Pastor Norbert gave us a powerful
lesson this morning in grace and humility in his opening remarks. In referring to his present trial,
he let us all understand in no uncertain terms that his emphasis
in this morning's service would not be on himself or his trial,
but he would be exalting the Savior and preaching the gospel
of God's grace effectively. And he certainly did that. You
know, I've been giving you some voices from the past since I've
been preaching here for Brother Todd several times in the last
few months. Voices from the past. We learn
so much from these old writers and these old preachers. And
I ran across one a few days ago regarding Mr. Judson, who was one of the greatest
missionaries in the world. He preached in Burma, as a missionary
to Burma. And according to this article,
he passed through unheard hardships and trials in Burma, preaching
the glorious gospel of God's free grace. And after 30 years
on that difficult field, he returned to America. And he came to speak
in a large city in America. And lots of people came to hear
him. And after the usual recognition
of visitors and important people, Mr. Judson arose and spoke about
20 or 25 minutes. And he told how Christ loved
us and gave himself for us. He told how the Savior took our
sins and his body on the tree and paid the debt that we owed.
And he sat down. And after the meeting was over,
the man who was in charge of his lodging and so forth, took him
back to the hotel. And on the way back to the hotel,
the young man said to Mr. Judson, I fear that people were
disappointed tonight. They wondered that you did not
talk of something else besides the gospel. Mr. Judson said, what did they want
to hear? I gave them the most thrilling
story that can be told. Well, the young man said, Sir,
he said, they wanted to hear the adventures of a man who spent
thirty years in the jungles of Burma. Well, Mr. Judson said, I'm glad to report
that a man from Burma has nothing more exciting, and wonderful to tell, and the
glorious story of the redeeming love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when I look upon these people today and remember when I may
see them next, how could I appeal to their curiosity? How could
I tickle their ears with adventures? This is not what my Lord sent
me to do. He may say to me, Judson, I gave
you an opportunity to address a large crowd of people, and
you didn't tell them about me. You told them about your adventures. We don't dare do that. Let's
talk about Christ. And I'll tell you what I'm going
to do tonight. I've got a message here I want
to preach. My text tonight will be taken
from Genesis chapter 21 and 22. I'd like for you to follow closely
with me. I'll tell you what the subject
is. The Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. In other words, the Lord will
speak to it. That's what one of the old timers said about
that, the Lord will provide, he said the Lord will see to
it. And let me give you the background,
and if I can give you the background of this experience, I think it
would be a great blessing to you. First of all, Abraham was
75 years old when God called him out of his father's house. and revealed the gospel to him. Abraham was 75 years of age. He was raised in idolatry. And
the Lord called him and revealed Christ to him. And the Lord told
him, the Lord gave him a promise. He said, I'm going to give you
an heir. See, Abraham didn't have any
children. He and his wife Sarah had no children. And he was 75
years old, and she was about that age, and the Lord said,
I'm going to give you an heir. I'm going to promise you an heir. And so, 11 years later, there
was no heir. And Sarah and her henmaid conspired
together to help Abraham have an heir. God promised him one,
but they figured he wasn't going to have one, so they were going
to fix him up with one. And Ishmael was born. Ishmael
was born when Abraham was 86. So, 14 years passed. Abraham
was 99 years old. And the only heir was Ishmael. Of course, Saul was getting older
and older too. And about that time, about when
he was a hundred, God Almighty said, Ishmael will not be your
heir. Ishmael is the son of the bondwoman,
not the son of Sarah. And the son of the bondwoman
cannot be your heir. It's got to be out of your own
bowels and from your own wife. And you will have an heir, but
it won't be Ishmael. And God was with Ishmael. Let
me show you something here in Genesis 21. You know the story
how that Abraham had to put a bottle of water on her shoulder and
send her away. Had to send her away. See, Isaac
was born then, when Abraham was 100. And there was a conflict
between this 14-year-old boy and this new baby. And Ishmael
didn't like him. So the Lord came to Abraham and
said, get rid of the bond woman. Send her away. And Abraham sent
her away. And you know she was about to
perish from thirst and the Lord showed her a well of water and
she gave the boy a drink and he had a drink and they survived. But here in Genesis chapter 21
verse 20 Verse 21, chapter 21, verse 20. Listen. Let's look at verse 19. And God opened her eyes, and
she saw a well and water. And she went and filled the bottle
with water and gave the lad a drink. Now watch this. And God was with
Ishmael. God was with the lad. And he
grew and he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He and
his mother got along fine. God provided for them. God provides
for each people. He provided for them. And he
got to be a big, fine young man. He was an archer. And verse 21
says, And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took
