 As we continue a verse by verse study in the book of Hebrews and we've arrived at this passage here and what I've chosen to do is take you slowly but surely through these people who are mentioned here in scripture. And I wanted to do that so that we might be able to get a better understanding of the events of the Old Testament and how they relate to us in the New Testament. And so today we'll be looking at Hebrews 11 verses 17 through 19. Let's read that passage and get into our study. Hebrews 11 beginning at verse 17 reading to verse 19. The writer writes 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 called in Isaac your seed shall be called. Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense. And so last time we were together in the book of Hebrews we spent some time looking at two characters Abraham and Sarah. And remember with me in verse 11 here in chapter 11 how it said by faith Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and bore a child. And so Sarah and Abraham were very old when she became pregnant with this one by the name of Isaac. And what I want to do because this really is a continuation of where we left off what I want to do today is I want to do a review with you by taking you through Genesis. I'm going to read to you a lot of scripture. We're going to read a lot of scripture as we get to the point that we're going to be making here in verses 17 through 19. But I've been thinking an awful lot about this and I really think that it's it's well worth our time reading these these scriptures together so that you can get an idea of what is actually being said here in chapter 11. So I want you to go all the way to Genesis chapter 12 with me. And I hope that you're patient today and I hope that you desire to read the word because that's what we're going to do as I build for you a context so that we can understand verses 17 through 19. Because there has to be a context to understand why it's so important that that Abraham when he was tested offered up this one who is named Isaac. There needs to be a context for us to understand that and to apply that. And so what I want to do is I want to take you and I'm going to read a lot of scripture up to a point where we're going to be able to get a better I think a better grip on this passage. And so let's develop the context. Now we know that initially found in Genesis chapter 12 and that's where we're really going to begin that God had appeared to Abram when his Abraham's name was Abram and had called him out of a paganism. And that's what we see in Genesis 12. I'm going to read verses one through four. It says the Lord had said to Abram get out of your country from your kindred from your father's house to a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham or Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Heron. We know through other scriptures that he lived in Ur the Caldees and that his father, Terah, was an idolater and that Abram was raised in an idolatrous family. And that we also see that God is now appearing to him and ministering to him and calling him out and calling him out of his paganism. And what we see here initially is a covenant, an agreement that is being made between God and Abraham. It's called the Abrahamic Covenant. And the promise is initially made here but it is finally going to be enacted in chapter 15 verses 18 through 21. But this promise that you find in Genesis chapter 12 actually has an expected fulfillment that extends through the entire Bible from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation. You have this promise that was made with an expected fulfillment. And when you look at this and you begin to look through the elements of the promise that God makes, this covenant that God makes with Abraham, you actually see that he gives him four basic elements or things that are involved in this promise that he makes, this covenant. And let me give you those four things and develop this with you. One, we know that this covenant has four elements. First, it contains the promise of descendants or seed. Now the seed that he speaks about actually refers to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, but that is being promised in the covenant all the way back in Genesis 12. Paul later on refers to this in the New Testament book of Galatians in chapter 3 verse 8 when he says the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying in you all the nations shall be blessed. He went on in Galatians 3 to verse 16 and said to Abraham and his seed where the promise is made. He does not say and to seeds as of many, but as of one and to your seed. Who is Christ? So one, we know that this promise, this covenant that is being made is the promise of seed. Two, the covenant also contains a promise of land. God is going to give him land. In Genesis 17.8 it says, I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger. All the land of Canaan. Now notice as an everlasting possession, I will be their God as an everlasting possession. That gives you insight into why Israel will not yield up the land. They go all the way back to the book of Genesis for the claims of ownership of that land. And that's why you see to this day arguments related to the land of Israel. That's why you note with me that part of the conflict that you have there in that land even relates to the name. The name of Israel is Israel, but the Romans called it Palestine. And the reason that it was called Palestine is because that's actually the word Philistine. And they were trying to take the national identity from Israel by renaming the country. But Israel has never allowed that to take place. And Israel knows that that land has been given to them as an everlasting possession. A third thing is that he gives to him a promise of becoming a nation. Notice verse 2 in chapter 12 here, I will make you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. You shall be a blessing. And so there is a promise of seed. There is a promise of land. There is promise that they will be a great nation. And finally fourth, there's a promise of divine blessing and protection. You see that in verse 3 when it says, I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And