If you take your Bibles, turn if you would to Genesis chapter 22. Genesis 22 and we are going to read verses one through 14 this morning. Genesis 22 and verses one through 14. Came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou 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.

Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his and took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young man, abide you here with the and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham, his father, and said, my father, and he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So, they went both of them together and they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there, 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, seen thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son for me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead or in the place of his son.

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. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for this precious passage. This glorious message this wonderful example we see here in Abraham.

Of faith and trust in you. Lord, I pray that we would learn from his example today. That we might be challenged to trust you more. That we might recognize that you will not let us down, that you will not lead us astray, and that we can trust you with everything that we have, with everything that we are. With every day of our life.

Lord, help us to trust you and we pray if there's one in here today that's never trusted in Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of their life. That today, they would come to you in faith and be saved. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. How much do you trust God?

Well, we see how much Abraham trusted God. This is a test of Abraham, we read about here. One which he passed very well. What is a test? It's either an opportunity to prove what you have learned and achieved, or it's an opportunity to reveal what is lacking, so you can improve upon it.

My son still goes to high school and my older son to college and they have tests. Sometimes, I wonder, maybe if we ought to have more tests in Sunday school, in church, maybe we would recall a little better. But I guess we'll not do that. But why do their teachers give them tests? Is it just so they can get a letter grade on a report card so they can pass the next grade.

Well, in some cases, sadly, that's what some people think. But that's not really the purpose of tests. The purpose of tests is to find out if you have learned the material. Or to reveal that you have not learned the material and you still need to learn the material. It is a motivation that helps people to learn the material.

Thus, also, these also are reasons why God tests us. He tests us to give us an opportunity to prove that we have learned the lessons he is teaching us. To give us an opportunity to reveal what is lacking so we can see that and be challenged to improve and to motivate us to learn our lessons the easy way and not the what? And not the the hard way. God tested Abraham here as he did Job to prove and improve his faith and trust in the Lord as he does all of his children.

James one two through four. My brother, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. That word temptations can be also trust translated tests or trials, okay? Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire wanting which means lacking nothing. So, God does test us.

That's a bad thing, right? No. James says, that's a good thing. Now, sometimes that's a difficult thing but a difficult thing can still be a good thing. When I was younger, my dad, we lived in the mountains and every now and then, we take off on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon and go for a hike.

A few times, we went on longer hikes on Saturday. One time, I think twice, I went with him up to a place called McAfee's Knob in Virginia. At the top of one of the tallest mountains in Virginia, there were these big, huge, flat boulders that jutted off the side of the top of the mountain and you could walk right up to the edge of the rock and literally look 500 feet down. You were so high that you were on top, you were higher than the other mountains and you could see the mountain ridges going off beneath you in different directions. It was a gorgeous, beautiful view but there was no road up to McAfee's Knob.

It was a two hour hike up a mountain. But you know something? It was worth it. It was worth it. Now, I think my sons would not agree.

They don't particularly love heights that much but but I loved it. I loved it. And it was worth it. And sometimes tests can be difficult but they are what? They are worth it.

God says. He also says in first Corinthians ten thirteen, there have no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer or allow you to be tempted above that you are able but with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Yes, God does test us and he does allow temptations but God is faithful. We can trust him and he will not allow us to be tested above that we by his grace and strength are what? Are able.

But we'll always have a way of escape so that we will be able to bear it. Is it possible for Christians to fail tests? Well, I believe the answer to that is yes. Abraham did several times before passing this one. He passed this one because he learned from and grew in his faith as a result of the others.

He failed when he went to Egypt and told them his wife was his sister. He failed when he got impatient with God and he listened to bad advice and he decided to have a child by Hagar and had Ishmael. He did fail some tests but he grew even in those failures and when it came to this one, he was ready and he passed. We have failed sometimes in the past. Probably, we will still fail sometimes in the future.

But learn from those failures. Don't get angry. Don't give up. Trust God. Do better next time.

Is this a contradiction with James 113 through 15? I think I have that up here. It says, Lord, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God tempted what? For God cannot be tempted with evil neither what? Tempteth he any man but every man and when he is tempted, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and entice and when lust hath conceived to bring it forth sin and sin when it is finished bring us forth death.

