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So Genesis 22, we have the famous story of Isaac being offered upon the altar. Isaac being offered upon the altar. So this is a great chapter and there's a lot, a lot of parallels with Jesus. And so if there's one big thing to see out of this chapter is just how this parallels Jesus and just what he did for us. But starting there in verse 1, just to dive right into it, notice what it says. It says, And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here am I, or here I am, and he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and give thee, and give thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And so we're going to get into the fact that God tempted Abraham. But before we do that, what's interesting about this is where it says, and they went into the land of Moriah, and it says that, he's going to tell them one of the mountains in the land of Moriah. And so where is Moriah? Actually, the only other place that Moriah is mentioned is in 2 Chronicles chapter 3. So go to 2 Chronicles chapter 3, 2 Chronicles chapter 3, and it's all going to make sense where it's at, actually. But in 2 Chronicles chapter 3, there in verse 1, notice what it says. 2 Chronicles chapter 3 and verse 1, Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Now this is talking about David, if you remember, when he numbered the people, that the angel of the Lord had a sword drawn at the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite, and he bought the threshing floor. He bought that place, and that's where Solomon decided to build the house of God. So the temple was built in Moriah, in Mount Moriah. Now what we see from Genesis chapter 22, so where's the land of Moriah? That's where Jerusalem's at, where Jesus crucified Jerusalem, outside the gates of Jerusalem. And so it makes sense, you know, that we're talking about Isaac being offered upon the altar, which represents Christ being offered, you know, Abraham and then his only begotten son Isaac, and then we have the father giving his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and same place. And so it doesn't really say, you know, like when Jesus was crucified, that it was on Mount Moriah, or it was on one of the mountains in Moriah, or anything like that, but we know that it had to be around there, and it doesn't really say that it was on a mountain either, it just says Calvary or Golgotha, right, the place where it was called, and so a place of a skull or Calvary. So you know, I believe that it's probably, he was probably crucified on the same mountain that he did the sacrifice. You know, if God has been planning all this stuff, and you think of all the feasts that he does, and all these different things, it probably was the same exact mountain that this event happened that Jesus was actually crucified on. And so, obviously he wasn't crucified on the mountain that the temple of God was on, right, because, you know, that's already there. So they went without the camp of Jerusalem, but it was still Jerusalem, you know, it just wasn't in the inner city of Jerusalem where he was crucified. So I just thought that was interesting, you know, we're in the land of Moriah, and that's where Jerusalem's at. That's where the temple, the house of God was built in Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. And so, but the big thing here is we see God did tempt Abraham. Now a lot of people have a problem with this when it says this, okay, that God tempted Abraham, and you know, go to James chapter 1, so I want to talk about this phrase, tempt. And, you know, atheists will scoff at this and, you know, say that God, you know, told Abraham to sin, and all this different stuff, okay. But what you'll find is the word tempt has different meanings, okay. And so, tempt can mean to entice someone to do evil, or entice someone to sin, right, that it can, in a lot of cases, that temptation is to entice somebody. But there's also, even if you look in dictionary.com, there's other forms, there's other types of forms of the word, you know, or definitions for the word, and one of them is to test or to try, okay. So you can look at this and say God tested Abraham. Now you say, well, is that biblical? Well we'll find that it's very biblical because when it's quoted in the New Testament it says that he was tried instead of tempted, okay. So we see that that word means the same thing, that's what that word was implying. Now go to James chapter one because James chapter one deals with temptation a lot. And if I was thinking about James chapter one, what it dealt with is temptations, okay, enduring temptations and everything that goes with that. But James chapter one verse two knows what it says. James chapter one verse two, it says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Knowing this that the, what, trying of your faith worketh patience. Notice how it's using that synonymously because it's making another point about it, it says count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Knowing this, that what, the trying of your faith worketh patience. So it's coupling the fact that temptations equals trying of your faith. And so notice James chapter one verse 12, James chapter one verse 12, blessed is the man that endured temptation for when he is what? Tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let not, now notice this is the key right here. So we see that temptation can mean to try, right? If I gave someone a trial, you know, and we go through trials, God puts us through trials, but it's not a trial to sin, it's a trial that he's testing our faith, right? Notice the trying of your faith. And that's exactly what Abraham, what he was doing with Abraham when he was testing him and trying his faith to see if he, you know, how far would he go? You know, as far as what God would tell him to do. But notice what it says in verse 13, it says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. Now people usually stop there and say, well, what does it mean then that God tempted Abraham? You know, is that a contradiction in the Bible? Well read on, it says, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. And the thing is, when you read that, grammatically, you would say, God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man with evil, okay? It doesn't mean that God never tempts anybody or tries anybody, he just doesn't try him with evil, okay? And so that's the key with that, but it says, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. So what we see here is that there's different forms of this word, you know, or different ways that you can use the word, okay? And you know, we can think about this with the word covet, okay? And I'm going to show you other places where it uses the word temptation and trial and how those are used synonymously. This isn't in a corner, this is throughout the whole New Testament and everywhere else in the Bible. But if you think of the word covet, right, if you were to say the word covet, automatically you're going to think that's bad, right? You're going to say, thou shalt not covet, that's one of the Ten Commandments, right? But and that's very true, but in Romans 7 and verse 7, and you could just note this down if you want to, but I'm just kind of giving you a comparison of another word that can sometimes be a good thing and it can also be a bad