Abraham

Q: What does the Bible say about the testing of faith?

The Bible describes the testing of faith as a means to prove its reality and strength, especially as seen in the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. The Bible indicates that faith is essential and needs to be tested to prove its authenticity. In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham by asking him to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. This trial of faith is not about achieving salvation via works, but rather about demonstrating the depth of one's belief. The testing of faith shows that genuine faith can endure and manifest in obedience, as illustrated in Hebrews 11:8-10, where Abraham's actions reflected his justified faith.

Q: How do we know that God tests our faith?

Scripture reveals that God tests our faith to demonstrate its reality and to draw us closer to Him, as seen in Abraham's trial in Genesis 22. God's testing of our faith is well-documented in the Bible, as it serves to reveal the genuine nature of belief. In Genesis 22, Abraham's faith is tested when he is asked to offer Isaac. This testing is not for God's benefit, as He knows our hearts, but rather for us to see the strength of our faith. According to 1 Peter 1:6-7, the trial of faith is more precious than gold, stressing the value of enduring faith. Such trials help Christians grow and affirm their reliance on God.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians?

Faith is vital for Christians as it is the means through which they are justified and can please God, highlighted by examples like Abraham. Faith is the central grace that justifies believers before God; without it, it is impossible to please Him. In Genesis 22, Abraham's willingness to obey demonstrates that true faith produces action, confirming one's relationship with God. James 2:14 challenges believers to show their faith through works. Thus, faith is not only about belief but also about living out that belief in obedience, which ultimately signifies true justification as shown in Romans 4.

Q: What is the significance of Mount Moriah in the Bible?

Mount Moriah is significant as the site of Abraham's faith test and later as the location for the temple, where Jesus was also crucified. Mount Moriah carries profound significance in the biblical narrative. It is where God tested Abraham by asking him to offer Isaac, representing the ultimate trial of faith. David later purchased this land, and Solomon built the temple there, linking it to God's redemptive history. Ultimately, it is closely associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, emphasizing God's provision and foreshadowing the sacrificial Lamb for humanity. This mountain thus serves as a pivotal point in God's plan for salvation.

Q: How is Isaac a type of Christ?

Isaac serves as a type of Christ by paralleling his willingness to be sacrificed with Jesus’s obedience in going to the cross. Isaac's role in Genesis 22 showcases him as a foreshadowing of Christ. Both are beloved sons offered as sacrifices, highlighting the depth of parental love and the seriousness of obedience to God. The binding of Isaac symbolizes the necessity of complete surrender, much like how Jesus was bound to the cross by divine purpose and His love for His people. This typology enriches the understanding of Christ's sacrificial role, as God provided His only Son in the ultimate act of love to atone for sin.

