Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14 (Read Genesis 22:1-19)

What a test of Abraham’s love for God and his faith that God both could and would keep His promise to bless him and fulfill His promises to send the Messiah and Savior through Isaac! Think of it. After waiting more than 25 years for God to keep His promise and give him a son through Sarah, God then told Abraham to take this son, his only son Isaac, and offer him up as a burnt sacrifice to the LORD God!

And Abraham obeyed (cf. Heb. 11:17-19). He took his son Isaac to the mountains of Moriah and to the specific mountain which God named for him. On the way, Isaac even asked his father about the sacrificial lamb. Abraham had the fire and the wood, but no lamb. Abraham told Isaac, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (v. 8).

And when they arrived at the mountain which would later be the site of Jerusalem and the temple (cf. 2 Chron. 3:1), the place where God’s own Son was later sacrificed for the sins of the world, Abraham bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar and was about to kill him with a knife when the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and stopped him.

“Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son” (Gen. 22:13).

God indeed provided a sacrificial lamb to be offered up in the place of Abraham’s son Isaac, the father of Israel and a spiritual father of all who share in the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Abraham offered up this lamb in the stead of his son.

Abraham called the place “Jehovah-jireh,” or “The LORD Will Provide,” because there the LORD God saw and provided a sacrifice to be offered up in Isaac’s stead. And though we deserved to be put to death for our sins on that cross of Golgotha, on Mt. Calvary, the LORD again provided for our greatest need by sending His only-begotten Son to take our place and suffer our just punishment. Jesus is that Lamb of God who was sacrificed for us upon the cross and made atonement for the sins of the world (cf. John 1:29; 1 John 2:1-2). And by His resurrection, we are assured that forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting was won for us and are ours by faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior (cf. Rom. 4:23-25)!

We come to Mt. Calvary with our sins and with a sentence of death, but God stops us from paying the debt of our sins, spares us from the eternal death and punishment we so deserve, and then provides for us a sacrifice — His own dear Son. In Him, atonement is made; and through faith in Him, we have forgiveness and life!

Thank You gracious LORD for providing a sacrifice for our sins — Your only-begotten Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Amen.

Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the LORD lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

I lay my sins on Jesus

Lyrics: Horatius Bonar / Tune: Aurelia by Samuel S. Wesley

1 I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;
He bears them all and frees us from the accursed load.
I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains
White in His blood most precious till not a spot remains.

2 I lay my wants on Jesus, all fulness dwells in Him;
He healeth my diseases, He doth my soul redeem.
I lay my griefs on Jesus, my burdens and my cares;
He from them all releases, He all my sorrows shares.

3 I rest my soul on Jesus, this weary soul of mine;
His right hand me embraces, I on His breast recline.
I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ, the Lord;
Like fragrance on the breezes, His name abroad is poured.

4 I long to be like Jesus, Meek, loving, lowly, mild;
I long to be like Jesus, the Father’s holy Child.
I long to be with Jesus amid the heav’nly throng
To sing with saints His praises, to learn the angels’ song. Amen.

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While He was yet speaking, a crowd came. And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” Luke 22:47-48

“Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” This is the question Jesus asked of Judas as he led Jesus’ enemies to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane and then kissed Jesus to point Him out to those who would arrest Him and lead Him away to crucify Him.

This was a fitting question for one who used a sign of friendship and affection to betray Jesus into the hands of those who would condemn Jesus to death and then turn Him over to Pontius Pilate to be crucified! But what about you and me? Are we also guilty of betraying Jesus with a kiss?

If asked today, “Do you love Jesus?” would not all of us say, “Yes, we love Jesus”? Indeed, we all profess our love and devotion to Jesus. But when it comes down to following Jesus in our daily lives, how often do we not betray Him with a kiss by saying that we love Him and then doing the opposite of what He would have us do?

We draw near to Jesus with our mouths and lips, but our hearts are far from Him, as Jesus said in Matthew 15:8 (cf. Isa. 29:13): “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”

Jesus also said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). And we say that we love Jesus, but do we keep His commandments? Do we truly love Jesus and devote ourselves to Him? Do we continue in His Word as Jesus said in John 8:31-32: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.’”

And, do we follow Jesus wherever He leads? Do we profess His name and the truth of His Word in this present adulterous and sinful generation? Jesus said: “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His own glory and in the glory of His Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26).

We can be thankful that the love of our Lord Jesus for us goes far deeper than any outward sign of affection and friendship! Our Lord Jesus “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). “While we were yet weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Rarely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).