thing, depending on what context you're using it. And so, Romans 7 says, what shall we say then, is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known lust, except the law had said thou shalt not covet. So when it says thou shalt not covet, what's it talking about, lusting. And when you go back to that commandment in Deuteronomy chapter 5, so it's obviously in Exodus chapter 20, Deuteronomy chapter 5 is reiterating the commandments, and it will say thou shalt not desire thy neighbor's wife, or his house, you know, or use covet and desire. And so, desire is usually what covet means, to desire something, but see how it can be desire, it can be a bad thing if you're desiring something that's not yours. But notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, there's actually a good use of the word covet. So the word covet isn't always a bad thing to use. Now I believe lust is always bad, okay? It's kind of like envy is bad, but jealousy isn't bad. But they kind of mean the same thing a little bit, okay? Because envy and jealousy are very close, it's just that envy is being desirous of something that's not yours, and jealousy is desiring something that is yours. One's right, one's wrong. But they're very similar, but with some words, it depends on context, it depends on are you desiring good things or are you desiring bad things, because if you're desiring bad things, you're lusting after it. If you're desiring good things, then that's a good desire. But in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 31, the very last verse there, it says, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. So he goes through all these gifts of the Spirit, and he says covet, earnestly the best gifts. So there's a commandment to covet, but we also have a commandment, thou shalt not covet. But you obviously see the difference. There's one that's lusting, and you're desiring something that's not yours or doesn't belong to you, or desiring something that does belong to you, or that's something that you should desire. It'd be kind of like desiring the Lord, there's nothing wrong with that, that's something you should do. So desire isn't wrong, but it is if you put it in the wrong place. And so the same thing with temptation, to try or to tempt somebody. Actually a lot of times in the Bible, it's a good thing. It says, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. And so obviously people can try you and test you and tempt you, and they can tempt you with evil, and that can be a trial of your faith. But God also puts people through trials, and he can joke through one heck of a trial, and that's something that he came out the finer for, and that's what kind of 1 Peter chapter 1, go to 1 Peter chapter 1, and so I just want to kind of hammer this, there's a lot of people that are always trying to attack the Bible, but we see that temptation, or God tempted Abraham, it just means that God tried him, or God tested him. He wasn't trying to get Abraham to sin. God knew all along that he wasn't going to allow that to happen, but he wanted to see if Abraham would obey him no matter what. And so obviously we know that he did, we know the end of the story, right, everybody knows the story, that he was willing to sacrifice his own son. And we know that God doesn't desire that, meaning that in other places in the Bible, where people would sacrifice their children to some gods, and it says that it didn't ever even enter into his mind to do that. And so it's not like God expects this, it's just the fact that he was testing Abraham. And so 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 6, notice what it says, it says, wherein ye greatly rejoice, so now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold, what, temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold to perish it, though it be tried with fire, might be found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, and whom though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. And so this is another case where the temptations, trials, are used interchangeably. In 1 Peter chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4, now it doesn't say temptation here, but it's kind of the same deal, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 12, it says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. Now go to Hebrews chapter 11, because this is where this is quoted at, as far as the story of what happened with Abraham, and this event of him offering up Isaac. And I know I'm kind of already jumping to the conclusion, we already know what happens, we read the chapter, because when we go, after we get past this, I want to show you all these parallels of Jesus, as we go through this story. So Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 17, notice what it says, it says, But by faith Abraham when he was tried, see how that's going right back to God tempted him. So you could put literally, tempt equals tried, in this. God tried Abraham. And so offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Sound familiar? You know that phrase, only begotten son, is used very little in the Bible. It's used in John, it's used in 1 John, and used right here. And so that's very, obviously a familiar phrase. It says in verse 18, of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Notice this, accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. You know that when Abraham was willing to slay his son, he believed God would raise him from the dead, because that's how strong his faith was. He knew that the Christ was going to come through Isaac so much that he knew that if he killed him, God would raise him from the dead, because he said that it would happen. And so that's how strong his faith was. I can't imagine, okay. I want to be the friend of God, but I can't imagine putting my child on an altar and being willing to slay my child. Because that's an amazing faith to have, that God would perform what he said he would perform. And obviously that puts a lot of meat on there when he says he's fully persuaded of what he had promised he was able also to perform, right? And obviously we know, when we're talking about eternal security, that eternal life, that's what we know. And he was put to the test, and he came out the finer. And so, but I want to show you these parallels, okay, these parallels of Jesus. Now, we already saw, where was this event? It was in the land of Moriah on one of these mountains. And we know that Jerusalem, the temple of God was built on the Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. So we know that this happened in Jerusalem or near Jerusalem in that land. And so we already see that parallel, but notice in verse three. So Genesis chapter two, chapter 22, verse three. Notice Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and claved the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went into the place of which God had told him. Now, there's a lot in here, okay? Now, bear with me because what you've got to understand is this story that's going on as far as him being killed and all this stuff and so to speak rising from the dead because he didn't actually kill him happens in one day. But what's interesting is that there's other things that are going on. So he rose up early in the morning. When did Jesus rise? Well, in Mark chapter 16, Mark chapter 16, most people know this, but I just want