Let's go back to Genesis, the
22nd chapter today. And let me speak to you on this
subject. Where is the Lamb? Where is the
Lamb? For many years, Abraham had waited
for the fulfillment of the Word of the Lord. The Lord had said to Abraham,
I'll make you the father of a great nation. Well, in order for that to happen,
he had to have son. And through the years, he never wavered. He didn't doubt. He believed
the word of the Lord. if there was anything that I
would ask God for right now more than anything else. And I ask
it now for me, and I ask this now for you. Oh God, help me
to believe your Word. Help me to believe. You say, you're a preacher. Surely,
you're a believer. Oh, I believe the gospel. Not like I should. Not like I'm going to. But I
do trust the blessed Savior. I do rely on Him. I have no other
hope. I have no other confidence of
acceptance and salvation and righteousness and life except
in my Lord Jesus Christ in His blood and in His righteousness. I do believe Him. I think I can say, as did Simon
Peter, after our Lord's resurrection, Simon Peter, you know, he said,
I go fishing. He didn't mean I'm going to go
out for an afternoon of relaxation fishing. What he meant was, I
quit the ministry. I'm going back to my former occupation. The Lord wouldn't let him go.
The Lord went after him. And after the Lord had directed
them where to cast their nets, and they came to shore, and he
had fish all prepared for them. They sat down to talk, and our
Lord said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Simon said, Lord, thou knowest
all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee.
That's what I say. Lord, You know all things. All things are naked and open
before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Isn't that right?
He sees everything and He knows everything. And I say before
God, Lord, You know my heart. I love You. I love you as you're
revealed in your Word. But I won't love you like I ought
to. Just like I trust you, but I don't trust you like I ought
to. I'm ashamed to say that I often
find unrelief in my heart. I'm ashamed to say that I don't all the time walk full of faith,
just being honest. Or as somebody said, and you've
heard this many times, honest people don't wind up in hell.
Let's be honest with God now. And I say, Lord, help me to believe
you more fully. Oh, how wonderful it would be
to walk through life believing God. Wouldn't that be great? To not doubt, never murmur, to
always be contented, to always seek His glory, always be confident
that His will is perfect, And it's being fulfilled. Oh God,
help me to believe. That's my prayer this morning.
Help me to believe you more. More fully. More completely. Just to believe the bare, naked
Word of God. When there seems to be no hope,
nothing tangible that I could hang my hope upon. Help me to
just believe that God is performing His will and He will always do
that which is in my best eternal interest. Because He's my Father. And He's all wise. He can't possibly make a mistake. I love my children and my grandchildren. I would do anything I could for
their welfare. You would too, wouldn't you?
Sure you would. But our love is nothing compared
to the love of God for His kids. For His little ones. He has all
power at His disposal. All of the wealth of the world.
All of the authorities of the world, they're all in the hand
of our God. Let us not doubt Him. Let us believe and walk on by
faith. We know, we know the walk of
faith is the blessed walk. It's the joyful walk. It's the
delightful walk. And so we ask Him, O Lord, Lord, you know we believe because
you gave us faith. And here's what I ask. Help us
to believe you more fully. Old brother Abraham, he believed
God. God said, I'm going to give you
a boy. And I'm going to make of that son a great nation. In
fact, all nations of the earth will be blessed in him. And even when old age crept over
this man, he still looked steadfast to God for the fulfillment of
his promise. Listen to what's written in Romans
chapter 4. Of Abraham, he considered not
his own body, now dead. When he is about a hundred years
old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. That's got a lot to do with this
walk of faith, is giving glory to God. Not seeking our glory. Not seeking our interests. Not
seeking our welfare, but in all things seeking God's glory. I believe He gives more faith
as we seek His glory. I think these two are connected
now. It says, He was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised
God was able also to perform. And at the appointed time, the
Lord visited Sarah, and she bore Abraham a son in his old age,
and they called him Laughter Isaac. That's what his name means. Laughter. Joyous. Delightful. Laughter. Isaac. He was the answer to their
