[0:00] here again once this evening to worship the Lord. We can do so from a Scottish Psalter and from Psalm 50. The first version of the Psalm, Scottish Psalter, Psalm 50, the first version of the Psalm is on page 276.
[0:18] Psalm 50 on page 276. We can sing verses 9 down to verse 15 of the Psalm. Psalm 50 verses 9 down to verse 15.
[0:34] Where God reminds us that he is in full control over all his creation and requires nothing from us. I'll take no calf nor goats from house or fold of vine, for beasts of forest cattle all on thousand hills are mine.
[0:50] The fowls on mountains high are all to me well known. Wild beasts which in the fields do lie, even they are all mine own. Psalm 50 verses 9 to 15.
[1:03] The God's praise. O it is, O for Cecius's in the nova cose, for 얼마나 có program Sankt do at once. Maybe we can sing some of the signs of the Israelites of doing so.
[1:25] The hills of thy sentence are mine.
[1:37] The bars of night and sky Are all worthy well.
[1:50] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[2:04] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[2:18] I will not tell them Because the world and the world Are all worthy well.
[2:40] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[2:54] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[3:12] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[3:26] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[3:42] The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth Are all worthy well. The hills of the earth The hills of the earth Are all worthy well.
[4:02] In prayer. Let's pray. Lord as we sung just now We come before you The God who requires nothing. This whole creation is sustained by you.
[4:13] This creation which is yours. This whole universe. The whole of our reality. The whole of space and time itself. It is all yours.
[4:24] You are outside of it. You are out with it. This functions as something Which you yourself. And you alone have full control And full sovereign power over.
[4:35] As we reminded last week. There is not a single square inch. There is not a single part Of this creation. Over which our glorious Lord And saviour does not exclaim.
[4:47] It is his. We come this evening to you The God who knows us. And who sees us. As part of your creation. And we bring before you Just now in prayer. This area.
[4:59] We bring before you in prayer. Just now especially this evening. This district. This village. We do pray for North Tulsa. We pray for every home In this area Lord.
[5:10] From the Glen to where Gary begins. Lord we bring about every single area Of this village before you. For you. Every home. Every family.
[5:21] Every house. That is represented here. And the many houses. Which are not represented here. Or next door. We ask Lord. You would bring your blessing to this place.
[5:33] We ask that we would see revival. And refreshing. Days of salvation. And days of gospel power. In this place. And we ask this. And we do so boldly.
[5:45] Not relying on our own preaching. Not relying on any events. Or plans that we hope to do. Or carry out. No. We come just now.
[5:56] Before a God. Who hears the prayers of your people. And we do pray as one voice. For this evening. That we would indeed see days. In this place. Days in this village.
[6:08] Days where those who are in great darkness. Would see. That great light. I pray. Especially as we have been reminded. The last few weeks. In your word. As we have looked in various ways.
[6:19] And at various angles. At the incarnation. As we have seen. And been shown from your word. The beauty of the sun. The power of the sun. The humility of the sun.
[6:31] The one who came. Who took on human flesh. Who took on all our attributes. Who became like us. In all ways. Apart from sin.
[6:42] Who humbled himself. Down into creation. And humbled himself. To the very cross itself. Who took on. The full reality. Of physical pain.
[6:53] Of mental pain. Of spiritual pain. Who more. And on top of all that. Who suffered. The reality. Of being called sin.
[7:04] On that cross. To redeem his precious people. To be the final. Perfect sacrifice. For his people. Help us. To understand.
[7:16] The simplicity. And the beauty. Of the gospel. We have a savior. As we heard this morning. A savior. Who loves. His people. And who loved us.
[7:27] So much. He came. To live. And to die. For us. Out of obedience. To the father. And of love for us. We came. Help us.
[7:38] In order to. Feel as if we have moved. Past that. Simple gospel truth. At the same time. Help us. To. Enjoy. Delving into the great truth. Of who our savior is.
[7:49] Delving into the great theology. The great. Beauty. Of who you are. God. Help us. As individuals. As your people. To grow well.
