In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith. The preacher highlights the four major crises that Abraham faced in his life, including leaving his relatives in Ur of the Calities and dealing with his nephew Lot. The preacher emphasizes the significance of Abraham's obedience to God, even in the face of not fully understanding His commands. The sermon also draws parallels between Abraham's sacrifice and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, highlighting the transaction between the father and the son and the exclusion of man during this pivotal moment.

Let me read this because this is a tremendous picture. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went into the place of which God had told him. Now he goes with Isaac, takes him with him, takes the wood for the burnt offering. And now let's follow this. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Now it took him three days to get there, but remember it was on the third day that Abraham received him alive, back from the dead, as it were. And that's the way Abraham looked at it. He was raised up to Abraham the third day. And Abraham said unto the young man, And abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. You see, now the transaction that's going to take place is between the father and the son, between Abraham and Isaac. And actually God shut man out at the cross, and at the time of the darkness, at high noon, why man was shut out. The night had come when no man could work. And during that last three hours, that cross became an altar on which the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, was offered. And the transaction is between the father and the son on that cross. And man is outside. Man is not participating at all. Now the picture is the same here. It's Abraham and Isaac. Verse 6 I'm reading now. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. Now remember, Christ carried his own cross. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together. And the fire speaks of judgment, and the knife there, the execution of judgment, sacrifice. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? A great many people say, Well, shortly after this, there was a ram that was caught in the thicket by his horns, and Abraham got him and offered it. That's right. That's exactly what happened. Let me read that. I drop down to verse 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. Now the thing is, Abraham said God would provide himself a lamb, but there was no lamb there. It was a ram. And there is a distinction. And the lamb was not provided until 1,900 years later when John the Baptist marked him out and identified him and said, Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. That's very important to see. And it's, I think, very important for us to note that at this particular place, because Abraham is now ready to offer this boy on the altar. This man does not quite understand. And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Now he's not just a little boy that Abraham had to tie up. Actually, he's a grown man, and I believe that he could have overcome Abraham if it came to a physical encounter. But he's doing this in obedience. And the Lord Jesus went to the cross. Not my will, he said, but thine be done. And he's going to the cross to fulfill the will of God. What a picture we have here. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And again, had you and I been there and said, Abraham, are you going through with it? Looks like now God's going to permit you. And he would have said, I sure am. Well, don't you know it's wrong? He said, yes, I've been taught that, and I don't understand it. But I've also learned to obey God. And this is a real crisis in this man's life. Actually, God had brought this man through four very definite crises, a real exercise of his soul, a real strain upon his heart. First of all, he was called to leave all of his relatives and ironicalities, just leave the whole group. That was a real test for Abraham. He didn't do it very well at the beginning. But nevertheless, the break came finally. Then there was that test that came of this boy Lot, his nephew. Actually, he loved Lot. He wouldn't have been carrying him around with him if he hadn't. And then the time came they had to separate, and Lot went down to Sodom. Then we found that this boy of his, the son of Hagar, Ishmael, that Abraham just cried out to God, oh, that Ishmael might live before you. He loved that boy. He hated to be separated from him. And now he comes to this supreme test. This is the fourth great crisis in his life. He's asked now to give up Isaac. Now, he doesn't quite understand all the details about this for the very simple reason God has told him that it's in Isaac, your seed be called. You can depend on that. Now, he believed God would raise him from the dead. But as far as Abraham is concerned, he's willing to go through with it.