you to see that it actually uses that same terminology when it talks about Jesus rising from the dead. So Abraham rose up early in the morning and it says in Mark chapter 16, and we're going to be in the New Testament kind of looking at these things, so kind of just keep a finger in Genesis 22 just so you can kind of look back at the verse, see what I'm talking about there and then seeing what we're getting into in the New Testament. So Mark chapter 16 and verse 2, it says, and very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. Notice down in verse 9, now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven devils. So we see that Jesus rose early in the morning and Abraham rose early in the morning for this event. Notice he saddled his ass. Jesus rode upon an ass into Jerusalem. In Matthew chapter 21, Matthew chapter 21 verse 5, and these are all familiar passages, but I just want you to see, you know, just so many, I mean you had the obvious one, right, that he's going to sacrifice his son, right? There's some obvious ones in here, but maybe some of these you haven't noticed before or maybe you never really thought about. He saddled his ass and it says in Matthew 21 verse 5, tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the full of an ass. I believe every jot and tittle, I don't believe any of this is coincidental, okay? All this information that they're giving you about what, and he could have just said that he just went to this mountain and did this, performed this, he didn't have to say all this information. He's given a lot of little details in here. And notice in verse 3, Genesis 22 and verse 3, he took two of his young men with him, with Isaac. So there's these two men that he's taking with Isaac. Jesus was crucified with two other men. In Luke chapter 23 and verse 32, Luke chapter 23 and verse 32, it says, and there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death, and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. So we see that he rose up early in the morning, he saddled his ass, he took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he claved the wood for the burnt offering. And so, you know, we're going to get into that because there's actually a little more even picture with that. So obviously we see this wood with the burnt offering. But Jesus rose the third day of the week, and that's another parallel, we'll go to Genesis chapter 22 and verse 4. So it looks like this took a three-day journey. He rose up early in the morning, because notice in verse 4, then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off, and Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. So we see that he's on the third day this happens, okay? Any time you see the third day in the Bible, there's usually significance, and I'm not going through all the times it says the third day, so don't worry. But obviously the Bible says in Luke 24, 46, it says, and he said unto them, Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. That's something obviously used in the New Testament, and it's spoken in the Old Testament seeing the third day, three days later, and so we see that picture. Now, I'm not saying I'm covering all of them, and I'm not saying I see all of them, okay? So there may be other things in here you'll see as far as what it means that they're going to come again to you. You can see all these different things where Christ, I'm just thinking about how he kept saying in John, you know, a little while I'm with you, and then I chug away, and where I go you cannot come, and I'm paraphrasing that, but he says I'm going to come back. So obviously he died, was buried, and then three days later he came back and showed himself to him. So you can see that parallel as well. After this whole thing was done, he came back to those young men. And so there's a lot of probably other stuff I'm not seeing in there or just the little things that maybe I'm not seeing, but we're getting the gist of it, okay? There's a lot. I mean, we've only gone through two verses there as far as the parallels I wanted to show you. And so in verse, yeah, so that was, I read verse four and five, and go to verse six. So Genesis 22 and verse six, and it says, and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son, and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together. Now obviously you can think, what does the wood represent? The cross, okay, and he laid it upon Isaac, and Jesus bore his cross. And this is something throughout the New Testament obviously that we're supposed to bear our cross. We're supposed to pick up our cross and bear our cross as well. But obviously Christ did that in Luke chapter 23 and verse 26, and it says, and as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. Okay, so that shows you that Jesus already bore it, but obviously Simon bore the cross for him after that. And so we see that picture. I mean think about the fact that Jesus said, I am not alone because the Father is with me. There's all these things that are going on when he went to the cross, and it says that they went both of them together up to this. And so again, there's a lot in here, and I'm not planning on going through every little detail. But also it was a burnt offering, yes, it's a burnt offering. Now notice that the sacrifice would have to be dead for the burnt offering too. So the burnt offering represents something that happens after he dies. But Isaiah 53, and obviously we know that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption. Isaiah 53 is obviously all about Jesus and all about how he's going to bear our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed in those famous passages. But the verses that never get quoted that much is down in verse 10, verse 10 and 11. And so this keeps coming up that it's a burnt offering, burnt offering, burnt offering. He's taking fire up to this, he's going to do this burnt offering. And verse 10, so Isaiah 53 verse 10, it says, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. So obviously it says whose own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and that's as true as the day is long, but his soul also was made an offering for sin. Don't miss both those parts, and I believe both are equally important, because his body was put into his tomb, his body actually died, but his soul actually died as well, because it says, I am the first and the last, behold I am he that liveth and was dead, behold I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. And so we know that the first and the last was dead, it wasn't just a man, and that's where you get all these false doctrines as far as, well it was just the man Christ used to take, I mean no, obviously the man Christ used to take our sins, but it was God, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us, and so his soul was made an offering for sin. So you see all these things, you see the burnt offering, you see even, I mean obviously I believe the burnt offering represents hell, it represents the three days and three nights in hell. So all of what Jesus did, the cross, you know being killed, and even hell is represented in this chapter. And so it's amazing though, obviously hindsight's 20-20, so we're looking back at this, we already know what happened, we know what Jesus did, we're looking back at this and like wow, look at all that. But obviously when they were