I want you to read these verses
with me. John 8. John 8, verses 56-58. Our Lord is speaking to some
Jews and He says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day. And he saw and he was glad. Jews said unto him, Thou art
not yet fifty years old. Hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus
said unto them, Barely. Verily I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I am." I'll go back to Genesis 22. There's
not a clearer picture or type of Christ and Him crucified in
God's Word than Genesis 22 in the Old Testament. Every story
speaks of Christ. In the volume of the book, it
is written of Him, but there is no clearer story than this
one. The story of Abraham, yes. And
maybe Wednesday night we will look at the faith of Abraham
here. But this story is not to glorify
Abraham. This story is not to bring glory
to Abraham's faith. He did have faith. He did have
works, yes. And he was tried and he was obedient,
yes. But this is a greater story.
Christ must have the preeminent. The greater story here, the story
hidden here, is the story of Christ and Him crucified. His
great work of redemption. His faith. faithfulness, his
love. How God sent his only begotten
well-beloved Son to be a substitute for unworthy sinners. God, whom
Abraham represents God here, and Isaac, who represents his
beloved Son, to be a substitute, to die in the stead of, in the
room of, in the place of guilty sinners. He begins in verse 1,
It came to pass after these things that God did tempt or try Abraham
and said unto him, Abraham. Abraham said, behold, here I
am, or behold me. Few words spoken here. God said
one word, Abraham. Abraham said to, behold me. God
is in heaven. This is the lesson for us. We
are on the earth. When it comes to this thing of
worship, let your words be few. Abraham, behold me. What is the Lord going to say
to Abraham? What does the Lord have to say
to us? The whole counsel of God, all the fullness of God, all
the scriptures of God can be summed up in this verse too.
The whole story, the whole counsel in the volume of the book, this
is written. This is the story. God 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 then God was silent. Nothing
else to say. That's it. That's what this book
is all about. Or rather, who? The whole counsel
of God, the whole Word of God, and the volume of the book, it's
written of how God sent His Son, His only begotten Son, whom He
loved, Jesus Christ, to be a burnt offering, a sin offering, on
Mount Calvary. Mount Calvary, the place that
all of Scripture tells us about. All Scripture speaks of the only
begotten, well-beloved Son of God, who He is, why He came,
what He did and who He did it for. Moses wrote of Lee, Christ
said, didn't he? Solomon wrote of him. Isaiah
wrote of him that we read in Isaiah 53. Our Lord said, Rejoice to see
my day. Abraham is going to see Christ
in this story and what happened to him. He's going to experience
the Lord Jesus Christ as never before. Verse 3 says, Abraham
rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of
his young men with him and Isaac his son. claimed the wood for
the burnt offering, rose up, went unto the place of which
God had told him. Abraham, the father, rose early
and made all preparations for the offering up of his son as
a burnt offering. He made diligent preparations.
He rose early to do it. He took the ass, he took two
servants, and he took wood. All of this represents how our
Lord God prepared all of this before the world began. Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. That's
their scripture version. Known unto him are all his works,
all things were created and prepared afore by God for his glory and
for the glory of his only begotten well-beloved Son. Everything,
creation, was created for God's glory. Everything in it. Everything
redounds to the glory of His Son. Everything is a picture
and a type and a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it began
with the sun in the sky, with the light and the sun. All for
the glory. The Lord made the world. You
know why the Lord made this world? For Jesus Christ to walk on it. He was in the world. The world
was made by Him. just as that voice walked in
the garden before man was created. For His glory and His pleasure,
they are and were created. But the Lord made this world
for Jesus Christ to walk on it. And He planted a tree, like this
wood. The Lord planted a tree, and
He caused that tree to grow for Jesus Christ to hang on it. He raised up a young colt full
of an ass for him to ride into Jerusalem on. And these two young men, you
recount the story of Moses and Elijah meeting with Christ. He
raised up these two young men, Moses and Elijah, to talk about
the death that he should accomplish when he's on his death, on the
tree. Yea, they are they which testify of me," he said. The
ass, the wood, all of it, the two young men. Christ is called
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Before there was
a world, there was a Lamb prepared, like Abraham made these preparations. Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior provided. Listen, this is true. While Abraham was preparing these
things for the sacrifice of his son, 100 miles away at the foot
of Mount Moriah, the Lord God caused a young yearling sheep