prayer, and he was the fulfillment of the promise of God. Well, soon it became obvious
that Abraham's son by Hagar, Ishmael, he had to go. And so Abraham sent Hagar and
Ishmael away. For you see, it was in Isaac
and in Isaac's seed that God would fulfill the covenant that
He had made with Abraham. And not only that, but God had
said that in Isaac's seed would all the nations of the earth
be blessed, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are people from every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue who are blessed in Christ Jesus
and blessed by Christ Jesus. In fact, we were blessed in Christ
Jesus before the world ever began. Every blessing that God can give
to any son or daughter of Adam, He gave to us in the blessed
Redeemer before the world was ever made. We have all things
in Him. Having Christ Jesus, we have
everything God could ever possibly give to a sinner. We have wisdom. and redemption and sanctification. We have knowledge. We have understanding. We have forgiveness. We have
this right standing with God. Everything that God can give
to a sinner, He's already given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. We're just now beginning to realize
it. In Him, we're blessed. Well, several years went by and
Abraham, he just enjoyed his son. He saw him grow into a fine young
man. But then, the Lord gave Abraham
some unusual instructions. Look at verse 1 again. Our brother
read this to us. Chapter 22 of Genesis. It came to pass after these things,
after all the other afflictions, after all the other trials and
troubles that Abraham had endured, maybe he thought, now all the
storms are past. I'm out from under the dark clouds
now. Surely I'll have smooth sailing
in my older days. As I look toward the grave now
that Isaac is a grown young man, all is fine. I've got the world
by the tail on the downhill pull now. After all of these things, God did tempt him. God put him
to the test. I tell you, both true faith and
false faith are going to be tested. Did you know that? Both true
faith and false faith. If you say you believe, I promise
you, that faith is going to be tested. The Lord tested Abraham. And
Abraham, the Lord called out to him and said, Abraham, he
knows his sheep by name. And he said, behold, here I am. He said, now take now, no delay,
take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt
offering, for a burnt offering. That means for an offering that
goes up. I was talking to my Sunday school
class this morning about this. As the smoke went up, as the
fire went up, this is a burnt offering to the Lord. As an offering
to the Lord. Upon one of the mountains that
I'll tell you of. This man, the Lord in another
place, calls him the father of the faithful. Now he faces the
father of all trials of faith. He's never faced a trial before
in comparison to this one. And yet, there's no word of unbelief. He immediately sets out to obey
the Lord's command. And Isaac is not a little child.
If you ever read Josephus, he was a Jewish historian. Josephus
says he was 25 years old. Others say he was closer to 30.
Some say he was 33, which would make him about the Savior's age
when the Lord Jesus died, of whom Isaac was a type. We don't
know how old he was. Is old enough to carry the wood? Verse 3, Abraham rose up early
in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men with
him and Isaac his son. He claimed the wood for the burnt
offering and rose up and went into the place of which God had
told him. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes. He
saw the place afar off, and Abraham said unto his young men, Abide
ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship
and come again to you. Now the Lord alone is to be magnified
in giving Abraham such a measure of faith. So we're not here to exalt Abraham. Look over in Hebrews chapter
11, where I read from to open the service. When we read of
these, you know, some people call this Faith's Hall of Fame. All of these folks who believe
God, let's understand this, they didn't believe God on their own.
They didn't initiate faith, and the faith that they had was a
gift from God. You do not have it within yourself. I do not have it within myself
to believe the Word of God. Let that be established. So we're
not giving any glory to Abraham. Yes, we read, he staggered not
through unbelief, but what was it that he believed? It was because
God Almighty gave him the gift of faith. You see, every good
gift and every perfect gift comes from above. Faith is the gift
of God. I call on all of us to believe
God, to look to Christ Jesus, to rest in Him, to behold the
Lamb of God, as John said, that taketh away the sin of the world.