[8:00] Help us. To grow. In our. Understanding. In our. Knowledge. In our. Practice. Of who it is. We are worshiping. But we are worshiping.
[8:11] A living God. And as such. You have made yourself. Known. And knowable. To us. Our. Congregation. Y. Discipleship. To grow.
[8:22] As brothers. And sisters. Together. Side by side. Seeking. To see. Your name. Glorified. As we pray. For our own. Growth.
[8:33] As Christians. We also pray. At the same time. For the. Gospel. Growth. In our village. Help us. Lord. Give us. The wisdom.
[8:44] With that. Evangel. Of that. Glorious. Gospel. News. That there is. Hope. And there is. Life. And there is.
[8:55] Peace. To be found. Of the Lord. Jesus. If only. They would come. And find out. That truth. Of themselves. We pray. Just now.
[9:06] For those. Who we love. So dearly. Those. Many times. Over. Many years. Shown. Outwardly. At least. Have shown.
[9:17] No sign. Of changing. Help us. Lord. To give us. To keep on. Bringing them. To the cross. Again. And again. Both.
[9:28] In what we say. To them. But also. Privately. In our prayers. To bring them. Before the foot. Of the very. Throne. Of grace. We pray.
[9:39] Just now. For the many. We pray. For our neighbors. And our neighbors. Neighbors. We pray. For the many. Homes. Who have. No gospel.
[9:50] Understanding. Who are. Fully. And totally. Darkened. As to the danger. They are in. Help us. To practically. Show love. To them.
[10:01] If possible. To. To get. To know them. And to. Show them. To us. And our actions. And all. That we say. And do.
[10:12] The love. Of our Savior. As we pray. For the wider. Evangelical work. We engage. In this village. We do pray. Especially. For this coming week. We pray.
[10:23] For the evangelical work. Of. Wednesday evening. We have planned. This time. Where the gospel. Will go out. Where many will gather. In that place. Who won't come near. This time of worship.
[10:34] But we hope. Wednesday and they will hear in a simple way the glorious good news of Christmas. That child was sent, that child was born and that child as we heard last week is the one who takes away the sin of his people. We ask the Lord perhaps as we gather for a few times of singing Lord, we would gather and be ready to hear the word. We ask you would give us open ears as we share the gospel and open hearts as your word goes out. Help us to have the sense to lay hold on every opportunity you give us. As we pray for your word to spread in this place we pray for these golden opportunities to share the gospel. We thank you for this one. We pray for others as the months and the years stretch ahead as long as you give us. Help us this new year to be faithful servants. We thank you for the report of the POV that we had that time as a congregation individually and also as a session to discuss and go through various aspects of ministry.
[11:43] We thank you for the report received. We thank you for the encouragements of it. We thank you for the help we find in it. And we pray as a congregation you help us to grow and to adopt that report and to implement it and to see your name glorified more and more in this place. Lord we long to see your name known. We long to see those who are far off come close. Help us to be a vibrant people, a living people, a living witness in this place. I pray just now for those who we think have no hope, for those who we perhaps think are too far away from the gospel, those who show zero gospel interest, even worse than that, those who show a hatred for the gospel. Lord we ask you to transform them and bring them in.
[12:35] That your name would be glorified. And for all we seek to do, that your name would be glorified. For all our plans and all our ideas, your name would be glorified.
[12:47] As we seek to serve you, you will be exalted and lifted high in our midst. Remember, as we did this morning, that the wider church work across this presbytery of our church.
[13:01] We thank you for it. We pray just now for our two vacant congregations. We pray for Shabbos and we also pray for North Uist. Lord, we thank you for the ongoing gospel work in these places.
[13:14] We bring just now especially before you Shabbos, as we have recently become vacant. We pray for them in this new time of vacancy for them, that they will be united together until the procedure begins, to find one who will lead them and guide them. We also bring before you North Uist. We thank you for their continued ministry. We ask you to bless them as they seek to serve you week after week.
[13:38] We pray also for Scalpy. We pray for Dunblane. We thank you for your ministry in these places. We pray for your servants there. We pray, Lord, for also the pastors there. We pray for Cockle. We pray, Lord, for Alan Shearer. We thank you for these men and their families.
