The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 1: Abraham and Isaac

Episode Date: March 10, 2019

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Have you got your Bible's Genesis chapter 22 as we're going to start off in this series on mountains. Over the next seven weeks, we are going to take a journey through the scriptures on a whole bunch of stuff that happened on mountains. And a part of it, the reason is we need to get ready as a congregation to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. So you're not ready because the tomb is empty and you're just like, well, okay, so I got a lot of work to do. Okay, you put that on me. And so we're going to walk through these different things that happen on all. on all these mountains, we're going to go from Mount Moriah to Mount Calvary over the next seven weeks. And I love mountains, man.

I met my wife in the mountains in Roanoke. We had our first kiss on a mountain. Maybe we should preach about that for a little bit. But mountains are awesome. But how many of you also know that being a Christian isn't always like the mountain top experience? You see, when I got saved as a teenager and I was involved in like FCA and a bunch of organizations like that, everybody they put in front of us to share a testimony, it seemed like they met Jesus on top of our a mountain, and then everything was up and to the right from there.

And then as I looked at my own life, I thought maybe I'm not doing this thing right, because in my life there were peaks and valleys and peaks and valleys. And how many of you know that God does some of his best work down deep in the valleys? And so as we're going to walk through this, we're just going to follow through really kind of the thread of the gospel from Mount Moriah, which is the mountain we'll be on today in Genesis chapter 22 to Mount Calvary, which is where we will be seven, weeks from now. So in Genesis chapter 22, verse one, it starts out this way, after these things. Now, these things are like 10 chapters of the Bible. And so just in case you're new to Bible study,

I need to catch you up on who's going to be in Genesis chapter 22. It's going to be Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is the father of the faith. Okay? And if go all the way back to Genesis chapter 12, God just decides to choose Abraham. And he doesn't choose him necessarily because Abraham is awesome. It's really God's sovereign choice that he graces or blesses. At that point, his name's Abram. And he goes to Abram and he gives this promise. He says, Abraham, who eventually will be Abraham, I'm going to make you the father of many nations. Now, there was one problem at that point. Abraham was 75 years old and had no kids yet. So that's a little late in the game. And, you know, Sarah was almost as old as him, not quite. And yet God makes an everlasting covenant with

Abraham, and he says, through you, you are going to be a blessing to the whole world. And whoever blesses you is blessed, and whoever curses you will be cursed. And so I'm going to make you the father of many nations. And through you, I'm going to create a nation. And so I've got to show you where that is. So, Abe, pack up all your stuff and move to a place that I will tell you. Now, think about that, fellas. Think about that conversation.

All right? Again, if you grew up in Sunday school, you just dismiss these kind of things too quickly. But imagine that. Abraham goes home to his wife, Sarah, and he says, hey, baby, I've been talking to God today. And he told us to move. And she said, what, ladies? Where?

And he goes, he told us that he would show us when we get there. And she went with him. Can you believe that? Think about that. Again, think about it. You get home from the house, and your husband's like, I've been talking to God. Who, where, when, have you? You see, because at this point, we're only in Genesis 12, man.

They don't know a whole bunch about God and how he works and all of that. And he says, we're going to pack up our stuff. They lived in the Ur-a-Caldez, and they were rich. We're going to pack up all of our stuff, and we're just going to go to a place that the Lord will show us. Man, my wife won't get in a car and go with me if I don't tell her where we're going. But anyway, you can say, out of amen. You know it's true. And yet, then what the Bible is going to say is that Abraham puts his faith in the

God and his faith is counted to him as righteousness. Not his right activity, but his trust or belief in God. Later in the New Testament, Abraham will be defined as a man who is a friend with God because of this faith. And so, now the crazy thing is, then when he's 74 years old, God shows up and says, Abe, I still haven't forgot about you. Now, I'm going to keep my promise because I am who I say am. I always keep my promises.

And you will have a son. and then he does not, God does not show back up in Abraham's life for about 25 years. Anybody ever thought God is on a little different time schedule than you? Am I the only one? Anybody ever, you believe the promises of God, you just wish he'd hurry up with them? How many ever know that God's timing and our timing are not the same thing? All throughout the scriptures, God never gets in a hurry, which makes me wonder while we're always so much in a hurry. I mean, he spoke everything into existence, but he took six days to do it.

Why did he take six days? He could have done it with just one word, and it all'd be here. And yet, for whatever reason, God is on his own time for his own purpose and his own glory. And so for 24 years, there's a promised son, but there's no pregnancy. And so then some shady stuff happens. I just have to tell you this, because I don't know if you've read this or not. But then Abraham and Sarah start traveling around a little bit. and in two separate occasions, when they move into this new country, the king of that country has his eye on Sarah.

Because even though she's up in age, she's still a looker, apparently. And so what Abraham does as he lies and says, she's not my wife, but she's my sister. You can have her. I know. That's shady, okay? I mean, real shady. And then not only that, somehow they worked that out through much counseling. Can you imagine the conversations?

