WEBVTT 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:25.120 As Mark said, please do uh grab your Bibles. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:35.679 Uh, we're gonna be in Genesis 22, so please do grab them, open them there, and that is where I'm gonna be reading uh from in a moment. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.719 Let me just get my tablets set up. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:44.000 Okay, Genesis 22, verse 1. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:52.000 After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:01:04.799 He said, Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moria, and offer offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:18.640 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:23.599 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:33.120 Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there and worship and come to you again. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:43.040 And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:49.439 So they both so they so they went both of them together, sorry. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:55.120 And Isaac said to his father, My father, and he said, Here I am, my son. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:00.400 He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:06.079 Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.919 So whether so they went both of them together. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:22.639 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order in order, and bound Isaac his son, laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:28.560 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:37.360 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:47.759 He said, Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:57.280 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his thorns. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:03.039 And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.919 So Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.280 As it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:50.000 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gates of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you obeyed my voice. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:58.960 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham lived at Beersheba. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:00.159 Amen. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.400 Please do uh keep that open. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:12.400 That's where we'll be, and I want you to uh be able to follow along as I lead us in this time. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.000 But please pray with me as we come to God's word. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:31.439 Loving Father, I thank you that we come before you, the God who knows each and every one of us, the God who has spoken through your word, and I pray as we come, would you help us to be focused on what you have to say? 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:41.360 I thank you that your word is alive and active, that your word speaks to us in the midst of every situation that we go through and every circumstance. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.519 So I pray, would you speak? 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:50.240 Each person who is here by your Holy Spirit, would you move, would you encourage, would you help them? 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:58.079 And would we all be reassured and and and see you as the God who provides? 00:04:58.319 --> 00:04:59.439 Bless us, I pray. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:04.560 Speak to us by the power of your word through your spirit. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:05.519 Amen. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:14.000 There are moments in your life where it can feel as though your very world is crushed. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:20.160 You can feel as though you have no clue of what will or won't happen. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:26.480 There are times when you hear about your health and you think, what now? 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:39.439 There are times when you find there you no longer have a job, you lose your job and and you wonder what is gonna happen, how is there gonna be a way forward for me? 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:49.839 There are times when you have to stand by and watch someone you love die, and and the grief is so much that you wonder how will you move past this? 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.439 How will you be able to continue on? 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:04.800 The fact is, no matter who we are, every person in this world has been touched in a way like this because of the brokenness of sin itself. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:11.600 There is not one of us who will not or won't have a moment where we don't have a clue what will happen. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:13.839 We have no clue. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:18.079 Wondering what God is gonna do in the midst of that situation. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.160 Wondering where is He? 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:32.399 Right now, many of us feel confused in this season, in this situation, as our world is being captured by this virus. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:38.800 The thing that I constantly hear is people are constantly saying they're not in control. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:46.720 They realize they are not in control, and they're wondering what to do because we don't have a clue what's gonna happen. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.560 We don't have a clue what will come at the end of this time. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:56.000 And for Christians, for us as Christians, we can feel this too. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.279 We can think these things, we can wonder where is God? 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.560 Is God really holding things together? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:08.079 Is He really doing everything? 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:16.079 As Genesis 22 was read, we can simply see this story and think it's a nice story. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:21.360 Because we see the beginning from the end, we see the complete story and we think, oh, that's nice, isn't it? 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.439 It's a good story. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:29.519 But the fact is, Abraham does not know exactly what's gonna happen. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:37.120 He did not have a roadmap to tell him these are the details, this is exactly what is gonna happen. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.839 But he did have faith. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:53.600 Faith in the one who knows the beginning from the end, faith in the one who does hold control of all things and every situation, faith in the one who has always been faithful toward him. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:09.519 And for us, we may not have heard the voice of God in the way that Abraham does here, but do not be unaware of his hand, his control, his authority over all things. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.560 Nothing happens outside of his control. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:23.199 In every season of your life, whether it's a good season or a difficult one, a painful one, he is at work. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.000 The question for us is do we have faith in him? 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.120 In that, do we have faith in him? 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.000 Or or do we have faith more in the situation? 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.799 Are we so overcome by the situation we just can't see God in it? 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.600 We can't trust God in it. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:52.639 As we walk through this passage, praying that God would speak to us, let us consider the call to Abraham, the response from Abraham, and the answer from God. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:58.480 The call to Abraham, for many of us as Christians, Genesis 22 is something we know. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:06.080 We've we've heard this story, we were comfortable with it, we've heard it at bedtimes, we've heard it in Sunday school. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.080 For me, I've I've heard this story majority of my life, I've known it. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.080 I've known this story. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:19.200 And it's so easy when you know something, when you become comfortable with something that you miss it. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.879 You miss to appreciate the significance of what's happening. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:32.639 We lose the ability to actually hear and appreciate the narrative itself because we know it, we're comfortable with it. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:41.200 But this is not just a story, this is an event in human history, and it's a striking event. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:59.759 A time and place where a man named Abraham heard the call of his God, the one true God, the God whom he knew, the God he had walked with for many years of his life, the God who had been faithful and gracious toward him. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:14.000 And the call comes, and this is the call in verse 2 take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Morir and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I shall tell you. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:26.000 As a father, though only recently a father, I can't imagine the emotions Abraham would have been feeling here. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:31.759 Hearing these words, hearing the words from God, hearing this call. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.879 Because God is making a point about Isaac. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:35.919 Did you see that? 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:40.240 Take your son, your only son, whom you love. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:46.720 This is not just a call to Abraham to take a son he hates. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.000 This is not some sort of dysfunctional family where the father couldn't care less about the son. 00:10:54.799 --> 00:11:02.559 It isn't that Abraham is an evil father and he's just like, I have loads of sons, and and that one I don't really care about, so don't care. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:09.279 No, he loves his son, he cherishes his son. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:17.440 These are painful words for him, these are hard words to hear. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:24.720 Because Abraham's journey has been longing for a child. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:27.120 Think back to Abraham and Sarah. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:32.000 Many of you know their situation, and they had been longing for children for their lives. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:39.440 They'd longed to have children, they had struggled, they had longed for that, but they were not able. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:49.360 And then suddenly, at the age of 75, God calls out to Abraham in Genesis 12, and this is what he says. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:12:04.879 He says in Genesis 12, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:13.279 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.600 You could just imagine Abraham, right? 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:22.000 75 years of his life without a child, longing with Sarah, his wife, for a child. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.279 And then suddenly you hear the voice of God. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:30.159 You can imagine him returning to Sarah and being like, You don't have a clue what happened. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:31.679 God spoke to me. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:33.200 God spoke to me. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.320 Not just that, but actually he told me about this amazing plan he has for us. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:43.919 He's gonna make us into a great nation, he's gonna give us a child. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:13:00.799 You can imagine the joy, the excitement that he would have had, that he would have in that moment, knowing finally we get to be parents, finally we get to have a child, a child we have longed so desperately for. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:16.879 And yet they wait and wait twenty five years of waiting, waiting just to see a glimpse of this promise fulfilled. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:19.840 But the wait does end. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:25.840 Abraham finally, at the age of a hundred, becomes a father. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:27.120 Can you just imagine? 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.240 Let's go play catch with my son, the age of a hundred. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.200 I don't think they played catch in those days, but anyway. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.679 Don't miss that though. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.600 Don't miss the reality. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.639 Twive years it took. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:51.039 We need to realize the significance of this because Genesis 22 is in context of a man's life and a God he knows. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.919 Abraham knows his God. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:07.679 He has seen God at work countless times in his life, he has known the character of God, he's been able to see his goodness, his grace, his faithfulness in his life. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.600 He has witnessed God provide for him as son. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:16.559 But all of that came through faith in God. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:27.039 He continued and continues in this situation to need to have faith in God, the God who provides, the God who is faithful. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:33.840 And as God comes to Abraham here, we can feel a right to kind of judge God. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:46.399 I feel that in myself when I read this passage, it kind of something within me says that I put myself above God because I can think, what is God doing? 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.759 How can you think this is right? 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.080 Surely this is kind of evil, if not cruel. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:09.600 Because ultimately, one of the realities this passage does for us, it exposes our hearts, our hearts and our view towards God, a heart that says, I know best, I know more than God knows. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.360 I know what he should do. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:29.679 Rather than being like Abraham, a man of faith, who though he does not know what God is about to ask, responds with readiness and humility. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.639 Verse one, here I am. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:35.360 Three words. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:43.279 But these three words I I really feel reveal a lot about Abraham's heart and his view toward God. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:50.639 And rather than just passing over that, rushing over that, dwell upon that. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:53.679 It is clear what is God is doing. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:59.679 We see that, that God tested Abraham, and and we've read what that test was. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:05.840 As we hear those words, though, it matters how we view God. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:21.600 We either hear these words and think God is a God that just messes with people, a God who just is playing a game with Abraham, or we realize He is God. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:29.360 He is good, He is gracious, He is slow to anger, He is abounding instead of love. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:43.120 I may not get it, I may not understand it, but there is a plan and a purpose that is beyond what I can know or understand, beyond what I even see. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:58.559 And surely as we sit here, wherever you're sat, well I presume you're sat, maybe you're standing, wherever you are, as you face this screen, the reality of our limited abilities should be apparent. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.759 It should be apparent right now. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.960 We cannot help but see our helplessness. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:12.400 We cannot help but see how limited we are, and we hate that. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:20.400 We hate to feel limited and out of control and not in control of our own lives. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.759 We long to feel as though we have more control and power than we actually do. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:40.640 But if we are like Abraham, we can accept our limitations, we can cry out to the one who is not limited and declare, here I am. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:47.680 I know my God, I will not just hear the call, but I will trust him in his call. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:18:01.759 At the end of the day, if if Abraham did not know his God, if he didn't know who God was, he would either be rejecting this call or crushed by this call. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:10.559 If he did not see beyond the call itself to the God who was calling, the God he had walked with. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:21.440 But Abraham sees it because he's a man of faith and he has faith in his God and he accepts the call, not resisting, not questioning, not believing he knows better. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.279 Because we see this to be true in how he responds. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.759 Look at the response in verse three. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:43.119 Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.200 So Abraham rose early. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:48.480 Think about that. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.200 He's just heard these things. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:19:00.319 God wasn't just saying, Abraham, go to a place with your son, and and I'll kind of unvo reveal what I'm gonna do there. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:09.200 No, God has told him the clear reality of what is going to happen. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.000 He does not leave Abraham wondering what's gonna happen. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:22.880 The call to go and sacrifice your son, kill the one you'd been longing for for so many years. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.440 Go kill the one of promise. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.039 And Abraham again reveals his heart towards God. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.519 So Abraham rose early. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:40.799 He doesn't try and draw this out, he doesn't make excuses. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.200 Oh, I need to sort this or that. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.400 Because we know what that's like, let's be honest. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:54.000 You and I know what it's like to need to do something, something really important, and we really don't want to do it. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:58.480 We think, oh man, I just I just can't be bothered. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:07.279 Maybe it's a hard conversation, a tough choice, dealing with practical issues in your life, whatever it is. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.240 And what do we do? 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.400 We do everything but the thing we need to do. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:21.519 We actually might even do things we don't like to do, but they're not as bad as the thing we need to do, so we'll do them to just avoid it. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:23.200 That's what we do as people. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:28.400 And here Abraham is not just saying, Oh, right, God, yeah, oh thank you. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.319 Hear you, that's wonderful. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:35.920 But actually, you see, the thing is, Sarah, you know, Sarah, you know what she's like. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:45.440 Well, she's actually asked me to be, she's been nagging me for ages to dig this well, so I kind of need to crack on with that before I can do this. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:50.559 No, Abraham hears this call and his response is immediate. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.960 He hears and he obeys. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:58.480 He doesn't hang around, but also his response is genuine. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:20:59.680 Look at verse 3. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.759 He cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:10.079 Abraham's not just responding immediately, but actually, his response shows a genuineness. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.599 He's not just hoping on the journey God will change his mind. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:18.000 He's not just thinking, well, God said this, but really he means this. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.279 No, he he is clear. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:29.359 Abraham prepares wood, he's ready, he is saying, you know what, this is what you've asked, so I'm gonna do it. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:31.519 I'm going to do this. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:45.839 What it does reveal is he is not resting on his own understanding, but in God, the one he loves, the God who loves him. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:54.559 Too often we can make heroes throughout the Bible, heroes of the faith, some sort of spiritual superhero. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:59.759 We can we can feel like Abraham's response, of course, he responds. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.720 That way. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:01.519 It's Abraham. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:02.880 It's easy for him. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.680 Of course, Abraham responded that way. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.759 He heard the voice of God. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:09.519 But don't do that. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:11.839 Don't allow yourself to do that. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.880 Don't make Abraham into something he's not. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:22.640 He is a man with concerns, with worries, with anxieties. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.319 He's a man not without faults. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:29.519 Abraham was man like us with sin. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.359 It's key we don't miss this. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:39.039 So much of our lives is unknown, though we pretend we do know. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:42.880 We pretend we have answers and the best way forward. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.559 And that's just a lie. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:49.200 Abraham knew that God was leading him in the best possible way. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.359 He didn't understand it fully. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:58.720 Abraham knew God was not going to do anything against his own character or his promises. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:12.000 And for us in this season with COVID-19, how much do we need to realize this, even in the pain and the struggle, that this will turn out for our good. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:22.400 This will ultimately be what is right and best for us as we continue to have faith in our God, our loving Father. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:31.200 If we do not just go inward and feel sorry for ourselves in the moment and think about us, but rather we look up. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:35.200 We look to the one we have our hope in. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:44.160 Because our hope is not just in this moment, in this life, in this time, but it's into eternity. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:56.880 Just like Abraham, who had faith, continued fixed on God, fixed not on his circumstances or the situation around him, but on the one whom he loved. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:03.759 Every season, this is the call of our lives, no matter whether it's this season or another season. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.960 That call does not go away. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.000 When any situation arises, how will you respond? 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:18.720 How will you cope with the weight of it upon your shoulders? 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:21.680 Look at Abraham, verse 4. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:27.920 On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:35.039 Can you imagine Abraham on this journey, the tension he would have been feeling? 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.079 It was a three-day journey. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:44.160 He would have been with his son on this journey, seeing him, being with him. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.720 And finally, he sees it. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:51.519 He sees the place in which he will sacrifice his son. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:00.240 As I've considered this, I've thought about Ezra, my son, and just thinking, how? 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:08.799 It must be so much emotion when you look at your son and you think, that's the place where I'm going to sacrifice him. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:14.000 The emotions that Abraham must have been feeling here. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.960 Hearing these words from his son. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.200 But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:29.920 You hear your son asking that question, knowing you are the sacrifice. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.039 You are the one who is going to be killed. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:38.240 The emotions must have been so high for Abraham. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.680 In the midst of all these questions, how? 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:45.599 How can he continue on? 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.200 How can he take his son and say, right, let's go? 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:54.960 And I think we need to look at verse 5. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:06.000 Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:15.759 As he sets out on these final moments towards the place the Lord has shown, he expresses faith. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:21.920 Faith in who God is and who God has shown himself to be. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:28.000 I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:37.759 There is confidence in Abraham that his son, whom he loves, will return, that he will be rescued from what they are facing. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.079 Abraham did not know how, but he knew who? 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:47.920 God himself, that he would remain faithful to his promises and character. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.400 One way or another. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:57.039 Hebrews 11 gives us more insight into this and shows the faith of Abraham. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:14.640 Hebrews 11 17 says, By faith when Abraham was tested, he offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:27.440 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.559 Abraham wasn't blindly following. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:37.119 He was not placing his faith on a God he did not know. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:44.480 He had faith that God would be faithful to his promises towards his son Isaac. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:28:01.440 He didn't make it easier, it didn't make it just a simple thing for him, but it did mean in the midst of this he was able to have eyes of faith, eyes that saw beyond what was before him, to the God who was calling. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:06.960 As he hears the words of his son just asking, Where is the Lamb? 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:14.400 He replies in verse 8, God will provide for himself the Lamb for the burnt offering, my son. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.119 When we hear these words, we need to be challenged by them. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:28.000 Do you truly trust and rest in the provision of God in every season, in every moment of your life? 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:35.440 Do you believe that even in the furnace of suffering itself, He will provide all you need? 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:44.000 When everything is stripped away, are you left consumed by despair? 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.240 Or can you stand? 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:51.839 Can you stand in the assurance of the God you serve? 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:57.119 The God who provides, who has always provided. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:08.240 Not how you might want, or in the way that you believe to be best, but in the very way you require it. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.599 Because Abraham knew this was true. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.640 Abraham had confidence in this. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:27.839 He knew that all that was about to happen would only be possible through his confidence and assurance in God, not in the situation, not in himself, not in his own will power to do it, but in God. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.799 This was what enabled Abraham to the point of sacrifice. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:39.839 He binds his son, he lays his son on this altar. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:44.720 He is ready to take the life of his son. 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:51.680 Yet in that moment, there is a display of God's faithfulness and Abraham's continued faith. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:54.799 God answers. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:59.200 The God of Abraham answers. 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:06.559 Verse 11 The angel of the Lord called from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:11.279 He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:18.960 For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:22.799 How sweet those words must have sounded. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:29.039 Abraham, Abraham, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.920 Utter relief, remember the weight that he must have been feeling and the release here. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:42.799 The relief of knowing that he does not need to touch him, he does not need to do anything toward his son, the son that he loves. 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:52.880 Knowing and understanding that God, the God who is the God, provides, the God who does provide, has provided. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:55.599 And he provides again. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:04.400 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.240 Not thorns, horns. 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:11.759 And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:18.960 Abraham once again lifts up his eyes and looked. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:26.559 Unlike verse 4, where he lifts up his eyes and he sees the place which would bring death to his son. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:32.880 Here he sees the ram which offers life to his son. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:40.880 The ram's lifeblood is drained in order for Isaac to be freed from death itself. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:44.720 Because this is who God is. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:51.279 As Abraham declares in verse 14, the Lord will provide. 00:31:52.240 --> 00:32:01.200 As we gaze upon this, we can't but realize the echo toward the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:12.480 As God the Father does not withhold his only son from death, the death we deserve. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.519 Like the Ram. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:23.200 The Father sends his son, the Son obeys the Father by going to the cross by dying. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:30.799 That is how God has provided ultimately. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.240 Because our ultimate need has been met. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:33:00.160 The provision is that which we needed most, our sin itself, our judgment itself, our punishment itself is placed on the spotless lamb, the one who was without sin, as the Father gives his only Son as the perfect sacrifice. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:09.440 As John the Baptist sees Jesus' Nazareth and declares, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:21.279 The one promise to Abraham in verse 18, in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.079 It can be easy to sit here wherever here is and think, what was God doing? 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:32.960 How could Abraham go through this? 00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.759 Yet faith is not being comfortable. 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:44.640 Faith rather is being displayed in the trials of life, not just in the joys, but in the sorrows as well. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:54.799 As we do not just profess faith, but rather we actually display and live out our faith in these moments. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:02.160 Because we look to God, not to ourselves, not to the circumstances before us. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:17.920 The one who has a bigger plan in the midst of Abraham's life, a plan that will be used through his obedience to bring about the greatest provision the world has ever known or had. 00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:27.280 The need in which we all to varying degrees feel and experience on a daily basis. 