Let's go to the book of Hebrews, if you have a Bible with you. Hebrews chapter 11, the kids are dismissed. Go with Mrs. Barbosa. There you go. Hebrews chapter 11. So what we're going to do is I'm going to teach you this lesson because we've been dealing with Abraham and We've been looking at I mean, let's look at the verse we pray and I'll explain to you. Okay, let's do this I don't get ahead of myself. Let's look at Hebrews 11 17 It says by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac And he that had received the promises offer up his only begotten Son. Of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from hands also he received him in a figure. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for faith. That's the life of a Christian. You want us to live by faith, stand by faith, walk by faith. It would help us to do that in this day and age that we live in. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. So what we're going to do, I've been dealing with this series in the morning, faith in action. You know, faith was made to move, not to stay still. And that's the life of a Christian. We are to live by faith, stand by faith, to walk by faith, and to trust by faith, and obey by faith. So all by faith, that's the life of a Christian. We're looking at Hebrews 11. If you, in your Bible, Hebrews 11 is the hall of faith. I mean, you can go to the basketball hall of faith, you can go to the football hall of faith, hall of fame, I'm sorry, not faith. But in a Christian life, we have Hebrews 11, which is the hall of faith for many saints throughout the ages. Okay, many other people could go there through the ages many not but god choose those people to be in there So we're going to put a pause on this series. I want to start a series on christmas starting next week, uh full lessons on christmas all the way to the last sunday of Of december then we will pick up again on this series of faith. I don't know just pray for me I might change this series to the night service and I have a new series in the morning service But you know the lord will reveal to me what we're going to do. But this is the last lesson on this for now. We're going to put a pause, pick up in December. So, tonight we're looking at, this morning we're looking at obedience to God's commands. You know what? God wants us to live in obedience. That's a true fact. And God commands us as children to follow. But are we obedient enough to listen to the voice of God and follow and obey what He says? For an example, I'll give you one. Do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together as the man of Psalm is. So in that verse right there in Hebrews, it says literally what tells us we not to forsake when the church is meeting together. If you're sick, it's understandable. If you're working, it's understandable. But when we purposely forsake because I don't feel like, I don't care, I don't want to go. You know what? Not only is like, oh, you know, nobody gives a... What we do literally is forsaking what God had said. We literally are disobeying what God says. It's like saying, you say to your child, can you go wash the dishes? Oh, go wash the dishes. Now, Ken, if you can, did you give him an option? They say, go wash the dishes. Go put the garbage outside. They receive a direct command. They don't obey you. They're not being obedient to you. You follow that? That's a problem in a lot of homes these days with kids. Anyway, but we're not going to talk about that. We're going to look about obedience to God. So this morning we're going to continue this series on Abraham because we started. So in verse 8 to verse 10 of Hebrews, we saw Abraham demonstrating his faith by following God's leading. He went to Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan, the promised land. He didn't know what to expect. You know, the Bible says he looked for a city. on which the foundation was God. So Abraham followed God's leading even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he followed God's command. Verse 11 to verse 12 we saw that Abraham demonstrated his faith by believing God's promises. Now he believed God's promise of a son through Sarah. Remember, Sarah and him got to an age that either one could even have any kids or even come to the point of having kids. But miraculously, God provided him a son through Sarah. We look at this. And this morning, verse 17 to verse 19, Abraham demonstrates his rock solid faith but by his unquestioning obedience when God commanded him to sacrifice his son. So no sacrifice means, you know, you're going to do this one. No, he literally he was going to put him in the altar and he was going to kill his son unto the Lord. All right. Who has children here? Now, think about your own kid and you in the feet of Abraham and God tells you to do that, would you do it? I have three kids. Oh, you know, but it's easy for us to say, oh, I would do it because you know the end of it. When Abraham was living, the Bible was being written. He was living by faith. There are things that you and I live today on which we don't know what's going to happen. We ought to live by faith or live by sight. You follow that? You can look back on things in your life and say, I could have done this. I'm glad I've done this. You know why? Because you already did it. Abraham was about to do something