[13:55] We pray wider afield, as we heard this morning. We pray once more for our brother and the pastor, who we call Joseph in Iran. Lord, you know his exact situation, his exact name and story.
[14:07] We remember him, Lord, his family, as he was released from prison early. Give him, Lord, the ability to recover from what he has endured, the great pain and great misery that he's endured physically and mentally, Lord, and restore him back to health, we ask, that he would serve you once more. Pray for our own government, our own leadership. We thank you for the freedom we have to worship you in this country. Pray just now, Lord, for those who are over us in the matters of this world. We pray for our own local council. We pray, Lord, for our government in Westminster and Holyrood. We pray for the first minister and the prime minister. We pray for the king.
[14:45] Pray, Lord, you give them wisdom to lead this country well. We ask for posterity and for prosperity for our country. We also ask, first and foremost, that you would save these three leaders of our country. Lord, they would come to know and come to love Jesus and worship him as their leader, as their king, as their saviour. Until, Lord, we see days of blessing, until we see days of revival, give us, we ask, the wisdom to make use of the things you've given us. In this day of small things, help us to be faithful of a small amount we have. Help us here as a small congregation with our small things to be faithful and to be vibrant and to seek to use every opportunity you give us to proclaim the glorious gospel of our glorious saviour. It's in his name and it's for his sake we ask these many things, understanding that we deserve enough ourselves, nothing from you. But also, as we heard this morning, you are the giver of all good gifts, and in Jesus, in our saviour, you have given us the most glorious gift of all. It's in his name, it's for his sake we ask these many things. Amen.
[16:02] Let's turn to read in God's word, turning to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22, that's on page 15 of our church Bibles. Genesis chapter 22 on page 15.
[16:23] Genesis chapter 22. Let's again hear of a word of God.
[16:41] After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning, stabbed his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar, and Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.
[17:33] And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they both went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father.
[17:48] And he said, here I am, my son. He said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So he went both of them together.
[18:06] When they came to the place of which God had told them, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.
[18:35] For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
[18:55] So Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide. As it said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son. I will surely bless you. And I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. And then your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned to his young men and they arose and went together to Beersheba and Abraham lived at Beersheba. After these things it was told to Abraham, behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor, Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother,
[20:03] Kemuel, Kemuel, Kemuel, the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazel, Pildash, Jilttha, and Bethuel. Bethuel favoured Rebecca. These eight Milcah borne Nahor, Abraham's brother. Moreover his concubine, whose name was Ruma, borne Teba, Geham, Tehash, and Mecha. We give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word. Let's again sing to God's praise again from the Scottish Psalter, this time Psalm 34.
[20:43] The Scottish Psalter, Psalm 34. That's on page 246. Psalm 34 on page 246. We can sing verses 1 down to verse 9 of the psalm. Psalm 34 verses 1 down to verse 9. God will I bless all times, his praise my mouth shall still express, my soul shall boast in God, the meek shall hear with joyfulness, extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, he heard and did me from all fears deliver. Psalm 34 verses 1 to 9. God's praise.
[21:27] Psalm 34. The Lord, I bless all times, his praise my night shall sin, my experience, my soul and brother and I bless all times, his name is TRAClent. We are the one who has lovedkats on the earth which isen develop. Now will, we are the one who has loved her voice and love, why not haveoding the Lord with me for you. If you don't have sistem ground will but and let us, let us know that the Lord with me that you are having the Newman's mind of your life,езonder van matten die herda ast nekstand just via pulum через uge reisast at they hand din Mickey
[22:39] The church night and loud, Touching for a friend that is here, that robbers on thy god.
[23:15] There returns in the land of allят's'xldest.
[23:29] Thank you.
[23:42] Do you?.
[24:21] Tessels have come the Lamb, Now about days he'll be authent fierce and abundantly He'll return trusts.
[24:48] Amen. Turning back to the chapter we had in Genesis, chapter 22, looking especially at verse 14.
