complete dependence upon the
Holy Ghost for all needed help this morning wish to direct your
very prayerful attention to the book of Genesis chapter 22 and
our text this morning is found in verses 13 and 14 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 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 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 mouths of the Lord it
shall be seen. When the Lord, I believe, pressed
this portion upon my mind earlier this week, it took me back to a time perhaps
about 10 years ago, when in a Christian bookshop,
I think it was Burry and St Edmund's or Ipswich, I can't remember
which and a conversation ensued with two or three men together
speaking of the ways of God and of the gospel and one man stood there and said,
oh I believe in prosperity Well, what about Abraham? This was
a man of some experience by this time. And we, do we not describe
Abraham as the father of the seed? not the father as in the priest
but one who goes before well here he was in his old age
and what do we read at the beginning of the chapter this man of such experience this
man who'd gone on for so many years. We read in verse 1, and it came
to pass after these things, after all those things which preceded
him, that God did tempt Abraham. Now that word of course does
not mean tempt in respect of enticing to sin, it means to
try, to prove, Well, does this not put all things
in perspective? As many of you know, one of the
great doctrines that I glory in and love to preach from is
that great doctrine of Providence. And here we have the principle
that flows through everything that happens to us in our lives. God did tempt Abraham. There we see the providence,
the sovereignty, and the outworking of the Lord in all things. There's a tendency today for
men to think if something goes wrong, it's because of the devil.
Well, that is theologically erroneous. It's wrong. It's wrong. When events in our
lives come upon us, which are hard, difficult, trying, it says in the Day of Adversity,
consider. Remember Job in all the things
that took place in his life, he accused the Lord not. He accused
not the Lord foolishly. But it exercised his mind and
his heart. And we see here that this was
what took place, the Lord speaking, and we have to remember the Lord
spoke in these days directly to men, directly to the prophets. We don't live in those days today.
But the Lord speaking says, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer
him up there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which
I will tell thee of here do we not see in approximately the
year 1872 BC according to John Gill of whom I'm not going to
contradict that this prophecy took place and was to be fulfilled in reality
by the Lord Jesus himself all those generations later. We have
a striking type here of redemption and of the Gospel. Now we notice here the obedience
of Abraham. You see, men misunderstand obedience. They think of it as a list of
things people do and don't do. It's far more than that. This was a spirit of obedience. He didn't debate the matter. He didn't go and consult His
contemporaries. And in the right circumstances,
that's not wrong. In the multitude of counsellors,
there's safety. But you see, this was the Lord
speaking. And let me tell you this. If the Lord does something
for you, and speaks to you, doesn't matter what anybody else says,
or pours cold water all over it, it won't matter. You'll stand
on it. and it's always been that way.
God's people are taught by Him and by His Spirit. You see, here we have the very
opposite to the spirit of which we now live in evangelical things
where they almost talk in terms of persuading people and striking
while the iron's hot, press them to do things and exercise faith. No. Three days. Three days Abraham had here.
Three days. You see, whenever the Lord does
something for you or moves you, very often, very often, You have
to wait. You have to wait. This is the Lord's doing, you
see. He brings these things together. And he says, here Abraham took
the wood and the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son. He was in exercise over the matter,
but he simply went in obedience. And notice here the faith, the
faith that he displays. Isaac, asking his father a very
reasonable question, he says, Behold the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Isaac was aware of what was needed. Now we can't undermine the importance
of the burnt offering. The burnt offering was always
intrinsically linked with worship and with communion with the Lord. You see, the Old Testament saints
were very much aware of the doctrine of penal substitution. It's a
doctrine that's denied today and played down in many places.
But it's vital. It's vital. And again, we have
to be clear. They weren't looking unto the
physical lamb. It was more than that. It was
more than that. It was what the Lamb signified. It's what it represented. Here
today, in our New Testament worship, we have the very same principle.
And the illustration I give is this. We can only worship the
Lord in the ways that He has set down. In what He has given
us in His own Word. And thus, if there's no preaching, then
it's not really a worship service, is it? They continued steadfastly
in the Apostles' doctrine, in the breaking of bread, and in
prayers. We read elsewhere in the Acts
that they gave themselves unto the ministry of the Word. The
Lord has set down Himself. How is to be worshipped? And
it's not me stood here that makes it that way, it's the Word been
opened. It's the Lord's Word, not ours. Thus, there had to be the Lamb
for a burnt offering. And indeed, within our ministry,
within our preaching, if there's no preaching of Christ to be
found, it is but a dry lecture. We've heard enough dry lectures.