I call on you to believe on the Son of God. But I know this,
unless God the Spirit gives you and me the gift of faith, we
will never believe Him. That's how pitiful our condition
is. The only hope we've got is in
Christ. In His blood and in His righteousness. The only way of acceptance with
a holy and righteous, strictly just God is through the Lord
Jesus Christ and believing Him and yet we stubbornly, stubbornly
refuse to believe Him. That's how bad off we are. Oh God, break our hard hearts. Give me a new heart. Oh God,
give you a new heart. Give you a new heart. What is
that? That's a heart of faith. So we
are not magnifying these folks in Hebrews chapter 11. Oh no,
we are not glorifying them. We are not blagging on them.
We are not patting them on the back and saying, way to go Abraham,
you are a man of faith. We are going to say, thank you
God for this man of faith. You gave him the gift to believe
you. You see, we must give all glory to the Lord. And if you're
a poor sinner this morning who believes on, who looks to the
blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, if you're
one of those who, like Augustus' top lady, you come to the Lord
empty-handed and you cling to the cross of Jesus Christ alone,
then blessed be the name of God He gave you the gift of faith. So we're not exalting Abraham. We are exalting the God of Abraham. Look here in Hebrews chapter
11. Here is Abraham the pattern of faith. I was talking to a
preacher this week. And I said this was an outline
that I was going to preach this morning. But I said, I'm just
going to mention it and then I'm going to go over it. And
I said, I'm going to give it to you if you want it. And he wrote
it down. And I'll give it to you, preachers. You who preach. Here's Abraham, the pattern of
faith. The producer of Abraham's faith. Look at verse 8. By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should afterward receive. Hebrews 11 verse 8. Here's the
producer of faith, the Lord. The Lord initiated all of this.
For those of you who know not our God, oh, I hope that He'll
initiate a confrontation with you right now. Oh, God, do something
for sinners. You know what we pray? We don't
pray, sinner, won't you do something for God? Won't you let Jesus
in? Won't you open your heart? No,
no, no, no. We say, oh, God, do something
for sinners. Oh, God may bear your mighty
arm of grace. Nobody can hold God back. His
grace is effectual. His Word is effectual. Lord,
send it forth in power to sinners dead in trespasses and sin. And
I'll tell you, if He does, sinners will live, won't they? Why? We're living, walking examples
of that. The reason we live is because
He raised us from the grave. Here's the producer of faith,
it's the Lord. Here's the pilgrimage of faith,
verses 8-10. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place that he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. He went out. He didn't know where
he was going. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country. He dwelt in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise. For you
look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
Here's the pilgrimage of faith. Just walking by faith. Where
are you going, old man? Well, I don't know. I don't rightly
know. Well, what's on your mind? Well, I'm just following the
Lord. Wouldn't it be nice just to live life, just following
the Lord? Just every step, just wherever my foot comes down,
I know that's the path God has ordained for me. Because this
is a pilgrimage of faith. We're all on a pilgrimage of
faith. Leading us to a city that hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Here's the third
thing, here's the patience of faith. Verses 9 through 12. Go down to verse 11. Through
faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, was
delivered of a child. She was past age because she
judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one, even him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. Here's the patience of faith.
Abraham just waited. It's hard to be patient in it.
To just wait on the Lord. The Israelites stood at the Red
Sea. And the Egyptians behind them,
the sea in front of them. Moses, do something! Do something!
Just stand still. It's hard to stand still in it.
You tell the child, we were eating the other day and there was a
kid in a restaurant. He's just everywhere. And his mama kept
saying, just sit still, sit still. He just squirming, wiggling.
And it's hard for us as adults to just stand still and see the
salvation of God. Just be patient. Wait on the
Lord. Be of good confidence. Trust
in the Lord. Just wait. Here's the patience
of faith. Abraham just waited. And then
fourthly, here's the perseverance of faith. Verses 13 to 16. These
all died in faith. You see, true faith never quits.
