[0:00] Keith Knowlton, and as you can tell, I'm not from around these parts. My family and I stay in Edinburgh, where we've lived for the past five years. We moved from the States. We serve with Mission to the World, which is the missions agency of the Presbyterian Church in America.
[0:14] It's a great pleasure for us to be able to serve and partner with the Free Church in Edinburgh and have opportunities to travel, to build relationship, and to see the Lord working in different corners of this nation.
[0:25] This evening we begin with Psalm 100. The first version. All people on earth do dwell. Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[0:42] Him, sir, with myrrh, his praise foretell. Come ye before him and rejoice. Amen. O people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[1:10] Then send with love this praise, Lord tell. Come ye before him and rejoice.
[1:29] Know that the Lord is God, give me. We are his glory, he does our sting.
[1:58] And for his sheep, he does our sting. O enter then his gates with praise.
[2:18] Some roach with joy his torts unto. Praise the Lord and bless his name in all ways.
[2:37] O Lord is his sheep, he leads so to do. For why the Lord our God is good.
[2:55] His mercy is forever sure. His truth that goes not serving soon.
[3:14] I am holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to gather together again this evening to worship you in spirit and truth.
[3:51] We thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Sabbath. We thank you, Lord, that you care for us to give us rest, to set us aside this day from our labors, that we may worship you, that we may enjoy fellowship with one another, that we may enjoy rest as you rested on the seventh day.
[4:11] Lord, we do lift up the requests of this church. We do pray, Lord, for their witness in this community. We do pray, Lord, that you will sustain them individually and corporately, that you may draw them close to you, that they may know your goodness and your grace.
[4:32] Lord, we pray that you may grow them in numbers, grow them in the impact that they can have in this community and beyond. We pray, Lord, for those who are lost in this community.
[4:46] We pray, Lord, that they may sense an emptiness that comes from not knowing you. We pray, Lord, that you will stir within their hearts and their minds a desire to know you and to receive the truth of the gospel through the power of your spirit.
[5:01] Lord, we pray for the witness of each person represented in this church this evening, that you will give them an added joy in how they share their faith, both in word and in deed.
[5:14] Give them a boldness to proclaim the truth of the gospel, to stand up for what is right. Lord, we pray that this may be a place of warmth, that there may be a winsomeness amongst this congregation to welcome both new and old, both native and former.
[5:32] Lord, we thank you that you are a God who receives the outcast, who shows care to those who are downtrodden, that you care for the sick and the lonely.
[5:47] And so, Lord, we know that there are some in our midst that are hurting, that are suffering, that may be in despair of different kinds. And so, we ask, Lord, that you may be a God of comfort and a God of peace.
[5:59] We pray, Lord, that you may look over those who are sick, that you may restore them to health. We pray, Lord, for those who are lonely, that you will befriend them. We pray, Lord, for the families in this church, that you may strengthen them as a family unit, that you may raise children to walk in the knowledge and the understanding of your ways, that you may grow future leaders from this church, who may love and serve your bride.
[6:27] Lord, we pray for the free church broadly. We thank you, Lord, for the planting of new churches, for the revitalization of existing churches. We pray, Lord, that you may raise up more leaders, servants who may have the great desire and burden to preach your word, to lead your flock.
[6:48] We pray, Lord, for even this church in its vacancy, that you may raise up a new leader to lead this church and to do so servant-heartedly and with great joy.
[6:59] We do pray for endurance. Until that time comes, Lord, may this be an opportunity for us all to grow in our faith, to grow in trust and reliance on you. Lord, we think of even beyond the borders of this island and this nation.
[7:15] We know there is great suffering in this world. There is conflict and war. There is death and disease. And we cry out to you, how long, O Lord?
[7:30] Lord, though we see such trouble around us, we know that you are a sovereign God who is in control of all. And so we ask that you grant peace where there is war. We ask, Lord, that you grant comfort where there is hurting.
[7:44] We ask, Lord, that you grant health where there is illness. And, Lord, most of all, we ask that your will be done. As we await the full consummation of your kingdom and the return of our King Jesus, may we wait eagerly and with great anticipation, not seeking our kingdom here on this earth, but seeking the kingdom that is to come, when all pain and all sin and all suffering will be gone forever.