that God asked him and something that's not very easy. God asked him to take his son to Mount Moriah and there he was going to sacrifice his son. For three days he's going to walk out there and for three days he had to stare and look at his son knowing that ultimately he was going to sacrifice his son to God. Wow, what a faith. So, let's put it this way. People disobey God's command for many reasons. Some people disobey God's command out of defiance and rebellious. They know what God wants them to do but they don't do it. Others disobey God because they just don't think or care about God or what God says. Some people do not care about God's command but they disobey from lack of knowledge. They don't know all that God requires. Others know God's command and they truly desire to obey Him but they struggle because of weakness or temptation. And then there are those who disobey God's command because sometimes God's command just don't make sense to them. They question whether obeying God's commandments is the best course of action for their lives, whether it benefits them, or even necessary. So that's the life of many people. You know, many people go that way in this life. So Abraham demonstrated great faith in God because he obeyed God without questioning, even when he appeared as we shall see. But that is that he had some very good reasons to say, or perhaps question God. He said, God, I've been praying for this child. We by the old age have this child we've been waiting for so long. And now you want to take him away from me? I love my son and you want me to sacrifice him unto you? That's a reasonable question to ask God, isn't it? Now think about, pick up a knife and now your son that you love, you're going to sacrifice to God. Put yourself there. Oh, you know, but the Bible says he's going to, you know, you believe that he's going to rise from the dead. Yeah, yeah, but you have to put the knife into it. Something that you love and you raise up at your kids is in the deeps of your heart. You love it so much. And how can you do that? So let's look at this from several points this morning about the solid rock faith in God. Do you believe in God? Are you willing to obey? Even does it make sense to you? So obedience to God's command. Number one, solid faith recognizes the Lord's testings. The first thing we learn about faith from Abraham and Isaac is faith that recognizes that sometimes the Lord does test us. Look at the beginning of verse 17. It says, but by faith Abraham when he was tried, don't forget that word, offer up Isaac. You see and it says and that in verse 17 and that he received the promise offering by his only begotten son So let's face it. This was not an easy task for Abraham to be in But we followed through no testing is easy for any of us, but it is much easy when we go through it This was very hard. Abraham was going to sacrifice something that he loved so much But it's what God is putting right here When God passes us is what he wants to do. So oh, but pastor does God knows everything Does he or does he not? Of course he does He already know how you're going to respond But the point here is not if god's going to know if you are faithful to him or not because he already knows He wants you to know how faithful you are to him Because sometimes you just don't know. He wants you to know how faithful you are to Him. And this test was for Abraham to see for himself how faithful Abraham is to God. God already knew about his heart. God already knows about your heart and my heart. God knows about all that. He doesn't need you to demonstrate because He knows how you're going to react. But He wants you and I to see through the tasks that we go through how faithful we are to Him. A lot of times our faith is complaining. You know it's in times of testing that we see the quality, we, not God, we see the quality and the quantity of our faith. It comes to the surface. So, We may not think so, but the Lord tasks every single one of His children. And why does He do that? Because in those moments, like I said, that the quality and the quantity of our faith comes to the surface in how we respond to it. If we demonstrate it to the Lord, our faith will be out to Him. So letter A under that first point, God tasks Abraham. A lot of people may miss the point of this whole incident because they misunderstand God's intentions right here. They say a loving God will never approve a child's sacrifice. Is that true? They're right. God does not approve a child's sacrifice. He never did and never will. In contrast with false gods and idols of other nations, God commands the Israelites not to sacrifice their children. That's why throughout the Old Testament, many people misunderstand the Old Testament. God kept saying to the Jewish people, separate yourselves from the nations around you. You know why? Because many of those nations, they're doing the same exact thing. They were sacrificing their children to their gods. And God said, I don't want you to do that. But why does God require Abraham to sacrifice his son right here? Is he going against his own words and his own will? We're going to look at that, okay? The fact that that was one of the reasons why God destroyed the people of Canaan and give the land to the Israelites because the people of Canaan did the same thing. They sacrificed their children. God never intended for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. If you look at the passage, it's what it is. It is a task given to Abraham right here. God was testing Abraham. God already knew the end result because God is God his own knowing But Abraham didn't know so Abraham needed to see how strong and how faithful he was to God Abraham needed to see that and God was going to test him like he tested me and you Listen we are tested constantly by the Lord It's not because the Lord wants to know how faithful you are He wants to you to see it and I to see how faithful I am to him Okay, look what it says in Genesis chapter 22 verse 1. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt, here's the word tempt, Abraham, and said unto Abraham, and he said, behold, I said, Abraham, and he said, behold, here am I. And he said, take now thy son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him for a burnt offering. upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." You see, a burnt offering, you know what they did those days, a burnt offering? They had to literally kill the sacrifice, spill the blood, then burn the sacrifice unto the Lord. God was telling Abraham to get his beloved son, Mount Moriah, to literally stick a knife in his son, shed his blood on the altar, and burn him up to the Lord. Wow, would you do it? The word tempt right here is a very important word. in Genesis right here. This is the moment on which the quality and the quantity of Abraham's fate was coming to play. God not tempt Abraham to actually kill his son. It was not God's intention at all. God was testing to see if Abraham by fate will get out of his house and do it. You follow that? God never intended for that. Listen, God doesn't intend anyone to do evil. He's not the author of evil. Evil is from Satan, not from God. God does not intend you and me to do evil. You know, that would be an evil act against God if Abraham actually would do that. So think about it. Oh, no, no, no, no. God was testing Abraham. God tests us in little things and big things every day. You and I are tested by the Lord. Listen, He already knows the quality of your faith. He knows how faithful you are. He wants you to see it and I to see how faithful I am to Him. So the word tempt is a very important word right here. It means a test. The word try in Hebrews 11, 17 is a word that means to test, to examine, to make a trial of something. It can sometimes mean to tempt when used in enticing someone to do something wrong. But the Bible tells us that God never tempts anyone to do evil. God was not tempting Abraham here. He was not making the sacrifice of Isaac something good or enticing that Abraham would fall into it. God was not tempting Abraham. He was testing Abraham. He was examining him. Did Abraham love God so much he was willing to do this stuff? Did Abraham really put God first in his life? Did Abraham love God more than he loved something that was very precious to him? You know what the Bible says? Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. You see, God wants you and me to love Him above everything else that we love. And right here, this test was for Abraham to see. Abraham, I give you a child, something that you are way too old to have, or your wife. And let me tell you that, I give you something, and I know it's a precious gift to you. But I want you, I want you to see from yourself that you love me more than Him. That you are willing to sacrifice your son for me because you love me more. Let me put it this way. What do you love more in life today? What do you love more in life today? That you use more precious than God. You see, God might call you or try you to put that in this altar of sacrifice to test you to see, Lord, I love you more than that. That's what he did to Abraham right here. There's a lot of people that misunderstand this passage. Let it be, God tests us. See, faith recognizes that God tests us as well. God sometimes asks us to give up that which is most dear to us in order to prove our love for Him. So we can see how much we love Him. You might wonder why would God do that? If God knows everything, like I said, He already knows that I love Him. Listen is like it. Let me repeat myself. I don't want to seem like a broken record here this morning, but let me put it this way He's not that God doesn't know how much you love him because I already know He wants you to see for yourself how much you love him Is it a difference? See, He wants you to see it how much you love Him, how faithful you are to Him. He already knows how faithful you are to Him. He already knows if you have little faith or no faith at all. He already knows if your faith is a solid rock of faith. He already knows how much you love Him, but He wants you to see it. He wants you to see it for yourself. Because sometimes we're too oblivious. You see, God doesn't test us so that we will know what is in. So God tests us so we know what's in our hearts. Oftentimes, it is true that the very test itself, as we exercise our faith in obedience to God, that our love for God becomes actual and real. In other words, without a test, we cannot truly say that we love God. Some people don't like to be tested. They don't like to be tested. They complain. They put a fist at God. They even say, if you love me, why are you doing this to