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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 22. Take a few weeks off from our studies 
in John and Ephesians. This morning and evening, we're 
gonna look at promises in the Old Testament concerning the 
coming of the Messiah. And then God willing in two weeks 
time, we'll look at the incarnation proper. Next Sunday, I'll be 
in Surrey and Pastor Kirkpatrick will be preaching here. And then 
as I said, two weeks from now, we'll look at the incarnation 
proper. So I wanna read beginning in Genesis chapter 22 at verse 
one, and we'll read the verse 19. Now it came to pass after 
these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, 
and he said, here I am. Then he said, take now your son, 
your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah 
and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains 
of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the 
morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men 
with him and Isaac, his son. And he split the wood for the 
burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God 
had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes 
and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young 
men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder 
and worship and we will come back to you. So Abraham took 
the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, 
and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them 
went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his 
father and said, my father. And he said, here I am, my son. 
Then he said, look, the fire and the wood, but where is the 
lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God 
will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So 
the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of 
which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there 
and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac, his son, 
and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched 
out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. The angel of 
the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So 
he said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your 
hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now I know that you 
fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only 
son from me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes 
and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket 
by its horns. So Abraham went and took the 
ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 
And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide. 
As it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall 
be provided. And the angel of the Lord called 
to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, by myself 
I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing 
and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will 
bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as 
the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. 
And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. "'In 
your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed "'because 
you have obeyed my voice.' "'So Abraham returned to his young 
men, "'and they rose and went together to Beersheba, "'and 
Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.'" Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
blessed God and Holy Father, we thank you for the Lord's day. 
We thank you for this privilege that we have to gather in your 
presence. We come to the Father through 
the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit, confessing that 
God is all in all. We acknowledge your handiwork 
in terms of creation, your sovereign wisdom and power and providence, 
and we marvel at your grace and mercy revealed to us in redemption. 
Even now, God, as we get a glimpse of the coming of the Savior in 
this passage before us, may you edify and strengthen our hearts 
and build us up in our most holy faith. May we see the faithfulness 
of God. May we see the covenant of God. 
May we see the promises of God are yea and amen. We know they 
come to fruition in and through our blessed Savior, the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Forgive us now for all sin and all transgression. 
Cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lamb. Sanctify your people, 
and God, if any are here this morning that are still dead in 
their trespasses and sins, we pray that you'd open their eyes 
and hearts to receive your truth, and cause them to see that Christ 
is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, and the one in 
whom all the nations of the earth are blessed. And fill us now 
with your Spirit, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. Well, as I said, we're going 
to take two passages from the Old Testament today. This passage 
was a promise of God's provision. That's the main emphasis, verses 
8 and 14. Yahweh will provide Abraham had 
faith to understand that and live in light of that. And then 
tonight we'll look at the provision of the promise of God's Son in 
2 Samuel 7. But this morning, we want to 
look at this passage, and you might wonder, how does this sort 
of reflect or impact or connect with the Incarnation? Hopefully 
that will be evident as we proceed through the passage. I've referred 
to this in recent weeks in our studies in John's Gospel. We're 
in John chapter 8. and the Jews make two claims 
or affirmations or assertions in that section. They claim to 
be Abraham's sons or Abraham's children, and then they claim 
to be the children of God the Father. Well, in terms of Abraham's 
sons, they are physically, but not spiritually because they 
reject Abraham's seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I referred 
to this to show that, but I wanted to unpack it in more detail this 
morning And again, to show how it relates to the incarnation 
of our blessed Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. So there's three 
things going on in verses one to 19. Now in history of interpretation, 
this has been referred to as the binding of Isaac and for 
obvious reasons. We'll look first at the presentation 
of the test in verses one and two. Secondly, the obedience 
of Abraham in verses three to 10. And then finally, the approval 
by God in verses 11 to 19. But notice in the first place 
how verse 1 begins. Now, it came to pass after these 
things. What things? Well, chapter 21, 
at least for one of those things. And chapter 21 is structurally 
similar to what we find here in chapter 22. In chapter 21, 
we see that Abraham has to part with his son Ishmael. Now remember 
that Abraham had hoped before the birth of Isaac that in Ishmael 
the promises of God would be realized. Well, back in chapter 
17, verses 18 and 19, God said, no, it's not going to be Ishmael. 
I'm going to give you a son by Sarah. But in chapter 21, as 
I said, Abraham asked to part with Ishmael, and he had a great 
deal of affection for him. In fact, if you look back in 
chapter 21, specifically at verse 8, I'm sorry, at verse 12, I'm 
sorry, verse 11. So God tells Abraham, must take 
the son of Ishmael away because of the bidding of Hagar. And 
notice in 2111, it says, and the matter was very displeasing 
in Abraham's sight because of his son. He loved Ishmael. He 
didn't want to get rid of him. He didn't want to see him go 
away. Well, here now in chapter 22, it came to pass after these 
things. And I think just by way of an 
application or observation, we don't always get a break in affliction. 
