seeking once again the Lord's
help to grant me the words to speak to this afternoon. I'd
like you to turn in your Bibles to the chapter that we read this
morning, Genesis 22 and the same text, verse 2. 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 therefore a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.' This morning
we looked at Abraham and the test in which the Lord brought
him through and how he had been waiting for so long for the fulfilment
of the promise that had been given to him. 25 years before
Isaac came from the beginning of the promise and how he had
sought to bring about the will of God by making his own decisions
in taking Hagar as a mistress and the problems that that caused
and how he failed as a leader in his family and yet he was
still a man blessed of God and favoured of God. And we see even
in our own lives that warfare, which we've spoken of so often
in the past few weeks, that warfare within each believer, how the
flesh wars against the spirit, the old nature against the new
nature. And Abraham was no different.
Being a man of God, he still warred with the older nature. And we saw that Isaac, the beloved
son of Abraham, was that link to the promise and that if he
had actually slain Isaac, Abraham believed that the promise would
still stand and that Isaac would be raised from the dead. But we know that often the scripture
gives us a physical action that has a spiritual application. What Abraham did, he was acting
out something that would take place 2,000 years later. and that Isaac is a type, you
can say, of the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of salvation, how
Abraham takes his son Isaac, his only son Isaac, and offers
him on the mountains of Moriah, in which 2,000 years later, the
Lord Jesus Christ would be offered there upon the cross at Calvary,
and how he was the Lamb of God paying the penalty for the sins
of his people and as Abraham was restrained in plunging the
knife into his son and that substitute ram was found, yet the Lord Jesus
Christ, there was no restraining. of God, pouring out, as it were,
that knife of wrath upon his son for the sins of his people.
There was no restraint. God the Father unleashed his
full load of anger, of judgment for the sins of his people upon
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross. Isaac was spared
that anger and the substitute was made. And as Abraham is moved by God to take his only
son Isaac, so Christ is set before us in the New Testament as the
only begotten son of God. in the Gospel of John chapter
1 it tells us there that although
Christ was with the Father and has eternally been with the Father
yet the Word was made flesh and in verse 14 He says, And the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And verse 18, No man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son of God,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And in John 3.16, one of the
most famous verses of scripture, Christ is set before us there
himself. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but
have an everlasting life. Verse 18, he that believeth on
him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. And so what we see acted out
2,000 years before was what God the Father was going to literally
do with his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as
we were able to walk through that chapter this morning, as
we read through that chapter this morning, there are those
similarities that we would see between Isaac and the Lord Jesus
Christ. as Isaac was willing. We don't
hear that he resisted in any way and we We see him going up
the mountain with the father and we see him being bound upon
the altar and laid there waiting for that sacrificial moment that
never came. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
willing to go through all that the father gave him to do. He was the only beloved son of
God. in the Gospel according to Matthew. As the Lord Jesus Christ is baptised
and as he rises from the water in chapter 3 verse 16. And Jesus, when he was baptised,
went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were
opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lightening upon him. And, lo, a voice from
heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Also chapter 17, when the Lord
Jesus Christ is transfigured before James and three of the
apostles. There is that voice that comes
again from heaven. Chapter 17 and verse 5. Peter,
James and John. And while he yet spoke, behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them. behold a voice out of the cloud
which said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased
hear ye him. And so we see then that that
similarity of the wording take thou now thy son thine only son
or thy beloved son thy one and only son Isaac whom you love
so Christ is set before us as the only beloved son of God in
whom God is well pleased. God himself would not be well
pleased with any of us we could say.