the way that the families of the earth will be blessed through this promise and covenant that God is making with Abraham is going to be through Messiah. But he's making it very clear here that he's given him four elements. There's a promise of seed. There's a promise of land. There's a promise he'll be a great nation. And there's a promise of divine blessing and protection. This is all found in what is called the Abrahamic Covenant. And so after God had made that turn to chapter 13, God reaffirms that. In Genesis chapter 13 verses 14 through 18, God reaffirms his promise to Abram. It says, the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are. Northward, southward, eastward and westward for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth so that if a man could number the dust of the earth then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width for I give it to you. Abram moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre which are in Hebron and built an altar there to the Lord. So this speaks about the location where he is is in Hebron. Hebron is 10 miles, no, about 19 miles rather, about 19 miles outside just south of Jerusalem. And so this gives us a geographic location of where this is taking place. But once again, the Lord reaffirms and reminds him that he's going to be giving him this land and to his seed forever. So he reminds Abram of his promise. And I want you to notice this because we're going to develop this. He reminds him that he's giving him a promise of children, especially that he has given to him a promise of an heir. Now in chapter 15 here in Genesis verses 1 through 6, chapter 15 is written after 10 years have transpired since God first gives his promise to him. And so by now he's gone through many trials. God speaks to him and he gives to him comfort as he does. So notice he says in verse 1, after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me? Seeing I go childless and the heir of my house is Aliezer of Damascus. Abram said, look, you've given me no offspring. Indeed one born in my house is my heir. Behold the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven. Count the stars if you're able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. And he believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. And so Abram's gone through trials and God speaks comfort through a vision. He says in verse 1, don't be afraid, I am your protection. I am your reward. In other words, Abram, the thing that you need to focus most of your attention on at this time is not the fear that you have, but the fellowship you have. You have fellowship with me. So allow me to be your shield. Let me protect you. Let me be your reward. Your fellowship with me is going to be exceedingly great. God, at the same time as God is speaking that, notice his reaction is what will you give me, seeing that I go childless. In other words, my worldly victories, my material wealth is empty if I don't have a son. You've given me promises, but those promises have yet to be fulfilled. I have no heir. So my desire is to have an heir, to have somebody who can carry on my work. My desire is to be able to have a child that is born to me that I can see myself in, who can carry on the work that I began, that you gave to me. And God, you spoke to me early on and said over 10 years ago that you are going to fulfill this for me, and I would like to know what you're going to do. Now, it's interesting. Later on, a psalmist in Psalm 127, verse 3, wrote these words. Children are a heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is his reward. And he's simply writing what we all feel that most people feel at least. And that is that to have a child would be a great blessing. And we would regard that as being something that God has done on our behalf. And so he's speaking to him and he's saying, what are you going to do for me? Well, God reaffirmed his original promise. And notice in verse 4 that he states that an heir will be his physical descendant. This one shall not be your heir, but one will come from your own body. This one, he says to him, will be your heir. What's his response to this? You need to remember that when Abraham first began to have fellowship with the Lord, he was 75. Now he's 85. And God is saying, listen, you're an 85-year-old man, but you shall have an heir coming from your own body. Well, what does he do? Well, he believed the Lord and God counted it unto him as righteousness. He believes God and trusts his word and knows that God is going to be good to it. Now in chapter 16, continuing, beginning at verse 1, Sarai, Abraham's wife, had born him no children. She had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, see now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. After Abram had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan, so he went into Hagar and she conceived. What an interesting thing to do. I'll just kind of make it like Marie and me. I can't see her doing this. You know, David, I can't conceive. But I've got this lady who's living with us and works for us. Why don't you do this? Why don't you go and have physical relations with her? And when she gives birth at my knees, it will be as if she is birthing my child. And Abram thinks, sure, why not? I mean, I can't imagine, you know. I can't imagine. But that's exactly what takes place. He says, okay, if that's what you say, you know, I will. And he does. He has relations with Hagar and the Bible makes it very clear that she conceives. But what has taken place here, guys? Paul later on speaks related to this. What has taken place here is an act of the flesh, not an act of faith. This is an act of the flesh. Hagar is representative of carnality, where Isaac is regarded as the son of promise. And you actually have a conflict taking place here because Sarai is not trusting in the Lord. And Abram failed at this point here. God was making it very clear that Abram would have a descendant. Abram is assuming that it's going to come in a natural way. In as much as his wife cannot conceive, God has closed her womb. Her suggestion to him gives to him a sense that perhaps this is how it's going to be fulfilled. So