In Genesis chapter 22 is one
of the clearest types of Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures.
So clear, so clear. By the commandment of God, a
loving father must take the son of his love, his only son, his
only begotten son, the Son in whom all the blessings were purposed,
and in whom all the blessings depended, and take Him into the
land of Moriah, and kill Him before the Lord. Lay His body
on the sacrificial fire, and as His flesh burns into ashes,
this man is to see the glory of God. in the sacrifice and
worship God. Why would God demand such a thing
to be done of this man Abraham? That's a severe trial. Why would
God demand such a thing? Well, we're told in Hebrews chapter
11 and verses 17 through 19 that this offering was a trial. It
was a trial. God tried his faith as he will
try ours. It says, by faith, Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be caught. I tell you this all the time,
true faith True faith is more than just knowing facts. You
can know all the facts and not have faith. It's more than understanding
the mysteries. True faith is the result of a
new man. True faith is the product of
a new nature. Apart from that new man, that
newly created man in you. And he's in there by faith. He's
invisible. You can't see Him. There's no
other evidence of that work except faith. Isn't that how He starts
off Hebrews chapter 11? Faith is the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence. It's the evidence of things not
seen. You can't see it. I can't see into you and you
can't see into me. You can't see this. And you can
see The outcome of faith, you can
see the results of faith, but you can't see that faith. And
that faith is what constitutes that new man in you. Peter said, the trial of your
faith. Now listen to this. Being much
more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory, at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. He is going to refine this faith.
In I Corinthians chapter 3, Paul is dealing with this thing of
putting too much emphasis on men, as though they had some
divine quality about them, as though one man was exalted above
another man, as though this man might accomplish something really
good, but this man here, what he accomplishes is very little.
We like to look at men and think of men that way, but it's an
ungodly thing to think of men that way. It's God that does
the work. God that does the work. He says
in verse 5, He said, Who then is Paul? Paul is a pretty important value.
He wrote half the New Testament. He said, Who is Paul? who is
Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord
gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase. It wasn't me who gave the increase,
it was God. I go out in my garden and put
the seed in, but I can't make it grow. And I stand here and
preach, and I plant seed, but I can't make it grow. And I don't
carry one of the greatest speakers of our age, Brother Henry Mahan
or Scott Richardson or Don Fortner, I don't care who he is. Arthur
Pink, I don't care who. Whoever it is that's the highest
esteemed in your mind, you put him in the place of what I'm
about to say. They're just men. They're just men. And yes, they
had talents, and I appreciate their talents. I benefit by their
talents. But them talents can't make that
seed grow. Only God can give the increase. So then, verse 9, he said, we
are labors together with God. You are God's husbandry. That word means garden. You are
God's garden. He does the planting. Every tree
which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.
We are God's garden. He plants this garden. We are
God's building. According to the grace of God
which is given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation, another buildeth thereon. But let every man take
heed how he builds." Paul and Apollos set before them the one
true and living God, the one foundation. He said, this one
foundation, he said, I have set it before you. I have set it
before you. This one foundation of Christ.
and his substitutionary work. And upon this testimony, this
testimony of God, a building of faith is erected. A building
of faith is erected. A holy temple in the Lord which
is built for a habitation of God through the Spirit. A place
of worship and prayer and service to God. It is a building of faith. A building of faith. Now if any
man built upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones,
or hay, wood, and stubble. Every man's work," now I want
you to listen to this, "...shall be made manifest. For the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire." This
true faith of God's elect is pure gold. It's pure, 100% gold. But it's shrouded in a body of condemnation. It's shrouded in a body of sin,
a fallen nature. And you can't see it. Most of
the time, all you see is that old nature, that old man. Paul
said, when I would do good, evil was present within me. And you
try to look in there, and you try to look in there for some
hope, and you try to look in there for comfort, but you can't
find it because you're looking in an empty box. You can't find
it. It's got to be revealed. I'm
not talking about building something earthly the way we build a family,
and we build a house, and we build our retirement. This thing
of faith builds a temple. It puts together in the heart
and mind a way to worship, a way of acceptance, a way of service,
a place of acceptance and favor and representation. Listen to
this, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. He said, Know ye not, don't
you know this, Paul said, that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the
temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God
is holy, which temple you are." Now, if you want to apply that
to this body, that's fine with me, but I believe he's talking
about that temple of faith that's erected in us. You defile that
temple, God will destroy you. He'll destroy you. He said, you
take care when you build my temple that you build it exactly how
I told you to build it. He said the same thing about
the tabernacle. Both of these are pictures of Christ. This
temple must be built of God and according to God's design. It
has certain things that are necessary, things pertaining to God and
men. Israel left the temple. They
left the temple of the worship of God for groves and gardens
in the mountains and put statues and ponds and running water and
they go up to that high place up on the mountain, and they
go up there and pretend to worship God. Israel took the temple of
God, the very temple of God's design, and they went in and
Christ said, you turned it into a den of thieves in there selling
doves and goats and sheep inside the temple of God. You made it
a den of thieves. I'm saying this, that God will
try our faith to expose what sort it is. That's what Paul
said. That's what's going to be exposed. What kind of faith
do you have? Faith is a work of grace. It's
a work of God. It's a real work. It's a real
work. And that's what I ask myself.