doing this they probably didn't see all that, they didn't realize all the stuff they were doing. Now obviously he knew that Isaac was the promised child to whom Christ would come through, he believed that wholeheartedly enough to where he thought God, you know he's like God will raise him from the dead, and is that uncanny that that's mentioned too in Hebrews, considering the fact that we're talking about Jesus' story, how he was going to die and rise again. And so all this stuff fits like a glove. Now notice in verse 22, now if there's anything that was prophetic it's right here. Genesis chapter 22 and verse 7, it says, And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Notice what it says, And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. So this is huge. Now what's interesting about this, now you can say, well, it's saying that he's going to provide himself a lamb, meaning like he's going to find a lamb for them to sacrifice and give it to him. But it wasn't a lamb that they found, it's a ram. Now a ram is an adult lamb, so it's the same animal, but a lamb is a young sheep that would be a male, obviously Christ was a man, right? And so you have a ewe lamb or you have a ram, right? So those are the two differences, you have the male version and the female version. And so the ram is what was provided, but he's saying here God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And I believe heartily this is talking about the fact that God was going to be that lamb. One of the most famous verses is, Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, it says in John 1 29. And so that's what John the Baptist said, Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And then he says it again, when he sees them again, he says, Behold the lamb of God. And throughout Revelation, that's what Jesus is called throughout Revelation most of the time is the lamb, the lamb, the lamb, the lamb. And 1 Peter 1 hammers on this, obviously he's Christ our Passover. And what was the sacrifice for the Passover? A lamb. And so we see this from Genesis all the way to Revelation, the lamb is there. And so no marvel that he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And so that's our sacrifice, that's who's going to die for us is the lamb. And so in 1 Peter 1 verse 18 it says, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifesting these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. So notice this, as a lamb, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, so obviously Jesus came down here, he was a man, he wasn't a lamb, okay? He wasn't literally a lamb, okay? But what did the lamb represent? And Isaiah 53 hits on this, as a sheep before shearers is dumb, he opened not his mouth. So what did the lamb represent? The fact that he willingly gave his life and just silently took it, you think about when he was up at the judgment seat, he didn't say a word, and just the accusations came against him, he said, For this cause came I answer the world, and he died like a lamb to the slaughter. And thank God he did, and he saved us from all our sins because of it. And so, you know, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. I mean, talk about prophetic, talk about just being black and white, that's exactly what Jesus did. He provided himself, the lamb of God, for a burnt offering, and the lamb of God, both his body bore our sins, and his soul was made an offering for sin, and his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption. It says, As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly shows, shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And that's what Jesus did to pay for our sins. And this chapter is just showing detail after detail after detail as far as what Jesus did. Now I'll go back to Genesis chapter 22. So we know that he fulfilled his task and did what God told him to do, and God obviously stopped him before he did it. And so he was testing him to see how far, you know, would he be willing. And that's what we'll see here is that he was willing to not even withhold his only son, you know, his only true born son to his wife Sarah. And in verse 9, so Genesis 22 verse 9 says, And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God and seest thou, seeing thou hast thou, I'm sorry, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. So he passed the test. This is what God was testing him to do, and he passed the test. And this is what, when you go to James chapter 2, go to James chapter 2 with me. This is what James chapter 2 is talking about when it's talking about the fact that Abraham believed God and was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Because throughout all those passages when I was talking about, you know, temptations, going through temptations, what keeps coming up? The trying of your faith and that it's going to come out, you know, like gold through the fire, you know, purified. And so your faith is going to come out refined. It's going to be purified. It's going to be perfected. And that's exactly what James 2 is talking about. James 2, obviously, you know, faith without works is dead. You know, you always want to try to say, well, you got to have works to go to heaven, you know, you got to do work still to go to heaven. No, it's talking about a believer that perfects his faith and becomes the friend of God. And this is the defining fact. I believe this is where he becomes the friend of God when he did this. And obviously that's huge because what did the Bible say? What did Jesus say? You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. And that's how far he went to do what God commanded him. And so James chapter 2 and verse 21, it says, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Now this is where I disagree with people that say James chapter 2 is talking about being justified before men. I don't disagree with the doctrine as far as like when you do good works, you know, they're going to see your good works and glorify God in the day of visitation. And the Bible teaches that. That's in 1 Peter, that's in Matthew. And so that's obviously a Bible principle, right? But in this passage James chapter 2, who's he being justified to? God. And so, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou our faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect. It doesn't say that he got faith and it doesn't say that he got saved by that faith because of the works. It says that he perfected his faith by his works. Notice as it keeps going on there, so then it says, And the scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. You can't be the friend of God if you're not saved first. Okay, so that's why that's putting that in there. The scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and is imputed unto him for righteousness so he was saved and, and he was called the friend of God. Those are not two and one and the same. Okay, being the friend of God and being saved are two different things. But in order to be the friend of God, you first have to be saved. And what made him the friend of God? Because he was justified by his works by offering his son Isaac upon the altar. He perfected his faith to the point where God called him the friend of God. So that's this passage in Genesis chapter 22 is where that happened. And so obviously that's a huge deal and it wasn't, he earned it, right? He earned that