(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

OK, so we're up to Genesis 22 now. And last week in Genesis 21, Sarah gave birth to Isaac at 90 years old. It was a miraculous birth, picturing the birth of Christ, wasn't it, where it was a miracle. With Isaac, the child of promise being a Christ figure, and we're gonna see that in more depth shortly. After that, Abraham, so after this birth of Isaac, he made this feast when Isaac was weaned, somewhere probably between a year and a few years old. And Abraham's first son, Ishmael, who was somewhere, in fact, upwards of 14, I think I was talking about him being 14 last week, and he was upwards of that. It would have been a year on that he was 14, let alone however many years old Isaac was weaned. So probably somewhere around 16, something like that. He was mocking, and we saw how this was a picture of the children of the flesh, the genetic Jews, persecuted the children of promised believers. And we looked at that in depth last week. And Genesis 4, explaining the allegory for us, which then meant that we could look at Genesis 21 with that in mind and learn more, couldn't we? With the bread and water represented the word of God, Ishmael not surviving on what he was given, but eventually calling out to God and being given a well of water, picturing salvation, wasn't it? And that those physical Jews, having the ability of salvation. So they did have that ability, didn't they? They could get saved. However, there is no such thing now. Again, you can look at that and suddenly you start picturing these kind of bizarre orthodoxists, whatever you want to call them, or not, or just like people that call themselves a Jew because they've got a Stein or Berg at the end of their name or something. And that's not what it's talking about. There is no such thing. There are no physical Jews anymore, just followers of a wicked false religion, or not followers of a wicked false religion who just seem to think that they somehow have inherited the false religion. Anyway, the picture of the end was of him marrying back into Egypt and that physical seed merging with the world. That's, for me, what that was anyway. That's the end of that. And after that, Abraham had a bit of grief with Abimelech and Phichol. Abraham complained that his men had violently taken away one of his wells. They then made a covenant with the seven new lambs, seemingly significant. Genesis 21, 30 says, and he said for the seven new lambs, shout thou take of my hand that they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well. And a few of you had a few ideas about the seven lambs, and that's about as far as we got. We got ideas, we got some suggestions out there, but not enough to preach on yet. So again, if anyone could get to the bottom of that, get up here and preach a 10-minute on it. If you think you could do it in 10 minutes, let me know for men's preaching. But I haven't got far enough with that. Okay, ended with Abraham planting some trees and calling on God, and he wasn't calling on God for salvation. Okay, he's already saved Abraham, but he was calling on God. And verse 32 says us, they made a covenant in Beersheba, then Abimelech rose up and Phichol, the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines, and Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days. Then Genesis 22 in verse one begins with, and it came to pass off these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. I'd like to pray before we continue with the chapter. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this great chapter, the Bible chapter, with just, well, an amazing picture in it, Lord, and just help me to preach that just clearly, Lord, and in a way that everyone would just be able to really follow and pay attention to what you were saying, Lord. Help me to preach some of those other points just in an edifying way, a way where people will go away and want to apply them to their lives as well. Help all these things to be done in Jesus Christ's holy name. Amen. Okay, so, so far we've seen, Abraham makes some pretty big mistakes, haven't we? We've seen him lying about his wife. Okay, look, he was lying. Yes, I appreciate that they claim that, okay, and probably was, that she was some sort of half-sister. However, he was still deceiving, okay? It was lying. And we've seen him backsliding, you know, after the destruction of Sodom. You know, he ended up in Gera, didn't he? But what was great about Abraham was that when God called him, he said, behold, here I am. He just said, behold, here I am. Yeah, I'm here. You're calling me God? I'm here for you, right? And, you know, you might say, well, look, God hasn't audibly called me, but he has, okay? He's called every single one of you here, right? He's called you through his word, okay? He calls you through his word. He continues to call you through his word, okay? He calls you, he says, whatever your name is, he says, Bembele, Bembele. He says, Junior, Junior. He says, like any of you guys here, he calls you, he's calling you, he's calling out to you, and he's got this book full of things for you, full of instructions, full of things he wants you to do, wants you to do in your life. He's calling to you just as much as he's calling to Abraham there. He called you, firstly, to salvation, and not in a weird Calvinist, I'm the chosen one way, okay? He called everyone to salvation. John 12, 32 says, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. You get these people like, you know, I just think that he just drew me. No, look, he draws everyone, all right? Okay, sadly, many reject, but he called you for salvation, and since salvation, he has called you many times. Many times, he's called you to do certain obvious things, right, that we'll never stop preaching about from this church. He called you to preach the gospel, didn't he? You'd have to turn in Mark 16, 15, talking to his disciples, and everyone here is, I hope, wanting to be at least a potential disciple. He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And that applies to every single person here, okay? He called you to preach the gospel. He's called you to living a holy life. In Romans 12, one, he said through the apostle Paul, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And it's your reasonable service to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. He's called you to service in that verse as well, hasn't he, in