Good singing tonight, good singing. Take your Bibles and turn this evening to Genesis, the book of Genesis, chapter number 22. Genesis, chapter number 22. We've been away from Genesis a few weeks here, but getting back, Isaac has been born. And the son of laughter, I always loved just reading about Isaac. And his name, of course, means laughter, and that's the name of our second son. And he is, he is the son of laughter. He is just, all of our children bring us great joy, but Isaac, he's just, his name fits him. It's Isaac Paul, and so I won't say any more there, but he's the one that can make you laugh. Of course, our younger kids here with us that aren't young anymore, they talk about he was not a laugher, he was terror. They tell their mother and I stories about how Isaac and Ethan would terrorize them when they were little in the house and scare them. But I guarantee you when Isaac was doing it, he was laughing the whole time. I guarantee you. He was jumping out and laughing his head off the whole time he was doing it. Back to the spiritual Isaac. I mean, that's my literal Isaac. Let's get back to the spiritual Isaac, the literal one in the Old Testament. Some beautiful things in this story and maybe we'll deal in next week or down the road with a lot of the pictures and types. We'll deal with that a little bit tonight. But of Abraham and Isaac and that all frame. But here in Genesis 22, let's begin by reading the scripture. Let's all stand together and we'll read down through verse number 19. We may go ahead and read the remainder of the chapter, just a few verses left. but we'll primarily deal with the 19 verses. The Bible says in Genesis chapter number 22 and verse 1, 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 claimed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with 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 the 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, thy only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram called in a thicket by the horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day. In the mouth 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 sea shore in 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. It came to pass, after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milchah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor, Huz, his firstborn, and Buz, his brother, and Kimuel, the father of Aram, and Shished, and Hazu, and... I'm reading a smaller print Bible, so I can get this. P-U-D-A-S-H, correct? I can't tell if it's P-I-L. P-I-L. P-I-L. All those letters run together, but I don't have my large print in front of me. All right, PILDASH. I didn't know if it was PILDASH or PILDASH. That's a big difference. All right, didn't want to call the guys by the wrong name. Anyway. And Jedlav and Bethuel, and Bethuel would get Rebekah. These eight milk could have been bared to Nahor, Abraham's brother, and his concubine, whose name was Ruma. She bared also Sheba, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Manachah. Let's pray. Father, we love you tonight. Thank you for the truths of your Word. Thank you for the power of the Word of God. The Lord, I pray, teach us tonight from Abraham and Isaac. God, teach us not only of them and their faith, but God, teach them of you and your love and your grace and your promises and your power. First, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated tonight. I just simply titled our study this evening, God Will Provide. God Will Provide. Just by way of introduction, the promised son has finally been given as Isaac. The son of a supernatural birth. They're both past, or especially his mother's past, the age of giving birth to a child, of conceiving, and yet God allows her to conceive. And so this supernatural birth and the gift, really, of faith and obedience is brought to bear in the life of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac's birth, though, brought a conflict. and which through obedience God began to bless. Once Ishmael was separated from the mix, the son of flesh, the son of human reasoning, the son of man figuring out how God's going to accomplish His plan. Once man's weight was removed, God's way, that son of faith could grow and be nurtured and be the promised seed. But now, when we come to chapter 22, Years have passed. God has spoken directly to Abraham, not in some time actually, but Isaac is now probably, most Bible teachers view this time period as Isaac's now in his either late teens or early twenties. You see in the early part of the text, it talks about taking the lad, but the word lad is the same word used of the young men a little later on down in verse like number, I think it's verse number four, verse number three, when he takes the young men, it's the same word translated for lad. So these are all young men, probably in their late teens or early twenties. That puts a new concept on what's about to take place in Abraham and Isaac's life together. But as a late teen, God speaks to Abraham about that promised son. We notice a word in verse number one that I want to define as we're going