Glory to the name of the Lord Glory to the name of the Lord Glory to the name of the Lord Genesis chapter 22 It's another day's journey and I'm glad about it God has and he is blessing us. He has allowed us to be participatory in this place of praise once again. And I say without hesitation, God is good. And he is worthy to be praised. For he looked down from heaven upon us this morning. and touched us with the finger of His divine love and brought us from our sleep so close to death. We're unaware of the world around us, any danger lurking by our bedsides. Yet God has blessed us He has allowed us the privilege of praising and praying and preaching His Holy Word. God is good. It's good to be here. This first Sunday in August, and certainly we thank Him for blessing us to come together as a family. Every family will have one service and the reason is for us to come together as a family and partake of the Holy Communion, a large supper together. You know, there are things that you shouldn't be divided in. One in particular is the Lord's Supper. So we have one service. It feels good, it sounds good, and it looks good in here, doesn't it? Amen. Amen. It's good for us to be here this first Sunday in August. Genesis 22. beginning with verse 1 and we would end our reading with verse 14. 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 loveth and give thee 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 clayed the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went into or unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted 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 a burnt offering and Abraham said 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 lead, neither do thou anything unto him. for now I know that thou feareth God seeing thou has not withheld thy son thine only son from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the place, 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. Look at someone if you will and say God provided the sacrifice. Look at another and say God provided the sacrifice. Amen. Help me yell at the virtual audience and tell them God provided the sacrifice. Come on, bless the Lord on the way to your seat for providing the sacrifice. God provided the sacrifice. Genesis chapter 22 begins with the words, and it came to pass after these things. It came to pass after these things. After these things. Which suggests to us that before God tested Abraham in this particular manner, Abraham had experiences with God. for it came to pass after these things. These things refer to God's calling of Abram out of his country and his kindred in Genesis chapter 12. After Abraham and Sarai went to Egypt after Abram and lot separated in Genesis 13. After Abram rescued Lot in Genesis 14. After Abram blessed Melchizedek, Genesis 14. After God made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15. After Sarah and Hagar in Genesis 16. After the covenant of circumcision Genesis 17 after the promise of Isaac's birth in Genesis 17 after Abraham Interceded for Sodom in Genesis 18 after God rescued Lot from Sodom's destruction in Genesis 19 after God Destroyed Sodom in Genesis 19 and after Abram made a treaty with Abimelech in Genesis chapter 21 after these things which suggest that Abraham had experiences with God. He had experiential knowledge. He had knowledge but there were yet knowledge for him to have. He knew of God, but he didn't know of God in his totality. So God, even after the experiences that he had from Genesis chapter 12 to Genesis chapter 21, gave him another opportunity, gave him an experience to know him deeper. after these things. It was God who called Abraham and gave Abraham a command. A command. The Bible says that he tempted The word Nasa in Hebrew which means to try, test, put to proof. He tempted, he tested. because God does not tempt man unto sin, that's Satan, but it is God who tested Abraham. He tested Abraham by calling Abraham and commanding Abraham to take his son, his only son, Isaac, to a place he would show him and offer him there. for a burnt offering. This word tempted in most places carry the idea of testing the quality of someone or something through a demonstration of stress. that sometimes God put us in a hard and difficult place. He put us in a place of testing, extreme testing to, he wants to test the quality of our faith in him. God tested Abraham. Now the reason I said he tested Abraham because James the brother of Christ in James chapter 1 verse 13 says that let no man say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God for God cannot tempt with evil neither tempt he any man. God did not solicit Abraham to sin but tested to prove Abraham. You know, sometimes we think we are farther than we are. Sometimes we think we have faith that we don't have and we are able to do what we can't do so God, he will put us in positions and in places to test us, to prove or to show us the quality of our faith. Let me pause parenthetically to say to us, every follower of Christ will be tested. If you haven't been tested already, get ready. Because every follower of Christ will be tested. That you will be put in a hard, painful place in life to reveal your character and quality of your faith, you will be tested. You need experiences before you are tested. And God gives us many experiences, many tests, minute tests to build us up for the big tests. I know you have gone through some things. I know you have suffered some things already. And you glad, I know you're glad that you have gotten beyond, you have gotten over. But those were many tests. But there's a test coming that God is going to test you with that's deeper than anything that you have ever gone through. Get ready. Brace yourself, prepare yourself. because the test is coming. Listen, you need all the words you can get for this test. You need all the prayers you can get for this test. He tested Abraham. to refine the character of Abraham. Notice it was not a diabolical command. In other words, it was not a command from Satan to take his son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. It was a divine command. Let me hear you say divine command. Abraham received a command from God to take his son, his only son Isaac, to a mountain in Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. I