Mount Moriah- Faith that Saves

Introduction

This morning i want to tell you the story of one mountain that God has used to teach his followers for over 4,000 years.

and Even though we see very different stories coming from this mountain top, The message it proclaims is the same.

It is a message of the gospel- The Message that Faith Alone in God alone is what will save mankind from Death.

Lets Begin our story 4,000 years ago.....

Mount Moriah

Sacrifice on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22):

“Imagine standing with Abraham on the rugged slopes of Mount Moriah. He is now over 100 years old and has seen God do many things in his life. and now He has been called by God to offer his beloved son, Isaac, as a sacrifice of worship. This is going to be the ultimate test of faith in Abrahams life.

This morning as we look at this ultimate test of Faith that Happened on Mount Moriah,

I want us to see the profound act of obedience and faith that Abraham demonstrated on this mountain, and How because of that faith, God provides a substitute sacrifice for those who trust in Him.

As we delve deeper into this story in Genesis 22 we are going to quickly see how it foreshadows an event that will unfold in this same location 2,000 years later. And then as we bring the sermon home we will walk through why this mountain matters for us today.

Let’s Jump into our text this morning

Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 22:1-14

Genesis 22:1-14- Read the passage to set the stage for the sermon.

This story reveals profound lessons about faith, obedience, and God's provision, foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.

God’s Command

(Genesis 22:1-2)A. God's call to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac:- Emphasize the difficulty of this command. Isaac was not only Abraham's son but also the son of promise. B. The weight of this command - Isaac was the son of promise:- Explain that Isaac's birth was miraculous, and he represented God's covenant with Abraham. C. The testing of Abraham's faith:- Discuss how this command tested the very core of Abraham's faith.

III. Abraham's Response

(Genesis 22:3-6)

There are three things that I want us to notice about Abrahams response

1. Immediate obedience:-

Our text tells us that He arose Early the next morning.

Illustration: about getting up early when we are all in- and sleeping late when we are not fully ready. ( Levi going to school for the first day (very slowly,) Lei going to duck hunt- up way too early- He’s all in.. He wants to be there

2. Complete Obedience

He left early, He took everything He needed to do it Gods way.

He cut the wood, He went where he was told, The wood, the fire

3.Worshipful Obedience

vs. 5 “ He said stay here will me and the boy Go and Worship.

He had a heart of worship

How well do you do this in your life, How well do you obey Gods commands with a heart of worship,

This is hard to do, It is hard to obey when we dont see how what God is asking is best for us.

Illustration of loosing someone you love. — its hard to worship when What God is doing doesn't match up with what our own heart is desiring.

The problem with this is not that gOd is doing bad things , its that our heart doesn't see Gods perspective .

Abraham fully believed that what God was doing was what was best for his life.

tHis is faith- Beleiving God will always do what is best for us no matter how hard it may be to endure.

Abrahams response was complete Faith and trust in God.

IV. Isaac's Question

(Genesis 22:7

Genesis 22:7–8 (ESV)

7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

A. Isaac was a smart young man- He knew that he was going up this mountain to offer a sacrifice to God.

I am sure that This was the first time that He had gone with his dad to worship God with Sacrifice.

So here he is looking around thinking Dad I see the wood , I see the fire, but dad - Where is the lamb? that we are going to sacrifice, Dad i think we might have forgotten the most important part.

A. Can you imagine what Abraham was going through at that moment?

The God whom you follow has asked you to give up the son who was a miracle baby- Remember the story of Isaacs Birth

Abraham was 100 years old and Hos wife Sarah was 90. And even they thought God was crazy when he said that they would have a son.

Isaac was Abrahams promised blessing from the Lord, He was the apple of his eye.

And now He is climbing up a mountain with this son whom he loves, ready and willing to give him completely back to God as a sacrifice of Worship.

Look with me at Abrahams response.

