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[no audio] [unintelligible] [unintelligible] He did put Abraham to the test.

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[unintelligible] A test is a trial. [unintelligible] When a teacher announces to a class that they will have a test on a given day,

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there is some anxiety, and among some, an atmosphere of gloom and doom, because many of us have a tendency to get somewhat nervous when we take a test. I was teaching a class of ministers in Oklahoma many years ago, in McAllister, Oklahoma, in fact,

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And there was one minister in the class who was very vocal. And I was delivering the lectures. He was the most eager and enthusiastic and saying, "Amen, amen." And after some time, I announced to the group that we would have a test on a given day. He never came back to class.

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Never came back. So many people would like to avoid tests, and some in fact do. I had a

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classmate in seminary whose name was Frank Argylanda. Very brilliant. Very brilliant. I thought He was one of the most brilliant in the class. He had read the entire set of volumes on Arnold Thornton,

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his study of history, and he could discuss many of these matters. He had been in many countries. His parents were missionaries. But he had a problem with tests.

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Every time we would take a test, have a paper to turn in, he would get very nervous and he would wait till the last minute and then he ended up not getting it in on time or not, for the most part, getting it in at all. And those of us who came with him left him there because of the problem he had with tests. He later overcame that problem, I understand, and graduated.

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But it was a very serious problem that he had about being tested. But whether we like them or not, There are some tests we cannot avoid.

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God puts Abraham to the test. In our public school system, we have in this state what is known as the TOSS test, which is concerned with academic skills

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that are required of students. A test is a way of measuring intelligence, a way of revealing what one knows as well as what one does not know.

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We had a requirement when I was in seminary called the Midler's. And the middle examination was an examination required of every student that received a degree

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from the Graduate School of Theology. It was based on one's knowledge of the Bible. You didn't have to read a commentary or anything like that.

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All you had to know was what was in the Bible. But believe me when I tell you, there were students who finished all of the other courses in the seminary and had to come back for a year or two

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because they had failed that test, just the Bible. And that's the main book they would have to deal with. So how we come out, what the outcome is in the test that we face in life,

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that is of extreme importance. God, mind you, puts Abraham to the test. The pilgrim of faith is put on trial. Now this is not an easy test.

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There were some tests. True or false? You can guess your way out of them. One person was asked how he did so well in the test.

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He said, well, it was true or false. And I just flipped a coin. Heads, it was true, and tails, it was false. And he came out very well, made a very high mark.

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Well, this is not that kind of test. Some tests are multiple choice. Others may be discussed this or compare this with that.

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But this is not an easy test. God puts Abraham on trial. Abraham claims to be committed to God. He is committed to doing what God says.

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God places him on trial. God tests Abraham's faith. God says to Abraham, take your son,

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your only son, Isaac, to the hill country, to the land of Mount Moriah, and offer him there

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as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains I will show you. Abraham is to take his only child, Isaac, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. This is the test. Now, this is quite a difficult thing.

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A parent is to sacrifice the only child, the hope of the future. God tests his servant through sacrifice. God tests us by what we are willing to give up for our children. That's a test, what we're willing to give up.

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I know some families that could have afforded it, but they were not willing to make the sacrifice. They were in the position to make the sacrifice. But they wanted to have certain luxuries for themselves, and so they denied their children an education, the kind of education they were entitled to, because they were not willing to make the sacrifice.

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Most of us who've had the privilege of going to college and the like recognize that in most instances our parents made tremendous sacrifices. They didn't have many of the things that we have, but they made great sacrifice in order that we might gain advantage,

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take advantage of certain things that were available. Now Isaac is a child of promise. He is the seed whom God has promised Abraham because God has said that Abraham's offspring

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would be as numerous as the stars and that is to be carried out through Isaac. He is the child for whom Abraham has waited 25 years. 25 years for a child.

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25 years, Isaac is that long in coming into this family. And now after receiving Isaac, this lad that's running around now that's a companion with his father

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is the pride and joy of this household. And then Abraham receives the word from God to sacrifice the child. Wasn't that a long time, 25 years,

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month in and month out, year in and year out, 25 years waiting for Sarah to become pregnant, 25 years of waiting, 25 years of believing God is going to do what He says. But now that God has finally done it. It appears that God is going to undo what he has done overnight. Now the writer gives us God's view of the situation. God, says the

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writer here, is putting Abraham to the test. Abraham's faith is on trial. Faith is tested when we stretch out or step out on God's Word. As the spiritual testifies, "Lord I'm out here on your Word. Lord I'm out here on your Word. If I die on the battlefield, Lord, I'm out here on your word.

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To be faithful, truly faithful as parents is to be willing to lay the lives of our children before the object of our faith. To believe so strongly that we are willing

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to sacrifice our children for what we believe. You know, many people have beliefs which they quickly sacrifice at the slightest hint of a test.

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You know, we say we believe in worshiping God and being faithful to him on Sunday, and somebody can come up at the last moment, come to our house, and we postpone worship.

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That's just that easy to change. So you know, Reverend, I had company. How strong is the belief? That's the time when it's put to the test.

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Put to the test. Well, God puts Abraham's faith to the test. To sacrifice your son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah.

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Now let's consider this command. The name Isaac means laughter. Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his laughter, to sacrifice his happiness, if you please,

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to sacrifice the pride and joy of his life. Oh, I wonder, did Abraham sleep well that night? Did he discuss the matter with his wife, Sarah? If so, how did she respond?

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Did Abraham plead with God and say, "Lord, won't you reverse that decision, that command?" And no doubt with such a weighty matter, some people would be inclined,

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even if they were going to do it, to say, "Well, at least this is the last of the time we can spend together, so just sleep late the next morning. Get up late and have a good breakfast the next morning. No,

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Abraham didn't do that. The scripture says that Abraham arose early, early the next morning. He He rose early, didn't sleep late. Rose early, took his servants, took an ass, took his only son Isaac, and also took a knife.

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He went on the journey to offer this only son up a burnt offering. Now this is action taken by one who seeks to be prepared for the test.

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Now the first thing you need to really do to be being prepared for the test is listen to the instructions of the teacher. Listen to the teacher.

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Listen, really listen. You know, some people in the class, but they don't listen. They really don't listen. In other words, when we were taking the test,

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particularly when I was in seminary, we would all get together with our notes and compare our notes to see if anybody had anything that they had recorded that the teacher said

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that the others didn't have. We wanted to be sure that everything that had been said in class that we had in our notes. To remember what the teacher said,

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to listen to what the teacher says, to listen to what God says to us, to really hear the word that God says to us, listen to the word that God says.

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He's the teacher. Abraham, take your son, your only son. Well, when he says Abraham, Abraham said, well, here I am. Whatever you say, I want to hear it.

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Here I am, Lord. And Abraham is on this journey now. Well, Abraham is journeying, and on that third day, He looks in the distance and he sees that mountain

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where he is to carry Isaac. Now remember, this is a journey from Beersheba to Jerusalem. From his home to this mountain in the distance, from Beersheba to Jerusalem.

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It's a long journey, long journey. We've got to leave home. And if we are to take the test that God has for every one of us, we've got to leave home. Got to go from Beersheba to Jerusalem.

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Too many of us are still at Beersheba. Too many of us want to have the comforts of home and are not going to sacrifice. We will never be the kind of person God wants us to be until we learn to sacrifice.

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Sacrifice. No worthy goals can be achieved without some sacrifice. Sacrifice. So here he looks up and he sees the place.

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Now he doesn't make any detour. He's faithful to the journey. He stays on the right road, he sees this mountain, and you see, my brothers and sisters,

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sacrifice is a mountain that we must climb. It's not easy. Whenever you have to walk up a hill, and certainly whenever you get ready to climb a mountain,

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you've got to be willing to exert some strength. So, it's a hill and Abraham sees this hill and here he is, a man of 100 years old plus, and he climbs this mountain. That's the mountains for us to climb if we are to learn the

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lessons of sacrifice. Too many of us want to look around and say, "Well, what are they doing?" See what somebody else is doing.

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What's so and so giving? Not what sacrifice I'm making, but what is somebody, well you can't measure your sacrifice altogether by somebody else.

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The very personal thing. This is to Abraham, it is to the pilgrim of faith. So, neighboring peoples were sacrificing their children. Abraham believed that this was what God wanted him to do.

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This is the test of his faith. Will he do what he's committed to do? Will he do what God says? So the mountain of sacrifice is before us.

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It's the challenge that the faithful must confront in making the journey from Beersheba to Jerusalem. When we climb Mount Moriah, we get a new vision of the terrain. We get a vision of all that is around us.

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So we sacrifice, sacrifice. I remember during the war, we had one meal during the week that was a meatless meal during World War II. I better say what war.

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World war, we had a meatless meal. Every student in the dormitory was to eat a meal, this particular meal, without any meat. And I don't need to tell you how much complaining.

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One meal a week. And that sacrifice was that we were going to give the difference to people who were hungry in the world. That was our contribution to people who were hungry.

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Sacrifice, something that you give in a sacrificial manner. Well, as Abraham gets there, the son looks and says, "Well, daddy, look, I see the wood, I see the fire." But where is the lamb?

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Listen to the son talking to the father. And the father said, "My son, my son, the Lord will provide the land." The Lord himself will provide the land. And they go up the mountain.

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There is a strange silence as they walk up the mountain. Abraham builds the altar and places his son on there having tied his hands. Then he raises the knife to slay his only son. And as his hand is in the air, there is a voice from heaven saying, "Abraham! Abraham!"

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"Stay your hand, do not harm the child." And Abraham looks and there is a ram in the thicket and the ram has sacrificed that lamb. And Isaac goes back to his father. And Abraham says, "There's something strange in my life."

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He'd waited a long time, but he hadn't had anything like this to happen. He said, "I want to commemorate this event." And he says, "I'm gonna call this place a special name.

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"I'm gonna call it Jehovah Jireh. "The Lord will provide." Yahweh Jireh. "the Lord will provide."

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You see, sacrifice is not measured just by what we give, but by what we withhold. By what we, he said, "Abraham, because you have not "withheld your son, your only son from me,

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that you will receive this special, special blessing. Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. I'm sure that this was something that Isaac never forgot. It was something that Abraham remembered

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to the last moments of his life, that the Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. When we are completely obedient to God, he provides.

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You know what, when we do what God says, then God himself is obligated to see us through. We're doing what he says. I remember Dr. Hinton came to our church.

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We had him in a series of meetings or messages for a week. And he asked the people in the church, How many of you are willing to do whatever the Lord says? Stand up.

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And do you know there were some people who wouldn't stand? I remember one brother who didn't stand. He came back the next night. He was a preacher.

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Came back the next night. He said, "I couldn't sleep, Brother Pastor. "I couldn't sleep last night." Because the preacher asked the question,

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How many of you are willing to do whatever the Lord says? And I didn't stand. He wanted to stand the next night. In fact, he became changed in his attitude towards sacrifice

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as a result of that meeting because if we are servants of God, faithful servants of God, we are to be obedient to God, to be obedient to whatever he commands. What God demands, He provides the way to do it.

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So the Lord will provide. Where God sends us, He goes with us. The Lord will provide. The hills are never too high.

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The Lord will provide the strength to go over the hills. The valleys are never too dark. The Lord will give us light as we walk with him through the valleys. The Lord will provide.

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That's the testimony of history. The Lord himself will provide a lamb. That's the testimony of Calvary, that the Lord will provide. He provides the lamb that dies for the sins of the world.

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And we have that course in Revelation saying worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and power and riches and blessings. Glory be to the Lamb. So when I have my own story, you have your story.

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Don't you have some places in your life that you would call Jehovah Jireh that the Lord has provided for you and you didn't have any prop on which to lean but somehow God in a mysterious way intervened. The Lord will provide. He provides. It's the mount of the Lord. It's the mount of our Savior. Abraham had never climbed Mount Moriah before. He was just following

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God's orders so he would be able to testify the future of the marvelous works of God that God will provide. Listen to the teacher. Do what the teacher says. Give your best and the Lord will provide. You don't have to worry about the outcome. I had a roommate and I watched the way he always prepared for

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the test. He always studied, not just not not cramming the night before, but regularly studying. And when he went into the test he always put out the answers of those questions that he knew right away, he put those down first and then he went back

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to the more difficult ones and put them down as the answers came to him. And then usually he was one of the last leaving the class, the test, because the more difficult ones he waited

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and waited because he had studied hard and he knew somewhere he had the answer to that and most of the time he came up with a good mark. The main thing is when you're facing the test that God gives you, give your best.

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Don't withhold anything. When God gives you the test, He wants the best. Give of your best. God will provide the best outcome that is possible.

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As we sing now the hymn of invitation, we extend the privilege of the church. God puts his servants to the test. And as we sing, be not dismayed, but e'er be tired.

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God will take care of you. We invite you, if you're living in Austin without a church home, to unite with the people of God here at Ebenezer. confess Jesus as Lord of your life.

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And we invite you to come by letter, by Christian experience, for restoration as we sing. ♪ This day is the day we die ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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♪ He needs his wings of love for life ♪ ♪ But we'll take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Through every day or all the way ♪

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♪ He will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Good days are toward the coming ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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♪ In danger's fear, it's your purpose still ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Through every day or all the way ♪

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♪ He will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ All you may need, He will provide ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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♪ Nothing you ask will be denied ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ Through every day ♪

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♪ For always ♪ ♪ We will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ No matter what the needs of the day ♪

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♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ We carry one of all the praise ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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♪ Through every day ♪ ♪ For all the way ♪ ♪ We will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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- Those persons who stood earlier celebrating birthdays this week, would you go now to the rear of the sanctuary? Everyone who stood. Setup.

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