[25:02] So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide. As it's said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
[25:13] We're carrying on our series looking at some of the titles of God, some of the names of God we find in the Old Testament. And we've tried as best we can perhaps in connection to the morning sermons and even our Wednesdays, this month especially lifting our eyes upward.
[25:35] And I hope we do that anyway, but making a special effort to lift our eyes upward and to see the glory and the beauty of the Lord. This evening we see a name, a title of God.
[25:49] We only find the exact title in this chapter, but the sentiment of this title is one we see throughout Scripture.
[26:01] And although we only find the title here, we could take hundreds, quite literally, of texts and use it for our text this evening, for our example this evening.
[26:14] We'll take verse 14, where we see Abraham calling God, well, he calls the name of the place a title of God. The Lord will provide.
[26:25] You see their capital L-O-R-D, it tells us it's Yahweh. Yahweh will provide. Yahweh Jireh. Yahweh Jireh.
[26:37] Sometimes Jehovah Jireh, but again, as I said before, we'll cover it one day, not today, but we'll cover it one day where we see Jehovah. You can read Yahweh. Jehovah and Yahweh, it's interchangeable for reasons that are complicated and long-winded, but it's the same name.
[26:54] Yahweh Jireh. Now, quite literally, and quite handily, actually, the ESV gives us the translation.
[27:04] If you have a church Bible, you see there's a wee four there beside the word provide. At the bottom of your page, you follow that number four down, and it says, or will see. This is not two different translations.
[27:16] The literal Hebrew Jireh is to see. The Lord sees. The Lord will see. Now, that's a literal translation. How do we get provide, then, from the word see?
[27:30] Well, quite simply, it's the Lord sees in the context of need. The Lord sees the need. The Lord understands and sees the need.
[27:41] Therefore, the Lord provides for the need. In conversational Hebrew, they would use these words interchangeably. If someone needed something, you would say, well, I see that.
[27:56] In other words, I will do that for you. Even in our own language. If someone says they're going to see to something for you, you know they're going to do it for you. They've identified your need, and they'll provide for that need.
[28:10] In other words, the Lord sees, and the Lord knows. In other words, we here have a title that reminds us that we have a God who provides.
[28:22] And this is in direct connection to a case, our sermon this morning. Our look at John 3, 16, through the lens of God being the ultimate giver.
[28:34] And it's why this evening's sermon, I don't want to keep you for long, again, not for lack of content. We could do a whole series from this interaction alone, and indeed, one day we might do.
[28:46] But for the same reason as the morning, I want to be concise as I can, because I want you to go home with the same simple truth you had this morning, I hope. God provides.
[28:58] Where we cannot, God provides. To help us to do that, I want us to contrast very simply the two sons. We see here the saved son, Isaac, the saved son.
[29:15] Then later on, I want us to look at, of course, the son who would come. The son foreshadowed by Isaac. The saviour son.
[29:25] So the saved son and the saviour son. And for each of these two sons, we'll look at the father, the son, and the sacrifice.
[29:37] So first of all, the saved son. Let's look at this account here where God is called the God who provides. First of all, we see then the father.
[29:49] We see in Abraham, of course, a faithful father. On one level, this whole chapter is showing us the faith of Abraham.
[30:01] Now, we'll see later on that this chapter points forward to Jesus, and that's why this is here. But on the surface, at least, we see in verse 1, after these things, God tested Abraham.
[30:14] God is testing Abraham's faith. We can't deny that. It's there in the plain text for us. So Abraham is a faithful man. But also, he's a faithful father.
[30:26] He is a father. We know the story who has waited long for his son. We saw that before in previous weeks, where we see that God is a God who provides.
[30:38] And we know the account. We won't go into it this evening, but we see Abraham at his advanced age, trusting, eventually trusting, despite all the opposition in his own mind and around him.
[30:51] He trusts that God would give him a son. And eventually we see, chapter 21, that son is born to Abraham and to Sarah.
[31:03] He is a faithful man. He trusts and takes God at his word. And because of that, we see he's a devoted father. He's a good father, as far as we see.
[31:14] At least to Isaac, he is his true son. He's a father who has waited a long time for his son. And also, quite simply, but quite beautifully, he's a father who loves his son.