[8:11] Lord, we thank you for Jesus, that he is our sacrificial lamb. Lord, as even as we will learn in our passage this evening, that Jesus is our sinless substitute.
[8:24] May that be great, give us great assurance. May it be an opportunity for us to deepen our faith this evening. And as we soon turn to the preaching of your word, Lord, we ask that our eyes and our ears may be open, that we may put aside distraction, that you may speak through the power of your spirit, that we may leave refreshed and encouraged.
[8:45] And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Now for the singing of our next psalm.
[8:57] Psalm 89, verses 13 through 16. Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might, and thy right hand exceedingly exalted is in height.
[9:14] Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in height.
[9:30] At thy right hand exceedingly exalted is in height.
[9:46] Justice and judgment of thy throne, and in the dwelling place.
[10:02] mercy, mercy, mercy, a company with truth, shall go before thy face.
[10:19] O, greatly, blessed the people, the joy, the joyful sound, and blue.
[10:33] In kindness of thy face, O Lord, the end, the long shall go.
[10:50] true. Then thine King, child of the day, rejoice expedingly, and in thy righteousness, justice shall be exalted be on high.
[11:28] Now for a reading from the New Testament, the book of James, chapter 2, verses 14 through 23. James chapter 2, 14 through 23.
[11:39] What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith and have not works? Can faith save him?
[11:50] If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto him, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding he give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?
[12:07] Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works.
[12:18] Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well. The devils also believe and tremble.
[12:30] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[12:43] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled, which say, if Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
[12:59] Now for the singing of our next psalm, Psalm 25, verses 4 through 7. The first version, Psalm 25, verses 4 through 7.
[13:13] To thee I lift my soul, O Lord, I trust in thee. My God, let me not be ashamed, nor foes triumph over me. Let none that wait on thee be put to shame at all, but those that without cause transgress, let shame upon them fall.
[13:33] Show me thy ways, O Lord, Thy paths, O teach thou me, And do thou lead me in thy truth, Let it mighty judge me.
[14:02] For thou art God precious, To thee salvation send, And I afford thee all the day, Expecting to attend Thy tender mercies, Lord, I pray thee to be my man, Our lovingkindness is worthy, I'll be loved forever.
[15:07] My sins and faults of youth, Do thou, O Lord, forget it?
[15:22] Others, I better see, Think on me, And for thy goodness great.
[15:43] Well, now we turn to the preaching of God's Word. This evening we'll be reading a passage from Genesis chapter 22, verses 1 through 19. And by way of introduction, this is likely a very familiar passage to many of us, a very famous passage, if not infamous passage in the Bible, the sacrifice of Isaac.
[16:05] I'm sure many of us are familiar with this man, Abraham, who God came to in Genesis chapter 12, and gave this covenant promise that he would make him into a great nation, and that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him.
[16:20] That passage really began this look into the life and journey of Abraham, and the passage that we get to today in chapter 22 really serves as the climax of that journey.
[16:32] And actually we see in chapter 12 and chapter 22 a great number of similarities between the two. For in chapter 12, God calls Abraham, and he tells him first to go, to offer up his past, his country, his kindred, his father's house, and to go to a land that God will show him.
[16:53] In our passage this evening, we see a very similar instruction, to go, but not to offer up his past, to offer up his future, his son, his heir, his promised child, and to sacrifice him on a mountain which God will show him.
[17:12] And so though while we may see this to be a complete contradiction, a blessing perhaps in chapter 12, and now it looks to be a cursing in chapter 22, what I think we see actually is that the promise made in chapter 12 is ultimately confirmed in chapter 22.
[17:29] For we will see a faithful and covenant-keeping God who is gracious to his people. And so let's read from Genesis chapter 22, starting in verse 1.
[17:39] And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here am I.
[17:50] And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
[18:04] 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 into the place of which God had told him.
[18:19] 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 the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.
[18:33] 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 the knife and they went both of them together.
[18:45] And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
[18:57] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. And so they went, both of them, and they came to the place which God had told them.
[19:09] And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him upon the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
[19:23] And the angel of the Lord called upon 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.
[19:35] For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that 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 the horns.
[19:51] And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day, in the mouth of the Lord it shall be seen.
[20:07] And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven a second time and said, By myself I have swarmed, 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 all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.