We don't always get a time of relaxation from difficulty. It's not the case that a dark 
providence comes our way, and then we're assured now of a seven-year 
period of peace and tranquility. Sometimes it's kind of like the 
waves just keep rolling over us. Sometimes it's like those 
afflictions just keep mounting up above us. And yet in the midst 
of all these things, we see God's faithfulness to see his servant 
through those waves and to steady them and to settle them and to 
stabilize them in the midst of it. And I know for my part, you 
know, you've had a difficult time and you say, oh, can't I 
just have a break? God never promises in the 31,000 
verses that I'm aware of in Holy Scripture that you're gonna get 
a break. In fact, in the upper room, our blessed Savior says 
in John 16, 33, in this world, you will have tribulation, but 
be of good cheer for I've overcome the world. Notice he doesn't 
say you'll have some, and then there'll be a respite. You'll 
have some, and then there'll be a break. You'll have some, 
and then everything will be hunky-dory. No, in this world, you will have 
tribulation. Well, why is that? Because this 
world is at odds with our God. What we find in Psalm 2 is a 
reality. The nations, the peoples plot 
a vain thing against Yahweh and against His Christ. Is it any 
shock to us that this world despises the people of God? It shouldn't 
be a shock. It shouldn't be a surprise. I 
mean, it doesn't make it easy. Oh, I love it when people hate 
me. I love it when people despise me. I love it when people reject 
me. Oh, it's just a, you know, I get this sick fascination with 
that kind of a martyr complex. No, that's a sick, fascinated 
way to be. We nevertheless, though, understand 
it's not ultimately us. If we serve the master, they're 
going to despise the servants. So when we look at this passage, 
we need to see it in connection with what comes before it. Now 
it came to pass after these things. And then notice that God tested 
Abraham and said to him, Abraham. Now it's important for us as 
we move through this narrative to understand that Abraham didn't 
get this data. God doesn't say, Abraham, I'm 
going to test you. Abraham, I'm going to lay this 
test down for you, and I want to make sure that you absolutely 
positively obey me. This is for the reader's benefit. It's probably calculated to serve 
to remind us that God doesn't demand child sacrifice. When 
you serve Yahweh, the living and the true God, you're not 
going to be asked to part with your actual child. You're not 
going to be asked to take him up to Mount Moriah, your only 
son, the son that you love, and lay him on an altar and present 
him as a burnt offering unto God. This is a reminder for the 
reader that this is a unique and special situation. But as 
far as Abraham's concerned, he's not tipped off. He doesn't know 
it's a test. What follows in terms of the 
instructions that come to him are severely distressing. As much as he loved Ishmael and 
hated to see him part, this is his son, his only son, the son 
that he loves. Think about that phrase that 
is utilized over and over again as God speaks to Abraham concerning 
Isaac. Kind of reminds one of the relation 
between the Father and the Son in the New Testament. The Son, 
the only begotten Son of the Father, the one whom the Father 
loves. So we see this test presented 
to Abraham, and we see specifically what he's supposed to do. Notice 
in verse 2, Then he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, 
whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him 
there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which 
I shall tell you. Now, Moriah is significant in 
biblical history. Moriah is the place where the 
temple will eventually be built. It is a mount of sacrifice. We see that David bought a place 
there from a man by the name of Aaronah, and we see in 2 Chronicles 
chapter 3 it's identified specifically as Moriah. It would be the locale 
upon which the temple would be built. And you know what the 
temple's business was. It was sacrifice. It was blood 
atonement. It was to remit the sins of the 
people so that they could meet with their blessed God. So all 
of this at this point already is heavy and significant in terms 
of subsequent revelation. Now notice the specifics in terms 
of Abraham and his response to this. So verse 2, take now your 
son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land 
of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of 
the mountains of which I shall tell you. We know that he is 
willing because he says in verse 1 at the end, and he said, here 
I am, and we see the severity of the demand. Now a burnt offering, 
when you get to the book of Leviticus, some of those offerings were 
set up in such a way that not all of the animal was sacrificed. 
Some of the animal was kept apart from the actual burning ceremony 
so that the priest and the worshipper himself could participate in 
that. But not the burnt offering. The burnt offering was every 
jot and tittle. The burnt offering was every bit. The burnt offering 
was a full offering, a complete consumption of the one being 
offered. So the demand placed upon Abraham 
by God here is quite severe. And one man, John Gill, makes 
this observation, this was dreadful work he was called to and must 
be exceeding trying to him as a man and much more as a parent. Be tough as a man, but especially 
and doubly tough as a parent of the one you're commanded to 
go and offer up as a burnt offering. But he goes on, he says, this 
must be exceeding trying to him as a man and much more as a parent 
and a professor of the true religion to commit such an action. For 
by this order, now he sounds a bit gory here, but brethren, 
atonement is gory. It's not this, you know, polished, 
pure, perfect, sterile environment. No, the blood and gore of atonement 
hang thick. He says, for by this he was to 
cut the throat of his son, then to rip him up and cut up his 
quarters, and then to lay every piece in order upon the wood, 
and then burn all to ashes. And he was to do as a religious 
action with deliberation, seriousness, and devotion. Again, that shocks 
our delicate sensitivities, but if you conduct yourself to Calvary, 
that was a bloody, gory mess. Our blessed Savior hung naked. 
Our blessed Savior bled. Our blessed Savior had a crown 
of thorns pushed into his head. Well, what happens as a result 
of that? There's blood. There's gore. It's hard to look 
at. It's hard to entertain. Typically, 
the artists portray it as this glowing, perfect, idyllic scene, 
and that's not what was happening. In the first century, brethren, 
crucifixion was horrific. It was such that not even a Roman 
citizen could be crucified unless by edict of the emperor himself. In other words, it wasn't for 
the citizenry in the Roman Empire. It was for the rabble. It was 
for the hoi polloi. It was for everybody outside of it. It wasn't 
some sterile glowing event. It was blood and it was gore 
and it was pain and it was agony. And so, Abraham is asked to do 
this with reference to his son. Now, let's look secondly at the 
obedience of Abraham in verses 3 to 10. It's hard not to psychoanalyze 
along the way. But we're going to do a little 
bit of that just to try to get into the mindset of Abraham. 
I mean, just stop for a moment. Imagine if you woke up this morning 
and God the Lord says, take your son, your only son, the son that 
you love, up to Mount Moriah and offer him up as a burnt offering. 
Offer him up whole. Offer him up to me because I 
want to see that you actually obey me. Brethren, I can't even 
imagine that kind of a test. I can't even imagine that kind 
of horror. I can't imagine being called 
upon to do that thing that is unspeakable in terms of my own 
orientation. But notice what we find in terms 
of preparation. Verses three to five. Verse 3a, 
so Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey 
and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And 
he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to 
the place of which God had told him. Again, similar to chapter 
21, notice in verse 14, when he has to get rid of Ishmael. 
