Last week, we learned that Christ can be found in the Old Testament when he visits his people as the angel of the Lord. Not just as an angel of the Lord or one of his created ministers and messengers, which is what angel means, but as the angel of the Lord who delivers the message of God as God to man. And really in the case of Hagar's story, which is where we first are introduced to the Angel of the Lord, to a woman. There are times when the angel of the Lord refers to the ministry of Christ himself, and we are kind of endeavoring to go through that the next few weeks. And this is all before his first advent into this world. And so if you're looking for Christ in the Old Testament, one of the ways is to look for the angel of the Lord. And if you remember those three questions, find out who that angel is that is being referenced to, what that message is, and why that message is being brought. Now sometimes, as in the story of Hagar that we considered last week, this special messenger is seen, is seen face-to-face in a physical and visible form, probably as a man, a physical, natural manifestation of Christ in the flesh. But he can also manifest himself in word, in word, not just in visible form, but in verbal form. So even though he may not be seen with a person's eyes, he can be heard with a person's ears. And really that's one of the things that we see about Christ all throughout the Bible, is that Jesus Christ is God's voice from heaven. We learn this especially in the book of Hebrews, where various times, various ways God has spoken to man, but He spoke to us one final time through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is God's voice from heaven. And that's what we find in the passes that we come to tonight, which tells us about the time when God himself tested Abraham and his faith. So if you're not there already, let's open up our Bibles to Genesis chapter 22. And I'd like to read the first 19 verses, which again, reveal to us this test of Abraham's faith. picking up there in verse one through verse 19, Genesis 22. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, behold, here I am. 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. 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 Clave cut up 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 far 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. 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 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 him of. And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his son. And laid him on the altar upon the wood, and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here am I, and he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his thorns. 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 mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. For because 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 Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba." Now if you look back at verse 1 of this spectacular story, when we're told that God tempts Abraham, the word tempt is probably better translated test or to try or to prove Abraham. And that's because of what James tells us in the New Testament, James 1.13, where he says, let no man say when he is tempted, referring to sin, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. So God does not tempt man to sin. We are tempted when we're drawn away of our own lust and enticed, he goes on to say. God does not tempt anyone to sin, but God will often try and test. and prove the faith of his people. And that is why in verses 1 and 2 we read about, first of all, the test of Abraham's faith. The trial and test of Abraham's faith. This was a test, even though God already knew the outcome of this test. So who is this test for? It's primarily for Abraham. And God knew what He was going to do. It was for Abraham, and really, it was for all of those who would come after Abraham, including us, to actually learn about the nature of true faith. What is true faith like? What is genuine faith in Christ really like? Well, here is a story of faith that is proven, tested, tried, and comes forth as gold. But what a test, because there in verse two, we find three commands, three imperatives, which all lead up to the most difficult thing that Abraham would ever be asked to do in his life. What are those three commands? Take, get, and offer. And in the commands there in verse two, you then find those three words elsewhere throughout this passage. Take, get, and offer. The first command God commanded him was take. Verse two again. Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. Now obviously, Isaac was not his only son at this point, but he was the only son of God's promise. He was the only son that was born to both Abraham and to Sarah. And it was the son of God's promise, it was the son of the covenant, and it was the beloved son, the son that he loved. And I bet Abraham was probably wondering at this, take them, take them where? And take them for what reason? Well, God then offers that second command, get. Get thee, verse two, into the land of Moriah. Now, Moriah was a place that was far from his home, about two or three days journey from his home. But it was a place that was specially chosen by the Lord. That's what the word Moriah means, chosen or looked upon by the Lord. And perhaps by this time, Abraham's wondering, well, take my son and we'll go there. But why? Why? What's the purpose of this journey? It's really with that third command. that the test comes. The test comes when God commands him with a word, offer. Offer him, he says, offer your son Isaac there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains in the land of Moriah, which I will tell thee of. Now, we all will go through times of testing and trial of our faith. And when we do so, we need to remember that, just like for Abraham, it comes directly from God. He doesn't tempt us to sin. He doesn't tempt us to draw away from Him. Remember what we just learned even this morning, Christ says, come and see, keep coming, keep following, and keep looking after me. And so this was not a temptation to see if Abraham would then go away, but it was a test and a trial of his faith. And what we learn about the trial of our faith from Peter in 1 Peter 1, 7, is that it is a precious thing. The trial of your faith, he says, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. This is how we need to think about the trying of our faith. And that trial can come in different ways. It can be very personal, very individual. It can be through the circumstances in which we live. It can be the same trial and testing that other people are going through, but we're facing it in a different manner. But all of our trials, all of those testings of our faith are even more precious than the gold that perishes. Is that how we see our trials? Is that how we see the testings of our faith when God says to do something and we wonder, is it really something that we can do or is it something that we want to do? Do we recognize that ultimately God is giving this in a way that will refine our faith? So when you go through a trial, when you go through testing of your faith in your life, remember that simple song, trust and obey. Trust and obey. Isn't that what we see taking place as we just read in Abraham's life? He trusted God implicitly. That's faith. And then he obeyed. Because even though Abraham must have been feeling something as he was hearing these commands, he must have been thinking and pondering and wondering some things about this command, these three commands that God gave him. When he heard this demand, when he heard this command from the Lord, we're not told anything about that kind of response, are we? We don't know what he is feeling. We don't know what he's thinking. We don't know what he's wondering. We can surmise. We can put ourselves in his shoes and say, well, this is what I would have been thinking. This is how I would have been feeling. But we don't know any of that. But we do know this in verse three. 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 claimed the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went under the place of which God had told him. In other words, Abraham obeyed. He obeyed directly and he obeyed completely. Again, verse two, God told Abraham to take, didn't he? And so Abraham obeyed and in verse three, took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son. God says, take your son, he took his son, he obeyed. Also in verse two, God told Abraham to get, remember? And so again, he obeyed. Later on here in verse three, he went, same word. God says get, he went under the place that God had told him. He obeyed directly and completely. The other part of that command, and really the test of his command, God told Abraham to offer up his son. We don't see that word here in this passage, but we do find Abraham doing everything to get everything ready for that burnt offering of his son. He goes out, cuts the wood for the burnt offering, and then he rises up and goes to the place that God had told him. That is obedience. And that really is what God expects. That's what God desires. That really is how you pass this trial and this test of faith. Trust and obey. Trust God implicitly and obey His commands. And we see through this verse, number two, the truth of Abraham's faith. Did Abraham pass the test? The truth of Abraham's faith, of course, clearly he did. Abraham trusted and obeyed. Abraham believed in and trusted the Lord with all of his heart. And that is why when God told him again, take and get and offer, he obeyed directly and completely. Even says he rose up early in the morning so that he could make all the preparations necessary to fulfill God's commands to the letter. He didn't leave anything out. He didn't want to have any excuse by the time they got there, which is probably what a lot of us might have done. Well, I might leave something behind so I don't have to do this, because I know what God wants me to do. He wants me to offer up my son, my only son, the one that I love, as a sacrifice, a burnt offering to Him. So I might leave the fire back home. I might leave the wood back home. I might even leave the son back home, but Abraham didn't leave any of that to chance. He left nothing behind, not even Isaac, his son. But even as he obeys, we see the details of his faith, don't we? Especially there in verse five, where after three days of traveling to the place, that's another key word in this passage, by the way. You have those commands, take, get, offer, you see them throughout, and then you see the place, the place. Again, Abraham said to his young men in verse 5, So instead of fearing and dreading the place, which is how I probably would have felt, he was ready to go up and offer his son as a burnt offering obedience to the Lord. What was his faith like? What was his faith like? According to verse 5, it was a faith to go. It was a faith to follow the will of God no matter where it took him. It says, Abraham says, abide ye here and I and the lad will go. God wants me to go and I'm gonna go. God wants us to go and we're going to go. And that really is what genuine faith is. It's following God's will no matter what. Do we have that kind of faith? When God says go, that sometimes may be a test of faith. Maybe God says that you need to go to another job, or go to another home, or go to another place. And sometimes that's a hard thing to do. I can imagine even now, the people that have, the millions of people that have left Ukraine, and of course they're being forced to go, But there are some who believe that God is calling them to stay. And that too is a trial and a test of faith. But ultimately, is our faith one that goes and follows after the will of God? What else was his faith like? His faith was also a faith to worship. He goes on and says, I and the lad will go yonder and worship. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was called to do something like this, I'm not really sure I would be in the mood to worship. I'm not really sure I would be in the mood to give praise and glory to God for asking me to do something that I would consider to be impossible and unthinkable. Not Abraham. Abraham had a faith in God implicit so that he would worship him no matter what, even if God asked him to do what everyone else would be the most unthinkable thing. He says, we're going to go worship God. Me and my son, we're gonna go worship God because he's worthy of that worship. He is a worthy God. That is what genuine faith is like. It's a faith that goes when God says go. It's a faith that will worship God no matter where God sends us. But his faith was also, get this, a faith to come again. Did you catch that? Verse five again, Abraham says to his young men, abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again back to you. He believed that he and his son both would return back to those young men. He and his son would return from that time and place of worship and that they both would return alive and well. That is deep faith. That is what true faith looks like. And we know that this is what he believed because of what we're told in a New Testament commentary about this passage. Keep your finger here in Genesis chapter 22 and go back with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11, where again we find that tremendous hall of faith, if you will. And Abraham is actually mentioned a few times because of his faith and the genuineness of his faith. And if you look at verses 17 through 19 of Hebrews 11, again the writer of Hebrews says, By faith Abraham, from which we get the title of our message. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, when he was tested by God, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the promises, referring to Abraham, offered up his only begotten son. He put him on the altar. He had bound him on the altar. He had put the wood on the altar. He was grabbing the knife to slay his son. of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. He knew that the promise was through his son, Isaac. He knew that the covenant was through his son, Isaac, and yet he still did this. Why? Verse 17, because he accounted that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence also he did receive him in a figure. You see, Abraham believed that God could raise his son from the dead. And he believed that he would raise his son from the dead. He knew that his son was the son of the covenant, the son of the promise, that all the seed that was promised him would come through Isaac. So he knew that God would keep his promise. And so he went with his son, he worshiped with his son, and he was ready to come back with his son. That is faith. What we see about faith is genuine faith perseveres in following the Lord. Genuine faith perseveres in fellowship with the Lord because genuine faith rests in the favor and grace of the Lord and his promises. Again, genuine faith perseveres in following the Lord. Genuine faith perseveres in fellowship with the Lord because genuine faith rests in the favor of the Lord in his promises and in his grace. And that is why he passed the test. We saw this morning that that really is what it takes to follow Jesus. Perseverance. But it really takes a persevering faith that will then develop in commitment and communion and all of those other things. But it starts with faith. And that's the key here. The faith of Abraham shows us the kind of faith that we can have in the Lord that leads us to perseverance and resting in his grace. And this is true no matter what the trial of your faith looks like. God can help you persevere. But then we also see not just the details of his faith, but the dependence of his faith. The dependence of Abraham's faith, especially there in verse eight, when his son, and if you look at the chronology of scripture, he could have been actually anywhere from 25 to 36 years of age. Now, even though he's described as a lad, that was just a common term that was not necessarily referring to a young boy, but just anyone that might have been a son. Joshua, when he was actually the general, if you will. He was considered a lad at some point. So anywhere from 25 to 36 years of age, picking up actually in verse 7 of Genesis 22, this young man asked his father, Behold the fire and the wood. I know that you brought that, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? You can't pull anything over on young Isaac here. Okay, I know we're here for a burnt offering. I know we need wood, check. I know we need fire, check. I know that you got the knife, check, but we don't have the lamb. There's no check. Where's the lamb? So Abraham says to his son, my son, verse eight, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And so they went of them together. Abraham depended on the purpose of God in this test. Abraham depended on the purpose of God in this trial, even though he had no idea what that purpose was. God, what are you really doing here? What are you trying to do here? He didn't