many other places. And there are many ways that he's called us to serve him. But is your response, behold, here I am? Is that your response? Behold, here I am. Are you saying, basically, look, I'm here, I'm here. If you did, would he have to look far? You know, and maybe not you that are here tonight, but maybe on other nights or maybe on other times, would he have to kind of look around for you, look in the shadows, look in, you know, find you hiding under the duvet where you should be doing something for God or something else, right? Would you respond straight away? And look, many people, when God calls, they don't respond straight away. In Abraham, we just see this example time and time again, don't we? Yeah, Abraham made mistakes. We're all gonna make mistakes. And it's not an encouragement to make mistakes. However, regardless of what you've done in the past and what you might do in the future, when God calls, when you know God's calling you, and look, when you read your Bible, God's calling you, right, is your answer, behold, here I am. Behold, here I am. Look, I'm here, God, I'm ready to serve you. I'm ready to do what you want me to do. And now, just because you say that, it doesn't mean that the task is gonna be easy, though. Right, serving God isn't always easy, is it? Any of you, look, if any of you kind of got conned into the old Christianity must be the easy, oh, I'm saved now, it's just gonna be a bed of roses. It's not like that, okay? It's not the easy life, but it is a fulfilling life. You know, look, serving God isn't the easy thing. The easy thing is just being like the rest of the world. That's easy. It's easy to just sit at home doing nothing, playing computer games, you know, watching junk, listening to trash, you know, just fitting in with everyone else, acting like them, walking like them, talking like them, dressed like them, that's the easy bit, right? That's for the losers. That's for the people that can't even do what, they just can't stand up and be themselves, right? They can't stand up and be what God wants them to be because it's too easy just to fit in with everyone else. But the difficult bit is actually serving him. However, when you do that, it's fulfilling, isn't it? Isn't it fulfilling? But none of us, regardless of what he asks us to do in the word of God, yeah, none of us have been asked to do what Abraham was asked to do here. I don't think anyone has it, okay? And if you think, look, any of you start saying, God whispered to me at the night and told me to kill my child. Well, let us know and we'll get the police down in a minute. Yeah, that's weird, right? But look, we haven't, okay? But because look what he's asked to do. I mean, it's unbelievable this. Verse two, it says, and he said, "'Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, "'whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah "'and offer him there for a burnt offering "'upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.'" Can you imagine this? Look, this isn't just some story, okay? This happened, these events happened. Abraham, this man of God, who wasn't a great deal different to you and I, okay? However, he just lived many thousands of years ago. Abraham had God come to him in the night and tell him he needs to take his son, his only son whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Now, it's his son, his son that was a miracle, and yeah, you're going, wait a sec, is that his only son? What about Ishmael? But the other son has been cast out, hasn't he? The other son's cast out. He's the only one recognises his son. And of course, look, Isaac continues to be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, counters Abraham's only son, okay? That's part of that as well, is that we're seeing a picture here. He is counted like that, you know, he's counted as the only son now, he's cast out, Ishmael. And he also said his son whom he loves. And you don't have to turn it, but John 3.35 says, the father loveth the son, that was Jesus, or in fact, it's the Apostle John talking, the father loveth the son and has given all things into his hand, okay? So here, you know, we're seeing that picture as well of obviously the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, Isaac was to inherit all things from Abraham, wasn't he? Rather than this Eliezer of Damascus, his steward, you know, he was to inherit all things. But what was it that Isaac was being offered as, by the way? It was a burnt offering, wasn't it? They say he's being offered as a burnt offering. Now, turn to Matthew chapter 12. Look, I know many people hear a sound on this, but it does need preaching because no one else seems to be preaching this, at least in this nation. Why was it a burnt offering and not just a sacrifice? And it's gonna tie in a bit later as well. It's not like he was going to get eaten, okay? Cannibalism wasn't okay then, it never has been, okay? So it wasn't like, right, well, we're gonna cook him up, you know, because everyone can have a piece of him. It's because he was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, he was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, hence he was being offered as a burnt offering. It wasn't just, okay, well, you need to take him up there and you just need to like have some picture of the cross, kill him and it is finished. Yeah, it was finished there, but Jesus Christ still had somewhere to go, didn't he? And in Matthew 12.40, Jesus explains where he was headed. It says in Matthew 12.40, Jesus Christ said, for his Jonas, he's talking about Jonah, was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What's the heart of the earth? The center. Okay, if we talk about the heart of something, we're talking about the center of something. The tomb that Jesus Christ's physical body was laid in was hewn out in a rock, okay? Joseph of Arimathea hadn't led a team of excavators for 4,000 miles approximately to the center of the earth. Okay, that's not what the tomb was. I know they like to have the little pictures of the steps going down. Don't matter how far down they went, they never went to the heart of the earth, all right? That's not where he was. He was in a tomb hewn out of the rock, it said. Jesus referred to Jonah, who was another picture of Christ, wasn't he? And those three days and three nights, burning in stomach acid in a whale's belly. And I think often, I remember when we preached through