Portraits of Christ in the Old Testament - The Lamb of God, Part 1 - Genesis 22

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 22, please. Genesis chapter 22. We're going to read the first eight verses tonight. And I'll tell you up front, we're going to stop at verse 8 and leave you standing on the side of a mountain on purpose. We'll finish the climb next time, whenever that might be. We're continuing our series, Portraits of Christ in the Old Testament. Before we begin, a brief recap. We started this series in Genesis chapter 3 with the first promise. The promise we as Christians see fulfilled in Christ, the seed who crushes the serpent's head. Then we moved to Genesis 6 and 7 for the Ark of Salvation.

Christ was pictured in the Ark, which only had one door, and God himself closed it. Then last time we were in Genesis 14, where we learned about the mysterious king priest, Melchizedek, a man whose genealogy Scripture doesn't record, who met Abram with bread and wine. And we saw that the Lord Jesus is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So again, tonight we're in Genesis chapter 22. If you ask me, which chapter in the Old Testament is the clearest portrait of the Gospel? Which chapter lets you see Calvary centuries before Calvary, I'd hand you this one.

There's just so much here, and again, we're taking two nights to cover, and even that won't do it justice, I'm sure. So tonight, verses 1-8. Next time, whenever that is, we'll consider verses 9-19. The title of tonight's message is Portraits of Christ in the Old Testament, the Lamb of God, part 1. Or if you prefer, Where is the Lamb? I'll repeat that, it's the Lamb of God, part 1, or Where is the Lamb? As usual, I'm reading from the LSB, Genesis chapter 22, starting in verse 1.

Now, it happened after these things, hold on to that idea of these things, we'll come back to it, that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. Then he said, I am now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Verse 3. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he split wood for the burnt offering, arose, and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day, mark that, the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there, and we will worship, and we will return to you. Then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and put it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

And Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. So the two of them walked on together. But first let me say this, it's Moriah, Moriah. Here's a fair warning, I'm liable to say Moriah, and do so more than once. And you can blame my affinity for the Lord of the Rings for that. And I'm sorry if it happens, I really am. Alrighty then, verse 1. I ask you to hold on to the phrase, after these things. After what things? Well, after 25 years or so of waiting, God promised Abraham a nation and offspring in chapter 12. When Abraham was 75 years old. In chapter 15, he promised Abraham an heir from his own body.

In chapter 17, he told him Sarah would bear that son, named him Isaac. Now they tried to help God out with Hagar, and that goes about like you'd expect. And then in Genesis 21.5, now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And the boy's name in the Hebrew, Yitzchak, or Isaac as we know it, means he laughs. Abraham laughed when God told him. Sarah laughed too. And when the baby came, Sarah said everyone who heard would laugh with her. And God made it plain that this boy, not Ishmael, this one was the child of promise. Genesis 21.12 says, for through Isaac your seed shall be named.

The covenant promises, the land, the nation, the blessing to all the families of the earth ran through Isaac. Ishmael had a promise too, right? God said he would make him a nation. But the covenant line that would lead to Christ ran through this boy. So Isaac is born, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away, and Abraham settles in the land after his agreement at Beersheba. So after these things, God speaks to Abraham again. We're going to look at three things tonight. Number one, the test. Number two, the trek. T-R-E-K. Number three, the talk. The test, the trek, and the talk. So point number one, the test. The test.

Verse one, now what happened after these things that God tested Abraham? Let's get the word tested straight before we go any further, because a lot rides on it. The Hebrew word translated tested is nesah. It has been defined as to test, to try, to prove, to put something to the test. Think of what a refiner does with gold in the fire. He's not trying to destroy the gold, he's trying to purify it, to show what it's made of. Now the King James says God tempted Abraham here, using a true but older sense of the word tested.