know. And so often where we're going through those trials of faith, we don't know where it ends up. We didn't know where God is leading. But that's why we depend on his purpose, not our own. God has a purpose for those trials. God has a purpose for those tests. But also Abraham depended on the provision of God. He says God will provide himself a land. Now the word provide here is a very interesting word because it means to see or to look upon. To see, to look upon. This also is a theme throughout the passage, not just those three words that are commands, not just the place there in Moriah, but even this word provide or to look or to see. If you jump down or jump back to verse 22, or verse two of chapter 22, God has his eye on a special place called Moriah. Remember, I said that that referred to a place chosen by the Lord. It can also be translated a place seen by the Lord. It's a place that's in God's vision. He sees it. Here, God has his eye on a special lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide himself a lamb. God has his eye on a special lamb. If you jump down to verse 14, God has his eye also on a special mountain. Jehovah Jireh means Jehovah sees. Jehovah sees. And by that seeing, he provides. So Abraham did not want Isaac to look for a lamb for this burnt offering, but rather he wanted his son to trust that God had his eye on just the right lamb for the burnt offering that was needed for Isaac and really for the rest of us. And after Abraham expresses his own faith in the Lord, we see that his faith was an infectious faith. because his faith spread even to Isaac. Look at verse 8 again. It says, after Isaac heard that, okay, God's gonna provide himself lamb, God has his eye on a special lamb, it says, so they went both of them together. Not only was Abraham a man of faith, Isaac was too. And I believe Isaac learned faith from his father, Abraham. Isaac trusted his father completely. And so when the time came there in verse nine for the sacrifice to be made, you don't see any resistance. You don't see any struggle. You don't see any argument. This young man had the faith of his own father. And he said, hey, if I am the burnt offering father, so be it. Obey God. This is an implicit faith and trust and love in the Lord, in total unity and in total harmony between a father and a son and their God. And really, isn't that what a church should be like? Isn't that what our family should be like? Where we have an infectious faith, where our faith spreads to others. Our faith and our trust and our dependence on the Lord is something that people will see and recognize, and it will spread to others. I appreciate Brother Andrew, the last couple of weeks, encouraging us to watch that movie, Sabina, which is produced by Voice of Martyrs. I think tonight is the last night that you can see it. If you want to watch it, you just have to go on their website, put your information on, they send you a link, and you can watch it right away. It's a couple of hours, but our family watched it last night. It's an exceptional film. And it talks about that kind of dependence and faith of a married couple, even during the time of Nazi Germany. And that faith, that testimony of their faith, that implicit faith that just was bursting in love for others and for the Lord is something that was infectious, not just to the people around them, but even through the ages to us today, even through that movie, which is a true story. That's the way our families can be. That's the way our church should be, where our faith sharpens the faith of others, and where, as Abraham and Isaac, under God, we all, under God, help each other with our faith. Implicit faith, trust, love in the Lord. You know, this kind of faith is as beautiful as it is rare, isn't it? It's as beautiful as it is rare, but what does the Lord say about this kind of faith? You don't need to turn there now, but in Hebrews 11, six, same chapter on faith, says, But without faith, it's impossible to please him. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. You've got to believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Do you believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him? There's a lot of people who, first of all, don't believe in a God, but those who do believe that there is a God believe that He is a God so aloof and so out there that He doesn't want anything to do with us here. Or maybe He is so powerful and such a powerful, mighty, majestic God and judge that He's just not merciful in any way, shape, or form. He is certainly not a rewarder of those who seek Him. No, He's a rewarder. Faith believes that God is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him, and that's what we find when the angel of the Lord finally appears to Abraham in verses 10 and 11. Because there in verse 10, Abraham is about to take that full step of obedience. Abraham stretches forth his hand. Now, I know that there's some artist renditions of this, where it has Abraham with the knife stretched out in the air. That's not the idea here. He had already laid his son. The knife is probably over here on some other side. So he's stretching out to grab the knife. He wasn't coming down on him. He would have slayed him just like he would have slayed a sheep or a lamb for his sacrifice, gently and tenderly. But he stretched out his hand, took the knife that was laying there to slay his son. And this is when the angel of the Lord steps in. This is where we meet the angel of the Lord, God's voice from heaven. And it says in verse 11, the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. Now we're not told if Abraham saw the angel of the Lord this time. There are some who