And look at verse 17. As you
know, Abraham, in obedience to the command of God, he took Isaac
up upon a mountain that God said He would show him, which was
Mount Moriah. And Abraham had every intention
of offering his son as a burnt offering unto the Lord. Now,
nowhere in the law that God gave to Moses, which we're kind of
in the process of studying on the Lord's Day in our studies
in the book of Exodus. Nowhere was there ever commandment
given that said you had to have a human sacrifice. God never
gave that order to anybody else. but he did give it to Abraham. And it was a commandment that
Abraham readily obeyed. And I would venture to say, at
least in my estimation, I can't think of a greater trial or a
more difficult trial that any man in the Word of God ever faced
than this difficulty that Abraham faced, the job, the task of offering
his son as a sacrifice to God, as a burnt offering to God. I
can't think of anything else that would even be a parallel
to this with, of course, the exception of God the Father offering
up the Lord Jesus as a sacrifice for his people. But amongst all
the population of the people of God, and the people of God
as set forth in the Word of God, surely this is, if not the greatest
act of obedience, it's right there near the top of the greatest
act of obedience of any of the children of God. And Abraham
was not hesitant. He believed, and did what God
told him to do. Here, look with me in Hebrews
11, verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that
had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. His only begotten son. You know, that is an expression
used only for the Lord Jesus Christ with the exception of
this portion of Scripture. We read in John 1.14, John 1.18,
He's called the only begotten of the Father. John 3.16, He's
the only begotten Son of God. John 3.18, He's the only begotten
of the Father. 1 John chapter 3 or chapter 4,
He's the only begotten Son of God. The Lord Jesus is. And yet
the Spirit of God, as He directed whoever the writer of Hebrews
was, perhaps it was the Apostle Paul, we're not told specifically. But whoever the writer was, the
Spirit of God had him to write these words, and he that had
received the promises offered up his only begotten. And of
course the word son is rightfully in italics because it was added
by King James translators. But as to be understood, he offered
up his only begotten son. That is, one of a kind. That's what only begotten means. One of a kind. And you know,
Isaac was one of a kind. Because he's a miracle child.
He's one of a kind. But He's just a figure or a picture
of our Lord Jesus, the God-man, our Savior, that one who is co-equal
with God. He is the only begotten, only
begotten Son of the Father. He is one of a kind. There's
not another like Him. Name all of the men who have
ever lived, who have ever walked upon the face of this earth.
None of them even began to commence to compare to God's only begotten
Son. He's one of a kind. And it's not by accident it's
worded this way because we know that Isaac was in several ways
a picture, a figure, a type of our Lord Jesus. The willing sacrifice. Then we see that as Abraham and
his only begotten Son make their way to the mountain that God
had showed him. And as they bid the servants
stay behind, and Abraham said, I and the lad will go yonder
and worship, and will come again to you. and they get there and
Isaac, he's been carrying the wood. He's not a little boy. He's a young man with broad shoulders. And the wood is strapped on his
back. He goes willingly to the place
where he thought and Abraham thought was going to be the place
of his death. That's our Lord Jesus. He went
willingly. He carried His own cross. That
cross was meant for Him. It was marked out for Him. And Isaac goes carrying the wood. And when he gets to the place,
his father piles some rocks up, and then the wood is put down.
Son, put the wood in order here, just like we do at home when
we're going to worship God. I've already told you God will
provide Himself a lamb, so spread that wood out. You know how to
do it. And He did because He had worshipped with His Father.
And then His Father said, now Isaac, you get up on the wood.
And there's no hesitation. There's only obedience. There's
only willingness. Do you not see a picture of our
Savior? There's no reluctance about going
to the cross. The Scripture says He set His
face as a flint toward Jerusalem. And though the disciples said,
don't go, don't go, we don't want you to go. Stay away from
Jerusalem. He said, I must go. I must suffer
many things of the chief prince. The Son of Man must suffer, must
die, must be buried, must be raised again in the third days.