And I understand why some folks trip up over that, because James 1.13 says plainly, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. So which is it? Did God tempt Abraham or not? Here's the distinction. Temptation, in the sense that James is using it, is an enticement towards sin. It wants you to fall. God never does that. Satan does that. Your flesh does that. But testing, nesah, can reveal and strengthen faith. It wants you to stand. Same fire maybe, opposite purpose. The devil lights a fire to burn you down. God lights a fire to refine you.

Does that make sense? But Tommy, if God knows everything, why test anybody? Mark this, God already knows what's in us, right? A test can bring what's in our hearts out into the open. Listen how Moses puts it in Deuteronomy 8.2, when he's explaining 40 years in the wilderness. Quote, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. To know what was in your heart. And in Genesis 22.12 God says, now I know that you fear God. Folks, God already knew Abraham's heart. On that mountain, Abraham's fear of God became evident in what he actually did.

And Peter talks about this sort of thing. Listen to 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The proof of your faith, more precious than gold. That's what God is after on this mountain. Not Isaac's blood. The proof of Abraham's faith. And as we'll see, a portrait for your faith and mine. And notice when the test comes.

We said after these things, right? After the promise was finally kept. After the baby came. After the laughter. Folks, some of the hardest tests come right after the mountaintop, don't they? When you finally got the thing you prayed for in your arms. That's when God sometimes asks, do you love the gift or the giver? And notice verse 1 tells us that it's a test, but the story never says that God told Abraham it was a test. Yet Abraham trusts him without knowing how it will end. Think about that. Let that sink in. And what a command it was. Listen to verse 2.

Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go forth to the land of Moriah

and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." Look at how God says it. He doesn't just say, take Isaac. He builds it, layer by layer. Your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac. Four steps down, and each one heavier than the last. Your son, not a servant, not a bull from the herd, no, your boy. Your only one. The Hebrew is Yaqid. The only one, the unique one, the one of a kind. Now wait a minute, Tommy. Abraham met Ishmael. Yes, he did. But Ishmael was gone, sent away in chapter 21. And God had said that the promise runs through Isaac. God had staked the covenant line on Isaac.

So from where Abraham stood, how could that promise go on if Isaac died? Isaac is the only one through whom God said that line would come. Then God adds, whom you love. Church, catch this. This is the first time, believe it or not, the Hebrew verb to love, that we render to love, appears in Scripture. Genesis 22-2. The Hebrew word is Ahav, and the form here means you love. Twenty-two chapters in, and the first love the Bible names this way is a father's love for his son. And that father is being told to give him up. That's a picture to hold on to. Then the Lord names him Isaac. Laughter, that's the one I want you to bring.

Followed by the command, offer him there as a burnt offering. The Hebrew word from which we get burnt offering is Olah. From a root that means to go up, as in up in smoke. In the burnt offering, unlike some of the other offerings, the sacrificial fortunes went up in smoke to God. Under the law, the priest could keep the hide of this burnt offering, but there was no meal for the worshiper. It was an offering given completely over to God. So God isn't saying, bring him up here and dedicate him to me. He's saying, put him on the altar. All of him. And where was Abraham to do that? The land of Moriah.

Now let me say a word about that, because it's significant. The name only shows up twice in your whole Bible. Here and in 2nd Chronicles 3.1, which says, So Jewish tradition and many students of scripture understand Chronicles to be pointing us back to the mountain where Abraham went. That would connect Abraham's altar with the place where Solomon's temple would stand, where generations of worshipers would bring their sacrifices. And many centuries later, outside the gates of Jerusalem, the Lamb of God would be lifted up on a Roman cross. Now, I do want to be careful here, though. Genesis says the land of Moriah. Chronicles says Mount Moriah.

That's a strong link, but Genesis leaves the particular mountain unnamed. We don't know the exact spot where Abraham built his altar. But the picture we're about to see can stand on its own with just what scripture tells us. So here's the test. Everything, everything Abraham waited 25 years for, everything God had promised, the son he loves. God says, give him to me. All of him on the mountain that I'll show you. And Genesis records no reply from Abraham. Back in chapter 18, he negotiated with God for half a chapter over Sodom. Here, with his own son on the line, silence. Now, somebody is going to say, hold on.