Jonah trying to make this clear, because again, you see the old kids cartoons and things, and obviously I think Pinocchio was a big one when I was young, and people just have this image of maybe Jonah like sort of cooking up on the barbecue, you know, in his kind of beaten up old raft or something and just hanging around the whale's belly gun. I hope he vomits me up sometime, right? Okay, but that's not really what the picture was. The picture was of a man burning in stomach acid in a creature's belly for three days and three nights. Why? Because it was a picture of hell. And it was picturing Jesus Christ tasting death, spiritual death, for every man. In Jonah 2, 2, Jonah's praying out of the fish's belly, and it says, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction to the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly of hell. He said, out of the belly of hell, cried I, and now heard is my voice. It's pretty clear, isn't it? Yeah, pretty clear for me. I don't see any issue with that. Jesus Christ said it. He talks about Jonah. Jonah's talking about being in the belly of hell. Well, you see what that's a picture of. That's what those three days of three nights pictured. And that's why in Acts 2, 31, Peter refers to the prophecy of David from Psalm 16, saying he's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. That his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. So his soul, he said, wasn't left in hell. Jesus Christ said that he would be in the heart of the earth for three days or three nights. We know that his body was in a tomb, hewn out of some rock. It definitely wasn't in the heart of the earth. I mean, why did he say that his soul was not left in hell if his soul didn't go to hell? Why was Jonah a picture of that? Who said, out of the belly of hell, cried I? And the reason, you know, in case you're going, well, you know, why are you kind of making this point so much? It's amazing how many professing Bible believers seem so upset by this truth. I mean, majorly upset. I mean, these guys start calling this like heresy. Some of them call it damnable heresy. They're like, heresy. They go, it's Catholic heresy. I've heard these guys say it, right? They claim to believe the Bible. They claim to believe the word of God. They claim to be independent, fundamental Baptist pastors. And this like vexes them like nothing else. He did not go there, Catholics, get them, hunt them. You know, and it's like, what's your problem? The Bible says it clear as day, doesn't it? What is their problem? Why would you take that away from the Lord Jesus Christ? It's bizarre, absolutely bizarre. And, but it's why back in Genesis 22 that Isaac was being offered as a burnt offering. It's why we see many, many lambs and other things being offered as burnt offerings, burnt offering, burnt offering, burnt offering. It's why, for example, the, you know, the Passover lamb was to be a burnt offering. And we know that's a picture in Christ. The whole point is it's a burnt offering. And here in verse two of Genesis 22, it says, and he said, take now the son and only son Isaac whom thou lovest, clearly a picture of Christ here, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. By the way, he did say to offer him, didn't he? Which is exactly what happened. In case you've ever wondered, thought, oh, God was tricking him. Well, did he trick him? He didn't, he said, take thy son and offer him. And he took his son and he offered him. And that's exactly what happened, right? Anyway, by the way, Moriah is East Jerusalem where Solomon built the temple, where the angel had appeared to a David on the threshing floor of Arunah, the Jebusite. That's where this took place. And again, we don't know if it's in that exact spot, but that's the area where it is. So he basically goes to basically the Jerusalem area to do this, right? It says in verse three, and Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and claved the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went onto the place of which God had told him. Now, Abraham was told to do the hardest thing you could possibly be told to do, right? I don't think anyone here has ever been told to probably do anything like that. And what did he do? He rose up early. I mean, this is like, I mean, what a man, really. He's told to do something by God that anyone else here would like, you'd at least have a lie in that day. Man, you wouldn't really want to just get up and get on with it. You'd find some excuses. You'd hope maybe if I hang around long enough, God's going to come to me and say, okay, I've changed my mind. Maybe something's going to change, something's going to happen. You would possibly just put it off and put it off and say, okay, I'll do it at some point. And Abraham rose up early in the morning. God told him to do something, so he rose up early in the morning. And, you know, you can't go through these verses without just reminding everyone in the church like this that God tells us to do some stuff. And do you know what would be a good idea? It would be to rise up early and do that stuff, wouldn't it? God tells you to read the word, doesn't he? God tells you to read his, but I mean, it's hardly slaying your son, is it? It's hardly going on a three day journey to then slay your son. God tells you to read his word. God tells you to get up and read the Bible. Now, if you turn to Psalm 143 in verse eight, David said, He said, cause me to hear your word in the morning, yet how many people, I'm sure, sadly, how many people in this church, when it comes to Bible reading, will not read their Bible in the morning? Why? Because you'd have to get up earlier. Abraham got up early to take his son to what he thought was he was about to kill him. And he got up early to do it. And we're told to read our Bibles every day, aren't we? Yeah, you know, blessed is a man who basically meditates in that word day and night, right? Okay, you want to be blessed, you want to do as God wants you to do, you should be meditating in it day and night. I just read from Psalm 143, where David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is God writing to you, saying, cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for a need do I trust. Where does his loving kindness come from? The word of God. Yeah, how many people won't even, it's like, but, you know, I'm going to lose out on 30 minutes sleep. 