to break the chapter down in a moment. The Bible says it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. The word tempt is not tempt in the sense of sin because God tempts no man to sin. We know that in the scripture. And so what does it mean when it says God did tempt Abraham? The word tempt here simply means to test or to try. It means to prove. Much like in the life of Job. I got him right this time. I had him in a lot this morning. But in the life of Job, as Job faced a proving time, a testing time, This is a test, it's a trying time for Abraham's faith. And by the way, it's the first time that word is ever used in the Bible. And here in Genesis, the word tempt, or test. But there's another word that we see in this text, that we see down in verse number two, that it is the very first time this word is ever used in the Bible. And it's the word love. Look at verse number two and he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. That's the first time the word love or any form of it is used in the Bible. And again, I want to share some thoughts with you off that. Another word for the first time is love. One writer says, Brother Morris, who I love to read and share with you thoughts from in Genesis, he says this, with this in mind, it does seem strange at first that love is first mentioned not in connection with the love of a man for his wife, or of a mother for her children, or a brotherly love, or a love for a country, or even a man's love for God. Instead, it is used of the love of a father for his son. The deep love of a father for his only son, yet a father who is willing to give it or to slay it, is thus inferred to be the representative of the most complete and meaningful concept of the very word love itself. When you think about that, the first use of the word love, the first illustration of example is in regards to Abraham and Isaac. In regards to the love of a father for his only son. By the way, that's the way God describes that relationship in this text. He said, give your son your only son. You're like, but it wasn't his only son. He had Ishmael. It was his only son of promise. It was the only son that he had with the wife that God had given him in Sarah. And so we see again the beauty, and maybe we'll take some more time later, but I just want to mention it, in how that Abraham and Isaac were a picture of God the Father and the Son. And that God loved His Son. We see the word love used, and again, just thinking of the first use of the word love. Go with me. Hold your finger here. I want you to see some of these places. Go to the New Testament. Go to Matthew. The very first time the word love is used in the New Testament. Now we know the first time the word love or a form of it is used in the Bible is there in Genesis, speaking of Abraham's love for Isaac his son. But go to Matthew. Matthew chapter number 3, the first time the word love is used in the New Testament is Matthew chapter number 3 and verse number 17. The Bible says, and lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is where John the Beloved, or excuse me, John the Baptist is baptizing Jesus. Lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my what? Beloved. He's my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The first use of the word love here is the term beloved or beloved. is in relation to the Father and the Son. The Father's love for the Son. The very first time it's used in the New Testament. Notice the first time it's used in Mark. Flip over to Mark chapter number one. Mark chapter number one, the very first time the word love is used in Mark's gospel. Mark chapter number one in verse number 11. Mark chapter 1 and verse number 11, the Bible says, And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my Son, in whom, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You see it as well in Luke chapter 3 and verse 22. But this is the one that I especially love. Look over in the Gospel of John. Now we know the Gospel of John, each of the Gospel accounts presents Christ in a different perspective. In Matthew, He's the King of the Jews. In Mark, He's the servant. He's the servant of man. In Luke, he is the son of man. And in John, he's the son of God. And so as you read each of those gospel accounts, it really presents him from that perspective. In Matthew, you see so many Jewish pictures or Jewish illustrations and types of how Jesus was the king of the Jews. And it traces his lineage back to David and the promise that he would be the king. We see Matthew that way in the kingly seed, the kingly promises. In Matthew, you see many of the kingdom promises that will be fulfilled in the millennial reign of Christ. In Mark, he's a servant. There's no genealogy in Mark. The gospel accounts, there is no genealogy. Why? Because the servant has no genealogy. It doesn't matter who their parents are. There's no connection there. And it begins with what He does. As soon as you get into Mark chapter 1, He's calling men to follow Him. Come ye after me, and I'll make you to be fishers of men. Chapter 2, boom, He's doing works and miracles. It was the work of a servant. In