[20:42] And so Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba. This is the word of the Lord. Now as I mentioned, this is likely a very familiar passage to many of us.
[20:58] You maybe have heard this preached a number of times before, but I hope, it's my hope this evening, that we may see this passage with new eyes. That we can recognize the drama that is unfolding here.
[21:10] And so as we consider this passage, I want us to be able to consider this drama in three parts, in three scenes rather. First, to recognize the test that God gives Abraham.
[21:21] second, Abraham's response to this test. And thirdly, the provision that God provides. So as we look first at scene one, the test.
[21:35] Now by way of introduction, my wife and I, prior to moving to Edinburgh a long time ago, we actually served as missionaries in China for a time. We were newlyweds working at a university.
[21:47] We're there, we worked with the underground church while ministering to university students. And we both had the pleasure of teaching at this university. I taught over 300 first year students.
[22:00] And what was common at the end of the term, you'd have an exam that you'd have to give. And the format was that I was supposed to submit my exam to the office ahead of time. They would print out the documents on their paper, give it to me the morning of the exam.
[22:13] I go to the lecture hall and present it to my students for them to sit and take the exam. Well, on the morning of the exam, I go to the office to collect my papers. I gap my stack and as I look at the first one, I realize they have printed the wrong exam.
[22:28] This is not the exam for my students. It was questions that they had never seen before and I make note of this to the office to say this is not my test. And they say, they realize they've made a mistake but at this point it's too late.
[22:41] They've outsourced their printing. They cannot print more exams at this point in time. And so rather than reschedule the exam for my students, they say, well, go into the lecture hall, give them this exam, have them sit in here for the duration of the exam and they may leave and we'll figure it out afterwards.
[22:58] The reason they did this is in order that the office staff would save face. They didn't want an administrator to walk by this lecture hall where an exam should be taking place and there be no students there. And so I simply have to follow instructions.
[23:11] I go to this lecture hall, I hand out a paper to my 300 students, a paper that had questions they had never seen before and you can imagine the look on their faces as they began to take this final exam not knowing any of the questions and not knowing any of the answers and the sheer panic that overcame them and possibly the hatred at which was directed at me for thinking that I had tricked them not being able to say that they were actually taking the wrong exam.
[23:39] And we see ourselves in this story possibly Abraham coming into a very similar situation of the shock and horror of this test that is given to him. We see it played out here in verse 1 where it says that God tempted Abraham.
[23:54] Now that can have a negative connotation when we say tempted but this is a test that God gives Abraham. A test that his own son shall be offered up as a sacrifice.
[24:07] And so we see very clearly here from the very beginning that this is a test of Abraham's faith. And so the question is how will Abraham respond? As I mentioned earlier in chapter 12 we see Abraham receive this voice of blessing from the Lord that he was going to inherit land and wealth and a family.
[24:27] And now it seems to be totally contrary. The voice of the Lord seemingly uttering a curse. Rather than a promise it seemed as though that there was a threat an inexplicable contradiction.
[24:39] How in the world a man of 100 years whose wife of 90 years finally have this promised son why in the world was he to be taken away? And so we notice very clearly how the narrator of this passage describes this boy Isaac.
[24:57] He calls him thy son. Thy only son. Thy son whom you love, Isaac. It is highlighting very clearly how special this boy is to Abraham.
[25:10] His very own flesh and blood. And so we need to recognize in the drama of this passage what does it mean that he may be offered up as a burnt offering? To recognize that this means not only to kill his son but to cut him up.
[25:27] To let fire completely consume him until there is nothing left. But the significance of this test isn't simply in Abraham losing his son.
[25:37] It's really recognizing the promise that's attached to the son. Because God had been very explicit that his promise to Abraham was going to flow through his son Isaac. Not Eleazar, Abraham's servant whom he thought might be his heir before he had a child.
[25:51] Not Ishmael, the son of Sarah's servant Hagar who Abraham fathered. But Isaac. This is what was said in Genesis 17. I will establish my covenant with him, with Isaac as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
[26:08] And so all these descendants, this blessing to the nation was to come through Isaac. How was this to happen now? Well that takes us into our second scene of this drama, the response.