So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a 
skin of water, and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and 
the boy to Hagar and sent her away. This isn't something he's 
singing about. This isn't rejoicing. This was 
difficult in the mind of the patriarch in terms of parting 
with his son. And then notice the order in 
verse 3. Abraham rose early in the morning, 
saddled his donkey. That would be equivalent to starting 
the car. We typically load the car and 
then start the car, don't we? We load the car and then start 
the car. We don't start the car and then 
load the car unless we're distressed, unless we really don't want to 
do what we're going to do. You know how that happens when 
perplexity or affliction or trial or difficulty comes? What happens? Chaos, confusion, distortion. We like peace, we like order, 
we like cosmos. When stuff is introduced that 
challenges that, it causes us to get off kilter, it causes 
us to get off our game, and that's precisely what happens. He rises 
early in the morning, he saddles his donkey, and then he takes 
two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son, and then 
He splits the wood for the burnt offering and he arose and went 
to the place of which God had said. And in terms of this obedience 
notice, of his obedience, notice the journey. It wasn't like, 
you know, Moriah's 30 minutes away. That wouldn't make it any 
more easy, I don't think. but a three-day journey you get 
to meditate upon this? A three-day journey you get to 
contemplate on this? A three-day journey you get to 
rotate the knife in your back as you ponder the reality that 
I'm taking my son, my only son, the son that I love, up to Mount 
Moriah to offer him up as a burnt offering? Brethren, that is excruciatingly 
difficult. When we talk about the faith 
of Abraham, hopefully our minds go to Genesis chapter 22 to see 
that in fact this brother had faith. This brother understood 
the promises of God and this brother meant business in terms 
of God. So the obedience of Abraham in 
this three-day journey, Calvin says, God does not require him 
to put his son immediately to death, but compels him to revolve 
this execution in his mind during three whole days. That in preparing 
himself to sacrifice his son, he may still more severely torture 
all his own senses. It's a three-day journey with 
his son, his only son, the son whom he loves, to take him up 
to Mount Moriah and offer him up as a burnt offering unto Yahweh. Now notice the instruction that 
he gives to the servants, and we see his hand. We see him tip 
his hand in terms of the faith that he has. Notice verse four, 
then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place 
afar off. And Abraham said to his young 
men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder 
and worship and we will come back to you." Now, look at the 
isolation of Abraham. He tells the lads, the attendants, 
the servants, you stay here. There's no help for Abraham in 
this task. There's no accompaniment. This makes me think of the Lord 
Jesus. When he goes to the cross, what happens with his disciples? 
Are his disciples right there? More often than not, we're eight 
foot tall and bulletproof when we're surrounded by our amigos, 
aren't we? But when we're all alone, it's a little bit of a 
different battle, isn't it? When you look back and there's 
nobody there, that's tough. Well, that's what Jesus faced 
when he went to Calvary. This is what Abraham faces when 
he goes to Moriah. He doesn't take the attendants. 
He doesn't take the servants. He doesn't take his family sort 
of members. He doesn't take them with him. 
He goes it alone. But then notice as well, the 
distancing of Abraham from his son. Verse five, Abraham said 
to his young men, stay here with the donkey, the lad and I will 
go yonder and worship. Not my son, my only son, the 
son that I love, but my lad. Again, that's something that 
we do. We try to distance ourselves from difficult situations. And 
this was an excruciatingly difficult one. And so he's distancing himself 
in a sense from the lad. Now, the lad here is probably 
late teens, early 20s. Usher and Matthew Poole and Josephus 
put him at 25. He's definitely old enough to 
carry the wood. He's definitely old enough to 
understand that there's no lamb for the sacrifice. He's definitely 
old enough to get the sense of what is happening in due course, 
but not at this particular point. So we see the isolation, we see 
the distance, but we see the faith of Abraham. Look at what 
he says there in verse five, stay here with the donkey, the 
lad and I will go yonder and worship, but notice, and we will 
come back to you, not just. He knows the task ahead. He's 
got to take his son, the only son, the son of his love, up 
to Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering. And yet 
he says, we will come back to you. We will return to you. We 
together, both Abraham and Isaac. Well, how does he know that? 
Well, the apostle tells us in Hebrews 11 how he knew that. 
He knew it by faith. Hebrews 11, 17 to 19, it says, 
by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and 
he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten 
son, of who it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding 
that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from 
which he also received him in a figurative sense. He can say 
that we will return because he understands the power of God. 
If he offers up Isaac as a burnt offering, God is nevertheless 
able to resurrect Isaac so that Isaac can accompany Abraham back 
to the servants. This is faith, brethren, in excruciatingly 
difficult and hard circumstances to nevertheless see God's goodness 
in the midst of it, to see God's faithfulness, to see God's kindness, 
and to see God's covenant that He's not going to renege on the 
commitment that He has made to bless us and to do us good. Now brethren, that takes faith 
when there is tribulation, when there is hardship. I think most 
Christians are fair weather fans. Fair weather fans means that 
you root for your team and you're especially happy to do so when 
they're winning. You know, it's great to be a 
Canucks fan when they're winning. It's great to be a Christian 
when you're winning. It's great to be a Christian 
when the job is good. It's great to be a Christian 
when the children are obedient. It's great to be a Christian 
when the wife is happy. It's great to be a Christian 
when there's food in the fridge. It's great to be a Christian 
when all those things are in your favor. But when there's 
trouble, when there's hardship, when there's difficulty, what 
happens with the professing people of God? Where is God? As if the 
only relation God maintains to us is to keep our refrigerators 
filled? To keep our kids happy? Brethren, 
there's more to God than that periphery. It is the stability 
of soul of being found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, 
which is from the law, but that which is from God received through 
faith in Jesus. There is something more important 
than a filled fridge. There is something more important 
than a happy communion with your wife or your husband. Not that 
those things are bad. I'm not discounting that. But 
for the people of God, what is most important is God. What is 
most important in the language of the hymn writer is that the 
nearness of God is my good. And Abraham demonstrates that. Abraham has that. Abraham expresses 
that faith. So in terms of obedience, we 
see the preparation. Let's look at the sacrifice in 
verses 6 to 10. There's preparation here. Look 
at verse 6. So Abraham took the wood of the 
burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. That's significant. One man says, the wood on Isaac's 
back looks forward to the moment when Isaac will be lying on his 
back on the wood with his father, knife in hand, ready to slay 
him. Thus the wording here anticipates the moment of sacrifice itself. So verse six, Abraham took the 
wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And 
he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them 
went together. Again, imagine the horror, imagine 
the distress, imagine the difficulty involved in this. Do you ever 
count yourselves blessed that you're not Abraham? Do you ever 
count yourselves blessed that you live in this new covenant 
era? Do you ever count yourself blessed that we live in the days 
of Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? 