Hey Sarah, can you get me something to eat? You can get your own food. You're going to send me. Okay, anyway. And then, at one point, after they've been waiting on God and waiting on God and waiting on God and God's not on their timing, Sarah and Abraham scheme up a plan and say, well, listen, we can't wait on God anymore. We've got to take matters in our own hands. Abraham, why don't you sleep with our servant, Hagar?

And it creates all kinds of problems. which is honestly we find out in Romans chapter 9 that that is just a picture of works-based righteousness when you don't trust God to do for you what you need him to do and you just try to do it in your own power. And so somehow God doesn't squish him or I'm just going to go on record. If Abraham at this point worked on staff here at this church I would fire him. Multiple times over. Do you understand? And yet how many of you know that our faithlessness,

does not void out God's faithfulness, that he is who he says he is, and he always keeps his promises. So hear me, I don't care how shady you think you are. Your sin is probably JV compared to Father Abraham, who had many sons. And I'm, you know that dumb song, okay? And Father Abraham was shady, sinful, wretched, selfish. Put his wife on the, like, pimpter out to the king. To save his own soul, and yet God didn't give up on him. And so eventually, God shows up and says, all right, get out the calendar, book Chucky Cheese,

because by this time next year, Sarah, you are going to have a baby. And they laughed out loud. And so that's what they named the kid, laughter. Did you know names in the Bible mean something? And Isaac means laughter. Joby, you know what it means? Afflicted. Thanks, Dad.

So anyway, not affliction, which is as bad, but afflicted. And so when we pick it up here in chapter 22, and when it says after these things, you would think that at this point, after all that Abraham has been through, he's got this call of God on his life, he's got this irrevocable blessing on his life, he's got this covenant with God, he's put his faith in God, and his faith that's been credited or counted as righteousness, that they've finally got this promised son. They got the Hagar, Ishmael thing, worked out, so they're out of the scene.

and now you would think, all right, everything should be smooth sailing from here. How many of you know that following after Jesus does not promise you to just have smooth sailing from here? In fact, look what happens, 22-1, and after these things, God tested Abraham. That God tested Abraham. The pain that he is going to walk through comes through the very hands of God to Abraham. Now, listen, there is a version of church. don't even think it's Christianity, but there is a version of church today. You can flip through the TV channels and find somebody preaching this today that will say something

like, if you love God, then he owes you health, wealth, and happiness. The only problem with that, historically, is what we call the Bible, okay? Because that didn't work out so good in the Bible. It didn't work out for Abraham. Ultimately, it didn't work out for Jesus that way, did it not? And so God is going to test Abraham. You see Hebrews, the book of Hebrews will say this. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 6 and following say, For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline. If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. How many of you know that it's God's mercy and his grace that he would love us enough to take the circumstances of our lives and use them to chisel away anything in our lives that don't look like Jesus? Sometimes we find ourselves in places that immense pain, whether it's our own doing or whether somebody else did it to us or ultimately God's in charge of it all. And we say, how could you God? And he says, because I love you because you are my son, you are my daughter.

You see, I had a day, I grew up in a disciplined day, man, in a disciplined house. And my daddy loved me, and he must have loved me a lot. Because he would wear us out. Sometimes he would just wear us out just in case. Like he'd been gone for a while. He'd line it up, I'm sure there's some stuff that was happening shady while I was out. Let's do this. And he was right.

And in fact, he would come in sometime and he would get open with this open-ended question that wasn't fair. Boy, is there something I need to know about? And I would think there's probably like three things. you need to know about, but I don't know which one you know about. So why don't you go first and we'll deal with this on a case-by-case basis, okay? And I know, I get it. Some of you grow up in a generation where you go to your room and think about it, which is your problem, okay?

I mean, it just is. That's part of your problem. And again, I'm going to get an email. This is, in our house, we don't spank to me. We are well aware, okay? We are well aware of that. So you discipline however you see fit. This is not about that.

But later in life, man, what I can look. back on my, the way I was brought up with my dad is that it wasn't just punishment, man, it was discipline. It was, it was coaching and correcting and discipling. And that he was okay with me experiencing a little bit of pain as a young, as a kid or a young man. So that as I got older, I could avoid a whole lot of pain later in life. Then how good is our father that he would love you enough to walk you through some pain now, ultimately so that you could know him better.

You see, there's so many times in my life where things are not going my way and I hold up my hand and I'm like, Dear God, help me, save me. And he takes me by the hand. And instead of plucking me out of the muck and the mire, my experience has been that he would love me enough that he would drag me down through it

and right to the point where I thought I was going to suffocate and die so that I would be desperate for him like a drowning man is desperate for air. I mean, everybody I know that walks really close where the Lord says that God prunes them, that God uses those kinds of experiences to teach them and grow them and draw them closer to the Lord way more in times of pain than in times of comfort. That God does his best work when we are most desperate for him, and God is going to call Abraham

to do a thing that is going to put him in a desperate situation where the only thing he can hold on to is the promises of God. So it says, after these things, God tested Abraham. J.I. Packer says it this way. And still, he seeks the fellowship of his people, and he sends them both sorrows and joys in order to detach their love from other things and attach it to himself. And so God tests Abraham, and he said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. Now, if you notice in the Bible, oftentimes, God tests Abraham, and he said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. Now, if you notice in the Bible, oftentimes God just speaks to people. God just speaks to people. And I've had people ask me, does God speak to you? And I go, for sure. And they say, he speaks out loud?