15 minutes. You read it 15 minutes a day. In the morning, you get through the Bible every year. Once a year. Yet how many instead will opt for the lion? And you ain't being told to kill your son. What about praying? Because some people might get up to read the Bible, but, oh, I don't know if I can fit in that prayer as well. That's kind of getting a bit too much now for the Lord, isn't it? Oh, you know, what does he want from me? Oh, I want to be to pray as well. Okay, I'll get the Bible reading in, but, well, again, King David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in Psalm 5.3, and again, you know, you have to turn to it's a quick verse, said, my voice shout thou here in the morning. He said, my voice shout thou here in the morning. Oh Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up. But again, how many people, sadly, in a church like this, and when I say in a church like this, I just mean, look, we've got some great people here. We've got people that love the Lord. We've got people that want to be in church, that want to serve the Lord, that want to sow in yet still. Are they getting up in the morning and lifting up their voice to the Lord? Are they looking up and praying to God? Or are they looking for their breakfast? Or are they looking for the caffeine fix? Or are they looking for whatever else? And when they should be, first thing in the morning, praying to the Lord, right? I don't think David just put that in there just for a laugh. He put that in there because it should be an example to us, shouldn't it? It's an example to us. And like I said, they're easy things, aren't they? Praying to God, reading the Bible, how hard is that? Getting a routine, put it on your phone. Do you know what I find? And just in case anyone sit here going, yeah, you're kind of talking to me here, brother Ian. Sorry, Pastor Tavenner. Okay, I'm starting to realise at least when I do it, okay? Okay, but look, maybe you are. Maybe think you're talking to me. Do you know what I think really helps, yeah? Put it on your calendar. Put it on your calendar. You might be like, yeah, but I'm just going to do it anyway. I get up, I do this. But for me, when I have it on my calendar on the phone, on that odd morning where kind of something gets in the way or, you know, one of the kids does this or that and then my calendar comes up and it's like, you know, whatever verse next to the, whatever chapter of the Bible next in my Bible reading. It's like, yeah. It takes that extra bit of rebelliousness, basically, to just swipe that off and go with my day. Doesn't it? It's like that extra little bit, which we don't want, do we? Have it on your, have something to remind you and tell you, right, it's time to read my Bible. And with that, pray before you read your Bible, yeah? If you pray first, you're going to do the prayer, aren't you? And if that's your routine, you have it on your calendar. It's set there for whatever time it is that you need to get up to be able to read the Bible first. It's quite a simple concept, isn't it? But you know what? That could be life changing for someone out there today, right? Life changing. Put it on your calendar, get in a routine and don't swipe God away on that calendar, right? Because Abraham, and then maybe, maybe you could put on the calendar as well, Abraham rose up early to slay his son. I mean, that's something else, isn't it? And it just, all of our excuses just, doesn't that just show them for what they really are? So anyway, also in that verse, chapter three, verse three, wasn't it? Said, and Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass. It tells me that Isaac probably arrived in Jerusalem on the ass as well. Just thinking about that. Obviously, Jesus Christ hid on an ass and a colt, the fold of an ass. And the wood, we're going to see in a minute representing the cross as well. Verse four says, then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place of fire off. That was a three day journey. And then it says in verse five, and Abraham said unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And notice how Abraham implied that they would come again, didn't he? So he's implying that, no, we're going to both return. And, you know, we're going to see anyway that he had some faith that it would work out in the end and whether or not he was talking about maybe in the future. Verse six 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. And this is picturing Jesus bearing the cross. And if you're going, well, didn't Simon and Cyrenian bear it? Jesus Christ bared his own cross as well. And we know that, I think, because John chapter 19 and verse 17 says, and he bearing his cross, and it's referring to Christ, and he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. So between himself and Simon and Cyrenian, Jesus Christ bared his cross as well. Here we see that he laid it upon Isaac, his son, the wood, okay, here. And again, these are just pictures, pictures of Christ. You go, no, you're stretching. I'm not stretching here. Isaac clearly is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, doesn't it just show just, like the Bible's just absolutely amazing, isn't it? I mean, these events are a couple of thousand years before. They're written down 1,500 years before. Jesus Christ then fulfilling these pictures. And again, these are like, I mean, this is written by Moses. You know, I have no reason to believe it wasn't, you know, written by Moses. And then we're talking like 1,500 years later, Jesus Christ fulfilling these pictures. You can't, like, it's impossible. Just one of the hundreds of reasons why we just, we know, because we know, because our faith comes by hearing the word of God, doesn't it? But it's just, it's such an amazing book, isn't it? But anyway, let's keep going. So we see, we see then in verse seven, 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? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. Now this is for me, clear as day prophetic statement. I know some people go, well, you know, it could be, no, no, it is, okay. This is prophetic. He didn't say God will himself provide a lamb, did he? He didn't say God will himself provide a lamb. He said, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. He said, God will. Didn't he provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering, which is exactly what God did 2000 years later. Jesus Christ being God manifest in the flesh. God provided himself, God provided himself a lamb for a burnt offering. John 1 29 says, the next day, John the seer of Jesus coming unto him and said, behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. That's what he was, the lamb of God. And by the way, just while I was looking at this, I was just thinking about the term, the phrase, the lamb of God. It's not the lamb from God, is it? It's a lamb of God. It's a lamb of God. I don't know if you've ever thought about that phrase before where that basically is saying, it's a lamb of God, because it is God. It's a lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world, right? But what is it that Abraham is saying to Isaac? I believe that he's saying, God will pay for your sins, he'll taste death for every man, you'll be okay. That's what I think he's saying here. He just said in verse eight, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. So he said, look, God's gonna provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Basically he's gonna, for me, he's saying he's gonna do it, he's gonna make that sacrifice, he's gonna provide himself, so, don't miss a so there, so they went both of them together. That's, for me, Isaac willingly going with him after he's explained that, that's amazing, isn't it? Isaac went willingly, and continuing what? The picture of Jesus Christ, who also went willingly. 1 John 3.16 says, hereby perceived with the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Now we saw the anxiety just before the end, but Jesus Christ gave his life for us willingly. Jesus Christ died on that cross for us willingly. And Isaac, still a picture of Christ, seems to go willingly, doesn't he? He's told that God will provide himself a lamb for burnt offering, so they went both of them together. Verse nine then 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. The wood picturing the cross, yeah? Now yes, he bound him, but there's no evidence of any struggle, is there? Is there any evidence of any struggle here? The beginning of the next chapter, by the way, starts with Sarah dying at 127 years old. That would make Isaac at that point 37 years old when she died, yeah? What age was he here? Genesis 21, 34 says, and Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days. Okay, so we saw the end of the last chapter that he sojourned many days. Genesis 22 and verse one, the beginning of the chapter says, it came to pass after these things. So we just know it's at some point after that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, he said, behold, here I am. So it's at any point of the many days after the weaning. So we saw that he sojourned in the Philistines land many days. That took place after the weaning. Now some would say 33. You heard people say that before? They're saying, well, he's a picture of Christ. They believe that he was probably 33 years old. Now I don't think we can say that for sure unless anyone maybe has just starting to think of maybe there's a New Testament verse where I don't know if anyone knows this where he talks about him being a picture, but I might be wrong here. But either way, I don't think there's any secure evidence for that. So he was, though, we know able to carry a load of wood up a mountain. So I don't think he's just been weaned at this point, okay? Well, maybe they weaned him a bit later, right? Okay, but I don't think so. So I believe he is a man here, okay? I believe he probably is probably a bit older as well. And I think that at this point he is representing Christ. I think he probably is maybe a 30-something-year-old man. I don't know. Abraham at well over 100 years old, look, wherever he was, he didn't have to use some old Chaldean moves on him, did he? He didn't say there was any struggle. He didn't say that Abraham gripped him up and used some of that, sort of some of those skills. He didn't do any of that. I believe that he gave himself willingly, okay? Because he did say, so they went both of them together in verse eight. And in verse nine, he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood, but we're not seeing any evidence of struggle. I don't believe there was. And for that reason, look, we've been lifting up Abraham for just responding to what he was told getting on with it. And fair enough, this is absolutely amazing what he just got up early in the morning to go and do. But what about Isaac? Willingly, for me, giving his life for God. Willingly, isn't he? Saying, Abraham's told me to do this because God's told him to do this. And he seems to be willingly doing it for me knowing that he would be in glory. Hence the verse that God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. So they went both of them together. And again, my question here is, are we willing to give up our lives for God? Are we? And again, let's take away the physical part, our physical lives, and I know that's a hard thing to do, right? Are many people really willing to literally die physically for God? Maybe you'd say you would. I don't know how real that would be when it came to the crunch. But how about other parts for our life? How about our worldly social lives? A lot of Christians aren't willing to give that stuff up for God, are they? Their social lives outside of church, outside when they're away from church. Maybe their social lives in the workplace where they don't really want to appear to be too much of that weird Christian. I'll just pretend I'm not really into it that much. Oh, well, I don't know. Just kind of go to church and that's it. Maybe I won't really mention church. Or maybe it's our popularity with others, maybe with unsaved family members and stuff. People just don't really want to draw those lines, right? And again, you get people that go the other way and make a point of drawing lines that they don't really necessarily need to, but there are many that just maybe they just don't really want to give up that, right? They don't really want to at least appear to be what they really are. They maybe compromise a bit too much. Maybe for some it's a career, isn't it? Maybe that career is just that little bit too tempting to then be able to be in church, to be able to be doing the things of God, to be able to, maybe it's a job where maybe, you know, your morals are being tested with that, but you don't want to give it up. Or maybe it's just those hours and everything else they keep you away from God, but however, it's a great career. Some aren't