Genesis 22:8 ESV

8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

Abraham's Response

"God will provide":

Abraham's response to Isaac's question is a remarkable demonstration of his profound faith and hope in God's provision.

He is walking up that Mountain fully believing that God would provide a substitute for his son.

How could Abraham have such deep faith at a moment when it looked like God was going to require him to give up his own cherished son?

I believe that as we look at the life Abraham had been living we see three characteristics of Abraham that lead him to fully believe that God would provide.

1. Trust in God's Character:

Abraham had known God intimately for many years. He had experienced God's faithfulness in the past, including the promise of Isaac's birth despite Sarah's old age.

His response to Isaacs Question reflects a deep trust in God's character. He believed that the God, who had been faithful before, would be faithful again, and would provide a solution for this question.

not only did he trust in Gods Character he also had...

2. Confidence in God's Sovereignty:

The Words "God himself will provide," reveals his understanding of God's supreme authority and control over all circumstances.

He acknowledged that life was ultimately in God's hands. and I believe that it was this confined in Gods Sovereignty that allowed him to remain steadfast in the face of uncertainty.

Not only did he trust God and have confidence in his Sovereign plan But Abraham also had

3. Hope in God’s Faithfulness:

Abraham's response is a beacon of hope in a moment of great trial. He believed that even in the most desperate circumstances, God could and would intervene. This hope wasn't based on wishful thinking but on a deep conviction in God's ability to bring about a resolution.

In essence, Abraham's response in verse 8 showcases the depth of his faith, trust, and hope in God. It serves as a powerful example for us today, reminding us that even in our most challenging moments, we can place our trust in the character and sovereignty of God, holding onto the hope that He has given us, just as He did for Abraham on Mount Moriah.

Moving on in our text We get to the top of the Mountain where God has commanded Moses to Go.

Look with me at verses 9-10

Genesis 22:9–10 (ESV)

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him...

The Mountains Depth

At first sight this mountain top looks more like the darkest valley a parent could ever go through in their life,

God has told Abram to climb this mountain and sacrifice his believed Son in Worship.

How can these two things go together?

How can God expect Abram to have a heart of worship while he is going through one of the darkest trials a parent could ever face.

Many times we too go through trials in our lives, and our prayer is that they will end before they get too hard.

In our story - Abrams trial has hit that too hard place. The place where our faith and trust is really tested.

Its come to the point where he could no longer fake it. He either had to go all in and follow Gods Command or turn and walk away.

Abram has made it to the top of the mountain the place where he is to sacrifice his beloved son the same son he begged to give him for decades.

Friends when God wants to grow our faith,

When God wants demonstrate His Sovereign Power over our lives,

When God wants us to trust completely in Him,

He takes us to the point where human logic and divine sovereignty dont work out together.

He takes us to the point where we will have no other option but to believe and trust in Him , because no human solution will ever work.

Look with me at Moses’s Response in verse 9:10

Moses Response

Genesis 22:9–10 ESV

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Can you imaging the emotions that Abram must have been going through as he bound his son, and then laid him on the Alter.

Just because we trust in God doesn't mean our trials dont hurt.

Just because we have our confidence in His sovereignty doesn't mean we will ever understand what He is doing

I have to believe that even Abram knowing God would do something, Still struggled to tie those knots around his Son’s Body.

But yet thats what Abram did.

He went beyond Human logic, to fully trusting in His God.

He Built the alter, laying one stone on top of the other

but there was Still no solution

He carefully placed the wood on the alter and still no Solution

He bound up Isaac preparing to lay hi on the alter- and Still no other solution

He laid Isaac on the alter- and Im sure at this point he was looking around for a Solution, but there still was none.

Finally, When all human logic was exhausted and no solution was in sight.

Abram lifted up the knife to fully obey what God had asked him to do.

Folks, Understand that Abram’s faith was rooted so deep in God’s Faithfulness, that even when all logic was Gone, He still believed that God would provide a way of escape.