I must, I must. All see Him willingly going. One who, as Isaiah said, was
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. As a lamb who's being
led to the slaughter. He opened not His mouth. Of course,
a four-legged lamb going to the slaughter, He doesn't know what's
about to befall Him, but our Savior did. Because He's the
Lamb of God who, He was slain from before the foundation of
the world. He knew what was in store for
Him. He knew of the justice that He
had to face, because that's His justice. He knew of the law of
God that men had broken because that's His law. He wrote it with
His own finger. And He knew the penalty for breaking
that law is death. And He knew He was there as the
substitute for His people. That ram caught in the thicket
by its horns. Horns being the symbol of power. Our Lord Jesus. All-powerful. How powerful. He's powerful enough to bear
all the sins of all of the elect, of all of the ages, and bear
them away. That's how powerful He is. How
powerful. He's powerful enough to endure
all the wrath and the judgment of God that was our due. He bore it till there was no
more wrath to be borne. He's God's only begotten Son.
He's one of a kind. We've got a Savior who's one
of a kind because He's not only willing to save, He's able to
save. Isn't that wonderful? He's able
and willing. Well, now read on. Now look at
the next verse, verse 18. Of whom it was said that in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. And verse 19, accounting that
God was able to raise him up even from the dead. That's how
Abraham, that's how much he believed God. It says, from whence also he received
him in a figure, he received him in a parable. He received
him in a picture in his own mind. Abraham had already killed that
son. And he saw and he believed that
God could raise him up from the dead. And I'll tell you, God
the Father put his son to death. No argument about that. Oh, I
know people debate, well, who did it? The Jews did it. And
the Jews say, we didn't do it. And the Romans, others say the
Romans did it. And Romans say, well, it was
the Jews. I'll tell you who did it. God did it. It's like, this
is a poor parallel, but I hear people arguing about this virus,
where it came from. I can tell you where it came
from. It came from God. That's where it came from. And
that settles the issue. Listen, all things are of God. If words mean anything, that's
the truth. All things are of God. When Job's
10 children lay dead from the storms that came, Job said, the Lord gave and the
devil hath taken away. That's what a lot of people think
it ought to read, but it doesn't read like that. The Lord gave. The Lord took away. All things
are in the hands of our God. Aren't you happy? That thrills
me. Ain't no use to lay awake at
night and worry about what might happen. I know exactly what's going to
happen. Our Lord is going to continue to reign. Now the details
of His reign, I don't know. That's not for me to know. That's
none of my business. That's in the mind and purpose
of God. But He governs all things. So, just don't worry. Don't worry. Only one where he
hurts is you. It doesn't solve any problems. The Lord, Abraham, said, he's
able to raise up Isaac. He's able to raise him up. Isaac
is Abraham's only begotten son. Oh, how unique. And we know that
God found a substitute for Isaac, Aram. The divine provision. And God provided a substitute
for us. Who could possibly take our place? What one man could possibly take
the place of a multitude that no man can number? As symbolized
by that 144,000 you read about back in the office a while ago.
Who could possibly stand up to that test and pass it and save
his people? Only one. only one. There's not another like him.