or ram to wander off from the fold to begin climbing Mount
Moriah. to walk up that mountain and
enter into a thicket and have his horns caught in that thicket. And there he stayed for three
days waiting to be the substitute for Isaac. All things were prepared. The
Lord is a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. That's
a fact. We're going to see another glorious
thing in this thing that is happening at this very moment, at this
very moment when Abraham is authorizing. Verse 4 and 5, On the third day
Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. God who foreknew. God who had
predestinated all things, for whom he foreknew, he did predestinate. All this predestinating purpose,
this foreseeing sight of God, is for the praise of the glory
of His grace, the grace of His Son. The death, the crucifixion,
the burial, the resurrection, the ascension, the exaltation
of His Son, and the birth of a people of salvation. That's
what God saw far off. Far off. Verse 5, And Abraham
said unto his young men, and this is what God says to
all of his young men. This is what God, they'll all
be taught of God. This is what the Father teaches
everyone whom he reveals the truth to. Verse 5, You abide
here. with the ass. I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again. You stay here. We're going to go worship. We're
going to go and do something that you had no part in. We're
going to go do something for God and for us. The sacrifice that
Christ made between the Father and the Son, the sacrifice that
He made was a sacrifice of worship. What Christ did on Calvary's
tree was the supreme act of worship to God Almighty. Greater love
hath no man than this. Greater obedience hath no man
than this. A greater sacrifice hath no man
made than this. The sacrifice of blood. Christ
was sent to be killed by the Father. He sent the Son to be
a burnt offering to God. And this thing of salvation is
of the Lord. Completely of the Lord. He's
the author of it, and He's the finisher of it. He's the one
that purposed it, and He's the one that performed it. And man
has no part in it. No part in it. You stay here. We're going to go and do this
work. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. That's
what God teaches all of His young men and women. They'll all be
taught of God. Salvation is purposed by God
the Father, purchased by God the Son, and applied by God the
Holy Spirit. Salvation's on the door. They'll all be taught of God.
This holy sacrifice between God the Father and God the Son. Listen.
When Christ came as a young man, He chose twelve apostles. And
then one day, in the end of His earthly ministry, He took three
of them up on a mount to see His glory. Peter, James, and
John. But when he went to Mount Calvary,
and he said this before he went, he said, all of you shall forsake
me. Because nobody, where I go, he
said, you cannot come to me. You cannot come. I have to do
this work. I and the Father together are
going to do this work. And where I come, you cannot
go. Through hell. On the cross. And when Christ
ascended Mount Calvary, no man stood with Him. And Christ said
this before He left. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go, that is to Calvary,
to prepare a place for us in glory. Christ went to Calvary
that we might be accepted of God, to offer this sacrifice
that God is well pleased with, Put away our sin that God may
receive us unto Himself. And Christ said, if I go and
prepare a place for you, if I do this work, I will come again. I, the lad, will go yonder to worship
and will come again. Christ said, if I go and prepare
a place, I will come again to receive you unto Myself. by virtue
of that sacrifice that I made." Not you and me, but the Father
and I. Look at verse 6. Well, Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son. And then Abraham took the fire
in his hand and a knife, and they went, both of them, Just
those two together. Wood was laid on his son just
as God laid on our Lord Jesus Christ his own cross. The Romans,
who were in charge of the crucifixion, had Christ carry his own cross. But that was by order of the
Lord God to fulfill the scripture. Again, I love when this happens. I turned on the radio a little
late again this morning. And the first words out of his
mouth on that program was, Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross? And he gave five reasons. And
one of them, the first of them was to fulfill the scripture.
that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, that He might be Lord,
that God might be just and justifier, to put away sin, to bring us
to God, and so on. But that the Scriptures might
be fulfilled. God wrote this a long time before Christ came
here, that Abraham would lay that wood on his son Isaac. And
Christ came and He carried His own crop. But it was a much heavier
burden that God laid on His shoulders. God hath laid on Him, we read,
the iniquity of us all. Oh, wake up. Stay with me here,
okay? God laid on His Son, Isaac. I mean, God laid on His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Isaac is a picture, the iniquity
of us all. God is a consuming fire. And
Abraham took the fire. And a knife. Law. Justice. You know what the law
says to us? Guilty. You know what the law
says? The soul that sinneth, what?
