I want you to open your Bibles
to the book of Genesis. I'm going to be reading from
chapter 22 of Genesis. It says here, and it came to
pass, that after these things, This man Abraham had been greatly
proud of God, unusually so. First he'd been called out of
his father's house, from his community, from his family, from
his friends, from his home place, from all the things he enjoyed
and held dear, and told by God to go to a land that God would
show him. And he believed God. He left,
not knowing where he was going. And he wandered there in the
wilderness, in the deserts, having no land of his own, living in
tents, a sailor's wife. Then God promised him a son. And the years passed and no son
came, and so his wife suggested that he go into her handmaid
and have a son. I believe all this was Sarah's
idea and proposition. Abraham believed God. It indicates
that all the way through the work, and was waiting upon the
son that God would give. But he did so, and that son proved
to be a great heartache to him. When the son Isaac came, he had
to send that son away, send away Hagar and her son. who was then
14, 15 years old. That was a difficult experience.
Now Isaac was a pretty good-sized boy. Sometimes when we read this
story or preach on this story, we get the impression that Isaac
was just a little billy fella. But you know, when they started
up the mountain, who carried the wood? Isaac. Pretty good-sized
young man. He carried the wood for the burnt
offering. Abraham didn't care, Isaac did. So I judge he was
a pretty good-sized young man at this time. And here it says
in chapter 22, verse 1, after these things, that God did test
Abraham again. Isaac was a pretty good boy,
and Abraham, to a certain extent, had gotten over sending Hagar
and Ishmael away, Life had settled down and calmed down, and he'd
watched Isaac develop and grow, and he'd taught him how to farm,
and taught him how to take care of the sheep, and taught him
how to take care of the family business, and the family things
that he had, the animals and other things. Taught him to hunt,
and taught him to fish, and taught him to do all of these things.
And Abraham, I just judge it was sort of late in the evening
one evening, maybe he was sitting outside his tent. And God said, Abraham, Abraham, have we given our people the
impression that every time God speaks that it is in blessings
and maybe prosperous good things are going to happen? I wonder
if we, I know that most of the television evangelists and preachers
that I hear give the impression that if God speaks, you can get
ready for something good to happen. Do you reckon we've left that
impression? Well, Abraham had heard this
voice before. Now, God always speaks in mercy. Don't get me wrong. God always
speaks in grace. But it's eternal mercy and eternal
grace. It's heart mercy and heart grace.
It's not necessarily temporal good and temporal peace and temporal
comfort. Abraham had heard this voice
before. Abraham, get thee out of thy father's house. That's
a tough experience. Abraham, I'm going to destroy
the city of Sodom with fire and brimstone. Abraham, let Lot have what he
wants, and you take the high ground. Abraham, get the bondwoman
and her son off the place. He'd heard this voice before. I don't know whether we've heard
it too much or not. We're such a giddy, foolish generation. Hosea heard this voice. Hosea? Go marry a woman of whoredom.
God speaking. Noah had heard it. Noah, I'm going to destroy the world.
I'm going to give you the task of working 120 years in harassment and difficulty. in trouble and mocking, and Bill
and Ari, Savior of our household. Saul of Tarsus heard this voice,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? I tell you. And I just imagine that Abraham,
being the friend of God and having talked to God face to face and
having heard this voice before, when God called his name, I imagine
there were two reactions, and there ought to be when we, like
Darwin said, we want to hear from God, a word from God. It
may not be a very happy word. May not be. Barnard used to say, you don't
want to hear from God unless you're ready for some traumatic
experiences. You see, the Lord God, the Lord
God, as I understand the living God from scriptures, is not like
the God of our imagination, the God whom we control and manipulate
and direct and with whom we make bargains and agreements and contracts. The God that the scripture talks
about is a God of absolute unquestionable sovereignty. He does what he
will, when he will, with whom he will. And sometimes, oft times,
he demands of us most exacting things and difficult times. And he said, Abraham, and I imagine
Abraham experienced two things here that ought to be experienced,
the joy that God should even recognize him, that God should
even deal with him, that God should even speak his name. fear and a trembling before a
holy God that the Lord God should even recognize him. And the second
feeling is an apprehension and concern that he be given the
strength to do whatever it is God commands him to do. I don't want the heavens to be
silent. I don't want the heavens to be
silent. But when the heavens are not
silent and when God speaks, man's under an obligation and a responsibility. Did you know that? If God does speak tonight, somebody's
under a heavy responsibility. Those who hear and those who
won't hear. Because you can go through the Word and He doesn't
speak often. He doesn't. No, he doesn't. When
God comes down to earth, something happens. I hear these preachers
and church members talking about, God was with us last night. I
don't know. I kind of question it. I kind
of question it. I think you had a good time,
and I think you had a religious time, an emotional time, but
now God is there, Charlie. God was there. Somebody's going
to hear from God. Somebody's going to respond.