The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God. Our substitute. And he suffered by himself. He
died by himself. He says in Isaiah chapter 63,
He says, I have trodden the winepress of God's wrath alone. And I know
that can also apply to His second coming when He judges and deals
with all of His enemies. But it also deals with His first
coming. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. As it says in Hebrews 1 in verse
3, when He had by Himself purged our sins. By Himself. Then He sat down. Well you see,
because God provided a sacrifice and a substitute for Isaac, Isaac
was released. Don't you know that was good
news to Abraham's ears? Stop! Release your only begotten
Son. I found a substitute. And you
go over into the book of Job. God says, stop them from going
down to the pit. Why? I found a mediator. I found a ransom. I found one
to die in their stead. Where did he find Him? He found
Him in His own right hand. He found Him in His own eternal
bosom. That One who is in the bosom
of the Father forever. He said, this is the One. This
is the One. Go back to Genesis 22 then. So, Abraham gave to this place
a new name. A brand new name. And it's in verse 14, Abraham
called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh. As it is said
to this day, Moses wrote, in the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen. I'm fully persuaded that when
our Lord Jesus was speaking to the Jewish leaders there in John
chapter 8, and He said, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. I'm fully persuaded. This is
when he saw. This is when he saw Christ's
day. He saw a substitute for his son. And he saw a substitute
for himself and his son and all of the rest of God's elect. And
he rejoiced. He rejoiced. He is glad. You
want to make me glad? Talk about substitution. You
want to make me glad? Talk about accomplished salvation. You want to make me glad? Talk
about sins forgiven and put away by the bloody sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus. You want to make me glad? Talk
about righteousness established for an old sinner like me. Makes
me glad. Makes me glad. Does you to doesn't
stand. Makes us happy. You're not going
to find real happiness anywhere else in the world except in the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of substitution. And
the Gospel of satisfaction. So Abraham gave a new name to
this place. Jehovah Jireh. Ah, the Lord provided. The Lord will provide. The Lord
will see. Listen, he saw our need before
we even had a need. He saw our need of righteousness
before we even had any idea that we needed righteousness. He saw
our need of forgiveness before we ever sinned. He saw this. He will always see. The Lord
will see. He will see to it. And He will
always see the blood of the Lord Jesus. That's why I had to sing
that song to begin with. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. The Israelites gathered in, the
family gathered in the house, and they're eating the roasted
lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And they're ready
to go. Ready to go. Well, where is the blood? Oh, it's
outside, on the outside of the door. They can't even see it. I was thinking today, because
my mind just kind of works this way. Let's say a father was out
there putting that blood, dipping that hyssop in that bowl of blood,
you know, and putting that blood over top and putting it on the
side. And I bet you he didn't put any
of that painter's tape on there so he wouldn't get... I'd put
it on there liberally, wouldn't you, Joe? Yeah, just slap that
stuff all over. An Egyptian walked by and said,
what in the world are you doing? I said, God's coming through
tonight. He's coming through in judgment.
I'm putting this blood up here over top and on the sides. I'm
not going to put it down on the dirt because I'm not going to
trample underfoot the blood of Christ. I put it on the sides
of the door and over the top because God said He's coming
through in judgment. And I want to be safe. And I
want my son, my firstborn, I want him to be safe. That's why I'm
doing it. I bet you that Egyptian said,
that's the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life. The Israelite
father just keep on doing it and said, yeah, I know it is.
I know it. It just, it don't make sense
to the natural man. I know. This is what God said. Because God said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. See you later, my friend. The
Egyptian walked off and the Israelite went back in the house. God came
through at midnight. God saw the blood. Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will see. He always sees the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Even now, the scripture says
Christ makes intercession for us. That doesn't mean that the
Son of God is begging the Father for mercy, begging the Father
to save these people, begging the Father to be gracious. Oh,
no, no. God is plenteous in mercy. He's gracious. Well, what does
it mean He makes intercession? By His very presence. For he
is the Lamb of God who was slaughtered for us. As the hymn writer said,
five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary. They poor
effectual prayers, they ever plead for me. See, here's my
hope. And if you've got a good hope,
this is where your hope is too. My hope's not in my faith. My
hope's not even in my sight of the blood. My hope, by grace,
my confidence, is God sees the blood. God sees the blood. God sees the sacrifice. And He's
satisfied. He's satisfied. Yep, Abraham gave a new name
to this place, Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will see. The Lord will
see to it. Or the Lord will provide and
he provides for all the needs of his people. Philippians chapter
four, but my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God always sees the blood. God
sees to it that everyone in whose stead Christ died will come to
believe him. God will provide. You who are
the children of God, hold on to this promise. God will provide. He will provide. He will provide all things spiritual. He will provide all things everlasting,
eternal. And God even provides all things
that we need temporally. I was reading this verse of Scripture
and looking at it again today in Luke chapter 22 after our
Lord had partaken of the final Passover supper and then instituted
what we call the Lord's Supper. He said to His disciples, When
I sent you out without purse, that means without any, a little
bag with money in it, I sent you out without money and without
a script, provisions in a leather bag, and I sent you out without
shoes, he said, lacked ye anything? That's what he asked. I told
you to go out. Don't take any money with you.
Don't take any clothes with you. Don't take any shoes with you.
