Brother Luke mentioned an evangelist
from Winston-Salem, North Carolina that my father first heard the
gospel from. Well, that was Ralph Barnard.
Many of you have heard that name over the years. I have fond memories of him. He
would come and preach 13th Street. I was just a boy. He stayed in
our home. He sang this song. song that
made a real impression on me as a boy. I've loved it ever
since. I was once far away from the
Savior, wild as a sinner could be. And I wondered if Christ, the
Redeemer, would save a poor sinner like me. I wandered on in the dark, not afraid of light. And the thorns fill my whole
heart with sadness There's no hope for the center of life Then
in that dark, lonely isle A voice sweetly whispered to me The same Christ, the Redeemer,
has power to save a poor sinner like me. I then fully trusted
the Lord Jesus, and oh, what a joy came to me. to others I'm telling I say Well, I've heard it about once,
so I don't blame you. Absolutely. All righty, I'd like
to ask you to stand with me if you would, and turn to page 97
of your handbooks. Let's sing, all hail the power
of Jesus' name, 97. Jesus name that angels prostrate
call. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by His
grace and crowns you Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by
His grace and crowns you Lord of all. Let every kindred, every
tribe, we We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all. Please be seated. Of amazing grace how sweet the
sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now am
found Grace that taught my heart to
fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. My God, my Savior, has ransomed
me, And like a flood, His mercy reigns, Blending love, amazing
grace. Has promised good to me His word
my hope secures He will my shield and guard from me As long as
life endures My chains are gone My God, my Savior, has ransomed
me. And like a flood, His mercy rains. My God, my Savior, has ransomed
me, And like a flood His mercy reigns. The earth shall soon dissolve
like snow, the sun for mere to shine. But a God who called me
here, His love will be forever mine. We'll be forever young. Amazing Grace is born. Amen. Not a lot to say, but Amazing Grace. Brother and pastor friend Paul
Mahan from Rocky Mount, Virginia. Come on brother. Preach about grace. You can be turned into Genesis
22. of Genesis 22, while you're turning, let me say again, as
these men have already said time and again, we're not just being
polite or respectful, we mean it. Sincerely, thank you for
all you've done for us. The food and James, you're a
gourmet chef. That's what your pastor Who's more important, he that
said it, me, or he that served? What the Lord said. Are not these
people just as vital as the preacher? Amen. One time, my father, he
preached on the radio and the TV, back in the early days of
the TV. A man up in West Virginia, a
little small country church in West Virginia, and called him
and asked him if he'd be willing to come preach there. He didn't
know Dad, Dad didn't know him. He thought he was one of these
big televangelists, you know. And he said, Brother Mahan, how
many people, how many people would it take for you to come
preach to us? Thinking he's the big crowd. Dad said, take two. Me to preach and you to listen.
Amen. And he went. Two or three. But that's why we're here in
it. We're here to feed God's sheep. This is our mission, this is
our purpose. That's why you're here. Pastor and chef to feed sheep.
It's a privilege, an honor, an undeserved privilege. But thank
you. All that you do is equally as
important and vital. the service of God as a king.
Well done, good and faithful servant. And that song, thank
you for singing that, that was beautiful. I know you don't think
you have the world's best voice, and our sister Cheryl apologized
for her voice, but let me tell you something. Luciano Pavarotti,
his voice, and all of the famous singers in this world are noise
in the ears of God Almighty. Singin' for their glory, for
their honor, and people are idolizing them. What she sang wouldn't
win American Idol with it. But the angels in heaven are
rejoicing over what she sang. We did, all God's people. They were in tears, my wife and
I. Everybody here is in tears. The
world needs to hear that song the way it should probably be
sung. Hallelujah, it's blasphemy for
the people of this world to even say that word in it. Not me. I hate to hear people, I hate
to hear country music singers sing Amazing Grace when they
don't know anything about that. If you take a simple child of
God, maybe not have the best voice in the world, but boy they
sing Amazing Grace, I said last night that one way
you know the gospel is good news to you. It's good news. You can hear the old, old story.
You can hear these stories over and over again. It's still good.