He could not be fully well pleased with Abraham. Abraham sinned
against God. Isaac would never have been a
perfect sacrifice because he was sinful. He was made in the
image of Adam and a transgressor of the law. Therefore he could
never, that sacrifice could never be fully accepted. But Christ
is the only one in whom God is able to say, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. because he was sinless, a spotless
lamb of God. And he came to do the work that
the Father gave him to do, and that was to save his people. With Abraham, Abraham believed
God, the scripture says, and it was accounted unto him for
righteousness. He was a man of faith. And although
he had to go through this experience, he was able to look beyond, as
I said this morning. He had been promised that you
are going to be the father of many nations, that in him all
the families of the earth are going to be blessed. And Isaac
was that link to the blessing. And Abraham had been told that
you're going to have to kill your son. And he understood,
well, if I kill my son, then the promises of God are going
to fall. They're going to fail. Therefore,
I believe that if God is going to, if I'm going to go through
with this, I have to kill my son. I believe that God is able
to raise him up from the dead. And so Abraham is able to look
through that act that has to take place and to lay hold of
the promise that goes behind it. In Hebrews chapter 11. tells us there in verse 17 after
it's spoken from verse 8 about Abraham it tells us in a bit
more detail from verse 17 about what Abraham thought. By faith
Abraham when he was tried or when he was tested offered up
Isaac and he that received the promise 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 or a type. And so God had said in Isaac,
Isaac is going to carry on the promise. Isaac is going to be
the one with whom my promise will flow through. Abraham believed that if Isaac
is dead then that promise cannot come about so the only way would
be that if Isaac is raised up from the dead and it says that
it is as though he was dead. As soon as God had spoken take
your son Isaac and offer him up it was as though he was dead
already in the mind of Abraham. Although Abraham was walking
with him he knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going
to plunge that knife into his son and offer him for a sacrifice. In Abraham's mind his son was
dead already but he walked down that mountain with a living child
as though God raised him from the dead. And he believed that God even
was able to do that which he had said. He was was willing because he looked
through the act to the promise that God had given, the ability
that God has. And so as Abraham as it were looked through the
cloud to the sun so Christ also looked through the cloud to the
sun Christ looked through the suffering to the glory and to
what his glory would bring about, what his suffering would bring
about. Again in Hebrews 12. verse 2 or we can go to verse
1. and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. And so Christ despised
the shame of the cross, yet for the joy that was set before him,
was able to see through that suffering, see through the cross,
to what his sacrifice would achieve for the joy that was set before
him. As the runners look to the finish
line, as the runners look to the crown, they go through that
they go through that pain in order to get to the finish line
but their eyes are always at the finish line where they're
going to go and Christ his eyes were beyond the grave to what
he would accomplish for his people that he would sit down at the
right hand of God that he was willing to go through the suffering
Abraham looked beyond the suffering to the promise Christ looked
beyond the suffering to the promise for the joy that was set before
him. John 14. It says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. my father's house are many mansions
if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place
for you and if i go to prepare a place for you i will come again
and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also
and whether i go you know whether i go you know and the way you
know thomas saith unto him lord we know not whether thou goest
how can we know the way He says I go to prepare a place for you
for the joy that was set before him I go to prepare a place for
you and I will come again and I will receive you unto myself
that where I am there ye may be also. That was the joy that was set
before Christ that where he is His people may be with Him also. What He was going to accomplish
on the cross, although despising the shame, rejected of the Father,
yet He looked beyond that rejection to what He was going to accomplish. He was going to bring, gather
a people for Himself of every nation, of every tribe, of every
kindred, that he was going to save them from the wrath of God,
save them from the power of sin, cancel their sin out and bring
them to himself that they may be with him in glory, in his
prayer. Isn't that what he requests the
Father? He asks the Father in verse chapter
17 of John, verse 23, I in them and thou in me that they may
be made perfect in one that the world may know that thou hast
sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Father I
will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me. thou loved me before the foundation
of the world. What is the will of Christ? It
says that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am for the joy that was set before him
he endured the cross despising the shame that his people may
be with him in glory. That is where the Lord Jesus
Christ is. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He
has gone to prepare a place for his people and that's where he
is waiting to bring them to himself. That he wants to be them, to
be with him forever. And so as Abraham looked beyond
and looked to the promise, so Christ also looks beyond the
promise, the promise that he would deliver a people to himself. And so as we read these types
in the scripture they are there to give us comfort. As we read about Abraham and
Isaac almost acting out what Christ was going to do we take
comfort in it that God already knew what was going to take place
that Abraham looked beyond and was able to lay hold of the promises
although had to actually walk out the will of God yet he took
comfort in God's word Christ the Lord Jesus Christ
was also acting out. As he lived out what Abraham
and Isaac had acted out he also acted out something else. In John 20 what we read together,
after the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and was laid in the grave And