Then I want you to look at it. Genesis chapter 22. Let's begin
reading in verse 1. We'll read down through verse
18. You find it? Genesis 21. Everybody find it? Layla, you get over here with
your grandmother. Everybody got their Bibles out?
Get your Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 22. If you don't have
a Bible, we'll provide one. Everybody have one? All right, Genesis 22. And it
came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. He
tried Abraham. He tested him. And said unto
him, Abraham. And Abraham said, Behold, here
I am. And the Lord said, Take now thy
son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee unto
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, and saddled his ass, his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. and he split the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went into the place of which
God told him. Then on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place aforeoff. 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. 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 an eye And they went both
of them together. And Isaac spake unto his father
Abraham, 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? And
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
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. And
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his
son. 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 thou hast not withheld thy Son,
thine only Son, from me.' And Abraham 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
the place Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said to this day, in
the mouth of the Lord it shall be seen, or the Lord shall provide. The Lord shall provide and the
Lord shall see what he has provided. And the angel of the Lord called
unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, By myself
have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because you have done this
thing, and have not withheld thy son, thine only son, that
in blessing I will bless thee In multiplying, I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of the heaven, as the sand which is
upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemy. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."
Now, I just want us to see three things tonight, if we can get
through this. Dig out too much of this, but
we'll see these three things. But first of all, let me say
this. There in verse 1, the Lord tested Abraham. The Lord tested
Abraham and said, offer your son as a burnt offering. Now be careful. You have to be
careful. We've had people today that's
heard voices that said, God told me to do this and God told me
to do that. If you're hearing a little voice in your head to
kill somebody, You can just about be certain that's not God testing
your faith. That's probably the devil tempting
you to do some evil act. This was the ancient time. God
was still speaking. He was speaking to these men,
sometimes audibly, sometimes to their hearts, sometimes He's
spaking dreams, sometimes He's spaking vision. But if He speaks
to you now in a dream, you better prove it. If He speaks to you
in a vision, you better prove it. And how do we prove all things? We have the Word, don't we? We
have the last chapter of the book of Revelations that tells
us that the Word of God is complete. He's put it all together. We're
not to take anything from it or add anything to it. Now we
prove all things by this Word. Abraham knew this was God speaking
to him. How do you and I know that God
is talking to us? He speaks to us through His Word. Try everything by His Word. Now,
here in chapter 22, we want to see these three things. First
of all, we want to see this, the trial of faith. That's what
we see there in verse 1. The Lord did tempt, that is,
He tried Abraham. Now, this is not about obeying
God to be saved. Abraham wasn't obeying God to
be justified. Abraham was already justified.
He was already justified by faith. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8 tells
us that. Listen to this. By faith Abraham,
when he was called to go out unto a place which he should
receive as an inheritance, he obeyed and went out. So when
he first came out, probably 40 years before this or so, He was
saved by faith. He believed then. And then in
Genesis chapter 15 and verse 8, you remember this, when the
Lord told Abraham to look towards heaven, and He said, if you can
count the stars, then you can count your seed. I'm going to
bless you and your seed is going to be as the stars of heaven.
And He said He believed in the Lord and He counted it to Him
for righteousness. So this trial here about in chapter
22 is not Abraham obeying the Lord to be justified or to be
saved. He's already justified. He's
already saved. Genesis chapter 22 is about this
faith being tried. When God gives faith to a man
or a woman or a boy and girl to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, to be justified, and that's the way we're justified,
Paul said we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ. Believing in Christ will justify
a person. How do we believe in Christ?
God gives us grace to believe in Christ. We believe through
grace. And when He gives us grace to believe in Christ, He tries
that faith. And sometimes, brothers and sisters,
I shudder in my soul to think the way in which God tries us
who have faith. The devil sometimes tries us,
and sometimes that's sobering enough. Men try us. Our circumstances try us. But
I tell you, you've never been tried like God can try you. And
here the Scripture says the Lord did test Abraham. And that's a solemn thing. It's
a solemn thing. Listen to what 1 Peter 1, 6,
7 says about the trial of your faith. He says, If need be, You
are in heaviness. That word means distressed. You're
heavy in your heart. You're heavy in your spirit.
You're heavy in your body. You're distressed. Why? Through
manifold, through many, through various temptations, trials. For the trying of your faith