[31:30] Again, verse 2, where the angel of the Lord, or the Lord himself, speaks to Abraham. In verse 2, we see God saying, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.
[31:43] Quite simply, he loves Isaac. Abraham loves his true son Isaac. This is a father who cares for his son, who has looked after his son, who we know will look after his son in the years to come, and a father who loves his son.
[32:08] What then do we see that the son here? We find out quite a few things about Isaac in this passage. But two things of importance.
[32:20] First of all, we see Isaac, he's a dutiful son. Verse 6, the first half of verse 6, And then we see also in verse 7, we see Isaac just seems to go along quite happily with the plan Abraham tells him.
[32:36] Verse 6 and verse 7, Abraham gives the wood to Isaac, and they go walking towards this distant hill. And we see, of course, where Isaac questions his father, but he does so in a careful way about the lamb, and we know that's importantly thrown.
[32:53] But in general, we see from this chapter, Isaac seems to be, and indeed he is, a dutiful, well-behaved, obedient son.
[33:05] There's something more going on, isn't there, in this chapter. I don't know if you noticed when we were reading it, there's something that repeats again, and again, and again, in relation to Isaac.
[33:18] And it repeats in a way that's supposed to capture our attention. It repeats so much, it actually disrupts a wee bit of what's being said. See if you notice it with me just now.
[33:31] Verse 2, where God speaks to Abraham, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.
[33:42] How about verse 12? Verse 12, we see God saying, again, the angel speaks, and the angel says, Do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him, for I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.
[34:02] How about down to verse 16? And said, By myself, the angel Lord speaks here, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you.
[34:19] Almost every time Isaac is mentioned, there is a qualifier with it. He is your son, your only son, your son, your only son, your son, your only son.
[34:35] That's strange, isn't it? As if Abraham didn't know, why is God, why is the Lord repeating this fact, again, and again, and again.
[34:47] It's peculiar, isn't it? And we'll see later on, quite clearly of course, why that is. I'm sure you know where we're going with that. A loving father, a faithful father, a dutiful son, a special, unique, only son, only true son, in Abraham's case, the only son of his wife, the only son who is truly his, in a legitimate sense.
[35:14] We also see a sacrifice. We all know the account of the horror, which takes place, where we see Isaac, poor, dutiful, poor, beloved, poor, faithful Isaac, and he is there, carrying, as we saw, his own wood, on his own back, up to the place, where he's about to be killed.
[35:37] And the image is quite graphic, isn't it really? Verse 6, Abraham takes a wood of his servants, and he lays it on Isaac. Isaac is there, carrying his own wood, the wood that will be used shortly, to sacrifice himself.
[35:55] And the wood he'd be laid on top of, for the burnt offering. Now Isaac carries this burden, to the place of his own, imminent death.
[36:10] It's a graphic scene. It's one of these stories, you hear in Sunday school, and you think, as an adult, we missed bits out, or perhaps we didn't quite understand, just how grim it is.
[36:24] This is a horrifying scene. And it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be. We sang in our opening psalm, God is not a pagan God.
[36:36] God doesn't need the blood, of goats or bulls. They all belong to him. God is not looking for, child sacrifice. He's not looking for the blood, of this boy to be spilt.
[36:47] God doesn't need that. And we see that's not God's plan. God isn't wanting Abraham, of course, to kill Isaac. He never would. God would never let that happen. And we know what takes place.
[37:00] But of course, in Isaac, we see, as we all know, we see a foreshadowing, in just a glimpse, as to the horror, of the true sacrifice, that Isaac foreshadowed.
[37:16] where Abraham offers his son, his only son, his precious son, where Abraham offers him up, we see a foreshadowing, to the God, who provides.
[37:33] Now here, God provides, of course, a ram, for Abraham. We see this glorious scene, taking place. Abraham is there, knife in hand, ready to plunge into his son.
[37:48] And as he lifts his arm, we see the angel of the Lord, calls out to him again. And it's there, and we read, Abraham, Abraham. You can imagine, the voice of the Lord, bellowing out, Abraham, Abraham.
