The notices for the coming week
are, God willing, as follows. Mr. Paul Tyler will preach here
next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Pastor will preach
here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 321 to the tune Laudate
Dominum, number one, 910. My soul, Lord, in flame, with
zeal from above, thy praise to proclaim and sing of thy love,
to lift up my voice in thanksgiving sincere, this truth to rejoice
in, the Lord will appear. Hymn 321, tune Laudato Dominum,
910. I shall hold Him there, with
Him from above, and praise Him all day. And sing of thy love,
To lift up thy voice with, And in its tears shed. His treasure rejoicing the Lord
will appear. How joyful the sound May I find perfection, too, In
body and mind, Great or small. Staying on my way, Till I get
me home again, And all is happy again. ? As I see thee ? ? There, left
in the dark ? ? Thou might not have been here ? ? On the notice-box
? of heaven and square. I can't
wait in vain, for the Lord will appear. of where I die, without end within.
With angels from high, love, Satan, and sin, There's a way and a way, that
we all could change. They cannot destroy me, and nor
will I fear. I may sometimes say, I never
shall forget, In death's awful way, there is in my mind, And when I come there I can be
surrounded And open up in Join us, we will praise Thee,
and glory with Thee, And I to His praise in heaven shall live. Let us read together from the Holy Word of
God in Genesis chapter 22. The book of Genesis chapter 22. 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 of Pharaoh, And Abraham
said 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. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son.
And 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 am I, 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 he 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 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.' 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. And the angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by
myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done
this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that
in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying, I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon
the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.'
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and
went together to Beersheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And it came to pass after these
things that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold Milchah, she hath
also born children unto thy brother Nahor. Huz his firstborn, and
Buz his brother, and Camul the father of Aram. And she said,
Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaf, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat
Rebekah. These eight, Melchah did bear
to Nahor, Abraham's brother, and his concubine, whose name
was Rumah. She bear also Tebah, and Gaham,
and Thahash, and Meachah. May the Lord bless that portion
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we bow before thy great majesty. We call upon thy great and holy
name. We come as poor sinners before
thee, each one of us, O Lord, one of the fallen sons or daughters
of Adam, born in sin, shapen in iniquity, unrighteous altogether. O most gracious Lord, we bow
before thee. We cannot plead any righteousness
of our own, We cannot plead any goodness of our own. For, Lord,
we go forth from the womb speaking lies and hypocrisy. That is our
very nature. And we prove the truth of thy
holy word. The heart of man is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. And thou thyself has
testified in thy word For I know that the imagination of the heart
of man is evil continually. Lord, we, from the crown of our
head to the sole of our foot, we are wounds and bruises and
putrefying sores. There is no soundness in my flesh. And Lord, we prove it day by
day. Oh, we pray that this day as
we gather around thy holy word, that we may be found in the Spirit
on the Lord's day. O Lord, what a blessed day it
will be if we are indeed found in the Spirit on this thy holy
day. We come to thee in that precious
name of Jesus Christ, thine only begotten Son, God over all and
blessed forevermore. We thank thee for the glories
of Christ, for the fullness that is in Christ. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and he is full of grace
and truth. And we pray, most gracious God,
that thou wouldst fill our hearts with that grace and truth of
Jesus Christ even today, that Christ may dwell in our hearts
by faith, and that we may be rooted and grounded in love and
know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and that we
may touch the hem of his garment and draw from that sacred fullness
that is in him. We come like the dear apostle,
that I might know him in the power of his resurrection, in
the fellowship of his sufferings. Oh, we do pray that we may worship
thee Lord Jesus, thou didst say, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Oh, we pray that thou wouldst
come and stand in our midst this day, Lord Jesus, that we may
behold thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. that we may behold thee as our
prophet, priest and king, as our saviour, as our redeemer,
as our great deliverer, and that we may behold the holy life of
Jesus Christ and behold the righteousness of thy people received by faith
in that glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, most
gracious Lord, that the Lord Jesus may be exalted as a prince
and as a saviour for to give faith and repentance and remission
of sins. And we pray that the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the
sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon
us. O most gracious Lord, Do incline
thine ear, we do humbly beseech thee, and do bless us this day. May we feel the divine power
and the heavenly unction of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, and