him away out of the land of Egypt. And they lived happily. Happily. Got along fine. He was a powerful
man. And by that time he was 25 or
30 years of age. And Isaac, a lot of people feel
like that when this experience, when God gave Abraham this experience
of sacrificing his son, a lot of people believe that Isaac
was about 20 or 25 years old. He wasn't a kid. He was a full
grown man. All right, now I want you to
look at Genesis 21 verse 22. And it came to pass at that time,
that Abimelech and Phichol, now that's the king of Philistines,
the king, Abimelech, the king, and Phichol, the chief captain
of his host, said to Abraham, God is with you. They recognized
that Abraham was a special man, a man of God. And they said,
God is with you everywhere you go. God is with you. Now look
at the next verse. Now therefore, swear unto me,
here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with
my son, nor with my son's son, for years to come. But according
to the kindness that I have done unto you, thou shalt do unto
me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned." So Abraham made
that covenant with Abimelech. and Paco, that he'd stay right
there in that area, live peaceably, they'd have no problems. I'm
looking for chapter 21 and verse 31. Wherefore he called that
place Beersheba, because they sware both of them, and they
made this covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol,
the chief captain of his host, and they returned to the land
of the Philistine. And what did Abraham do? Abraham
planted a grove in Beersheba. Abraham was comfortable there. Ishmael was gone, taken care
of. His mother was all right. He
was proud of him, I'm sure. God was with him. And Isaac was
going to be a fine young man like your young fellas here,
you know, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 years of age. And Abraham planted
a groove, orchard. The tabernacle, there was no
tabernacle then. Moses built the tabernacle. There was no temple. Solomon
built the temple. Abraham was out there in the
wilderness. And Abraham wanted to worship
God. He wanted to live peaceably with his neighbors. He wanted
to live peaceably with his wife, Sarah, and his child, his young
son. And he was just enjoying peace
and quiet. Listen to what it says here.
And Abraham planted a grove. That grove was to worship God.
It was like a brush arbor, you know, with a lot of trees and
a place to go and sit in a hammock or something, you know, and rest
and just everything. One old fellow said Abraham had
it made in the shade. And he called on the name of
the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the
Philistines' land Many, many days. Don't know how long. But the
guess is that he stayed there until Isaac was about 25 years
old. He was there from the time that
God called Abraham. So this time was about 50 years. About 50 years. And the last
20 years were so peaceful and pleasant and restful and everything
was going real good for Abraham. You look at chapter 42 now. After these things, what things? After God calling him and trials he
went through with Lot and with with the Sodomites and the Gomorrahites
and all those fellas, and the trial with Ishmael, and the trial
with Sarah and Hagar and all of these things, and now everything's
fine. Everything's beautiful. Very
happy. Got a place to worship and holler
to the Lord God. But after these things, after
And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. Now, God doesn't tempt Abraham
or anybody else to sin. God tested Abraham. God's going
to prove Abraham. That's what it is. It came to
pass that God would prove Abraham and said to him, Abraham? Abraham? And Abraham answered,
Thou, God, seest me. That's what Hagar said when the
angel of the Lord spoke to her about the water. She said, Thou,
God, seest me. And they named that place Thou,
God, seest me. You know, the Lord doesn't speak
often to any man. God didn't carry on a dialogue
with Abraham all the time. Somebody wrote this, said, God
does not speak often to any man. Most of Abraham's days were spent
in silence, walking with God in faith, believing God, worshiping
God, resting in God. But when the Lord said, Abraham,
he was listening. He answered, Behold I, I'm here. Behold I. Watch verse two. And God said,
Abraham, take now your son. He could have said, I've got
two. The old Jews had a dialogue about
that discussion here. Take thy son. I've got two, Ishmael,
Isaac. Take thine only son. Well, both
of them are my only son. One's my only son by Hagar and
one's my only son by Salem. Take thine only son, whom thou
lovest. I love them both. Just try to
understand. Take thine only son, Isaac. That's the one. I said, take
now thine only son, without delay, without controversy, no time
to consider, without question, take him now. Take thy son, not
a lamb, not a servant, not an enemy. Take your son, your only
son, whom you love. I said, son of promise, son of
on the air. Take him and sacrifice him. Take him and get to the land
of Moriah. That's where Jerusalem was going
to be. There's several mountains there,
Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, Mount Calvary. Take him, your son, to the land
of Moriah and offer him there a burnt offering. Abraham had
offered a lot of burnt offerings, and Isaac had seen a lot of burnt
offerings. And what they did, they took
the lamb, and cut its throat, and caught the blood in a basin. And then they took the lamb,
and they quartered it, cut it in four pieces, and laid it on
the altar, and set it afire, and watched it burn, consume
all of it. That's what God said to Abraham. What a trial. What am I going to say to Sarah?