Jesus did not betray us but, instead, went to the cross and paid in full the punishment due us for our sins and the sins of the whole world. “Jesus Christ the Righteous One … is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

Though we have oft betrayed Him, Jesus did not betray us! Rather, He gave Himself for us that we might have forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting through faith in Him!

Dear Jesus, forgive us for so often betraying you with a kiss — for saying we love You and then sinning against You. Thank you for so loving us that You gave Your life a ransom for us. Graciously keep us trusting in You alone for forgiveness and life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

My Song Is Love Unknown

My song is love unknown,
My Saviour’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed for Christ would know:
But O! my Friend, my Friend indeed,
Who at my need His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.

Why, what hath my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
He gave the blind their sight,
Sweet injuries! Yet they at these
Themselves displease, and ’gainst Him rise.

They rise and needs will have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they saved,
The Prince of life they slay,
Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
That He His foes from thence might free.

In life, no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death no friendly tomb
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say? Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King!
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend.

Lyricist: Samuel Crossman (c.1624 – 1684). Public Domain.
My Song Is Loven Unknown
Tune: Loven Unknown, composed by John Nicholson Ireland (1879 – 1962). Music Public Domain.
Performance Copyright ℗ 2014 Richard M S Irwin. All rights reserved.

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What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to him who works, wages are not given as a gift, but as a debt. But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Romans 4:3-5

How was Abraham righteous in God’s eyes? Was it by his own works and devotion to God? Or was righteousness graciously credited to him by faith?

Many look at Old Testament saints like Abraham and draw the conclusion that they lived a righteous and holy life and, therefore, God loved and accepted them as His own. Yet, when we look at the life of Abraham, the Scriptures reveal flaws and mistrust.

He more than once called his wife Sarah his sister out of fear that he would be killed so that another might take her. He listened to Sarah when she gave him Hagar as a concubine to bear children rather than trust fully that God would do as he promised. Though Abraham was certainly a man of faith who sought to walk in the ways of the LORD, he was not perfect and without sin.

So, how was Abraham righteous before God? St. Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

The apostle Paul explains further: “Now to him who works, wages are not given as a gift, but as a debt. But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5).

If Abraham were righteous by his own works, righteousness would not have been credited or imputed to him; it would have been earned by him and his own by right. But the Scriptures say that Abraham believed God’s promises and that righteousness was credited to him by God.

Notice, too, that David, in Psalm 32, speaks of the blessedness of the one who confesses his sins and receives in faith God’s mercy and forgiveness (Rom. 4:6-8). David, as well, speaks of God’s forgiveness and the imputation of righteousness as God’s gracious gift received through faith and not earned by our own works.

How then are we righteous and acceptable in God’s eyes? By our own works? Or, by faith?

Though many assume the way to be righteous before God is by our works and our obedience to God’s commandments, the Bible teaches us that we have all come short and that even our best righteousnesses are like defiled, unclean rags in God’s eyes (cf. Rom. 3:9ff.; Isa. 64:6).

The only way for sinners like you and me to be righteous before God is through faith in Christ Jesus. When we believe the Word of God which tells us that Christ fulfilled all righteousness for us and then was sacrificed for us to make full atonement for all our sins, God credits it to us for righteousness. He forgives all our sins for the sake of Jesus’ blood, shed upon the cross, and He imputes and credits to us the perfect righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 3:21-28; 1 John 1:7 — 2:2).

It is as the Bible says: “But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (v. 5); “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28; cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:6ff.; 3:26-29; Phil. 3:8-9).

Grant that I cease attempting to be counted righteous in Your eyes by my own works, O LORD, and place my faith in Christ’s perfect righteousness and in His atoning sacrifice on the cross for my sins that I may be counted righteous and holy in Your sight through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness

Author: Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
‘Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father’s bosom came,
Who died for me, e’en me to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.

Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Ev’n then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died, for me.

Jesus, be endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me—
For me a full atonement made,
An everlasting ransom paid.

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“Pray that you may not fall into temptation.” Luke 22:40

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:13a

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus directed His disciples: “Pray that you may not fall into temptation” (Luke 22:40). And, yet, His disciples did not pray (cf. v. 46).

What about us? Do we pray that we would not enter into temptation? Remember that “our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

Either, like Simon Peter, we are so self-confident in the powers of our flesh that we will not fall into temptation and do not see the danger and need to pray, or the temptation appeals to us in such a way that we do not really desire to resist it.

One place in which we do pray that we not fall into temptation or be overcome by evil is in the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, the Lord’s Prayer. Though our hearts may not always be in it, we at least say with our lips: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13a).

The Bible clearly tells us: “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed” (James 1:13-14). Therefore, we are not, in this petition of the prayer which the Lord Jesus has taught us, asking God not to tempt us; for He “cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone.”

Rather, since we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own sinful longings and desires, we ask our Father in heaven to lead us in such a way through our daily lives that we are not tempted — to be led on such a path where we are kept safe and protected from our own sinful longings as well as from the enticements which the devil and the world put before us.

The Bible also assures us: “No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, and He will not permit you to be tempted above what you can endure, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The question is: Do we seek to escape it? Do we look to Scripture to reject it, as Jesus did when He was tempted (Luke 4:1ff.)?

Though God does not send temptation to evil, He does permit temptations to come. Yet, He limits the temptations and provides us a way out so that we may be able to endure and overcome them. Thus, we ask our heavenly Father to lead us in such a way that, when temptation does come, He would lead us safely through it and give us the victory.

Connected with this petition to our heavenly Father is the prayer that He would also deliver us from evil.

Again, the Bible tells us that we are to “be sober and watchful, because your adversary the devil walks around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him firmly in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Pet. 5:8-9).

The devil — or Satan — is the father of lies and the deceiver. He seeks to keep us from God and His truth (cf. John 8:44).

Like the roaring lion who stalks his prey and seeks out one that is weak or straying, so the devil watches for our weaknesses and attacks us when and where we are most vulnerable to his ploys. He seeks to keep us from God our Father and life everlasting through faith in Christ Jesus by causing us to doubt God’s Word and by leading us into a life of disobedience and sin.

And, again, remember St. Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

Therefore, we are in constant need of the protection and deliverance of our Father in heaven; and we humbly pray: “but deliver us from evil.”

And included in this petition, we pray that, when we do fall into sin and disobedience, God would graciously, for Christ’s sake, deliver us from the grasp of the devil and bring us back to repentance. We pray that we would acknowledge our sin and disobedience and turn to the LORD God for His mercy and forgiveness for the sake of Christ Jesus and His innocent sufferings and death in our stead.

The Bible says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you, so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

When we repent of our sin and turn to the LORD for His mercy and forgiveness in Messiah Jesus, He delivers us from the grip of the evil one and brings us back into His eternal kingdom for Jesus’ sake.

And, as believers, we take heart in the words of St. Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:18): “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Dear Father in heaven, lead me through life in such a way that I do not fall into temptation and sin; and deliver me from the attacks of the evil one upon my soul and upon my salvation in Your Son, Jesus Christ. And, Father, when I do fall, mercifully bring me to sincere repentance and faith, and preserve me for Your eternal kingdom. I ask this for the sake of Jesus’ blood shed for me. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

Go to dark Gethsemane

Author: James Montgomery

Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see, watch with Him one bitter hour,
Turn not from His griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

See Him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;
O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb; there, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time, God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry; learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb where they laid His breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom. Who has taken Him away?
Christ is risen! He meets our eyes; Savior, teach us so to rise.

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascents — the psalms which were spoken or sung by the people of Israel as they went up to the temple in Jerusalem to worship on feast days.

1. Where do we look for help? Where was the city of Jerusalem located? What was in Jerusalem? Whose presence was sought in the temple at Jerusalem? (Remember that this psalm was used as the people ascended the hills of Judea to Mt. Zion and the site of the temple where Jehovah God served His people through sacrifices for forgiveness and with His holy Word.)

2. Who is the LORD (Jehovah God) who was worshiped at Jerusalem? What did He create?

3. Cf. Psalm 96:5 and Psalm 115:2-11. How is the LORD God so much greater than the gods worshiped by other peoples and nations in the earth?

4. How is it comforting to have the God who created the heavens and earth as our Source of help? Cf. Nehemiah 9:6 and Jeremiah 32:17.

5. What does it mean when the psalmist says that the LORD will not allow our foot to be moved or to slip? Where do we regularly pray for this? Cf. Matthew 6:13.

6. Is there ever a time when the LORD will not be attentive to our prayers? Why not? Cf. Isaiah 65:24.

7. Why can we come to the LORD God in prayer? Cf. 1 John 5:11-15.

8. What does it mean when it says the LORD is our Keeper? Cf. Daniel 5:23; Acts 17:23-28.

9. How is the LORD our shade? From what does He protect us? Cf. Psalm 91:1-8.

10. How does He protect us from all evil? Cf. Psalm 91:9-16. When things which appear evil happen to us, how does the LORD use them in our life? If God allows us to die, how are we still protected from all evil? Cf. Matthew 6:13.

11. How does the LORD preserve our soul? Cf. Philippians 1:6; John 10:27-30.

12. How does the LORD preserve our going out and our coming in from now to eternity? Cf. 2 Timothy 4:18.

Look at LSB Hymn No. 877. How does it echo the message of this psalm?