may the word of truth be sealed into our hearts, we do humbly
beseech thee. And may it be with us, Lord,
as it was with the dear Apostle, for our gospel came unto you,
not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much
assurance. We pray, O Lord, that it may
be so, and that we pray, most gracious God, that thou wouldst
grant that we may know that sacred and most precious spirit of adoption,
and that we may know the experience of those beautiful words in the
Romans, for God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, Abba, Father, O most gracious Lord. We often think and meditate on
those beautiful words, for the Father himself loveth you. And we often think of the eternal
love of our Heavenly Father in those beautiful words, for God
so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, gracious God,
Oh, that we might behold thy glory this day. Remember us as
a church and as a congregation. Remember our brethren, the deacons,
and give needed grace, wisdom, and help. Remember each one of
our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. And graciously help us to love
each other, to bear each other's burdens. And oh, Lord, let us
not love in word only, but in deed and in truth we do humbly
beseech them. And O Lord God, we do pray. I
always remember dear Ina in her lowest state and in the Lord
as the outward man perishes, may the inward man be renewed
day by day and go before her, O Lord, in each untrodden step
and grant thy divine guidance and blessing. we do humbly beseech
thee, for thou art able to make the crooked things straight,
and the rough places plain. O Lord God of hosts, hear our
prayer. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for the whole of our congregation, that thou wouldst work mightily,
powerfully, and effectually. We think of those unable to gather
with us today, for whatever reason that may be, and we would lovingly
commend them to thee and to the word of thy grace which is able
to build them up and to grant them an inheritance among them
that are sanctified. Gracious God, incline thine ear,
we do humbly beseech thee, and guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
we're pilgrims in a barren land. May we be enabled to set up waymarks,
and may we be enabled day by day to remember that all the
way the Lord our God hath led us to humble us and to prove
us. Gracious God, give us that grace to do that. Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst work mightily, powerful and effectually by thy
good spirit in our midst, and that the light of truth may shine
into this village and into the surrounding district. Many, many
precious souls gathered into the sanctuary the strongholds
of Satan pulled down, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus set up in the
hearts of sinners. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. Let
Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom
Thou madest strong for Thyself, so will not we turn back from
Thee. Lord, we do pray. Remember the
little ones and the children. Bless them indeed. And show them
thy ways. Put the fear of the Lord in their
hearts in their young and tender years. And graciously remember
the young friends. Bring them to living, vital,
saving faith in Jesus Christ. Guide them in all matters, in
providence. but above all, bring them to
know Thee and to serve Thee and to follow Thee in their day and
in their generation. O Lord God, we do pray. Remember
parents and give them wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And O Lord God,
we do pray that Thou wouldst remember all in the midst of
the journey of life Remember them with the favour that thou
bearest unto thy people. We think of the prodigals that
have wandered from the house of God. O Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst stretch out thy almighty arm, that thou wouldst
be very gracious and that we may have that rejoicing, for
there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repented. And may
we have that joy here to see those prodigals return to see
real repentance, godly sorrow for sin, and faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. For they are able, O Lord, to
do abundantly more than we can even ask or think. And O Lord
God, we do pray. Remember all in the evening time
of life's journey. And the longest can't be long
before we must soar through tracks unknown and see thee on thy judgment
throne. Gracious God, prepare us. And
now, my God, prepare my soul for that great day, and wash
me in thy precious blood. Take all my sins away. We do pray, most gracious God,
that thou wouldst hear prayer for all thy servants as they
labour in word and doctrine, that thou would set them free
and at liberty make them faithful, loving and kind, and that determined
to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him crucified. May the Lord Jesus be exalted
today on the little hills of Zion up and down the land. May
his person and work be made manifest. We do humbly beseech thee. O
Lord, we do pray that thou, the great Lord of the harvest, will
send true labourers into the harvest and build the walls of
Jerusalem. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst return unto Jerusalem with mercies, that
thou wouldst bear thine holy arm in the gospel. We pray for
any in any trouble or trial or perplexity or sorrow, darkness,
O those in darkness, bring them to light. those in bondage bring
them to liberty, those far off make them nigh. Hear us, O God,
we do humbly beseech thee, and remember us with the favour that
thou bearest unto thy people, and visit us with thy great salvation. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
remember the royal household, that thou wouldst bless our king,
and give wisdom and guidance and direction healing if it is
thy heavenly mind. We would indeed lovingly commend
to thee our royal household. Remember those that have rule
over us, give them wisdom, guidance and direction in all matters.