Luke, He's the Son of Man. It traces Him all the way back to Adam. It's all about His genealogy, His humanity, and who He was as the Son of Man. But in John, He's the Son of God. It begins with, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And so it traces him not to a human beginning, but to a divine beginning. And so John, he is the son of God. But get this, and you're going to know this when I set the parameters, the very first time the word love is used in the Gospel of John, where do you think it would be? What reference? John what? John 3.16. The very first time the word love is used in the Gospel of John, is John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He did what? He gave His only begotten Son. Are you seeing a connection here? And again, the beauty of the Word of God. Now, we're not going to, you can overemphasize types, you can overemphasize things. But it is a clear portrait throughout scripture of who God is and God is love. We also know throughout the New Testament there are multiple places where Abraham is used. He's called the Father of our faith. His gift of Isaac is as a picture and a type of God and offering His Son. So we know that that illustration is consistent, but the beauty of the Bible is written over these hundreds, yea, what, 1,800 years, 40 plus authors that wrote the Bible, the consistency of the book. is the hand of God. It's not 40-some author just writing some off-the-wall thoughts that have no cohesion, but from Genesis all the way through, I mean, we're seeing the hand of God throughout the whole thing. And so, when we're reading Genesis chapter 22, and God speaking to Abraham and telling him to go offer his son Isaac, and that beloved son, the beloved son, that's significant. That is huge. It was the son that Abraham loved. It was the son of promise. It was a special son. And it also tells us how God the Father felt about His own son. And we know Jesus Christ was eternally God. But when He became man, He robed Himself in human flesh. And God loved the Son. And He was dear to the heart of the Father. But I just love that John 3.16, first time love is used in the Gospel of John, is the same context as Genesis 22. For God so loved the world. By the way, the world's tied into Genesis 22 as well. We're going to see that in just a second. Let's get back there. Let's break down the chapter. I want you to see that truth. For God so loved the world in John 3, 16 that He gave His only begotten Son. You say, but I didn't see anything about God so loving the world in Genesis 22. Yeah, you will in just a second, because it was there. We read it. We read it. It was all there. Let's get to it. The first thing we notice, let's just break the chapter down. There's about three or four sections here that we want to look. Three different sections. Verses 1 and 2, we want to see Abraham's test. Verses 3 through 14, Abraham's trust. And then verses 15 through 19, we see Abraham's triumph. So let's look at these three parts. of our text tonight. First of all, verse 1 and 2, we see Abraham's test. The Bible says he came to pass after these things. God did tempt Abraham, and again, we know that means to prove him, to test him, to try him, and said unto him, Abraham. And notice, Abraham says, back, behold, here I am. In other words, a personal walk, a personal relationship with God. It wasn't a fearful one. It was a personal one. God said, hey, Abraham. Abraham said, I'm here. Verse 2. And he said, notice how he states this, take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for our offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. This is personal. This is personal for Abraham. He says thou, take thy son, thine only son, It's going to be a step of faith. It's going to be a walk of faith for Abraham. His decision is going to hinge on whether he believes God or not. That's it. Everything Abraham is about to do, the decisions Abraham is about to make, all hinge on do I believe God? Do I trust God? And will I obey God? Big word unequivocally, without reservation. Will I trust? Will I trust? And by the way, if you remember, if we backed up and started going through the chapters from what, chapter 12 on up to this chapter, we know Abraham had seasons that he struggled with some of those things. He had to figure some things out. He tried to reason certain things out in his mind. And sometimes Abraham would develop a plan and his plan normally ended up in disaster or ended up in a mess of one sort or the other. Abraham has to sort of regroup and get back to a place of faith and walking with God and trusting God completely. And so Abraham has gone through that journey in his life. He knows faith is the victory. He knows faith is where God's blessing is, but he struggled with that. Does that sound familiar to you? Right? I mean, we know faith is the victory is what God says. We know God is able. But sometimes in our flesh and in our mind, we want to reason things out. We want to try to figure things out on our own and say, hey God, I can help you with this. And God says, help me with that. Help me with what? He says, you don't