sung I think before, but I was
quite struck with that last verse, may I be found a living stone
in Salem's streets above. And I'm sure each one of us would
paraphrase that as well by saying may I be found a living stone
in Salem's courts below, our being in Salem's chapel this
morning. Well, thank you for your warm
words of welcome this morning. I think it is a fair time since
I was with you, and I'm pondering over what to speak about. My mind was drawn to this chapter
of the book of Genesis, which speaks primarily about the Lord
Jesus Christ. We do have the historical record,
of course, of Abraham taking his son had to be a sacrifice
on Mount Moriah. And the Lord was here testing
him. And that's what the word tempt
means, or to try him. They came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham. It was not tempting him to sin,
it was a trying of his faith. The Apostle Peter speaks about
the trial of your faith. If we can just turn very quickly
to those references to the trial of faith where we read in that
in the first epistle where we read the apostle Peter writing
to the strangers scattered throughout Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithynia and he speaks about their trial of faith that the
trial of your faith being much more precious than a gold that
perisheth though he be tried with fire might be found unto
praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
And again in chapter 4 he says, Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you
as though some strange thing happened unto you. The Lord's
people are still tried with their faith. in the flame, writes the
hymn writer, loses nothing but dross. And the trial of our faith
loses nothing but dross, the dross that is in our lives. And
indeed, if we look within our hearts, we must find that there
is dross that is there, there is that sinful nature. The apostle
Paul speaks about his sinful nature, doesn't he? Does he not,
in the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans says that
the good that I would I do not and the evil that I would not
that I do. O wretched man that I am who
shall deliver me from the body of this death. So Abraham is
tried by the Lord. God did tempt or prove or test
or assay him. We do have in our country in
various centres, Birmingham for example, there is an assay office
in Sheffield, I understand that there is also an assay office
in which precious metals are tested for their genuineness,
for their purity, and when a jeweller has made some jewellery with
precious it is sent to the assay office and they test that metal
to see that it is pure so that the customer of the jeweller
will have the assurance that that metal is genuine that gold
ring is genuine gold or whatever item of jewellery it is and here
Abraham is being tested by God to test that his faith that his
loyalty that his love for his God is a true faith of course
the Lord knew that his faith was a genuine faith the Lord
knows whether our faith is genuine but do we know that our faith
is genuine? has our faith been tried and
tested in the crucible of temptation in the fiery trial so Abraham
is tested and he is tested with this trial of his son of taking
him and sacrificing him now if we turn to that passage in Hebrews
we read how that Abraham had that faith by faith Abraham when
he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son you see the promise
to Abraham was that his seed should be as much as the sand
on the sea shore when you think about that amount of sand you
know how many grains of sand are there on the beach at South
Seam add to that all the beaches that are here in the country
and then add to that all the beaches of the world the amount
of sand that is there and Abraham was promised that his sea should
be as many as the sand on the seashore well the Lord as promised
him that but he also tried him as to show him that his faith
was genuine of whom it was said that in Isaac shall I see be
called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from
the dead from whence also he received him in a figure so he
went to this place that the Lord had showed him it was Mount Moriah
the land of Moriah is only mentioned by name twice in the scriptures
there in that third chapter of 2 Chronicles where Solomon began
to build the house of the Lord of Jerusalem in Mount Moriah
and then it is described by the writer of Chronicles by saying
where the Lord appeared unto David his father in the place
that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Onan the Jebusite
and that's a reference to Samuel chapter 24 where David had issued
the decree for the children of Israel to be counted census had
to be taken and Joab was sent out to number some of the people
and he went at David's command and then the prophet came to
Gad, David's seer and said to him that the Lord offered him
three things because of his pride and his sin and his disobedience
choosing one of these things and he chose that he should fall
into the hand of God. And so the plague came upon the
people and David built an altar in the threshing floor of Aruna
and so the plague was stayed. But that was on Mount Moriah. this place this place and the
word Mariah like Jireh also means provision so there is much in