[26:21] Now before we consider Abraham's response I think it's worth considering our own response or maybe the response of someone who hears this passage for the very first time. to think how disgusting this request would be from a loving God.
[26:36] How possibly could a loving God make such a request? How can you worship a God that would demand child sacrifice? Even if child sacrifice might have been a common pagan ritual in the time, how in the world can your God endorse such awful ritual?
[26:52] I think it's worth providing a bit of insight here into this mindset because what we recognize what happens here is God is using a custom, a common custom of that day to grab someone's attention.
[27:05] We actually see this played out a number of chapters earlier in Genesis 15 where God makes this covenant promise with Abraham. How is this covenant executed? It's by the cutting of animals in two and lining them up and as would be tradition, these two people would meet in the middle as symbolically sealing this bond, this promise they have to one another.
[27:25] But we know this plays out differently. Instead of Abraham meeting God in the middle, we see that Abraham is put to sleep and God continues through these cut animals all the way to Abraham using a common custom to prove his commitment to Abraham.
[27:42] And so likewise here, God is using this pagan ritual not to endorse child sacrifice but really to subvert it. And we see how this plays out as our passage continues.
[27:53] But now I think it's important to see and to consider Abraham's response here. I would think for most of us given this request, what would be the first question we ask? It would be why.
[28:05] Why, oh Lord? The father of four children, I hear the question why a lot. When requests and demands are made to play the piano, why?
[28:16] When it's time to put on your shoes and your coat, why? When you need to clean your room, why? And over and over again as a parent, we've probably experienced this before, that question, it just comes down to a simple answer, because I told you so.
[28:30] But we see here this question is not uttered by Abraham. He doesn't try to reason with God, he doesn't plead for reconsideration, he doesn't even remind God of his promise.
[28:42] You would think at the very least he would beg for mercy. At the very worst that he may try to curse God. How dare you take my son from me? But he does no such thing.
[28:54] We see in chapter 3 Abraham's response is one of complete unwavering obedience. And so he takes his son, his servants, his supplies, and he starts his journey.
[29:05] And for three days they walk. And you can imagine as this plays out how heavy hearted Abraham would be to know that he is going to the mountaintop where he will commit the death of his son.
[29:19] At any point he could have changed his mind and yet he continues on in obedience to the hill where God directs him. And so in verse 5 we see that Abraham says to the young man abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.
[29:37] It's interesting that he speaks in the plural here. He's talking about Isaac and I. We will go worship and we will return. Now you may think he's trying to cover for himself here because he doesn't want to let on to his servants that Isaac is not coming back.
[29:52] That Isaac will be the sacrifice. But we get a little bit of insight into what Abraham is thinking and feeling during this time by actually turning to the New Testament. To the book of Hebrews 11 chapter 17 it recounts the faith of many Old Testament figures and this is what it says of Abraham.
[30:10] It says, 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 as a figure.
[30:31] What it's saying here is that Abraham had faith so much faith in God's promise that even if he had to sacrifice his son Isaac he believed that God could raise him from the dead. what faith we see in Abraham.
[30:46] And so obedience he follows he takes the wood he places it on Isaac he takes the knife and the fire and they ascend this hill and we see this question a question from Isaac where's the lamb for the burnt offering?
[31:02] Now in our passage we see it it's translated here God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. This is how Abraham responds. And it's interesting though if we actually look at the Hebrew what Abraham says to his son this word provide it's actually the Hebrew word for to see.
[31:20] And so as we translate it here there's some ambiguity it almost lends itself to a double meaning and be translated in one of two ways either God will provide for himself a lamb or God will see to it a lamb.
[31:35] And so for the readers now of this passage we really see the richness of this exchange because this is actually the only recorded dialogue between Abraham and his son Isaac in the whole book of Genesis.
[31:47] And what it does for us it foreshadows not only what's going to happen in moments ahead but will happen in generations to come because yes God will provide a lamb now for Abraham but he will also looking far into the future he will provide his own son as a substitutionary sacrifice for his people.