I go, for sure. You want to hear the voice of God? Read your Bible out loud. And you are hearing God speak out loud, okay? But it doesn't often happen this way. And so maybe, maybe the reality is that God is still speaking to his people. It's just the white noise of this world is so loud in our ears that we've drowned out the very voice of God. And so as we step into the season of Lent, Lent is just a time of preparation for us to get

ready to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. And what the elders are calling our church to do is we are going to participate in a technology fast. We are going to take these things and we are going to put them away. Okay. Now, again, I know automatically your fear and anxiety just went through the roof, all right? You started looking for it. Do I have it? Okay, there it is. Okay. I know, man. I know it's weird. Here's what I mean, all right? And I know you've got to send some text and emails

and there's some stuff you have to do at work. I'm not saying you're going to get fired from your job over this thing. But I want you to legitimately pray and seek the Lord and say anything in regards to technology that is a waste of time, frivolous and distracting, over the next 40 days you would just put that away. Like in the morning when you wake up instead of grabbing this thing and just looking through what God has said to everybody else,

maybe you would spend time with him and see what he has to say for you. Okay? Maybe, because again, man, maybe God is speaking to us, but the problem is that we're dialed into this thing so much. Have you ever talked to one of your kids or your spouse, and you're talking to them and they can't hear you because they're facing as in this? I'm sure our father feels the same way about us. Maybe you do use some social media, but only in redemptive ways,

like you post sermons or Bible verses or in. encourage people instead of comparing yourself to the rest of the world. Or maybe we, instead of Netflix over the next 40 days, you dial into right now media that we gave you and do the Bible study as a family. And listen, something's going to happen if you'll do this. If you'll decide as a family, when you walk in the house, you're going to put these things away. It's unbelievable. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to look at each other in the face. People used to do this. It's unbelievable. You're going to eat together and get bored. Praise God for boredom. Okay? That's where imagination and creativity happen.

Because these things are shaping us in ways that I don't think we're paying attention to. Because when we are with other people, we can't even really be with other people because we're in our own little world with our earbuds in. And when we're alone, we can't even really be alone because the whole world has access to us. And maybe what could happen during this time is that we would turn down the noise of this world and turn up our ear to the voice of God. And God might have a word for you this Lent season. And so you've got to figure it out, okay? You've got to figure out exactly what it means. It's kind of like the Daniel fast.

When we Daniel fast, we don't not eat all food. We just don't eat the good stuff. All right? And so in this thing, I know there's some technology that you have to use and participate in, but you figure that out. At least start here. At least don't take it to the bathroom. And I know you're like, what would I do?

You could go to the bathroom. And then maybe, maybe, maybe God will speak to us as clearly as he speaks to, Abraham. And so after these things, God tests Abraham, and he says to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. And God is going to ask Abraham to do something that makes no sense to him whatsoever. That he doesn't have a category in his mind how he could even be a part of this. Verse two, and he said, take your son, your only son, underline those words, we'll be back to it. Your only son, Isaac, whom you love, underline those three words, whom you love. And go to the land of Mariah, circle that, and offer, underline offer, him there as a burnt offering on one of the

mountains of which I shall tell you. Again, he says, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Now, man, we read that, we read that and we think, who could do that? Who could do that? Who could take the thing that you love more than anything else and do what God says to do. Well, later we're going to find out that God puts the kibosh on that. And a big part of the reason that happens a lot of theologians say is because during this time there was child sacrifice all over the world.

And God is saying, once and for all, there is no child sacrifice in my kingdom, not then and not now. And so he is saying, no way. But you guys know that we're on this two-year journey in the one initiative. We're swimming around in the Shama that hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and we should love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and all of our soul and all of our mind and all of our strength. The question that we're asking is this. Is he the one thing that drives everything? And I think if you're a Christian, you want to be able to say that in your soul,

but if we're not careful, there are things, there are good things that are gifts from God, and we take these gifts from God and then we treat them like they are our God, and that is what the Bible calls idolatry. Is God, not just first on your list, but is God like the paper on which you would write your list so that everything you do is to glorify him? Or have you taken a gift? It could be your job. It could be a dream.

It could be a relationship. And you have elevated it beyond the giver of the gift. And you're actually just worshipping the gift itself. And so God, in a test to Abraham says, bring your son, your only son, the one that you love. You're going to take him to Mariah. you're going to offer him as a burnt offering. And then verse three, so look what Abraham does. So Abraham rose early in the morning.