We do humbly beseech thee. And O Lord, we do pray that thou
would remember that those that go out from among us to minister
the word of truth and we pray that Thou wouldst be with them,
we would especially remember the Savannah Education Trust
and that great work that they are doing in Ghana. And we pray
that thou wouldst give good success and abundant harvest in due season. And O Lord God, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember Ian Sadler as he labours in so many different
countries in the Gospel. Gird him with all sufficient
grace, Go before him in each untrodden step, and supply all
his many returning needs. Remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant and his dear wife there. Lord, we pray that
thou wouldst grant signs to follow the preaching of the word, and
that though there is so much to discourage, we pray that thou
wouldst grant them faith to go forth in faith. looking unto
Jesus, casting all their care upon Him, we do humbly beseech
of Thee. O Lord, we do thank Thee. We thank Thee for Thy holy day.
We thank Thee for Thy holy word. We thank Thee for our house of
prayer. We thank Thee for the liberties that we enjoy in being
able to freely meet around Thy word. We thank Thee for every mercy
of Thy kind providence, which I knew every morning. We thank
Thee for Jesus Christ, Thine only begotten Son. Oh, we thank
Thee for the holy life He lived and the everlasting righteousness
brought in for Thy people. We thank Thee for Calvary, where
the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, but where divine
justice was satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank Thee that on the third
day He rose again and destroyed death. We thank Thee for His
precious blood that He poured out unto death. We thank Thee
that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from
all sin. We thank Thee that he's bodily
ascended into heaven, that he's sitteth at thy right hand, tis
he instead of me is seen when I approach to God. Come and touch
one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come
and speak to our hearts. Come and seal thy word in our
souls. Come and forgive all our many
sins for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 513. The tune is Adoration 276. In mounts of danger and of strife, My soul for his salvation waits. Jehovah Jireh will appear and
save me from my gloomy fear. Hymn 513. Tune Adoration 276.
? Hush little baby ? ? Don't you
cry ? Christ our Lord is, salvation
is, King of the world, Lord of the universe. ? And take me home again with you
? ? If the world is changing hand ? This is the way that I
have been taught. In Godhead's eyes He paints a
way. ? Fountains of healing ? ? Shedding
tears ? ? She had a child ? ? The lips did say ? from age to age, he couldn't
have saved. He took their gold and crowned him brave. ? And we'll be glad to have him
here ? ? I love him, I love him so ? He goes on with the people
calling, And we have found His trav'ling sting. Greatly failing to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read the 22nd chapter of the book of Genesis and we'll
read verses 13 and 14 for our text. Genesis chapter 22 verses 13
and 14 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. This was the trial of Abraham's
faith. Abraham is set before us in the
holy scriptures as being the father of the faithful. It's recorded in chapter 12 how
the Lord called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. promised him the land of Canaan and he promised him that in him
that is in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now of course we do see Abraham and Isaac but what we
see clearer is Christ. When the Lord called him He said
unto Abraham, this is chapter 12, get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house unto a land
that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt
be a blessing. I will bless them that curse
thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the
families of the earth be blessed. What a wonderful thing. Now,
of course, where it says there, in thee shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. That's of his seed. What a wonderful promise. The
apostle Paul takes it up in the Romans and in the Galatians concerning
Abraham, And of course in the epistle to the Hebrews as well
in chapter 11, it speaks of Abraham. We read in the holy scriptures
that Abraham was the friend of God. A man greatly blessed. And if you carefully read through
the life of Abraham, not only was he greatly blessed in his
soul, a man that lived by faith and look at all those years he
was 75 when the Lord called him out of Ur of the Chaldees he was a hundred years old when
Isaac was born so he had all those years travailing there was a time that
when Haig Sarai, his wife, persuaded him to go into Hagar, her maid,
so that there might be seed born through Hagar. And she indeed
had a son, and he called his name Ishmael. And the Lord said
to Abraham, this shall not be thy seed. Thy seed shall be from
thine own wife, from Sarah. The Lord rejected Abraham's petition. Abraham said, let Ishmael live
before them. But the Lord said, no, there
is to be the promised seed. That Ishmael is the seed of your
flesh. It was Abraham trying to fulfill
God's promise himself. You can't do that friends. The
Lord is a promise giving, and a promised performing God. He
is. He will fulfill his promise in
his own time and in his own way according to his will and his
purpose. And it was a wrong thing for
Abraham to go in unto Hagar to listen to his wife Sarah and here we have the trial after
eventually Isaac was born. I like what the Apostle Paul,
he gathers these things together in that lovely chapter on faith
in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews and he speaks so beautifully
concerning Abraham and concerning how he believed God. We read in the book of Genesis
and Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. He believed God. What a precious
thing to be given that faith and Abraham was given that faith
and we must always remember friends that faith is the gift of God. Many speak that it is your duty
to believe. Now, of course in one sense that
is true, but in another sense, you know, believing or exercising
faith is a divine act of God, the Holy Ghost in the heart.
