I've entitled the message for
tonight, faith, knowledge, and works. Faith, knowledge, and works. All three always go together. Faith, knowledge, and works. Now before us is the story of
Abraham offering up his only begotten son. Abraham could well
be said, as far as human beings go, to be the most significant
man in scripture. I don't think I would get any
argument from anybody about that. He's called the father of the
faithful. Believers are called children
of Abraham. And probably what he is most well known for is
this story of God commanding him to offer up his only son
as a sacrifice. And he would have to cut his
throat, quarter him, and burn him up on an altar in order to
be obedient to God. Like I said, that's probably
the most well-known act. Most people that know anything
about the Bible know something about Abraham doing this. Now, I believe that this is the
single greatest illustration of what faith is and what faith
knows. and what works are involved with
faith than any other story in the Bible. That is how important
this story is. Now, somebody may think, what
kind of God would make a commandment like that in the first place?
Take your son, kill him, burn him. What kind of God would make
a command like that? the God of the Bible, the living
God, the true and living God. And he does this to teach us
what faith is. That's how important this story
is. It tells us what faith is, what
faith knows, and what faith does. Now when God commands to do something,
it's right, simply because He commands it. I know that people
have had a hard time over God commanding somebody to do something
like that. Well, it's the way it is. I don't
know how else to say it. Whatever God does is right. And
if he commands Abraham to kill his son, it's the right thing
to do. But through this story, we're
given, as I said, this beautiful picture of faith. Now look in
Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. God said, kill your son, take
him to a mountain I'll show you of. and they are offering up
to me now in abraham's mind the act was already done in his mind had already been offered up as
a burn offer when god said to do it he was going to do it somebody
says i just don't know if i could be that obedient god gives you
grace you will but in here god gives you grace By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises, the promise of the Messiah coming through Isaac,
the promise that in his seed would all the world be blessed,
the promise of the gospels, what that's talking about. God promised
Abraham the Messiah is going to come through Isaac, not Ishmael. Now, when God made that promise,
God can't lie. I want you to think about that. God can't lie. If He says something,
it must be. It's already been. That's how
sure His Word is. And Abraham believed that. You
see, Abraham knew God. If you know God, you know He
can't lie, don't you? He is incapable of lying. He's
incapable of any kind of unfaithfulness to do exactly what he said he
would do. This is what Abraham believed when God said, offer
up your son, your only begotten son, verse 18, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting. Now that word accounting, like
I said, is imputing. We can learn something about
imputation here, what it really means. By Abraham's imputation,
what he imputed to God. Accounting that God was able
to raise him up. Now he imputed to God what God
was able to do. He said God is able to raise
him up. He believed God was able to raise
him from the dead. He knew God would raise him from
the dead after he killed him, because God had promised that
the seed was going to come through Isaac. Accounting that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence, also,
he received him in a figure as raised from the dead when that
ram was found in his place. That was like him receiving him
from the dead. Faith, knowledge, and works. You can't believe what you don't
know. That's simple, isn't it? You
can't believe what you don't know any more than you can come
back from a place where you've never been. Abraham believed
God. He knew God. He knew God's faithfulness. He knew God's power. He knew
the attributes, the character of God. You see, if you know
God, you know his character. That's why when you hear a false
god preached, you know he's false because you know God. You know
his character. He never acts in contrary to
any of his attributes, and you know that when you know God.
Abraham knew God. God had promised. that the Messiah
was going to come through Isaac. God says, kill him. Abraham knew
that upon killing his son, God would raise him from the dead. He knew that. He told him that. I have no doubt that when he
was putting Isaac on that altar, he said, son, the Messiah is
gonna come through you. And after I kill you, God will
raise you from the dead. And I have no doubt that Isaac
did this willingly. He believed what his father said
and he shows the type of Christ in that sense and Christ's willingness
to die in the room instead of his people. He knew God and his
works proved he knew God. What would have happened, what
would have said if Abraham said, now I can't do that. If I kill
that boy, God's plan is messed up. The Messiah can't come through
him if I kill him. I would mess everything up. What
would he prove by that? He didn't believe in the truthfulness
of God. He didn't believe in the character of God. He thought,
God needs my help. Turn with me to James chapter
two. You're real close there. James chapter two. Next book over, James chapter
two. Remember the name of this message
is faith, knowledge, and works. Look in verse 20. But wilt thou know, oh, well, let me start in verse 14. What doth the prophet, my brethren,
though a man say, He hath faith. Let's say Abraham said, I believe
God. I believe he'll do what he said he'll do. I believe God.
What does the prophet, my brethren, the old man say he hath faith
and had not works? Can faith save him? That kind
of faith? Can that kind of faith save him?
Now when this is talking about works, in the context of this
passage of scripture, I think this is why this is so important.