Now that's obedience. Early. I don't know about y'all, but when I feel like God is leading me to do something that is going to be very difficult for me, I have to like pray about it for a while. And I'm pro-prayer unless you're using prayer as an excuse to be obedient to God. And so Abraham, without delay, early in the morning, he saddled his donkey, and he took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and he arose, and he went to the place of which God had told him, verse four, on the third day. That's kind of important. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place from afar.

And then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. This is the faith of Abraham. Not only is he willing to obey God and hold nothing back. You see, anything that God has given you, you can trust God with it. And anything that God has not given you, you didn't need it anyway. And so he somehow, he's going to trust God with his son, his only son, the one whom he loves. But look at what he says.

really in the Hebrew, he's saying, we will go and we will be back. Even though he knows God has called him to give his son as a burnt offering, as a sacrifice, to offer him up. Somehow, Abraham has the fate to understand that God is who he says he is, and he always keeps his promises. And God promised that he would be a blessing to all the world through his son, Isaac. And so at this point, Abraham does not know exactly how he's going to pull this thing off, but he knows that even when he does not understand the mind of God, He can trust the heart of God because he is a good, good father, and he loves to give good blessings to his kids.

Now, one of the good things about being a Christian with a Bible in our hands is that we can always interpret the scriptures with the scripture. You should always use the Bible as commentary unto itself. And so if you look in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17 through 19, it tells us that Abraham had the faith in the resurrected Christ, that somehow Galatians 3-8 said that Abraham had the gospel preached to him. You see, what we know by name that Abraham believed by faith, that God was sending a Messiah for the salvation of all.

And Hebrews chapter 11 and Romans chapter 4 let us know that somehow Abraham trusted God and the power of His resurrection all the way back here. so that Abraham is believing, God, I will be obedient to you. I will do what you say because I know that you are who you say you are and you always keep your promises. And even if I go through with this, you are the God of the living and you can bring back my son. And so he says, hey look here, boys, stay here with the donkey. Me and the boy are going up there and I fully intend to do everything God has told me to do. And me and the boy are coming back safe and sound.

How's that going to work, Abraham? I have no idea. I'm just telling you what I know. I put my trust in God that he is who he says he is, and he always keeps his promises. And then Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and he laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And so they went, both of them together, and Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father, and he said, here I am, my son, and he said, behold, the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for the burn offering?

You see, I think we mentioned this before we sang that song, Fall on Your Altar. But when I was anywhere around church and I would hear about this story, like in Sunday school, I always thought Isaac was like fresh out of pull-ups, you know? Like you're taking little baby Isaac and you're taking him up there, but this is not the case. He's probably in his, you know, most theologians, commentators will say like 17, 18 years old. That he is strong enough to carry the wood, to carry the fire, that has the cognitive reasoning to look and ask questions.

So you know he's a teenager. He's asking a bunch of questions. Dad, what do you do? And then Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. You hear those words? God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together.

So not only is Abraham trusting that God is who he says he is and he always keeps his promises, but Isaac is trusting. in his dad. Verse 9, and 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. Just like we sang in that song, fall on your altar, Isaac had to volunteer himself to lay on

the altar. Why? Man, he's like 17 or 18 years old, which means his dad is about 117, 118 years old. Have you wrestled to 100,000? 18 year old lately? I have not. I assume not that tough. Okay. So he could have outrun him. He could have overpowered him. And yet he allows his dad to bind him and lay him on the altar. Verse 10. Then Abraham, he reached out his hand and he took the knife to slaughter his son. verse 11 but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham

and he said here I am and he said do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him for now I know that you fear God seeing that you have not withheld your son your only son from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and he looked and behold behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns do we have any this is a miracle do we have any deer hunters in the house if you hunt deer. Raise them high. Okay, if you own land and hunt deer on it. Alright, I see that hand. Come on, raise it. Testify. All right. Praise God. I love it. Okay. So, have you ever been walking to your stand and be like, oh, look, there's a 10-pointer, just caught up in the thicket? No, no. This is a miracle of God.

And was it there when they walked up? Did it just get hung up? I mean, did they overlook it? This is a miracle. That here is a male lamb with his head. in a bunch of thorns. And God says, hold on, hold on. And Abraham went and he took the ram and he offered it up as a burnt offering. Very important words. Instead of his son.

That he lifted the knife to be plunged down into the beating heart of Isaac. And God Almighty says, wait a minute. We will use this ram instead of your son. Verse 14. And so Abraham called the name of the name of the king. that place the Lord will provide. Jehovah Jira.

That's what that means. And as it is said to this day, on the mountain of the Lord, it shall be provided. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by myself, I have sworn declares the Lord because you have done

this and have not withheld your son, your only son. I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

Just like Abraham, there's no way he could have imagined what God was asking him to do to sacrifice his own son. There's also no way that Abraham could fully understand what God Almighty was talking about right here. This is just messianic prophecy that one day, one day Abraham this boy of yours is going to have a couple kids and one of his kids is going to have like 12 kids and there become tribes and then one day it's going to become a nation and out of that nation it's going to come a Messiah. He's going to come a Messiah and the entire world to the very ends of the earth will be blessed. So just a recap of Genesis chapter 22.