he enters into a physical relationship with her, which at that time was okay to do. It wasn't a sin to do. But in doing that, he actually was acting sinfully. Not in that he was having a child through the handmaiden, but in that he wasn't trusting the Lord. He was making the mistake of not listening to God. And as such, begins to try to fulfill God's will by carnal means. And notice in verses 15 and 16 here in chapter 16 of Genesis, it says, Hegar bore Abram a son. And Abram named his son, whom Hegar bore Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old when Hegar bore Ishmael to Abraham. And so they try to fulfill God's promise through their physical carnal means. Well, what takes place? Genesis 17, 13 years now transpire. And once again, the Lord begins to work with Abram. Abram believes that God is going to fulfill this promise through Ishmael. Notice in verse 1, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless. And I will make a covenant between me and you and I will multiply you exceedingly. Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram. Abram means exalted or high father. But your name shall be Abraham. The word Abraham means father of many nations for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will make nations of you and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. And so the Lord begins to minister to him. 13 years have transpired and he works with him. Now Abraham is believing that God will fulfill this through Ishmael, but that's not what's going to take place. Notice verse 15. God said to Abram, As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarai shall be her name. Sarai means dominative. The name Sarai means princess. So God is changing Abram's name to Abraham. Sarai's name to Sarai. And he says in verse 16, I will bless her and also give you a son by her. Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings and people shall be from her. Abraham fell in his face and laughed and said in his heart, shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old and shall Sarah, who's 90 years old, bear a child. Abram said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. God said, No, Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful. We'll multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget 12 princes. I will make him a great nation. But my covenant, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. He finished talking with him and God went up from Abraham. And so as this is all taking place, you're going to begin to see it unfold chapter 18 verse one. The Lord appeared to him by the terrible trees of Mamre and he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. And so the Lord appears, he begins to minister to the Lord. The Lord and he began to have conversation. As this is taking place, verse nine, they said to him, Where's Sarah, your wife? And he said here in the tent and he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life and behold, Sarah, your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I've grown old, shall I have pleasure my Lord being old also. The Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh saying, shall I surely bear a child since I'm old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. Sarah denied it saying, I did not laugh. She was afraid. And he said, no, but you did laugh. You ever try to hide from God? You ever try that? You know, I can still remember my kids that used to try to hide from Dad. They still do, but when they were little, when they were little, they used to do that. I can still remember little David, my son David, when he was just a few years old. He was old enough to be able to open up the ice box. I know that, so I don't know how old he was, but he's probably seven years old or so. I can still remember seeing him with chocolate ice cream all over his mouth, just all over his mouth. You know that it was in there eating it. You know it. And then I, like an idiot, say to him, were you eating ice cream? I mean, duh, I mean, either that's ice cream or it's mud and it only doesn't eat mud, so is that ice cream you're eating? Oh, no. You know, it's like Sarah. Why did you laugh? I didn't laugh. Oh, yes you did. I mean, you can't hide from the Lord. I mean, it's impossible. It's impossible to hide your thoughts and your actions from God. God's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth. God is omniscient. He sees things. He knows things. He knows everything. Bible makes it very clear that he knows the words that are forming even before they find their expression through your tongue. I mean, God knows everything. There's just no way you can hide from him. And here she is behind in this tent. God is outside speaking to her husband. And as this is taking place, she hears God making that promise, reaffirming what he had already stated before, and she laughs within herself. Now, you might find it interesting to note that both Abraham and she laughed. You notice that Abraham laughed, but God didn't rebuke Abraham. And he even went so far as to logically think, well, yes, you know, yeah, that's true. In a physical way, we're going to find fulfillment because I've already had, you know, relations with Hagar. She has Ishmael. Ishmael will live before the Lord. He's thinking that way in a logical way. That was an unbelief. He thought he had fulfilled what God had stated already and that he was a step ahead of the Lord, if you will. So it wasn't a laugh of unbelief at all. That's why he had a joy to know that God was going to fulfill his promise and perhaps even thought that that promise fulfillment was going to come through Ishmael. God said, no, that's not what's going to take place. It isn't going to be through Ishmael. I already told you it's going to come through Sarah. So God had reaffirmed that. Now, Abraham believes God. It's counted into him as righteousness. Now, Sarah, on the other hand, is 90 years old. And as a woman, she knows it's not possible for her to give birth. One, and we already saw this in Hebrews and you see the same kind of thing in the book of Romans. One, they're well past age of being able to have physical relations and actually conceive. It's just