He's talking about the work of Abraham in raising up his knife
in obedience to God to slay his son. He proved by that action
that he believed God. He believed God would raise him
up from the dead because God's word must be fulfilled. He believed that. You and I do
too. If God said something, I believe
it. I hate that saying, God said
it, I believe it. That settles it. No, God said
it, that settles it. Whether you and I believe it
or not. God said it and it is settled by God. And Abraham believed
that. He knew God would raise his son
from the dead. Now let's go on reading. Verse 15, if a brother or sister
be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto
them, depart in peace, be he warmed and filled. Notwithstanding,
you give them not the things which are needful to the body,
what doth a prophet not think of this picture? What if your
neighbor knocked on your door, and he was cold, and he was hungry,
and he didn't have sufficient clothing, and you opened up the
door and said, greetings, brother, love you, be warm, be filled,
depart in peace, and then you slam the door in his face. What
good would it do? Even so, Faith, verse 17, if
it hath not works is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou
hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, I'll show thee my faith by my works. Is he saying, I'm
gonna prove to you that I have faith because of the conduct
and character of my life. Now, we ought to have good conduct
and good character. I'm not saying anything about
that. Don't misunderstand me, but that's not what he's saying.
He's not saying your morality proves the reality of your faith.
That's not what he's saying at all. What is it that proved that
Abraham believed God? What is it? Him raising the knife to slay
his son. If he would have said, I can't do that, that would mess
up God's purpose. The Messiah would then not come
through this boy. He would have proved he didn't
really believe in the character of God. That's what's being taught
here. It's your work that proves what you really believe. What proved Noah believed God?
He built the ark. That's what proved Noah believed
God. He built the ark. You can go on with so many examples,
the works. What proved that Lot believed
God? He didn't look back. His wife
did. He didn't. You can go on and
on. When the Lord says in Revelation
14, 13, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. From henceforth,
yea, sayeth the Spirit that they may have rest from their labors
and their works. Do follow them. They don't come out front as
the cause of salvation. They don't come to the side as
the ground of assurance. I must be saved, look at my good
works. But there's evidence. And that's what's being spoken
of here with Abraham. There was evidence that he believed
God because he lifted up the knife to slay his son. Let's go on reading. Verse 19,
thou believest that there's one God, thou doest well. The devils
also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that
faith without works is dead. If Abraham said, I believe God
and he would refuse to slay his son, dead faith. unsaving faith wouldn't do anything
for him. Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect? If he wouldn't have done this,
It would have meant he didn't really believe God. It was his
works that proved the reality of his faith when he raised up
the knife to slay his son. If he wouldn't have done it,
all he would prove was that he did not really believe God. See as thou how that faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect, and the
scripture was fulfilled, would say if Abraham believed God. And it was imputed to him. for
righteousness. And he was called the friend
of God. Now I want to be that person.
Don't you? The friend of God, somebody who believes God because Abraham knew God. He knew he would be true to his
word and he knew the promised seed would come through Isaac.
And he knew upon killing Isaac, God would raise him from the
dead. God is always true to his word. And he believed God was
able to raise him from the dead. Now, let me ask you real simply,
do you believe God's always true to his word? Do you believe he
cannot lie? Do you believe he was able to
raise Isaac from the dead? Abraham really did believe that. Now let's go to Genesis chapter
22 for a few moments. This is the story. Genesis chapter
22. Now Abraham is an old man at
this time. It could be that your greatest
trials are still ahead of you, even if you're old. That's a sobering thought. As a matter of fact, every time
the Lord called out Abraham's name, it was because something
very severe was getting ready to take place. I bet Abraham
winced when he heard his name. Abraham! What's going to happen
now? And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham. He tested him. He's going to
test me and you too. You can write that down. God's
going to test us. Not for his information. He knows
to teach us something. And he said unto him, Abraham.
And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thy only son, Isaac. Do you know that Ishmael is not
acknowledged by God to be a son? You know why? Ishmael represents
salvation by works. You can read about that in Galatians
chapter four. That's where God tried to help, Abraham tried
to help God out. Sarah said, look, his promise
is not happening. Go on in to my servant, Hagar,
and we'll have a child through there. Abraham agreed to do it.