There's going to be some responsibility. There's going to be some heavy
responsibility laid on somebody. You go all the way through the
Word and see if that's not true. When God came to earth, when
God spoke to me, and this, He says, and listen to this, Abraham,
behold, I am here. Take now thy son, thine only
son Isaac, whom thou lovest. and get thee into the land of
morale, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of
the mountains, which I'll tell thee of." And that's the end
of the message. There's no explanation. God does
not have to explain to His Christians. And this is not in the form of
an invitation. I hear people always talking
about, God wants us to do this and wants us to do that. God
urges us to do this. God commands. God never invites
anybody to do anything. I beg to differ with you. There's
no invitation here. There's no explanation. There's
no reason given. God does not have to give us
a reason. All He has to do is speak. And
He said this to Abraham. And what was Abraham's response? It says in verse three, he rose
up early in the morning, early the next morning. He didn't have
any choice. 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 cut the wood for the burnt offering.
And he rose up, and he went to the place which God told him.
of which God had told him. He responded, he obeyed, he did
what God said. There's no question, even to
the sacrifice of his dearest, dearest object of affection. Abraham, here I am. Take your
son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, to a place I'll show
you and offer him there as a burnt offering and a sacrifice. And
he rose up, saddled his chose two young men, took Isaac, his
son, didn't say anything to Isaac about what he was going to do.
He didn't say anything to the young men. It was between him and God.
And he cut the wood, put it on the ash, you know. They started
out. And you know, when I first read
this many, many years ago, I got the impression, I don't know
where I got the impression, that that it all happened pretty quickly.
But do you know Abraham journeyed, Darwin, for three days? For three
days. God let him think about it for
three days. God let him consider it and think about it. As far
as I can determine, the Lord never said another word. There
were no signs in the heavens. There's no angels accompanying
him on this journey. That old man and that boy and
those two young men Just like they were going fishing or going
hunting or going to the next village, they went on that journey
without any further word from God. God had already spoken. You see, only unbelievers are
always clamoring and seeking after signs. The believer hears
the Word of God, and that's sufficient. God had spoken to Abraham, and
that was sufficient. He acted on the Word of God.
He didn't look for any signs. He didn't ask for any accompanying
angels or escort. He just took his boy. And I'm
sure during each night, there were sleepless nights for Abraham.
He loved that boy. A lot of things went through
his mind, as I'll tell you in a few moments. But he'd sit there
by the fire, and I'm sure he watched Isaac as the boy lay
there sleeping, not knowing anything about this commandment of God. Then he said in verse 4, on the
third day that Abraham lifted up his eyes. And he saw that
place of which God told him afar off. And Abraham said to the
young men, they came to the foot of this mountain. This was Mount
Moriah. And they came to the foot of
the mountain, and Abraham said to the young men, verse five,
Now you fellows abide here with the ash, and I and the lad will
go yonder and worship, and we'll come again. The boy and I are
going up there and worship God. He didn't say anything about
who the sacrifice was going to be, or who the lamb was going
to be, or who the offering was going to be. He just said, we're
going up there and worship God, and then we'll come back. You
see, Abraham believed that the Word of God, and God had already
said, in Isaac shalt thy seed be called. He knew that it had
to be in Isaac. God had already rejected Ishmael
and sent Ishmael away. And Isaac was his only son, and
Isaac shall thy seed be called. And he didn't know how that God
was going to accomplish that purpose if he killed Isaac, but
he knew that God was going to. He believed God was going to
raise him from the dead. That's what he believed. But he spoke
with a very firm confidence in the Word of God. He couldn't
explain why, but he was very confident God would do what he
said. And so Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering. And
here was Isaac, his boy, and he laid it, and he laid it on
Isaac, his son. He had the wood, the logs that
he had cut for the burn off, for the burn offering, the wood,
for the fire, and he just laid it on his son's back, and he
took the fire in his hand. Evidently, they had some kind
of stick that was soaked in some kind of oil or something that,
which the fire was, and he took a knife. Now you think how he
looked at that man. I imagine at night he'd be sitting
there by the fire sharpening that man, knowing that he was
going to plunge it into the heart of his son. What agony! This is the reason I say when
God says Abraham, that Abraham didn't jump up and click his
heels like some of us do. If you want to hear from God, do
you really want to hear from God? Abraham, and here he sat with
that knife, each knife, sharpening that knife and looking at that
land. Then he'd look up to heaven, and I just know he did. Maybe
there's a voice, maybe he'll speak tonight. Didn't speak.