much, you know, they haven't entered into twilight. They're at midnight. I mean, there's just no way this is going to take place. It's just not going to happen. They're as good as dead. It is not going to happen. She doesn't have strength to conceive. Abraham doesn't have the physical capability of procreation. It is beyond that. It's not going to happen. And yet God is saying, is anything too hard for the Lord? Is there anything that I cannot make, that I cannot do? And so what is happening is Sarah's faith is being tested. Now she laughs, but after she laughs, I want you to know this. Think about this for a moment. She cooperates and she cooperates and actually becomes pregnant, biologically impossible. What is it though? And I want to give you one little thing here because I think it's important to do so. What is it? What is it that caused her or at least contributed to her being willing to make an attempt at becoming pregnant? What is it? And you want to know one of the things that one of the commentators pointed out that I happen to agree with, therefore we'll repeat that to you. It was the faith of her husband Abraham. If you take notes, you might want to remember 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 7. The Bible there says the woman is the glory of the man. In a godly relationship, let me give you something that's practical in marriage, though this is not a teaching on marriage, but it is practical in marriage, very practical in marriage. In a marriage, God has established the husband and the wife to have a relationship that actually creates from the two, one. My wife's strengths are my strengths and her strength and my strength combined produce a strong couple. There are times when my wife's faith that she has in the Lord is a persuasive faith for me, where I know that God is speaking through her to me. And I know that. I'll give you one example. Before this church began, I was an assistant pastor in another Calvary Chapel. The senior pastor in a board meeting said to me, you are not a pastor. You're a counselor. We are going to remove you from being pastor. You're going to become a counselor. We'll help you go and finish your degree in counseling. But we're removing you from the pastoral ministry because you are not a pastor. I said at that time, there's only one thing I know that God has called me to, and that's the pastoral ministry. I know that. It's just obvious that he doesn't want me here. And so I resigned. So I resigned my position as assistant pastor. And in doing so, I came home and I spoke to my wife Marie. And I said to her, honey, I resigned my position. I'm no longer the assistant. I gave him two weeks. And now I said I'm free to make some decisions and choices as to what the Lord wants to do in my life. So I said to her, this may be the Lord's way of moving me from this ministry and moving us out of here. And so I said to my wife, let's move to San Luis Obispo, which is where I've been trying to flee for many years. That happens to be the place that I really like. And so I've been going to this little city since 1968. And I have always liked it and wanted to live there. And I said, there's no Calvary Chapel there. Perhaps the Lord will use us to do a work in San Luis Obispo. And Marie looking me in the face said, you know that God has not called us there. I said, honey, I can go and deliver bread. I have a friend of mine who's a manager for a bread delivery place. I said, I'm delivering the bread of life. No, why not just the other kind of bread too? And I can make a living. I mean, I did everything I could seriously to try and argue her into saying, okay, if the Lord is in this, let's go. And she refused. She would not listen. She said, you know what? She said in this, I cannot agree because I know that the spirit of God is not moving us there. And there are times when her faith has persuaded me. So I don't want to come on and say like the man is always leading all by himself. No, that's not true at all. We pray together. We seek the Lord together. We hear from God together. We choose to do the right thing together. And one person is going to ultimately take the responsibility for that. It will be the husband. It will be. That's why God says to Abram, why did your wife laugh? I want you to notice that. I didn't point that out. But when she laughed, did God speak first to Sarah? And the answer is no. He didn't speak to her. He didn't say to Sarah, why did you laugh? Why did he say? He looks at Abraham and says, why did she laugh? Why did you do that, Lord? Abraham believed you. Sarah didn't. It's on her. It's her fault. No. The Lord says, no, it doesn't work that way. The woman is the glory of the man. And Abram, your faith should have persuaded her. Your faith should have been strong enough for her to know that I'm moving in this way. Even when she's hearing my voice, fulfilling the statements that I've made to you. So I'm going to speak to you as a husband first because you're her covering. And that's how it works. The bottom line is, ultimately, it matters of faith, especially in relationship to a marriage. And though we pray together, fast together, seek the Lord together, ultimately the decision is made and God holds the husband responsible for it. And Abraham's belief and trust in God. Abraham believed God and God counted it unto him as righteousness. That belief and faith and trust in the Lord had a strengthening effect on Sarah. So that she said, let's trust the Lord in this. And the age of 90. The Bible says he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith. And he took God at his word. The result was blessing because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, God was also able to perform. You see, in Hebrews 1112, it says, therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of heaven. That includes even us. You might not realize that. When the Lord said, your descendants will be like the dust. Your descendants will be like the stars. He was referring to not just the one, but to those who come through, ultimately having a like faith as Abraham, which includes all who are believers in the one God. From the faithful Jewish nation to those who have followed