You've got a dad who loves his son, his one and only son. and he goes up on a hill with wood on that boy's back and he surrenders his son and there is a substitute sacrifice. And because of that faithfulness and because of that sacrifice, the entire world is blessed. By the way, Mariah means foreseen by God. And Abraham says, and on this mountain, on this mountain, the Lord shall provide a lamb. You see, the real point of Genesis chapter 22, and really the point of the entire Bible, is not all the stories that we get caught up in. The real point of it all is the gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of God.

You see, the point of Genesis 22 can actually be found in your New Testament. The point of Genesis 22 and the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac, the point is in the most famous Christian verse that there is. The point is John 316. And even if you're new to Bible study, you know this one, right? You've seen it on Tebow's face. John 316 is a description of Genesis chapter 22. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And you've got to keep going. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And whoever believes in him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the next. name of the only son of God. And this is the judgment. The light is coming to the world, and the people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

You see, sometimes the way Abraham and Isaac is taught is this. Be careful if you tell God you love him a bunch, because he might come in and make you give him something that you really love. That's kind of how I was brought up. Like I knew in any minute, you couldn't let God know that you like the thing too much, because he might show up in your room, be like, all right, give it to me. Give it to me. I was terrified, terrified.

He's going to make me go to Africa and not play football. You know that kind of stuff. And now think about that. 189 times in the New Testament, Jesus refers to God as heavenly father. Is there a father among us that would go home today after church and go into your kids' room and say, give me all your stuff? Actually, give me all my stuff. You don't have any stuff.

It's all my stuff. It's just in your room right now. And then just take it out of, I don't know why. Just take it into the front yard and burn it all. Now, you could do that, but that's not the point. Now, I tell you what every good dad will do, every good dad will come and take away anything from their kid that is not good for that kid. And that is the discipline of the Lord, for sure. Any kind of idols that we make in our life, then praise God, he would love us enough to smash those things.

And oftentimes, we get smashed in the way. But actually, what Abraham and Isaac, what it's all about, it's not that in order for us to prove our love for God, God, he wants to take away from us. It's really to demonstrate his love for us he gave for us what was most important to him, his son, Jesus Christ. You see, in the context of John 3, where we get John 316, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, whoever believed in him, would not perish but have everlasting life. See, what's happening there is that Jesus is having a conversation with this guy named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee. Nicodemus, as a Pharisee, he would have been an expert in Genesis chapter 22. In fact,

He would have been an expert in the entire Old Testament. That he went to school his whole life to memorize the Old Testament so that when the Messiah showed up, he could be the very first one to recognize him. The name Pharisee means separated one. You see, when Nicodemus went to school for the very first time, like when he was in kindergarten, all they were going to study was the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. and he was going to memorize every word of the first five books of the Bible. Now, I don't know how many Bible verses you have memorized, but Nicodemus would have memorized it all. I mean, really, to be a Pharisee, he would have to memorize the entire Old Testament.

And I know, some of you're like, I ain't good at memorizing. Yeah, you are. Half of you still know all the words to Ice Ice Baby, and you haven't heard it in 30 years. It's just true. And so the first day he would show up to school, he would get this tablet on which he would write the Torah. And on the first day of school, they would take those tablets and they would cover them in honey. And at that point in their lives, they had probably never tasted honey because it was so sweet and it was so expensive.

And they would have the class take their tablets and their scrolls and just lick the honey off of it. And the kids are thinking, this is the greatest day of our lives. Then their rabbi would say something like, and just like your mouth craves the sweetness of honey, may your soul crave the sweetness of the word of God. And they would memorize the scriptures. And so Nicodemus shows up on the scene, John chapter 3. He goes to see Jesus at night, and he says, surely you must be of God, because if you're not of God, you couldn't do these miracles. And then Jesus, seeing this Pharisee, this expert in the law,

He just goes right to like top shelf stuff, man. He just immediately says, truly, truly, I say unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And it goes right over Nicodemus's head. He has no idea what he's talking about. Again, this is crazy. He spent his whole life memorizing the law so that he could recognize the Messiah. And the problem with a lot of the Pharisees is they fell in love with the law instead of the lawgiver. And they were so close to the presence of God, they could smell the breath of God, and they didn't recognize.

him for who he is. And Jesus shows up and he's like, man, it's not about memorizing the law. You have to have a whole new life. You've got to be born again. And then Nicodemus totally misunderstands what Jesus is saying. He has no clue. And he asks this, he goes, how can that be? Would a man enter into his mother's womb a second time?

And Jesus is like, what in the name of me are you talking about? No, stop. That is sick. No. So what Jesus is going to do here, the master teacher, is he's going to use like some rabbi tricks. You see, the way the rabbis would talk to each other is they would use Bible verses to explain other Bible verses. It was almost like theological jiu-jitsu.

