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[ Silence ] [MUSIC PLAYING] (music) (music)

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[ Music ] ♪ On and on, days and Fridays of life ♪ ♪ In the hour weary and sad ♪ ♪ Bear in the sunshine where darkness is bright ♪

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♪ May keep the sorrow in twain ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Out of my life ♪

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♪ May Jesus shine ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ O Savior, I pray this day ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪

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♪ To someone today ♪ ♪ Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love ♪ ♪ Tell of His power for me ♪ ♪ Fathers of justice make holy you through ♪

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♪ Through every moment you live ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Out of my life ♪

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♪ May Jesus shine ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ O Savior, I pray ♪ ♪ Give me a blessing to someone today ♪

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♪ Give as was given to you in your need ♪ ♪ Love as the master of you to the need ♪ ♪ Be to the helpless a helper indeed ♪ ♪ Unto your fear shall be true ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ Out of my life ♪ ♪ May Jesus shine ♪

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♪ Make me a blessing ♪ ♪ O Savior I bring ♪ ♪ Give thee the blessing ♪ ♪ To suffer today ♪

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- Amen. - Let us pray. Oh gracious God, we thank you for all that you do for us. We ask that you may be with us in a special way this morning

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and may the words of my mouth the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen. As said before, our scripture is found in the book of Genesis chapter 22, verses 6 through

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8. We want to focus particularly on the last verse of that text, which is verse 8, and It reads as follows, "And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.'

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So they went both of them together." The title of the message, "Testing the Testimony." The account of the offering of Isaac by Abraham is looked upon as one of the greatest and most profound mysteries within the pages of Holy Scripture.

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Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian, examined this biblical story existentially and was resigned to labeling Abraham as a knight, as in medieval chivalry, a knight of faith,

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and calling his act courageous. One commentator addresses the issue of what looks like a dark deed performed by this man of God by describing Abraham as a great soul

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living in a crude age. Indeed, there have been some who have sought to disregard the account altogether or place it in the category of an allegory or a myth.

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Still others have thrown up their hands a fit of frustration while asking the question, "Why is this even in the Bible?" Yet throughout the ages, as we hear the question of why this story is in Scripture, we can also hear the answer given by the Holy Spirit in clear and unmistakable terms that this

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story is in here because God put it here. And while there may be an element of darkness and mystery in this account, the Spirit of God has caused this to be a bright and shining light, to shine in the midst of our darkest shadows, those shadows that fall upon all of our lives every now and then, shadows of

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shadows of fear, shadows of doubt, shadows of bereavement, shadows of sickness, shadows of problems that seem to swallow us up, all shadows that can bring about the darkness of despair, despondency, and hopelessness, darkness that could extinguish the flame

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of meaningful existence from all of our lives. Yet this event in the life of Abraham shines as the noonday sun in our blackest midnights, demonstrating to us, even at the edge of our darkest nights,

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that as in the words of William Cowper, God still moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. And he's still planting his footsteps in the sea.

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And he's still riding upon the storm. From the very beginning, this whole episode is shrouded in a mystery. Yet two factors about this event touch us in a very special way.

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For first, there is the testimony. And then there is the testing of the testimony. And you know, practically speaking, it would seem that these two factors are beyond imagination.

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To begin with, it would appear that the testimony of Abraham comes at a time when we would least expect it. For we know from the background to the text that Abraham heard the voice of God

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in calling him to do the unthinkable. 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.

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Abraham hears the voice of God. And from this, he moves toward the act by divine command. But as indicated by both the tenor and framework of this text, we see him moving in agony and sorrow.

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And you can't help but to suspect that in some corner of his heart and mind, he is questioning whether he heard the voice of God correctly.

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I can imagine that in the days following the time he first heard the command, Abraham must have turned this thing over in his mind 1,000 times, wanting to make sure that he was doing that,

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which he was supposed to do, according to the word of the Lord. He wanted to be certain that he got his signals right and his message clear.

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This was no time for a garbled transmission or reception. He could not afford leaving this whole thing to guesswork. And I suppose, my brothers and sisters, that if Abraham was living in this day and time,

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he could have called Dionne Warwick or Esterol or Kenny of the Psychic Hotline to check to see if he was doing the right thing. But then I don't know, my brothers and sisters,

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I don't know if they could have helped him. I heard that they had a major downfall. I heard this on the news some time ago, and I'm just wondering if they saw that coming.