even know what tomorrow is going to bring and I'm already there. Trust me. But now we've come to a point in Abraham's faith life where God is speaking again. And by the way, it's been a few years since he has, according to Scripture, spoken directly to Abraham in this way. But he says, Abraham, I have a message for you. And Abraham says, I'm here, Lord. And so he tells him to take his son, his only son Isaac, whom he loves, whom thou lovest, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering. upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." Abraham's facing a test unlike anything he's ever faced in his life. You know, to believe that God could give he and Sarah a baby, okay, that's a blessing, that's exciting, and you know, it's just enjoying the intimacy of husband and wife, and those things are all enjoyable and wonderful, and the natural course of life, And there's really no major price to pay for that faith, because it's a faith you just trust God to do what only God can do. But he's being asked now to have a faith that's totally different. By the way, though, faith is always faith. Faith is believing the Word of God. It's an act of the will in response to the truth of the Word of God. There are different faiths, if you will. There are faiths of doing that may cost you nothing, but there are also faiths of doing that will cost you everything. Abraham's faith up to this point had been steps of faith in his life that proved God, that tried the promises of God and proved them to be true. But now he's being tested in his faith in that will he not just believe God to provide for him and do what only God can do, but will he give everything that he has and trust God to take care of him? Because this is his only son. This is the seed of promise. So Abraham has a decision to make. Look at his trust in verse 3 through 14. We see first of all in verse number 3 his prompt obedience. The Bible says that Abraham rose up early in the morning. I like that. He didn't hesitate. He didn't say, well, let's just think about it for a day or two. Let's ponder this thing. I just don't know if I can do this. The Bible said he rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac, his son, they chopped the wood, that's what clade means, and clade the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him to. His obedience was immediate. His obedience was immediate. I'm gonna get those words in too close up now. I'm having trouble with my own words today. He had prompt obedience. He didn't hesitate. That speaks volumes to the faith of Abraham's life at this point. He didn't say, hold on, hold on, Lord, I got a plan. I got a plan. I think I know how this is going to work. Because that's what he tended to do. Hey, Lord, I know how this will work. I got it figured out. I know how I can help you. He didn't do that. He just said, all right, let's do it. By the way, that's an indication of mature faith. What do you mean mature? Mature faith is marked by prompt obedience. Immature faith is marked by hesitant obedience, or partial obedience, because you haven't reached that point where you just know God's gonna do it, and so you just trust Him. But we're seeing in Abraham's life here a mature faith, prompt obedience. Look at verse number four. We see in verse number four, the place of far off. It says, Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, here it is, the place of far off. His prompt obedience, he's on the road, he's got his two servants, he's got his son, they're heading toward the place God is sending him to, and now he sees it. I've got a question, what would you do? I mean, he sees it. He knows. I mean, it's not something that's on the horizon or over the horizon. It's that. He sees it. He sees it. But he doesn't stop. He continues on. He sees it. And again, I always talk about flipping the coin. I always say there's two sides to every coin. Every situation in life, there's two sides to it. You say, oh, this is a burden. Oh, but it's a blessing. You say, oh, but this is a trial. Oh, but this is going to be a victory. Say, oh, I don't know how I'm going to make it through this. I know how you're going to make it through. God's going to get you through. There's always two sides. And when I see this first, and the Bible says, and Abraham sees the place of far off, there's two different reactions. I'm thinking, oh, no. It's that close. I mean, we're almost there. The point of having to make that next step is, boom, it's there. But there's also the response that says, hey, there it is. That's the place of victory. I have no clue how God's going to do this, but that's the place. That's the place I'm going to be to see God do what only God can do. Part of it's the sight of looking at it from the eyes of the flesh. I don't know how I can do this. The other side is the sight of the Spirit says, Amen, God. This is what you've told me to do. You've got provision on that mountain that only you have. And you're going to do things on that mountain, God, that only you can do. And I can't wait to get to it. But he sees the place of far off. We see in verse number 5, the