And so he's going to do some things. One of the things that rabbis were famous for doing is they would teach in threes. They would teach one point in three different stories to give people more handles to grab onto, like in Luke chapter 15. When Jesus is trying to tell about who God is, he tells the story about the lost coin. He tells a story about the lost sheep and a story about the lost son. We call it the prodigal son. Or like in Matthew chapter 25, in 24, the disciples say, what's the end of the world going to be like?

He tells three stories, all to describe what the end of the world is going to be like. It's the parable of the virgins of the party. It's the parable of the talents, and it's the parable of the sheep and goats. And so what he's going to do now is he's going to use three illustrations from the Old Testament to illustrate who Nicodemus is talking to. He's going to talk about Moses. He's going to talk about Abraham. and he's going to talk about light.

And so he says this. He's like, hey, okay, all right. So I'm over your head. So let's bring this down to like Pharisee kindergarten level, all right? You remember Moses? And you may not be super familiar with this story. But in the Old Testament, Moses is leaving the nation of Israel. They're wandering around in the desert.

They wake up one day and there's poisonous snakes in the camp. And everybody gets bitten and everybody is poisoned from the inside out. And the people are dying. And you can't really do anything. to it from the outside, ointment on the outside isn't going to cure the snake-bitteness on the inside. And so God tells Moses, a fashion a fiery serpent or a bronze serpent, and lift it up. And anybody that will fix their eyes on the serpent that is high and lifted up, they will be cured. And then Jesus goes, hey, Nick, I'm like that.

I am going to be high and lifted up. And God is going to make him who is without sin to be sin, that we would be made the righteousness. of God. And Nicodemus says, of course I know that story. I teach it all the time. That's what I do. And then right on the heels of that one, he says, for, God so love the world. Four, now he's going to Abraham. And the trick that he's going to use here, the technique that he's going to use, in Greek, it would be called proto-logos, protologos. That a part of what you would study in rabbi school is everywhere the first time a word is used in the Old Testament. And so when Jesus says for God so loved the world.

The Nicodemus would know, all right, the first time the word love is used like that in the Bible would be to describe Abraham's love for his son, Isaac. A father's love for his son. For God so loved the world that he gave. Literally, that word would be offered, that he offered. His only, the ESV will say his one and only son. It's a tough translation. The word in Greek is monogenes, like one gene. It literally means of the same essence.

So one and only is not enough. Because I have one and only motorcycle, but it's not my monogenes motorcycle. The King James will call it only begotten son. Because Jesus is not created, but God begets God. And so he says, for God. God so love the world that he gives his one and only, only begotten son. And again, at this point, Nicodemus, all the lights on his dashboard are going off. He automatically is transported back to Genesis chapter 22, and he's beginning to see all the things that are similar, as Jesus is trying to point Nicodemus to the fact that he is the Messiah, that Abraham offered his one and only son, that God is going to offer his one and only son, that Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain, and Jesus is going to carry the cross on his back up the mountain.

And by the way, Mount Moriah is where they would build the temple one day. and for thousands and thousands and thousands of years on that temple mount where Abraham spared Isaac every single year on the day of atonement, lamb after lamb after lamb after lamb would be slaughtered for the covering of sin. 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ with a cross on his back, climbs up Mount Moriah, but at this point, we don't call it that anymore. You call it Mount Calvary. on that same place the Lord provides, not just another Lamb of God to cover over the sin of the Jewish people for a year, but the Lamb of God that's come to take away the sin of the entire world.

Nicodemus would have understood that Isaac had to trust his father. Jesus, one day, in a few years from now, would be in a garden, and he would say, Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. Not my will, but your will be done. Abraham indicates that God would provide a lamb, a male sheep with his horns caught in the briars. And Jesus, the Lamb of God, would wear a crown of thorns and die as a substitutionary sacrifice. And again, Moses said, I mean, Abraham said, on this place the Lord would provide. And 2,000 years ago, on that very mountain, Jesus is led to sacrifice.

sacrifice in our place. And so Jesus to Nicodemus is like, hey, so you know all that stuff happening in Genesis chapter 22? I who am speaking to you, that's me. I am the lamb who has come for the sacrifice of all people. For God so loved the world that he gave, he offered, he sacrificed his one and only son. And listen, Nicodemus. And whoever believes in him. That's a big word.

Whoever. Because probably at that point, Nicodemus is thinking, I don't have to believe in you because I got this. Man, I got the whole Bible memorized. I think I got this. And Jesus is saying, no, no, no, no, boss. No matter how religious you are, then you got to believe. And no matter how rebellious you are, then you got to believe. And whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

God so love. That word so is an amplifier. That when God sent Jesus to die on the cross, it was to demonstrate his love for us and this, that though none of us deserved it, that though none of us deserved it, that Christ died for us. For God, so love the world, that he gave, that he offered. And you see, there had to be an offering. And the reason that they had to be an offering is because every single one of us, by nature and nurture, are sinners down to our very core. And I know you may be offended by me calling you that, but it's because you're a sinner and you're prideful and you think you're awesome. And you ain't awesome. You're a sinner. Me too. I mean, think about this. Forget God's law. You can't even keep your law, right? Have you ever promised, I'm never going to yell at my kids like that again? Sinner? Because you did it again. Have you ever promised I'm not going to eat that? I'm not going to say that. I'm not going to do that. And you can't even keep your own made-up commandment? And there's no way we can keep the commandments of the holy perfect God.