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Still in this case, Abraham wanted to be sure that he heard God correctly. And on the day he laid the wood on Isaac's back to carry, when he took up in one hand the implements

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to make the fire, and the knife in the other hand, he knew that God had really charged him with this mission. Yet, yet it still seems a little, if not a whole lot, beyond the expected.

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For when Isaac relays his concern to Abraham about them having the wood and having the fire, but no lamb, doesn't it seem remarkable that Abraham picks this time to give a testimony?

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Wouldn't it seem more true to form for Abraham to fill up with emotion and possibly break down and cry? or to answer Isaac's inquiry with painful silence,

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or for him to become angry with a situation that was totally out of his control and become short with Isaac in telling him not to ask any questions,

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but just keep moving. We would not fault Abraham in reacting in any one or all of these ways, but Abraham doesn't do any of that.

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Instead, the man testifies to the blessed assurance of an almighty God. For he speaks in a voice that comes from deep down in his soul.

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God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. This is his testimony. God will provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering. Not God might provide.

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Not God ought to provide. Not even we will wait right here until God provides. Now, when none of that God, Abraham seems like he almost feels like shouting

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when he declares boldly in a voice unmistakably clear, God will provide. And you know, my brothers and sisters, it's a wonderful thing

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when you can give that kind of testimony. Now, don't misunderstand me. It's good and proper to testify about how God has blessed you all through your life

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in a number of ways. It's good to testify about the goodness of God in your life. Have you ever been out of work and God has blessed you with a job?

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You ought to testify. Have you ever been sick and God has touched you with his loving hand of mercy and healing and brought you out of your sickbed.

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You ought to testify. Have you ever been like Bobby Womack in that song when he says, "I'm looking for love." And God has sent somebody your way.

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You sure now ought to get up and tell somebody. You ought to testify. good to give your testimony about the goodness of God when you've been blessed. But you know my brothers and sisters, it's even better when we can give the

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kind of testimony that Abraham gives when he gives it. For you see, Abraham celebrates the providence of God even at a time when he could not fully understand the providence of God. Now my brother says that's a testimony. Even in the midst of confusion, fear, and sorrow, I can almost hear Abraham singing that

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song that I hear so often, "Yes he will, yes he will, yes he will. I know the Lord will make a way. Oh yes he will. And I don't know but I just can imagine in my mind's eye that as Abraham was walking up the hill and he started humming and singing that song that Isaac kind of looked up and said, "Well, daddy, what seems to be the problem?"

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He just said, "Now son, I just want you to just join in this song with me." Yes, he will. Yes, he will. Yes, he will. I know the Lord. And Isaac probably giving background, I know the Lord will make a way. Oh, yes, he will. Abraham had a testimony, and my brothers and sisters, that's the first factor about this whole

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event which touches us in a special way. But you know that there's another element to this whole episode which is also just as remarkable as Abraham's testimony, and that is the testing of his testimony. And I know, and I know we want we want to jump ahead, when we refer to this matter of testing, we want to jump

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ahead to that time when Isaac is on the altar and Abraham is just about to offer him, but he's stopped by the voice of God and Abraham looks and sees the ram, but we want to jump ahead to there, but I want to talk about another test. I want to talk about the test that was before that test. For

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before we go to the altar, my brothers and sisters, let us stay within the moment right after Abraham's testimony. For after Abraham testifies, the Lord will provide. The Scripture says they went both of them together. And if you would allow me just to point just this little matter out. The word in

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the original language can be rendered as walked. In other words, it can be literally read, "So they walked, both of them together." And I don't know about you, but for me that's a powerful statement. For you see, my brothers and sisters, right after Abraham made his testimony that God will provide. He put his testimony to the test

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by continuing to walk on. I don't know about you but that's a beautiful thing. After Abraham says God will provide, Abraham continues to walk on. Oh he could have done, he could have done like I do sometimes and maybe you, in facing some crisis and saying, "Well I know God's gonna pull me through this and I know

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God's gonna make a way," and then just sit down and worry about it. I do that, maybe you don't, I know I do that sometimes, but no God doesn't do that, Abraham doesn't do that. What he does is he makes his testimony. He says, "I know God will provide and he doesn't sit down and worry about it, but the scripture

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says that he and Isaac just kept on walking and that my brothers and sisters is testing his testimony. That's the way that you put your faith of God to the test. You testify on the goodness of God, on the providence of God, and you know that God's gonna make a way, but just don't sit there and worry about how God's

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gonna make a way. Keep walking, keep moving. That's what testing your testimony is really all about. That's what's called putting your faith in motion. Some time ago I was blessed and privileged to to go to the Middle East and while I was there I had a chance to visit Petra. That is the city of Petra

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and it's an area full of a lot of rocks and some of you all have been there and it's just a very beautiful place but before we actually went to the site where Petra is we had to go to our hotel for the night to spend the night and then get up the next morning to go. And I can remember we had we had left late in

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the evening and where we had to go what to the hotel when we had to go was up a mountain and I never will forget that it was snowing. Snow everywhere and the road conditions were bad and I can remember the bus started to pull and all of a And all of a sudden, it just kind of gave a jerk,

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and it stopped, and it slid back a little bit. And the more the driver tried to push the bus up the hill, the more the bus slid back. You know I started praying.