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:41.840 Sin itself, sin that declares death over us, sin that declares we rightly should die because of our rejection of God, the Creator God. 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:57.679 But confidence is in the same God, the God of Abraham, the father of the faith, looking to Jesus, the one whom has dealt the final blow on our sin and death itself. 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.719 What else is there for us? 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:12.719 This is a season of light for us, whether it's years or months, wherever it's going to whatever we're going through right now. 00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:17.599 Understanding God remains the same is so vital for us. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:23.920 Understanding that God is the God who provides brings confidence to us. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:28.719 Your greatest need, brother and sister, in Christ, has been met. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.480 It has been met, it has been dealt with. 00:35:49.679 --> 00:36:04.000 That Jesus Christ Himself dying on the cross, dealing with the depth of your brokenness, of my brokenness, giving you eternal life, life that will not fail, will not fade, will not diminish. 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:10.239 And knowing that while we wait for that completion, we walk by faith. 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:18.079 Because the fact remains that though we have been freed from sin and death, suffering and pain will come. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:22.559 We will continue to face it and feel the brokenness of this world. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:28.000 We will continue to be feeling that as in our lives as Christians. 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:31.360 The Bible does not hide from that reality. 00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:38.159 2 Timothy 3 says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:43.119 There will be trials and tribulations of various kinds, the Bible says. 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:54.559 It is of the utmost importance that we understand that it is through our suffering our faith is purified. 00:36:55.199 --> 00:37:05.599 The purpose for us as Christians that Abraham came through this declaring, God declaring of Abraham, I know that you fear God. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:18.239 This is not meaning being afraid of God, but rather this fear of God is rather a wholehearted devotion to God, the one who is worthy of all praise and honor. 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:21.599 God knew his heart before this. 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:28.559 But rather, this is for Abraham himself, his own faith as he has faith in God. 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:31.360 That his faith is being lived out. 00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:35.280 In this moment, it is being exposed and refined. 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:46.639 He himself is experiencing the reality of his faith, his faith in God, in the God who rules and reigns. 00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:52.159 The journey of suffering for Abraham increases his joy in the Lord. 00:37:52.480 --> 00:38:07.280 And it will do for us if we have the same heart, the same desire, the same faith in not the situation, not in ourselves, but in God, knowing that he will work all things for our good and his glory. 00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:13.280 That he has shown that to be true in his provision for us. 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:24.000 Brother, sister, in the midst of your suffering, do not turn away from your God, your savior, the one who says, I have given everything for you. 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:26.320 I have provided. 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:31.599 Do not believe the lies about him, but look to him. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:34.960 Look to him on the cross, suffering and dying for you. 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:40.000 Look to him on the cross, bearing God's wrath for you. 00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:46.079 Look to him on the cross, declaring it is finished. 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:50.400 Knowing your loving Father has shown such grace. 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:53.920 You did not deserve it, you did not earn it. 00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:55.920 It is by faith. 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:01.599 He has met your greatest need in Christ Jesus. 00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:05.440 Why would he not continue to provide? 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:11.679 Why would he not continue to lead you in the way which leads to life? 00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:28.239 All that comes towards us, whether good or painful, is gonna be for our good as we look to him, as we rest in him, as we gaze our eyes on the greatest provision we so desperately need it. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:31.360 So hold fast. 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:39.519 Hold fast to the one that holds you, knowing your faith is never in vain. 00:39:40.079 --> 00:40:05.920 Hear these words, let us lay aside every weight of sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:08.000 Let me pray. 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:10.960 Loving Father, I thank you for your word. 00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:13.199 I thank you for the truth of it. 00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:16.639 I thank you for the life of your servant Abraham. 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:27.519 I thank you for how he reveals things to us about our own situations and our own lives and how your word speaks to us today. 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:31.360 I thank you for the faith that you have given to us. 00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:35.920 I thank you for the Son that you sent to die for us. 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:43.679 I thank you that he defeated death itself, that he provided the greatest provision we have ever needed. 00:40:43.840 --> 00:41:04.800 And I pray for each of us, no matter what we're going through, no matter where we are, that we would remember you to be good and faithful, that we would not believe lies about who you are, but we would know that you are loving, that you care so deeply for us and more deeply than we even care for ourselves. 00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:15.599 Your love is so amazing, so glorious, and I pray that we would have eyes of faith, and that we would know that you are the God who provides everything we need. 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:19.760 Not always what we think we want, but everything we need. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.800 Give us eyes of faith, encourage us, I pray. 00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:26.079 In your name's sake, I pray, for your glory. 00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:27.039 Amen.