How can a good God command a man to kill his own son? The pagans did that. Deuteronomy says the nations burned their sons and daughters for their gods and that God hates it. Yes, he does. Look ahead at how this story ends. In verse 12, God says, do not stretch out your hand against the boy. The test was real for Abraham. But God stopped him before Isaac was harmed and he provided a ram in Isaac's place. What the test showed is right there in verse 12. Abraham feared God. He would give God even the son he loved. Makes sense. And that's where I want you to see one of the portraits of Christ. They're everywhere.

Here's a father willing to give up the son he loves. Many centuries later, when the father gave up his only son, we can look back at Abraham and see a little something, however small, of the love behind that gift. Matthew 3.17, voice comes down from heaven at the Jordans and says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. God told Abraham, your son, your only one whom you love. What does John 3.16 say? For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Your son, your only one whom you love and offer him. You see that there? God was testing Abraham and in that test we can see a picture of what God would one day do for us.

It was already done in his mind in eternity past. Abraham's son was spared. The father gave his own son over to death for us. Spurgeon said it this way in his sermon entitled A Gospel Worth Dying For. Quote, you admire Abraham's giving up his son to God. Much more admire Jehovah's giving up his son for sinners. Everybody okay? Let's press on. Point number two, the trek. That's T-R-E-K, the trek. Verse three, so Abraham rose early in the morning. Early. Not after he prayed about it for three weeks and talked it over with Sarah. Genesis says he rose early. Folks, delayed obedience is just disobedience with better manners.

Delayed obedience is just disobedience with better manners. Abraham didn't delay. He saddled his own donkey. A man who had once mustered 318 trained men born in his household. He split the wood himself and went. Here's why this journey of this trek, as we're calling it, matters for understanding saving faith. Paul tells us what Abraham believed about God's promise. Hebrews and James show us that faith in action on this very show us that faith in action on this very mountain. Let's briefly look at all three. First, Paul.

In Romans chapter four, verses 20 and 21, speaking of Abraham trusting God's promise of offspring in his old age, Paul says, quote, Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully assured that what God had promised he was able also to do. Fully assured that what God had promised he was also able to do. That's faith, not a feeling. It's not a leap in the dark. It's taking God at his word and acting like it's true already before you can even see it. Second, the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17 through 19, says this.

By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son to whom it was said in Isaac, your seed shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he also received him back. Do you catch that? He considered that God is able to even to raise people even from the dead. See, Abraham did the math. God promised the seed comes through Isaac. God just commanded me to kill Isaac. God doesn't lie. God doesn't fail. Therefore, God could even raise Isaac from the dead.

Brothers and sisters, Scripture hasn't recorded a single resurrection by this point in the Bible. Abraham had no resurrection story to look back on. But he did have a promise. And he trusted that God would rather raise the dead than break his own word. And Hebrews says he received him back. He received him back. And the Greek is in parable. The word parable is in there kind of. And that's basically in a parable or figuratively speaking, or dare I say, in a picture or a portrait. Think of what that journey must have felt like for Abraham. The command has put Isaac under the sentence of death. And on the third day, Abraham seized the place.

Then God spares the boy and Abraham receives his son back as if from the dead. See that? Come on. The third day, a beloved son, as good as dead, received back alive. Well, you know what?

If you happen to Jesus, you can hear an echo of it here, and it's a pretty loud echo. Third, there's James. And this one's interesting because people use it sometimes to try to pick a fight with Paul. James chapter 2, verses 21 to 23. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Now, hold on a second. Paul says Abraham was justified by faith.

In Romans 4, 3, for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Well, James says it, too, in the passage we just read. But James also says Abraham was justified by works when he offered Isaac. Is the Bible contradicting itself? No, it's not. Of course it's not. Look at when each one of these happened. Paul is quoting Genesis 15, before Isaac was ever born. Abraham believed God, and his faith was counted to him as righteousness way back then. In Genesis 22, years later, we get to see that same faith at work.