We don't want any more dry lectures. We want Jesus Christ meeting
the needs of his people experimentally in their souls. And this is what
we find. You see, Abraham here was in
real exercise of faith. And when there's real exercise
of faith, dry lectures won't do anything for you. This cuts very close, doesn't
it? It's very close. So he says here,
and I love this, you see experiential religion is rooted in sound theology. God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering, we read. Note that. God will provide himself. The Lord does this. The Lord
brings these things to pass. The Lord deals with things. Very different to the spirit
of the age, isn't he? Very different. You see, this
is faith in exercise. They come to the place and Isaac
asks the question, where is the lamb? He says, the Lord will
provide himself a lamb. But there's some rich theology
here because what had to be provided had to be spotless. Spotless. Only the Lord, only the Lord
can meet that covenant demand. We have here, of course, that
wonderful type of father being in covenant with the son. Yet, that is the only covenant
that has lasted. We read of seven covenants within
the Scripture, through Old Testament and New. And whenever the Jews
made a covenant, they very quickly broke it. When man makes a covenant
with God, the Lord always keeps His part, man fails. We read
that every time. But you see, if the Lord makes
a covenant with Himself, within the Divine Persons of the Trinity,
It can't fail. It won't fail. It doesn't fail. God will provide Himself a Lamb
for a burnt offering. And we read, so they went, both
of them, together. They just went. And thus, there are times when
we just have to go. We just have to go. And you will
never regret it. You will never regret it. You see, when the Lord deals
with us in respect of the ministry, and there'll be opposition. There
always is, if it's of the Lord. You've got to go. You've got
to go. It's not an option. You've got
to go. And... The Lord makes a way where there
appears to be no way. And we'll find we still have
our enemies. I still have plenty. I wouldn't sleep at night if
I thought about them. But, friends, the Lord makes
a way. And the Lord does these things.
They go up, they went up together. And thus, here, Abraham goes
in perfect obedience. You see, this was an indication
and an evidence and a fruit, not the cause, but the fruit
of the new birth in his soul. Abraham and Sarah were given
new names. You see, all the Old Testament
saints were born again. We believe the truth that man
is dead in sin until he is awakened by the Holy Ghost. You have this
strange view, some people do, that the Old Testament saints
somehow were saved in a different way, or because of their national
heritage. Nonsense! Abraham was given a
new name. The sign of circumcision was
given. Why? It wasn't anything to do
with the flesh. It was to do with the new birth
in the soul. And thus we see faith in exercise. And notice this, Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. This, this demonstrates the real spirit of obedience,
which is this. We have to give up everything
for the cause of the gospel. Everything. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you." William Huntington, a man still
maligned today, mainly by mongrel Calvinists, but a man who, yes,
controversial, but exercised a tremendous ministry All his life, he desired to live
on a farm. He said, you know, this was what
consumed him as a young man. He had this desire to live on
the farm. But of course, the Lord sent him to the metropolis. And thus he went about preaching
and formed many churches. Virtually all of which are gone
now. Certainly in their original form. and towards the end of
his life the Lord simply made a way for him. He said he had
forgotten about these things. You see he had to leave them.
But the Lord granted him his desire. Thus we find that the Lord manifests, grants us many things. When we least expect in here
was Abraham. Had to lose, by natural ties,
his only son. And what again, even there, what
a spirit of obedience. I have to be careful, obviously,
because I don't have any children, but you see today these two strange
extremes. Some of which, Which is more
common, men make idols of their children. They're everything.
They dictate what goes on. And then we have the other extreme,
where they're neglected. Wandering the streets, allowed
to do what they like. This was someone who didn't shirk
his responsibilities in any respect. But you see, the Lord came first.
The Lord came first. And here he was. Here he was,
been exercised about these things for three days. Takes the knife. Now watch what happens. And the
angel of the Lord, in verse 11, called unto him out of heaven
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. Let me
be clear. And I'm not being fanciful. This
was one of the many pre-incarnate manifestations of the Lord Jesus
Christ directly upon Abraham. And I would defy you to take
any other view. The Lord here makes himself manifest. The angel of the Lord, Abraham,
Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, Neither do thou anything
unto him, for thou, I know, thou fearest God, seeing thou hast
not withheld thy Son, thine only Son, from me." This was love and communion. Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked. By faith, you see. He had to lift up his eyes and
see the Lord. You see God is holy and God makes
himself known. He makes himself known by, in
and through the person of Christ. And thus here he found his relief. And he looked behind him And
he saw Ram caught in a thicket by his horns. It always struck
me this what would appear almost to be an innocuous manifestation. But the Lord had
put the Ram there. Many of the commentators observed
that Abraham would have been struck by the rustling and the
sound of the ram behind him. Notice this was a ram that the
Lord had provided. He took it and offered him up
for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. That is substitution. That's substitution. Abraham
knew and understood the doctrine of substitution. It's vital. It's vital. It's vital. This comes to the
very heart of saving faith. Now, how do we see these things? Well, We notice first that the Lord
speaks. The Lord speaks. The Lord speaks
by his word. The Lord speaks in and through
his servants. And thus, something happens.