watched the text. How is it that God calls Isaac Abraham's only son? He says, take your only son, Isaac. He calls Isaac Abraham's only son. Abraham had a son with Hagar. Sarai's servant, handmaiden name, Ishmael. But Ishmael was not the promised son. He was Abraham's son of the flesh. Let me pause parenthetically to say to you, when God gets ready to perform a miracle in your life or around your life or through your life, he doesn't need your flesh, he needs your faith. He didn't tell him to take Isaac or Ishmael to the mountain. He says, take the son that I promised you. Take the only one that I have given you and Sarah. Take the only one, the only legitimate son, the only son of promise, the only son of Abraham's faith, the only son that remain after Ishmael's departure. Take your only son. You know, God, he has a way of tempting us with what's near and dear us. He has a way of testing us. He tells us to do the unusual with those who are near us and dear to us. Take your son. Take your son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering. Now a burnt offering was honorific and devotional. It was the giving of homage to God, Yahweh. It was a offering, spiritual surrender of something over to God in and through a burnt offering, a burnt offering. He says to Abraham, he says, Abraham, you are not to make a spiritual surrender of Isaac in and through a burnt offering, but present him as a burnt offering. Holy animal, wholly consumed. Take this boy, kill him, and burn him up. That's what a burnt offering was. Take him, slay him, put him on the altar, and burn him up. Take him, slay him, put him on the altar, and burn him up. Burnt offering. Now watch Abraham At the divine command of God, He had determined resolution. Now this is where most of us would have been out with God. Because we don't want God to ever call us to sacrifice or surrender what's nearest and dearest to us. But here it is, he says to Abraham, he says, take the boy to a place where I will show you and offer him, kill him and burn him on the altar. It was a holy animal, wholly consumed. but watch this determined resolution. Verse three says, he rose up early in the morning. He rose up early in the morning. First of all, you see on the determined resolution that Abraham obeyed God without hesitation. Some of us, it would have took us days months, days, years, weeks. But Abraham was determined, he was resolute in his obedience on the God because he obeyed God without delay. He responded to the command of God with determination. He was determined to obey God. He determined to choose God's way and he determined to obey when it was hard and difficult for him to obey, when it was painful for him to obey, when he didn't fully understand. But he got up early the next morning and According to the Bible, he saddled the donkey. He took two of his young men with him. Isaac his son and he split the wood for the burnt offering and rose and went to the place of which God had told him then on the third day Abraham looked he lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey the lead and I will go yonder and worship and we will come back to offer. We will come back to you. So Abraham took the wood and the burnt offering and laid and and laid it on the lead. Isaac and his and and he and his son went up up the mountain with Isaac bearing the wood and Abraham bearing the fire and knife and Isaac spoke to his father. Daddy, this ain't the first time that you and I have done this. Where is the sacrifice? This is not the first time that we have went into the presence of God to offer up a sacrifice unto God. I see the wood, I see the night, I see the fire, but where is the lamb? And Abraham kept on walking and said, Son, God will provide a lamb. That's some kind of faith that you have received instructions from the Lord and yet you climb the mountain with your son without hesitation and even being questioned by his son. Look, daddy, where is the lamb? Where is the lamb? God will provide. without hesitation. He obeyed without question. Because Isaac questions Abraham, but Abraham never questioned God. He didn't question God. He had all the right to question God because only he the nations offered human sacrifices. Abraham could have questioned God because God told him that he would be the father of many nations through Isaac. But he doesn't question God. He obeyed God without question, which means that Abraham did not waver in his faith at God's command. Romans chapter 4 verses 20 through 22, he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what he had promise he was also able to perform and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness Hebrews chapter 11 verses 17 through 19 by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received from God in a figurative sense. In other words, he did not waver in his faith. He didn't question God. He obeyed God without hesitation. Listen, delayed obedience, hesitant obedience, prolonged obedience is disobedience. Let me wind that and say that again. Hesitant. Obedience, delayed obedience, prolonged obedience is disobedience. That we have to learn to move at but just moving and taking God at his word. It was not a satanic command, it was a divine command. Take your son, kill him, put him on the altar, and burn him up, offer him up unto me, a burnt offering. Watch God because you see the divine command to determine resolution but then there is a divine interruption because he takes the boy when they get to the top of the hill and he builds an altar and he puts the wood in place, and he grabs the boy, and he binds the boy, and he put him on the altar. And he's getting ready to do the first step of the sacrificing of the burnt offering, which is to kill the sacrifice. He has his hands drawn with the knife. Now this is what got me. As Isaac is laying on the altar and his father is above him with the knife, Isaac is the quietest boy I ever seen in scripture or with my own eyes. That's at the point of death but never opens his mouth. See, he's a picture now of Christ when he was taken to Calvary that he didn't open his mouth in resistance. He did not open his mouth in rejection. He was led as a sheep to the Shearer. He didn't open his mouth. And God halted. God stayed the hand. Don't kill him. Abraham