It's still wonderful. This story in Genesis 22, most
of you probably heard this, and I'm sure you probably preached
from it. But the story of Abraham offering
his son Isaac, and I told you last night, I'll give you another
example of faith. In Hebrews 11, this is mentioned,
and also mentioned in the Book of James. But here's what Paul
wrote. We thank Paul wrote Hebrew. He
said, by faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And he accounted that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead. From whence also he
received him in a figure. This is a figure, this is a type,
a picture, a story within a story, and the reason this was written
is to show the crucifixion of the Son of God by God the Father
himself. Please the Lord God, But we miss a blessing if we
don't take this personally. Alright? This is a real story. Look at verses 1 and 2. It came
to pass after these things that God didn't tempt or try or test
Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. His sheep hear his voice, don't
they? Abraham was called. That's the first thing he said
in Hebrews 11 about Abraham when he was called. He went out. He
was 75 years old when God called him. And he went out when God
called you, you do what he said. Take now, and he said, behold
I, behold me. And he said, take now thy son,
thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah. and offer him there for a burnt
offering." Now this is significant, it says it's six times, a burnt
offering. Upon one of the mountains, which
I will tell the... This is a real story of a real
man named Abram, whom God changed his name. He was chosen of God. Ask him. Ask him. Did you choose God or
did he choose you? You ask any child of God, they
would think that's a foolish question, isn't it? Yeah. Are
you serious? Abraham said, I was 75 years
old and my daughter, steeped in my daughter, but God. But God, amen. That's our salvation
in it, two words. But God, and you had thee quickened
who were dead. Walked the court in the course
of this world. Child of wrath, he was other. But God, his call,
his choice. Chosen of God, called of God
sovereignly, powerfully. And he left his father's house.
It says, after these things, faith will be tried. We miss
a blessing if we don't enter into this. All right, we're gonna
see the man. Hopefully we'll see ourselves here. And then
we're gonna give the preeminence to the God of man. But he left
his father's house, and that's what every single child of God
is called upon to do. Every single one. He left his
father's house, he left his religion, he left his idolatry, he was
chosen, he's called out of idolatry. To believe the living and true
God, he was taught of God. What did he learn? Every man
that heard and learned of the Father learns what? Christ said, Abraham, rejoice
to see my day. He saw it. When did he see it?
When did he finally really see Christ crucified? Right here. So it is with every child of
God. Abraham believed God and you know it was counted unto
him for righteousness. Like Abel. Abel heard the truth
and God gave him faith to believe the truth and he brought the
blood of a lamb and he was, God sees righteous. Nothing he did
but because of This sacrifice, this blood that was shed for
Him. Abraham believed God and was counted unto Him for righteousness.
God said, He's righteous. Totally unblameable and unapprovable
in my sight. Accepted. Where? In the blood
of Christ. Now all God's people know that. Now it's easy to say, I believe.
It's easy to say, I believe. But faith must be tried. Faith
will be tried. The trial of your faith. Work
with patience. Patience, experience. Experience
hope. Faith must be tried. It must be proved to be of God.
And what God does is... How long does it last? Forever. Forever. The gift of God. The
power of God. It's the operation of God. In
a person. Causing him to do what is impossible
for us to do. Believe God. Causing him to see
what man can't see. God. seeing it far off. To do what only God could make
us do. Thy people shall be willing.
When? When they decide. In the day of God's power. When
the gospel comes around. And he said to Abraham, a true
story, take your son, your only son, whom you love and offer
him on a mountain as a sacrifice. Kill him. Look with me in Luke chapter
14. Do you know that every child of God is called upon to do this? Look at it. Luke chapter 14.
Our Lord said it. Every single child of God is
going to be tested and this I know is the ultimate test of true
saving faith is that you love the Lord by His grace, by His
power, you love the Lord more than you do your blood relation. And that's a fact. It's going
to be tried, isn't it? Abraham went through many things
before this, but this was the supreme test. God said, now I
know. This is how I know about everything
else. You love your own, you love your blood kin. That's natural. The people of the world, unbelievers,
the mafia loves their family. They'll die for their family.