title to be called the friend of God by doing whatsoever God commanded him to the point where he would not, he wouldn't have even withheld his only son from God. And in James chapter 2 and verse 24 notice what it says because this is where people stumble. It says ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Now what that means is that eternal salvation you're justified by faith but that's not the only way that you're justified before God, right? Eternal salvation is faith alone in Jesus Christ but the him that worketh not believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is accounted for righteousness. That's one way to be justified but that's being justified eternally and from our sins, right? But another way to be justified as a Christian, as a believer is to do the works and become the friend of God. And seeing the judgment seat of Christ should tell you that right away, right? Because we're all going to stand before judgment seat of Christ and we're going to be justified based off what we did, whether it be good or bad. We're going to be rewarded based on what we did, good or bad. And so Abraham is a great example of this and so sometimes we read over this passage and don't really think about it but think about his son, his only son and God is saying to slay him and you know, would you have done it? Would you have done it? Would you have had that much faith like Abraham did? And so would you have had that much faith to where you knew God would raise him from the dead? That's huge. That's huge mountain moving faith right there and that's what it says, he perfected this faith how? By works. So you may ask yourself, well how do I perfect my faith? How do I get this great faith? How do I have more faith due to works? When you go out soul winning and you're doing the work and everything else, do you notice that your faith and what you're believing goes up? Anytime, even if you go out and you preach the gospel, preach the gospel, preach the gospel and no one gets saved, your faith is still going up because you're doing the work. God rewards the work. Whether it's by increasing your faith or whether it's increasing your knowledge, you know it talks about the strong me belonging to them that are at full age, even those who by reason of use having their senses exercised that discern both good and evil. And so by use, doing the work, how are you going to know the word of God? Do the work. Now obviously reading is a prerequisite, okay, you need to read it if you're going to know the word of God. But you want to know how you're going to have really great faith and how you're going to know the Bible? Do the work by reason of use. And so that's what we see from this chapter. Now what we also see from this chapter is Abraham loved his son. And so we see this great, when I think of this story I more so think about the heartache and the pain and the agony that Abraham had to be going through here. Not even Isaac, I don't really feel bad, I'm not like, oh Isaac, you know, I'm more so like Abraham, man that had to be hard. You think about what he had to be going through at this point, thinking about how he's taking his son up to be killed and that he's going to do it. And just the anguish and you know, just the heartache that he had to be going through. And go to John chapter 3 because that's, and yes, I'm going to bring it up again, this one, this modalist garbage is one that mocks at God the Father sending his son to die for our sins. And these heretics, these morons like Tyler Baker out there are out there mocking God and basically making God the Father look like a coward for sending his son. And if you ever saw the video, I mean, he's just mocking the fact that, you know, well God the Father's up there like, well someone needs to die for it, well son, why don't you go do that? So I don't have to go do that. Does it look like Abraham was enjoying himself? Does he look like a coward here when he did this? And the fact of the matter is that God the Father, I'd imagine, probably had to have more love than even the son who died. Because I would rather die any day of the week than let one of my children die instead of me. Actually that's one of my prayers that I pray is that if any evil would happen to anyone in my family or that anyone would get hurt or sick or die, that it would be me before any of them. And so this idea that, oh, you know, the father's a coward if he didn't die himself, no it takes a lot more to let your son die or to let your child die. And that's, I mean, John 3.16, and that's what I don't understand when it comes to these heretics. How do you not know John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he, what, gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. One of the most quoted verses in all the world. I mean, everybody knows this verse, we'll run into people day in and day out at the doorstep, you'll show them John 3.16, they're quoting it with you. And so how do you not know that? That that's one of the most famous verses as far as what God's love, about God's love. God so loved you, he loved you so much that he gave his only begotten son. And that's what we see, that the only other place that only begotten is ever mentioned is with Isaac. And we saw the Torah, we saw Abraham did not want to do this, I guarantee you, the love that he had to have for his son, and the love for God that exceeded that in order to do this, and you gotta think about the love that the father had for the world, that he would let his son be made sin for us who knew no sin. To where his son would be on the cross and say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The love that he had to where his son would have to say that he would have to forsake his son. 1 John 4 and verse 9, 1 John, and trust me, I will hit on this when I get to 1 John 4. But 1 John 4 and 9 is another place where it talks about the only begotten son. And you know, they say this, you know, hereby we perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us, and amen to that. But they'll say this, well, no greater love is there than this than a man lay down his life for his friends. Yet for Jesus, there's no greater love that he could show than to die for him because he doesn't have a son to give. And he is also the man Christ Jesus, and it says that a man lay down his life for his friends. And so these people are too simple minded to actually read the Bible and see what it says to the point where they're just going to completely negate what the Bible says over and over and over and over again that the father loved the son and gave his son and sent his son to be the savior of the world. And notice what it says in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 9. It says, and this was manifested the love of God toward us. What was manifested the love of God toward us? What was it? Because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. It says it twice. This is the way that the love of God was manifested toward us, and not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins, to be the substitute, to take our place. And so it's just crazy to me, okay? It's just crazy, you know, and obviously these modals are a bunch of heretics and everything else. Obviously, this is a side note. This has nothing to do with this subject right here, but Stephen won this garbage. And so I just saw a clip where