What am I going to say to all my friends? He didn't say that. He didn't argue with, take your
son now without question and sacrifice him. And you know,
every word here was like an arrow into that man's tender heart.
But wait a minute. Every word signifies Jesus Christ. Every word. Every word signifies
Jesus Christ, whom God, out of His great love, gave to be a
sin offering and a sacrifice for our sins, who would one day
suffer on Mount Calvary. Abraham, you take your son, but
God gave his. God so loved, He gave. God didn't have to take him,
God gave him. Take your only son, but this is my only begotten
son, the son of my love. That's what Colossians showed
him, the son called Christ, the son of his love. and offer him for burnt offering.
That's what this is all about here. It's not just about Abraham
proving his faith. It's about Christ's sacrifice
for us on behalf, on our behalf. That's what this is all about.
Abraham said, God said, Christ said, Abraham saw my faith. He
did. You're going to see it real good
here now. Watch. All right. And Abraham rose up early in
the morning. It must have been in the evening
that God spoke to him. It must have been at night. Because
he rose up early in the morning. He rose up early in the morning
and saddled his eyes. Now, they were going to take
a trip of forty miles. From Beersheba to Mount Moriah
was forty miles. A three-day trip. And he got
up early in the morning, the old man saddled his ass, and
then he got two of the young men with him, two of his servants,
and he got his son Isaac out of bed. They claimed the wood,
they cut the wood for the burnt offering, and they rose up, and
they went to the place where God told them. Then verse four, on the third
day. You know, when you read this,
do you think about Abraham didn't say a word to Sarah, not a word
to those young men, not a word to anybody. He got his orders,
his command from God, and he didn't say a word. He just got
busy fulfilling what God told him to do. But I know this, being
a daddy, They'd sit by the fire at night and have something to
eat. And Isaac would be lying over
there on a blanket or something. And I know his dad sat there
and looked. I doubt if he slept a wink. I
doubt he slept a wink. He just watched his son. What's the Lord showing me? What's
he doing? I got to do this. God commanded me to do it. But
why? Why? Why? He ever asked me why? Yeah, that's why we got... Right
now, you know, the things we're going through, and you're going
through, and Todd's going through, it's... Why, Lord? Yeah, I don't
know. I just know He's on the throne,
and He'll work all this out for His glory. Me and you and all
the rest of you. But on the third day, listen.