But who would forsake their family for an unseen God, for an unseen
Christ? Only God's true people, and every
one of them healed. They called on to do that. Our
Lord said this in Luke 14, look at it. Verse 25, there went great
multitudes with him. Great multitudes, professing
believers, followed him. Luke 14, 25. And he turned and
said to them, he turned and said, you listen to me. If any man
come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, his own life also
he cannot be my disciple." Isn't that what that said? Is that
what he said? Does he mean it? What's the Lord
mean by that? Well, Barnard used to say, he
means what he says. It's exactly what he said, isn't
it? It's not hate so much as love
for God and for Christ. It will seem to others that you
don't love your family, that you don't love. And I'll give
you an illustration. Brother Walter Brewer, back in the early
60s, the Lord saved him and called him out of false religion, like
so many, and called him to preach the gospel and called him to
be a preacher, a minister, a missionary in Mexico, a land he'd never
been, just like Abraham. And Walter at the time had four
children at the time, five. I don't think, Kevin was born,
okay. Had five children. Did he love
his children? Do you love your four children? More than yourself. Don't you? Did he love those
children? Sure he did. Five children, okay. He quit his job, sold his house,
and moved to, then it was a hostile country. There was no modern
conveniences like now. Moved his whole family down there.
He didn't know the language. Hadn't learned the language and
moved them all down. And his family couldn't understand that.
His father, his mother couldn't understand that. And they said
to him, Andre, they said to him, you can't love your children
and do that to them. Of course he loved his children.
But he had a love that was greater. God-given. That's supernatural,
isn't it? It's natural to love your own.
It's supernatural to love him whom you haven't seen. Like Ruth
left everybody and everything to go to a land to marry a man
she's never seen. How could somebody do that? That's
abhorrent. And everyone, every single child
of God will be called on to at least be willing to do that. By his choice, like Moses, choosing
rather, not wanting to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
but choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of
Israel. These are my people, that's not my family. These are
my people, God's people. Suffer the reproach of Christ. greater treasures. That's not
natural, is it, Brother Eric? But that's what God does to every
one of his people. My dad did it. My mom and dad
left Tennessee and went to Kentucky. Me, I did it. Left our home. She always tells this story. Henry Mayhem was our pastor.
And she was a daddy's girl. She loved her father and loved
Kentucky and still loves Kentucky. And we were called to go to Virginia. Where is that? Rocky Mountain.
Where is that? And she admitted that, I'm going
to have to quit listening to Henry Mahan and listen to you. And so did Laura. Left our home
and our friends and lots of couples and your dad and mom, we were
so close to. Didn't think a thing about it.
Yeah, we'll do it. That's the Lord. Abraham called. Take your son, your only son,
and offer him up to me. And you know what Job said? You remember Job took his sons
and daughters. What'd he say? The Lord gave
them to him. They didn't belong to him. And
the Lord took them away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Can you say that? All of God's people can and must say that. They don't belong to me, Lord,
they're yours. And I love this in Hebrews 11, it says, he counted
that God was able to raise his son from the dead. The Lord gave
us these children, and they're dead in trespass and sin. They're
born that way. We know because we were. And
they're our offspring. And all our hope and for them,
and our one desire for them is that God will raise them from
the dead. How? It's tragic. Tragic. There was a time when my parents
the spirit of me, humanly speaking, this prodigal son. And I can't
preach the gospel, I can't tell what great things the Lord has
done for me without these two words, but God. Take thy son. Now this story is talking about
Abraham, his faith, but the story within the story. And the real
reason and purpose behind this story is how God took His Son
up on a mountain and sacrificed Him for the remission of God's
people's sin. He must have the preeminent.
