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Abraham Offered Isaac (Genesis 22) A Type Of Christ Genesis 22:1-2 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Abraham, the Father of faith, the "father of a multitude" (as his name signified), had been walking with the Lord God for possibly fifty years or more at this time. He had gone through various tests and trials - each one strengthening his faith a little more; and he was about to face his toughest test yet! God was going to test/tempt him (which basically means, "to try, to prove" him) to show to himself and to the world how much he loved God and the evidence of his faith. Hebrews 11:17-18 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac : and he that had received the ...

And I Will Give You Rest Part One - The Rest Of Salvation To quote a hymn writer: "Are you weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?" What are you doing with your burdens? Are you trying to carry them yourself? Are you weighed down with trying to reach Heaven through your own good deeds and righteousness? Are you oppressed by all the legalistic rules that religious leaders have placed upon you? Matthew 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. These burdens of men are heavy and grievous indeed! It doesn't have to be that way. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28  Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There is a rest found only in the Saviour that the religions of the world can never offer you. It is the rest from striving for perfection, striving to keep the Law, striving to make your good deeds outweigh your ...

Lessons From The Life Of Jacob: Part One - Jacob, The Plain Man Genesis 25:27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. For nineteen years, Rebekah was barren and had no children. Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife. In their twentieth year of marriage, God answered his prayers and Rebekah gave birth to twins. While these boys were struggling together in her womb, God made a promise to her - that the eldest son would serve the younger. The line of the younger son would be the one that God would bless and cause to prosper. Genesis 25:22-24 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered w...

In 2006, I preached a series of three messages on three main gardens of Scripture: Eden and the fall of man; Gethsemane and Jesus Christ going to the cross; the garden with the empty tomb and Christ's resurrection. I wrote up the first two messages, but somehow never got the third one written, then ended up losing the notes I had for it. A couple of years later, I preached these messages again. This year, as we are getting closer to Easter, where the thoughts of many Christians and the religious world turn towards the cross and Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, I wanted to cover these messages again. But this time, I was thinking of a fourth garden - Paradise (which means "garden"), referring to the third heaven, the dwelling place of God. Lord willing, this time I will get the third and (now) fourth studies written up. I plan on covering one per week until Easter (plus, a supplemental message from Days Of Praise devotionals: Make It As Sure As You Can ). The St...

Three Avenues Of Temptation 1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. In this passage we see Satan's three main avenues of temptation: 1. The lust of the eyes - means forbidden longing or desire, covetousness, following after the sight of the eyes. 2. The lust of the flesh - means carnal desires, fulfilling the appetites of the flesh; fulfilling physical appetites outside of the will of God. 3. The pride of life - means selfishness, self-seeking; self-advancement. pride = (Strong's #213) boasting, bragging, (by implication) self-confidence. life = bios, physical life (as opposed to spiritual life, zoe). Contrast the pride of life w...

When Life Doesn't Go As You Planned Joseph was born the eleventh son of a family of twelve brothers and one sister. He was the oldest child of his father Jacob's (Israel's) favourite wife, Rachel. His mother died giving birth to the youngest son in the family, Benjamin. Genesis 37:2-4 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. In the book of Genesis, we can see four major disappointments in Joseph's life - things that he did not plan on, but that had a major impact on his life and future plans...

References To Genesis In The Book Of Job At the Gospel Mission, I have been preaching my way through the book of Job - mostly tackling it by chapters/sections, but some messages have been by themes. Job certainly is an interesting book, and it serves the purpose of reminding us to keep our eyes upon the Lord when we are going through trials in our lives. As has been stated in various ways by others: the book of Job is more concerned with Who, though it does address many of the reasons why we go through trials and what the Lord is bringing out of them. One theme that has intrigued me recently is the multiple references to past events by the various speakers in Job. I have read many articles defending the literal history found in the book of Genesis, especially the first eleven chapters, by showing how the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (God manifest in the flesh) and the various New Testament writers (ie. the apostles, their associates, and Jesus' half-brothers) often quoted these passag...