So did Abraham, but it was anticipatory. It was promise, it was looking 
forward. We live in the age of realization 
in this new covenant setting. But for Abraham, he's got the 
wood, he's got the fire, he's got the knife, and he's got the 
sacrifice. But here we see that Isaac understands 
what's happening. Notice in verse 7, Isaac breaks 
the silence. Again, probably a dagger into 
the heart of Abraham. What better words are there on 
the face of the earth than my father or my mother? What better 
thing or privilege is there for that kind of an intimate relationship? Again, Calvin says, God produces 
here a new instrument of torture by which he may more and more 
torment the breast of Abraham. already pierced through with 
so many wounds. Yet the holy man sustains even this attack 
with invincible courage and is so far from being disturbed in 
his proposed course that he shows himself to be entirely devoted 
to God, hearkening to nothing which should either shake his 
confidence or hinder his obedience. Wow, that's the kind of faith 
you and I ought to be praying for in terms of what do we want 
from our God? Remember that bit in Solomon's 
time when God comes to him and says, what is it that you would 
like, Solomon? And Solomon says, I'd like wisdom. What does God 
say? That's a good ask. That's a good 
ask. You could have asked for wives. 
You could have asked for property. You could have asked for more 
boundary. You could have asked for, rather, extension of your 
boundary. You could have asked for any 
number of things, but you asked for wisdom. There's a bit in 
Luke's gospel where Jesus talks about forgiving somebody who 
sins against you, seven times 70. Do you know what the apostles' 
response to that is? They say, Lord, increase our 
faith. Why? Because it's hard to forgive 
them once, let alone seven times seventy. I need faith. Do you ever pray in the morning 
for an increase of faith? Do you ever pray for wisdom? 
Do you ever ask God for the sorts of things that we see fetched 
out by the prayers in Holy Scripture? Does our prayer list look like 
a Christmas list? I'd like a full fridge. I'd like 
happy children. I'd like a new car. I'd like 
a summer house with a boat. I'd like all those sorts of things. 
Our God's not Santa Claus, brethren. There is something specific in 
terms of the prayers in Old and New Testaments where they fetch 
out grace. They seek out wisdom. They seek 
out the sorts of things that will help them to serve God in 
a manner that is consistent with God's Word. We saw those petitions 
in Ephesians chapter 3 that the Apostle prays with reference 
to the Ephesians. What does he want for them? Full 
fridges? Happy kids? No, he wants them 
to be strong. He wants them to be strengthened 
with might by the Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may 
dwell richly in their hearts through faith. Oh, okay, yeah, 
we need strength for sure. But then he goes on to pray for 
knowledge, education. I want them to understand what 
is the unsurpassing and the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus, our 
Lord. Do we ever pray that? God, increase 
my knowledge. Help me to learn more scripture. 
Help me to learn more theology. Instead of balking at theology, 
the church today, and I'm not speaking specifically here, but 
generally, could do well with praying for an increase in knowledge 
so that they can appropriate the faith that was once for all 
delivered to the saints. So that while the pagans assault 
the fences, while the pagans make inroads into the sanctuary, 
we'll be able to resist that with the sword of the Holy Spirit. 
That is requisite for the people of God today. How do we deal 
with an encroaching government? How do we deal with communism? 
How do we deal with the sorts of things that are all around 
us? By getting our faces in the scriptures, by learning the creeds 
and confessions of Christianity, and by standing fast and holding 
fast the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 
Our job, that's our task, that's the blessed provision or privilege 
that God has entrusted to the church. We're to retain, we're 
to hold fast, the pattern of sound words. And so with reference 
to Abraham, he had this faith that enabled him to press on 
in the midst of hardship. So Isaac says, my father, and 
he said in verse seven, here I am my son. Then he said, look, 
the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 
Again, a five-year-old doesn't make that connection. Isaac's 
late teens, early 20s. Isaac knows what's happening. 
The light is starting to dawn on him. We have everything that 
we need in terms of this sacrifice, but I'm not seeing the actual 
sacrifice itself. Now notice Abraham's response, 
and this goes along with my last little tirade on the church needs 
to grow in knowledge. So how does Abraham respond here? How would you respond? Would 
you respond this way? Well, it's time for a theology 
lesson, son. A theology lesson? Yeah, that's 
exactly what we're going to do right now. That's going to be 
the key that sees us both through this very difficult trial and 
procedure. I'm going to teach you something 
about Yahweh. And when you learn about Yahweh, 
then that settles the soul. Because if you don't know Yahweh, 
you don't know God, you don't have that peace that surpasses 
all understanding, you're like the waves tossed to and fro. You're untethered. I think about 
people in our own generation that don't have faith in our 
Lord Jesus, that don't have a doctrine of Christ at the right hand of 
the majesty on high, who is presently ruler over the kings of the earth. 