believe that he did see and hear the angel of the Lord. We're not told that he saw him, but he certainly did hear him, and he heard him loud and clear, because he stopped him in his tracks. And we also know that this angel, this messenger is no ordinary angel. It's not an angel, but the angel, because if you jump down to verse 16, he is even identified as the Lord himself, as Yahweh Jehovah himself, because he says in verse 16, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, saith Jehovah, saith Yahweh. This special messenger from the Lord was, in fact, the Lord. And Abraham heard the voice of Christ. Christ's voice restraining him from slaying his son because it was a test of his faith. Abraham heard the voice of Christ and what he heard was, number three, a tribute. A tribute and a praise of his own faith. A tribute to Abraham's faith. Christ came to Abraham in that moment to reward him for his faith. And that word was enough to bless him and encourage him, because through his word, Christ came to remind him of all of God's promises to him. The first words out of Christ's mouth were not, Stop! Stop! The first words were, Abraham! Abraham! And not only did he say this to get his attention to stop, but I believe he also said his name to remind him that he is and was Abraham. Abraham means the father of a multitude. And he knew that God had promised him to be a father of a multitude. And so when Christ came to him with those words, he says, Abraham, Abraham, a father of a multitude, father of a multitude. Do not lay your hand on your son because God's promises are sure. God will keep his promises. You passed the test. He rewards those who diligently seek him. So through his word, Christ came to remind him of all of God's promises. But also through his word, Christ came to reassure him of God's plan. If you go back to verse 12, the angel of the Lord says, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God. seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son for me. You know, there are times when God tests us and we may not hear this voice from heaven approving us and giving us praise and tribute for that, for that, for that faith. But sometimes there is that reassurance in our hearts. Sometimes there's a reassurance from a word that God gives us through his word, or maybe an encouragement from a brother or sister in Christ. What we have here is God testing Abraham in his faith, and Abraham passes the test, because Abraham had pleased God. And that was the most reassuring thing to Abraham. I don't think the most reassuring thing to Abraham was that he didn't have to slay his son. because he knew that if he did slay his son, God had the power to raise him back up to life. Death is no problem for God to overcome. I think he was most reassured when he heard from the voice of Christ that he pleased God, that he pleased him. I know that you fear me. I know that you love me. I know that you trust me. I know that you are mine. He was so encouraged to hear that he pleased God, and he heard it from Christ's own mouth. Also, through Christ's word, Christ came to reward him, to reward him by renewing those promises of blessing in verses 15 and 16. You see, when the angel of the Lord, Christ himself, called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, what does he do? He renews his covenant with Abraham with an oath. In other words, with a solemn promise. It's kind of like if you're in a court of law and you put your left hand on a Bible and you raise your right hand, you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth here. God is swearing not on anything else but himself, because there is nothing greater for God to swear on. We see this also in the book of Hebrews. And so he says, I swear I make this oath upon myself. Of certain goodness. He says in verse 17, in blessing, Abraham, I will bless thee. Now this is a repeat of what he already heard, of what he had already known, but it's a renewal of this, a renewal of this reward, in blessing, I will bless thee. In other words, as I bless you, that blessing will continue to grow and increase, and increase even some more, and it won't just affect you, it'll affect your family, it'll affect your posterity, it'll affect an entire nation, it'll affect the entire world. That's the blessing of faith. That's a reward of faith. Not only was there going to be certain goodness, there would also be certain growth in verse 17. Also, the Lord says, Christ says in multiplying, I will multiply thee. Now, obviously, when we first think of that, we think of the natural seed of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob going down through the nation of Israel that even exists today. But remember, the Bible doesn't just leave it with a natural seed of Abraham. also adds to that the spiritual seed of Abraham through Christ. In Galatians 3.7, Paul says, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, of faith in the gospel, faith in Jesus Christ, the same are the children of Abraham. It's kind of like that song that we used to sing as kids, Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you, so let's just praise the Lord. I remember singing that when I was a kid and I thought, I'm not a child of Abraham. I'm not a Jewish person. No one had really explained this part of it until I started reading through Galatians and reading through Romans, and I thought, oh, okay, if I have faith in Christ like Abraham had faith in Christ, then I am a son, or you are a daughter of Abraham, and you are going to be part of that blessing. He's talking about you in this verse. In multiplying, I will multiply thee. A certain growth, a certain goodness, but also, verse 17, a