Kerchway made a video and he's like, the kill shot was this sermon that it was like the knife versus gun and then the kill shot, right? And so he put up like a clip of Baker giving his little thing on 1 Timothy chapter 6, and then Pastor Anderson was explaining it, and then the kill shot was this sermon, right? And so he goes through, I listen to it. I'm like, I gotta hear what he has to say to defend this. And so he's like, there's some preachers out there that say that when it says, which no man can approach unto whom no man has seen nor can see, is talking about the light. Yeah, because that is what it's talking about. But he goes through this whole thing and he's like, Elliot Ray over here, he took this passage and gave it to some website to where they do grammar all the time, and they gave it to that. And they said, well, the object is the potentate and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I'm like, okay, some probably 16-year-old intern online is giving you an answer on this thing and you're gonna take Clyde's answer on this? The guy's name was Clyde, okay? I have nothing against people named Clyde. But what I'm saying here is that that's who you're gonna take your doctrine from? And he said this, okay, he said, well, you know, if the object is light, then, you know, and that's supposed to be God, then why would it say which, you know, why would the pronoun be which, you know, no man can approach unto whom no man has seen? He said, that's just dumb. These people are dumb who would think that which would be used for God. How about I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me and the Bible says this over and over and over again, which was to come, which is, I mean, have you read the Bible? Which is used a lot when it's talking about God. And so it's no marvel that it would say which no man can approach unto whom no man has seen nor can see, because it says that all the time, even one of the most famous verses that people quote all the time, but they usually put who, all the new versions say that, but the King James Version says which and not who. So that's a side note. I just watched that today. I got to get off my chest. And so, you know, talking about straining out of that, you know, they're going online to find some unsaved person's opinion about grammar in the Bible. He has to admit that light is an object, that the light is an object and therefore the which and the whom definitely can be pronouns to that object. He couldn't deny that. So all he had to do, he was like, well, you know, Jesus, when he came down and talked to Paul, you know, that the light, that the light shone, but the people saw the light. It's like, yeah, there's a lot of times lights coming out, but it didn't say it was God the Father. Right? It didn't say God the Father shone round about Jesus. I mean, light is used a lot in the Bible for different things, okay? My friends, there's the light that comes from the sun, there's light that comes from a lot of things, right? How about that Jesus is light, but we can see him. He's the light of the world. Did you think about that? Anyway, I need to get off that subject. We're back in Genesis chapter 22. Sometimes I don't know why I even humor these people with a response, nor do they care to even hear my response, but don't let these fools trick you or fool you into this garbage. I mean, it's just so stupid. In Genesis chapter 22, this is where we see the ram. Here's another parallel. I think the ram, why it's showing a ram here, would probably show that Jesus was a man. He wasn't a child when this happened. He was in his 30s. He was 30 years old when he started his ministry, so he had to probably be around 33. In Genesis chapter 22 in verse 13, it says, and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. There's a lot in here, but obviously the main thing to see here is that the ram was caught in the thicket with his horns, so his horns was in the thicket, and this I believe would represent the crown of thorns. In John chapter 19, if you want to turn there just to see that, and most people already know this, but as you turn to John chapter 19, think about the fact that he offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son, and that's exactly what Jesus did forever. It says that by the grace of God, he would taste death for every man, and he's the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. That's exactly what Jesus did, and so you see all these different parallels in here, but in John chapter 19 verse 1, it says, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews, and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. This is obviously a very familiar idea as far as the fact that Jesus was wearing a crown of thorns, and so we see this pictured here in the Old Testament. I didn't count them all, but there's a lot in there. I didn't count all these, but there's a ton. It's like every single verse, there's this picture of what Christ did, to the point where it's picturing the crown of thorns, it's picturing the third day, all this stuff, the riding on an ass, the two men that are with him, all this stuff. It's amazing how all this fits together. People think, well, men wrote this. Genesis 22, and that it's going to fit. Even if you were going to say this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, that's uncanny. There's just no way. There's no way that you would look at Genesis 22 and be like, I'm going to take all this symbolism stuff and fit this in here. There's no way, and fit with the rest of the Bible at the same time? No. It just shows how pure and holy and magnificent God's word is. This is the word of God. There's no question about it. That's a story with Abraham, where he offered up his son. Notice in verse 14, if you want to see what he called the place, and I'm not saying I understand completely what this means, but if you think about this, if this is where Jesus is going to be crucified, notice what it says in verse 14, it says, Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Think about this. This is obviously something that just happened, but he's saying it shall be seen in the mount of the Lord. What shall be seen? I'm going to provide myself for a lamb. Think about all the stuff we just went over. It's going to be seen in this mountain. I believe strongly that this is exactly where Jesus was crucified, and that's why he called the Jehovah-Jireh saying, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. They shall look on him whom they have pierced. All this stuff obviously that goes into this. This chapter is fantastic. When I was going through this chapter, doing the study, I'm like, I have no problem writing notes on this thing. Some of these chapters I've gone through and I'm like, when you go through the genealogies and stuff like that, we went through some of those chapters in Genesis, like 5 and 11. It's just like, okay. Obviously, I preach long sometimes, but I don't want to cheapen the fact that when you come here and you take the time to drive here, I want you to get something out of the sermon. I don't want to just be like, we're going through the motions, we've got to get through this chapter. No, I want it to be something that you say, hey, I learned something. I at least got a lot of Bible that night, but this chapter was not a challenge for me to find information. It was just