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire. Boy, that indicates that the
trial of faith can be tough, doesn't it? It's tried by fire. And how did God try Abraham?
He said, Abraham, you have a son and he's dear to you. You love
him as you love your own body. Take him up on Mount Moriah and
offer him there for a burnt offering. Kill him and burn him. Now that's
a trial, isn't it? That's a trial. And that's what
we see here in Genesis chapter 22. Now, the question is asked,
why is faith tried? Why is faith tested? Because of this. Faith is the
most important grace in your heart. It's even more important
than love. It's not love that justifies
it, but faith does. The Lord Jesus didn't say to
that woman, whom He had forgiven all her sins, go in peace, your
love has made you whole, but go in peace, your faith has made
you whole. Your faith has saved you. So
faith is the most important grace in our hearts. Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. So faith is critical, and since
faith is critical, it's tried. It's tried. Not only is this
faith the only principle by which we can please God and worship
God and serve God, but listen now, faith is the only principle
by which all our actions are proved and justified. What in the world was Abraham
doing upon Mount Moriah, offering Isaac as a sacrifice? It's only faith that makes sense,
isn't it? Listen to what C. H. McIntosh
said on this subject. He said, You take away faith,
and Abraham appears on Mount Moriah as a murderer and as a
madman. But you take faith into account,
and he appears as a devoted worshipper, a God-fearing, justified man. Faith is what justifies all the
actions and proves all the actions that you and I do. Why did Abraham
do that? By faith. By faith, when he was
tried, he offered up Isaac. You take Abel that brought that
blood sacrifice into God's presence. If you take faith out of that,
then he's just a presumptuous sinner. Thank Him that the eternal
God will accept Him and put away His guilt because He's brought
this blood sacrifice. But if you put faith in that,
it's faith that made Him and caused Him to bring this blood
sacrifice which put away His guilt and accepted Him before
God. Take away faith, and what's Noah
doing out there building that ark? He's just a deranged prophet. It's come in a flood. It's never
rained a day in the history of the world. Then what puts credit
to what Noah was doing? He believed God. He believed
God. This faith is precious. It's
a gift of God. But it's so precious that he
tries it. The Lord Himself tries this faith. But listen to this. Neither God
nor honest men will be satisfied with a powerless or profitless
profession of faith. The reality of faith, if you
have it, it will be proved. It will be proved to those who
are around you, those who observe you, and more importantly, it
will be proved to God. I'll show you these two things
right quickly. Here's one of the reasons that
God tries our faith. to prove the reality of it. You
hold Genesis chapter 22, and look in James chapter 2 right
quickly. Look in James chapter 2. If you
come to me and you say, Bruce, the Lord has saved me. I believe
that I am justified by faith. It's nothing I do, but I believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust Him in my heart. Then
you know something? If you have that kind of faith,
it's going to tell. It's going to be manifested.
But the things that you do before me, your faith will be justified
in my eyes." Now, here's what he said in James chapter 2, and
look here in verse 14. James chapter 2 and verse 14.
What doeth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith,
and hath not worked? Can faith save him? This kind
of faith can't can it? And that's what James is proving.
What kind of faith is it that saves a person? Is it a faith
that just professes and then goes on living in sin? Has no
good works to glorify God? No, that faith can save you.
And that's what James is proving. In 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 ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding,
You give them not those things which are needful to the body,
what does it profit? Even so, faith, 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. That's a challenge, isn't it?
That's a challenge. You can't see faith, can you?
How do we show our faith? Show me your faith. It's impossible. without works, and James said,
I will show you my faith by my works. I look at you and you
watch me, and when trials come, when heartaches come, when heaviness
comes, it comes to your heart, it comes to your body, it comes
to your family, it comes on your job, when trials and heaviness
comes to you, and you know what? You keep going. Somebody's got
a phone ringing. You keep going. You don't give up. You don't
quit meeting with the Lord's people. You continue honestly
on the way, following the Lord. Why do you do that? Faith. Faith. Show me your faith. Well, you will. You'll show everybody
your faith. Abraham's faith that he had long
before this trial was manifested to his family, They said, did
you hear what Abraham did? And those two servants said,
we didn't hear it. We was there. We saw him when he left us and
him and Isaac going up with the wood on Isaac's back and knife
and a fire in his hand. He is a man of faith. Isaac knew
it. And I tell you what, if you've
got faith, people know it. People know it. And when they
manifest it is in the time when God tries you. When God tries
you. I think Wayne is probably a man
of faith. I mean, I don't know that for
sure, Wayne, but there are some indications you are. To leave
a home and your children 4,000 miles away and come here to sit
under the gospel. That seems to indicate a man of faith, doesn't
it? Show me your faith. Well, we
will during trial. Verse 19, They will believe us
that there is one God, Now do us well, but listen, the devils
believe that, and they tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Now look, was not Abraham our
father justified by works? Now don't tell me that Abraham
was justified by works before God. That's impossible, isn't