Is it a work of God? Is it a work of grace? Is it a real work? Does it hope
in His promises? Does it take God's side in matters? Whose side am I on? Moses said
everybody is on the Lord's side, lying up over here. There are
sides. True faith sides with God. It
sides with God. And it sides with God against
itself. God said, I ought to send you
to hell. You agree with him. David did.
David did. How can a man know if what's
built in him is of God? I'll tell you how you're going
to know. It's going to pass through the fire. That's right. Let me give you three or four
things this morning about this faith of God's elect and the
trying of this faith by the Lord. I want you to first of all think
about the place Abraham was commanded to go, Moriah. These Old Testament
names, even the names of the people, are very significant.
But here's your little English lesson. In the original, this
word was spelled this way. It wasn't spelled M-O-R-I-A-H. It was spelled M-O-R-I-Y-A-H. And any time you see that Y-A-H
on a name in the Old Testament, it has to do with God. It has
to do with Jehovah God. That's what it means. Jehovah
God. The Y-A-H at the end of the word
means Jehovah. Now, the first part of this word
means to see, to gaze intently. It means to see and consider.
It means to perceive. And it also means to provide,
as in the Lord will see to it. My dad used to give me something
to do, and he'd tell me, you see to it. And I better see to
it. Well, that's another type of
seeing that this word means. And this land of Moriah is a
place where God will see to it. But it also means to perceive,
where God will see. This is a place where God sees.
And He separates Abraham. He separates him from the young
men. They stay down at the bottom. It's just him and the substitute. Him and the offering went up
the mountain. That's it. Abraham was to journey to this
place where God would see and consider it, where God would
see to it. Or maybe he's even saying this,
to a place where you can see what God sees. Maybe that's what
he's talking about in this land of Moriah. All right, secondly,
Abraham was to do this thing because God told him to. Now,
I'm going to tell you something about faith. It takes God at
His word. I just, I get so weary, so weary
of telling people something and they say, well, that don't seem
right. That don't seem right. Now this
is something you've been contemplating for 30 years and something they've
been evaluating for about 30 seconds. This don't seem right. True faith believes God. That's
what it said, Abraham believed God. Paul said this in Romans
3, let God be true and every man a liar. And yet we won't
talk about what we feel and what seems right. Brethren, we're
not worthy to do that. We're not sufficient to do that,
to take the counsels of the living God and shift them out as though
there was some impurity in them. His Word is pure. It's true. It's to be believed. You may
not enter into the depth of it, But I'm commanded to believe
it and receive it. And too much time, I think it's
all a big excuse. I think it's just another way
to hide unbelief. When men start quarreling over
these words and can't enter into the depth of these words, Abraham
believed God. And his understanding grew. It
grew out of that. We grow in grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you're not going to grow
in knowledge until you grow in grace. And he says this, Who
art thou that replies against God? Huh? It's to believe God. God commanded
Isaac to be offered on the altar and he didn't ask Abraham's approval
of it. He said, You get thee into the
land of Moriah and do what I tell you to do. And he did. That's
what faith does. That's what faith does. I'm telling you, it's madness
to think that you can somehow change or resist or prevent the
purpose of God or change His Word or somehow make His Word
to mean something it don't mean. And I'll tell you this, sometimes
I've got to swallow my pride and eat my words, but God don't
have to eat His. When He says something, it stays
just like He said it. He said, My word will not return
unto Me, Lord. Now this trial, this sacrifice,
was by divine appointment. Abraham knew it. Abraham believed
that it was right and just because God told him to do it. A thing
is not right because we look at it and say, well, this is
right, and cause our judgment to fall on it and give our approval
of it. A thing is right because God
does it, because God is righteous. He cannot do wrong. A thing is
good because God does it. It doesn't become good. It is
good. And this trial, that's the way
Abraham... God told him to go there. You think Abraham understood
why God wanted him to butcher his son on an altar? I have a
little trouble believing that. I think Abraham could enter into
it and would enter into it, but I don't think he understood.