Now, James tells us here, God does not tempt any man important words to do what? Evil, okay? God does not tempt any man to do evil. Now, is that a contradiction with James one one two to four or with our story here? The answer is no.

There is no contradiction. The temptation or compulsion to disobey God or not to trust his words doesn't come from God, that comes from within who? That comes from within us, okay? But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, okay? The compulsion to disobey God or to not hear him is not God's fault.

It is whose fault. It's our fault. It is our fault. God does not test, God does test our faith and integrity often but if we fail, he is not to blame. If we had trusted him fully, we would not have what?

Failed the test. Satan in our own sin nature tempts us not to listen to God, not to trust in God, to do our own thing. We need to learn to quit listening to our sin nature and start listening to our God. And trust in his word. That's exactly what Abraham did here.

I'm sure that Abraham's nature, human nature was screaming at him, don't do this. Don't do this but Abraham trusted in who? He trusted in God and he didn't listen to that. Listen to God. Proverbs three, five, and six, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, all thine heart.

Lean not unto thine own understanding, all thy ways acknowledge him. He shall direct thy paths or make them straight. He will lead us in the way that is right. So, this is a test. Also, this passage is a foretelling of the gospel.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a son or a descendant of Abraham in his humanity. That was the lamb, the ram, slain by his father on Calvary who died in the place of us who are sinners, who should have died there instead. This is one of the most beautiful types and pictures of Christ in the Old Testament in Isaac who was slain or the ram was slain in his place. You see, in the eyes of God, Isaac was slain. The ram took his place In the eyes of God, we who accept Christ as savior were punished for our sins because Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, took our place and that punishment and penalty has been meted out.

We see that picture here in Abraham and Isaac. But let's take a few minutes to look a little bit closer. In verses one and two, we see God's command. God's command to Isaac in verses one and two. God said to Abraham, he said, verse two, take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest and get thee to the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

So, said to Abraham, Abraham, give your son Isaac as a burnt offering, an offering of complete dedication to me. He said, give your only son. You see that in verse two? Now, take thy son thine only son, Isaac. Now, Abraham did have another son.

His name was Ishmael. He no longer resided with Abraham nor would he receive any of the inheritance at Abraham's death being the child of Hagar and not Sarah. The inheritance went to Abraham's only legitimate son, Isaac. Along with the blessing of God. This is also emphasized in Hebrews eleven seventeen.

I read earlier. By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Well, who who do you think of when you hear the words only begotten son? You think of Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Only son is meant to emphasize in both cases, the preciousness of each one to their fathers. Loved. Priceless. And irreplaceable.

There is no one who can replace God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ. He is one of a kind. He is most precious to his father in heaven and so was Isaac. To Abraham. Mount Moriah, Mount Moriah, God gave Abraham a specific location.

Do you think there was a reason for that? What do you think? Think there's anything special about that place? Yes. When we keep reading through the Old Testament, we find out what's special about that place.

Mount Moriah is the mountain upon which David, King David, would later buy property to make a sacrifice to God in order to stop a plague which he had brought upon them. Later on, we read, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, as a plague was coming upon the people of Jerusalem, of Israel, that David was guilty for. He hurriedly sought a place to make a sacrifice to God to stop the plague and he found this mountain and this property owned by this man and he asked for it. The man said, well, I'll give it to you. He said, no.

I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing. He said, I'll buy it and I'll buy the bull for the sacrifice as well and so he bought that that property and there he built an altar and he made a sacrifice to God and the plague ceased. That same priest of property would later fall to Solomon, his son and upon that mountain, Solomon would build the temple. Where Israel would come to worship the Lord, where sacrifices would be made every day of the year to the Lord upon that same mountain. And is this on upon this same mountain or in this very same vicinity?

Where Jesus Christ was placed on a cross and crucified for us. All of that took place upon the Mountains Of Moriah in an area which became known as the city of Jerusalem. So, it is no coincidence that God sent Abraham to this place. Burnt offering. Burnt offering was what Abraham was to make there.

This was a sacrifice in which the gift was completely burnt and nothing was left for the offer. It is a sacrifice of complete dedication and trust. That is the burnt offering. There was to be nothing left. It was all given to who?