It's not a duty, it's a grace. Faith is one of those sacred
and precious graces of the Spirit. And the old Puritans used to
say, he works faith in the heart. I think that's a beautiful way
of putting it. The Holy Ghost works faith in the heart. And the other thing concerning
faith, which I often emphasize to you, faith It's a precious
grace and it works by love. We read in Holy Scripture, faith
that worketh by love. Many have a faith that is intellectual and it's the head and not the
heart. You know my beloved friends, a faith that is just in the head.
The apostle puts it another way when he writes to the Corinthians,
he calls it the letter. And what does he say? The letter
killeth, the spirit maketh alive. It's a dead faith, that which
is of the letter. But that which is the living
faith, implanted by the Holy Ghost in the heart, is a faith
that worketh by love. So the affections of the heart
and of the soul are set upon Christ. That's where faith looks
to. That's what faith builds on.
Faith, true faith wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost unites
to Christ, looks to Christ, casts all it care upon Christ. Trusts
in Christ. Here in Hebrews 11 he says, now
faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. The substance of things hoped
for. You see, there's a hope in. People
often despise that word hope. But you know, hope is the fruit
of faith. It is. Faith that worketh by
love. And when faith views Christ,
then there's a rejoicing in some measure in the heart. And that
instead of darkness, there is light. Have you known that? When you've been in darkness
and then you've had light shine into your heart. Perhaps when
you've been in great bondage and darkness and you feel liberty,
some measure of liberty, Christ is made precious. You feel your
heart drawn out to him. And when your heart is drawn
out to him, you're raised up to a hope in his mercy, in his
precious blood, in his glorious righteousness. And then as the
Apostle says here in the following chapter of the Hebrews, looking onto
Jesus, just like we have in our text, Abraham looking. But here he says, by it the elders
obtained a good report, that is by faith. Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so
that things which are seen were not things of things which do
appear, made of things which do appear. You see, by faith. And the Apostle here, he goes
through the history of mankind and of the faithful, Abel, Enoch,
Noah. You see this? And then in verse
8, he says, by faith Abraham, when he was called, See, this
is another point, my beloved friends, a fundamental doctrine
and point of our faith. As far as I can see, the only
real true evidence of a person having faith is they're called. They're called. There is a divine
call reaches their heart. Just like Abraham who was called
out of Ur of the Chaldees And so the Lord's people are called
out of the wilderness of this world. Called. It's a vital thing. Have you, have I, in some little
way been called? Has the word of God been made
precious to your heart? And so that your affections are
set upon things above and not on things of the earth. Because
by nature we're earthbound. Abraham, by faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed. This is called the obedience
of faith. This is another, you see, faith
is a vital, vital grace. It says here, without faith it
is impossible to please God. For he that cometh unto God,
this is in verse six, for he that cometh to God must believe
that he is, that he is God, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. Must believe that he is. And
to believe that he is, is by faith. It's by faith. And when we're enabled to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then light shines into our hearts. Christ is called the light of
the world. I am the light of the world. And with that light
is life. Just recently we preached from
John chapter 1. He that hath the Son hath life. the Son of God, he that hath
not the Son hath not life. These things are written for
our instruction. It's to know Christ, it's to