So they started up the mountain, and Isaac was carrying the wood,
and Abraham was carrying the fire, and that knife, And as they walked up, and Isaac,
it says, and the both of them went up there together, and Isaac
spoke to his father, and he said, my father, my father, and here's
a young man that had been instructed by his daddy in the things of
God. Abraham had fully instructed
that boy, both by example and by teaching, that without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. He taught
that boy. that God is holy and man's a
sinner, God is righteous and man is unrighteous, and in order
for this man, this sinner, this unrighteous man, to come to a
holy God, there must be an offering, a sin offering, a sacrifice.
Sin demands death, and there must be death. God's holiness
must be magnified and exalted. And he taught that boy that,
and the boy stood while his father, as priest of the home and head
of the family, had built various altars and put the wood on it,
and slain the lamb, and roasted lamb's body, and done all these
things like Abel did. And his daddy taught him well.
And here, I know he was wondering about this situation. Don't you
imagine he was, here he had this wood, and he saw this fire and
the knife, and one thing kept coming in his mind. And I wish
that one thing was so embedded in our hearts that it'd come
to our minds all the time. Where's the lamb? When we hear
sermons, you know, preachers preach sermons, and they preach
a lot of so-called good things, but often when they get through,
I got a big question mark like Isaac in my head, saying, where
was the lamb in that sermon? And that's what I told you this
morning when I was sitting there Friday night as we get together
reading those Christmas carols, and I kept saying, where's the
lamb? Where's the lamb in these things? Danny, we mentioned that
this morning. Find the cross of Christ in one of those Christmas
carols. Find the atonement, find the blood. Did any of you read
them over today? They got the virgin, and they
got the babe, and they got the manger, and they got the cradle,
but they ain't got no crucifixion, no Calvary. Seems like a conspiracy
to get rid of the death of Christ. The lamb. And Isaac was walking
beside his father, and he said, Father, here's the wood. I got the wood, and you got the
fire. Where's the lamb? Where is the
Lamb? The Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. And old Abraham, and this is
but my subject tonight, my subject is Jehovah-Jireh. Abraham said,
My son, and I want you to notice, before it happened he said it,
before it occurred he believed it. Him he said, Son, and I say
this to all of you, God will provide himself a lamb. God will provide a lamb, and
God will provide a lamb for himself, for his holiness, for his righteousness,
and God will provide himself as the lamb that will satisfy
his holiness. God will provide. God will speak
to him. This is what he's saying. He's
saying, Jehovah will see to it. I like
that. I'm going to get into that in
a minute. Jehovah will see to it. Jehovah will see to it. That's
what it says. Talmud for that. 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 he laid the wood in order, and he bound Isaac, his son.
