of God, the world knoweth us not. If you are a son of God,
the world won't know you, and the world won't know your anguish,
and the world won't know your pain, and the world won't know
your joys, the world won't know your hope, the world won't know
your saviour, because it knew him not. Beloved, Now we are,
right now, the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him. for we shall see him as he is."
What a remarkable promise, with these eyes. We'll see him as
he is. And every man that has this hope
in him purifies himself even as he is pure. I do pray, as he's done to me
in so many ways, and I'm sure he's done it to many of you in
so many ways, in the midst of the trials, in the midst of what
seems so difficult, he reveals himself. He provides because
he sees, and because he sees and because he provides, he will
be seen. Let's pray.