follow Christ, just like Abraham did by faith. Abraham when he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance,
obeyed. And he went out, listen to this,
not Knowing whither he went you see we always think that we've
got to know what the destination is going to be But when we walk
by faith Not by sight but by faith This is what Abraham did
and this in our text and in chapter 22 this great trial of Abraham's
faith Take thy son and only son waited years for this son. And the Apostle speaks of it
here in the 14th chapter, but in the 11th chapter of Hebrews,
by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, that's Canaan,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. That's the
promise of Christ, that he would come that he would redeem the
church. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He looked for
a city. What about you and I? Sad thing,
you know, if all that we have is what we have in this life, nothing beyond the grave, He
looked for a city. Faith looks beyond the grave. It looks for a city, a city that
has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and the foundation
is Christ, the glorious eternal person of Jesus, the Son of God,
who was manifest in the flesh. lived as a man who was made of
a woman made under the law that he might redeem them that are
under the law. Through faith also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had
promised. Therefore sprang their even of
one and him as good as dead, that's Abraham of course, so
many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand
which is by the seashore innumerable. He goes on here, the dear apostle
with the Holy Spirit of God speaking of Abraham and of his faith says
in in verse 17 by faith Abraham when he was tried it's what we
have in our text I actually prefer that word and if you have a marginal
reference where it says here that God tempted Abraham if you
look in the reference it says he was tried it's a better word
to use tried God tempted no man of evil it's very clear in the
word but he was tried. This precious child of which
he'd waited for so long and which when Isaac was born there was
a great feast. Abraham was not only a great
man of faith but he was actually one of the great men of the East. He was exceedingly wealthy and the Lord blessed him with
much of the things of this life. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac." Well, you know, if you look at this
naturally, and you see a man taking his son and taking a knife
to kill him, to sacrifice him, you would say, what a monster,
a murderer, even of his own son. But when we put faith there, it was a divine command. It was a divine command. 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. And this is where faith looks,
you see. accounting that God was able
to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received
him that is Christ as a figure you see he received Christ the
Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 8 he actually says that Abraham
saw my day and I believe it's here When he was to offer up
his son, he saw the day of Christ. Abraham saw my day, he rejoiced. And it was in this great trial
of his faith that the Lord revealed himself to him so clearly. You
know, and it's very clear here in what we read here in Genesis
chapter 22. How there was a ram caught in
the thicket. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked. Look at what the Lord said to
Abraham here. And the thing is, what stands out
here, the Lord spoke to Abraham. Now the Lord, Abraham knew the
Lord. The Lord has spoken to him many
times before. My sheep, they know my voice
and they follow me. And this is what we see here
with Abraham. He was following by faith. Take now thy son, thine
only son. But he did. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning. He immediately followed the Lord
in what he'd told him to do, even though it's such a tremendous
thing. He saddled an ass, he took two of the 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.