The world will preach on this man's great path. They'll give
him credit for what he did, his choices on it. No, no, we don't
do that, do we? We give God all the credit for
the faith that He gave Abraham. It's not of ourselves, it's a
gift of God's power of God. And all of God's people will
do this, but they do it by the grace of God, okay? So here's
the story, back in our text, Genesis 22. Let's just look at
it one more time, okay? Genesis 22. Came to pass, came
to pass that after these things that God did tempt Abraham and
said unto him, behold, take thy son, Take now thy son, thy only
son Isaac, take him to 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 shall tell thee of." This is speaking
of. The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ on Calvary's tree. It was a burnt offering. I kept
saying that, even six times, a burnt offering, a burnt offering,
a burnt offering. Why? Because our God is a consuming
fire. And the brother last night, and
Brother Eric also, that Christ was put through hell
on Calvary's tree for his people. So we don't have to go there.
Instead of his people. He went through hell. Don't ever
say, I'm going through hell. You hear people say, don't ever
say that. Oh, no. But Christ did. He literally
did. Went through hell. The equivalent of an eternity
in hell, Christ suffered on Calvary's trail, six hours. He did. And burned off on Mount Calvary. And this was purposed by God. Purpose is Luke 3. Purposed by
God. Long time ago, verse 3, Abraham
rose up early in the morning and settled his act. Early in
the morning, before dawn, Abraham rose up. Before the dawn of day,
Abraham did this, okay? When was the gospel purpose?
When was this covenant made? Before the world began. Covenant
of God with His Son. Early. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit made this covenant for Christ to come
and be slain. Oh, long before the world began,
the lamb was slain. Before the first sinner sinned,
there was a lamb that was slain. That's Christ Jesus the Lord.
Oh, the love, and it says in verse three, He took two of his
young men, saddled his ass, took two of his young men, clad the
wood for the burnt offering, rose up, went to the place of
which God had told him. Preparations were made for this
sacrifice. Oh, the love, Scripture, the
Psalm says, that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the wisdom, the working,
the preparations of God in the Gospel. A day is a thousand years. Listen to me. A day is a thousand
years in God's eyes. It took the equivalent of 1,000
years to order the events of one day. Time is of no essence with God. Millenniums, perhaps, to order
every moment, every second, and it all points to this one event
in history, when Christ owned it. That's what Brother Luther
said. Oh, everything in creation is
a picture of it. Every type, every symbol, every
shadow, every person, place, and thing shows forth the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole book is a blueprint
of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who He is, and
why He came, and what He did on Calvary. Early in the morning.
All these plans were made. Look at verse 4. It says, On
the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place
afar off. Oh my. From Adam, Abel, Enoch,
Noah, all the saints have seen Christ afar off. Persuaded, Hebrews
says, embrace the truth. Hm. Afar off. And notice it says
he took these two young men, Verse five, Abraham said unto
his young men, abide ye here with the ass, I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again unto you. Two young men,
who are these two young men? Who do they represent? Well,
when our Lord Jesus Christ was on this earth, he took three
disciples up on a mountain with him, a mountain of transfiguration. It says, as the Lord was transfigured,
He peeled back that, I like to call it, that plain brown wrapper
skin, that robe of flesh that hid His real person, God, who
dwelt in life, no matter what. Son of righteousness. Peeled
back that robe of flesh to see Him as He is. They couldn't look
on. But there were two young men
that were talking with him. Who were they? Moses and Elijah.
You say, Moses wasn't young. He is now. Two young men, Moses and Elijah,
were talking with Christ. What were they speaking of? Scripture
says they were speaking of the death, the decease, which he
should accomplish. He's going to accomplish somebody's
death. This was all purpose, this was all planned, wasn't
it? And then two men, these two young men came to, they're young
to God, to the eternal God, Moses, and the law, and a few thousand
years, that's, that ain't long. But these two young men gathered
with Christ, and these disciples beheld it, and they spoke of
the crucifixion, the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this whole book speaks
of. To Him give all the prophets witness. Witness both of the
law and the prophet. But the law can't save us yet.
Moses wasn't permitted to take the people in the promised land.
Why? Because the law can't take us in the promised land yet.
The prophets. Read in the prophet. Believe
in the prophet. That won't take you in. Who must take you in?