He lifted up his eyes and saw the place. Now, God told him,
out going to the land and to the place I'll show you. And
Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw the place. How did he
know which one of those mountains? I'll tell you why. God was on
that mountain. He saw the glory of God on that
mountain. These boys didn't see it and
Isaac didn't see it, but Abraham did. Moses did too, over here
in Exodus 17. Turn to Exodus 17. God sent Moses
to smite a rock, you remember? In Exodus 17, verse 6. And God, the Lord said, in verse
5, the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people and take
with thee the elders of Israel, and your rod, wherewith you smote
the river, take it in your hand and go, and behold, I will stand
upon the rock. I will stand before you upon
the rock, and you shall smite the rock." That's how Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place. God was there. God was there. That made it a
lot easier than that. God was there. Let's see, so
verse five, verse five. God was there. And Abraham said
to the young men, now you stay here with the ash. I and the
lad will go yonder and worship, and we'll be back. I and the lad will go there and
worship, and we'll be back. Now let me point out two or three
things. This sacrifice, this burnt offering, this sacrifice
on Mount Moriah and Mount Calvary involved two people, the Father
and the Son. That's right. In Abraham's case,
it was Abraham and Isaac. But this sacrifice of Christ
Jesus on Calvary involved the Father and the Son. It pleased God to Bruce. God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. You can forget
the Jewish people and all the other, the Roman soldiers and
all. Who crucified Jesus? Well, you
with wicked hands crucified him, but you did what God assigned
before it to be done. Please God to bruise him. That's
the exact right. Father and the Son. And you know
something? He told these young men, you
stay right here. You know why? Those young men
could never understand what would take place up there. They could
never understand what Abraham was going to do. Sacrifice his
son as a burnt offer. You stay here. Somebody said
this, great things are not for the curious. Great things are
to be experienced and to have and learn by those who are taught
of God. Taught of God. Those boys didn't
have any business up there. Didn't have any business. Abraham
did and Isaac did. Taught of God. Everyone there
worshiped God. You know, I see church ads. all the time in the paper. They
mean well, they mean well, but I see them saying, everybody's
welcome. Come and worship with us. Now
tell me how, how all these folks can come and worship with us.
How can an unseeing, untaught, uninterested, natural man come
and worship with us? Tell me how he can't do it. You've
got to have people who know God, who love God, who understand
this Word. That's right. These young men,
you just stay right here. Just stay right here. They would
have stopped that. They would have stopped that sacrifice.
They would have overwhelmed that old man. They would have done
it. Because Peter tried him. Turn
with me to Matthew 16. When our Lord Jesus Christ was
talking about going to the cross of Calvary, Peter wanted to stop
it. In Matthew 16, listen to this.
Matthew 16, verse 21. Listen to this. Matthew 16, verse
21. From that time forth, Matthew 16, 21, from that time forth, began Jesus to show his disciples
how that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, and the
elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and
raised again the third day. And Peter took him and began
to rebuke him. And he said, Be it far from thee,
Lord, that shall not be unto thee. How's he going to worship
with us? You've got to have a heart to
worship. an experience of grace and the
Spirit of God dwelling within you. You won't believe this.
Maybe you will. Because I heard it. There was
a television preacher. He was on the same channel that
I was on years ago in Ashton. And he and his wife had a big
program. They were big time. She said one time on the television,
said, Why do we have all these different things? She said, well,
when your competitor gets a bigger bloom, you get a still bigger
bloom. And that's the way they operated. But anyway, I was listening
to him one night, and he was talking about Christ dying on
the cross. Christ dying on the cross. And
he started crying. This television picture. And
he said, let me tell you, if I'd have been there, I'd have
stopped there. Would you? That's what those boys would
have done, too. Let's stop that. Leave them there and come before
the Lord God to worship Him. You know, watch this right here
in verse 20, chapter 22, verse 5, And Abraham said to the young
men, Abide ye here with the eyes, and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship, and we will come again to you. Abraham knew that
if he killed his son, God would raise him. He knew that because
he was a promise. He was the Redeemer. He's the
Christ Jesus. He's a type of Christ. Yes. All right, verse 6. So Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.
The son bore the cross. And the father carried the knife
and the fire. And Old Abraham took the wood
of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac. He, bearing his
cross, went to Calvary. And the father took the knife
and the fire in his hand. And they, I love this statement,
and they both went together. That's how we were redeemed.