it? If anybody could be justified
by works, it would surely be this man, and Abraham would have
gloried in that. But Romans 4 tells us that he
was not justified before God by works. Then who was he justified
before? Everybody that's seen him. His
servants, his household, you and me. He proved he had faith
by his works. He was justified before man,
his faith was justified, when he had offered up Isaac his son
upon the altar. See how faith wrought with his
works? And by works was faith made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled
which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him
for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Faith is tried, and the reality
of it is proved to mankind. And look back over in Genesis
chapter 22 again, and look here in verse 10. It's not only the reality of
it proved to man and before man, but you know God reproved the
reality before Himself. You say, didn't God know? Well,
sure He knew. But that doesn't stop him from proving the reality
of it. He is going to see it with his
own eye. And look what he says here in
verse 10, And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took his
knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said,
I am here. 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 you not withheld your
son, your only son from me." God proves the reality of it
to His own self. He sees it. Neither man nor God
will stand for an empty, unprofitable profession of faith. It's too
precious. God gives it, and then He tries
it. Brothers and sisters, the next
time you're in heaviness, the next time you're put to the test,
remember this. It's because God has given you
faith. And He's going to try it. He's
going to try it. Be afraid if you profess faith
and you never try. That's when you should be afraid.
And you notice in this passage, we'll not look at it, we don't
have the time, but you'll notice in this passage something that
happens when faith is tried. That's when you and I see more
of God's grace and His goodness in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
told Abraham, because you've done this thing, I'm going to
bless you. I'm going to bless you because
you've not withholding your son from me. I am going to bless
you. And it's during these times of
trials of our faith, it's when we see the goodness and the grace
of God in Christ manifested to us more than any place else.
Have you ever noticed that? You've noticed that, haven't
you? Well, that's the way it was with Abraham also. Secondly is
this. First of all, the trial of your
faith. That's the first thing we see in this chapter. Secondly,
I want us to see this right quickly, and that's about this mountain
itself. Now, you and I looked at this
when we were going through the book of Genesis a few years ago, but
if you're like me, you forgot it. But this mountain of Moriah,
if you want to follow some things that's said about it, you can.
I'll give you some scripture here if you want to. in just
a minute if you want to follow these references. It's an amazing
thing, this Mount Moriah. But it was a specific place. He says here in verse 2, the
last part of verse 2, "...and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." One of
the mountains. Moriah was a mountain range.
But the Lord said, there is a specific mountain, one of those mountains.
And I don't know how much information He'd give Abraham about it, but
He said, I'm going to tell you about it. And then in verse 3,
Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him, and his son, and clad
the wood for a burn off, and rose up and went into the place,
the place of which God had told him. And in verse 4 he said,
On the third day he lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place
aforeof. So it was a specific place that
God told him of that Isaac was to be offered. Now, if you have
a pen and you want to put down these references at your leisure,
it's 1 Chronicles chapter 21 and chapter 22. And then 2 Chronicles
chapter 3 and then 1 Kings Chapter 6. 1 Chronicles 21 and
22, those two chapters. 2 Chronicles 3, beginning there
especially in verse 1. And 1 Kings 6 and verse 1. Now that will tell you some of
the places where it talks about this Mount Moriah. I just want
to take a minute now and tell you about some of the places
that I just gave you reference to. Mount Moriah. When David was king, He numbered the people. Some
of you read about this. He numbered them. And it brought
the judgment of the Lord upon Israel. Angel was sent down over
Jerusalem and killed 70,000 men and women. Could you imagine
that? 70,000. The Lord said, What do
you want? Do you want to fall into the
hands of man? Do you want pestilence to come? David said, Let me fall
into your hands. The Lord said, Okay. And he sent his angel and
killed 70,000 men in Jerusalem. David was horrified. The elders
of Israel, they all fell upon their faces. And they saw this
angel standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn
and was ready to destroy Israel. And God said, Hold your sword.
Put your sword up. That's enough. He spake to Gad,
his prophet, and said, You go tell David to go up there on
the threshing floor of Arnon. Arnon was a man that had some
sons. He's up on this hill, up on this mountain, threshing,
threshing, He was there because when they threw the wheat up,
the wind, the breeze on the mountain would blow all the husk off.
And David went and told Arnon, I'm going to buy this land off
of you and I'm going to build an altar here and sacrifice unto
the Lord. And that's what he did. And when
he had sacrificed to the Lord, the plague was staged. The angel
put up his sword and David said this about this mountain. This
is the house of the Lord God. This is the altar of burnt offering
for Israel. Well, you know where that place
was? Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah. You study those
references and that's what it'll tell you. It was about 900 years
or so after Abraham had been on top of this mountain, David