I'll surely die. But God hath made his soul an
offering for sin that we might live. Christ said,
I am come that they might have life. Come to do what? Die. That they might have life. Made
his soul an offering for sin. Made him to be sin. But God,
who is a consuming fire, The wrath of God poured out on Christ,
the burnt offering, the sin offering. The knife of His justice plunged
into His breath. Verse 7, Isaac spake unto Abraham,
his father, in verse 7, he said, My father, the son before the sacrifices
to be made, said, My father, Before Christ went to Calvary's
tree, he was in the garden, and every one of the gospels say
he fell down on his knees and he cried, My father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. Isaac said, My father. And the
father said unto him, he said, Here am I, my son. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Here am I, my son. And Isaac asked this question. He
said, Behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb? for a burnt offering. Here's the fire, here's the wood,
where's the lamb? This is the question of questions,
isn't it? Isaac knew, and all the sons of Abraham knew, you
had to have a lamb. If you're going to worship God,
to be accepted by God, there's one way, and only one way. You will not be accepted by God. You can't come nigh to God. God
will not hear you. You cannot worship God. God won't
be spoken to, won't speak to, won't deal with, won't accept,
won't forgive, won't have any dealings with a human being outside
of blood. Abel, the very first man that
died, died for that reason. Blood. It must be a lamb for a burn
off. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of
sins. God said, when I see, there's
one thing, if I see it, I will pass over you. Listen to me now.
Not me, God. This is comfort beyond comfort. This is comfort in the face of
your worst sins. your deepest guilt. When I see
the blood, I will pass over you. Will God be merciful? Yes. Why? Christ died. Oh, my. And we need to ask this question
to religion, to everyone we come into contact with. Here's the
fire. All this fire, wildfire in religion
today. I get things all the time in
the mail, how to acquire the fire. Programs and religious gatherings
all over of Christian rock music and all of this enthusiasm and
wildfire for young people. They're causing their children
to walk through the fire. Those of you who've read those
scriptures, you know that's exactly what that's talking about. They
cause their children to walk through the fire, acquire the
fire, and all this wood, all these temples, all these buildings
that are nothing but wood, hay, and stubble. Where's the lamb? That's the question, isn't it?
Where's the lamb? We've got to have a lamb. Where's the lamb for a burnt
offer? And what Abraham answers here, it's one verse in this
Bible. And I said verse two, and it's
true. But this one verse, all the Bible could be summed up
in this one verse. If you'd ask me for an Old Testament
scripture that sums up all the Bible, it would be this one.
A New Testament verse would be 2 Corinthians 5.21. God hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. But here it is.
When Isaac asked his father, here's the fire, here's the wood,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, and
God had him say this exactly as he said it, Abraham said,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Four things here. God will provide. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. He provides. He provides everything
we need. The sacrifice, the place, the
high priest, the Lamb. God will provide Himself a Lamb. This sacrifice was for God. That
God might be just and justify the ungodliness. God must have
a lamb to satisfy. The blood must be shed. The soul
that sins must surely die. God's law demands it. The holiness
of God demands it. The sacrifice that Christ made
was unto God, not man. It's the highest blasphemy. It's
the grossest error to say that Christ was offered to men. That
is utter blasphemy. It's the worst form of blasphemy.
Christ offered himself to God. This sacrifice was made to God.
It wasn't for us. The key is not us accepting it.
It was will God accept it? That's the question. And this
sacrifice was made under God. God will provide for himself
a lamb. God was in Christ. And God will
be the lamb himself. God will provide Himself a land. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself when He had by Himself purged our sins. Who can forgive sins but God?
Right! God Himself became the land. Feed the church of God which
He purchased, what? With His own blood. The world
doesn't understand that. Religion doesn't understand that.
Self-righteous people don't like it. I love it. God was in Christ. Emmanuel being interpreted as
God. God provided Himself. A Lamb. When John preached, he had one
message, didn't he? One message. This is all God
has to say to sinful men and women. And God sent this last
prophet, John, and he said, you preach one message. Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. God will
provide. God will provide for Himself.
God Himself will be that Lamb for Barnabas. Salvation is up
for the Lord. So they came to the place. Verse
9, that God had told him of. Abraham built an altar there.
What do you suppose he built the altar in? Stones. Stones
made ready. They built that altar there and
laid the wood in order. And along that line, people,
we have an altar. Christ is all of this. He's all
of this. He's the altar. Christ, Him crucified,
He's the Son. We have an altar and that's Christ.
This foundation which no man can lay but that which is laid.
The stone which the builders rejected. He's become the head
of the corner. He's the altar. He built an altar
there and laid the wood in order. Everything in order. Everything
purposed by God. The purpose of sending His Son. And He bound Isaac, His son,
and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Do you know how old
Isaac was? 25 years old. 25 years old. Or close to that. Not a little old. Strong. Virile. Strong young man. Abraham is 125 years old. He
can't bind this young boy. Get it? Unless he's willing. The Son must be willing. Christ
said this, No man taketh my life from me. Christ is our Samson. Nothing can bind Him. No one
can bind Him. And that's right. Christ laid
down His life for us. He said, No man takes my life
from me. But He offered it willingly.
And you know who took His life? You know who took Christ's life?