after Jesus Christ. In Galatians chapter three verses 13 and 14, Paul said it this way. He said, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us. It's written, curse it as everyone who's hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. And so that's what's taking place. In Genesis chapter 21, they have a child. And this child's name is Isaac. Genesis 21 beginning at verse one, the Lord visited Sarah as he had said. And the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his own old age. At the set time of which God had spoken to him and Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded him. Now, Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh so that all who hear will laugh with me. And she also said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Imagine that, ladies. No, you don't want to. 90 years old nursing babies, amazing. But anyway, I'll leave it there. You don't need to go beyond that one. That scares me. But in Genesis, so we come to Genesis 22, which is where I want to spend my time. All of that was to bring us to 22. Now let's look at this. We're all looking at the testing of Abraham, right? Now remember, by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he would receive the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said, in Isaac, your seed shall be called. What we see now in this particular passage, Genesis 22 is what Hebrews 11, 17 through 19 is referring to. It is called the offering of Isaac. God is testing Abraham. And what this does is it reveals the obedience of faith. Let me read this to you. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. And he said, take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. Go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son. 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 lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, my father. And he said, here I am, my son. And he said, look, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering. And the two of them went together and came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. He bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. He said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son for me. Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it for the burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. The sacrifice of Isaac. When our church first began, there was a passage and I called it Sacrificing Your Isaac. This is one of those passages that has spoken to my heart over the years and I want to share a few things that the Lord has taught me through this. I want you to see something here because as we begin looking at this closer, we know that the events take place some time after. We know that Isaac is growing up. It's been said that Isaac more than likely was a teenager at least at this time and the reason is that Abraham was willing to kill him. I'm not quite sure whether that's true or not but it's something to consider. Probably be a lot easier to kill a teenage kid. He was probably somewhere around 20 years of age and so all you need to do is add 100 with 20 and you see that he's a 120 year old man. Now can a 120 year old man be overpowered by a 20 year old man? And the answer is obviously yes. A 120 year old man cannot overpower a 20 year old man and yet you don't see his son. That's an interesting thing as we look at this. What is happening is 20 years have passed and God breaks his silence. Once again he speaks to Abraham. By the way, you'll notice that as I've been reading to you that there are sometimes breaks of 10 years and 13 years. It's not like Abraham and God had these daily conversations. He walked by faith. That's why it was counted unto him as righteousness because he pursued the Lord even in times where you don't see the Lord have passed. He's 120 years old. He's got this one son whom he loves with all of his heart and now God breaks his silence. And as God begins to speak to him, Abraham immediately says something and I want you to see this as the Lord begins to speak to him because in verse 1 it simply says here that God said to him Abraham and notice how he said here I am. When he says here I am, that's another way of saying I am here at your service. I am here at your service. And so he's speaking to the Lord as a servant and God gives him an order in verse 2. He says take your son and I want you to notice your only son Isaac whom you love. Now wait a minute he has another son, another son by the name of Ishmael. Another son that's 13 years older than Isaac. Another son that he loves with all of his heart. I mean he did love his son Ishmael. May Ishmael live before you forever was his desire. I want you to bless my son. He's my son. And yet God says listen I will bless your son Ishmael. He came from you and therefore I will bless him. And from him there will be 12 tribes and these 12 tribes will be descendants of you and I will bless them because of you. But it's not Ishmael that I'm speaking to you about. I'm speaking to you about somebody else. I'm speaking to you about one called Isaac. He's going to be your heart. He's going to be your laughter. He's going to be your joy. He's going to be everything. He's going to be your son, your only son. Now that's an important point to make because as far as Abraham was concerned this was the son of his old age. This was the son of promise. This was the son that he loved with all of his heart. Yes he did have another son named Ishmael but God makes it very clear that in his eyes there was one that stood out between the two and that was his son Isaac. And I want you to notice the phrase your only son because that is prophetically pointing to God's only son whom he loves. You need to see that. When he says your only son God had a son. And what you're seeing here is a picture of God providing himself a lamb. That's what you're watching here take place in the faith of Abraham. And so Abraham has said to him here am I. I'm at your service and God says I want you to take your son and I want you to go to a place called Moriah. The word Moriah literally means chosen by Jehovah. You're taking him to the place that is chosen by me. It's the site on which