It was all given to God. A sacrifice of complete dedication. Human sacrifices in this manner were later forbidden in the law. That Abraham did not have the law as yet. This is a fitting description of the sacrifice God required of Abraham.

For to make such a burnt offering of that which was everything to him would demonstrate total dependence and trust in God. You see, Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were were barren, had no children. Up until their seventies and eighties, when God called them to leave, Er and then Heron to come to the promised land and God promised Abraham that he would give him a son and a nation of descendants. As the sand of the sea, as the stars in the heavens. And Abraham believed God and nearly thirty years later, God gave Abraham that son.

He was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 when they finally had Isaac. He was the seed of promise. The fulfillment of God's precious promise to Abraham and now, God would ask Abraham to take that only son and to give him back to God as a sacrifice. God will not require this particular sacrifice of you. But what if God wants your son or daughter to enter the mission field?

On the other side of the world. What if God wants your son or daughter to serve in the military and put their life at risk for others? What if God wants you to give up something or someone? That is priceless and irreplaceable to you. What if God wants you to move somewhere?

Which wasn't where you wanted to go. What if God wants you to give up a job that pays more for another job that pays less? And we could go on. What if God asks this or that of you? A sacrifice by definition, an offering by definition is something that costs us.

Something that costs us. Something that requires something precious of us. And that requires faith in the Lord. If we only ever give the extra we have left over then that is truly not a sacrifice. A sacrifice is when we give something hurts.

When we give something that is difficult. How much do you trust him? Let's look at Abraham's trust verses three through 11. Abraham rose up early. So, what did Abraham do?

Well, immediately, Abraham obeyed. Abraham proved here the genuine growing nature of his faith by obeying. The only way to express our faith actions is by obedience. Thus, faith without works is what? Dead.

Show me your faith without your works. I will show you my faith by my works. James chapter two and that's what Abraham did and that's what God asked him to do. Show me your faith. Show it to me.

God wants us to show him our faith too. He got up early, did not hesitate. He didn't put it off but he quickly obeyed. Oftentimes, we fail because we want. We hesitate.

God shows us what he wants us to do but we hesitate. We stop and we argue with God and we debate it. Well, if I do this, this, if I do that, that, if I do this, this, the pros and the cons and let me think about it and yes, well, maybe I ought to do this but Lord, it just doesn't and we debate with God and we think it over and we hesitate and we fail. There's a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death from Proverbs. Ruin.

If you know God wants you to do something, don't hesitate. Just what? Just do it. Trust him. Trust him.

Start making preparations to do what God wants you to do. So, he got up early. He got everything ready. He traveled three days journey to Mount Moriah. Approximately 42 miles from Beth Sheba where Abraham currently dwelt, three days gave him plenty of time to reconsider.

But he didn't. He kept going. Three days, his son, Isaac, was essentially dead to him. Three days, Jesus Christ, God's son, laid dead in the grave before he came back to life and rose again. He went to worship.

It actually uses that term here. He told them to his servants that he was going yonder in verse five to worship and that he would come again. His obedience was indeed worship. As he praised and exalted his God through his faith and obedience and giving up that which was most precious to him while trusting his God to make it right. This is true worship.

True worship is when you trust who? When you trust God. Whatever he asked to give up, you give it up. Trusting him that he will make it right. That he will make it right.

That that showed real faith in God. That was worship. John four twenty three and twenty four tells us, Jesus says, but the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth. For the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is looking for people who will serve him. Each and every day out of faith and out of a pure heart. Not just those who show up on Sunday, not just those who came with a sacrifice once a year, not just those who go through the motions but those who truly trust him and are willing to live it out every day. True, sincere worship is not just about the song service at church. I'm afraid that's what a lot of people think of whenever you say worship today.

But that is just a small piece of worship. It is about what we do and why we do it. Throughout our week, not just when we gather in this auditorium. It's about where your heart is. Where is your heart?

Each and every day. Does it, do you worship the Lord? If the only time you worship God is when you come on Sunday, then that's not the worship that he is talking about. Abraham worshiped the Lord here and he followed through. He took his son up the hill.

He built the altar. He tied him down. He would have slain him if God had not intervened and having received the ram from the Lord, he instead offered it in Isaac's place. Just as Jesus was offered up. In our place.