certain greatness. He goes on and says, thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Now, in Galatians, Paul refers to this seed not as seeds, which are many, but seed as is one, and that seed that he's talking about is Christ. Christ is talking about himself to Abraham. He says, your seed, myself, shall possess the gate of his enemies. and that will lead to certain grace. And in thy seed, verse 18, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. That's the grace that would come through Christ himself in the gospel, the good news of Christ's life and death and burial and resurrection and ascension back into heaven. Oh, what a glorious promise. What a glorious reward for faith. And do you realize that God still rewards those who diligently seek him? God still rewards those who have faith in him. God still rewards those who have that deep desire for communion with him, like we looked at even this morning. And it's all because by faith, verse 16, Abraham did not withhold his son, his only son. And it's all because by faith, verse 18, he had obeyed God's voice, the voice of God, which is the voice of Christ, the voice of Christ from heaven. But you know, God had even greater plans for the faith and obedience of Abraham. And so as an even greater tribute, he used this test of faith to reveal, fourth and last point, the type of Abraham's faith. The type of Abraham's faith. The test of Abraham's faith actually points us to the object of Abraham's faith, Jesus Christ. This test of Abraham's faith points us to the object of Abraham's faith, Jesus Christ, because the one who spoke to him out of heaven that day would one day come from heaven to fulfill all those promises that he made to Abraham. What a tribute. You see, Abraham's sacrifice that he was to make was a type of Christ and his sacrifice for our sins. If you remember, the place of sacrifice was a mountain in the land of Moriah. To this day, that is identified as the hills and the mountains of Jerusalem and the surrounding area. That was the place where Jesus himself was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and laid down his life for our sin. The wood for the sacrifice that was laid upon Isaac that that Abraham himself had cut up and then stuck on the donkey and then later stuck it on his own son to carry up to the place where he would be sacrificed. That wood for the sacrifice was just a picture of the wooden beams that made up the cross that Jesus had to carry on his own back. For a little ways. To the hill of Golgotha. Think about the rope for the sacrifice that was used to bind Isaac. And of course, the rope wasn't because he was struggling, trying to get away, but it was just to keep him there as he performed his feat. But that rope was used to bind Isaac, I'm sure, by the loving and tender hands of his father. But think about the rope that was used to bind Jesus by the rough hands of Roman soldiers who then mocked him, hit him, whipped him until he was unrecognizable and he did nothing. What about the knife and the fire that Abraham took in his hands to slay and to sacrifice his son? Even those objects points to the fury and the wrath of God that was poured out on his son, Jesus Christ, instead of us. He didn't use fire. He didn't use a knife, but he did use nails and he did use death. is all poured out on Christ, because 1 John 2 says, He, Jesus, is the propitiation, the satisfying sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And do you realize that Christ here approved of Abraham's faith, because it all pointed to Him? He says, you passed the test, Abraham, because your faith in doing the sacrifice, offering Isaac there, it all points to Me. Isaac can't take away the sin of the world. Isaac can't take away your sin. Isaac can't even take away his own sin. God will provide himself that land. So Abraham's sacrifice was a type of Christ and his sacrifice. Also, Abraham's submission was a type of Christ and his submission to his father and his will. And not just Abraham's submission, but Isaac's submission as well. If you remember back in verse 8, we're told, so they went both of them together. That's actually repeated twice in verse 6 and in verse 8. Two times it says that Abraham and Isaac went both of them together because they were in complete harmony. Isaac was willing to follow after his father's will. And Abraham was willing to follow after God's will. A harmony. And so it was with Jesus Christ and his father. They were in complete harmony in their work of redemption. And that's why Christ willingly left the glories of heaven to become an offering for sin. If you remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus even prayed, Oh, my father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. done. Abraham's submission to his father's will is just a type of the greater submission of Christ to his own father's will. But then also we see that Abraham's substitute was a type of Christ and his substitute for us. If you jump down to verse 13, we're told, 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. Did you notice those three key words in that verse? Remember the command of God? God said, take and go and offer. And what does Abraham do? He went and took and offered that ram for a burnt offering in the stead as a substitute in the place of his son. So even though Christ restrained Abraham from offering Isaac as a sacrifice, Isaac still needed a sacrifice to be made for him, to be made for his sin. And that would be true for everyone until the lamb of God, the lamb that God had his eye on, the lamb that God would provide to be the substitute would come for all who believe in him. And you know, this dovetails very