Herod's temple stood during the construction. It's the mountain there that is known as Mount Moriah which is on one of the hills in what is called the land of Moriah where Abraham went to build that altar and offer a biasing. It is the hill in Jerusalem on which Solomon built the temple on the spot once occupied by the threshing floor of Orn and the Jebusite. And the Jews believe that the rock which sticks out on the top of the temple hill is the exact spot where the altar burned offering in the temple's and the very side of the altar which is on the top of the hill. He's going to go into Jerusalem up into the Mount there where the temple today will be rebuilt and where the Temple Mount exists. Now I want you to see verse 2 how God's command was to take your son and offer him as a burnt offering. What you are to do, and I have to be graphic in this, what you are to do is you are to cut your son's throat and burn his remains as an offering to me. That's what God is telling him to do. You cannot clean that up. Now this initially would sound something very similar to what Abraham had experienced as a pagan in that pagan system that he came out of. You are to take your son, slice his throat and burn his remains for me. That was the command as a father of four children and the grandfather just the thought of that is unbelievable to me. It's unbelievable to me. I have to tell you that when my babies were growing up I was and I remain one of these dads who was like a hovering dad. I was one of those dads that I might not be right next to him but my eyes were always on him. That's the truth and that's the way it is with my grandson. My grandson can be 15 feet, 20 feet from me and nobody may notice him but I do. My eyes on him constantly and there's already been times when I have saved him from injury when he's tripped and fallen and was going to hurt himself just because my eyes are always on him. That's the habit of my life. I remember when I was coming to my in-laws house years ago now my daughter Karini was about two years of age and I was coming up the driveway and I was looking at the front door and there's a screen door there but the screen door wasn't closing properly and I knew that and she saw me and my little girl was the kind of baby that would run to daddy so I could pick her up and she saw me and I heard her starting to yell daddy and I took off running because I saw her running. I knew she was going to fly through that screen door. I knew it and I took off running up that driveway and I jumped I actually jumped over the steps and I put my foot down right when she came out of the door and her little face landed straight on my tennis shoe. I saved her as she flew out from just breaking her nose or cracking her head open because my eyes were constantly on my children constantly and the thought that they could hurt listen I've told you this before but when Corinne got her first shots I held her in my arms they pulled down her little diaper they put that needle in her rump and she peeled back and looked at me straight in the eyes like man what are you doing to me you know the nurses looking at daddy holding a crying baby and I'm crying because that's how much I love my kids it's been that way since they were born and it's that way now it's that way now it's that way with my grandson now I watch him like a hawk I am on top of him constantly and the thought that he could get hurt and that that I was there and I allowed it is beyond me I mean so I get touched by passages like this because I think what would I do if I were an older man I waited a hundred years till I was a hundred years old to have this baby and he's twenty years old that's a young man and God speaks my heart and says to me you go you slice his throat you incinerate his remains and you do it as an act of worship to me wait a minute when God came out of paganism I'm familiar with this this isn't the God that I worship this isn't the God that I know but does Abraham do anything like that no he doesn't do a single thing like that because he's trusting in the Lord what does he do well verses three through five tell us he rose early in the morning saddled his donkey and took off without question he begins what must have been an incredible journey he summons two trusted servants and he leaves and then he leaves the young men behind why to ensure that they will not attempt to stop him from doing what he knows God has told them to do and so in verses six through eight Abraham takes the wood and the burnt offering and he lays it on Isaac his son and they're climbing up this mountain this Mariah and Isaac turns and looks at him and Isaac speaks to his father now it must have been there must have been a silence of some sort taking place as Abraham is walking up there and he's looking at the son of promise he's looking at his baby he's looking at his son what do you think that this old man was thinking at that time what do you think he was thinking I'm gonna put a knife to his throat in just a moment I can't it's so beyond me and I don't think anybody has ever been eloquent enough to express what that must have been like I'm gonna put a knife to this little boy's throat my son the son of my heart like God it said your son your only son whom you love you're gonna put a knife to his throat you're gonna kill him and so the questions asked his son speaks papa he's saying to him we have the wood we have the fire but we don't have an offering where's the sacrifice and as he asks where's the sacrifice imagine yourself for a moment looking back into the eyes of the one who is the sacrifice so he says in verse 8 God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering his son trusts him and he doesn't question him anymore so verse 9 tells us they come to the place of which God told him and Abraham built an altar and placed the wood in order then he bound Isaac to send and laid him on the altar upon the wood now Isaac is powerful enough to resist but he doesn't he doesn't his father binds him on that wood and I I would love to know what was going on at that time but God hasn't revealed it to us but his heart and his hands must have been so heavy as he piles up the stones for