had raised up Solomon and he said, Solomon, I've got all this
material. gold and silver and iron and
wood that can't even be measured. And he said, I want you to build
this magnificent temple for the glory of God. And you know where
he built it? Right there on Mount Moriah. This is the house of
the Lord. Here is where the altar is to
be built where there is to sacrifice. And you know, that temple stood
there until it was torn down, rebuilt lastly by Herod, and
it was just a few yards from this temple on a knoll, a rocky
knoll, just outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem, Jesus
Christ was crucified. That's the history of this mountain. And every time you find Him on
this mountain, Abraham built Him an altar, didn't he? When
David bought the place off of Ornan, he took the oxen and the
wood he was plowing with, he built him an altar and sacrificed
to the Lord. As soon as Solomon had built
a temple on this spot, he built that huge, magnificent iron or
brass altar and offered all number of sacrifices on it. They built
an altar. It was always an altar on this
place. When Jesus Christ was crucified,
on Mount Moriah, He became our altar. He was the high priest
to offer the sacrifice. He was the sacrifice, and He
was the altar upon which it was offered. Paul said, we have an
altar. All of this took place on this
Mount Moriah. Some of my dear brethren, they
said, I have no interest in going over there in the Holy Land.
Well, it's no more holy, I know, than this. But you know, I'd
love to go there. Not to increase my faith. It wouldn't increase
my faith at all. But wouldn't you love to stand
there where the temple was and say, here's the place that used
to be nothing but a thicket. That was just a thicket here
that caught around by the horns and that's how rough the place
was. Here was a place where David, the sweet psalmist of Israel,
built an altar and sacrificed it to the Lord and the plague
would stay. Here is where Solomon built that altar. And just a
few yards from here is where the Lord Jesus Christ hung between
heaven and earth. Our altar. Oh, I'd love to see
that, wouldn't you? I'd love to see that. Mount Moriah. Thirdly and finally, let's see
this right quickly. Right quickly. See, Isaac has
a picture. of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
see the trial of faith. We see the Mount Moriah where
all this took place. The Son of God was finally crucified. And Isaac as a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 2. And the Lord
said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac. Abraham wasn't to offer a servant. Not even his wife. He had to
offer His Son, didn't He? His Son. And Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. That's who was offered. God's
Son. Not an angel, not a servant,
but His Son. But He said, You take Thine only
Son. Now, we know Abraham had another
son, don't we? Ishmael. But they don't even
recognize him. You've got one Son. Thine only
Son. God has many sons, does He not?
I see some of them here. There's a host of sons of God,
but He only has one only begotten Son. Just as Isaac was Abraham's
only son, Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son. And He said,
take your only begotten Son, whom you love, whom you love. Oh, the Father loves His only
begotten Son. begotten Son, does he not? You
know, could you express, there's no way I doubt any of us could
enter into the love of this old man to his son. He was a hundred
years old when this child was born. Can you imagine how he
loved his son? Can you imagine how God loved
his son? I can't, can you? He said, John
tells us that the Father loves the Son, and has given all things
unto himself." Everything he has, he has given to his son. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. My soul delights itself in him. It is as though God can think
about nobody else or nothing else but his son. Take your son,
the one you so love, and offer him for the message. And look
at verse 4. This is very interesting. And
on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place
aforeall. I don't know how foreall it was,
but he saw the place aforeall. Aforeall. And you know, God saw
the cross of Christ, the sacrifice of His Son, aforeall. As a matter
of fact, He saw it before the world ever was. He saw it in His heart's eye. His son dying upon the cross.
Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world in
the mind of God, in the heart and purpose of God. So God saw
this before often. And you know that tells us something
wonderful? Abraham had three days to think
about offering his son. He went there a three-day journey.
I don't know how much longer it took him to get there, but
three days before he saw the place. He had a long time to
think about this, didn't he? Do I really want to do this?
Am I sure about this? What's Sarah going to think about
this? But you know, God had all eternity. God had all eternity
to think about the crucifixion of His Son. If He was going to
change His mind, He could have changed His mind. But He didn't.
And He never will turn. He never will. He saw it afar
off. And here in verse 5, look at
something else. And Abraham said unto his young
men, I invite you here with an ass, and I, the lad, will go
yonder and worship and come again unto you." Abraham commanded
his servants and said, You stay down here. This don't have anything
to do with you two. There's a transaction getting
ready to take place that's going to be between me and my sons. And you stay down here. We'll
go yonder and we'll finish the transaction and we'll come again
unto you. Brothers and sisters, when it comes to redemption,
When it comes to atoning for sin, that's something between
God the Father and God the Son and nobody else. The only thing
you and I have to do with redemption, with atonement for sin, is when
God took ours from us there at the cross and put them upon His
Son. That's what's involved in atonement
for sin. Nobody there. Nobody there. and the Son. You weren't even
there, were you? You weren't even there. We didn't even have