this chapter that tells us about the work of God and about the
Lord Jesus Christ prophetically in type and example and so Abraham
went and he took his son and he took these two young men they
took the wood for the offering he took the fire to burn the
offering and he took the knife to slay the offering and he came
to this place and his son pointed out that the wood was there the
fire was there the knife was there but he said where is the
lamb? for a burnt offering and the
Lord the Abraham I should say built the altar the wood was
laid on it and Isaac his son was bound one wonders what Isaac
was thinking at the time that his father was going to take
him but he was obedient he was obedient and how that reminds
us, does it not, of the Lord Jesus Christ the obedience of
the Lord Jesus Christ how he came from the glory of heaven
I mentioned in prayer, I quoted in prayer in part of the second
chapter of the Philippians how that he laid his glory by if
we can turn very quickly to that second chapter he said let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and
was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as
a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even
the death of the cross wherefore God also highly exalted him and
gave him a name which is above every name that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow. The Lord Jesus Christ became
the servant of God. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. He was obedient unto death. You
remember the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ as he was there
in the garden. He sweats as it were, drops of
blood and he prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. nevertheless not what I will
but what thou wilt and so we can speak about the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ he came from the glories of heaven obediently
to the will of his Father he willingly came he was found in
passion as man as we've noticed from the epistle to the Philippians
he was obedient in his life he was obedient in his death that
he laid down his life for his people he had he was despised
and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
John writes about the Lord Jesus Christ as being the Good Shepherd
I am the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep we see the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ how
like Isaac before him he was obedient to his father to his
father's will. Now Abraham's son Isaac was obedient
because Abraham's faith was being tried and tested, but the Lord
Jesus Christ was obedient unto death to rescue a multitude that
no man could number, to give himself for the church, to give
his life. Isaac was spared on that occasion
and the lamb was provided, the sacrificial lamb was provided
there in verse 13. 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 for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. Here, the lamb was the substitute. And there, upon Calvary's cross,
the Lamb of God, remember John, the Baptist pointing to the Lord
Jesus Christ and saying behold the Lamb of God the taker of
the way the sin of the world behold him, look at him, see
him behold the Lamb of God behold what he has done behold his person
behold his purity behold his sacrifice behold his resurrection
behold his obedience that perfection that is in the Lord Jesus Christ
there wasn't that perfection in Isaac no, but the ram that
was caught it was caught by its horns in other words the actual
body was not scarred it was a lamb without blemish and without mark
and he was taken as the offering in the room and the stead of
his son and likewise the Lord Jesus Christ is the substitute
bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place condemned he stood
sealed my pardon with his blood hallelujah what a saviour just
one hymn writer that has wrote about the substitutionary atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ many hymn writers have taken that
thought and put it into a verse and we often sing about the Lord
Jesus Christ being the one that is in our place why was that? why was he in our place? because
we couldn't save ourselves Martin and I were speaking a little
bit in the vestry I spoke of it in prayer how that he spoke
about a brother preacher who would preach from this pulpit
a good few years ago and he spoke on the text for everyone that
thirsteth and he said thirst cannot be it cannot be created
by man we cannot create our own thirst thirst comes upon us and
if we are not thirsty we won't want to drink and if we do not
thirst for God we will not seek him at all the psalmist says
in one of his articles if I can turn to it quickly Psalm 42 as
the heart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after
thee O God my soul thirsteth for God from the living God when
shall I come and appear before God? do we thirst after God?
when we wake on the Lord's day morning do we say or have that
thought good it is the first day of the week we can attend
the house of worship we can attend the church meeting we can have
fellowship with other believers, we can hear the word of God preached,
we can come before him in prayer, we can seek the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Do we have that thirst for God?