willing to give that up. In fact, some will do the opposite and actually leave church and leave the things of God for a career, right? What about our wealth? Many people don't want to give that up for God, do they? And that could be through a career, certain job choices, certain things. Maybe, you know, but if I moved all the way over there, I'll be able to own a house and be rich in the future. And people do that stuff, don't they? And then it pulls them out of the things of God away from God, not being able to be in church, not being able to soul win. Maybe they would have to cut down on the hours at work to be able to serve God. And let alone our physical lives. And Isaac here, for me, was willingly ready to give up his physical life because God required it of him. And again, the bar's up there, isn't it? And we can, every single one of us can look at that and think, yeah, I'd fall short of that, right, in one way or another. Verse 10 says, And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Okay, so let's get back to Abraham, though. What a tough thing to do, right? Abraham was willing. He was ready and willing to do this, wasn't he? I mean, what an amazing, you just can't make it up. And he loved him, make no mistake, you know? God made it clear that his son, who he loved, right, that he didn't withhold, and Abraham was ready to slay him because he thought that that's what God required of him. And then verse 11 says, And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, here am I. And Isaac probably went, phew! I don't know, like I said, it looked like that was pretty willing, but 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 fear'st God, seeing that thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And by the way, it doesn't say much for the children of the flesh that, does it? Because even God's saying, your only son, because what did we see, that he was cast away, Ishmael, he was a picture of the children of the flesh. The picture of the Jews. And God is looking down and going, this is your only son. The child of promise. He wasn't like, until in the future, you know, because God's not done with him yet. No, your only son, right? But anyway, verse 13, and it says, And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. So God did provide a ram, but not a lamb. Because he said he'd provide himself a lamb. This isn't a lamb. A ram is a male sheep over 12 months old, a lamb being under 12 months. However, we know that Jesus Christ represents a sinless lamb. He was the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. And that's because he will still provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. That was 100% a prophetic statement there. Verse 14 says, And 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. So Jehovah will see is what that means. And he will see what each of us is made of too. Yeah, he knows. He knows your heart. He knows what you're willing to do, what you're not, how far we will go for him. He knows that, doesn't he? And look, he will see. And we can kind of look, because some of us that, many people, many Christians out there, they can kind of appear one way, can't they? And appear, you know, in church and in front of other Christians, in front of everyone else. But God knows what you're really about, doesn't he? He knows what's really in your heart and what you're willing to do for him and what you're putting above him. You know, and God knows, God sees. Jehovah-jireh means God, Jehovah will see. Verse 15 says, And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son, thy 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 a cause fulfilled in all believers with that seed being Jesus Christ. Now, there's a purposeful connection here where that willingness to sacrifice his only son, being a picture of Christ, resulted in the physical line to Christ and the multitudes of those saved by him, right? But what does it mean where he then said that thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies? Now, the context here is that we're talking about the spiritual seed here, okay? Do believers possess the gate of their enemies? Do you currently possess the gate of your enemies? And gate being the entry in and out of a place, yeah? Do you possess that? Well, certainly not in this life where we're persecuted. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter, aren't we? I know I'm not possessing the gate of my enemies. I'm sure you guys aren't really either. No, the seed here is talking about Jesus Christ who shall possess the gate of his enemies, okay? He shall possess the gate of his enemies. Now, turn to Matthew 16 to understand this properly. Did Jesus Christ possess the physical gate of his enemies? Well, not in the first coming, okay? He didn't. Now, some might argue, you could argue that he's talking about the millennial reign to come where Jesus Christ will rule the earth with a rod of iron. However, this for me has a very clear fulfillment in the first coming of Jesus Christ. And now, in Matthew 16, Jesus is asking his disciples who they think that he is. It says in Matthew 16 and verse 15, he saith unto them, but who say ye that I am? This is Matthew 16 and verse 15. And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Great statement, that, isn't it? And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjina, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Okay, so this passage of scripture, and I know some of you may remember me preaching through this in Matthew 16, but I wanna go over it briefly again. This passage has been debated over the years, okay, with the Catholics claiming Peter is the first pope and the rock being talked about here, which the church is built on, and then others saying, no, Christ is the rock, okay, and that's what he's referring to. And then more recently, there are those, you know, good people that don't believe that Peter is a pope, but still believe that he's a rock here, and citing that obviously, you know, one of the names for Peter being Cephas, a stone, there's a small rock, et cetera as well. And although it's not a major issue, okay, really, unless you're trying to call him a pope or something, okay, for me, everyone is missing the obvious point, which, like I said, I've previously preached this as well in our Matthew Bible study. So first off, okay, just to confirm that Jesus Christ is clearly referred to as a rock, okay, so try and pay attention and stay with me on this, yeah. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul calls him that spiritual rock when speaking of the children of Israel. Verse four, he says, and it all drink of the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And in Romans 9, 33, he calls him a rock of offense. It says, as it is written, behold, I lay and sign a stumbling block and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And here in Matthew 16, it's a rock Jesus Christ, for me, that continues to be the subject of this passage. So have a look again, verse 15, it says, he saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? Verse 16 says, and Simon Peter answered, said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered, said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it, still referring to what he just said, thou art the Christ, Son of the living God, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, again, for me, clearly talking about it, the fact that he's the Christ, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. But for me, that's not why we know that Jesus Christ is a rock here. It's because he's still referring to the rock in verse 18. It says, and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, talking about Jesus Christ, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, we've all heard this verse quoted many times say that the church will survive, okay? That they won't beat us. This verse has probably been preached hundreds of times, thousands of times, by good, saved men of God preaching, going, you know, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, yeah? It conjures images of vampire bats, doesn't it? Maybe like devils flying out of hell at the church, and like the gates of hell opening, and it's like, you know, will not prevail, and all these creatures are kind of flying at the church and everything else. But is that what it really means? How would the gates of hell prevail against the church? Anyone got any ideas about that? And look, I'm not trying to mock this view, okay? Because look, there are some great men of God who know much more than I do about the Bible that will still believe this view. Maybe even if they heard this, might still as well. But is the devil using them as a battering ram at the gates of hell? Are they like a special hot poker, you know? Because maybe they got a bit heated up, you know? It's like, yeah, let's just keep jabbing the church with them. No one comes out of hell except for Satan in the future when he's purposely loosed for a season, right? So how do the gates of hell prevail against the church? And again, look, if you've got an idea, look, I'm well up for discussion about this, right? After the sermon, okay? This ain't no Q and A. Okay, but for me, this verse is saying that gates of hell shall not prevail against the rock, Jesus Christ. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the rock, it, Jesus Christ. It said in verse 18, I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Turn to Revelation chapter one. In Revelation one, John gives us a vivid image of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, okay? In John chapter, sorry, I didn't say, maybe keep a finger in Matthew 16 there. But Revelation one, he's giving us this vivid image, okay? Revelation chapter one and verse 12. Revelation one, 12 says, and I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the pats with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters and he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. Clearly Jesus Christ, agreed? Yeah, anyone think that's not Jesus Christ? That's Jesus Christ. The alpha and omega, right? He's the first and last. Verse 18 says, I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore, amen and have the keys of hell and of death. Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and of death, right? He possesses them, yeah? He has the keys of them. That's why the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, the rock Jesus Christ, because he has the keys of hell and death, because he rose again, because he conquered death, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he was the only one that actually managed to come out of hell. He rose from the dead, he has the keys of hell and of death, he conquered it, the gates of hell do not prevail against him because he's the only begotten of the dead. Look, I think once you kind of see that, for me it's clear, right? That's why then back in Matthew 16 and verse 18, Matthew 16 and verse 18, it says, and I say unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock, and we've seen that for me, he's clearly referring to Jesus Christ, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Then it says, and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And we've just seen in Revelation 1-18 that he has the keys of hell and of death and he says, I'll give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose in earth shall be loose in heaven. Now he's talking to Peter, right? Thou, thou, thou, yeah? Not it, it, it. The keys of the kingdom of heaven come from him conquering death and the gates of hell not prevail against him. That's why he has the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it, talking about the rock, and then therefore he's able to give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven because he's defeated death. And with that is the responsibility to preach the gospel and either bind those to eternal life or loosen those that reject, okay? That's what goes with that, being given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. It all comes from him. However, the responsibility, the keys are passed on to Peter and onwards, okay? Now look then at verse 20. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Then it says, from that time, okay? Because he's just been talking about his conquering of death. From that time forth began Jesus shown to his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Because that's what he's talking about. That's the whole point with the gates of hell. It's not that people are throwing gates at churches. They probably have been the pastor, right? But there's probably nothing that hasn't happened, right? But that's not what he's talking about. And otherwise, what on earth does that even mean? And look, I'm not trying to knock people that have preached that, great people believe that, preach that, okay? But that's not what that verse is saying. Gates of hell don't attack our church, okay? The gates of hell do not prevail against the rock of Jesus Christ because he rose from the dead. Now, in case you're sitting there thinking about how many times I heard people say the gates of hell should not prevail against church, okay? Shall I tell you where that originally came from? I'll tell you where this has originally come from, this misreading of that verse. From preachers that had an aversion to Jesus Christ being in hell. It's all come from old preachers of the past that have refused to accept that Jesus Christ went to hell, who then can't see the verse for what it says. And then what happens is then people grow up in that preaching and then they're just like, yeah, yeah, the gates, you know, because it's a great verse, isn't it? And it's strong and it's like, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. You know, and it's like, yeah, they've heard it. They've heard it for years and everything else. And then you just kind of repeat it. But that's how, you know, and again, like this isn't a big deal really, okay? Jesus Christ going to hell I think is a big deal. That is a big deal. But how you read that verse isn't. But you can see how then with many other things, so much actual like bad false doctrine is pushed because you hear stuff and you just kind of repeat it, don't you? But that's not how we should handle the Bible, should we? And again, I'm not knocking anyone, like great men of God will preach that like that and probably, you know, and I'm sure they have good reason for that, right? However, I think once you see that, I think it's quite clear, right? But what happens, it just gets repeated, repeated. And then people just don't kind of stop to think, well, gates of hell, how's the gates of hell prevail against the church anyway? I mean, what does that even mean? But it just kind of got a good ring, you know, you hear some good, I've heard good preachers preach and I've probably said the same and be like, yeah, gates of hell will not prevail against it. But then when you actually look at it, you're like, no, wait a second. It's clearly talking about the rocks, it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, yeah? And then back in Genesis chapter 22, God is saying the same thing to Abraham, okay? So back in Genesis 22, this is why we got onto this in case you're wondering, well, what's this got to do with Genesis, right? Okay, well, Genesis 22, it said in verse 16, and said, by myself have I sworn saith 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 and there's the studs of the heaven and there's a sandwich upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, which was pictured with what happened to Isaac. He was ultimately as good as dead, wasn't he, right? Okay, and he was a picture of that, obviously, but it's fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is dead and has the keys of hell and of death. And that's what that's fulfilled. That's how that's fulfilled, okay? Thy seed, Jesus Christ, shall possess the gate of his enemies and that is the gate of his enemies, okay? But he possesses it, right? The gate of his enemies, because where are all Jesus Christ's enemies? Or where will they all end up? In hell, okay? They're all going to hell and many are in hell already, okay? And when he goes there and when he conquers death, he possesses the gate of his enemies, he has the keys of hell and of death. Verse 18 says, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou has obeyed my voice. And that's talking about Jesus Christ. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And back to where that well was, is back in Beersheba. So another three day journey, I think. And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham saying, behold Milka, she has also borne children unto thy brother Nahor. So we're just going to finish up now. Milka was a daughter of his other brother Haran. It then says, who's his firstborn and Buzz or Buz, his brother and Kemuel, the father of Aram and Cheez-Ed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlath and Bethuel. Bethuel begat Rebekah. These eight Milka did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. We're going to see Rebekah going on to be Isaac's wife and his concubine, whose name was Reuma, and she bears Atiba and Gaham and Thahash and Meachar. And that was Genesis chapter 22. And for me, the takeaway from that is just, like I said earlier, just the word of God is just so amazing, isn't it? So amazing to see all of that in something that actually happened, some real events that happened, like I said, back in Abraham's lifetime, recorded by Moses in the book of Genesis, which was picturing so many of the events and things that happened with the Lord Jesus Christ. It never ceases to amaze you, the word of God, when you study it out and just see it all add up. And then we're even going to Revelation, the last book of the Bible, and seeing that just lie, it's just absolutely just awe-inspiring, isn't it? Praise God. And on that, we're going to finish in a word of praise. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for, well, just every single book of the Bible, Lord, and just how it all just ties in, it all matches up, it all adds up with just a little bit of study, Lord. And I thank you that, you know, well, not only did you make pictures of what was to come, but of what ultimately you did for us, and your only begotten son, Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, to not only die, to not only be buried, but for his soul to descend into hell for those three days or three nights, is just absolutely amazing. What an amazing thing that was done for each and every one of us, Lord, help us to appreciate that, help us to appreciate the fact that, although we're saved by just grace through faith, that, you know, there's a reasonable service that's expected of us that we should do, yeah? It's got nothing to do with salvation, Lord. However, you did a lot for us, and it would be great if everyone in this room and those listening and those in our church just really, really had a heart for wanting to do more than our reasonable service for you, Lord, and help us to do that this week, Lord, help us to get home safe and sound, help us to return on Sunday to be in your house, Lord, and Jesus, thank you for all this. Amen.