As God provided himself a what? A lamb. He provided here a lamb for Abraham to take Isaac's place. He provided himself as the lamb on the cross of Calvary to die in your place and in mine. The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

First Peter 118 through 20, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, the 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 manifest in these last times for you. What's so special about the lamb? Well, the lamb is innocent. The lamb has done nothing what? Wrong.

In this case, the lamb of God was without blemish and without spot, without sin, totally, entirely, not just innocent but Jesus Christ was righteous. And the Bible says in first Corinthians, he hath the second Corinthians, he hath made him, Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He took our place. He, the righteous son of God, pictured by an innocent lamb, took our place on the Calvary on Calvary. He took upon himself our punishment so that we could receive his righteousness if we will put our faith and trust in him.

That is all pictured here in this beautiful story in Genesis 22. We see Isaac's obedience to his father. Isaac, Isaac went willingly with his father. As Jesus Christ came willingly to Earth to die for our sins. He trusted his father as Jesus trusted his father in heaven.

Isaac carried the wood up the hill for the sacrifice as Jesus carried his cross to Calvary. There to die upon it. Isaac Lee seemingly did not fight his father and got on that altar is Christ willingly allowed himself to be nailed to that cross. Isaac was as good as dead for three days to Abraham and Jesus Christ rose again after three days in the tomb. Isaac was taken to Mount Moriah also called Mount Zion.

Jesus was crucified there. And will one day be worshiped there. In Zechariah 14, we read and it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. As Jesus will one day, we worship in his kingdom in Jerusalem. So, we see Isaac and his representation of Christ and we see God's rewards.

God's reward to Abraham. He retained his son. He did not lose him. Because God had prepared a sacrifice in his place. God reconfirmed his promises in verses 15 through 19 and the angel of the Lord said unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast 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 heaven, 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 hast obeyed my voice.

When you obey the Lord, when you trust in him, God confirms again and again and again and again are standing before him in heaven. And that he will always keep his promises to us. There are Christians out there that lack assurance of their salvation and a lot of times they come forward and we tend to say, well, you know, the Bible says that no one will be able to pluck you out of the what? The father's hand. That nothing can separate you from the love of God.

That there's now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. All of those promises are true. Once you belong to God, once you are in Christ, you won't lose it. There's some Christians that wonder, do I have it? Am I there?

And the reason for that, off times, is we're just not trusting the Lord. We're not growing. We're not obeying and so God is not reassuring us. You don't need to be saved again. What you need to do is obey.

What you need to do is trust and obey the Lord and he will confirm to you. I can't give you that assurance but he can. He can. To Abraham, he retained. God reward him with his son.

God reward him by reconfirming his promises and strengthening his faith. And then there's the reward to us. The reward to us because you see this is a picture of Jesus Christ and how God gave his son for us there. Abraham did sacrifice his son but it wasn't Isaac. It was who?

It was Jesus. Who was slain on that mountain for you and for me. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Have you come to Christ? To worship him, to trust and follow him as the Lord and savior of your life.

There is salvation in no other name. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. Only Jesus, he's the only son of God who gave his life for you and rose again from the dead. Have you come to trust him which that with that which is most precious? Your life, your soul, and your eternity.

I hope you have. But Christian, do you trust him to guide you? Have you given your life a living sacrifice? So that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Have you given to him your family?

You can trust him. He will not let them down. How is your faith? Are you being tested? Trust fully in the Lord.

Trust fully in him. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you Lord for your word and for this beautiful story that you've recorded to us for us that we might be reminded of what you did for us on the cross of Calvary. But also Lord, that we might see the example of Abraham and how that he trusted you so much that he was willing to give up that which was most precious to him. Lord, that he trusted you to make it right and you did.

And Lord, I pray that through his example and through your action here that we would learn to trust you more. That if there's something we are holding back this morning that we would give that to you. There is something we're doing in our life that reveals that we have a lack of trust in you, that we would stop that today. And we might trust you to give us the victory and the grace we need To have that victory in our life. Lord, thank you.

Lord, lead us. Lord, help us to follow you more. Forgive us of our sin. Forgive us of our mistrust. And make us more into the image of your son, we pray today.

In Jesus name, amen.