Now, Abraham was a hundred and some odd years old. Isaac is
eighteen. No way could abound him unless
he'd been willing. There is an obedient, disciplined,
submissive son. That's a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I was down in Mexico years ago. You see, Walter Groover
is 50 now, or 51. And while I was down there, he
was celebrating his 40th birthday that day, that week. We were
sitting in the living room, and Walter and his oldest boy, Cody,
who was at that time seventeen. You were there, Charlie. They
were out playing basketball. Now, this is in Mexico, a hundred
degrees, out in the street in the middle of the day, shooting
basketball. And Walter always beat him. Walter's an athlete,
and he's always beat that boy. By the time he's five years old,
he's playing basketball and beat him. Been beating him for twelve
years. And I was sitting there in the living room talking to
Charlie, and the door opened, Walter came in, he had the strangest
look on his face I've ever seen on Walter's face. He looked like
he was so sad and downhearted, like his hunting dog had died
or something. And I said, Walter, what in the
world is wrong? He said, that boy beat me. Well, I said, Walter, son, let
me tell you something. You just turned 40, and he just
turned 17. For him it's uphill, for you
it's downhill the rest of the way. Well, he couldn't stand
that. He said, get up, boy. We're going
out again. And Cody said, Dad, I'm tired. He said, get up, son.
And out they went. And they went at it for another
hour. You remember that? And they came back in. He looked
like the other dog had died. And he said, he beat me again.
And I looked at him. I said, Walter, it's over. It's over. I said, he'll beat
you at everything you do from now on. He said, it can't be.
I said, yes it will. You can't handle him anymore. And this old man, Herman's a
hundred and some odd years old, and that boy lay down on that
altar. That's submission. I tell you,
I just, I could stop there and just stay there. That's a relationship
that's not a dream world. That's actual submission. obedience,
faith. God give us that kind of faith
in His words. And verse 10 says, that old man
stretched forth his hand and took that knife, that knife he
had held in his hand for three days, or in his belt, and he
had sharpened and honed to a fine point, and a sharp blade, razor-black
blade. And he took that knife to slay
his son, because God said, Abraham, take thy son and offer him for
a burnt offering. Abraham was called the friend
of God. Abraham was called the father of the faithful. Abraham
was called the pattern of believers. Abraham had imputed to him the
righteousness of God, because he believed God. He's not like
us. He didn't question God one iota, even at the cost of everything
he had. Now you think about that. That's
the faith that saves. That's the faith that brings
imputed righteousness. This man believed God. And we've
got to have an explanation. We've got to have a reason. A
preacher can get up and preach Christ. And we want him to explain
it. You know, God didn't never explain
anything to Abraham. He proclaimed it. We want an
explanation. We want a reason. We want some
logic. We want our minds to be clear. All Abraham did was hear God
speak and obey God. And the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven and said, The same thing he said last time.
He said, Here I am. Here I am. that had produced an outward
obedience as well as an inward confidence. 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, behold, he looked, and, behold, behind him a ram was
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, now watch this, this is what I want you to look at
for a few moments. He called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said, to this day in
the mouth of the Lord it shall be seen, it shall be seen. Now,
Jehovah-Jireh says several things, several things. Jehovah-Jireh
means this, Jehovah will see to it. It means this, Jehovah
will see it. It means this, Jehovah will be
seen. Yes it does, Jehovah will be
seen. And it means also, Jehovah will provide. Now, the exact idea is this,
in all of this, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah will provide, Jehovah
will see to it, Jehovah will see it, Jehovah will be seen.
The exact idea is this, is God seeing and God being seen. For God to see anything is for
God to provide it. For God to see anything is for
God to provide it. You know, we use the phrase sometimes,
somebody mentions something, we say, well, I'll see to it,
I'll see to it. What we mean there is we'll take
notice of it, and then we'll make the necessary provisions
of correction. And for God Almighty to see anything
is for God to see to it. Now let me show you an example
of that, of what I'm saying. Turn to 2 Samuel. This, I believe,
is very important. 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, chapter 9. 2 Samuel, chapter 9. Now, God Almighty, here's what
I'm saying. When God speaks, when God sees,
when God takes notice of what Abraham is saying, God will provide. If God's in a matter, in His
directive will, in His eternal purpose, God will take care of
that matter. He will provide that entire situation. Now here in 2 Samuel, chapter
9, you know David is sent from Ephibosheth. They brought that
young man up there. He was Jonathan's son. He was
an enemy of David's household, because he was of the household
of Saul. He was lame on both his feet. He was out of the place
of no pasture, no bread loaded by him. And they brought this
crippled, lame beggar into the house of David and sat him before
David. And David was going to bless
him, and he said in verse eight, he bowed himself and said, What
is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as
I am? In other words, Mephibosheth
is saying this. David, in his power and majesty
and kingdom, and in his absolute, he was a sovereign king over
that land. to have him brought, and David
to look on him, and even take notice of him, is clear indication
David's going to do something about it. David didn't bring him up there
just to look at him. David's not interested in seeing
the sites. David's—the people that David
had no intention of doing anything for, he ignored, or he sent a
servant to take care of it. But when David takes personal
special notice of this man Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth sums it up this
way, you looked upon me. And that's exactly what Abraham
is saying here in Jehovah-Jireh. God takes notice of this, God
sees this, and therefore God will provide this. God will see
to it. God will see to it. In seeing
a matter, God provides. Take this, here's a scripture.