like popping out of the page. As we go down here, notice what it says in verse 15. Now we get into a very important passage where it says in verse 15, it says, an angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. Now I believe when it says the second time is the first time is when he said, don't slay your son. Don't kill him. That's what I believe it's saying, why it's saying the second time. It says in verse 16 and said, by myself have I sworn, said the Lord, for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou has to bathe my voice. So this is interesting because he'd already promised this, but it says that by myself have I sworn. So now he's confirming it by an oath. Now this makes Hebrews chapter 6 make a lot of sense. Go to Hebrews chapter 6. So when you're reading through Hebrews chapter 6, you may wonder to yourself, what does it mean by this, by two immutable things and all this? Because he had already promised to Abraham that he would do this. Now he's saying that he's swearing by himself. It'd be kind of like if I said, hey, I'm going to go to the, you know, I'm trying to think of something to do. I'm going to go out sowing with you this Saturday. Let's say I said that to somebody and then I swore that I was going. It's enough for me just to say it. And knowing that God can't lie, that's what this is talking about, that there's two immutable things. Knowing that God can't lie, that just because he said it, it'd be true, but also because he swore by an oath and he bound it by himself. Now that's what it's talking about here in Hebrews chapter 6. Now what's interesting though is that, you know, going through this chapter and we were kind of talking about James chapter 2 and all that stuff and that link as far as perfecting your faith, it makes Hebrews chapter 6 make a lot of sense. Remember we were talking about how you had to be a friend of God and that was on top of being saved. You know, you had to be saved first. Now think about this, going to Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 9. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 9 says, But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that, what, accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your, what, work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, and that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that ye be not slothful but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So he's talking to these Christians saying, you know, that I am persuaded better things of you, things that accompany salvation, not things that give you salvation. And when you couple that, what's going to be said right after here is dealing with what was said after he offered his son Isaac and that's in James chapter 2, that that's mentioned, that when he offered up Isaac that his faith was perfected and he was called the friend of God. That's what accompanies salvation, better things, right? And you notice that it's talking about his labor of love, his work and his labor of love. Faith without works is dead and by your works you can perfect your faith. And so all this stuff fits like the love. The Bible is just like a big puzzle that just all fits together. And so, but he's giving Abraham as an example. So he goes through this. He's giving you this information, right? And then he's giving you Abraham as an example of that, just like James 2. And so Abraham, notice what it says in verse 13. For when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself. Look familiar? Because in Genesis chapter 22 it says, by myself have I sworn. That's what this is talking about. It's going back to Genesis chapter 22. Saying surely I will bless, surely, I'm sorry, surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. That's exactly what he says. And he goes, obviously in Genesis 22 it goes into more detail about the sand that is on the seashore and all that. And notice in verse 15, and so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise. Notice in verse 16, for men verily swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. So they're basically saying that, you know, if we were to swear we'd swear by God or by something else, right? Something higher than us. But you know what this is showing? That there is no one higher than God. That he is the highest, right? The son of the highest. I mean, you think about that. I mean, God is the highest. So he swore by himself. He swore by himself because he is the highest thing to swear by. And he confirmed it by an oath and that's the end of all strife. The Bible says wherein, verse 17, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. So God's just wanting to show more abundantly that this is going to happen. He didn't have to do this. He could have just said he was doing it and it would happen, right? Because his word could not be broken. But notice in verse 18 that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. So I believe that's why it's telling you it's impossible for God to lie. Because even if he didn't swear by an oath, he still couldn't have lied, right? That's the other immutable thing, right? Obviously you'd say that the oath is immutable, you know. That's what you would say was definitely something that he couldn't take back. But the fact that if he just spoke it and said he was going to do it, let your yay be yay and your nay nay, right? And so God's going to do it. And everything in Christ is yay and, you know, is amen. And so, but that's what this is talking about. So when it says by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, that's what that means is that it's impossible for God to lie and he confirmed it by an oath. And it says that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters into that within the veil. Now, what's interesting about this is that it's talking about the promise that was made to Abraham. All this is talking about the oath that was made to Abraham and what is this talking about? Who's the anchor? Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, which, there's another which by the way, I didn't even plan that one, okay, it's just all over, okay, it's just not in a corner, okay, which enters into that within the veil? Well, which entered into the veil? Who entered into the veil? Whether the forerunners for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever at the order of Melchizedek. Hand in glove, I mean, now to Abraham and to see where the promise is made, he says not unto seeds as of many, but as of one and unto thy seed, which is Christ. So I mean, all this fits like a glove. That seed in which all the nations of the earth would be blessed is Jesus. And so that, but there's also more information, there's something else I want to show you here. Go to Luke chapter one. So you know, what's interesting about this is that Luke chapter, in Luke chapter one, Zacharias, and this is what I'm going to end on, okay, Zacharias is the father of John the Baptist. And he's filled with the Holy Ghost and he prophesies, and he brings up this oath, okay, so we see in Hebrews chapter six, the oath is brought up, but Zacharias also brings up this oath. And so in first, in Luke chapter one, so you know, they all understood this, you know, if you think about it, Abraham believed this, David believed it, he believed that out of the fruit of his loins, God would sit on his throne, okay? That's what