And this was a three-day journey. God gave him three days to think
about it. Read A. I wonder sometimes, do we believe
God? Is God just in His condemnation
of Adam's sons? Do you believe that? Do you believe God is just and right
in His condemnation of all those who believe not the Gospel? Do you believe God is just and
right in His condemnation of you and your righteousness, of
me and my righteousness? David said in Psalm 51, he said,
I acknowledge my transgression and my sin as ever before me
against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight. Now listen to why he said such
a thing. That thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest. Faith takes sides with God in
truth, and it takes sides with God in judgment, even when that
judgment and truth is turned on themselves. I wonder this
morning, can we look with our hearts to God and without pretense
say, God would be just if He sent me to hell? It's true. It's true. Faith will take the Word of God
over the testimony of the multitude. Let God be true and every man
a liar. Now, here is the third thing.
This thing had to be done where God sees and where Abraham can
see what God sees. It has to be done there. God
shuts the sinner up to Christ. Now, turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 11. This is the same story. It is condensed into three verses
of what I just read to you in Genesis chapter 22. And what
God is going to point out over here in Hebrews 11 is this faith
of Abraham concerning this trial of Isaac. By faith, verse 17, Hebrews chapter
11, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that
received the promises, he did receive them, he did embrace
them. Offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called. You reckon Abraham understood
what that meant? I believe He did. I believe He
did. In Galatians 3, verse 16, it
says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to
thy seed, which is Christ. And in this boy Isaac was wrapped
up all his hopes and dreams. That's what I want you to see.
All these promises which Abraham received. God makes a point.
to state it, right there in Hebrews 11, 17, "...and he that had received
the promises." And then he tells you what was
the basis of all these promises. "...and Isaac shall thy seed
become." He's talking about the seed of God. He's talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that Abraham hoped
in, all his hopes and dreams of acceptance with God, of walking
with God, of being blessed of God, We're all wrapped up in
that boy. All wrapped up in that boy. God
had separated that boy. He called that boy his only begotten
son. But Abraham had another son,
didn't he? Isaac? Huh? But that son wasn't recognized
as a son by faith. Isaac's going to be that son
of promise. He's going to be that son that
stands for all the sons of faith. You can read about it in Romans
chapter 9. All Israel is not Israel. But like Isaac, he said,
which children of the promise? And this boy Isaac was wrapped
up, all his hopes and dreams, all his future, everything that
constituted the life he had already dedicated to God, the very covenant
which God had established with him by the way and of the Redeemer. All of these things depended
on the life of this boy Isaac. In Isaac shall thy seed be caught. And Isaac stands as a picture
of that begotten hope of Christ, that faith of God's elect in
you that constitutes Christ in you. That which he plainly tells
us over in Romans 9, chapter 8, children of promise. They which are the children of
the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise accounted for the seed. And though Ishmael
was a son, he wasn't a son of faith. And this One in whom all
the promises were connected, this One in whom all the promises
depended, this One He loved, Thine only Son, which Thou lovest. God knew He loved that boy. This One that He loved and embraced
and cherished must be laid on this fiery altar and slain before
God. Now, here's the fourth thing.
Faith rests all its hope in a substitute. They went up that mountain. That
boy was about 15 or 16 years old. He's packing that big bundle
of wood. It has to be big enough to burn
a sacrifice. It's a pretty good-sized chunk
of wood. He didn't just pick it up and sling it up there.
