Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1913-03-13


1919, and the setting aside OF the son
Of the bond woman, a story so rich
with suggestiveness, forms the con-
nection between the lesson OF Iass
week and the one Of this week.
I. Sacrifice Required. God dld
prove Abraham" Or. W w. 1-2. Abra-
hams ready response, "Rehold me.
here am l." gives evidence Of his life
long habit of obedience. He was ready
for sacrifice or service. His habit OF
taking God at his word prepared him
for this final act of testing. and per
fecting, of his faith The revised YER
sion prove" Ia better rendering than
the authorized version tempt" God
does not tempt, |. G.. solicit men to
evil Jas. 1:13, but he does "prove'
men; see Elk. 20:20 and Peter 1:12.
Abraham had been tried before but
what father is there who will not say
this was the supreme test, for he is
called upon to give up his, only son.
whom thou cherishest"
Abrahar's Faith.
Superficial critics have taken occa-
sion to make light of a God who would
make such a demand upon an earthly
father. We need to remember that
Abraham had doubtless witnessed hui
man sacrifices in Chaldea and that
having seen Gods faithfulness and his
past dellverances, he had enough
faith to believe that God could In his
own Providence deliver Isaac. Fur
.AA 1.
exact language of the text, viz. Gods
demand was that Abraham offer" mot
'kill') Isaac as a sacrifice. The liter
al language is make him go up up
on the altar, doubtless in symbol We
read elsewhere. Heb 11:17 that "Abra-
ham offered up Isaac" but we know
he did not kill Isaac Those who
stumble at that part OF the story miss
the great lesson God intended to teach
in the record of this incident How
ever, Abraham was ready to do ". 10Y
what God himself did actually do when
he gave his "only SON" John 3:16,
Rom. 80. Isaac was the child Of the
promise, hence the only son (cf Gen.
21:12). This makes tho text more Sc
21:14. God today is calling upon faith
| ers to sacrifice their sons, and fathers
are sacrificing though not always unto
God. We must put our children upon
the altar. Matt. 1927.
II. Sacrifice Granted. Abraham
rose up early" Wv. 80 The writer
of Genesis has left us to fill In the
emotions and the mental agony that
must have surged through Abraham's
heart, yet we again see a wonderful
illustration Of prompt obedience, CT.
Ps. 119: 60.
Abraharn's Devotion.
Attention has been called to Isaac
as type of Christ (cf. John 10:17-1S).
% His name, given before birth; (2)
His birth, supernatural, predicted; go
His offering, a, by his father; b. volun-
tary; C, risen from the dead (4) His
marriage; a, bride selected by his faith
er; b. servant calls the bride; C. meet
ing of bride and bridegroom. In this
connection we behold Isaac bearing
the wood w. 81 a reminder OF Christ
bearing his cross, John 1917. The
test to Abraham's faith was full even
to the point that "he took the knife to
slay his son." when God interviewed.
The repetition, abraham, Abraham"
suggests the urgency of God to save
and the devotion of Abraham in that
he was not easily turned aside nor
looking for a way of escaping a dis
| agreeable duty. Abraham was sus-
tanned to the end (Rom. 4:20, q r. W
and out Of 1t all he is abundantly re-
warded, w. 1918 and 26:4-5.
III. Sacrifice Provided" "a lamb
! caught in the thicket," w. 11-15. Again
God spoke to Abraham through IAN
angel" an old Hebraic way Of saying
| that God made himself known. II has
! been suggested that AT this point tho
| Hebrew broke away from human saCri-
| fees. There is nothing i'm this story
| to sustain any claim that God justihcs
| human sacrifices. but the oya"t con-
! trary, for God gave Isaac back to
Abraham CHeb 1:19 r W and that
| he is constantly doing 10 those who
/ surrender their nm and their best TO
| him Mark 1O:2920, Prov. 11.24-25.
/ Abraham did not leave the mountain
| until he had offered a sacrifice and
/ who can question but that his heart
| was filled with great JOY and thanks
/ giving unto God o Cor. 9:15 Without
the shedding of blood We cannot APP
/ proaoh God,
Abraham is a type Of true piety
and is constantly held up by New Tes-