it says in Psalms. And Zacharias believed this, the father of John the Baptist, so you know, this whole idea of like some other gospel or some other way to be saved, I mean, it's just not in the Bible. And when you dig deeper into this stuff, it's even way more clear it's not in the Bible and that it's always been the same. And so in Luke chapter one and verse 67, so kind of toward the end there of the chapter, so Luke chapter one and verse 67, and Mary kind of says the same, you know, like Mary and Elizabeth and all the stuff they're saying is similar too, but it brings up specifically the oath that God swore to Abraham. And so in verse 67 it says, and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up and horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. So that's a key to remember here is that what he's talking about here has been since the world began, and they've been prophesying about it since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath, which he swear to our father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. So the key here is that it's talking about the oath and it's saying this holy covenant, this holy covenant that he made with Abraham when he swore this oath, and notice he keeps saying be saved from your enemies, be saved from your enemies, sound familiar to what it says back in Genesis chapter 22, because Genesis chapter 22, it says that same type of language. Notice in verse 17, so you know he's talking about the same passage, and he's saying that there's going to be a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, that if you know Zacharias comes from Levi, so he's not talking about John the Baptist, he's talking about Jesus, and so in verse 17 it says that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and it says and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. See the similarity in what he's saying, you know that we're going to possess the gates of our enemies, he's going to deliver us, he's going to deliver out of our hand our enemies, and so that's very clear. Now an interesting fact about this is that there's only one other place that holy covenants ever mentioned in the Bible and it's in Daniel chapter 11, and it's dealing with the Antichrist and how they forsook the holy covenant and they were going after those that kept the holy covenant. It's the only other place that's mentioned, and so is it no marvel that when you get into Revelation it's talking about how he's going to make war with the saints and those that keep his commandments because we're not talking about, now you can look at, and here's the thing, when you look at that passage in Daniel you can definitely look at it as like the holy covenant, it can be encompassing like when you're in the Old Testament and then when you're in the New Testament, right? But particularly if you were going to look for a definition of what the holy covenant is, it's not talking about the Old Testament or New Testament as far as the ordinances, it's more so talking about the fact that the covenant he made with Abraham, talking about salvation. Now obviously in the New Testament it's more so you see that, right, because Christ through the New Testament and through his blood and all this stuff, and that's the everlasting New Testament, that's the true and holy testament, right? But that's just an interesting fact. Also it talks about the fact that he's going to save us from our enemies. Now you say, well that kind of seems more like a physical salvation, right? Well in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 26 it says, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So what's the main enemy that we want to be saved from? Death. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so death is an enemy, so he's saving us from all our enemies. But even that last enemy, death, right? Because he did that, we were dead in trespasses and sin, but he's quickened us spiritually and eventually in the last day he's going to raise our bodies up too. And at the very end there's going to be no more death, okay? Death and hell are cast at the lake of fire, that's the second death, and that's when death is completely destroyed. And so you can see all how that works. And so why are you saying you're going to be saved from your enemies? How about the devil? You know, the works of the devil. How about death, right? And so all that fits. Now just to cap this off, at the end of the chapter here, really at the end of the chapter it's more so just talking about the fact of where Rebekah comes from. Okay, so if you want to go back to Genesis chapter 22, we don't have to read it all, but basically Abraham had a brother Haran and Nahor, and Haran died. He's the one that had Lot. You remember he took Lot underneath his wing, his nephew, because his father died before he died. But Nahor had other children and that's what it's saying here is that he had a son by Milcah and his son's name was Bethuel, if that's how you say it, Bethuel, in verse 22. And it says, And Bethuel begat Rebekah. So we see Rebekah mentioned. Now obviously we're going to see here in chapter 24 where Isaac is going to marry Rebekah, but it shows you that when it says that he went to his people to find Rebekah, that's who she came out of. And so just giving you a little information there about Rebekah. And so we don't really need to go too far into that. We're not going to talk about, find out all the information about Milcah and all this other stuff, okay? But that's Genesis chapter 22, a lot of information, a lot of good stuff. I mean the prophecies and the foreshadowing is amazing in this chapter, one of my favorite chapters honestly in the Bible. And so I'm just going to be honest with you, just looking through it, studying this out, I just saw little things that I hadn't seen before. And I've already known about the horns and the thicket and different things like that, but there's just certain little things. I never really studied it out to even see where Moriah was at until I studied this out. To see that that was at Jerusalem. And I've heard that before, but sometimes you hear things and you wonder if that's true. You know, is that Jewish tradition, you know what I mean? You never know sometimes when you hear this in a Baptist church if it's just like, you know, they're just pulling that out from like some commentary somewhere. But that's actually in the Bible. And so a lot of good stuff. So Genesis chapter 22, a great chapter. So let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today and we just pray that you'd be with us as we go home tonight and be with us as we go back to work and throughout the week and pray for traveling mercies. And Lord, we just want to thank you tonight for dying on the cross for our sins. And Lord, Father, for sending your son and loving us so much that you give your only begotten son for our sins. And Lord, we thank you for eternal life. We thank you for everything that you've done for us. We thank you for your word. And Lord, help us not to take it for granted. Help us not to just put it on the shelf somewhere during the week, but to pick it up and just know that it's infinite. It's infinite. We'll never be able to find out all the truths in our lifetime. And Lord, just pray that you'd teach us your Bible through your Holy Spirit. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.