He didn't prepare, he came. Abraham walked by faith and he
believed that all the promises of God were in his seed in Isaac. And that the fulfilling of those
promises would terminate in Christ, in the coming of Christ here
upon the earth. He believed that, firmly. But
as we've just read in the Hebrews, and let the word of God interpret
the word of God. That as he went there, he believed
that God was able to raise his son from the dead. So he walked
by faith. And what a trial that must have
been in the midst of this. 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. I say how this must
have tried dear Abraham and 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? Where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide him. You
see, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. It's one of the
glorious names of the eternal God. The Lord will provide. My
son God will provide himself a lamb." What a wonderful full
flick there is. We see in the words of John the
Baptist when he pointed his disciples to Christ and he said, Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. My
son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
So they went, both of them, together. Both together. He didn't hesitate. And they came to the place which
God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar there,
laid the wood in order, 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 here it says, and the angel
of the Lord called out of heaven, There is no doubt in my mind
whatsoever that this angel is Christ. Christ is often portrayed
in Holy Scripture as an angel. He's called the angel of the
covenant, of the everlasting covenant. And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven. You see, he took him right to
that point where he was about to slay his son. That was the
trial, and the Lord's people They sometimes have to walk in
great trials. When the things that are so precious
to them and so near to them, the Lord takes them away. It's
a great trial. It's a trial of your faith. 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 land. It's believed that
Isaac was about 13 years old when this took place. Neither
do thou anything unto him, for I know that thou fearest God,
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from
me. What a wonderful act of faith
and how the Lord wonderfully appeared and wonderfully delivered
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. In the room and the place and
the stead of Isaac, God provided a ram, a lamb, caught in a thicket. That ram is a beautiful type
of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read of this ram caught
in the thicket, we think of the eternal Son of God in those eternal
councils of the Lord Jehovah. You know, as we see Isaac and
Abraham walking together, just think of it in this light
for a moment. You see the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son walking
through the corridors of eternity. And this is the picture we have
here with Abraham and Isaac, the Father and the Son. And the Eternal Father and the
Eternal Son, they come to that place where the Son of God was
made flesh and dwelt among us. And he lived here upon this earth
for 33 years. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Behold the perfect man. The perfect
man. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright. For the end of that man is peace.
That's Christ. That's Christ. And then they
come to this exact same place. This is remarkable, isn't it?
This exact same place, Moriah, that is where Christ was crucified. It's on Mount Moriah, a mount
in the city of Jerusalem or just outside the walls as it was.
But when the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son had come to that
place, there was no substitute then. Christ is the Great Antichrist. He is in reality the saviour
of sinners in that wonderful sacrifice that he offered, that
this ram represents or typifies. He offered himself without spot
unto God, for by one offering he hath perfected forever all
them that are sanctified. And we read in Isaiah, we think
of this ram and the glorious person of the Son of God. Live
that holy life, that sinless life, that perfect life. That sacred obedience of Jesus
to the holy law of God becomes the righteousness of his people. Thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness. And this is the fullness that
is found in Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. Even before
he got there, Abraham, when he speaks to Isaac, and he says
to him, my son, God will provide himself a land for the burnt
offering. So they went, both of them together. And you know, when he left those
young men, he said, abide here with the ash and I and the lad
will go yonder and worship and come again to you. You see, he
went there by faith. He said, we will go but we will
come back. Knowing that he was to offer his son as a sacrifice.
And as the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 11, he believed
that God was able to raise him from the dead. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto righteousness. Now when the true Lamb of God
came, there was no substitute there. All the sacrifices and
offerings of the Old Testament represent or typify the one glorious
sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. We read, do we not, in the Isaiah
53, He laid upon Him, that is the Eternal Father, laid upon
His only begotten Son, the iniquity of us all. And that is why our
Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary. Because in the Garden of Gethsemane,
the Father laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. he was wounded
for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes
we are healed 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 for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son What a wonder, and this is when Abraham saw
the day of Christ. Because there was the ramp, caught,
Abraham went and took it, and then he released Isaac, he bound
him, he released him, took him off the altar, and there, you
see, Abraham, he believed in, and he had a revelation of Jehovah
Jireh. the Lord will provide a sacrifice. 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 see Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord will provide. Maybe there's somebody here and
you have a view by faith of what you've got to do and the way
that you've got to go and the things that you must do. The
Lord has revealed it by faith. May you have clear views of Christ
and to walk in that path that the Lord has laid in your heart
and to believe in Jehovah Jireh you might say I can't go because
of this, I can't go because of that, I can't go because of something
else. And that's how you feel. I can't
go because of this, because of that. It's like Samuel when the
Lord commanded him to go down to Bethlehem to the house of
Jesse and there to anoint one of his sons to be king in Israel
in the stead of Saul. And we read of Samuel and he
said How can I go? He's speaking to the Lord in
prayer. How can I go? Is there one here this morning?