Christ. Abraham, the father said to these
young men, you abide here with the ass, and I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again to you. This was between
the father and the son, wasn't it? No one else could get in
on it. No one else could have a part in this. This was salvation
is of the Lord. Not a cooperative effort, it's
an operation of God, an act of God. He said, you've got to stay
here while I and the son go up on this mountain. There were
twelve men in the garden with our Lord, weren't there? I mean,
in the upper room. Twelve men in the upper room.
And they went to the garden. There were three in the garden. He brought them into the garden
as he prayed and heard that high priest pray in the garden. And
on the cross, there were two people. The Father and the Son. This was between the Father and
the Son. I am the lad who will go yonder
and worship. Now listen to this. The greatest picture, story of worship in
all of the Bible is Christ on the cross. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son, worshipped God the Father unlike any man has ever done
before or since. No one has ever worshipped God
like Jesus Christ did in offering himself to God the Father as
a sacrifice for his people. Isn't he the supreme worshipper
of God? And I tell you what, it says,
I and the lad will worship. The Son worship the Father, and
the Father worship the Son. When David was anointed, his
son Solomon, his kingdom as the king, he says he bowed himself
on the bed to his son. The father bowed to the son and
said, your throne, oh God, oh son, is forever. That's what
the father said of his son as he saw him hanging on a tree,
worshiping God as no human being could possibly do. And he said,
because you've done this, I've given you a name which is above
every name, that because you've bowed to me and worshiped me,
every knee's gonna bow to you and worship you, whether they
like it or not. Please the Father, and what he
did, pleased him, he worshiped God, you understand? And we don't
worship God except in that way, as we bow to his Son, and look
to his Son, and give him all the glory for our salvation.
If we don't bow to that and believe that and come to God in that
way, we're rejected by God, like that. Only two religions in the
world. Works are great. Oh, I and the lad will go yonder
and worship. And there was no doubt about
the outcome of this one. Abraham, he didn't know, he really
didn't know, but he believed that God would raise him. Because
God promised him of your seed, not seeds, but seed he'll raise
up the Messiah and be blessed, and that's Christ. Seed of Abraham. I, the lad, will go yonder and
worship, and I, the lad, will come again unto you. We're going
to come again. Our Lord, His crucifixion, His
death, His burial, was prophesied long before He came. Christ must
suffer according to the Scriptures. And Christ must rise again. Oh,
He's just a mortal man. He couldn't do anything for anybody
if He doesn't rise from the grave. He's got to rise. If Christ has
not risen, we're dead in our sin. Debbie, was there any doubt? Our Lord kept telling His disciples,
I'm going to the cross. They're going to take me. This
is what they're going to do. This is everything they're going
to do to me. But then I'm going to rise the third day. We'll look at verse 6. I've got
to hurry. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid
it upon Isaac his son. God laid on Him, you know these
scriptures, Isaiah 53. God forbid we should ever tire
here and there. God laid on Him the iniquity
of us all, God's people. God made His Son be sin. It's
not just a doctrine, that's glory. Christ literally carried His
cross to Calvary. He literally did. And I hate
this, but Catholicism especially, says that he fell beneath the
load of that cross. He did not. That's in his book.
He did not fall under that cross. Do you understand me? That's
not here. Christ did not fail to carry
his cross as far as God had him carry that cross. That's not
here, John. That's Roman Catholicism. Christ
did not fail. He's not weak. He didn't fall
after He was crucified in weakness, but He was not weak to do the
task, to do the job. That's what you said, Luke. That
sacrifice, that lamb was not weak. He was strong. He was strong. He carried that
cross as far as God had Him carry it. And it's a picture, when
He laid it on Simon and Serenia, it's a picture of how we're going
to carry that cross. He took the cross of Christ,
and put it on another man. Here, you carry this cross, and
unless you bear his cross, you're not one of his disciples. But
that man didn't die on that cross, Christ did, you understand me?