If God gives faith, He'll maintain the faith. All the way to the end. Faith
may be weak. Faith may be faint. There may
be occasions when it appears that faith is even absent. But
God-given faith perseveres. And here's the last thing, and
this is going to send us back to Genesis 22 in a minute. Here's
the proof of faith, what I read, 17 to 19. Here's the proof of
faith. The proof of faith. Go back to
Genesis 22 then. Go back to Genesis 22, the proof
of faith. And that sermon outline, that's
no additional charge. But I had prepared that and then
I decided I would go a different direction in this message. So
you fellows who preach, you can have that one. Just put some
meat on the bones. There it is. But in Genesis 22,
here's the father's determination to give his son. The Lord said,
take now thy son. Think of the preciousness of
Isaac. Think of all the hopes and desires
and affections of Abraham that are centered in this boy. All
of the promises of God are wrapped up in him. In Abraham's willingness to give
up Isaac, he was giving up his all. Everything he expected. Everything he hoped for. Everything
that was promised. Everything that had to do with
the future. It all had to do with Isaac. Yet Abraham gives
Him up. Listen, all of our hopes, all
of our life, all of our eternity is dependent upon God the Father
giving up His only begotten Son for us. And we read that it pleased the
Lord to bruise Him. He had put Him to grief. In giving
us Christ Jesus to be our substitute and our Savior, listen, God gave
His all. He could give no more. He could give no more. That which
is most precious to the heart of God is His Son. That One who
had been with Him throughout eternity. The Savior says, I
was one with Him as one standing by Him. He was ever the Father's
delight. One with the Father in mind and
will and power and nature. And yet we read that God gave
His only begotten Son. In giving us Christ Jesus, God
gave His all. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. And then notice the Son's submission. Verse 6 says, the last phrase,
they went both of them together. As Josephus suggested and others
as well, if Isaac was indeed a fully grown man, we certainly
know that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. So now
Abraham is 120, 125, 130 years old. Isaac could have easily
overpowered his father or simply refused him when his father made
known to him that he was going to be the burnt offering. And
yet Isaac goes forth willingly. No reluctance. Look at verse
6. Abraham took the wood of the
burnt offering. He laid it on Isaac his son.
One writer said he put that wood on him for whom it was appointed. That wood was appointed for Isaac. And Abraham laid it on him, and
Isaac didn't shirk it off. He didn't try to cast it off
and say, I don't want this wood on me. Isaac said, Yes, Father. Our Lord Jesus came into this
world. He said, Lo, I come to do Thy
will, O God. And He bore the cross. In a sense,
He has borne the cross of Calvary for His people since before the
world began. He bore the cross of Calvary
in the covenant of grace. He took it upon Himself. The
Father laid the wood on His only begotten Son in that everlasting
contract of peace. And the Son of God said, I'll
bear it all the way to the hill of Calvary, even though it means
my death. The wood was put on Him, and
He bore it willingly. Willingly. He was willing to be burdened. Our Lord Jesus was willing to
be burdened with our sin. All of the sins of all of God's
elect were made to meet on Him. I can't even begin to commence
to getting started to understanding what that means. Can you? All of the guilt, all of the
transgressions, all of the hideousness, all of the filth to be born by
our Savior. He took it upon Him as a burden
to bear it away for us. And there was no resistance,
no reluctance. No one can even begin to estimate
the burden that he bore. No wonder he swept, as it were,
in the garden, great drops of blood. And Isaac was willing to be bound.
Abraham bound him to the altar. He could have resisted, but he
didn't. Our Savior nailed to the cross.
The nails did hold him to the cross. God's eternal purpose
held him to the cross. His commitment to the covenant
promises that He made to the Father to be the surety and the
Savior of His people held Him to the cross. When He bore that
enormous debt of sin for us and then bore it away into a land
of forgetfulness, He was willing to be bound. And
notice the Father's action. It says in verse 6 that Abraham,
he took the fire in his hand. The fire! That's the wrath of
God! That's the justice of God! Here's the condemnation of our
sins in the Savior. The Father raised His Son. raised His hand against His Son,
and smote Him with the sword of justice. Who killed Jesus? God the Father did. That He might
be a just God and a Savior. God did it to save us in a righteous
way, in a holy way, in a way consistent with every one of
God's perfections. God took vengeance out on His
Son. Abraham took the fire. Is not
God called a consuming fire? This is the judgment of God.