[38:03] Abraham, of course, says, here I am. Do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.
[38:22] And of course, God provides, we know, the ram. He provides a sacrifice, to substitute Isaac, instead. We offer the sacrifice, sacrifice.
[38:33] And they go back, to daily life. It's quite interesting, that section, you find there, verse 19, down to verse 24. It was strange, why is that there?
[38:46] Because it shows you, life just continues on. We're back to the genealogies, back to the, the life of Abraham, back to his normal, coming and going, back to the, the brothers, and the sisters, and the family connections, back to the normal, as it were, nine to five, of their life.
[39:05] God has provided, a way out, of, the sacrifice. God will, provide. Yahweh, Yahweh, God sees.
[39:17] God saw, Isaac on, that pile of wood. The knife, everybody plunged into him. God saw, a father, willing to give up, his son, his only son.
[39:28] God saw that, and God showed Abraham, that he, does not require the blood, of bulls, or rams, or children.
[39:39] God, will provide himself, a sacrifice, that will satisfy, him. That will satisfy, his desire, God's desire, for justice, and wrath, to be fulfilled.
[39:52] We see, Jehovah, Yahweh, we see, God, who provides. And we see, that provision, of course, most clearly, in the second son.
[40:06] In Isaac, we see a shadow. That shadow, is fully, fleshed out, quite literally, in the saviour, son. Just one verse, to help us, understand this, a verse we know well, Romans 8, verse 32, where it says, of God, he who did not, spare his own son, but gave him, up for us all, how will he, not also, with him, graciously, give us, all things.
[40:39] Jehovah, sees the need, Yahweh, who sees, the need, Yahweh, who provides. Here again, we see a father, and a son, and a sacrifice.
[40:51] We saw it this morning. We've seen it every single Sunday, the last few weeks. In the father, here, in our account in Genesis, we see Abraham, as we said, a good father, a loving father, but as we can't avoid saying, a father, who has many faults.
[41:10] Ishmael, is right here, Hagar, is there. We see a man, who is not a perfect father, a man, who is not a perfect husband, a man, who is a deep sinner, engaged in sin, who does awful things, at various times, in various ways.
[41:27] Abraham, is a foreshadowing, yes, but Abraham is there, to show us, that in God, we have a father, who is perfect, who is glorious.
[41:39] In God, we see a gracious father, who gave up, and who gives up, the most precious, precious gift, he has, we heard this morning, who gives up his son.
[41:50] And back to what we saw, in Abraham, that repetition, of what made Isaac, special. Isaac is, your son, your only son, take your son, your only son.
[42:02] The Lord said, Isaac, your son, your only son. And here, our minds, are supposed to, latch onto that, and think how strange, how odd, this repetition, what can it mean, why is it there?
[42:18] And it brings us forward, as we heard this morning, that glorious passage, we read in John 3, 16, the passage here, in Romans 8, he who did not spare, his own son.
[42:31] God gave up, what was most precious, to him. And that wording, doesn't do it justice, doesn't begin, to do it justice. That sounds so small, it sounds so trite, God gave, his only, begotten son, his only son.
[42:52] The eternal, second person, of the Godhood, who will see more, in a second. The father, did not spare him. That is who we see here, as we think of God, giving up his son.
[43:07] So what about the son then? We saw in Isaac, of course, Isaac was a faithful son, a dutiful son. Although Isaac, to be honest, received from the text, was a, and this sounds harsh, but to be fair, he was a, a clueless son.
[43:22] He's just going along, with a flow, following his dad, hopping for the best, trusting his dad, having no idea, what lay ahead of him. We come to Jesus, we see a son, who is faithful, who is dutiful, who is obedient, but is certainly not clueless.
[43:41] Of Jesus, we see a son, who entered into, his own creation, knowing the plan, who knew, what was ahead of him, who came into this world, knowing he had come, to live that perfect life, to live that perfect life, and to die, that necessary death, on behalf of his people, he knew the plan.
[43:59] He was a dutiful son, the perfectly obedient son, but every single step, he knew, what it was, he was heading towards. We see a son, who is, of course, eternal.