this altar his mind has to race over Isaac's short lifetime and as he thinks of this so many promises, so many dreams so little time so little time 20 years is not that long you may feel that when you're 13 or when you're 8 because when you're a little person when you're young you think man that guy died when he was 48 you know when I was growing up they used to have a column in the newspaper it was called the Herald Examiner I mean that's been out of print forever the Herald Examiner my dad used to bring it home every night and they had a column there Life Begins at 40 because 40 was that age like you were getting old and we from my generation think 40 well that's not that old to us but if you're 13 you know I've had 13 year old girl say she's so old how old is he honey he's 19 you know 19 is really old to them 50 ancient absolutely ancient used to babysit Jesus at least they're very old and so what you have here is you have a man who's lived 120 years with a son who's lived probably around 20 and as he's binding him and as he's lifting those rocks and setting up that altar on the wood there's got to be a lot of pain going on in him and yet there's also faith because verse 10 tells us that he stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son he may have closed his eyes he moved with determination he begins to put the knife against the throat of his son in order that he might fulfill what God had called him to do and then heaven moves verse 11 says the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said Abraham and he said here I am he said do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son your only son from me Abraham lifted his eyes and looked in there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son what does he do? verse 14 says he called the name of the place the Lord will provide that's prophetic because it speaks of the future time when God gives his son Jesus Christ the Lord provides himself a lamb Jesus our savior he's the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world one of the things that I would like to point out here is this there is I think an unfortunate possibility and this is my application of this passage to you there is an unfortunate possibility of trusting in promises and not trusting in the promiser if that makes sense to you I'll try to make some sense out of it what do I mean? I mean that sometimes you can look in the bible and get an idea of what God is like from the various studies and things that you do but you'll never have a full picture full understanding because we don't have all information even as we read the bible it's not that the bible doesn't give us complete information concerning him it's that we don't assimilate it properly we don't assimilate it all at the same time to the same degree we don't understand it all and so over a lifetime we begin to understand passages that have implication to our life and application and we begin to grow in those areas to us we only grow in certain elements and we don't have all that time to be able to actually digest every word of it and be transformed by every single sentence so we can have a misunderstanding in some ways and what we end up doing is we end up trusting God but we also trust his promises and when we begin to trust his promises we may not see that God is different than the way we view him because we've been clinging to certain promises but we haven't taken the whole council into consideration let me illustrate John the Baptist is arrested he's arrested because he's preaching he's preaching against sin in Israel and he actually had the ability to speak to Herod and say it is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife because Herod had stolen his brother's wife Herodias and was living in adultery and so John had the spiritual courage to tell Herod this is wrong this is a sin you ought not to be doing this it's wrong God forbids it well Herod was so upset that he puts him in jail and now he's there in the prison and as he's in prison John knows that his days are few he knows that the days are limited he knows that eventually he's going to be dealt with now in his ministry being six months older than Jesus and being his cousin he was aware of who Jesus was because he had baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descending remaining on him was assigned to him that this was Messiah and therefore he had told his followers pursue him this is the one of whom it is said and they shared with them concerning the fact that Jesus is Messiah that he was supposed to decrease in order that Jesus might increase and now his time is done and there he is in prison he knows of Jesus' first message it's recorded in Matthew chapter 4 where Jesus says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand it's the same message that John was given and so John is assuming that Jesus is like him but he's beginning to hear things about the Lord Jesus Christ he hears that he actually eats with sinners and tax gatherers and that there are things being said about him that may cause him a little bit of concern and so what does he do he gets a couple of his followers who had yet to follow after Christ and he says listen this is what I want you to do I want you to go and I want you to speak to this Jesus and I want you to ask him are you the coming one or should we be looking for another because you see I'm going to lose my head pretty soon and I would like to make sure that I lose it for the right person so please go and ask Jesus if he's the Messiah are you the coming one what had happened there well he sends his two disciples they approach Christ and they say to Jesus John wants to know are you the coming one should we be looking for another and that very moment Jesus begins to share with them the works that he's doing how he's healing the sick and opening the eyes of the blind and the lame are beginning to walk and leaping and the poor are receiving the gospel and then he goes on and he says to them he says well you go back and you tell John this and he begins to quote Isaiah to him and then to them and then he says and you tell him this you say to him this blessed is he who is not stumbled because