No man. He said, take of my life from
me. No man, take of my life from me. No man. God said, I kill. It pleased
the Lord. He made His soul an offering
for sin. I kill. God killed His own Son. He bound
and our Lord was willing. obedience to lay down his life. Oh, greater love. He didn't do
it for good people. He didn't do it for the righteous.
He did it for the likes of Barabbas, a thief on a cross, Mary Magdalene,
Pabdikens and Harlots, the chief of sinners. That's love, isn't
it? Oh, that's a sacrifice. And verse
10 says, Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to
slay his hand, to shed his blood. You know how the Old Testament
lamb was killed? To the horror of the people,
but it had to be done. It was a stark reality of death
when all that blood was taken. That the one who killed that
lamb would take that lamb and bind it, tie it up, and take
it by the head and take a sharp knife and slit its throat. And
since that sacrifice was so precious, that blood was so precious to
be taken in and poured upon the mercy seat, not one drop could
be wasted. Not one drop of that precious
atoning blood was to spill on the ground. No, sir. It's all
to be caught in a basin. All to be caught in a brass labor. in order for every drop of that
precious Lamb's blood to be taken into the Holy of Holies and poured
out over the mercy seat, covering the broken law for the people
of God. And it's that blood that covered
their sins. Precious blood. But it was a
reality of death. He'd take that knife and slit
that Lamb's throat. The horror of everyone watching. But oh, it had to be done. It
was a mixture of fear Trembling in horror and terror with joy
and rejoicing and thanksgiving. And Abraham was about to take
that knife and do that to his own son. Can you imagine? But he didn't. He didn't have
to. God doesn't require the blood
of our sons and daughters. The angel of the Lord, verse
11, called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, said it twice,
Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he
said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad. Listen, this is good. Neither do anything unto him. Don't touch your son. Don't touch
your son. Nothing's going to be done to
him. It's a test. It's a trial upon you. Your son
doesn't have to die. Him dying can't put away your
sins. Our children are the blood of
bulls and goats. Can't put away sin. And when God provided Christ
the substitute, when God provided the lamb that would put away
the sins of the world, the law says, When the sacrifice is provided,
when Christ the substitute is provided. Listen to me now. The
law of God says, don't touch him. About the people that Christ
died for, the law says, don't do anything to him. The law can't
lay a hand on that. This is not antinomianism. This
is glory. Because of what Christ did, he
did so fully. so acceptably to the Father that
God says to His holy law that in us well is no good thing,
yet the blood so completely covers, get a hold of this sinner, that
the blood so completely covers that God says to His law, don't
touch him. I think I got a hold of me just
now for the first time. Do you hear that? The law says,
die! And God's going to prove that
by killing this whole world full of people. But not one soul for
whom Jesus Christ died. Not one! Not one! The soul that hath on Him leaned
for repose. He said, I'll never, no, never
desert to His throne. Don't touch him. Don't do anything
to him. I found a ransom. Deliver him
from going down to the pits. Deliver his soul from the captor.
Deliver him from hell. Deliver him from wrath and judgment. I found a substitute waiting
in the spigot, caught by his horns. His own power held him
there. Abraham looked. Turn around,
Abraham. All this time you didn't see
it. Right over there he was the whole
time. You're a substitute. Abraham needed a substitute too.
He didn't want his son to die. The Lord had mercy on Abraham
by providing his son a sacrifice. There's no greater mercy God
can show a parent than God saving their child, isn't it? There's
only one. The same one for us. The same
one for them. Abraham lifted up his eyes. Lift
up your eyes. Behold, your redemption draws
nigh. He lifted up his eyes and looked. Salvation's in a look.
Behold, behind him, a ram caught in the thicket, a thorny bush. Thorns, as it were, held this
sacrifice by the head. by his horns, his own power,
held him by the horns. And what happened? Everything
that happened is not recorded. The first thing that happened
was Abraham looked. There it comes. Isaac, look!
Isaac! Isaac looked. And Abraham reached
over and untied Isaac, set him free. unbound his son,
took him off the altar. And Isaac and Abraham both. Don't
you know? Don't you know? You know what Abraham saw? And
Isaac did too. Christ said, you saw my death. You saw my death. Right then
and there, Abraham said, that is what God must do. This is
what God has been saying all this time. This is the salvation
of every sinner. A substitute that God will provide. I'm not sure he knew what he
was saying, but he knows now, doesn't he? God will provide
miraculously, amazingly. God will provide Himself a Lamb. And right there He is. Christ.
