Genesis 22:1-14, Psalm 13:1-6, Jeremiah 28:5-9, Psalm 89:1-4, Psalm 89:15-18, Romans 6:12-23, Matthew 10:40-42
A). THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM.
Genesis 22:1-14.
Sometimes in our Christian lives we are challenged to surrender to God that which we hold most dear, that upon which we set our hopes, even that which God has given to us as a gift.
God promised Abraham a son, but the patriarch’s wife Sarah was barren. So Abraham chose to have a son by his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar. However, miraculously, Abraham later had a son by his wife in their old age. Consequently, Abraham sent away the handmaiden and her son Ishmael. Then God stepped in, and called him to sacrifice his wife’s son, Isaac!
What a difficult test for any man to undertake. Yet Abraham had learned to obey God’s voice. His faith saw beyond the perplexities and difficulties of his present situation. It is part of our Christian obedience to recognise that all our relationships belong to God. This was Abraham’s experience. And because he passed this test, and because of God’s much greater sacrifice that underlies the truth of this history, we need never again be vexed with the question of human sacrifice.
God called “Abraham!” And he said to him, “Here I am.”
God said, “Take now your son.”
Which son?
“Take your only son.”
But surely Abraham has two sons? We must remember that Ishmael had been disinherited, and sent away, and Abraham had no way of knowing if Ishmael was still alive. “Take your only son Isaac” - the son “whom you love.”
Jesus says, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (cf. Matthew 10:37).
So even in those natural bonds of life, whoever we love, we must love God more! This was the challenge to Abraham as he went to one of the mountains of Moriah, believing that God was telling him to sacrifice the son of God’s promise, upon whom he had set his hopes, and the hopes of mankind. Abraham was obedient. He saddled his donkey, and took two servants and his son towards the place that God had shown him.
We can imagine how heavy his heart was as he chopped some wood for the burnt offering. After three days’ journey he left the young men with the donkey - and made a wonderful proclamation of faith: “The lad and I will go yonder to worship, and we will come back to you” (Genesis 22:5). This is an amazing statement, and is perhaps the first indication of Abraham’s understanding of the situation.
We read in the New Testament: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son… concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19).
We must sympathise with young Isaac as the wood for the burnt offering was placed upon his shoulders. Ironically, his father carried the more dangerous elements necessary for the sacrifice: the knife and the fire.
Isaac began to ask questions.
“My father!” began Isaac.
Abraham echoed his response to God. “Here I am,” but we can hear the following words almost choking him, “my son.”
“Where is the lamb for the burnt offering,” asked the son.
And in another prophetic flash of faith, Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8).
We can see how far Abraham was willing to obey God. He built an altar and bound his son and was ready to strike him with the knife when God intervened. Again Abraham heard his name called from heaven, and again he replied, “Here I am.” Then came the words at which Abraham’s heart would have jumped for joy: “Do not lay your hand on the lad.” Do not harm him.
It remains of course, that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” Looking around, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket. Here was a sacrifice in place of Isaac. Abraham received Isaac back, as if from the dead.
Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will see” (or “provide.”) Moses uses this title to explain a common expression: “as it said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen’” (Genesis 22:14). God’s provision is not seen in terms of our amassing wealth to ourselves, but as an indicator that it is the LORD Himself who will provide the ultimate sacrifice.
Let us now look at another drama that stands at midpoint in history between ourselves and Abraham.
A man has wood placed upon His shoulders and He is led out of the city of Jerusalem, away from the Temple Mount which is believed to be the site of Abraham’s offering, to another mountain of Moriah, Calvary Hill.
All that Abraham and Isaac went through is re-enacted here, but without any voice from heaven to prevent it. The offering is now being made not by man, but by God. The Lord Jesus Christ described by John the Baptist as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,’ was the sacrifice, not only for Isaac, but for all who will believe.
There on the Cross He bled and died, and was laid in a tomb. But that tomb is now empty. Not only figuratively like Isaac, but Jesus is really raised from the dead.
The wages of sin is death. But Christ has paid the full price for all the sins of all His people. The free gift of God is righteousness and new life in Christ Jesus.
Abraham was promised, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” That seed is Christ. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (cf. James 2:23).
Do you believe, do you trust in the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God? Without this, there is no forgiveness of sin, and no access to God. ‘There is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life…” But “he who does not believe is condemned already” (John 3:16-18).
B). HOW LONG?
Psalm 13:1-6.
This is a lament, a Psalm of complaint. This is evident from the outset, with the fourfold cry of pain, “How long?” (Psalm 13:1-2).