Then James says that when Abraham offered Isaac in Genesis 22, that faith was perfected, or brought to its goal, shown to be the real thing, and the scripture was fulfilled, not predicted, started, began, fulfilled. So Paul is talking about the root. James is talking about the fruit. Paul is talking about how a man is declared righteous before God. James is talking about how that faith is shown to be real. In fact, James goes on in verse 24 to say that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Look at that kind of faith he's talking about. Abraham's faith was working with his obedience.

His obedience showed that faith to be real and brought it to maturity. So simply put, Abraham wasn't saved on Moriah. Abraham's faith was shown to be real on Moriah. The test didn't make his faith, the test proved it. You see that? And if you're in Christ this evening, God can use your trials in that way too. He can bring the faith He already gave you out into the open for all to see, and deepen it as you learn to trust Him more. Well, back to Genesis 22, verse 5. And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there, and we will worship and we will return to you. Notice what Abraham calls it.

He said we will worship. He's about to walk his son up a hill to an altar, and he calls that worship. Church, worship isn't a feeling you get when the music's right. Worship is giving God the thing that costs you the most because He's worth it. That Hebrew word that's translated worship there has the idea of bowing down to prostrate yourself. I've actually saw one commenter say that it describes a person trying to press themselves into the dirt as far as they can go. That's what Abraham said we're doing. He was going up to bow down, to submit himself to God. And then notice, we will return. Not, I'll be back, as Arnold said. We will return.

He says it out loud in front of witnesses. He speaks of both of them coming back. After what Hebrews tells us, you can hear the faith in that. He didn't know how, but he knew who. Then verse 6. Then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and put it on Isaac, his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. He put the wood on Isaac. The son carried the wood he was going to die on toward the place of sacrifice. John 19, 17 says, they took Jesus, therefore, and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.

The son carried the wood he was going to die on toward the place of crucifixion. Luke tells us, of course, that Simon of Cyrene was made to carry it a little while too. Notice something about Isaac here. In your Sunday school cutouts, Isaac was probably a little boy. Big eyes, little sandals. Scripture doesn't give us his age, but he was obviously old enough to carry the wood and to ask his father what was missing. That's what we know. He was a young man and he walked on. Isaac walked with his father carrying the wood. And when we get to verse 9, next time, Abraham binds him and lays him on the altar.

We're given no words of protest from Isaac. We're also given no account at all of what he was thinking. Does that sound like anybody you know? Isaiah 53, 7 says this of our Savior. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. In the first part of John 10, 18, Christ Himself says this about His own life. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself I lay it down. Jesus could have called on His Father for more than twelve legions of angels, yet He didn't. He willingly gave Himself.

And before His accusers, He stood silent. And look at the last line of verse 6. So the two of them walked on together. Together, the Father and the Son. One carrying the wood, one carrying the knife. Neither one of them turning back. That's all the narrator gives us here. All Moses gives us here. But when we come to Jesus, He tells us plainly that He gave His life willingly. Church, that's a picture of the cross. Hear me carefully, because people get this wrong too. The Father didn't do something to the Son that the Son didn't agree to. And the Son didn't wring something out of a reluctant Father.

Isaiah 53, 10 says, But Yahweh was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. And again, John 10, 18 says, The Son laid His life down from Himself. Both are true. The Father willed it, the Son willed it. The Father gave His Son, and the Son willingly laid down His life. And God had purposed it before the world was made. 1 Peter 1, 19 and 20 says, We were redeemed, quote, With precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Foreknown. Before the foundation of the world. God had already purposed our redemption in Christ before there even was a hill to die on.