That man didn't carry his cross because Christ couldn't carry
it, but because every one of God's people are gonna bear this
cross and let it bear up the truth of Christ and him crucified. as a witness. And this man, Simon,
Christ is the one who hung on that cross, not Simon. He hung
on there for Simon. So, remember that. He didn't
fall beneath that cross. Oh no, he shall not fail. And God laid on him the cross,
but no more than that, the iniquity of all God's people, and took
the fire in his hand, the God who's a consuming fire, and a
knife, the justice of God, and they both went up together. They both went up together. Upon this man, they went. And look at this, oh my. Do you
remember the first time you ever heard that? I forget which one
of you men quoted this. It says, Isaac spake to Abraham,
his father, and said, my father, I have to think of our Lord's
high priesthood prayer in John 17. What was the first word?
Father, glorify thy son. My father, the father said, hear
my, my son. He said, behold the fire. Father had the fire in his hand.
And the wood. Isaac had the wood on his strong
shoulders. And here's what Isaac asked,
and here's the question of all questions. Where is the lamb
for a burnt offering? We don't have a lamb, Father.
We can't worship God. We can't approach God. We can't
enter the presence of God without a lamb. We know that, don't we? That's what I tried to stress
yesterday, and I had a brother and all of us in it. That's what
we're trying to stress. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no mission today. You can't come to God. I don't
care how sincere you are. What you do, God won't accept
it. You're accepted one way. In the beloved, by his blood.
Where's the lamb? Our children know that, don't
they, Brother Eric? Our young children know that. You gotta
have a lamb to approach God. This son of Abraham knew that. Where's the lamb? Where's the
lamb? We gotta have a lamb. Wouldn't think more people in
the world would ask you that question when they go into their
places of so-called worship. Here's the fire, fire the fire,
and here's this wood hanging stubble. Where's the lamb? God's
not here, it's Ichabod on the door if the lamb is not slain,
if Christ is not free. Ichabod's on the door, the glory
has to come. The glory's in Christ being crucified,
isn't it? Where's the lamb? We know where the lamb is, don't
we? When we gave the glory, it said, behold, John said, lo,
I saw the lamb on the throne. That's where he is. For He was
where He is now when He ascended that cross. That was His highest
ascension written on His life. That's where God crowned Him. Where's the lamb? And He uttered
these wonderful words. The Father uttered these wonderful
words. Jehovah Jireh. My Son, He said. Look at it, verse... Verse 8, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offspring. God will provide. Jehovah-Jireh. Salvations of the Lord. God will. Not might. Not maybe. God will. Provide. It's up to the Lord. Completely His provision. Himself.
For Himself. His justice must be satisfied.
We've been saying that. His law must be satisfied. This
is for Himself. Man can't keep it. God can. Only
God can. He did. God will provide Himself. By Himself. God Himself will
do this. God was manifest in the flesh.
God was in Christ. Reconciling the world to Himself. The Lamb. He became the Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God, John
said. God's Lamb. Only one God except. It's impossible for those other
bulls and lambs to take away sin, but this lamb, after he
offered one sacrifice for every, put away the sins of the world. God will provide. So they went.
So they went. Now listen to me. If I've lost
you, I'm gonna get you back. While this was happening, purpose
by God, down in the valley at the foot of Mount Moriah. I'm
not making this up. At the foot of Mount Moriah,
there was a sheepfold. And in that sheepfold, there
were lambs sheathing. And an unseen hand opened the
gate of that sheepfold And out walked a ram, the most beautiful
ram in that whole flock of sheep, of the first leader of the flock,
the strongest, the biggest, the most wonderful, without spot,
without ring, pristine, white, comely, altogether lovely. A
ram walked out of that, an unseen hand opened that gate, and a
ram walked out that gate. And that ram walked all the way
up Mount Moriah by himself, ascended that mountain. and walked all
the way up that mountain. This happened. And that ram willingly
walked into a thicket of thorns and stuck its head in that thicket
of thorns and had its head wrapped with a crown of thorns, waiting
to die for someone. Amen. Christ is a lamb slain long before
this happened. God provided the lamb before
there was a sinner. The lamb willingly in a covenant
offered himself. I didn't make that up. That happened. That lamb was
there, that ram was there waiting. Like that scarlet thread was
in Rahab's house all along. She didn't know it. They said,
take that scarlet line and put it in the window. She said, I've
never seen that before. They said, it's here all along,
in your house. So they went together. They came
to the place which God had told them of. Verse nine, Abraham
built an altar there. He laid the wood in order. Everything
is ordered in it. All God's covenant and purpose
is ordered in all things. It's ordered in Christ. And what