Whom he did foreknow, he predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his self. Everybody whom he foreknew, everybody whom he foreseen,
has foreseen. Everybody to whom he's given
or taken notice or given his attention, he's going to glorify.
Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
When those people came before him in Matthew 7, they said,
now we've preached in your name, cast out devils, did many wonderful
works. I never knew you. I never looked
on you. I never took any notice of you.
See what he's saying? And this is what Abraham, this
is what he's naming that place, Jehovah-Jireh, God, the Lord,
Jehovah-Seed. And if he sees, he sees to it. And if he sees to it, he'll provide. And if he provides, he'll provide
the full price, nothing left over. And in seeing, God is seen. In providing, he manifests himself. When Jehovah provides, Jehovah
gets all the glory. Now watch this. This is very
important. I believe that the truth in this expression, Jehovah-Jireh,
now here Abraham, after all this is over, he's taken Isaac up
the mountain, he bound him, put him on the altar, taken the knife,
the Lord spoke, do no harm to the lad, found the ram, put him
in his place, and then when it was all over, he said, Jehovah
will see to it. Jehovah will see to it. Well,
you know, he said that before Jehovah saw to it. That's what
he told Isaac. That's what he told Isaac. Therefore
they went up there. Isaac said, here's the wood,
there's the fire, where's the lamb? He said the same thing.
Jehovah will see to it. Jehovah will see to it. What
are you saying, Pastor? I'm saying this. Abraham declared
his confidence in God to provide even before God provided. Abraham's faith led him to believe
God and honor God by saying the same words before the trial as
he said after the trial. Now that needs to be looked into.
That needs to be looked into. Because every one of us are pretty
good at rejoicing. We're pretty good at rejoicing
after the fact. And we're a pretty good bunch
of murmurers before the fact. But this is the same man. And
here he is, I know, this is going through his mind. Here he sits
by the fire. I'll go back to that, those three
nights they traveled. Here he sits by the fire with
that knife. Now he says, if I slay that boy, God, he went over all
this. I know he did. You do it, I do
it. He went over all these things. God said in Isaac, shall your
seed be called? And God sent me to Offering was
a burnt offering, and sharpening that knife, he said, now if I
slay my son, how's God gonna keep that promise, and Isaac
shall my seed be caught? Well, he'll see to it. He'll
see to it. And then another question arose
in his mind, when I get to that mountain, when I get to that
mountain, and I take Isaac up that mountain, this boy whom
I love so much, and bind him and put him on that altar, what
in the world am I gonna say to him? What's his old daddy going
to say to him when I'm tying him to that wood as a burnt off
ring? What am I going to say? Well,
Jehovah will say to it. And then he thought this, I know,
how in the world am I going to take that knife and put it into
the heart of that boy? How am I going to bring my hand
down with such force and put this knife in the heart of my
boy? Well, Jehovah will say to it. This had to be on his mind all
the time. And then, what am I going to
tell his mother if God doesn't raise him from
the dead immediately? He didn't know. He just knew
God would. He didn't know when. And he thought he was going to
have to go back home without him. You don't take dead children
home. You bury them right there. to the tent, and the Savior says,
Where is Isaac? And I say, I killed him. Well, Jehovah will see to
it. And what am I going to tell those
two boys down at the foot of the hill, those two boys that
work for me, who have so much respect for me? And I tell them
this holy man who believes God has just killed his boy and burned
his body alive. Well, Jehovah will see to it.
This is on his mind through this whole thing. I just know it. When God told him that, he reconciled
his grief and fears and doubts with this work, Jehovah-Jireh. He's always seen to it. He's
always taken care of it. He's always provided. And in
this horrible, horrible experience, he'll do it now, bless God. That's what that man was thinking.
That's exactly, because that's what he named that place. We name our places Trail of the
Lonesome Pine, or something like that. Or Dead End, or something, don't
we? Get a little far out in the woods,
we name it Whistling Dogwoods. Boy, this man walked with God,
and he named that sacred, holy, memorial place Jehovah will see
to it. Jehovah will see to it. Well,
I'm going to give you three or four things and quit. I want
to look at some thoughts that I derived from this. Verse 10,
And Abraham, he tied Isaac on that altar. Verse 10, you see
it, and he held that knife in his hand, and he literally actually
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
What are you seeing, Pastor? I'm seeing this. And right when
he held that knife over the heart of Isaac, the angel of the Lord
called out and said, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the lamb. Jehovah saw to it. Jehovah provided. But he provided in the time of
great need. He provided in the time of human
hopelessness and human inability. That's when he provided. That's
when he spared Isaac. When, listen to me, Isaac was
a dead man as far as he was concerned. Isaac was a dead man as far as
Abraham was concerned. Isaac was a dead man as far as
those two boys at the foot of the hill. They couldn't help
him. There's nobody could help him. Isaac, the only thing that
stood between him and death was the will of God. That's it happened. And I'm telling you this. The
only thing that stands between you tonight and eternal hell
is the will of God. It ain't your will. I'm saying
that Isaac was no nearer death than you are, or I am, near to
hell. The hand of justice, the hand
of holiness, the hand of truth holds the knife above guilty
men to slay them, and there's not but one voice can stop that
knife. I'm telling the truth. Preachers can pray, and sinners
can pray, and people can plead, and mamas can pray, and all those
things, but I'm telling you, the only thing in the world that
can stop the plunging of the knife of eternal holiness and
justice into the heart of rebellious sinners is for God to say, stay
your hand, stay your hand. I've found the ransom. That's
right. Hold everything, God said. Hold everything. Hold everything. All right, there's
Isaac, and Isaac's the sinner. Isaac is us. He's a picture of
us. And here's the hand of God's judgment. Here's the hand of
justice and judgment and righteousness and holiness about to slay the
sinner. And God's voice said, I come, secondly, I have a substitute. Look at verse 12. And God said,
Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do him anything unto
him. For now I know that you fear
God, seeing you have not withheld your son. And Abraham lifted
up his eyes, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. First of all, the lamb was—the
ram was unsought. The ram was unsought. Abraham
didn't get on his knees and say, Now, Lord, isn't there some other
way? Abraham didn't say, Could you provide some other way? Could
you do something else? No, sir. Abraham, acting as the
hand of justice and judgment about to slay Isaac, never said
a word. And somebody said this. It's
not in man's nature to seek a Savior. It is ours to sin, it is God's
to provide. Abraham did not seek that ram,
God provided it. The second thing is, that ram
was unexpected. Unexpected. Abraham, suppose
God had said to him, well, Abraham, can you figure out another way?
Abraham would have said, I can't figure out another way. And if
God had put it to you and me, if God had not revealed to us
tonight His divine purpose of redemption in Christ, would you
have come up with it? Would I have come up with it?
Now you just stop and think. Would we have come up with this? God
becoming a man, and God obeying the law, and God dying as our
substitute. Would you have come up with that?
I know you wouldn't because every denomination and cult and sect
and religion and church in this world hates it. That's right. They hate it. They hate divine substitution.
They hate effectual substitution. And then this ram, think about
this. This ram was not only unsought
by Abraham and unexpected. God provided it. God announced
it. But this ram was also unarmed. Abraham didn't have to run him
down. Abraham didn't have to catch him. Abraham didn't have
to do anything but walk over there and bring him out of the
thicket. He was already arrested. He was already caught. And our
Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily came, limited himself in the
human flesh. You don't say, who shall ascend
into heaven? He's already come. You don't
say, who shall descend into the deep to bring Christ up? He's
already here. And he stepped down in the fullness
of time himself in the form of a baby in a mother's womb. And
men did what with him, what they would. He offered no resistance.
He was led as a lamb before her shearers is dumb. He opened not
his mouth. And you know something else I
see here? It says in the latter part of
verse 13, And he offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son, in the place of his son, as the substitute
for his son. Now, my friends, this is my comfort. I do not believe in random redemption. I believe that when that ram
died, Isaac goes praying. The very character of God is
at stake. The very word of God is at stake. The very truth of God is at stake,
the very righteousness of God is at stake. If Abraham, that
who believed God, Abraham believed God, Abraham was a man whose
trust, trust, you know, it's a blessed thing for somebody
to trust you, to trust you, to believe in you, isn't it? And
it's a devastating thing when that trust is lost. and devastated. And Abraham trusted God, and
Abraham did what God said. Now, he brought that boy and
bound him, put him on that altar, and raised his hand. He'd gone
through all this. He had agonized and cried and
wept and submitted to God's will, whatever. And he raised a knife,
and then God said, Don't touch the lamb. And he dropped that
knife, unbound his son, and went over there, the two of them together,
and brought that ram. and in tears of joy streaming
down his face. His heart just beating almost
out of that old chest. His body just wet with perspiration. The trial's over. Oh, he's rejoicing,
and he took the ram and put him on the altar and killed the ram,
and they stood back and watched the fire burn. Isaac, you know, hug him again,
hug him again, kiss him, happy. Abraham. Here I am. Take your son. Oh, no, I can't. No, I won't do it. Because I'll have to be doing
it over and over and over again. If that's the justice of God,
I quit. That make sense to you? But that's
what I say. If Jesus—if I should have been
crucified, if I was on that cross with the justice of God bearing
down upon me in its full wrath and horror and hell, and my God-owned
purpose came and took me down and put His Son in my place,
and then the judgment of God fell on me, and exacted from
him all that God demanded. And he agonized, My God, why
have you forsaken me? I perish! And then he died. And you mean to tell me he's
going to do that to me, too? After he's spared not his own
son? You don't know God, if you believe
that. Never met him. That ram died
in the stead of his son. And that's what I preach, John,
particular redemption, effectual redemption, on-purpose redemption,
a ransom that ransoms and a redemption that redeems and a salvation
that saves and an atonement that atones. And Isaac danced off
that mountain, just like I'm going to dance out of this life.
That article you said in the Herald-Dispatch said folks, folks
believed they had a 50 percent chance of going to heaven. I
got a 1,000% and it ain't no chance, it's a sure thing, because
Christ died for my sins. He died in my stead. Oh, the joy unspeakable, the
joy unspeakable as he clasped that boy in his arm and they
went down that mountain together after they'd worshipped God.
And old Abraham all the way down said, I told you he'd provide
Hey, I told you he'd provide. Hey, I told you he'd provide.
He told the axes that, and he told the boys that, and he told
the stars that, and he told the trees that, and he told Isaac
that, and he told God that, and he told the whole... I told you
he'd see to it. I told you. I told you. I told you. Let the world gawk
at Mount Sinai. Let them go over there and worship
at the manger. Let them go over there and stand
before the open tomb. Let them go over there and bathe
in the Jordan. Let the scholars muse and quarrel
over Armageddon. Let men stroll the hills of the
Holy Land. My hope and heart and life and
rest is in a crucified Christ." I'm going to preach him. I'm
going to preach him, because I tell you, he died in my stead,
and that's the only hope anybody here has got tonight. And I hope tonight God has spoken
to you with that voice of assurance and confidence. In whatever trial
you're going through or facing or problem you're having, He'll
see to it. He'll see to it, won't He? He
always has. He'll see to it. You believe
Him, trust Him, He'll see to it. And joy cometh in the morning. There's a scripture that says,
Weeping endureth for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
You know why joy is a sure thing? Because he'll see to it. He'll
see to it. Why don't we tell each other
that? Somebody comes up tomorrow and tells you their troubles,
if they know the Lord said, well, he'll see to it. Won't he? He'll see to it. He'll see to
it. That's Jehovah Jireh. I was in a meeting recently and
a friend gave me a sermon to read by Mr. John Newton.