clearly with what we've been looking at in the Gospel of John. John 1.29, Jesus is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 1 Peter 2.24, Peter says, He himself bore our sins on his own body on the tree by whose stripes ye are healed. Jesus Christ was that substitute. The ram was not the lamb. Jesus was. So Christ honored Abraham's faith, because Abraham's faith pointed to Christ. But not just in the faith-filled sacrifice and submission and substitute that we just looked at, but even in the result of them. Because it was carefully noted there in verse 4 of the same chapter, that on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place far off. Now, there's a lot of significant things that happen in the Bible on the third day. You could probably mention a few of them just by what you know. So anytime you see that, there's probably a reason for it. It's not just giving us a chronological order. There's probably some theological significance there. But it was on the third day. And on this third day, even though it was the day that Abraham was to offer his son to God as a burnt offering, it was also the same day that his son was saved and rescued from that fate. Again, remember what we're told in Hebrews 11. Abraham, accounting that God was able to raise him up, raise Isaac up, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. You see, on the first day when God told Abraham to take and go and offer your son as a sacrifice, in Abraham's mind, Isaac was already dead. It was as if he had already taken him and offered him up and sacrificed. Because he was willing to obey. He was going to do. He was going to trust and obey God implicitly and completely. He was willing to do that. But on that third day, when Christ's word came from heaven that second time, or the first time, and intervened to Abraham, it was as if Isaac had come back to life. From death to life. Isn't that the gospel? From death to life. Isn't that what Christ did? From death to life. That is what Isaac's sacrifice portrays to us. And by faith, God showed Abraham what this test was all about. And that's why in John 8, 56, Jesus himself said, you know, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. Remember, the Jews were like, hey, you're not even 50 years old, and you've seen Abraham? Abraham rejoiced to see my day, Jesus says, and he saw and was glad. How could Abraham see the day of Christ? By faith. By faith, Abraham saw Christ's life in the life of his own son Isaac. By faith, Abraham saw Christ's death, even in the offering and the sacrifice of his own son, Isaac. By faith, Abraham saw Christ's resurrection, even through the deliverance and the rescue of his own son, Isaac, and it was all through the powerful lens of Isaac's sacrifice. Now, how could Jesus know this? How could Jesus know that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and he saw it and was glad? Well, obviously, it's because Christ is God. But I think there's some more reason than that. It's because Christ was there. Christ was the angel of the Lord who spoke out of heaven to reward the faith of faithful Abraham. As the angel of the Lord, Christ spoke to Abraham from heaven with a message of grace, and that message still resounds to us. So let's remember tonight that Christ is still God's voice from heaven. Christ is still God's voice from heaven to us, and his message is still a message full of grace and truth. Let's close in prayer. Gracious Father, we thank you again that this tremendous, not story, but real history of the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham to you, this obedient sacrifice of this test of faith. Oh Lord, how it doesn't just reveal how strong a man of faith Abraham and even his son Isaac were. But Lord, it points us to the one who made those promises to him in the first place, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Father, I pray that you'll help us when we face testings of faith. Remember that in those testings of faith, you are working in our hearts to grow closer to the Lord Jesus Christ, to learn more about his grace, to learn more about the gospel, to learn more about who he is and why he came and what he continues to do for us. Those testings of faith are drawing us closer to our relationship with our Savior so that we can enjoy that fellowship even as we follow him, as we come and see like we learned this morning. And so, Father, I pray that when we face these trials, when we face these testings, when you do prove us in this way, oh, Father, I pray that we will run to you, not run from you. That, Father, we will obey you, not disobey you. And then, Father, that we will look to see what you're trying to teach us through these trials of faith, knowing that they are even more precious than gold that perishes. More precious. So Father, I pray that you'll increase our faith, even as you did Abraham, knowing that even when we do pass those tests, that you will reward us. You will bless us. You will multiply us, maybe not in a tangible way, but you'll multiply us and grow us in a spiritual way. But Lord, in blessing, you will bless us. And Father, we don't deserve that reward because that's no strength of faith in us. It's a strength of faith that comes from you. And we give you all the praise and the glory for that. And so Father, I pray that when we go through these trials and testings, help us to remember the message of the angel of the Lord. Help us to remember the message of Christ. That his grace is sufficient for us. And his strength, your strength, is made perfect even in our weakness. As it was for Abraham, as it was for Isaac, so it can be for us. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.