is it? What does it say about it? It's ordered in what? Say
it loud. Sure. Sure. Possible, probable,
no, sure. Because he's the surety of the
everlasting kingdom. And he laid that wood in order
and bound Isaac, his son. Now, it was, Luke has said, not
a weak sacrifice. Christ willing. Isaac, at this
time, who thinks about 18 years old, do you think you could bind,
what's your name, Brady? Do you think you can take him
right now? I've heard that this guy's nothing but muscle and
synergy. I think you can take the old man. He'd have to be
willing. He'd have to be willing with
it. He'd have to be willing. That's why Christ didn't fall
right there. He shall not be. And the father said to the son,
will you be bound for your people? Will you be held guilty under
the law for your people, my people? Will you do this? And like a
marriage, this is the marriage of the lamb with his bride. And he said, I will. Do you take
this woman, this forlorn woman, this no good woman, who won't
take you unless you take her, will you take her? He said, I
do. Did he? I do, I will. And he took that
wood and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar, on
the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand and took that knife to slay his son. This is inconceivable. Think about that, Eric. You love
that son. Think about that. I wish we could
enter into that. Don't you think of this often,
Brother John. Don't you wish you could really enter into what
Christ went through on the cross. What God went through. It pleased
the Father to bruise Him. But it did not please the Father
for Him to die. No. It did not please the Father
for people to smack His face. It did not please the Father
for people to beat His Son in the face. Would that please you?
God's not pleased with this world who rejects His Son. And this is why God created a
hell for those who are not interested in His Son. Who could care less
if He came or died. And that was the last way. That's
right. But God, you see, you can't preach
the Gospel without those two words. But God, rich in mercy,
with great love, everybody knows He's chosen people. How do you
know? They love His Son. They appreciate His Son. They
behold His Son as their all in all. They glorify His Son, not
man, not themselves, not their decision. Glorify God. God's
not pleased when people hate His Son. He hates them. That's
a fact. Who does God love? Christ said,
God, the Father loves you because you love me. Didn't He say that?
Didn't He say that? The Father loves you because
you love me. Well, why do you love Him? Because He loves you. He didn't please the Father to
put His Son in pain and agony, but the pleasure of the Lord
prospered in His hand. It pleased God to make you His
people, and the only way for God to do that is to put His
Son on that cross. And what Christ did on that cross
was highly pleasing to the Father. And He took that knife in His
hand, and He took it to slay His Son, and it's inconceivable
to me a Father to kill His Son and it's inconceivable, really
unbelievable, but I believe that God the Father killed his own
son. Wait, I gotta tell the story.
It began a few minutes. You didn't give me my allotted
time. You went too long. This is a true story. Galway,
Ireland, in the 15th century, a mayor, the Lord Mayor of that
town, his name was James Lynton. He had a son, Walter, that he
loved. Walter was his name. Walter was
a sinner. Walter was a rounder. Walter
was a no good son. Walter got caught up in an affair
with somebody else and the punishment was hanging. And the people of
the town loved Walter's son. The father loved Walter's son,
but he'd broken the law. And the law said he's hanging,
he's caught. And the people of the town did
not want the sun that they loved to be hung, but that's what the
law said. And one morning, the whole town
was awakened by the Lord Mayor up in his castle ringing a bell. This is a true story. James Lynch,
Walter Lynch. He was ringing this bell in his
home up there, ringing this bell, and all the town gathered up
there, and they looked, and behold, the Lord Mayor, James Lynch,
had his son Walter up on the banister with a rope around his
neck. And all the town witnesses, the
father with his son with a rope around his neck, and the father
said, no one is above the law. and hung his son. This is a true story. This book
is true. God is holy. God said no one's
above the law. All have sinned. We've heard
it. Broken the law of God. The punishment for sin really
is death, and that's what's going to happen. Cursing is everyone. Hang on true. God hung. And God
made his son a curse. God hung his son. on Calvary
trail. He did what God purposed before
he did. That's the fact. Well, Abraham, God said, the
angel of the Lord, verse 11, called Abraham, Abraham. He said,
here am I. Lay not thine hand upon the land,
neither do And 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. Behold, that ram that was waiting
there in that thicket, with that crown of thorns around his head,
caught in the thicket. And Abraham went, the father
and the son, I believe he unbound his son. Son, look. Isn't that what we hope for our
sons? Look, look. There's a substitute. I want them to see it as well
as that. That's Ram. Look, son. Caught
in the thicket. And he took that lamp, that Ram, How tight a hold do you reckon
they got on that rank? This is your son's only hold.