[32:05] And so that question that Isaac asked where is the lamb for the burnt offering we see that answer given to us in the New Testament in the Gospel of John John the Baptist when he is by the Jordan River baptizing many people and preparing the way for the Lord and Jesus approaches and what does he say behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
[32:30] So Abraham in his response he does not fully understand the significance of his own answer but he continues on in obedience and what as we sped through three days of travel now this narrative slows to its climactic peak and we are given every specific detail in verse 9 and they came to the place which God had told them and Abraham built an altar there and he laid the wood in order and he bound Isaac his son and he laid him upon the altar upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son and this is where scene 3 bursts in scene 3 of God's provision the angel of the Lord calls out from heaven Abraham Abraham do not lay a hand on your son a substitute is provided a ram caught in the thicket and Abraham goes and takes this ram and offers this as a burnt offering instead of his son now I wonder if many of us have been sat in literature classes before maybe where we've had to read and analyze short stories or plays of different kinds and often times there's questions that are asked of us in these literature classes where we have to think about who's the main character what's the conflict that this character faces what do they learn and how do they grow over the course of this story and what can we learn from their experience well if we look at this passage with that same mentality we only see this passage as kind of a self-contained fable we may be tempted to ask the same questions and so we think well
[34:15] Abraham is the main character the conflict is that this test that God gave him and he has to learn how the importance of his own faith and if he just has enough faith things will work out for him so therefore we need to have faith like Abraham does perhaps you've maybe heard people try to communicate this passage this way before and certainly while there's something to learn from Abraham's faith here I think if we simply look at the passage in this way it actually cheapens the narrative because we've missed so much because in actuality Abraham is not the main character in the story he's not the one that the people of Israel would have identified with in Hebrew this story was historically called the binding of Isaac it's Isaac's life and death that's the heart of this plot the people of Israel they would have identified with Isaac because with no Isaac there's no covenant promise with no Isaac there's no nation of Israel Isaac is a symbolic figure here and it is God who's the protagonist it is God who tests it is God who sees he is the
[35:24] God who provides promise and he is the God who renews his promise and so it's worth considering when I say he who is the he in this passage that we're looking at because this can easily be overlooked here at the beginning of the story it says that God tells Abraham what to do but when God when Abraham raises up his knife in verse 9 and it says that the angel of the Lord calls out from heaven this is simply translated in the Hebrew as the messenger of Yahweh notice specifically how this messenger speaks he doesn't say I know you fear God because you haven't withheld your son from God he says you haven't withheld your son from me so how is it that this messenger of the Lord is able to speak in the first person well if we actually go back just a few chapters to Genesis 16 we see the same messenger have an interaction with Hagar who's Sarah's servant she becomes pregnant by Abraham she is abused by
[36:25] Sarah his wife and she flees to the desert and it says that this angel of the Lord this messenger of the Lord found her by a spring of water and says to her that I will increase your descendants so much that they can't be counted this messenger goes on to say that Yahweh has heard of your affliction so how is it that the same messenger can speak on behalf of Yahweh but also personally extend this blessing and a very similar blessing that had been given to Abraham it's interesting to hear Hagar's response she says to the messenger you are the God who sees it's the same Hebrew verb to provide to see it is the same thing that Abraham says to his son Isaac so this messenger identifies himself as God he's called by God by others and yet he's distinct from the father what we come to realize in this passage is this messenger is actually the second person of the Trinity the pre-incarnate son of God
[37:26] Jesus so it makes the story all the sweeter when we realize that is the voice of Jesus that comes to Abraham and renews this promise listen in verse 16 again says and he's this messenger of the Lord Jesus himself speaks by myself I have sworn saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing and has not withheld thy son thy only son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens and as the seas which are upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemy and in thy seed all the nations of earth be blessed because he is going to do in the future that he is the seed the singular noun in the Hebrew he is the one person through whom all the nations will be blessed and so it should be no surprise to us how
[38:32] Isaac is described in this passage ten times over he's referred to as Abraham's son his only son his beloved son does this not remind us of how!
[38:44] the son of God is described in the New Testament think again about this encounter that John the Baptist has with Jesus as he's baptizing and after Jesus is baptized and comes up from the water we hear this voice from heaven saying behold you are my beloved son with you I am well pleased possibly the most famous verse in the Bible John 3 16 for God so!