So what we'll talk about next week when we get to Mount Sinai. And God, because He is holy and just, because He is holy and just, all sin must be paid for. For God to overlook sin would mean at his very character and nature that he was unjust and unholy. And so sin must be paid for. And so in Jesus Christ, God is just. and the justifier, that God requires the payment for sin and he makes the ultimate payment in his son, Jesus Christ. And so there are one of two ways that your sin can be paid for. In the Bible, the word is atonement. Atonement is just a Bible word that means to make payment. And so there are one

of two ways. You can self-atone. You can say, God, forget you, I got this. And you can do whatever you want, live however you won't, be the Lord of your own life. And it will cost you. you all of eternity of yourself to pay for your sin. For the wages of sin is death, an eternal separation from God. We would call that hell. Or you can take the substitutionary atonement, that I'll take what Jesus did in my place as my payment. And Jesus says, for God, so love the world, that he gave his one and only son so that whoever, did you know that if you fall, in the whoever category you can be saved. No matter how good you think you are, you can be saved.

No matter how bad you think you've been, you can be saved. Because it's not by your works that you're saved. It's by Christ, life, death, and resurrection that you can be saved. That whosoever believes in him. Now, I find it a little frustrating that we continuously translate this word into beliefs. The Greek word is Pestuo. Stay Pistuo. A little bit louder like you're paying attention.

Pistuo. That way when they're like, what the preacher talk about? It would be like, Pistuo, all right, and you want to sound smart. So it means we translate it believe, but I think when Americans read that, we think if you believe that, God is who he says he is, Jesus came down on the cross. I think oftentimes we think we're good. But there's a big difference in believing that and believing in. The best example I know to use is this, all right? I believe that there is a college football team down in Gainesville somewhere.

Okay? I've seen them with my own eyes. They come to our town once a year. But I do not believe in that team. Even though their Messiah comes to our church, I do not believe in that team. And I'm afraid there's a bunch of people that believe Jesus, like I believe that team down there. You know he exists. You believe that there's a God that Jesus died on the cross.

But to believe in, to bestuo is to trust, surrender, commit your whole life into. That when Isaac laid himself down on the altar, he was bestuoing that Abraham, that his dad would take care of him. He was trusting that God is who he says he is, and he always keeps his promises. That's what it means for whosoever would believe. in him would not perish but have everlasting life again I know that I use this illustration all the time but it's one that makes the most sense to me it's like when my dad would take me to the dillon public pool before I could swim and he would say get on the diving board and jump off into the water with me and so I would go up to the diving board this is how we taught kit we didn't

have swimming lessons it was very Darwinian like if you didn't make it then you weren't supposed to live anyway or something you know get the weak I tell you my dad he used to say Boy, if you're going to be dumb, you better be tough. All right. That's a sermon. But anyway, get up on that diving board, walk out to the edge of it, and there he is in the water. Go, come on, buddy, jump. I got you.

Now, at that point, with a line forming behind me in great fear and trepidition, and in here, and this group of people in Dillon, they were not the most encouraging little kids ever. Like, oh, just take your time. We know you're nervous and can't swim. Uh-uh. So there I am at the edge of the diving board. looking down into the water. And at that point, I believe, that's my dad, I recognize him. The Magna P.I. Mustache, the O.P. Shorts. The Southern Swoop before it was a thing. I hear his voice.

He lives at my house. All right. He came with that lady over there. My mom just smoking like a freight train drinking a tab. Whatever. She had like oil on her, like baby oil, you know, because that's good. And I thought, and he's going, come on, buddy, I got you. And I believe that. That's my dad. but at that point on the edge of the diving board I have not pastu-oed in my father. This is what Jesus is talking about in Nicodemus. Nicodemus is recognizing that Jesus is who he says he is. But he has not yet taken that leap of faith.

And so at some point, you've got to make a decision. Not do I believe that he's telling the truth, but do I trust him with my life? Do I trust that he is who he says he is and he's going to keep his promises? And if I step off of this diving board into this water because I cannot keep myself afloat. I don't know how to do that yet. Will he catch me and keep me alive? And so I did. I mean, it's my dad. I trust him.

And so I take that step off and postuo in my father. And he catches me because he's a good dad. This is what Jesus is talking about. This is what Genesis chapter 22 is all about. And so let me ask you, have you ever been ever. taken that leap of faith? Have you ever trusted Jesus as your Savior? Have you ever believed in him, bestuoed, in him, put the weight of your life into the arms of your heavenly father, believing that he is who he says he is, and he's going, come on, some of you right now, not because of what I'm saying, but some of you, like the Spirit's doing something in you, and you hear your Heavenly Father going, come on. Come on. I know you've been here six weeks. I know you got 10,000 questions.

I know you don't know what you're going to tell your mom when you get home, but come on, jump, I got you, I got you. That's what salvation is. That's what it means to put your faith in Jesus Christ. Listen, for me, I did that a long time ago, like almost 30 years ago when I was a teenager, man. I've told you this a million times. Football coach took me to camp, and on the last night of camp, I was a high school student, a teenager. And listen, I had heard this story a thousand times, man.

I'm from the South. If you would ask me going into camp or you were a Christian, I'd be like, of course I'm a Christian. Look, man, I believe in God and college football and NASCAR and Easter Bunny, just like everybody else does, all right? And that's kind of the category Jesus was in for me. And I'd heard he died on the cross, but I'd never thought about it personally for me. So we're sitting at this camp. It's like 100 high school kids in Veniceville, South Carolina. And our camp counselors, which were all like college kids around the southeast, they reenacted

crucifixion of Christ. And they were in no danger of winning any Academy Awards. Artists is like togas and country accents, being like Jesus and the disciples. And we sat there and we watched them reenact the flogging of Jesus. We watched the Pontius Pilots say, What shall I do with this man named Jesus? We watched them march him to the other side of a pond. There wasn't a pond in the Bible, but that's what we had. And so we were sitting there watching him.

we heard the nails and then they hung Jesus up on a cross and I'm telling you somehow somehow this is like the 80s and I'm in South Carolina but I'm telling you I was transported to Mount Moriah which would be Mount

Calvary 2,000 years ago and Jesus said seven things on the cross he started with Father forgive them for they know not what they do and he ended with it is finished and when he said when he said it is finished they had these torches to like light the thing so we can see it and they drop him in the water and it all goes

dark. Then a little while later a light shines on the cross and it's empty. And coach Bowley, my football coach, stands in front of us and just says, for God so loved the world. He said, for God so loved you, he pointed right at me. For God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever, and he pointed at me again, that whosoever would believe in him, would not perish, but have everlasting life. And then he said, for anybody that's ready, the language he would use is this, for anybody that's ready to ask Jesus into the heart, come down, come forward, and pray. And man, I sat there and my heart is about to beat out of my chest.

I didn't even, I didn't know the words, perpetuation or substitutionary atonement or the wounding of the Holy Spirit. I didn't know that by the power of God, the scales are from. falling off of my eyes and that he's ripping out a heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh, his heart. I didn't know all that stuff. I just knew that for some reason, I believed, I think that thing that we just watched counted for me. And then we started singing. It was a Baptist camp, so guess what song we sang, just as I am. Elder Barry's a Baptist as we get, man. And you can't sing one verse. It's something about it. It's something about it. It's in the

copyright or something. You just sing it and sing it until Jesus comes back. We're probably about on the 12th verse, 13th verse, just as I am without one plea, that thy blood was shed for me. And Coach steps up and says, I believe there's one more out there that needs to come and surrender to Jesus. And folks, I had my feet wrapped around the seat I was on. I said, I ain't getting it. See, as the Baptist church, you couldn't get saved out there. You had to get saved right there at the front. I don't know what it is, but it's not true, but that's the way we did it.

And I thought, ain't no way I'm getting up there. I'm feeling all weepy. I ain't crying in front of these people. There's no way I'm getting out of the seat and getting up there. And I'm telling you, I'm the 13th verse. And he said one more. And the next thing I know, I'd levitated to the front or something. And I fell into arms of Coatsley.

And I prayed in that moment surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. And I became one of those whosoever's that Jesus was talking about to Nicodemus. How about you? When Jesus says whosoever would believe, You know, he's talking about you. He's talking about you. How would you like to become one of those whosoever's in this moment right now? To just admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.

It's not about me being better. It's about me surrendering. And that you would believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow, I know you still got 10,000 questions, me too. But somehow that counted for you. And in this moment right now, you would surrender your life to Christ. You would call on the name of the Lord. Lord save me and he will.

would you please bow your head close your eyes we're not going to sing just as i am and you don't have to come down here and talk to me but sitting right where you are if you believe that for god so loved you that he sent jesus his only begotten son as a willing sacrifice in your place for the punishment for our sin that we deserve and in this moment right now you would believe you would take that step off the diving board into the loving arms of your Heavenly Father, then right now where you are, would you raise your hand and say, Father, here I am, save me. I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you that you don't love some future version of us,

but through Christ you demonstrated your love for us right now. God, I thank you for the dozens of whosoever's that in this moment have experienced yourself. salvation. God, I pray for every Christian at our churches, God, that you would remind us of the gospel. And the moment that we became adopted sons or daughters of you, God, the performing and the pretending were over, you have nailed that to the cross. And God, I thank you and I praise you that the son of God became a man so that men and women could become sons and daughters of the most God. And we pray this all in the good. strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.