And so we have the child of the flesh, God's promise coming through
man's help. That ain't gonna happen. And
God rejected that and he never acknowledged Ishmael to be a
son. Let me tell you two things the
law never produces. It never produces a son and it
never produces love. No beginning of spiritual birth,
no son produced by law. And if you're under law in any
way, you'll never love God. The only way you'll love him
is through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that produces
love. Now he 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 Abraham rose up early in
the morning. Somehow, I don't think he told
Sarah about this. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't want to try
to explain myself. I'm sure she wouldn't have heard
it. But there was no delay in his obedience. He rose up early
in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young
men with him and Isaac, his son. And he claimed the wood for the
burnt offering. He didn't think, well, maybe I'll find some there,
hoping he wouldn't end up finding any wood and it wouldn't end
up working the way we would delay. No, not him. He brought the wood
with him, knowing what he was called to do. He rose and went
up into the place of which God had told him. Then on the third
day, What's the significance of that? You know. The resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, in Abraham's mind, he
was killed as soon as God told him to do it. But now, on the
third day, he lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young
men, abide ye here with the ass. Now, Why did he tell them to
stay behind? Well, for one reason, he knew
they'd probably try to prevent one if you're getting ready to do.
And for another thing, this is a reminder to us that God's work,
Christ's work on the cross, me and you were shut out of it. God turned the lights off to
let us know this is a transaction between the Father and the Son. He's doing His will, accomplishing
His purpose, and you and I will never really much understand
it when it was going on. He said, y'all stay here. Look
what He said next. I and the lad will go yonder
and worship. and come again to you. You see,
Abraham knew we're gonna return. I'm gonna go slay my son. I'm
gonna offer him up as a burnt offering, and God's gonna raise
him from the dead, and we're gonna return right here to you. Abraham believed God. And I love the way he says I
and the lad are gonna go yonder and worship. Understand this. God is only
worshiped through the sacrifice of His Son. There is no other
worship apart from the worship that comes through the substitutionary
sacrifice of Christ. If I try to worship on my own,
it's It's blasphemous. It's irreverent. It's no respect
for God. It's no regard for God. I'll
tell you what true worship is. True worship is to look to Christ
only. By the grace of God, I look to
Christ only. His sacrifice only, believing
in the success of that sacrifice. Abraham did. He believed that
God would raise him from the dead. Oh, here's worship. You worship through the gospel
preached in this glorious story. I love what Abraham, or what
Walter Ruvver said about this story. He said, if a man can't
preach the gospel from Genesis chapter 22, he needs to find
something else to do. And I would agree wholeheartedly. I in the
land will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Verse six. And Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son. And he took
the fire in his hand and a knife. And they went both of them together. Now this would happen in 2,000
years, literally, when the Lord Jesus Christ would take the wood
of the instrument of his death on his own back and carry it
up a mountain. Oh, this is such a powerful type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Abraham took the wood. of
the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he
took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of
them together." In his mind, it was done. He was going to
take that knife, slay him. He had the wood. He had the fire
to burn him as a burnt offering. It was a thing already done for
this one reason, because of the knowledge he had, he knew God
would raise him from the dead. And that is what was behind his
work, faith, works, and knowledge. He believed God, he knew God
would raise him from the dead. So he brings the wood, he brings
the fire, and he brings the knife with the full intention of slaying
his son. Can you imagine how painful that
was though? I can't even guess as to the turmoil that was going
through his mind, the thought of stabbing the knife in his
son and setting him on fire. What turmoil must've been going
through his mind, but by the grace of God, he knew God would
raise him from the dead. That's why he did it. You can't
separate faith and knowledge, this knowledge of the character
of God. Verse seven. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father, and said, my father. And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold, the fire
and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? Don't you know that ripped his
heart out when Isaac said, we got the fire, we got the wood,
where's the lamb? He had no idea that he was going
to be the sacrifice. And I'm sure Abraham's heart
ripped when Isaac asked him that question. But what a question. What a question. Where is the
lamb? Isaac had been taught well. He
knew that God could only be approached through a sacrificial lamb, not
that that lamb did anything for him, but what the lamb pointed
to, the coming Son of God, the Messiah that would come. He was
taught well. He said, here's the fire, here's
the wood, where's the lamb? Every message we preach, every
song we sing, We better ask that question. Where is the lamb? If the lamb's not there, I don't
care how good it was, I don't care how accurate it was, it
was no good. It was no good. What did Paul mean when he said,
I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified? The lamb, the lamb of God. If the lamb, I don't, I'm not
interested in anything else. I don't care what you think about
politics. I don't care what you think about issues. Where's the
lamb? That's all he preached. I determined
not to know anything among you. Have you made that determination?