[44:13] Abraham, loved his son, but Abraham, waited his whole life, pretty much, for this son. In Jesus, we see God, who gives us a son, who is eternal, eternally begotten, a son, who has no beginning, who goes all eternity, and eternity, into eternity.
[44:38] We see a son, and father relationship, of which there is, no beginning, and no end, a perfect, unity, of love.
[44:50] Think of the love, Abraham had for Isaac, the love of our father, to his son, of God, to the second person, of the Godhead. That love, is beyond description.
[45:01] I can't define it, in a hundred sermons. I can't begin to. That son, is also beloved, yes, he's also the only begotten son. And unlike Isaac, with Jesus, we have, a son, who has, we could say, full autonomy, full divine autonomy.
[45:26] In other words, Isaac, just, did what he was told, and went with the fool, quite, cluelessly. Jesus, yes, obedient to the father, yes, Jesus, out of love, for his people, but, he, took, every single step, knowingly.
[45:46] Every single breath, he took, he knew, what it was, he was doing. We have, in Jesus, a son, who was not, a helpless, hapless, sacrifice.
[46:03] We have Jesus, a son, who was very, eternally conscious, eternally willing, and ready to be a sacrifice. sacrifice. Isaac, received, rescue.
[46:25] Isaac, received rescue, as God provided the ram. As Jesus, became, sin, for us, as Jesus, hung on that cross, for us, as, as, the, the full, incarnation, is seen, in his, full, humanity, just, torn, physically, to shreds, his back in, tatters, his face, battered and bruised, forns, digging in, touching his skull, we can assume, every part of him, physically, just, mashed to pieces, on the cross.
[47:01] Spiritually, he is facing, the full wrath, of the thar, of every sin, of every one, of his people, the full, eternities, of hellish punishment, poured out, onto him, on that cross, as all that, is taking place, we have a saviour, who is hanging there, and as it were, who is staying there, who is suffering it all, willingly, Isaac is bound, Isaac can't move, if Abraham plunged, the knife in, there's nothing Isaac, can do about it, with Jesus, we have a willing saviour, who as we know, and we see in the garden, as he, as he tells the disciples, if I wanted to, I could, call down, the legions, of angels, but he stays there, and they're not, to disparage, the hymn, which I'm, the hymn, which I'm quite, partial to myself, it was that, I've forgotten the name of it, it was that hymn, which says, it was our sins, which kept him there, until it was accomplished, it wasn't our sins, that kept him there, he wasn't kept there, he chose to remain there, fully, he, consciously, stayed, on the cross, suffering for his people, full, autonomy, full, freedom, as his full, divine nature, he stayed on the cross, and he suffered it all, that, is the son, on the cross, that is the beauty, of the son, who knew, there was no rescue coming, who knew, he must endure it all, who gave himself, fully, for us, and he's there, on the cross, finally, as of course, our sacrifice, he is, the final, sacrifice, the ram, of course, that Abraham, sacrificed, was one of, countless more rams, to follow, in the generations, afterwards, animal, after animal, when you think, of all the sacrifice, and even think, of the later, tabernacle, and temple sacrifices, we might think, of that as something, you go to the temple, and worship, what you did, and you go, jointly along, to offer your sacrifice, it wasn't supposed, to be like that, that wasn't the image, they saw before them, imagine, the sacrifice, and the tabernacle, and the temple, you have, the beauty, and the glory, of the building, and of the tent, and tabernacle, and of the building, and the temple, laterally, and you see all the gold, and the color, but in front of all that, you have a place, of sacrifice, animal, after crying animal, is killed, their blood runs, and congeals, and rots, in the sun, and the stench, and the noise, and that is there, quite clearly, to remind us, our sin, comes, at a price, there was many more rams, many more lambs, many more sacrifices, after this ram, of Abraham's, our saviour, came as the final, sacrifice, and with that, is also of course, the sure, sacrifice, it is certain, for his people, that his sacrifice, is sufficient, to cover us, fully, it's enough, it's enough, and finally, just to, to hammer home, the point, we had this morning, as Romans 8, 32, tells us,