It said, Abraham put it on his back. He laid this burden on
it. Same as God laid that burden
on Christ. I'm telling you, it's such a
clear type. If you just go back and you look at what Christ did
and why He did it and who He did it for and all this, and
apply this to this sacrifice, you're going to just be amazed
of how clear a type Isaac is. But he lays this bundle of wood
on him, and they're going up the mountain, and Abraham's got
a torch or something in his hand. He's got fire in his hand. And
on his belt is a big old knife, a big old skinny knife. a boning
knife sitting right there on his side. And they're going up
this hill. And they start to get up to the
top, and they ain't run up on any sheep. And Isaac's just a
young lad, and he said, I see the fire, and I got the wood,
and I'm looking at the knife, but where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? And his father, a wise man, a
man of God, he said, God will provide himself. A lamb. A lamb for a burnt offering.
God ever taken you up the mountain? You ever been there? God ever allowed you to look
and see the knife and the fire but you can't see the lamb? You
ever been there? That's what He does when a man
gets lost. He sees that God has and commanded
this thing to be done. And the fire is here, and the
knife is there. The justice is going to be honored. The death of the sacrifice is
declared. It has to be. But where is the
lamb? Where is the lamb? Oh, Isaac was about 15 or 16
years old. And his father was an old man. Isaac could have
easily just run off. Abraham, he was 100 years old
when the boy was conceived. He's 15 years old now. Abraham
is 115 years old. That boy could have outrun him
in a heartbeat. Just took off. He could have wrestled the old
man down if he wanted to. He was stout enough to pack that
whole thing of wood up that mountain. He was stout enough to wrestle
that old man down. What I'm saying to you is this.
When they come up there to that altar, that boy willingly put
his hands behind him. He willingly laid himself down
on that pile of wood and submitted himself to the will of his father. Is this thing going to be right?
It's going to be right. And here I am. Here I am. He could have done all those
things, but he could not do those things and worship God. Faith rests in the substitute
that God will provide. Isaac gave himself willingly
and without resistance to his father. He gave himself to be
bound without a fight, and he laid down on the wood without
a struggle, saying the truth which his father declared to
him. They went up that mountain together. together. And God stayed His hand. And
the angel of the covenant spake to him, and he turned to see
a ram caught in the thicket by his horn. Here's God's substitute,
bound by His own power, bound by His own sovereign decree,
bound by His own purpose and Word. And Abraham turned to see
the ram. You see, it's what believers
see. They see the substitute. They
see what justice demands, and they see the substitute. And
in seeing the substitute, they turn. It's the only way you can
see Him. Abraham turned to see the rain.
God has to turn a man. Man sees all kinds of things.
He sees religion. He sees tradition. He sees ceremony. He sees his family. He sees all
kinds of things. But he can't see Christ until
he turns. God has to turn him. And when
he turns, he sees Him. And when he sees him, he can
rejoice. You think Abraham rejoiced when
he saw that lamb? I'll tell you the last thing
in this world Abraham wanted to do was slay that boy. Slay
that boy. Believers turn at the command
of God, and in turning they see, and in seeing they turn. We turn
from the best this flesh can produce to a substitute that
God provides. Now, why would God put Abraham
through such a trial? Well, He said to reveal true
faith. True faith. Faith is never so
sure as it is when it's shut up to Christ in the fire. That's
when it's sure. When He puts you in a position
where He takes away all the play pretties of this world, takes
them away. Just like he did Job, took everything away from him.
But what was left? Pure gold. Has there ever been
a man who's lost everything outside of Christ except for Job? Lost
everything. He didn't lose one boy. He lost
them all. And here he is. And even his
wife comes out and says, why don't you just curse him? And
mocks him. Here he is, he's just covered in balls, and his wife
said, won't you just curse God and die? He said, naked came
I into the world, and that's the way I'm going to live. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. He gives and he takes away. Pure gold. Yeah, I believe that's why Abraham
was tried. Reveal what's on that heart and
in that heart. And not just for him, but for
us. We don't have trials that severe in our day. We could have. But I believe God gave him a
great trial because this man was going to stand forever as
that example of faith. Our father Abraham, he's the
father of all them that shall believe. And here he says, And
we look at Him. And now we're going to see what
this faith is. This faith is nothing but pure gold. This faith
can't be moved. It can't be changed. It can't
be erased. It can't be resisted. This faith
will persevere to the end because this faith is not of you. It's
of God. By grace, or you say, through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. He can
give it. He can give it. And when He does,
nobody can take it away. And He's going to show you that.