as Mary Magdalene and John and Peter come to see him, they find
that he's not there. And the angels speak to Mary
Magdalene and tell her, why are you seeking the living among
the dead? He is not here. Why are you weeping? Jesus says. And he reveals himself
to her. At Christ he has risen from the
dead. And as Christ rose from the dead
he acted out something that is going to take place that brings
about comfort to each of the Lord's people. In John 11 we
read that Mary and Martha also knew that
this was going to take place. Mary abode in the house and Martha
ran to the Lord Jesus Christ and Martha said unto the Lord
Jesus, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died but I
know that even now that whatsoever thou would ask God, God will
give it thee. Jesus said unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet he shall live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Martha knew. Jesus says, your brother shall
rise again. She says, I know he will in the
resurrection of the dead. Although Jesus could have been
speaking about both. Lazarus was going to rise from
the grave. He was going to live. But also
he died. At the end of his life, he died
and was buried again. but at the resurrection of the
dead Lazarus will be brought forth out of the grave along
with every single one who has ever lived whether the Lord's
people or not the Lord's people all will be brought up out of
the grave and to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. The believers will be brought
up to inherit eternal life, be forever with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The unbelievers will be cast away from his presence into hell
fire for all eternity. And Martha says, I know that
he will arise again at the resurrection of the dead. And so Christ as
he is raised up from the dead is literally acting out what
is going to take place on that great and terrible day when he
returns. He is not here but he is risen. Every single believer is one
day going to rise up to be with the Lord Jesus Christ as he prayed
that they will be with me. When we die our spirits separate
from our bodies and they go to God, to hell and to heaven. On the great day of judgment
our spirits will be reunited with our bodies and will be placed
into a body that is perfect, that is able to withstand the
presence of Almighty God. that body is also able to withstand
the wrath of Almighty God. As the unbeliever it is cast
into a lake of fire where the worm dies not, they fall under
that wrath of God for all eternity and their body will not waste
away. We will not be there as spirits
but as a physical being, a body like that Christ's, a resurrected
body and a believer also in a resurrected body that is enabled to stand
in the presence of Almighty God for all eternity. And as Abraham
acted out the death of Christ, so Christ lived out that act
and then acted out something else for us, the resurrection
of the dead. Corinthians it tells us that
he is the first fruits. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 from
verse 20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept for
since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of
the dead for as in Adam will die even so in Christ shall all
be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first
fruit afterward they that are Christ's at his coming then cometh
the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God even the
the father when he shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power Christ the first fruit and so as Christ is raised from
the dead as John and Peter and Mary Magdalene come to the grave
he's not there he's been he's been raised from the dead as
a first fruit as the first one and that all the rest are going
to follow. Christ is the first fruits and
afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming. In Thessalonians
it tells us there comfort one another. 1 Thessalonians chapter
4 verse 18. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. That should be a comfort. It
should be a terror for some but it should be a comfort to every
single believer that we don't have to fear death. The sting
of death has been removed. The grave as our bodies die and
our bodies are laid in the grave our souls ascend up to be with
the Lord and our bodies wait for that day. a day when they
will also rise and our bodies will be knit together with our
souls for all eternity and we'll be able to see Christ face to
face and we have that witness, that faithful act that has taken
place already that Christ is the first fruit of that great
harvest. I probably said before about
Kenya and when the harvest is approaching they go and examine
the crop and they walk around and they begin to break off the
cobs of corn and they say this is the first
fruit. they give thanks for the first
fruit knowing that the rest is going to follow, that there's
going to be an ingathering of the harvest. we give thanks for
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the first
fruit of the resurrection and the rest are guaranteed to follow
as Christ rose from the grave so the believers are going to
rise from the grave triumphantly to be forever with the Lord. Wherefore because of this comfort
one another with these words. We're to look beyond run with
patience the race that is set before you, looking unto Jesus,
looking beyond the trouble and the difficulty and the anxiety
and the pain and the storms of life, looking to that victory
which has been already granted to every single believer in Christ. As Abraham looked beyond the
act of slaying his son and laid hold of the promise that God
was able to raise his son from the dead to bring about his own
purposes. So we see in Christ Jesus that
he did raise his son from the dead to bring about the salvation
for his people and he raised his son from the dead as the
first fruit of the resurrection so that the believers might be
comforted by that fact. Those of you who have ever buried
anybody we'll know that one of the hardest parts is putting
them into the ground and walking away. It's unnatural. Naturally we like to comfort
those in pain but once they're dead there's nothing we can do
and we have to walk away from the grave. But we walk away comforted
if they are believers, comforted in that fact that we walk away
that one day that body will be raised up from that grave and
live eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ and we have the
promises of the Word of God that say that is true. Yes Abraham
had the reality of walking out and no doubt that was painful You can imagine what he was thinking.