to be there, did we? Brother Donnie Bell told me today there's
three things required for substitution. You have to have a sinner, you
have to have God to take the sin from him, and you have to
have a substitute to put it upon. And that's so. But we weren't
even there at the cross, were we? But our sins were. Our sins
were. And that's something, Wayne,
that took place between God the Father And God the Son, just
as it is here. And in verse 6 we see something
else. Everything that was required to come up to this place and
offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice was provided. Everything that
was required was there. Look what he said in verse 6.
And Abraham took the wood, that's the cross, isn't it? The tree,
the wood. And he took the wood of the burnt
offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. Isn't that very telling?
That Christ burned his cross and went up to the place called
Calvary. And look at this. He took the
fire in his hand and the knife and they went both of them together. Everything that was needed to
offer Isaac as a burnt offering, they took. And it was sold there
at Calvary. There you have the cross. There you have the sacrifice,
Jesus Himself. There we have the knife that
is God's justice that was plunged into the heart of Jesus Christ.
There we have the fire of God's judgment. Everything that was
needful was provided. They took with them. And everything
that was needed to make an atonement for sin was provided there at
the cross. God smote him, stricken of God
and smitten. And he said here in verse 7 and
8, and look at this, Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said,
My father, and he said, here am I. And he said, Behold the
fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? I want you kids to understand
this more than anything else. Listen to me when I tell you
this. Here Isaac was a young man. And
he said, Father, you've taught me something. I want you kids
to know this. You've taught me something, he said. You cannot
worship God. You cannot go into God's presence
and be accepted of God without a sacrifice. A bloody sacrifice. A lamb. Isaac was concerned that
they did not have a lamb for a sacrifice. And when you're
concerned about being right with God, Let this concern you. Is there a Lamb? Does God have
a Lamb? He has a Lamb. It's Jesus Christ. And when you're approaching to
God, get your heart's eye upon Jesus Christ. He's the Lamb by
which you approach unto God and are accepted of Him and can worship
Him and see His smile. You have to have a sacrifice.
Where is the sacrifice? And here is what Abraham said.
Abraham said in verse 8, My son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. That satisfied this young man,
didn't it? I don't know how much of this
he understood, but he accepted his father's word. God shall
provide for himself a lamb. Now he did that, didn't he? He
sent his son. His only begotten Son made Him
a body through the womb of that virgin. God provided only what
could be provided. A perfect sacrifice. And God
provided Himself. That was God Himself that He
provided in His blessing and dear self. And look in verse 9 and verse
10. And he came to the place where
God 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, why did he bind Isaac? Well,
do you think Isaac may have got off? Well, I would have. You know, when that fire began
to hit you? What this teaches us is that Abraham wanted to
make sure that Isaac did not fall off or jump off of that
cross. So he bound him. This had to
be sure. So Abraham bound him where he
couldn't escape and raised his hand to stab him. Now what does
this tell us? This tells us this, that Jesus
Christ was bound to go to the cross. There's no way, shape,
or form of escaping the cross of Jesus Christ. He agreed to
this in a covenant of grace before the world ever was. He agreed
to be the surety of his people. How's he going to get out of
that? He bound himself in covenant to the Father. In the Old Testament
promises and prediction, he is bound by those promises. Lo,
I come to do thy will, O my God. How can he escape the cross?
He's done said, I'm coming to do it. and then the love that
He bears for His people. If His people are going to be
saved, then Jesus must go to the cross. Without the shedding
of His blood, there is no remission. Therefore, out of this great
love that He bore for His people, He went to the cross. Love held
Him. Love bound Him to that cross,
just as these cords bound Isaac to this altar. And here in verse
10 and verse 11 and verse 12, Isaac ceases to be the type of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Because he says there in verses
10 through 12, when he stretched his hand up to stab his son in
the heart, the angel of the Lord, the Lord Himself said, Abraham,
do nothing to the child. Now I know that you fear God.
There ends Isaac's type. of Christ. And it shows us how
weak these types are. It helps us to understand by
looking and considering them. But you know, it ends with Isaac
getting off the altar. It didn't end that way with Christ,
did it? Abraham spurred his son at the direction of the Lord
God. God spurred not his own son, but delivered him up for Beautiful type, isn't it? Beautiful
type. So the triad of your faith, this mountain of Moriah and Isaac,
a beautiful type of our Lord Jesus Christ, and God offering
Him for our sins. Any questions?

Abraham

What does the Bible say about the testing of faith?

How do we know that God tests our faith?

Why is faith important for Christians?

What is the significance of Mount Moriah in the Bible?

How is Isaac a type of Christ?

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Abraham

What does the Bible say about the testing of faith?

How do we know that God tests our faith?

Why is faith important for Christians?

What is the significance of Mount Moriah in the Bible?

How is Isaac a type of Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Bruce Crabtree

Comments

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