by faith believed that he would have killed him. God had power to bring him back. But the angel of the Lord being Jesus Christ saying don't kill him. your hand. Stay your hand. And the good news of the text is that God don't want human sacrifices. That he prevented a human sacrifice. Don't kill him. He said, do him no harm. that you fear god since you have not withheld your only son your only son isaac and he said that now i know And the words now I know is not correct because God has all knowledge. But what he was really saying to Abraham is now you know. Ain't God alright? that God he tests us so that we will know because God he already knows when God tests us he is not seeking knowledge about us He tests us based on what he already knows of us. God tests us because he want us to know. You ought to look at somebody and tell them God wants you to know. So he's sending a test your you. But he wants you to know. And he wants others to know. God test the character of us. So that we will be God fearing. And not only does God test us. So that we know that we will know that we are God fearing. Some people are looking at your life and trying to figure out why you're still coming to church, why you're still giving God praise. God. While you're still lifting up holy hands. While you're still shouting the name of God. Now they know that you are God fearing and serving the Lord. Some people trying to figure out why you keep on witnessing. Why do you keep on and all the deep waters you've been in. They trying to figure out how is it that your testimony is getting stronger and stronger. But you ought to look at somebody and tell them no test. No testimony. And every test He gives me a better testimony. And I can tell somebody what God has done for me. He made a way out of no way. He picked my life up and turned my life around. He put joy in my heart and praise on my lips. He put peace in my mind. Is there anybody here want to brag on the lord? You ought to stand on your feet and somebody's hand and say thank god for the test because if I had not a test I wouldn't have a testimony. He made a way. It was god who brought me through. It was god who picked me up. It was god who died in my out on Calvary. Because of my sins, it should have been me. They nailed hands. It should have been me. That they ribbed my feet. It should have been me with a crown of thorns. But when they got ready to kill me, God stayed their hand and said, there's a ram in the thicket. How many of you thank God for Jesus? There's a ram in the thicket. take the ram and kill the ram and put him on the altar and burn him up. That's a picture of Calvary. It should have been you. It But he said, I don't want a human sacrifice. I want to sacrifice my own son. They marched him up the Via Dolorosa. They hung him between heaven and earth. Between two thieves. He hung there six long hours. He died on the cross. How many of you know he died? somebody. High five somebody. And tell him he died Sunday. He died Friday. But got up Sunday. And I wanna ask him my question. And then I'm going to my seat. Ain't he alright? If you know he's alright. Let me hear you. Say yeah. the doors. He provided a sacrifice, the doors. Here's a picture of God making a way for us. Sending his own son to die on Calvary. Thank god that Jesus is the ram caught by his horns in the thicket. that it pleased the father. to bruise his own son. Not you, not me. that through his son, we have God provided a ram, spared Isaac. And the words of Abraham were true, we will go yonder and after we worship we will return. They went up the hill together, met God together. and after meeting God, they came down the hill together to forever tell the story of how God is Jehovah Jireh. He'll provide. Listen, the reason we are gathered is because God provided a sacrifice for us. Church would mean nothing. Preaching would mean nothing if We had no sacrifice. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, we gather here today, this morning, to partake of the communion. Because it is in the communion and in the sacrificing of this song that we have the ordinance of Lord's Supper, our communion. He provided of sacrifice. Look at the person to your left and right. They couldn't do it for you. If God would have killed them, you still would be lost. Look up here at me. If God would have killed me, you still would be lost. Let your thanks be to god. that god came. in the person of his son. and died on that cross for us. Glory to his name. Listen to the doors of the lord's house. If you're here and you're not saved, come get the lord your life. While the blood is You can be saved today for tomorrow or next week or next month. Get it right with god. He loved you enough. It is only begotten son. to die in your stead. for your good. You can be saved by simply believing in your heart. that Jesus died. the third day of confessing the Lord Jesus with your mouth. Secondly, if you're here need of a church home and the Lord has laid New Bethlehem on your heart. Come on. Come on. Thirdly, if you're in your backslip, You need him as close to you as you can have him. You need to be intimately involved with the Lord. Where he walks with you. Talks with you. He holds you. In his righteous right hand. Listen, Satan is busy. He's has a rowing life. Seeking whom he may devour. You need Jesus. You need the Lord. Come. That's the life of Abraham and Isaac. Come on, let me hear your I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee, my blessed Savior God bless you. The lord Jesus Christ. and his disciples went up into the upper room. to either the Passover meal together before he suffered. while they were there, Jesus took bread, lifted it before his father, and blessed it. And after he blessed it, he took it and he broke it. And he said to his disciples, take eat in remembrance of me. After they had sup together, Jesus took the cup. and said, this is the new testament. in my blood. which is shared for you. Take drink. Glory to his name. Come on another round of that song before we give benediction. May the grace of God, this sweet communion of the Holy Spirit, the love of Jesus Christ, May it rest upon us and rule us both now and forever. And every heart say amen. Amen. Come on, come on and sing on your way out. Give on your way out.