[39:11] loved the world! The exact same language used to describe Isaac is now used to describe Jesus and so while we can see Isaac as a type of Christ in the Old Testament we need to remember that there is still a clear distinction between the two because Christ as he died for our sins Isaac is not the one who dies in the altar in our passage instead it is this ram that is provided and because of the
[40:12] Jerusalem and it says that David lifts up his eyes and he sees this angel on top of this same mountain with an outstretched sword over Jerusalem and it's there that David goes and he builds this altar to offer a burnt offering that's consumed by fire from heaven and it's on this same site a generation later that Solomon builds the temple of God on what became known as Mount Zion!
[40:42] Israel forward to this coming once and for all sinless sacrifice and so it's on this mountain where Abraham raises his knife over his son where the angel of God held his sword over Jerusalem where the knife of the priest slaughtered countless animals for the sins of his people it is here that the knife of divine judgment would find its mark in God's own son because it is near this same mount where Jesus would carry the wood of his altar the cross to a place where he would willingly suffer and die taking the penalty for the sin that you and I deserve a perfect sacrifice as a substitute for needy sinners and so when Abraham was not required to do to his own son God did for his only son and so for those who say this is a sick God demanding human sacrifice this is not a story of a sick twisted
[41:44] God who demands human sacrifice this is a story of a loving and gracious God who offers his son as a sacrifice in our place and so you may ask well why why is a sacrifice needed at all well it's because God is both holy and just our sin separates us from a holy God and it's because he is just that he cannot simply overlook sin the penalty for sin is death sacrifice is necessary but what we see here is that a substitute is acceptable and that is demonstrated here to Abraham and through our savior Jesus the covenant promise that God made with Abraham was never threatened by this test it was confirmed and continued through Isaac to find his fulfillment in Jesus and so think about what this means for you and me this covenant promise is ours as Paul says in
[42:48] Galatians 3 the blessing of Abraham came to all so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith the blessing of Abraham is the blessing for you and me today it is a blessing that's received through faith in Jesus this is why it says in Genesis 15 that's repeated in James 2 as we read this evening that Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness through faith you and I brother and sister receive the righteousness of Jesus as well so the question is have we received this blessing do we understand that you and I are the ones that deserve to be on that altar do we believe that a sinless substitute has taken our place and if we have placed our faith in Christ let us not forget the goodness the kindness the generosity of our God for as Paul says in Romans 8 31 32 he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things know that if God has given his ultimate sacrifice of his son he will continue to work redemption in our lives so even when we face trials and temptations and tests of various kinds we have a faithful and trustworthy
[44:16] God who keeps his promises promises and so we need not doubt his love for he is a God who sees and he is a God who provides will you stand with me to pray oh God Jehovah Jireh the God who provides and the God who sees we thank you Lord that you are a covenant keeping God who does not demand the death of your people but provided his your own son as a sinless substitute that we may experience the righteousness of Jesus by grace through faith and so Lord we ask that this may be a reminder of your goodness a reminder of your grace that is given to us over and over again Lord may this fill us with hope that we may go from this place with great joy knowing that we are your beloved that we have been forgiven may we desire to share this love with those around us and maybe there is one here this evening
[45:32] Lord that does not experience this blessing who has not experienced this blessing we ask Lord that you may soften their heart that they may recognize the sacrifice of your son his shed blood for them Lord we pray that this may dwell dwelling deep into our hearts that we may experience your grace that it may be for our good and for your glory we pray in Jesus name amen and now for the singing of our final psalm psalm 130 Lord from the depths to thee I cry my voice Lord do thou hear unto my supplications voice give an attentive ear Lord who shall stand if thou will Lord shouldst mark iniquity but yet with thee forgiveness is that fear thou mayest be
[46:32] Lord from the depths to thee I cry my voice Lord do thou hear unto thy!
[46:58] Lord who shall! praise you!! unattentive hear Lord who shall stand with love O Lord should mark iniquity forget forget with thee forgiveness with forgiveness is that fear thou mayest me I wait for God God my soul doth wait my hope is in this word word for that they last for morning watch my soul wait for the
[48:25] Lord I say for that they may lie to watch the morning light to see let Israel open the door all with his in his feet!
[49:05] I plan G out reaction is ever found within and from all his alien heart and his his his with peace he is the man to honor the redeemed will you stand with me for our benediction a good word from God to his people now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ he who called you is faithful he will surely do it
[50:07] Amen