The complaint is addressed first to the LORD (Psalm 13:1), but then seems to descend into something resembling self-pity (Psalm 13:2).
Next, the Psalmist looks to the LORD for an answer (Psalm 13:3). “Consider,” he appeals. “Hear,” he implores. “Give light,” he begs: with a reason attached: “Lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
Other motivations for the LORD to answer follow: “Lest mine enemy” gloat and “rejoice!” (Psalm 13:4).
Prayer is itself therapeutic: and having aired his complaint, and presented his petition, the Psalmist finds himself in a much better frame of mind. When we leave our problems at the throne of grace, we know from experience that the LORD has heard our prayer, and that He will accept our requests, and will answer us favourably.
So now the Psalmist can confidently declare, “I have trusted in thy (covenant) mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation” (Psalm 13:5).
Even when we cannot see it, we know in our very inmost being that the LORD will not fail us; and so already the Psalmist has begun to lift himself out of the doldrums, and begins to “sing unto the LORD, because He hath dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:6).
C). A TRIAL OF CONTRADICTORY PROPHECIES.
Jeremiah 28:5-9.
One of the false prophets, Hananiah, prophesied that the exile would only last two years (cf. Jeremiah 28:1-4). This was a lie of the devil (cf. Jeremiah 28:15).
Somewhat ironically, Hananiah’s name means, ‘the grace of the LORD.’ But Hananiah’s message ran contrary to the purposes of the LORD as revealed to Jeremiah (whose name means, ‘the LORD will cast forth’).
It is not as if Jeremiah desired ‘the woeful day’ (cf. Jeremiah 17:16), but the LORD had already told Jeremiah that the exile would last seventy years (cf. Jeremiah 25:11). So, beware of those who say ‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace (cf. Jeremiah 6:14).
Jeremiah’s response to Hananiah was gracious: “May the LORD do so!” (JEREMIAH 28:6). Yet Jeremiah knew better, and suggested that his own prophecy be compared with the prophecies of old (JEREMIAH 28:8); and that Hananiah’s veracity as a prophet be examined by the Deuteronomic test (JEREMIAH 28:9).
‘When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing that the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously’ (cf. Deuteronomy 18:22).
The sentence against such a prophet was death (cf. Deuteronomy 18:20). And by the end of our present chapter, Hananiah would be dead (cf. Jeremiah 28:16-17).
Let us beware of believing a thing simply because we wish it to be so; but rather let us try the spirits (cf. 1 John 4:1), and measure any advice received by the acid test of the word of God.
D). WE HAVE HEARD THE JOYFUL SOUND.
Psalm 89:1-4, Psalm 89:15-18.
The Psalmist Ethan twice applauds the LORD’s mercy and faithfulness (PSALM 89:1-2). This reassurance is rooted in the LORD’s covenant promise to David (PSALM 89:3). The “seed” whose throne is “for ever” (PSALM 89:4) ultimately refers to the promised seed of the woman (cf. Genesis 3:15), and the singular seed of Abraham, ‘which is Christ’ (cf. Galatians 3:16).
David had wanted to build a house for the LORD (cf. 2 Samuel 7:1-2), but the LORD intended rather to build the ‘house’ - i.e., the dynasty - of David (cf. 2 Samuel 7:16). Even during the dark years of the Exile, when there was once more no apparent ‘King’ in Israel, the dispersed Jews held on to the hope of One who would come to re-establish David’s kingdom. Then one day the LORD returned, and taking up a new tabernacle walked right back into the lives of His people (cf. John 1:14).
PSALM 89:15. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.”
There is a hymn that begins, ‘We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves.’ The Gospel is ‘good tidings of great joy’ (cf. Luke 2:10). Blessed indeed are those who know, and have experienced the significance of that festal shout.
Those who have shared in the joy of the Gospel message shall walk “in the light of” the LORD’s presence. Now, that is something to make a noise about!
PSALM 89:16. “In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.”
‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’ says Paul: ‘and again I say, Rejoice’ (cf. Philippians 4:4). And what cause for joy he presents: ‘when we are found in Him (Jesus), not having our own righteousness… but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith’ (cf. Philippians 3:9).
It is the LORD’s own righteousness that exalts His people. We are ‘made the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus)’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).
PSALM 89:17. “For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.”
The LORD is the source of both the righteousness and the strength of His people. Our strength is in Him. ‘The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation’ (cf. Psalm 118:14).
The Psalmist counts himself as one of the blessed people when he switches from “their” strength to “our” horn. The horn represents power, or glory. We do not lift up our horns with the arrogance of a brute beast, but it is the LORD who favourably “exalts” the “horn” of His strength in His people.