promise made. Notice this, this is interesting. He sees the place, the Bible says that Abraham said unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship. Now that's interesting. Me and Isaac here, we're going to go worship. Now hold on, God told you to go offer that boy. Well, that's what I'm doing. But me and him are going to go worship. Notice the faith of Abraham. He viewed the whole process as him and the Son were just going to go worship. Now he didn't know what God was going to do. He had no idea how God was going to take away. But this was the promised seed. This was the son God promised to give him that would provide him seed that was the multitude of the stars in the sky and the sand of the sea. By the way, at this point, Isaac ain't married yet. So let's start putting two and two together. If God has promised you grandchildren and great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren as the sand of the sea through this boy, and yet he's told you to go offer him, God's going to have to do something. Because he ain't even married yet. You can say, well, he's got a kid, maybe that. No, no, no, no, no, no. He's not even married yet. So there's no way, get this, there is no way Isaac can die. Or at least stay dead. I mean, think about it. Abraham had to believe that. He looks at those other young men and he says, me and Lachlan are going to go off, we're going to worship. But then look at what he says. I love the way the verse ends. We're going to go yonder and worship. And what's the next two words? Then come again to me. We're going to go worship and we're going to come again. Now that's faith. That's faith. Because He doesn't say and I'm coming back. He didn't say we're going to go yonder and worship and I'll be back in a little while. I didn't want to say that. The context is we. The context is we are going to go worship. I and the land will go yonder and worship and come again to you. It's a continuation of I and the land. And so Abraham believed that God was going to make a way. He had no idea how he was going to do it. But he believed God would. The promise made. Look in verse 6, we see the preparation for the offering. The preparation for the offering. In verse number 6, and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering. and laid it upon Isaac, his son. Again, remember Isaac is a type of Christ, a portrait of Christ. He carried the wood up the mountain to be offered at the hands of his father. It didn't work. There's just so much. He lays the wood of an offering on Isaac, his son, and he took the fire in his hand fire a picture of judgment. That was in the hand of the Father. It says that they went both of them together. The preparation for the offering. Verse 7 and 8, the provision promised. Look at verse 7 and 8. 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? Son's getting curious at this point. All right, remember Isaac is a type of Christ, he's not Christ, okay? He's Isaac, the son of Abraham. And he's like, where's the lamb? I see the wood, I see the fire, but where is the lamb? Notice the father's answer in verse eight, that Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide Himself. Amen. The provision of the sacrifice says in God's name. I just know to do what God's told me to do. He didn't know the rain was coming. He just knew God told Him to go. Look at it. Our love. God will provide Himself. Who was Jesus? He was God incarnate. He was God Himself incarnate. God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. The provision was promised. Verse 9, they come to the place of sacrifice and they came to the place which God had told them of. By the way, this is Mount Moriah, and I was trying to do a little more research. Maybe we'll deal with this more later, but Mount Moriah is where Jerusalem is. That's where Jerusalem is. Now, I've heard it preached, and I just wanted to nail down some details before I would state it dogmatically, but that the place, some believe, where Isaac was offered, where Abraham built the altar to offer his son, was Calvary. It was the place at Calvary. I wouldn't argue one way or the other because we know Mount Moriah is where Jerusalem is and he was crucified outside the gate of the city in Jerusalem. But what a picture. What a beautiful portrait of God's love. For God so loved. How much does God love you? How much does He love me? So much that He gave His only begotten Son. I can't ever get over that. I just can't. Because He didn't give Him because I was good. He gave Him because I was condemned. He didn't give Him because I had earned His favor. He gave Him because I could not earn His favor. Because God loved me so much. I mean, we talk about God's love for the Son, but how much does He love us? If He's willing to give His only begotten Son for us, how much does God love us? How much does the world need to hear that message? A world that's dying for love. They're dying for acceptance. The thing is, they want to be accepted in their sin, and God said, no, I cannot accept the sin. I have to pay for the sin. I have to die for the sin. But I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. They climb up the place of that mountain. Verse number 9. Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the roof. I'm trying to hurry, but there's too much ahead of us. This is where it's so critical of how old Isaac was. He wasn't leading a toddler, but a hand up the hill. He was walking, just carrying his little wood behind daddy. He was a grown man. He was anywhere from 17 to 18 at the youngest of 25 to 27, the oldest probably. His daddy's now well over 100 years old. Get this, the son had to willingly lay down his life. When Abraham bound his son and laid him on an altar, the Son willingly laid down His life because He trusted the love of His Father. So we see in Abraham, we see in Isaac, A beautiful portrait of the love of God and the love of Christ for us. He bowed his son. He laid him on the altar. But notice verse 10 through 12, we see the promise kept. 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. Abraham, I see thee. Verse 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram called in a thicket but horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. I've mentioned this before, probably in our study through Jesus at some point, but a number of years ago, goodness, wow, time flies. It's probably been 12, 14 years ago we were traveling with a large group of our men down to Guatemala. We flew into Honduras and then drove up with some dear friends from there up into Guatemala to help a missionary. It's probably 30 of our men from our church and up around I think San Benito was the city we were in. We were working on building, helping a church there build a building and laying block and doing some things. And we took one day, when we'd finished all the work, we took one day and went down to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Or Kal, that was the name of the area, Tikal, T-I-K-A-L. And as God's providence would have it, there was a guide who would get on your bus as you would go toward the ruins and describe some things historically about where you were going and some things you would see. And as God would have it, the young man who got on our bus was bilingual for one, but two, he was the son of a Baptist missionary who spent many, many years in Guatemala. I'm like, wow, how does that happen? But he tells us the historical things about the Mayans. He tells us about the compound, the city, and how it's laid out. And things we'll see. And then he said this, he said, one thing that you need to know about the Mayan religion, because there was a huge temple, he told us where it would be at the end of the green area there, the courtyard, I'm trying to think of the big term, but a big center area, courtyard. But on one end was their temple for worship. He said, according to their legend, according to their tradition and teaching, their God, the God of the heavens, had told their father many, many generations before to take his son up on the mountain and to offer him as a sacrifice. And so they built their place of worship, their temple, to look up here as a mountain, to look like a giant pyramid. And they would bring their sons, select sons, to the top of that mountain. And they would offer them as a living sacrifice. They would slit their chest. They would remove their heart while it was beating. And sacrifice their sons. Because that's what their God told them to do. And the young man made this comment. He said, someone never told them the rest of the story. But God provided the lamb. They didn't have to kill their sons. And by the way, that's what dead religion is. When you leave out the Son of God, when you leave out the Lord Jesus Christ, when you leave out the fact that God made the sacrifice, that God provided the Lamb, and you have to do everything on your own, and everything in your power, and it's all about man's blood. It's not! It's about God's sacrifice of the Lamb. And when you bring in the Lamb, now there's peace, and there's joy, and there's forgiveness, and there's And for generations, those Mayans missed the land. Because they missed the land, it was a place of fear and death and suffering and dying. All because they missed the land. Have you ever wondered what it was like in the story? And we're going to wrap things up here. But have you ever wondered what it was like in that story? Here's Abraham, great man of faith. You know his heart is breaking. It's hard to imagine what his facial expression would have been as he took that knife and he raised it over his son because this was his only begotten son. His beloved son. His only son. His beloved son. And he's got to kill him. Have you ever wondered what the look or the expression or the feeling of his heart... I mean, for me, just walking up the mountain, my heart would have been rinsed. I mean, I'd have had sweaty palms. I'd have been a nervous wreck. just thinking of having to walk up that mountain with my son. And it would have been heart-wrenching, but to get to that point and bind him and lay him on the altar, and to raise that knife. And I may be wrong, but I can't help but think that the eyes of the Father were on the Son, and the