My goodness. So we've looked at the test. We've looked at the trek. Finally, point number three, the talk. The talk. Verse 7. Do you realize this is the only conversation between Abraham and Isaac recorded in your whole Bible? One exchange. Every word loaded. Then Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. My father. Here I am, my son. Feel that for a second. That's the second time Abraham says, Here I am, in this chapter. Once to God in verse one, now to his precious boy. He loves this boy. And he's heard what God has asked of him.

Think of what it might have taken him to answer his son in that moment. Now think about Gethsemane. Because another son, on the night before the crucifixion, looked up and said, Father, too. He asked that the cup pass from him, if possible. And he submitted to his father's will. And he went. Isaac said, My father, on the way to the altar. Jesus said, Father, in Gethsemane, knowing what awaited him at Golgotha. We hear a son speak to his father in each scene. But back to the verse. And he, that's Isaac, said, Behold the fire and the wood. But where's the lamb for the burnt offering? Where is the lamb? Isaac knows something is missing. Fire?

Check. Wood? Check. Lamb? Hey, Dad, where's the lamb? You can hear that question echo throughout the Old Testament. Next time you read in Exodus about how Israel put the Passover blood on the doorposts, ask yourself, where's the lamb? Later, as the priests offer lambs every morning and every evening, ask yourself, where's the lamb? When Hebrews tells us that the blood of animals could never take away sins, and Isaiah sees a servant like a lamb led to slaughter, ask yourself again, where is the lamb? The details change from scene to scene, but the question remains the same in every place and under every circumstances.

Where, indeed, is the lamb? Finally, though, when you get to the New Testament in John chapter 1 verse 29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him beyond the Jordan, he called out, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And there...

is the Lamb? That's the ultimate answer to Isaac's question, and the question that hangs over so many passages throughout the Old Testament. Where, pray tell, is the Lamb? It took centuries before John the Baptist could name Him and answer the question once and for all. But look at what Abraham says in the meantime, verse 8. And Abraham said, God will provide for Himself the Lamb for the burnt offering, my son. This is one of the great sentences in the Bible, so let's take it apart. God will provide. The Hebrew is Yireh, and it literally means He will see. That sounds odd. You might have a footnote in your Bible that says that.

It carries the idea of God will see to it. Spurgeon put it in his sermon Jehovah Yireh, quote, for God to see is to provide. That's exactly right. Our word provide actually comes from a Latin verb that means to see beforehand. God sees the need before you get there, and the supply is already on the way. But look at the next two words, for Himself. God will provide for Himself the Lamb. Think about that carefully, because there's pretty deep doctrine in it. In Genesis, God Himself supplies the offering that will be made to Him. Follow that picture to the cross. The debt we owe is owed to Him.

Sin isn't primarily a problem between you and your neighbor, it's a problem between you and a holy God. David cried to the Lord in Psalm 51, against you and you only have I sinned, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. His law was broken. His justice is satisfaction. And here's the thing that ought to drop you to your knees. The only one who can satisfy God's justice is God Himself. It's certainly not me. It ain't you. Listen again to Paul in Romans 3, 3, 25, and 26, speaking of Christ. In fact, take your time and turn there please. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, we're going to look at verses 25 and 26. Romans 3, 25, 26.

Paul says, speaking of Christ, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith for a demonstration of His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Propitiation is a big word for a sacrifice that turns away wrath, that satisfies justice. And look who provides it. Paul says God displayed Him publicly. God Himself provided the sacrifice.

God provided for Himself the Lamb so that He could be both just with justice fully satisfied and the justifier, the one who declares sinners righteous. He didn't lower the standard. He met it with Himself. 1 John 4, 10 says the same thing. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Abraham told his boy that God would see to it. And in verse 13, God provides a ram in Isaac's place, which we'll see next time. But follow that picture all the way to the cross. The Father sent His own Son and the Son came in human flesh and gave Himself as the Lamb.