PSALM 89:18. “For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.” The LORD is our defender. ‘The LORD is my strength and my shield... He is the saving strength of His anointed’ (cf. Psalm 28:7-8).
“The Holy One of Israel” is the very epitome, the highest example, of holiness. That He is “of Israel” states that He is the God of the covenant. This is our King. Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD (cf. Psalm 33:12).
E). TWO KINDS OF SERVITUDE.
Romans 6:12-23.
What we are, and whose we are, shapes what we do with what we've got. Negatively, the Apostle Paul encourages us to resist any attempt that sin makes to usurp authority in our physical lives (Romans 6:12).
Even for Christians, the body and its faculties are still vulnerable to the attacks of Satan: but positively Paul exhorts us to yield ourselves to God and to offer our members in His service, exactly because we are “those that are alive from the dead” (Romans 6:13).
Sin has no more dominion over us for whom Christ paid the wages of sin (Romans 6:14).
Yet this does not give us a licence to sin. The Apostle anticipates an interlocuter who might argue: ‘Since we are not under the law but under grace, let’s keep on sinning.’ This elicited an emphatic negation from Paul, the dynamic of which is caught in various translations: “God forbid!” “Certainly not!” “By no means!” “What a ghastly thought!” “No way!!!’ (Romans 6:15).
The Apostle next uses an illustration from the Roman world - one that does not sit too well with our ‘politically correct’ sensibilities these days, but which would have been familiar enough to his earliest readers. Whatever we yield ourselves to, he argues, we end up ENSLAVED to: whether to “sin” which leads to death; or to “obedience” which leads to righteousness. It is interesting that Paul contrasts “sin” with the “obedience” which comes from faith, and “death” with the covenant “righteousness” which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:16).
The Apostle gives thanks to God, that those who had been slaves to sin have now wholeheartedly obeyed the “form of teaching” to which they had been entrusted. Surprisingly, it is not that it was entrusted to them, but that they were entrusted to it (Romans 6:17).
Upon conversion Christians, “having been set free” from sin, “became bondmen” to righteousness (Romans 6:18).
Paul apologises for thus speaking in such stark human terms: but it is “because of the weakness of your flesh,” he argues. Just as, before, iniquity led to ever-worsening iniquity: so now, as we yield our whole selves to righteousness, the result is an ever-increasing conformity to the likeness of Christ: the process we call sanctification, leading to holiness (Romans 6:19).
Paul will not give up on his slave metaphor. When we were slaves of sin, he says, we were free from righteousness (Romans 6:20).
It makes us blush to remember such times: and had we continued that course, the end would have been death (Romans 6:21).
Now, as bondmen to God we have the fruit of holiness in this life, and eternal life hereafter (Romans 6:22).
In this passage so far, we have seen two ways of life: two servitudes. We have seen two very different masters. We have seen two different pathways: one leading to death, and one leading to life.
All this leads up to two very different paydays. One pays a wage, and that wage is death. The other does not presume that we can earn anything, and pays us the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).
‘Choose you this day whom you will serve…’ (cf. Joshua 24:15).
F). THE SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN WITNESS.
Matthew 10:40-42.
This is the continuation of what I have called the ‘little commission’ - the Missionary Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 9:35-10:42). We turn now from the missionaries to those who receive them.
a) The attitudes and actions indicated in verses Matthew 10:40-42 would indicate a change of heart on the part of the person in verse Matthew 10:33. This is good and - although those to whom we preach must not be allowed to continue in the illusion that they are going to be saved by their works (Ephesians 2:8) - any good works arising from faith are to be commended (James 2:20).
b) The person who receives you, dear Christian, receives Jesus - and He says that “the one who receives Me receives the One who sent Me” (Matthew 10:40).
Having ‘emptied Himself’ (Philippians 2:7), Jesus used spatial and reciprocal language during the time of His humility (Matthew 10:40; cf. John 13:3; John 14:6; John 14:9; John 16:28). This is part of the mystery of the ‘eternal movement of life’ within the Godhead - a concept which the early church fathers grappled with as they sought to understand the Trinity.
c) When certain ambassadors of King David had their beards shaved off by way of insult, it was a prelude to war (1 Chronicles 19:4-6). What a solemn responsibility we have: to be Christ’s representatives in this world, introducing people to Christ, and through Christ to God (Matthew 10:41). People’s eternal destiny may hinge on the way they treat us, since this will be a clear indicator of their attitude towards Jesus (Matthew 10:42; cf. Matthew 25:35; Matthew 25:40).