eyes of the Son were on the Father. And then God spoke. The angel said, I see the thing. Don't touch your son. Turn up the knife. The second greatest thought is I wonder what their face looks like when they turn around and saw the ring. Because you know the next action, the next action of Abraham was not to slay his son, but was to take that knife and release his son. What a joy. I mean, I'm assuming in the text he goes against the ram, he releases his son, he slays the lamb, everything's good. I can't help but imagine there's a commercial in there when he cut his son loose so they just at rest. I may be wrong. God doesn't tell me that. I'm just imagining. I'm a daddy. I got five sons. I got five. And I can't imagine just having one. I've got five. I'm telling you right now, if I cut him loose off the altar, man, he's just going to stand there and weep for a while. But we're going to praise God for a while. And we're going to thank God for His grace and His mercy and His provision and His love. And we're just going to stand there and praise for a while. And we're going to pray for a while. And we're just going to give God glory for His love, His grace, His mercy, and His provision. The Bible said He offers that ram as a sacrifice. And Abraham called the name of that place in verse 14, Jehovah, Jireh, God my provider. As it is said to this day, in the mountain of the Lord it shall be seen. We see Abraham's trust, finally Abraham's triumph, verse 15-19. 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 it is not without 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. Verse 18, please don't miss this. And in thy seed shall what? All the nations of the earth be blessed. All the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. I told you John 3.16 was in the chapter. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Genesis 22 and verse number 18 is the John 3.16 of the Old Testament. And in thy seed, by the way, Jesus was in that seed, in that lineage, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, just like he promised, remember that promise he made, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. God will provide. For us tonight, it's simply a reminder of how much God loved us. So much that He gave His only begotten Son. But it's also a reminder not just on the side of God and His love and His grace, His provision, His promises, but it's also a reminder to all of us of what faith really is. Faith is trusting God. in the face of the impossible, in the face of the challenging, in the face of uncertainty. It's just trusting God. And knowing that God will always do what God said, He will always do that. And if God has made us a promise, you can go throughout the Scripture, there's a friend, I think it's in Proverbs where it says, there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. That's a Bible truth. And if you trust God, you'll find it to be true. I found it to be true. You know, I love people, I love friendships, I love being around people, but friendships are made up of people. So people are just... And so friendships ebb and flow. The people you're the closest to today in 10 years, you may not have talked to them in a year. Why? They may move away, things happen. They get a job, they go across the country, across the state, life changes. You know, I always tell my kids, you know, the friends you have today, enjoy them because in five years they're going to be married and have a kid in another world and you're going to be married. You know what I'm saying? Life is like that. But if you ever make Christ your dearest friend, He's the one you lean on. He's the one you trust. He's the one you know is always going to be there. And He always understands. He's never critical. Now He's caring and He'll correct you. But He's never your critic. He is your corrector. He is your guide. But He loves you unconditionally. You know there are some things even with your dearest friends like me, I really can't tell them this. You know that part of it, Jesus already knows. He loves you. When we begin to have faith in the promises of God, it leads us to a life as Abraham learned, of victory. Rejoicing. A life of grace. Let's pray. Father, we love You and honor You. We thank You and praise You for Your promises, Your truth. For the illustration we have in Abraham and Isaac of mature faith. In Abraham, a father who just simply believed God and did what You told him to do without wavering, without questioning. Father, in the end, a father saw You do great things. But Lord, as a dad, I cannot imagine all the things that rolled through his heart and his mind as he took each step of faith, took each step believing that God was going to provide, that God was going to make a way. But Father, looking in the eyes of his son, and just having to trust God, that God would provide himself. Father, I thank you tonight that we can trust you. We can lean upon you. We can depend on you. Because you will never leave us nor forsake us. Your promises are true. Your power is always with us. And Your grace truly is amazing. So Father, teach us each day to walk by faith.