Friends - This is genuine Faith- complete trust and dependency on God to Provide.

Our story does not end here Look with me at verses 11-13

Genesis 22:11–13 ESV

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Friends at the moment of no return Wen Abrams dependency on God was at its greatest point, God steps in and intervenes

God's Intervention

As Abraham raised the knife, God intervened.

A voice from Heaven cried out , ABRHAM, ABRAHAM Do not harm the boy! your faith has been proven.”

As Abraham lifted up his eyes he looked and right there was Ram Caught in the bushes caught by its horns.

Instead of Isaac, God provided a substitute- the ram became the sacrifice

What God demanded from Abraham didn’t change- He still was called to offer up a sacrifice of worship to the Lord

But God Spared Isaac's life by providing a Substitute in His place.

Look with me one more time at Abrahams response.

Abraham’s Response

Genesis 22:14 ESV

14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Abrahams response to God stepping in and offering a substitute sacrifice for his son Isaac was to praise the name of the Lord.

Moses stood on the top of Mount Mariah and He declared that from this moment on this place will be known as

Jahovah Jirah- the Lord will Provide.

This story of Abraham reveals profound lessons about what genuine faith, and obedience should look like in our lives, but more importantly I believe that this story is about God's provision for those He loves. In Fact this story that took place on Mount Moriah foreshadows an even greater story of Substitutionary sacrifice that took place 2000 years later in this general same location.

About 500 years after Abraham stood on this mountain, a Young king Named Solomon, the Heir of King David, built the first temple on this same Mountain top. and over the next 1500 years the city of Jerusalem was built around it.

Lets...

Bring it Home

. Mount Moriah is where Abraham's faith was tested when he prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, foreshadowing the concept of sacrificial love.

and this is the same location where Solomon built the First Temple, the heart of Jewish worship.

This Temple Mount remained central in Jewish religious life until its destruction. It was here in this temple that the presence of God dwelt among his people. And it is here that they offered substitutionary sacrifices for their sins.

Remarkably, this very ground, where God's presence was believed to dwell, became the backdrop for Mount Calvary, where Jesus Christ was crucified as the Final substitutionary lamb for all of mankind’s Sins.

Think about the parallelism we see here

God provided a substitute sacrifice for Isaac, just as He provided Jesus as the ultimate substitute sacrifice for our sins on Calvary.

The place being named "The Lord Will Provide" foreshadows God's provision of Jesus as our salvation.

And what we need to understand is that it was faith that saved Isaac from that Death-

vs 12 “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

And friends nothing has changed in the 4000 years since then. Faith in God is still the only way to escape Condemnation.

Just like the innocent Ram took the place of Isaac, Jesus Christ is willing to take your place and set you free.

The Prophet Isaiah Spoke of what Jesus would one day do for mankind

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

The Gospel.....

God- Is perfect and demands perfection- His desire for all man kind is that they could live with him forever in His perfect kingdom.

Man- Not perfect- Not holy, Not even close

“ Romans - None is rightious not even 1

3:23- All have sinned and fallen short.

DEATH- instead of eternal life with God because of our sin DEATHcame into the world-

Rom 6:23 - Eternal seperation from God for ever

ROM 5:8 BUT GOD demonstrated his love for us

Jesus- The eprfect substitutionary lamb-

The ram foreshowded the redemtion that Jesus Christ would bring us through his onw life.

We deserve death - but he took out place-

We deserve seperation - but he took our place

and paid it in full.

Response- FAITH- .... Faith is beleiving God will do what God says he will do

Acts 16:31 ESV

31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Romans 10:9–10 (ESV)

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Mount Moriah is a very special mountain because it foreshadows what extent God is willing to God to save you and me. It weaves together the tapestry of God’s Sovereignty, mankind's faith, and the redemption through a substitute sacrifice.

Friends when you think of Mount Moriah- Remember How far God is willing to God to save sinners like you and Me. and what our response of faith should look like to that Great love.