by the grace of God through the blood of Christ. And the Father
bruised Him, put Him to death. Our Lord was made sin on that
cross. He took our sin in His body on
the tree. He was made sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. And the reason I
know He was made sin is because the Father turned His back on
Him. Turned His back. left him in
the hands of justice and judgment and slew his son. He slew him. Your sins have separated you
and your God. When that old high priest would
put his hands on the scapegoat and confess the sins, And then
take that scapegoat and lead him out in the wilderness and
turn him loose. Those sins, in type, were put on that scapegoat
and borne away. And Christ, our sins were put
on Christ. And like your pastor said this
morning, he paid the debt and put them away. They don't exist
anymore. They're gone. Sins are gone. Alright, look at verse 7. And
now Isaac speaks. I like this statement here. Isaac
spake to Abraham, his father, and said, My father, he said,
hear about my son. He said, My father, behold the
fire and the woodland. Where is the lamb? Where is the
lamb for burnt offering? In Egypt, there was a lamb for
every house. And where there was no lamb,
There was no salvation. Where there was no lamb, there
was death. Where's the lamb? The religious world said, well,
we have a fine altar. But the question is, where's
the lamb? Well, we have a great choir. We have one of the best
choirs in town. Where's the lamb? Well, we have
classes for every age. We have programs for the young
people. Isaac said, Father, where's the Lamb? There can't be a sacrifice. There can't be an atonement without
the Lamb. There's got to be the blood of
the Lamb. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Where's the Lamb? Turn with me. Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7. Listen
to this. Revelation 7 verse 9 through
14. Let's read this. Revelation 7 verse 9. And after
this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could
number. of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, Salvation to our God, which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Where is the Lamb? There He is. And all the angels
stood round about the throne and about the elders and the
four beasts, and fell down before the throne on their faces and
worshiped God. saying, Amen, blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be
unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they? And I said to him, Sir, you know,
you know. And he said to me, These are
they. which came out of great troubles
and tribulations, and have washed their robes, and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb." That's the gospel. There's no other
gospel. Where's the Lamb? Where's the
Lamb? All right, verse 8. Let's look
at this verse. And Abraham said, My son, I don't
know how much Abraham talk to Isaac about this, but I imagine
quite a bit, because Isaac was so willing. It's like our Lord
Jesus went to the cross willingly. He, for this cause, came out
of this hour. Shall I say, Father, deliver
me from this hour? For this cause came out of this
hour. And Abraham said, My son God
will provide himself a lamb for burnt offering. And that has
a fourfold word here. Now watch it. My son, God will
provide a lamb. You can believe it. You can be
assured of it. You can rest in it. God will
provide. God will provide. Secondly, God
will provide himself. Nobody else is going to provide
it. This is not my business or your business. This is God's
business. He will provide the Lamb. He'll give His Son, His
only begotten, the Son of His love, salvations of the Lord.
He will provide the Lamb. Thirdly, God will provide for
Himself. You see, this sacrifice is not
to Just get along with us. This
sacrifice is not just to appease me. This sacrifice is to please
God. God will provide a lamb for Himself. The blood offering is unto the
Lord. The offering is not just an example
or a symbol or a title. It's a payment for sin. unto the Lord. The blood, a suitable,
perfect sacrifice in which God is well pleased. He's never been
pleased with those Jewish sacrifices. He was never pleased. But he
said to his Christ, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased. God satisfied. God satisfied. He pleased God to bruise him.
It pleased God. It was pleasing to God. And then
fourthly, God will provide Himself. He is the Lamb. The Lamb and
the Father are one. Because it says here, verse 8,
and Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a Lamb for
burnt offering. So they went, both of them, together. That's what happened at the cross. Father and the Son. Father decreed it and purposed
it and the Son fulfilled it. That's right. Alright, verse
9. I'll give you a little bit more
here and I'll quit. And they came to the place which God had
spoke of, told of, and Abraham built an altar and laid the wood
in order and bound Isaac his son. He bound him. I'm sure Isaac
didn't resist. Christ didn't resist. He willingly
went to the cross. He spake not a word. He went
and they bound him. They bound him. Abraham bound
his son. That's a picture of us bound
in sin, bound in transgressions and iniquity. And then he laid
him on that altar. He laid his son on that altar,
helpless, bound on the altar of justice and holiness, waiting
waiting a deserved execution. David said this in Psalm 51. Let me show you this, Psalm 51.
Our sins deserve death. They deserve death. In Psalm
51, the Lord, David said this about his transgressions. He
said this, he said in Psalm 51, I acknowledge verse 3, I acknowledge
my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. Against thee,
and thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and cleared
when thou judgest. And Isaac is a sinner, lying
on that altar, bound by sin. awaiting execution by His Father because He's a
sinner. That's right. You see, when lust,
here's what the Scripture says, when lust hath conceived, it
brings forth sin. And sin, when it's finished,
brings forth death. And that's what you've got here.