What you gonna do? You gonna lay a fast hold on
it? What do you take for that rank? Here, I'll give you a hundred.
Oh, no, this is the life of my son. They both laid hold of that. And it says that he offered him
up for a burnt offering in the stead of, in the stead of, in
the room of, in the place of, as a substitute for his son.
Isn't that wonderful? That's the story of Christ and
Him crucified. That's why this happened. That's
why God moved him. Genesis 22, there's no accident
or by chance that Psalm 22, the psalm of the cross. Well, I hope,
hold on. No, maybe I'm not gonna miss
this. Is this the end of the story?
The Son lived, okay? Is that it? Why did He live?
Why does He have to live? The Son. Look at it with me. Look down here at verse 20. It
came to pass after these things. You know, at the exact same time
that the Son was being offered on that mountain, the Father
was killing the Son, somebody was being born. You ever seen
that? Verse 20, it came to pass, after
these things, it was told to Abraham, saying, oh, Milka, your
brother's wife, Milka, she bore some children, she's had some
babies. Well, that's good, that's good. Huz, his firstborn, Buz,
his brother, Camul, the father of Aaron, and Chesed, and Hazel,
and Phil, I'm glad we've got names like Luke, and Eric, and
John. But Chesed, and Hazel, and Piltash,
and Jekyll, and Bethul. Nahor's son, Bethuel, she had
a girl. Bethuel's had a girl and the
only girl mentioned. What's her name? Rebecca. Who's that? Why is that important? That's Isaac's wife. When the son is being sacrificed
by the father, the bride's being born. He's got to live. He's got a
bride to tend to. Amen. It's going to be a marriage. Who wrote this book, Eric? What's
it about, not what. Oh, it means a lot. Oh, may the Lord bless you. I never saw that before. That's
wonderful, isn't it? Absolutely wonderful. Turn with
me, if you would, please, to 198. That's the graciousness of God
in sending a substitute to stand in His place. Let's sing, Wonderful Grace of
Jesus, 198. greater than all my sin. How shall my tongue describe
it? Where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden, setting
my spirit free, for the wonderful grace of Jesus. Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus gracious name of Jesus grace
is wonderful grace of Jesus preaching to all the law I say to the other
chains have been torn reason I I Jesus by me for the wonderful grace of Jesus
reaches me. Wonderful and majestic is the
name of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea, higher than
the mountains, sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient grace
for even me. We're going to have a meal immediately
following. Folks, I'd like to ask you three
pastors, three preachers, to go to the back of the room and
greet the folks on their way out. Paul, Eric, Luke. Stop for a moment and say hello
to them. Brother Edward, can I ask you to lead us in closing
prayer? Father, thank you for your word
today that is clear and eternal because it declares the goodness
of the work and the faith of the God-man, Jesus Christ. He is everything that comes. And He's all that we have. For
without Him, Father, we would bear eternal punishment
ourselves. But instead, because of Your
grace, Your mercy, Your faith, and your
kindness to the people of this earth,
a people who have been chosen to show that you are indeed those
things, Lord. So we bless you. We thank you for our master who is kind and
gives us a burden that is light. Bless the fellowship of your
people, the food that we're about to partake of, Lord. And for
all those who are not with us today, we pray for your mercy,
your faith, and your kindness, your love be upon them, especially
those who are suffering. As we give you thanks because
of the one, Jesus our Lord, amen. I know. I like it.