Just what's on your back. That's the only clothes you'll
take with you. He said, now, did you lack anything? You know what they said? All
in unison. One word. Nothing. Nothing. We lacked nothing. You know why that is? Because
Jehovah jive him. The Lord will provide. Oh, He
didn't say He'd give you everything you want. But He will give you
everything you need. Everything you need. He said,
I'll see to it. And then notice this. Go down
here a little bit further. Then the angel of the Lord called
out to him again. And he says in verse 16, By myself
have I sworn, saith the Lord. Listen, he can swear by no greater.
So he swears by himself. For because thou hast done this
thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in
blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of the heaven, as the sand which is
upon the seashore. Who is this seed? Well, this
seed, it's not his natural descendants. That's not who the seed is. And
it isn't even his spiritual descendants because he's the father of the
faithful. Abraham's called that. Who is
the seed according to the word of God in Galatians chapter three?
God said, Thy seed as in one. Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. God promised that He would make
the seed of Abraham great. That's our Savior. Our Savior. And He has made Him great. He's given Him all authority
over all flesh. That He would give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given Him. He has all power. He has the authority over all
things. And in verse 17, the last statement,
it says, And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. He conquered
all of his enemies. Christ did. See, this is about
Abraham and his seed. Not seeds. But Abraham and his
seed, that is one, that's Christ Jesus. You read on that Galatians
chapter 3 verses 8 through 16 when you get home. And God promised that this seed
would be great and numerous, numerous. In Isaiah 53, verse 10, speaking
of our Lord Jesus. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, listen, he shall see his seed. He shall see his seed. He shall
see his people. And Psalm 22 says a seed shall
serve him. The seed of Abraham is, first
of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus, he has his
seed. That's us. That's us. A seed shall serve him. Well, notice this. Look at verse, Verse 18 again. And in thy seed
shall all nations of the earth be blessed. Doesn't that take
your mind back to Ephesians chapter one? How we're blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All nations
of the earth. He's got a people from every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. And they're all blessed through
the Lord Jesus. So verse 19 says, and Abraham
returned to his young men, just like he told them. He said, you two abide here and
I and the lad will go yonder. We will worship and we'll come
again to you. So he goes back to the young
men. They rose up together and went to Beersheba and Abraham
dwelt at Beersheba. And then word came to Abraham
about the births of these people. And though he doesn't know it
yet, in this information that came to him, there's the name
of a young, beautiful lady. And her name is Rebecca. Abraham
hears the name of these people. That's good. That's good. But he's going to get to know
her, because that's going to be his daughter-in-law. And the
Lord's going to provide for Isaac. He'll seek to it. The Lord will
seek to it. He'll provide. Not to worry,
not to be anxious. No wonder the Lord says, be anxious
for nothing. The Lord provides. exceeding
abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. Now,
honestly, let me leave this with you. Quite honestly now, in your
own heart, did you ever dream that God would bless you as He's
blessed you? When you were younger, you had
no idea what God had in store for you. to teach you the gospel
of His grace. Leave others in their pagan,
heathen, false religious darkness. But not you. Not you. No. You had no idea of the blessings
that He had in store for you. Well, let me tell you something.
There are more blessings to come. Because eye hath not seen nor
ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things
that God has prepared for them that love him. Oh, what an encouraging
message the gospel is. Let's pray. Thank you, Father,
for such a wonderful message of good news. The Lord will provide
Jehovah Jireh And Lord, You're the same yesterday, today, and
forever. You were Jehovah Jireh back then
hundreds and hundreds of years ago. You made provision for Your
people, and here we are tonight. 2021, in the year of our Lord,
and Your marvelous and bountiful supply has not been decreased
at all. Still, you pour out blessings
upon your people in such multitudes, in such magnitude, that when
we stop and think about the goodness of God to us, our hearts are
just filled to overflowing with joy and with thanksgiving. And so we close this service
with gratitude and with the prayer of thanksgiving. And even as
we so often sing the chorus, thank You, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank You, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank You, Lord, for giving to
me Thy great salvation. so rich, so full, so free. For Jesus' sake, amen.