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(audience laughs) I was sitting right next to the window where I could look over the side of the mountain. And I never will forget,

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God was an Arab Christian, and I can remember he got on the PA system and so he said, ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. We said we're gonna have to go to the hotel down the hill.

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We can't get up the hill. And in order for us to get down the hill, we're gonna have to let this bus slide back down the hill. And I can remember so well that I almost felt like

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raising my hand and saying, well, why don't we just stay here? (audience laughing) And the man said after that, he said, now I just want you all to know something.

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He said, now once we start, we can't stop. Once this bus starts coming down the hill, we can't put it-- we're going to have to come all the way down the hill.

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And the more I looked over that side, the more I wanted to say, let's just stay here. But the man was a Christian, and I never will forget his words. he said, "Now, we're gonna do this,

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"and God will protect us." And I can just remember my brothers and sisters, when that bus started going backwards, 'cause he got out and he was guiding the bus

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as it was coming down. The more I looked over the side, the more I looked back at him when he was in the back of the bus,

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and the more I looked at that bus driver, the more I started praying, And the more I realized that in order for us to get somewhere, we couldn't just sit there.

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We had to keep going. First, on the part of the God, there was the testimony. God's going to take care of us as we slide down this hill. And then there was the testing of the testimony

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by not just sitting on side that hill, because we still been sitting there if it was me. The testing of the testimony was putting that bus in motion, sliding down that hill, and putting your full faith in God

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that God was going to make everything all right. First, there is the testimony. And then there is the testing of the testimony. That's what life is all about.

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Can you say in your heart that you know God is going to make a way out of the problem that you're facing right now? Can't you say in your heart that you know God is good

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and that he's going to take care of you in every situation in life? Can't you celebrate the providence of God, even at a time when you cannot see your way.

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Then my brothers and sisters, join me in testing your testimony. Don't just sit where you are. Keep moving.

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Keep walking. Keep trusting in the one who's made a way for us. Because you know my brothers and sisters, that's the reason we're all here right now.

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But there was one who made a testimony about the goodness of God, and he kept walking. There was one who came down here and walked the dusty streets of Palestine, doing good to each and every person that he met.

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And people mistreated him. But he kept walking. There was one who was taken up a hill called Golgotha. And he was whipped up the hill.

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And they spit on him. And they mistreated him. But instead of just falling down and staying, this one just kept walking.

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And it was because he kept walking, and because he hung on a cross, and because he stayed there until he died, and because he got up on the third day after God raised him from the dead.

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I've got the power to keep walking. You've got the power to keep walking. Testify to the goodness of God. Put your test to the testimony.

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I know God will make a way somehow. Praise God. (audience applauding) God bless you y'all.

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(soft music) We have heard from Donald now. This way. He has made it very clear to us

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that we don't have to just sit there. We can just keep right on walking, testing the testimony. The doors of the church are now open.

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If you believe the report and you have not given your life to Christ, this is the perfect time. Would you please?

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[ Music ] ♪ We are His faithful ♪ ♪ For ever and ever ♪ ♪ God will take care ♪

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♪ Of you ♪ ♪ My Lord, my Lord, my Lord ♪ ♪ In this meeting ♪ ♪ Of love ♪

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♪ God will take care ♪ ♪ Of you ♪ ♪ Oh God will take care of you ♪ ♪ You every day ♪

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- Wow, yes! He's stunning, Bobby. ♪ He will take care of you ♪ ♪ God will take care of you ♪

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[MUSIC] This is the hour, this is the time. You may come. He is truly standing waiting for you.

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There's always room. There's always room. When angels, dears, those as I say, God will take care of you. ♪ Oh, I will take care of you ♪

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♪ Through every day ♪ ♪ Oh, I will be there ♪ ♪ Through every day ♪ ♪ He will take care of you ♪

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♪ Oh, he'll take care of you ♪ [ Music ]