[50:41] God, he who did not, spare his own son, but gave him up, for us all, the sacrifice, of our saviour, is a sacrifice, for all, who desire, to receive it, all who desire, to know, what it is, to be forgiven, and loved, and kept, and assured, of love, and assured, of peace, from Jesus, he was a sacrifice, for all, who had come, to him, and cried, for that salvation, without, qualifier, we had this morning, the one qualifier, of coming to Jesus, for God's loved, the world, that what, his only begotten son, that who, that whosoever, that pass, that PAS, people, the sacrifice, we have here, is that, for us all, for Pantai here, the same word, the same root, that for everyone, who comes, all people, at all places, all the excuses, all the reasons, not to come,
[51:55] Jesus is there, for all, who come to him, and cry out, for salvation, for him, his, his, sufficient, sacrifice, is, enough, it's, all there, all the work, is done, because, we worship, Jehovah, and Jireh, Yahweh, Yireh, we worship, the Lord, who provides, he provided, Abraham, with a sacrifice, to give Isaac, a new life, and he gave, to all of us, Jesus, the final sacrifice, where we see, Jehovah, Jireh, in his full power, giving us, the final sacrifice, on the cross, as he hung there, as a evidence, to us, that God, provides, and God, fully provides, for all his people, that provision, is found, solely, in the life, and the death, and the resurrection, of the Lord, Jesus Christ, this Christmas, reminds us,
[52:56] God, provides, in Jesus, God provides, a saviour, for all, his precious, people, for all, who will come, to him, let's bow our heads, in that, a word of prayer, Lord, we thank you, once more, for the, the beauty, of your word, as you, show us, how you dealt, with your people, throughout the generations, as we think of, the graphic reality, of the scene, of Abraham, and Isaac, we are reminded, that, to atone for sin, it is costly, to atone for sin, it takes blood, to be spilt, and we give you praise, that you are not, the God, who requires, not truly, the blood, of lambs, and goats, and sheep, and lambs, but you are, but you are, the God, who has made, full payment, and found, full satisfaction, in the final, and full sacrifice, of the Lord, Jesus Christ, our glorious, spotless, blameless lamb, who was for us, a sacrifice, for our sins, help us, once more,
[54:06] Lord, to turn to him, pray once more, for those here, who are still, have not yet, come to Jesus, we ask, even this day, this evening, the start of this new week, Lord, they would come, they would not waste, any more time, they would not, take their time, they would come, with a hurry, to the one, who has made provision, for them, who is ready, who has done the work, for them to come, and take the free gift, that is offered to them, this evening, help us to sing, our final item of praise, and to do so, with hearts, and minds, full of joy, and full of praise, to the God, who sees us, who knows us, and the God, who has provided, the salvation, for us, in Christ's name, and for his sake, we praise for these many things, Amen, let's conclude our time together, and sing psalms, sing psalms, and psalm 72, sing psalms, psalm 72, psalm 72, psalm 72, sing psalm 72, psalm 72, we can sing, verses 1, down, to verse 9, of the psalm, of course, psalm 72, we're used to sing, the second half, the final half, the final section, of the psalm, this is a psalm, which sings, of glory, which sings, of new heavens, and new earth, which sings, of new creation, which sings, as to the future, glorious reign, of our glorious saviour, endow the king, with justice,
[55:54] Lord, the royal son, with righteousness, your people, your afflicted ones, he'll judge, with truth, and uprightness, the mountains, will bring peace, to them, the hills, the fruit, of righteousness, he will defend, and save the poor, and crush, all those, who then, oppress, psalm 72, verses 1 to 9, to God's praise, song to our people, as our King, with justice...
[56:27] The royal Son, will accompany us, of, to the King, of Jefferson, God's 마исл CHOIR SINGS
[57:30] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS And the love no longer shines,
[58:36] This in our life, that's where we came. From sea to sea, we will all stay, And from the bend of dirt's peril.
[59:05] The end of the desert will bring back cash, And yet senior trust, And we will come.
[59:25] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, for with you now and forevermore. Amen.