How do they get out of bed every day? How do they cope? How do 
they function? Especially those who actually 
have some good political views. How do you manage? I mean, if 
I didn't have a view of the extended Christ at the right hand of the 
Father, I gotta tell you, it'd be tough to get out of bed. It 
would be tough to take the blankets down and say, okay, I'm gonna 
meet another day, go get my coffee, and just basically wander in 
the abyss. No, we have a God that settles 
the soul. We have the God of Psalm 46. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. 
I will be exalted in the earth. That's why you and I get out 
of bed. That's why we press on, that's why we persevere, and 
that's why we come to scripture and the creeds and confessions, 
so that we can learn our theology and we can learn it well. So 
Isaac has accurately assessed there's no sacrifice here. So 
what's Abraham's response? I'm going to teach you a bit 
of theology, son. Look at verse 8. Abraham said, my son, God 
will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide for himself 
the lamb for a burnt offering. He has faith in God. He has a 
hope in Messiah. And he has this conviction to 
catechize his son, even on the way to Moriah, to offer him up 
as a burnt offering. Brethren, never weary or tire 
of teaching your spawn the great truths of God Most High. Oh, 
but it's so hard. No, it's not. It's the blessed 
privilege of parenthood, of grandparenthood, to be able to catechize, to be 
able to disciple, to be able to teach, to be able to tell 
them of Yahweh's deeds, to tell them of Christ and His mercy, 
to tell them of the gospel of our blessed Savior, to point 
them to the truth. Isn't that one of the privileges 
of fatherhood or motherhood or grandparenthood? It's to point 
them to the blessed God who saves to the uttermost all who draw 
nigh to him through his son. So the patriarch preaches Christ 
to his son in this setting. My son, God will provide for 
himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Now notice, so the 
two of them went together. That brings us to the act in 
verses 9 and 10. The act, notice in nine, then 
they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham 
built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound 
Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Brethren, 
it's hard not to cry reading this, right? It's hard not to 
kind of just break down a little bit and go, man, I can't believe 
what he went through. Imagine building that altar. 
Imagine building that altar, and he's not just his son, the 
only son, the son of his love, because of that natural sort 
of bond in terms of father-son, which is obvious. He's the son 
of promise. He's the son that God promised. No, it's not gonna be Ishmael. There is going to be a son that 
comes from Sarah. 90-year-old womb Sarah is going 
to bear forth a child, and that child is gonna be the one in 
whom all the nations of the earth are blessed. Well, typologically. 
We know it's Christ who's the seed. Christ the seed of verse 
18 is Christ the provision of verses 8 and 14. Never forget 
that in the passage. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were 
told that in their seed all the nations of the earth would be 
blessed. Who is their seed? It's Jesus. Galatians 3.16. So 
in this particular instance, he has to build the altar to 
sacrifice his son as a whole burnt offering. Gotta be a tough 
situation. And then notice, Abraham built 
an altar, placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac, his 
son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. What do we learn 
from Isaac here? We learn that he had faith too. 
How do we know that? Because he didn't run down the 
slope of Moriah. That would be the obvious response, 
wouldn't it? Oh, I'm the sacrifice? That's the time to peace out. 
Oh, okay, dad. I've got a date. I've got something 
else. Oh, I forgot. Yeah, I've got 
an appointment. I have to be back in Beersheba for. No, Isaac 
goes along with this. What does that indicate? It indicates 
that Genesis 18 is accurate. When God isolates Abraham as 
a patriarch, he says that he will teach his family the fear 
of God. So this catechetical lesson of 
verse eight that Yahweh will provide was consistent. It was 
practical. It was something that Abraham 
did with his son. It wasn't that Isaac said, well, 
what are you getting all theological for now? What are you getting 
all biblical for? You know, that first time perhaps you've been 
derelict in your duties and you start to read the Bible to your 
kids. What are you doing? How come we're reading the Bible? 
Why can't we watch PAW Patrol? I just don't understand. What 
are we doing? Just keep being faithful and eventually John's 
gospel will trump PAW Patrol. under the blessing of God. You 
see, Isaac doesn't respond that way. It's part and parcel of 
their Deuteronomy 6 life. Whether you rise up, or you lie 
down, or you walk by the way, what are you doing? You're doing 
theology with your kids. You're at the zoo, and you say, 
look at that giraffe. Isn't that funny what God made? Isn't that 
a beautiful creation? You appoint your children to 
the created order, to the providential order, most especially to the 
redemptive order. How do you do that? You bring 
them to church, you schlep them with you every Sunday so they 
can gather under the gospel call. So Isaac had faith, Isaac understood, 
Isaac doesn't run down the slope of Moriah to go to his appointment. 
And then notice what happens in verse 10. Abraham stretched 
out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. We've kind of 
put ourselves in Abraham's shoes at this point. Imagine Isaac 
at this point. What kind of faith does he have 
where he doesn't run from his father, where he agrees with 
what his father said. The lad and I, we will return 
when we're done worshiping. Isaac was catechized, he was 
taught, he was trained. He was the patriarch's son and 
we see it reflected in the text of scripture. That brings us 
thirdly to the approval of God in verses 11 to 19. Notice there 
is another command in verses 11 and 12. But the angel of Yahweh 
called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he 
said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your 
hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now I know that you 
fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son from 
me. There's an urgency, right? Why 
the urgency? Because he had the knife poised 
to engage in the burnt sacrifice, to carve him up, to cut him up, 
to rip him apart, and ultimately set fire to him. That's what 
he's there for. That's why the wood, that's why 
the fire, that's why the knife. So there's this urgency from 
on high, according to verse 11, the angel of the Lord called 
him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am. 