Abraham had to lift up his eyes. And he looked. Notice Abraham's
relief. was not in himself but when he
was taken out of himself and to look unto Christ by faith. And thus, it's always been that
way. The Lord's people are taken out
of self. You know, that's the reason I
believe why there's so much bondage of mind and heart today. is there's
too much looking to self. And really, it's the spirit of
idolatry of the most grotesque form. You see, we have a very one-sided
view of the Holy God. He gives blessing. He gives friends. He gives family. He
gives everything and we just take that's how we are that's how
we are you know when many of the old
preachers used to say the Lord loves to hear thanks because
he gets so very little of it and how true those words are here Abraham looked He took the
ram and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. Here was an act of worship in the Spirit. It was in the
Spirit. He wasn't simply going through
the motions. This was worship in the Spirit.
There's one of the biggest fears we can have when we preach every
week. is to simply go through the motion,
speak words, preach sermons. We must, by necessity, have the
intercession of the Holy Ghost. You see, that is really what
we're in need of, is a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Passing laws about things, even
good laws, won't produce real faith. Only the gospel breaks
the chain. Only the gospel. And thus we have worship in spirit
and in truth. This was an act of spontaneous
worship. What did the psalmist say? I
love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Here, Abraham's prayer was answered. And could he not but help give
praise? Yes. And thus Abraham called
that place Jehovah Jireh. Now, we rightly say, and we have
the hymn before us, a very well-known hymn, in our wonderful Gatsby
selection, we wouldn't change it or exchange it for anything,
but there's actually more to it than simply the Lord will
provide. It actually also means Jehovah
seeth. You may find that within your
margin. Jehovah seeth. you see the Lord is in all these
things we remember the other year we considered that text
you shall not know now but you shall know hereafter you see it's only when we look
back we can see all the way the Lord our God has led us Jehovah
seeth he's in the matter He's in the matter. And remember,
the Lord's purpose is always towards His elect. The reprobate
here live their lives and the Lord
is long-suffering to them. But there's no ultimate purpose
to them. None. What did David say? I love it
in Psalm 57, I believe. He performeth all things for
me. Thus then you won't worry about what Mr. So-and-so thinks
and what Mr. So-and-so thinks. The Lord does
it for you. And thus here Abraham called the place Jehovah-Jireh. and yes it's true to say the
Lord will provide. Growing up at Leeds Chapel when
I was in my teenage years I was favoured perhaps to know what
is now largely past of a generation that would then be in their seventies
and early eighties and I think particularly men that came from
the northeast of England and they would often speak in their
early days in the ministry and they virtually had nothing. Real
hardship. You can read about it in Kershaw's
book and so on and so forth. And then many times they could
say Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide and every time you will
read when the gospel of God's grace is the priority the need is always met it's always
met in the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen or it is provided but you see more than all these things
natural. The Lord does intervene in providence
and in our natural lives. There is that great provision in the atonement. Notice here, this wasn't a provision
for all men. And here we have to be, notice
this, the offering was between the two members of the covenant. Abraham offering Isaac, the father
and the son, in covenant union. In other words, the only offer
that we read, we read in the Hebrews chapter 9 verse 28, that
Christ was once offered for sin. It's not universal. It's not
universal and more than anything it was particular. Particular
redemption is found here in our text. He offered him up for a
burnt offering in the stead of his son. Not just for anybody
who might accept it if they feel like it. In the stead of his
son. Thus we see love and union and notice love and union always
begins in the same place it always begins with the Lord Himself Abraham loved Isaac as his son the Lord loves his bride which
is the church, and gave himself for it." Now, we see this, Abraham's
name means of a great multitude. And we see in verse 18, this
glorious doctrine, "...and in thy seed and in all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed." in thy seed what we read Galatians
3 29 if ye be Christ's ye are Abraham's seed if ye be Christ's ye are Abraham's
seed according to the promise even here we have that indication
the gospel will go out unto the Gentile people not a particular race or a particular
nation. But shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed? And that's not talking about
any imperialistic or lascivious natural blessing. That's speaking
spiritually. Spiritually. The blessing is
spiritual. God's book is a spiritual book. And God's people will be a spiritual
people. A spiritual people. Yes. And the Lord knows where they
are. And thus when the Lord deals
with us do we not say with Abraham Jehovah
Jireh the Lord will provide the Lord God seeth nothing is hidden
from the Lord He is omniscient and omnipresent and thus He sees
all things now dear soul when cast down we're not exhorted to lift our eyes and look as
Abraham did you see a need was found and the need was
met and thus with God's people it's always been that way a need
is found and a need is met Abraham's needs were all met in that powerful
manifestation of the Lord Jesus and the ram caught in the thicket
was by providence raised up and thus we do we not find in our
path amazing providences raised up we can't explain them but
they happen and thus we can say 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
today, in the Mount of the Lord. It shall be seen. Amen.