Well, say God doesn't raise him from the dead. Say I've made
it all up. Say it was just a voice in my head. And all these things
that go around in our minds. He had three days to think about
it. And always doubts and fears come in, but the sure promises
of God are there, immovable. Christ has acted it out as a
faithful witness and he rose from the dead and he said that
you, you are going to follow. Do not fear the grave, do not
fear death for I've removed the sting. The sting of death is
this sin and Christ has removed the sin from his people's lives
therefore they don't have to fear. to look beyond the promise, to
the promise, look beyond the grave to the promise that what
is there it is to be with Christ which is far better. Often isn't it when we're in
our, in troubles and difficulties. just like Peter when he walked
on the sea and he looked at the waves and the storms and he took
his eyes off Christ and focused on those things that he could
see. Instead of looking beyond them
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he looked at those things. And it's
those things that caused him to sink. And how often we forget
on a cloudy day, don't we, that the sun is there. We look at
the clouds and say, oh, how miserable it is today. But the sun is just
behind the clouds. It's still the same shining brightly.
In Kenya when the clouds came the temperature dropped dramatically
and you could hardly imagine that the sun was still there.
But it was still there. Still burning brightly. But the
clouds were in the way. And how often it is isn't it
that we look at the clouds rather than the sun. We look at the
problems rather than the one who is greater than all of the
problems. Abraham looked beyond the altar
to the promise. Christ looked beyond the grave
to the joy. Christ looked beyond the cross
and the suffering to the joy that was set before him that
he would one day be with his people. And we are to look beyond
and view the promises of God. one day when this passing world
is done we will walk with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory and
that's the promise that I will be with them and they will be
with me. And so the scripture gives us
these types and these actings out of things that are going
to take place and we can see throughout the scripture the
different events that take place that have spiritual applications
to the people of God and they're there for our comfort. there
to comfort us knowing that what is taking place literally is
acting out something that is going to take place spiritually
and Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is not here. Why do you seek
the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen and
one day each of the Lord's people will rise again to be with Him
which is far, far better. Amen. Well let's sing the hymn number
112 from Hymns for Worship to the tune Belmont 100 and no it's
not it's tune Bishop Thorpe 104. In all my Lord's appointed ways,
my journey I'll pursue. Hinder me not, ye much-loved
saints, for I must go with you. Number 112, Hymns for Worship. with Jesus' feet, the poor away
he goes. Him that belongs shall be my
pride, the world that knows. ? The beauty and the triumphs too
? ? Of all that is the world ? ? Indomitable, for I am man
? ? To God in heaven you'll stand ? Still this my cry shall be, Indemn'ry
not thou have condemned, Dear Heavenly Father we pray
that thou grant us each the faith of Abraham to be able to look
beyond the grave and to view the glory of heaven which is
before each of his, before each of thy people. We pray Lord that
we may be granted the eyes of faith to lay hold of thy son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that one day we will be forever with the
Lord. We pray that thou bless us now
as we remember his death upon the cross, and we ask that thou
grant us, those who sit around thy table, that solemn mind to
consider the doorway of our, or the means of our salvation.
Do now, Lord, we pray. forgive us of our sins and help
us to meet together on Wednesday according to thy will. And now
by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the
Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
to be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.