And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything 
to him. Now notice, for now I know that 
you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only 
son, from me. Two observations here. What does 
the fear of God look like? It looks like obedience to God, 
doesn't it? Oh, I really fear God and I'm 
gonna live like a devil? That's not the fear of God. The fear of God is absolutely 
positively doing what God calls us to do. Now I know that you 
fear God, why? Because you didn't spare your 
son, your only son, the son that you loved. You're willing to 
sacrifice him and put the fire to him and give him to me as 
a burnt offering. But as well, when God says, now 
I know, he's speaking to us as men. God knows all things. God is infinite, eternal, and 
unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, 
and truth. God doesn't arrive at truth. 
God doesn't get smarter. God doesn't begin to know more 
things. I think Calvin gets this right. 
when he says, truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here 
says that what he has proved by experiment is now made known 
to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not 
according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our 
infirmity. The Bible comes to us that way. God does know all things. God 
doesn't arrive at things. God isn't discursive in terms 
of his understanding the way that you and I are. We've got 
to be told. We've got to be taught. We've got to learn. Two plus 
two equals four. We grow in our understanding and wisdom. That's 
not the case with God. He is, in the language of the 
psalmist, the Lord God of truth. He doesn't acquire new data. 
He doesn't pick up new things along the way, but he does communicate 
to us in our weakness, in our infirmity. Calvin in his institute 
says that the Bible itself is kind of like a nurse who lisps 
to the baby under her charge. If God told us what God is, we 
couldn't handle it. We're creature. He's creator. He's infinite. We're finite. And so when scripture uses convention 
like this, now I know, please don't make the assumption that 
God learned a new fact today, that God understood something 
additional, that God became more aware in terms of Abraham. No, 
that's for us, brethren. It's to take us by the hand to 
Moriah and show us what's happening in terms of Abraham's vindication 
before God as the man of faith and patriarch in whose seed the 
nations of the earth will be blessed. Now notice, not only 
the command, but the provision. Remember the theology lesson? 
Typically we don't always get lessons answered that quick, 
do we? We teach our kids something at five, and it might not be 
till they're 25 that we say, you see, you remember, I told 
you this when you were five. That's supposing that you still 
have your mental equipment. But it doesn't always happen 
that quick, does it? And that makes it a bit more 
difficult for us and why we need increased faith. God doesn't 
answer in our timeframe. Again, search the 31,000 plus 
verses of Holy Scripture and find where God is beholden to 
the creature to always answer according to what you want. People 
do this with prayer. Well, you know, I prayed and 
nothing happened. No, God said no. Why is that 
not a legitimate answer? You know, your kid asks for a 
cookie and you say, no, the kid shouldn't go whine to his friends. 
I keep asking for cookies and they won't answer me. Oh, they 
answered you, you just didn't like the answer. I think that's 
a big problem with Christians. I prayed, I tried to pray, I 
gave it my all and nothing happened. Again, is God a genie in the 
bottle? Is God Baal of the Canaanites? See, Baal has more affinity with 
the God in the church today, at least in some sectors, than 
Yahweh. Baal was manipulated. Baal was 
formulaic. Baal was a pretty simple God. 
You copulated with temple prostitutes, and then Baal, blessed. That 
was the way it worked. And if you copulated and it didn't 
work, then perhaps you'd say, well, I don't think I'm going 
to go back to Baal anytime soon. God's not that way, brethren. 
We don't have a formulaic approach with our blessed God. We don't 
try prayer and say, well, you know, it just didn't work, so 
I'm going to give it up. But in this instance, this theology 
lesson comes to pass rather quickly. Notice in verses 13 and 14, then 
Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram 
caught in a thicket by its horns. The Lord will provide. Yahweh 
Yireh. That's the name of the mount 
that Abraham gives to it. He says, so Abraham went and 
took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering. Don't miss 
this next clause. Instead of his son. Instead of 
his son. What does that suggest? Well, 
it suggests everything you should think it suggests. Substitutionary 
atonement. This ram was in the place of 
his son Isaac. And as a result, he offers up 
this burnt offering now to Yahweh. And then verse 14, Abraham called 
the name of the place the Lord will provide, as it is said to 
this day in the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. So substitutionary atonement 
provided by God in Genesis chapter 22. When we get back to John's 
gospel, when we get to the bottom part of John 8, it's the bottom 
part in the layout of my Bible there. In verse 56, what does 
Jesus say to those Jews? He says, Abraham rejoiced to 
see my day. He sought and was glad. And of 
course they say, well, you're not yet 50 years old. And have 
you seen Abraham? Of course they take up, well, 
that's when he acknowledges his divinity. He says, before Abraham 
was, I am. And they respond by taking up 
stones to throw at him because they understood the claim that 
he was making. Him being a man made himself 
equal with God. But Abraham rejoiced to see my 
day. He sought and was glad. How do we explain that? Well, 
I would suggest you explain it with Genesis 3.15, the first 
promise of the gospel, where the seed is going to crush the 
serpent. You explain it in Genesis 3 as well, when Adam and Eve 
sin against God, what does God do in terms of Adam and Eve? 
God kills an animal and covers them with skin. Blood atonement 
very early on, Genesis 3.21. And then Genesis 4, Cain and 
Abel go to present sacrifice at the end of the days of the 
week. Why do they do that? because Adam taught them. There 
was this oral teaching that went along from generation to generation. You don't think Abraham had been 
catechized in the religion of Yahweh? You don't think Abraham 
had heard the proto-gospel in Genesis 3.15? You don't think 
he had heard of God's atonement for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.21? Or the pattern or practice of 
Cain and Abel at the end of the days of the week to bring blood 
to Yahweh? You don't think he heard that? 