of me you know what an interesting phrase blessed is the one who's not offended because of me blessed is the one who's not stumbled because of me what are you saying Jesus well one of the things I believe that Jesus is saying is don't put me in a box don't begin to think that I do things in a certain way because I don't live under your guidelines you have to accept me for who I am and what I do not for what you'd like me to be you see we can begin to take the promises of God and elevate them over our fellowship with God what happens when we read Scripture and God says I will not allow your foot to be stumbled and yet you're stumbling what happens when the Bible says that we're to love one another but somebody that you love very much is breaking your heart what happens when it says children are inheritance of the Lord the fruit of the womb is his reward but your kids are breaking your heart what happens at that point and you pick up scripting and you say God you said in your word if I train a child and the way he should go when he's old he will not depart from it but my child's in prison I can't believe this your word said this and I did that I did all that I could to believe and to act on those promises that you gave and God says to you blessed is a one who is not stumbled because of me don't put me in a box and tell me I have to do certain things because you may be misunderstanding the long run so the apostle Peter is there with Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus is washing the feet of the disciples in and the apostle Peter says you shall never wash my feet I'm not going to allow you to do that to me yours you're not the slave you're not the servant you're not to be doing that to me I will never let you wash my feet if I don't wash your feet you have nothing to do with me Peter then give me a bath I don't want to be cut off from you later on Jesus says you call me master and lord and you say well for so I am if I then being your lord and master wash your feet you ought to wash the feet of one another I have done this as an example unto you he says to them if you know these things blessed are you if you do them see ultimately what happens guys is we take God at his word and we keep our fellowship strong with him Abraham knew that God's promises were as good as the God who gave those promises and he didn't separate them he knew that God had stated he would do a certain thing and Abraham knew this because you see he was as good as dead when he was given the ability to procreate and if he was as good as dead and he received strength to be able to be get a child and as the scripture said he and Sarah were as good as dead then he believed that God can raise from the dead the one whom he gave to him I'm going to trust the Lord I'm going to trust the Lord we see faith's perfect sacrifice here because it says in Hebrews 11 7 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 we call as far as God is concerned that offering was made and the child was not killed because the child was as good as offered up because Abraham had made up his mind to follow through in the commands of the Lord well you see he accounted that God was able to raise him even from the dead the reason that he was able to do this is because he believed in resurrection now I want you to turn back to Hebrews because we're going to close now Hebrews chapter 11 and we'll read it again Hebrews 11 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 accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense he believed in resurrection God viewed his resolve in obedience and the completion of the sacrifice but because Abraham believed God God counted it into him as righteousness and he believed that God could raise that child that he had received from the dead God had promised that Isaac would be the one that he blessed through and Abraham trusted him he trusted that God would keep his word faith is tested the bible says the refining pot is for silver the furnace for gold but the Lord tries the heart faith is tested now this is a unique event in the bible he is not commanding any of us to go home and kill our kids though you may want to we were in China delivering bibles probably close to 20 years ago now part of the reason that we smuggled bibles into China is we had been receiving reports of believers who had entire churches of 2,000 plus people who didn't have a bible they needed the word of God and I heard the story of a man who had been taught the story here that we just went through of Abraham and offering up Isaac and so he said well I wanted to show God that I had faith as great as Abraham and he actually killed his own son and he killed him and one of the people who were speaking to us about that said you know he didn't have teaching he really believed that that was required of him and therefore he killed his own son we need to bring bibles to these people so they can get the whole council of God so they can see that that was an example that God uses that was actually a picture of the fact that though Abraham withheld his hand God actually allowed his son to die God provided himself as an offering in Jesus Christ whereas Abraham had one son his only son he didn't go through with the death of his son where God allowed his son to die on the cross the promises are fulfilled through Jesus Christ for us you see now Abraham believed God Abraham moved though he didn't take his son's life it was a picture of what God would ultimately allow to take place in his own sons and God tested Abraham and that's why he could say to him now I know that you actually do trust me because you would not keep that which is most important to you you would not keep that from me what is it that I have in my life that I have put above the Lord that if the Lord were to say listen you've given me everything except for that what is it what is it in yours that is more important than your relationship to Jesus Christ where the Lord to say to you I want you to let me have this give it to me I want control of it it needs to be put to death so I can live in you what is it is there something in all of us maybe that's what we ought to be thinking about as we close this study