Do we have that thirst for God? As the heart panteth after the
water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God. Where shall I come and appear
before God? Oh, do we have that desire? Do
we have that desire? for the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh
God grant that we might indeed have that desire to seek after
him. Well, as we consider then the
substitution of the Lord Jesus Christ, in my place condemned
he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood. There are four things
that I'd like us to look at very quickly this morning. First of
all, why a substitute? was necessary why is a substitute
necessary? because of old age because of
her lack of mobility the Queen doesn't attend royal functions
or very rarely does she attend them because of her great age
and one wouldn't expect anything else but there is a substitute
the Commonwealth Heads of Government are meeting in Rwanda at the
present moment the Queen should have been there as the head of
the Commonwealth but because of her advanced age and seniority
she is physically incapable of doing so so she sends a substitute
a son the heir apparent has gone in her place now we couldn't
bear our own sins our sin would burden us down remember how the
sin had been placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ so burdened
him that his sweat was as drops of blood and the stress of sin
you see the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless holy, harmless, undefiled
and separate from sinners he knew no sin he who knew no sin
was made sin for us and that the thought of sin and the thought
of dying for sin was so stressful and agonizing to the Lord Jesus
Christ because he was a complete stranger to sin you and I sin
easily because we have a sinful nature but the Lord Jesus Christ
had whilst being a truly man, truly human he was still sinless,
without sin so the thought of it the agonising thought of it
was so stressful that the blood vessels under his skin burst
and that he swept drops of blood that is the medical opinion that
was quoted to me some few years ago so why was a substitute necessary? so that's the first thing and
then secondly what does the substitute undertake? as I spoke about Prince Charles
he represents the Queen he goes in her place and so the substitute
goes in our place where we deserve death the Lord Jesus Christ undertook
that on the behalf of his people and then thirdly what are the
qualifications of our substitutes? and then to note finally the
provision of substitutes so why is a substitute necessary? well
because of the fall of man way back in the garden of Eden man
disobeyed God remember how there in the garden he was given the
command to care for the garden and to look
after the plants and look after the animals Adam and Eve were
tempted and they took of the fruit of the garden and they
sought to hide themselves from God when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes and
a tree to be desired and to make one wise she took of the fruit
thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her
and he did eat you see the progression of sin in the life it's the same
progression in our own lives in our own experience we see
sinful practice as being as something that is good and is pleasant
and it's desired we look we consider and then we desire and as Eve
did and she ate and then she introduced the eating to her
husband and so they died in dying thou shalt die was the you shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it lest ye die, or in dying thou shalt die and
Satan contradicted that so it is in the world today Satan goes
about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may desire and he causes
people to have that desire after sinful practices and they eat
and they and they follow the footsteps of Adam and they fall
into sin not only are we sinners by nature inheriting it from
our forefather Adam that we are sinners by practice because we
indulge in sin well does the prophet Jeremiah say concerning
sin under the human heart that the heart is deceitful and desperate
and wicked above all things and so we have that sinful corrupt
heart and Paul likewise as I've already quoted recognises that he has that sinful
nature a wretched man as I am who shall deliver me from the
body of this death so we need a substitute, one who will stand
in our place because we are sinful and because we possess a fallen
nature we need a substitute because we have to come before a holy
God Peter writes about the holiness of God in his first epistle 1
Peter 1 verses 15 and 16 but as he which hath called you is
holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is
written and he quotes from the book of Leviticus be ye holy
for I am holy God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity
we cannot in our own selves stand before a holy God well we can
stand before a holy God but it is to receive the words of banishment
depart from thee for I never knew you depart from me for I
never knew you if we would stand in the presence of God if we
would be in heaven if we would enter into the glory of heaven
if we would see the Lord Jesus Christ if we would spend eternity
in bliss as the unknown poet has added that last verse to
Newton's hymn Amazing Grace when we've been there 10,000 years
bright, shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing this
praise than when we first begun. But how do we get to that place?
We get there because we have a substitute, because God is
a holy God. And so, because of our sinfulness,
because of the holiness of God, and because man is incapable
of himself. to enter into heaven we cannot
climb up into heaven you remember how in Genesis it talks about
the Tower of Babel how the Ninevites the Babylonians it was in the
plain of Shina they sought to build a tower up to heaven well
archaeologists would point out that it was the ziggurats of
earth that they were building but in other words they were
trying to make themselves like God they were trying to make
themselves as holy as God but man cannot do that he is physically
and spiritually incapable of doing so and so the word that
is cast over man is cursed cursed depart from me for I never knew
you that a man cannot approach unto God because he cannot find
his holiness but we have that sacrificial lamb, that substitute
and Isaac Watts says in one of his hymns that Christ, the hen
and the lamb takes all our guilt away a sacrifice of better blood
and nobler name than they my faith will lay her hand on that
dear head of thine whilst like a penitent I stand and there confess my sin and what a mercy
it is that John writes if we confess our sins he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and prevents us from all unrighteousness