Spurgeon said in that same sermon I quoted earlier that he couldn't put it more simply than this, quote, in order to save us, God provided God. Say that slowly. In order to save us, God provided God. Abraham said God will provide for Himself the Lamb. And the ultimate answer to Isaac's question was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, lived a perfect life, and went out bearing His own cross. Then verse 8 ends the same way verse 6 ended. So the two of them walked on together. And right there at the end of verse 8 is where we're going to stop.

Next time we'll watch Abraham build the altar, bind his son, raise the knife, and we'll see what God called in the thicket. But tonight I want to leave you on that path with them as they walk there together with the fire and the wood and the knife, Father walking His Son toward an altar, with the Son walking beside Him carrying the wood. And I want to ponder the question Isaac asked his Father, the question we see hanging over the whole Old Testament, where is the Lamb? So as we conclude, look at what we've got. The first love named this way in Scripture is Abraham's love for Isaac.

Now hear what Paul says about the Father giving up His own beloved Son. Romans 8.32, He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Did not spare His own Son. As we'll see next time, and as you already know, Isaac was spared. Jesus was not spared from death. The knife stopped for Abraham. But the Father gave His Son, and Jesus willingly went to the cross for sinners like me and like you. And God raised Him from the dead. So when you wonder whether God is for you, have you ever felt like that? Is God for me? Whether He'll come through?

Just look at what He's already given. Paul's whole argument in Romans 8.32 runs from the greater to the lesser. If God gave up His Son for us, He will give us everything we need to bring us to glory with Him. Paul knows we may face famine, danger, even the sword, but none of it can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ. For God to see is to provide. He has always seen, and He's always provided. But let me ask you something a little more tricky before we leave the believer side of this. Is there an Isaac in your life? Is there something God gave you? A good thing? A thing you prayed for?

A thing you waited years for that has quietly moved into the place that belongs to God alone? A child? A career? A ministry? A reputation? A plan for how your life was supposed to go? Something you might negotiate with God about for half the chapter if He asked for it? Abraham loved Isaac. God never told him not to love Isaac. God gave him Isaac. But the test showed that Abraham feared God enough to entrust him even with the Son he loved. So here's the challenge. If you've got something like that in your life, walk up the hill with it. Whatever it is, take it up there, lay it down, and open your hand.

Not because God's necessarily going to take it. He might hand it right back to you like He did Isaac. But because you need to know, and He wants you to know that you're holding it with an open hand and not a closed fist. And here's the encouragement. The God who asks you to open your hand is the same God who opened His own. He did not spare His own Son for you. He's not asking you for anything He hasn't already given 10,000 times over. You can trust Him with your Isaac. He proved His love for you at the cross, didn't He? Lord, have mercy on us where we've been holding on too tight. Help us to trust You more.

Now, sir, ma'am, if you're here tonight and you're not in Christ, I want you to hear Isaac's question. Because it's your question whether you've ever said it out loud or not. Where's the Lamb? Paul says God made Himself known and we've suppressed the truth, pushing it down, hoping it'll go away, but it won't. You're going to have to answer to a holy God. And that brings us back to the fire and the wood and to the question of who will provide the sacrifice. What you don't have is the Lamb. Maybe you've been trying to be your own Lamb. Church attendance, good deeds. I'm a pretty decent person, but that ain't going to work.

And you can't fix that by trying harder, because the problem isn't your effort, the problem is your nature. Jesus said it in John 3.3, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You don't need a better plan, you need a new birth. And only God gives that. God has provided the Lamb, one Lamb, His own Son. There's no second Lamb coming behind this one. If you reject the Lamb that God provided, you remain under the wrath of God. There's nowhere else to turn for a sacrifice that can take away your sin. That's not me being harsh, that's John 3.36.

He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. The wrath of God abides on you, sir. You will not see life, man. And God isn't asking you to consider the Lamb tonight, He's commanding you to come to Him tonight, right now. Turn from your sin and trust the crucified and risen Christ. Cry out to Him for the new birth He alone can give. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Stop looking for another one. There ain't one. Come to this one.

one. Let's pray.