I absolutely positively think he heard that. And he also understood 
by way of typology, with this ram caught in the thicket, that 
God will provide Messiah. He will provide the seed. He 
will provide the son of his love, his only begotten son, the son 
that he loves, to come into this world, sinners to save. And then 
the end of the particular narrative reflects on God's promises and 
God's faithfulness and God's confirmation of what he's doing 
with Abraham. Notice in verse 15, then the 
angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and 
said, by myself I have sworn. This is that Hebrew six passage 
where God, because there's nothing greater than God, swears by himself. Now, brethren, when you and I 
swear in a court of law, it's to make a declaration about us. 
It's for us. This oath that God swears is 
not for God. God knows that he's absolute 
truth. God knows that he won't renege. God knows that he's incapable 
of breaking promise. Why does he swear by himself? It's to comfort our hearts. It's to flood his servants with 
joy and peace. It's to be a blessing calculated 
for us to rest our heads upon. So he swears by himself, according 
to verse 16, by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because 
you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your 
only son. You see that conspicuous use 
of your son, your only son, the son that you love. He never lets 
him forget this relationship. Blessing, I will bless you. Multiplying, 
I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and 
as the sand, which is on the seashore. And your descendants 
shall possess the gate of, it could be their enemies or his 
enemies. Your seed is gonna possess the 
gates of his enemies. In your seed, I've already explained 
this, this is Jesus, Galatians 3.16, in your seed all the nations 
of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. 
So Abraham returned to his young men and they rose and went together 
to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. So I'm going to 
get to some concluding thoughts in just a moment, but before 
that concluding thought, we'll have a pre-concluding thought. 
I've tried to emphasize along the way in the narrative the 
human dimension, right? This was no fun day for Abraham. This was no walk in the park 
for Abraham. This wasn't, hey, Isaac, we're 
going to go throw the football around and maybe take a dip in 
the lake. This is a different day altogether. So try to enter 
in a bit to that mindset and even Isaac's mindset as he's 
now bound on that altar and he sees his dad with the knife about 
to plunge it into him in order to make quick work of him to 
present a burnt offering unto the Lord. But the passage is 
ultimately about God. It's about Christ. Christ is 
the seed. Verse 18. Christ is the one mentioned 
by Abraham in his theology lesson. In verse 8, the Lord will provide. That's why this is an anticipatory 
message concerning the incarnation of our blessed Savior. This is 
a promise concerning Messiah. We read at the outset of worship, 
Isaiah 9, that's one of the famous ones that's usually on the Christmas 
cards. Nobody puts Genesis 22 on the 
Christmas cards, but it's as vital, it's as important, it's 
as key as is Isaiah 9, 6. In your seed, all the nations 
of the earth shall be blessed. The Lord will provide. Verse 
14, it's such that Abraham names the mountain, the Lord will provide. This fed the faith of the people 
of God. Before they had beautifully bound 
calfskin leather Bibles with wide margins published by Cambridge, 
they were fed the promises of God. They were nourished on scripture. They were taught concerning Jesus. There was a come long expected 
Jesus. There was this anticipation, 
an old covenant to Israel. You see this in the early chapters 
of Luke and the birth narrative there. There is a messianic expectation 
in the people of God in the first century. Unfortunately, many 
of them didn't see that Messiah Christ was the answer to their 
expectation. But all the people of God in 
the Old Covenant were nurtured by faith in the coming of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and Genesis 22 is a vital place. in that 
redemptive scheme, in that blessed provision of our great God in 
terms of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In conclusion, you see 
the faith of Abraham. That's certainly a model, certainly 
a lesson for us to glean, certainly something for us to appropriate 
or something that we should see in our lives as perhaps lacking. 
Lord, increase our faith. If the world is declining, if 
there is marks of bad things on our horizon, what do we need? 
We need faith, brethren. If you don't, please pray for 
me that God would increase my faith, because it's going to 
be tough, brethren. If the last couple of years were 
any indicator, we aren't promised that the next few years are going 
to be hunky-dory and without any difficulty of trial. What's 
going to get us through this? It's not us, it's faith in our 
blessed God. It's not even our faith in our 
blessed God, it's our blessed God. Faith is the instrument 
by which we appropriate that necessity to persevere. So faith 
is Abraham's motif. Secondly, there is what's called 
typological significance in the passage. The Old Testament has 
a lot of types. And a type could be a person, 
could be an event, could be a structure that points forward to the anti-type. Now the anti-type isn't something 
opposite to the type, it's something in the stead of the type. So 
for instance, the temple. The temple was typological. The temple was typical. The temple 
pointed forward to Jesus. Because the whole concept of 
temple is dwelling. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Our studies in Ephesians, 
in Ephesians 2, 18 and 22 specifically, the church as the people of God 
come to the Father through the Son in the Spirit. That's temple, 
God dwelling with his people. So the temple was a type. It 
was typological that pointed forward to Jesus, the anti-type. This is confirmed even more in 
John 2, when Jesus says, destroy this temple, and in three days, 
I will raise it up. They said, it's taken us 46 years 
to build this temple, and you're gonna raise it up in three days? 
What does John the theologian tell us? He was speaking about 
the temple of his body. Well, brethren, when you look 
at Genesis 22, if you don't see types there, let me send you 
back to Genesis chapter 22. Think about a few things here. 
First, the event itself. The event points forward to the 
Exodus. See, there's types in the Old 
Testament that are fulfilled by anti-types in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a comprehensive 
document. One man has said it's messianic 
to the core. You'll see Old Testament subsequent 
later on, Old Testament prophets reflecting on earlier revelation 
in the Old Testament. The event points forward to the 
Exodus. Israel would go on a three-day 
journey to worship God on a mountain. Sounds a lot like Abraham and 
Isaac going on a three-day journey to a mountain to worship God. 