You've got this Father knowing that there's sin here. Sin in
the camp. There's sin. And if he's going
to be a burnt offering, he's got to be slain. The soul that
sinned, it's got to die. Got to die. Must die. So Abraham, verse 10, listen. Abraham stretched forth his hand,
took that knife in his hand, and held it aloft to plunge it
into the heart of his son. He took that knife to slay his
son. The justice of God must slay
the guilty. You got any problem with that?
I don't. The justice of God has got to
slay the guilty. Does anybody have anything to
say? The soul that sinneth, it shall die. It shall surely die. And Abraham was intent on killing
that boy. He was intent. Watch how intent
he was. Raise that knife. He fully, he
believed God would raise him, but he fully intended to put
this sin away. He raised that knife. Does anybody
have anything to say? Yes. Somebody's got something
to say. Todd, this morning, he worked
on it, said, but God. But God. Abraham didn't have
anything to say. Isaac didn't have anything to
say. I don't have anything to say. But God has something to
say. Look at that verse 11. And the
angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord called unto him from
heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. Why did he say his name twice? You know what somebody said about
that? He said, this man was so intent to obey God and fulfill
the command of God, it took that angel two words to shake him
up and get his attention. He was determined to kill him. Determined. Abraham, Abraham,
listen. And he said, here I am, here
I am. And he said, lay not thy hand upon the land, neither do
anything unto him, for now I know, God knew this all the time, Somebody
said this, now I know and you know and the world knows that
there's a man who fears God. There's a man who believes God. There's a man who obeys God. There is a man who has greater
regard for the command of God than he has for his own soul. Isn't that something? Mercy speaks and cries Abraham. But here's a man so intent on
obeying God, he's going to destroy his own son. And God has to holler,
Turn him loose! I found a ransom. Turn him loose. But I know now, I know now, that
you fear God. I know it now. I see you have
not withheld your own son. And Abraham, watch, Abraham lifted
up his eyes. And what did he see? And he saw
behind him, he saw behind him a ram. A ram. That's a male of the first year,
a suitable sacrifice, a powerful young ram. There he is. And Abraham saw him. And then
the second thing, he saw him caught. He saw this ram caught
in the thicket. Yeah, he was caught. He was arrested
by that mob. Todd mentioned it this morning
when they said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they just fell backwards.
But this ram was caught. He was arrested. And they bound
him hand and foot. And then they put a crown of
thorns on his head. And you know what that's saying
here? He was caught in a thicket. crown of thorns on his head,
bound, caught, held, held, held by Almighty God's will and covenant. He was held by the covenant and
he was held by his horns, horns in the scripture of power and
might, all power and all might, all authority over all creatures. There he is. Oh my. And he took that ram and
offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And
I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne a lamb that had
been slain. He had seven horns, omnipotent. Seven eyes, omniscient. Seven spirits, omnipresent. And he took the book And they
sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy, thou art worthy to
take the book, and open the sea of the air, for thou was slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, by thy blood, out
of every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation." He offered him in the stead of
his son. That's the gospel. That's substitution. That's absolute
substitution. Let the legalists, let them go
to Sinai with its laws. Give me the lamb. Let the Catholics
go to the manger, to Mary and to the babe, but let us go to
the lamb. Let the ritualists go to Jordan's
river and the ordinances, but let us go to the lamb. Let the
scholars go to their creeds and their catechisms, but we'll go
to the Lamb. Let the superstitious go to the
Holy Land whenever they want to and look at all the sights,
but I'll go to the Lamb who taketh away the sin of the world, because
God Almighty will provide. Listen to this. Though troubles
assail and dangers affright, though friends should all fail
and foes all unite, yet one thing secures me whatever betide. His promise assures me the Lord
will provide. The birds without barn or storehouse
are fed, for them from them let us trust also for our bread. His saints, what is fitting,
shall never be denied. As long as that word is written,
God will provide. We all may like ships by tempests
be tossed on perilous deeps, but will never be lost. In this
strong tower for safety we hide, the Lord is our Savior and He
will provide. And when life sinks apace and
my death is in view, the Word of the Lord shall comfort us
through, not fearing, not doubting, with Christ as our guide. We
plan to die shouting, The Lord will provide.