That's the Son of God. He didn't know His name was Jesus,
but He knew He was going to be the substitute. The Son of God
will be sent to be the substitute for his people. He saw my day,
Christ said, and he rejoiced to see my day. This was the happiest
day of Abraham's life. Do you think he heard any bad
news after this? After this was over? Could anything
disturb him too much? Oh, and he took that ram. He
laid hold of it. Oh, take it. Oh, he took it and
laid hold firmly. Isaac did too. You got it, Dad.
I got it. This is my life. Don't let him go. Oh, no, I won't.
He's not going anywhere, Kelly. That ram's not going anywhere.
He's been waiting all the time. But they laid hold of it like
everything depended on them holding it. That's how much that ram
meant to them. Oh, lay hold of Christ. Oh, we
do steadfast to the end, don't we? And we'll find out he wasn't
going anywhere. They laid on and offered him
up for a burnt offering. They laid that ram upon that
altar, bound him up, and Abraham took that knife with great thanksgiving. and great joy in his heart. This ram is taking the place
of his only begotten, well-beloved son. And he pierced the heart
of that ram and poured out that precious blood of that substitute.
And that's exactly what God did to Christ. He spared us, but
He spared not His own son. Abraham didn't have to kill his
son, but God had to kill him. And God did kill his son. And he was offered in the stead
of, like that ram, Christ the substitute for all of God's people. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is seen or said to this
day. In the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen. In the mount of the Lord, in
Mount Calvary, it shall be seen. What shall be seen? Who God is. All that God is. All the character
of God is seen at Calvary. The holiness of God. The justice
of God. The love of God. The mercy of
God. The wisdom of God. The grace
of God. It's all seen in Christ and Him
crucified. Salvation of God, the righteousness
of God, the justice that's also in there. To this day, we're
still talking about it. Do you know what was going on
at the same time that Abraham was offering up Isaac? A woman
is prevailing in birth. At the same exact time that Abraham
is offering up his son Isaac, the brother of Abraham, his wife,
is with Chai, his granddaughter. Bethuel is the eighth. Look at
it, verse 23 of chapter 22. Bethuel was the eighth. Incidentally, so was David. And it was the son of David.
But Bethuel, the eighth begat Rebekah. Listen to this. When they came down from that
mountain, they said to Abraham, after these things, they said
to Abraham, Oh, your brother Nahor, he's had several sons. The last is Bethuel. Seven, eight
sons were born. Oh, and by the way, He had a
daughter. What's her name? Rebecca. While Isaac's being sacrificed,
Rebecca's being born. She's the bride of Isaac. While he's being made a sacrifice,
she's being born. when Christ was crucified on
Calvary's tree, prevailing, as it were, in birth of His people.
And they pierced His side with that sword. And out of His side
came blood and water, didn't it? Huh? Justification, sanctification. But that's not all. The Church,
the Bride of Christ, was born at that time. Right there. Rebecca. See, He must live. Abraham thought, well, if I kill
him, and this is what Hebrews tells us, if I kill him, God's
going to raise him, because God said, he'll see, he'll see, he'll
see. He must live. So he fully trusted the Lord. We'll look at this Wednesday
night, I believe, as a type of faith. But he said, if I kill
him, God's going to raise him, because God can't lie. He promised. He has to live. Why? His wife
is waiting. His bride is waiting for him. Do you not see now, a little
clearer than ever, that this is the gospel? That Christ is
the gospel? This is the story of Scripture.
The whole counsel of God. Christ is salvation. There is
no other story. It all points to this. There
is no room for boasting. No room for both. This is the
only message. This is really the only message
that will break a sinner's heart. It's the only message that will
motivate us to serve Him. And also, do you see why God
is angry with this world? This world who doesn't care about
His Son? That God would do such a thing
for an unworthy sinner and the world doesn't care? Not interesting. And religion, that it took one
thing to put away our sin, God to kill His Son in such a horrible
way, make His soul an offering, a burnt offering, burn His body,
and yet people in religion would dare to say that something they
did Some little decision they made or some kind of good deed
or good work that they did, that's what God's going to look at and
bring them into heaven. Do you see why God is so angry
with that? That if righteousness come any
other way, Christ, He didn't have to die. God didn't have
to do that. Do you see why God is so angry
with this world that doesn't care about His Son? And religion
that thinks that they had a little part in it? Do you see why He's
so angry? And this is what it took. God will not share His glory
with another. His Son-in-law well deserves
the praise, doesn't He? They went together. They're the
ones that did it. Well, okay. Let's sing in closing number 110. Isaac Watts, I believe. wrote this, one of the greatest,
along with 118, 110. Alas, and did my Savior bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would
He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Let's stand
as we sing this. The lesson did my soul learn