The event also points forward to the Levitical system. Now, 
burnt offerings appear before Leviticus chapter one, but Leviticus 
chapter one gives the detailed legislation concerning the burnt 
offering. So what we have here is typological 
of what's gonna come in the Levitical priesthood, when the priests 
are charged with taking those animals and presenting them on 
the altar unto God. But of course, the event points 
us to Calvary too, right? Points us to a mount where there's 
a sacrifice in the stead of others. So this is a rich event in redemptive 
history. Secondly, the patriarch Abraham. 
Abraham and God the Father, so who's typical? Abraham. Who's 
anti-typical? The father of the son. They're 
both purposed and determined to give their son, the only son, 
the son whom they love in the stead of others. And so Abraham 
goes to do this. He's obedient to the point where 
the knife is raised, but God in his mercy stays his hand. 
Not so with Christ. Look at Romans chapter 8 for 
one instance. Paul's argument there is from 
the greater to the lesser. You think the God who sent his 
only begotten son to die on that cross for you, to be raised again 
that third day is gonna let you suffer and die in turmoil without 
any aid or assistance? Really? Is that what you think? 
He didn't spare his own son, but he delivered him up for us 
all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 
And again, not full fridges, not, you know, well-adjusted 
children and not cars full of gasoline. He'll give us all things 
spiritually that we stand in need of, that every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places that is there and purpose to 
stabilize us in the various difficulties we find ourselves in. How about 
Isaac? Is he typological? Absolutely, 
positively, he's typological. He's a type of Jesus. But again, 
there's no angel of the Lord staying the hand of the Father 
when Jesus dies on the cross. And for anybody who's got a bit 
of a hesitancy, you know, I read that Calvin quote and he seemed 
to almost imply that God was, you know, torturing poor Abraham 
with this, you know, this sort of journey and his son piercing 
the silence with, you know, Father. Do you know that the prophet 
Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53 that it pleased Yahweh to bruise 
him? The NAS renders it the best. 
It pleased Yahweh to crush him. Why? Because he's a sadistic 
father? No, because he's a loving and 
gracious father. For his love for us, the son 
ponies up to take the wrath that we deserve. He lives for us, 
he dies for us, and he's raised again for us. Not as an act of 
hate, not as a demonstration of sadism, but as a demonstration 
of God's love. God commendeth his own love toward 
us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
So Isaac is typological of our Lord Jesus. But there's one other 
type in here, and it's that ram. That ram caught in the thicket, 
kind of an insignificant player in the grand scheme of things. 
I mean, we're, you know, kind of spent now. Abraham and Isaac, 
boy, how do you unring that bell, you know, on your way back down 
that slope of Moriah? It's just, wow! Praise God for 
the angel of the Lord. So, I mean, you just go home, 
and you eat, and you feast, and you rejoice, and you're thankful. 
What about that ram? It's typical of our blessed Savior. 
John's gospel is beautiful. In the beginning was the Word, 
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1.1, the divinity 
of the Word. John 1.14, the incarnation of 
the Word. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. John 1.29, the mission of the 
Word. Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. This ram caught in the thicket 
portrays for us substitutionary atonement. Abraham put the knife 
in it instead of his son. That's why we're here. That's 
why we're heaven bound. That's why we have peace with 
God, because the father did not renege, but ultimately the knife 
found its way into the son of Hisloth, His only begotten son, 
so that you and I could have the forgiveness of sins, so that 
you and I could receive His righteousness by faith, so that you and I could 
know the blessed joy of being adopted sons and daughters of 
God Most High. And if you're not a believer 
here this morning, This is my encouragement to you, to look 
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He is, in fact, the Lamb of God. 
He does take away the sin of the world. Ask anybody here that's 
a believer. Ask anybody here that's a believer and say, you 
know, name the few things that makes it good being a Christian. 
You know what I bet every one of us would say, at least in 
the top three? It's the forgiveness of sins. 
It's that sin thing, you know, when you just feel gross and 
horrible and disgusting because you know that you've offended 
a holy God, when your conscience is bothering you at every step 
of the way. I mean, even believers still 
struggle with that. Even believers still are haunted 
by their past sins and their past patterns. But you ask a 
believer, what is it about being a Christian? And they'll probably 
say something like, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, 
my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross 
and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. 
That lamb caught in the thicket is one of the most significant 
parties in this passage, typologically, because he points us to the Lamb 
of God who takes away the sin of the world. Well, let us pray. 
Our God and our Father, we thank you so very much for this passage 
of Holy Scripture, a passage, admittedly, we don't always come 
to at Christmas time, but a passage that is vital to our understanding 
of the incarnation. to see the promises of God as 
yea and amen in our blessed Savior, to see that seed of Abraham as 
the champion of Israel, to see him as the Messiah to men from 
every tribe and tongue and people and nation, to see him as that 
one in whom there is forgiveness, the cleansing blood of our blessed 
Savior. and as well a righteousness that 
avails with you. We pray that wherever this gospel 
is preached today, you would open hearts, cause sinners to 
see themselves rightly and by grace to cast themselves upon 
the Lord Jesus Christ and his mercy. Encourage our hearts and 
build us up and strengthen our faith, increase it and increase 
our knowledge of the Most High. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, you can take your hymn 
books and turn to 568 and we'll close our worship by singing 
the doxology of praise to our triune God. That's page 568. Praise Him, all ye blessings 
flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, all ye heavenly joys. Praise God with song and holy 
voice. God of peace, who brought up 
our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, 
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in 
every good work to do his will, working in you what is well-pleasing 
in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and 
ever. Amen. Our Father, we thank you for 
this time that we can worship you together We thank you for 
the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for your blessing 
upon all those who are unable to be with us this morning. I 
pray for the Neufelds that you would bless Don as he's hurt 
with his leg. And I pray that you would just 
watch over them both. Increase their faith, increase 
their love for Christ. And God go with all of us now 
and may your face shine upon us. May we know your peace and 
may we know your blessing. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. We may be seated for a brief 
time of meditation.