so then in the second place what then does the substitute undertake? what does he undertake? who undertakes
to represent just as an ambassador going from St James' Court goes
into a foreign country he represents the Queen and her government
and he does what he speaks as directed by the government of
the day and so the Lord Jesus Christ he stands for his people
he represents them and he appeared Hebrews 9 and verse 26 but now
whilst in the end of the world hath he that is the Lord Jesus
Christ hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself he stands for his people he stands in their place he is the one in whom we stand we
are complete in him we bring nothing nothing in my hand I
bring says Tom Lely simply to thy cross I cling and he we not
only stand complete in him but we have our substitute praying
for us in the glory of heaven he ever liveth to make intercession
and he is a suitable substitute because he fulfills all the decrees
of God you can remember in the book of the revelation in chapter
5 the revelation is a series of visions given to John on the
isle of Patmos when he was there in exile for the word of God
and for the name and testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ he writes
to the seven churches we speak of the whole church, the complete
church and then from chapter 4 to the end he has this series
of visions in which he sees the end times and he saw, he tells
us I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a
book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals
no man in heaven was found and no man on earth was found to
open the book nor to look thereupon it is generally taken that this
book is the book of God's decree and no one except the lion of
the tribe of Judah no longer the lamb as it had been slain
having seven horns and seven eyes no one but him was able to take
and fulfill the decree of God and what was that decree? that
decree was that the Lord Jesus would save everyone of those
given to him in covenant bond that everyone would be gathered
in and not one would be left behind everyone for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ died will shall and will be saved and brought to heaven so
thirdly what are the qualifications of this substitute? well we have
a look firstly at his person we look at his person who is this
person? only Christ could stand as the
substitute because as we mentioned earlier he is perfect, he is
without sin he could take upon him the burden of sin for his
people Jeremiah I think it is tells us their Redeemer is strong
their Redeemer is strong he takes upon him the weight of the punishment
that sin deserves for a multitude that no man can number I pictured
in the book of the Revelation as a hundred and forty and four
thousand that's a figurative number of course it is a multitude
that no man can number it is the whole company of those given
to Christ in covenant bond but how do we consider the Lord Jesus
Christ? is he the Son of God? I've been
gassed by his hymn book, hymn 1149. There is that hymn of John Newton. What think you of
Christ is a test to try both your stake and your scheme. You
cannot be right in the rest until you think rightly of him. As
Jesus appears in your view, is he his beloved or not? So God
is disposed to you, and mercy is your lot. The question then
is, what think you of Christ? Whose son is he? Do we have the
right estimation of the Lord Jesus Christ? Some take him a
creature to be, a man or an angel at most. Sure these have not
feelings like me, nor know themselves wretched or lost. And he finishes
this hymn by saying, my shepherd, my husband, my friend, my saviour
from sin and from fraud. my hope from beginning to end
my portion my Lord and my all we see his person that is capable
of being the substitute we see his suitability of being the
substitute holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sense the substitute
has to be appropriate we've already mentioned Prince Charles being
there in the place of his mother, the Queen if you are playing
football and you are injured on the playing field and you
have to be taken off the field then a substitute comes on and
takes your place but he has to be suitable if you are a goalkeeper
and you are injured the substitute must need to be capable of being
a goalkeeper and certainly the substitute is not taken from
the other side it has to be someone that's suitable and the Lord
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God he laid his glory by,
he wrapped him in our clay and marked by him and I the latent
Godhead lay our God contracted to a span and incomprehensibly
made man we don't understand it, we cannot understand it but
it is so that the Lord Jesus Christ is capable of being the
substitute, he's suitable ability Isaiah chapter 63 speaks about the ability of the
Lord Jesus Christ who is this? he asks the question who is this
that cometh from Edom and died with garments from Bozrah this
that is glorious in his apparel travelling in the greatness of
his strength either speak in righteousness, mighty to save. First of all, he is travelling.
He came from the glories of heaven. Secondly, he has greatness of
strength. Thirdly, he speaks in righteousness. And fourthly, he is mighty to
save. That's his ability. And so we
see the provision in the fourth place. With this I close. In
the fourth place we have the provision of the substitute. Genesis 22 and verse 8, Abraham
said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
And so they went both of them together. And then verse 13,
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him
a ram caught in a thicket by his horn. There is that provision that
is being made for us. Now, have we been brought to
see that provision? Have we been brought to see that
the Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute? That he is the one
that took upon himself our sin? Oh, do we thirst for him? Do
we pounce after God? Do we have that desire for the
things of God? Do we have that desire for the
forgiveness of sins? Do we have that desire for the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we have that desire for the
Lord Jesus Christ to be Christ in you, the hope of glory. Oh, that being the case, that
those who have fled for refuge, lay hold on the hope that is
set before us, and we lay hold on eternal life. God grant that
we might see the Lord Jesus Christ in all his fullness, and that
we might be brought by faith to him. Not just once, but daily,
by day. We'll have ordered his blessings
for these few folks, for his namesake. Our closing hymn this
morning is the hymn 303, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy
bosom fly, while the raging billows roll, while the tempest still
is high, hide me