And when He does, you're going to rejoice. You're not going
to rejoice in the trial, in the trouble. But boy, when it's over
and He shows you what the trial revealed, then you're going to
rejoice. And then the next time you try it, you're going to think
about it. And after a while, Paul said he rejoiced. He rejoiced
thinking about the trials that may come. I believe also, why did he try
this man? Why did he cause this man to
do such a thing? Well, I believe because God would
have us to know that the death of Christ was not just an unemotional,
unaffectual act. Abraham's heart was broken. Can
you imagine going up the mountain with Kelsey with a knife in your
hand? His heart was broken. He didn't
stare into the eyes of His only beloved Son without emotion. He lifted up that knife to slay
Him and the tears were running down His cheeks. His heart was
moved. And though He must obey God,
His heart was crushed in it. Oh, listen to Him. Do you think
when Christ was being tormented by His enemies and gave His face
to the spitting and slapping of the open hand when His hands
were laid out and those nails driven in and those men stood
there and spit on him and laughed at him while he suffered and
died. You think God wasn't affected by that? You think God looked on in indifference
when that happened? You think this was just an empty
act that God did? Listen to this. Listen to what
God says through His prophet Jeremiah. This is over in Lamentations,
chapter 1. He said, Is it nothing to you,
all you that pass by? You that hear this thing? You that know something about
this death of Christ, is it nothing to you, all you that pass by?
Behold and see if there is any sorrow like unto mine. Stand
at it in wonder and amazement! Why didn't God just burn this
whole outfit up when He saw the first man draw His hand back?
Why didn't the lightning fall down? Why didn't God send His
angels down and stay His hand? Because He gave Him. But He didn't
give Him unaffected. He didn't give Him unaffected.
Now, I don't pretend to understand how God was moved by the death
of Christ except to say this. When he saw the travail of his
soul, when he looked in at the heart
of his son dying on that cross, he said he was satisfied. He
was satisfied. Whatever it was, it satisfied
God. I'll tell you this, if we could,
even in a small degree, enter into that anguish caused by sin,
we might not be so willing to jump back into it. It might not
mean so little to us if we enter into that suffering. I'll tell
you the most effective deterrent to sin is a loving Savior suffering
in your stead. That causes you to hate sin.
What Paul said. What are you saying? We just
sin that grace may abound? That's what a man says who don't
enter into those sufferings. Never did Abraham love his son
as he did that day, laying on that altar. Never did he love
God so much as when he saw the ram caught in the thing. Turn back with me to Hebrews
chapter 11, and I'll close. I want to show you one more thing
before I quit. True faith sees past the grave. It sees past the altar. It sees
past the anguish. It sees past the suffering, past
the shame. And when Abraham laid his son
on that altar, being tried of God, listen to how God said he
did it. Verse 19, Hebrews chapter 11,
accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the
dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. Everything God
told Abraham, and God cannot lie. Because he could swear by
no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing, I'll
bless thee. Multiplying, I'll multiply thee. And your seed is going to be
called through Isaac. God swore that. Abraham believed
him. And if God requires the death
of this boy, then God is going to raise him up. I'll lay him
on the altar and slay him, and he'll break my heart, but God
is going to raise him up anyway. And I'll tell you what he did.
When God provided that lamb, Abraham, just like that, he entered
in. He entered in. And he saw that
the Lamb of God must die in our room and stand and be raised
from the dead in order to fulfill all that God had swore that He
would do. He raised Him from the dead.
Where's my hope? God raised Him from the dead
and set Him at His own right hand. And in Him are all those
promises assured. Listen to what he says over here
in John 8, verse 56. I'll just read it for you. Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. Don't you think he did? And he
saw it. And he was glad. He was glad. We've got to be brought to that
place where we see that God demands our death to satisfy His justice.
but that his love provides a substitute. That's what the gospel is, the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.