And you say, how can I go? Just remember, Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus, all your need. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horn. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. Abraham called the name of that
place Jehovah-Jireh. Now we've often spoken to you
of the various Jehovah's that there are six very particular
ones that we find in Holy Scripture but what does Jehovah-Jireh mean? It's Jesus. Jesus is Jehovah-Jireh. Now of course we cannot separate
the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost but the person that is
the mediator and the deliverer of his people and appointed to
be so it has pleased the Father that in him should all fullness
dwell that is in Christ so he's Jehovah Jireh. It is the wonderful
provision that the Lord has made for his people Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide himself
the Lord provided himself God so loved the world he gave his
only begotten son the Lord will provide himself and this is what
is seen here and this is what Abraham saw here he saw the day
of Christ now all the Christian church and this is laid out really
clearly in the epistle to the Romans and also in the epistle
to the Galatians, it's laid out exceedingly clearly. I believe
it's in Romans chapter 4, how the dear apostle under that sweet
influence of the Spirit of God, he writes concerning the seed
of Abraham. He opens to us concerning the
seed of Abraham, right at the beginning of chapter 4. What
shall we say then that Abraham our father hath pertained unto
the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof took glory, but not before God. But what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. that is what the believer does
today and this is the very point that the apostle is bringing
out here. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of
grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but believeth
on him that justifies the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness. The believer receives by faith
a righteousness They know they have no righteousness of their
own. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Even as David also described
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. He goes on in verse 9, cometh
this blessedness upon the circumcision only. No, of course it wasn't. Abraham wasn't circumcised when
he offered Isaac. No, it was then reckoned when
he was in circumcision or uncircumcision. Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And the point that the apostle
is making here is that the Christian believer, even though they're
not circumcised, they are the seed of Abraham through Christ. He received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that
believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also. This is what the believer receives
by faith in Christ, righteousness. Righteousness. righteousness
within thee rooted may appear to take thy part but let righteousness
imputed be the breastplate of thine heart that is the glorious
imputed righteousness of Christ and the father of circumcision
to them who are not of the circumcision only but who also walk in the
steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had been yet
uncircumcised For the promise that he should be the heir of
the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law,
but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are
of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect, because the law worketh wroth. For where no law
is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure
to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but
to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the
father of us all. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed,
even God, who quicked the dead, and calleth those things which
be not as though they were, who against hope, this is Abraham,
who against hope, believed in hope that he might become the
father of many nations. According to that which was spoken,
so shall thy seed be. And not being weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded. You know, my beloved friends,
that is how Abram took his son Isaac. He was fully persuaded that God
was able to raise him from the dead. He went there by faith
and he walked by He lived by faith, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised,
he was able also to perform. And therefore, it was imputed
to him for righteousness. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, Behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his thorns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. See, may the Lord grant that we may see Christ in our
room, in our place, and in our stead. Suffering, bleeding, dying
for our sins. Abraham called the name of that
place Jehovah-Jireh. You see the Lord will provide
as it is said to this day in the Mount of the Lord shall it
be seen. Isaac is a beautiful type of the church, bound like
Abraham bound him and laid him on the altar. He's a type of
the church, bound under the curse of the
law, under condemnation, but then released because of
the ram caught in the sicking, Christ, the ram caught in the
sicking. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 324. The tune is Houghton, 808. Though troubles assail and dangers
affright, Though friends should all fail and foes all unite,
Yet one thing secures us, whatever be tide, The scripture assures
us, the Lord will provide. Hymn 324, tune Houghton, 808. O say can you see by the dawn's
early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming A hero in the night, cast into
the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into
the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night,
cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night,
cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into
the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in
the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast
into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into
the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night,
A hero in the night, cast into the night, A hero in the night, cast into the night,
A hero in Make safe the enemies, to stop
the path of love, and fill us with fear, in thy almighty name. We cannot take from us the wrong
he has tried. Let our living promise the Lord
will provide. He tells us we're free, our hope
is in vain. The good that we see, we next
shall obtain. But when such suggestions the
spirits have cried, This answers all questions the Lord will provide. Through strength of our heart,
O goodness we pray, Lessons we have learned, The Saviour's great
name. In this our strong tower, O sweetly
we cry. The Lord is our heaven, the Lord will provide. When life seems a phase, and
death is in view, this Word of His grace shall comfort us through. No fearing or doubting, with
Christ on our side, we go to thy shelter, Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen.