[0:00] Welcome to our service this evening. As we come before God in worship, we pray this blessing upon his word to us.
[0:13] We're going to begin singing from Psalm 89 at verse 13. Psalm 89 at verse 13. Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might.
[0:30] Thy right hand exceedingly exhorted those in height. Justice and judgment of thy throne are made the dwelling place. Mercy accompanied with truth shall go before thy face.
[0:43] O greatly blessed the people are the joyful sound that know. In brightness of thy face, O Lord, the eberon shall go. They in thy name shall all the day rejoice exceedingly.
[0:56] And in thy righteousness shall they exalted be on high. Because the glory of their strength doth only stand in thee. And in thy favor shall our horn and power exalted be.
[1:11] For God is our defense, and he to us doth safety bring. The Holy One of Israel is our almighty King. And to sing these verses, Psalm 89, verses 13 through to 18.
[1:27] Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might. Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might.
[1:49] And thy right hand exceedingly exalted in might.
[2:04] Justice and judgment of thy throne are made the dwelling place.
[2:20] Mercy, O. Thank you so much for joining us in God's work. Jesus, Lord, for the rest of all you are the�시ous Christ.
[2:36] O Christ, O Christ, best the people are the joyful sound that know.
[2:48] and glow. In brightness of thy face, O Lord, ever on shall go.
[3:06] They in thy hymn shall long the day. Rejoice exceedingly, and in thy righteousness shall be exalted be on high.
[3:37] Because the glory of their strength shall fully stand in thee, and in thy favor shall the morn, and power exalted be.
[4:07] for God is our defense and he to us the safety bring.
[4:21] The Holy One of of Israel is our almighty king.
[4:36] king. Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord, O God, as we come before you in this act of worship, we seek your help, and we believe that you are willing to supply it far more than we are worthy of receiving it.
[5:05] Not only are we to look to yourself to be the guide of preacher, but also that of the hearer, that preacher and hearer alike may know the blessing of God upon the words that you have given to us for this occasion when we meet together in your name.
[5:37] We pray that you would remind us of the goodness that you show to words and deserving creatures such as we are, in that you have enabled us to meet together in this fashion and that you are willing to provide to us access to a throne of grace in and through the passion of your Son Jesus Christ.
[6:09] We bless you, the God of all grace, who has introduced us to that passion and through him that we are given light into the one who is light eternal.
[6:28] The word teaches us that he is the means by which we discover more truth concerning the God who is God over all and that is not something that we can readily achieve by natural means for you are a spirit you are a God who is spirit and we acknowledge that the truth as it is spiritual can only be discerned with spiritual minds and hearts that have been in ways that defy our ability to speak of that we can fully appreciate something of the glory that is exclusively the glory of the
[7:29] Most High God you are the God of Israel of whom we have been singing the God who is the almighty king and we bless you and thank you that it is not simply Israel as it is marked out by borders as they currently exist in this day but Israel even Israel of old as it was a spiritual nation whose heart was circumcised to be able to worship God as the only living and true God and while your word teaches us that not all who are of Israel are genuinely those who have that circumcision of the heart yet you are still speaking to such of that you are of that number and by your power you are able to bring them into that number we pray that your blessing on your word this evening wherever it is preached or proclaimed to the far corners of the earth wherever they are met in numbers few such as our own large gatherings things which may be in parts of our own land or beyond but we pray that you would remind us that the eye of
[9:21] God is upon whoever it is that meet together in your name whether they are in solitary confinement they may be alone in their homes they may be have this inflicted upon them where their deprivation of the word of God is brought to bear upon their lives because of the enmity that is in the world and others who because of circumstances are to suffer such deprivation we pray for any and all thankful that whatever we may be at any given time you are able to speak to us and we discover in your word how that was true of many of the saints even when they believed themselves to be like another who thought that he himself was alone and that he was alone as a witness to
[10:29] God in the world and yet he proved to him and showed to him that there were 700 who had not bowed the knee to Zion and be known to him and however heard the writing that he wrote against this world and the circumstances that were his own were responsible for his pessimism so we too are like that we look at our lives we look at the world as we see it through a prison that is darkened by providence or our own sinfulness and yet the reality is that God is sovereign and that you are the one who will have the glory ultimately whatever you have decreed for the present it is but a short step to the time when all must discover for themselves and acknowledge for themselves that there is but one
[11:36] God the only living and true God and before you all must pay homage and all must throughout all ages be brought to declare their interest or otherwise in the salvation that you have ordained by Christ so remember all that we leave in your care this evening with whatever it is that may burden them that may be troublesome to them be near to them we pray and grant to them an understanding that you are never far from any of your own flock you are not little flock you see and you remind us that of that number is the kingdom of heaven we pray that you would visit the sick in their need as those who are confined to their homes hospital homes for the elderly we pray for any that belong to our own congregation who may have that as their loved we pray that you would minister to their needs through the hands that you have prepared to make such a provision we would ask for all frail elderly even though they may have experienced the denuding of human faculties that were once so potent and so so powerful in many respects and bit by bit these were reduced to almost nothing and yet even in their low state you are still able to speak to them and they to you and we give thanks for that remember those
[13:37] Lord who are responsible for their care may they be whole hearted in administering it and delivering that care to the best of their ability we ask that you would remember the grieving and the sorrowful your voice is heard constantly every day that we are living in this world we are reminded of the fact that as creatures of the dust from the dust we came and to the dust we will return so here are petitions on behalf of those who are looking upon empty places and whose hearts are heavy bind up their wounds we plead and reveal yourself to them as one who understands the predicament and who is able to speak lovingly to all such through Christ who himself experienced the grave and the darkness of death for a time but rose again triumphant and all in him will so rise when the day appointed comes pray for the nations of the earth and we ask that you would be merciful to our own nation and those who govern us remember our queen we pray for her and her family and ask that she would be upheld by you and where faith is in evidence may be strengthened pray for the various parts of the world where there are all kinds of sorrowful instances of deprivation of various thoughts suffering because of lack of food lack of water lack of shelter lack of wherewithal by which to do anything other than leak out a living while others have afforded plentiful resources that they waste and abuse each one of us will answer to you for how we have made use of what you have provided for us be it a temporal provision or a spiritual provision every one of us will speak to you regarding our wastefulness and our mountain transgression of your graces and your gifts remember all we leave in your care this evening guide us in the truth and pardon every sin in Jesus name amen we're going to hear the word of God as we have it in the book of genesis book of genesis and chapter 22 we'll read the whole chapter genesis chapter 22 and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt
[16:36] Abraham and said unto him Abraham and he said behold here I am and he said take now thy son thy lonely son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a bound offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of and Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and claved the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and Abraham said unto his young men abide ye here with us 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 a knife and they went both of them together and Isaac spake unto
[17:42] Abraham his father and said my father and he said here am I my son and he said behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering and Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering so they went both of them together and they came to the place which God had told them 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
[18:42] 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 that place Jehovah Shiri as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen when 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 thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice so
[19:58] Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba and it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham saying Behold Milca she hath also born children and thy brother Nahor whose is firstborn and Barz his brother and came with the father of Aaron Chesed and Hazel and Pildash and Bethuel begat Rebecca these eight Milca did bear to Nahor Abraham's brother and his concubine whose name was she bear also Tepa and Gahel and Hapash and Maha Amen and may the Lord have his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise going to sing now some verses from
[21:00] Psalm 105 Psalm 105 from verse 6 down to verse 12 verses 6 to 12 O ye that are of Abraham's race his servant well approved and ye that Jacob's children are whom he chose for his own because he and he only is the mighty Lord our God and his most righteous judgments are in all the earth abroad his covenant he remembered have that it may ever stand to thousand generations the word he did command which covenant he firmly made with faith for Abraham and unto Isaac by his oath he did renew same and unto Jacob for a law he made it firm and sure a covenant to Israel which ever should endure he said
[22:01] I'll give Canaan's land for heritage to you while they were strangers there and few he numbered very few and so on O ye that are of Abraham's race his servant well approved O ye that are of Abraham's race his servant well approved and ye that Jacob children of earth he chose for his own because he and he only is the mighty Lord of
[23:01] God God his most righteous judgments are in all the earth of road his covenant he remember not that it may ever sound to thousand generations the word he did call man which sharp enough he firmly played with his holy brown and unto his heart by his hope he did renew the same and unto
[24:20] Jacob for a law he made it firm and true a covenant to Israel which ever should end use he said I'll care can not so on for heritage to you while they were strangers there confu and number there with you like us to turn now to the
[25:25] New Testament scriptures the epistle to the Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 17 by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure so on sure that we're all familiar with the name of
[26:27] Abraham and it it is a name that is synonymous with saving faith we find his name listed here in Hebrews along with many others Paul the apostle speaks of him as our father pertaining to the flesh but where he speaks of him there in Romans 4 he continues to say who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations and he continues he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform now many people would like to have that kind of faith they would in many respects think that the possession of such faith is something that would make life a lot easy a lot easier especially if you are a believer if you possessed faith such as
[28:02] Abraham's faith then surely it follows that whenever we encounter difficulty our faith would ensure that we would be able to face it head on without much difficulty but unfortunately such reasoning doesn't really stand scrutiny because wherever you find strong faith it is often accompanied by trials and testings of unequal force force is the right word where there is faith there is always a test of that faith if it is strong faith the testing of that faith increases
[29:09] I think you could argue that quite easily from the scripture when you read about the story of the centurion who came to Christ I think we read about him recently he came to Christ seeking the help of the Lord Jesus so that a servant would be delivered from sickness and Christ dealt with him and he commended his faith because he saw a great faith now it wasn't just that the faith was witnessed in an unlikely place but when you think about the person who exercised that faith it would have required great faith to come to
[30:18] Christ because of who he was because of who he was a centurion in the Roman army and who Christ was someone that would be rightly recognized as an opponent of the Roman authorities there's more to it of course than that but the willingness of this person who Christ recognized was in authority and who was used to giving commands and instructions and here he was petitioning the Lord for his help Christ identified his faith and it wasn't an easy thing to do for the Roman to come to Christ to seek the help of a Jew and when we look at the life of Abraham that is what we find that this was someone who was not just endowed with remarkable grace but wherever that grace was required it was often tested accordingly and
[31:40] I think that's something that we must remember when we try and understand what is happening on this occasion that faith is a practical grace it is required to be used it's not an ornament it's not a badge it's not something that you can pick up and put down at will it is something that is in constant use and it is designed to be in use constantly never temporarily and it is required to grow it is required to develop it is required to be nurtured and the testing of that grace that faith is something that is necessary for that growth and development to happen I would like us this evening to think of the trial of which these words speak by faith
[32:49] Abraham when he was tried we are told offered up Isaac this is something that the scripture here speaks of as a trial a trial of faith it's in the context of the experience of faith that we find the apostles speaking about it to go back again to chapter 22 we are told there that God tempted Abraham but the use of that word must be separated from our usual understanding of temptation because the scripture contradicts that understanding quite simply James the apostle tells us that God tempts no man nor will he be tempted and for us to believe that the word tempt in Genesis 22 is how we understand it that is quite wrong it is understood by most to be tempt in the sense of test so the trial or the test of which it speaks the second thing the obedience of Abraham that is highlighted and thirdly how we can understand the source of that ability that
[34:21] Abraham has the power what empowers him to behave like this it is not when you think of Abraham you are inclined to think of someone that may be supernaturally or extraordinarily endowed with resources that are uniquely his own in the sense that they are personal resources but when we are thinking of faith it is first and foremost something that is God given they are entirely undeserved as a grace and in the experience of Abraham he is sent out no doubt by God and the requirement is to use these graces or this grace in particular for the glory of God which he does at least at times now before something can be tested tested let's begin with the obvious before something can be tested it must exist must be there and some people think that God is testing them or testing their faith and it may be the case that that is what is happening but not always because some people are under the illusion that what they possess is faith when in reality it is nothing of the sort it has to be real it has to be resting upon the person of the
[36:14] Lord Jesus or God himself before it can be recognized as to its veracity and for Abraham it was not something that was new at this point he had previously demonstrated the reality of his relationship with God and God had spoken to him repeatedly as someone who had that faith in him we know it is in existence in Abraham's case because simply the scripture tells us that it is again referring back to chapter 22 the verse tells us there that God tested Abraham now remember this is being done against a promise that God had made to Abraham a promise that itself was being seriously tested
[37:21] God had promised a son God had promised a son that would be an heir and an heir through through whom blessing would come to the world and that countless number of progeny would come through him now this test is contradicting that promise it seems that what God is expecting Abraham to do is going to nullify the promise if Isaac is the one through whom the promise is going to be realized and God is wanting him to take Isaac and to offer him as a sacrifice notwithstanding the fact that God would not expect
[38:24] Abraham to kill his son because that itself would be a breach of the law of God many of the some of the commentators say well we don't really have the commandments yet because Moses hasn't been given the commandments and they're not listed as such but mankind had the law of God indelibly imprinted in their heart and the breach of God's law is seen if they take the life of another as you see if you go back to Genesis and where the two brothers are involved and one takes the life of the other resulting in the curse coming upon because he did that there you see it is because of that murder that is committed which is a breach of God's command now
[39:31] God as he tempts or tests Abraham is expecting Abraham to fulfill this and you know all kinds of arguments are made to seemingly alleviate or to weaken the command that comes to Abraham to make it less likely that Abraham is simply able to conclude for himself well God doesn't really mean me to do this God doesn't want me to do this because he wants me to do something that is opposed to his own will he's wanting me to do something that clearly is going against his promise so I can just go through the motions and I know that at the end of it all everything will work out now that's the way some people would reason that what we have here is not really as onerous or as severe a test as we would understand it to be but when we are spectators to this trial and it was a trial it is very difficult for us to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who had a personal knowledge of God that allowed him to understand that he must take
[41:22] God's word seriously he understood that what God meant him to do all he had to do was go back to the first time where God called him out to Abur of the Chaldees when that call came to him he couldn't but obey it because of the nature of the call that came to him and every subsequent experience he had when God was dealing with him he knew that this was a God that he must hear and that he must heed do what God was expecting of him now some people believe that Abraham was well resourced and able to deal with it because of his faith but I doubt if any one of us would volunteer to go into the crucible of his experience or be in his shoes because the experience is a genuine test this is what God intends him to do this is what God intends him to experience
[42:36] God tested Abraham and if the test is anything then we must believe that there is a genuine and a very hard edged part to it otherwise it means nothing it means it means trivialize the scripture altogether if you remember what the scripture says to us about a person's faith being tested the apostle Peter says the following that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tied with fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ now Peter is there appreciative of the nature of the trials that faith endures he says it's precious the person who experienced their faith tried is a person who under
[43:46] God's hand is having a most remarkable provision made to them that's not the way we understand it it's quite the reverse of how we would think of it the way Peter thinks of it where there is faith and that faith is tried God is doing you a favour as it were God is doing a great thing in your life God is doing something the preciousness of which should not be overlooked now by nature that's not the way we understand it when God takes us through trials and difficulties and we find ourselves struggling well we hardly at that moment turn round and thank God for what he's doing at that moment very much to the contrary we're kicking against it we're resisting it but when we discover what the end result is then we may like
[44:56] Peter see the preciousness of it Peter was somebody who was well able to talk of it as someone who experienced faith being tried and tested because he had many situations where that very thing happened so when God tries the work of grace in the life of the believer there is a number of things that may happen first and foremost he is bringing to light what is there when faith is tried what is revealed is faith you might not even be aware of its existence or you might doubt its existence or you may think that the faith that is there is of no consequence and yet it is through the trial that you discover that that faith is real that it is genuine that it is well what does faith do where does faith take you it takes you to
[46:05] God it takes you to trust in God to rest upon God in his works whether it is in Christ or whatever God has done that you are able to identify and this faith that is genuine is revealed through that testing when we think about the ultimate end of testing we think of something that is being not only revealed but something that is being made stronger as I said if it is revealed that your faith is genuine what is genuine is resting upon the passion of
[47:08] God or the passion of his son Jesus Christ and it tends to I think there are some see creatures limpets or barnacles or some of these if you see them I remember when I was very young we would go fishing for crabs and we would use barnacles or limpets as bait just a piece of string and a barnacle and you used it to catch crabs now if you went to take that barnacle off the rock in the first instance you were able to remove it fairly easily but the moment that creature sensed that something was happening that was going to take it from the rock it clung it stuck ferociously almost to the rock the moment it sensed that it was under threat the more glue like it became in its adherence to the rock when a person senses the testings that come through life where that faith is genuine it brings you to cling to
[48:36] God to lay hold of God as your security and that's one part of the testing that comes the way of the Christian the late John McSwain states that previous trials in Abraham's experience were preparatory and his argument is that the trial was a preparation for a greater trial so that when you experience the test of your faith at that moment you can believe that there's something greater something worse coming your way something harder coming away and he's saying well there's some people who will say well that's not much comfort to anyone to know that your trial of your faith is just simply saying to you there's worse to come or there's harder trials to come whether
[49:46] Abraham thought like that or not we may belittle what Abraham is going through by pointing to his great faith but that's wrong the fact that Abraham had strong faith or great faith meant that the trial was in equal proportion to his faith it didn't make it less and when we go through his experience where he has to listen to God saying to him take thy son take now thy son thine only son and the more you work through what God says to him it is almost a reminder to Abraham of his own failings in faith because the emphasis there on his only son
[50:54] Abraham could logically think well I have another son but he had only one son who was according to promise through Sarah's intervention he he was the father of Ishmael but that was not God's plan for Abraham and his faith at that moment was revealed as being weak and the words I suppose could be interpreted as being a reminder of his error but Ishmael was not his only begotten son although he was the son he was not the son of promise that's the point he was not the promised seed and yet Abraham was required to slay the son that was the promised seed and in so doing he was removing the source of
[52:02] God's promise now you can't you can't I'm not sure which one of the commentators say this and several of them would say it when you think of faith it is not something that is removed from your intellect your intellect is at work in the exercise of your faith some people say faith is blind faith is something that doesn't need information all you have to do is listen to what God is saying and just go on and do it but Abraham's faith functioned on the basis of information and the information that he had was information supplied to him by his God and that God supplied him information as to his own intent for the world that he was going to provide him a son and an heir and that son and heir was going to be the means by which a saviour was going to come into the world somewhere along the lines
[53:14] Abraham was able to grasp that truth because the scripture tells us that Abraham saw the day of Christ at whichever point he was able to see that come to fruition he was given access to that and believed it Calvin says this God seems not so much to assail the paternal love of Abraham as to trample upon his own benevolence do you understand what he is saying it's not just that he is asking Abraham to slay to slay his son and that inevitably would strike at the heart of Abraham who would love his son especially the son who is the only begotten the one promised by God but at the same time it was
[54:17] God who supplied the son God the God who promised the son the God who had given this promise to Abraham and to Sarah that he would give that son and here he was going to take it away as Calvin says it seems to be striking at his own benevolence but what we must remember as this process is going on it is not something that is happening without the heart of Abraham almost being torn asunder at what he has to do and you know very much I think you have to exercise care in trying to unravel the process as it is unfolding before you because it is too easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking well
[55:19] Abraham Abraham had this knowledge of God and had this belief in God and because it was so so strong a belief in God and so remarkable insight that he was given as to who God was then all he was going through was a process that left him untouched and you will read some people and this is what they are saying you know and they will read that into it that when he tells his servants oh we are going to come back you stay here and myself and Isaac will return and there they are saying Abraham knew there and then that whatever was ahead of him it wasn't going to be it wasn't going to be him slay his son but how can you how can you say and I think at least some argue that that is not that cannot be the case otherwise where is the test and it is meant to be a test if Abraham was simply going through the motions and all the time he was saying
[56:49] I know the outcome you know humanly speaking if you are taking part in a competition and the competition is not really a competition because you know the winner at the end what's the point if you are ready if it's already been decided who the winner is then why go through the whole process and that's a very poor illustration and yet why treat Abraham's trial as if it was something like that as if it was something that he understood perfectly all the time that there was I think that when you read this chapter again chapter 22 and you see the progress that he makes towards
[57:51] Mount Moriah the detail that is given to you of Abraham taking his son and the servants and the wood and the knife and the fire and going to this place and putting the wood in order and tying his son and putting his son on the wood there is an order there is a solemnity attached to it nothing is skipped nothing is overlooked nothing is treated as well it doesn't matter but this is how it's going to work out anyway as far as the scripture is concerned what Abraham did was he gave his son he he offered this sacrifice if we dig in verse 17 by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son he offered him up it's not he went through the motions or he pretended to offer him up it's there the apostle
[59:05] James was not Abraham justified by works when he had offered Isaac his own son upon the altar the words are specific he did that and yet literally he didn't we know that he didn't kill Isaac and yet as far as God was concerned as far as we're concerned the offering of his son in obedience to God's command took place now that's where a lot of questions occur a lot of questions are asked by theologians who want to know at what point was this actually true and many opinions exist some say that he offered Isaac in his will the first steps of obedience that he took once he yielded his will to
[60:10] God's command the offering took place others say when he raised his arms on his hands with the knife in his hands ready to plunge the knife in the breast of his son then the offering took place well we're not told we're told specifically that it happened that the sacrifice was offered and yet it was not but I think the only answer that I can give and you don't need to be satisfied with it is this you remind yourself of this fact that God initiated a test and he brought that test to an end when the conclusion for which it was intended was satisfied whatever that point was whatever God meant it to do he did by it and Abraham offered his son in the eyes of
[61:18] God and God then ministered to the needs of Abraham in other ways he believed the promise he expected in a sense what people say he expected to return with his son was this anticipation an anticipation of faith an anticipation that was based upon an understanding that it was possible for God to raise his son from the dead it's interesting that that's where we are taken in verse 19 accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure in other words Abraham seems there to be understood to finish this task that God had given to him it wasn't going to be stopped at any point but that
[62:22] God because he was God was able to restore life to his son one thing that he did discover I would imagine was that he discovered aspects to the gospel that were previously hidden from the provision of the lamb or the ram caught in a thicket and it is there is much there that is a representation of the gospel a reminder to us of the resurrection that was to follow and whatever it is that Abraham discovered through this process that was a means by which his faith inevitably would have been strengthened not weakened Martin Luther once said if we would believe whoever we are we must crucify the question how whatever it is that God would have us be or do or go it's the obvious instinct for every one of us to ask
[63:42] God how is this going to pan out what way is this going to be to my advantage at no point do we see in this process Abraham ask such questions Abraham could not do that without God's grace son that is something that we must remember we have elevated a place we give to Abraham the provision of that grace is God the peace provider he is its source but it is something that's so instructive not just of the faith of this man of God who is renowned for his faith but the teaching that he needed to receive as a man of faith of God's provision for his greatest need because even as the greatest man of faith that you can find in the scripture humanly speaking he still needed to find the same saviour and to put his trust in that saviour for his soul but may
[64:51] God bless these few things let us pray heavenly father we give thanks that there is such a faith that is spoken and there are elements too that we may draw back from because we don't understand but you supply the needs of your people your grace is sufficient to help us in all our needs may we understand that and avail ourselves of whatever provision that you have made for us in whatever circumstance to cleanse from sin in Jesus name amen our closing psalm is psalm 116 I love the Lord because my voice and prayer she did hear my while I live will call on him who bowed to me is here of death the cords and sorrows stood about me camp as round the pains of hell to hold on me I gave and trouble found upon the name of God the Lord then did I call and say deliver thou my soul
[65:52] O Lord I do thee humbly pray God merciful and righteous is O gracious is our Lord God saves the meek I was brought low he did me help afford O thou my soul do thou return unto thy quiet rest for largely the Lord to thee his bounty hath expressed for my distressed soul from death delivered was by thee thou didst my mourning eyes from tears my feet from falling free and so on then I will sing the first four stanzas from the beginning I love the Lord because my voice and prayer sheet it here I love the Lord because my voice and prayer she did hear I why thy will fall on him who see
[67:12] The grace of hell to hold on me, I give a crown upon.
[67:30] Upon the name of God the Lord, ended I call and say, Deliver thou my soul, O Lord, I to thee humbly pray.
[68:01] God merciful and righteousness, yea, gracious is our Lord.
[68:19] God saves the meek I was brought low, He did me help the Lord.