Do you see why Paul said that? Why this is the only issue. Where is the lamb? You can have the fire, you can
have the warmth and enthusiasm, you can have the wood, you can
have your doctrine down pat, where's the lamb? Where is the
lamb? Oh, every message I hear, I wanna
ask that question. Where is the lamb? God's lamb. And then Abraham answers, verse
eight, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. Now the whole gospel is in that
verse. Number one, you can't provide
anything. You believe that? You cannot
provide anything that he would accept. Nothing. God provides the lamb. And God provides the lamb for
himself. You see, for God to do something
for me, he first had to do something for himself. He had to make a
way that all of his attributes would be honored, that his law
would be honored, that his justice would be honored, that sin would
be punished, that everything he says must come to pass for
him to do something for me. He first had to do something
for himself. He provides the lamb for himself. Now, understand this. I hope
this is not misunderstood. The blood was more for God than
it was for you. It was to satisfy God. It was
to make a way for God to be just and justify somebody like me
or you. The blood was for God. And listen to this. God is the
Lamb. The Lamb of God is God the Lamb. He provided Himself as the lamb
for the burnt offering. He provided himself. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth him should
not perish but have everlasting life. God is the lamb. Did Abraham know what he was
saying? I think he did. I think he did. Did he know that God was going
to provide that ram? I don't know that he knew that.
The boy was already killed in his eyes, but he knew this. God
is the one who provides the lamb. So they went both of them together
and they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid
him on the altar upon the wood. Now, I know that Isaac, Abraham's
an old man, Isaac could have kept this from happening, but
Isaac did this willingly. because he believed that God
would raise him from the dead. Our Lord, everything he did,
he did willingly. He was no victim. He said, no
man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it at this
commandment if I received it from my father. What he did,
he did because he wanted to. He wanted to glorify his father. He knew this would bring glory
to, the ultimate glory to his father. He wanted to save his
people. He wanted to do what he did. Isaac lays down willingly. And Abraham, verse 10, stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. How painful was that? What was going on in his mind
at that time? Let me say this. I don't know how to say this
right. It sure wasn't easy for God to slay a son. How painful it was to God. Awake, O sword, smite the shepherd. and the sheep will be scattered. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the
Lord, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
at this time. This isn't some created angel. This is the angel
of the covenant, the angel of the Lord. And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, And
he said, here am I. And he said, lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy
son, thy only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked and behold, behind him. Behind him. Was it there all
the time? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe the
Lord just made it to where he couldn't see him and all of a
sudden he sees. But it was behind him. There was a ram caught in
a thicket by his horns. Now, I don't know what took place,
but maybe the very time that Abraham was walking up the mountain
with Isaac, on the other side of the mountain, a ram got loose. And it started going up the other
side of the mountain, just according to God's purpose. You see, everything's
according to God's purpose. Everything. There isn't anything
that falls outside of God's eternal purpose. Doesn't matter what
it is. And this ram got caught in a thicket by the horns. And
I have no doubt that that represents the thorny crown of the Lord
Jesus Christ as he was in the place of this ram. And the reason
it was behind him is to remind us The reason for salvation is
always behind me. What do you mean by that? It's
something that's already done. Somebody says, what's the Lord
doing for you? I don't know. What has the Lord
done for you? He put my sin away. It's behind
me. It's already accomplished. Behind me, accomplished. And Abraham, verse 13, lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a
thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. As it's said to this day, in
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen, the Lord will see to
it, the Lord will provide. This is his answer to verse 8, the
Lord shall provide. Now let's finish by looking at
a passage in John chapter 8. Now here we have substitution,
Christ being offered up in the stead of me when thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. When Abraham accounted that God
was able to raise him up from the dead, he was accounting that
God was able to do what he said he would do, because that's who
God is. When God imputes righteousness
to his people, It's not like, well, I know they're guilty and
sinful, but I'm going to impute righteousness to them anyway.
No. He imputes righteousness to them because that's what they
are, because of what Christ has done for them. Now, look in John
chapter 8, beginning in verse 52. Then said the Jews unto him,
now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham's dead, and the prophets,
and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he'll never taste
of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is
dead, and the prophets are dead? Whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered. If I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It's my father that honoreth
me, of whom you say that he's your God. Yet you've not known
him, but I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I'd be a liar, like unto you. But I know him, and keep
you safe. Your father, Abraham, rejoiced
to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. And I don't have any doubt that
he's talking about this event. You reckon Abraham rejoiced with
that substitute ram for a son? And I'll tell you somebody else
who rejoiced, Isaac. You reckon he was happy? You
see, You know that you deserve to be slain by God's justice
and sent to hell. You believe that? Don't you rejoice
in the substitute? Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews
unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old. Hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I am. The name of God. Then took they
up stones to cast at him. Faith, knowledge, and works all sing
in this story. Let's pray. Lord, we're so grateful for your
word. We're so amazed and awed by your
word, by the scriptures that we know you wrote and how they
teach us your gospel, how we thank you that your son, you
gave and he willingly was offered up. that he willingly took our
sins and our sorrows and made them his very own, that he willingly
bore the burden to Calvary, suffered and died under your wrath. How
we thank you for what he's done. Lord, take this message and bless
it for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray,
amen.