And because our Savior was judged in our stead, there is no judgment
for you and me. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. And the Father took the knife
Picture the scene. In one hand, Abraham had the
fire to kindle the wood which would consume the flesh of his
son. In the other hand, he had the
knife to kill him. The sword of justice. And though Isaac was spared,
as we know, God spared not his son, but delivered
him up for us all. And God Almighty took the sword
of justice and He thrust it into the very soul and heart of the
Savior. And in that death is the death
of all of the sins of all of His people forever. In that death
is our life. In that death is our salvation. In that death is our pardon. In that death is our righteousness. In that death God is glorified
and we were saved in that death. You notice here in verse 9, Abraham
built an altar there. He built an altar. Well, you
know Abraham had built many altars before this, but never one for a purpose like
this. Abraham is in charge here. Abraham
is orchestrating everything. And I tell you, go back 2,000
years ago to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty
was orchestrating everything. Everything happened just exactly
like God decreed. And our Lord Jesus died at the
hand of God Almighty. that He might be holy and just,
and poor sinners like us be redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. It says, Abraham laid the wood
in order. Here's an orderly arrangement
of all things. Everything was done with precision
and on purpose. And Abraham was ready to carry
out the command. In fact, as we read over there
in Hebrews chapter 11, in his own mind and heart, Abraham went
through with this, didn't he? Because he believed that God
was able to raise him from the dead. After all, Abraham had
said to the servants, I and the lad will go yonder and worship
and come again. And come again. We'll be back. We'll be back. So he binds Isaac. All things
are ready. Verse 10, he stretched forth
his hand. He took the knife to slay his
son. The angel called out from heaven though and said, Abraham,
Abraham. He said, here am I. And the Lord
said, don't lay your hand on the lad. Don't harm a hair on
his head. In verse 13, Abraham lifted up
his eyes, looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the
thicket. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. That is the doctrine of substitution. In his stead. Christ Jesus died in the stead
of his people. Christ our Passover is sacrificed
for us. And Abraham called the name of
the place Jehovah Jireh. In the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen. The Lord will see to it. Let
me ask you this. Look back at verse 7. Here's the question. Where is
the Lamb? Where is the Lamb? Where is the
Lamb? I would ask preachers today,
where is the Lamb in your preaching? I would say to the Sunday school
teachers who are here this morning, where is the Lamb in your teaching? When you speak of the things
of God to people, where is the Lamb in your conversation? Where
is the Lamb? Where is the Lamb? Well, before
the foundation of the world, He is the Lamb slain in the covenant
of God. In time, where is the Lamb? The
Lamb came into the world and died upon the cross. A death
of substitution, a sacrificial death. He was the sin offering. Where is the Lamb? The Lamb is
exalted. Read in Revelation chapter 6. The Lamb started loosening the
seals of the book of God's predestination. Where is the Lamb today? Is the
Lamb still in the grave? No. The Lamb's on His throne. Well, what's the Lamb doing?
The Lamb is bringing to pass everything God purposed to do
before the world began. By His providence, He is fulfilling
predestination. The Lamb is on His throne. That's
where the Lamb is. Where is the Lamb? Where is the Lamb in the Word
of God? He's everywhere. He's throughout the book. Where is the Lamb going to be?
He is going to be on the throne of justice. Judgment has been
given over to Him. And before Him every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Where is the Lamb? Where is the Lamb in our churches? I'm afraid most churches have
left the lamb outside. They've got programs, entertainments,
activities, and you just want to say when you turn on the television
and you see some religious program or you listen to it on the radio,
you just want to ask, where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? Where is the Lamb in this place?
I can't do anything about what's out there. There's no use to
preach about them because they're not going to listen to me anyway.
But where is the Lamb in here? Where is the Lamb in here? Where
is the Lamb to you? I'll tell you, to me, where is
the Lamb? He's on His throne. And He occupies
in this place the position of preeminence. He is all in all
in here. That's where the Lamb is. Where is the Lamb to me? I hope
He's that to me too. All in all. I believe He is.
And I hope He is for you. John said, Behold the Lamb of
God. Let us behold Him again. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world.