me? They fail to see actually demonstrating their faith in Him. You know, complaining is the opposite of faith. Oh, if you only have what I have, you know, you would complain too. You don't know. If you struggle the way I struggle, you will complain too. You don't know. Maybe, yeah, perhaps we'll do it. But you don't know. Everybody responds different. You see, John Byan, I think, the right of Pilgrim's Progress was put in prison for his fate one time. During this time, he longed to be with his wife and family. He had a little daughter who was blind, and it caused him so much pain that he could not be there to provide for her. He wrote in his journal these words, I saw in this condition, I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and children. Yet, through it, I must do it. I must do it. Hebrews 11, 17 says, By faith, when he was tried, offer him up Isaac. So God must be first in our lives. And God sometimes tasks us to give us the opportunity to put him first. You know a man, a young man in the Old Testament that was tested not just for a day or for three days like Abraham for years. His name was Joseph. If you read about the life of Joseph, you saw this guy for years was tested. He was sold like a dog as a slave to Egypt. He went to the marketplaces and they sold him for money. He was a falsely accused. He was put in prison when he was rotten in there and he never lost his faith in God. And God took him from what he was to the second person in the highest position in the land of Egypt. We're talking about sometimes, you know what, you know, listen, there are sometimes that God's test comes to us and it's a long test. And through that long test, God wants us to see our love for Him. Sometimes our test is short. It's a day. It's an hour. Maybe it's a minute. Sometimes, you know, it's four or five days a week, a month. But sometimes it's years and years and years. Sometimes we go to the grave being tested. You see, Faith recognizes that God sometimes tests us. That's our first point. Solid faith recognizes the Lord's testing. Number two, if you have an outline, if you want to follow that, solid faith obeys even when we don't understand. Abraham could not understand why God would ask such a sacrifice. And yet he was ready to obey God's command. Look at verse 17. Look what it says in Hebrews 11. Now, please don't think lightly of this. Imagine if you were in Abraham's feet right here. Imagine if God will ask you to sacrifice your daughter or your son. Just pause for a second and think in your mind, Or let us think in would you do it or would you sit in your house and say God you must be out of your mind And now we say sometimes You must be out of your mind. I don't never do that. I love my daughter. I love my son. I'll never do that You know what the same question was asked to Abraham Don't you think that Abraham is just some story in the Bible that they teach in Sunday school It was a real man who lived on a time in history like you live today. Letter A, Abraham's willingness to obey. We see this in verse 17. So the word receive here is different from unusual word receive that we find on the Bible. Look at verse 17, Abraham was offered up Isaac and that he received the promise. So it is a legal term that means to undertake, to assume responsibility for something. For example, when a couple receives an adopted child in their care, and keeping, Abraham had received the promise of God concerning the future generation through Isaac who would inherit the land of Canaan and become a mighty nation. He was not a caretaker or keeper of those promises. God entrusted him with Isaac. Isaac and Abraham would be responsible to take care of Isaac and to watch over him in response to God's promise. God promised to Abraham that he would make the Jewish people a mighty nation. Is that today? Go like this. Yes. Of course. There's something right here People say well the Bible makes the errors in the body is errors in the Bible Why it says is the only son when Ishmael was already born I'm glad you asked the question I'm glad you asked the question Why did Ishmael was born because they fail or Sarah try to help God That's what Sarah did. You know, God promised this thing. I'm getting too old to get too old I just go to my mate over there and you know, I will help God with this That was a mistake a enormous mistake Here's one thing right here. The reason why the Bible says you only begotten son is because there was the son promised that Sarah would have And it was the child that Sarah had, not the other one, even though the Bible says that it was only begotten son. It's not referring that it was the only son of Abraham. So they misunderstand the passages right here, okay? So Isaac was the son of promise, not Ishmael. And yet Abraham, the caretaker or keeper of the promise of God and about to sacrifice his only son in obedience to God's command. But something I want you to think here as well. Okay. If God promised Abraham to be the father of a great nation, okay, And Isaac was the son of promise in which the nation of Israel come from. Isaac and Jacob, 12 tribes of Israel. Abraham had to believe that God would raise him up again because at this time Isaac was not even married. He didn't have any children. So there was a faith now, and you know as faith is put to test you needed to see how faithful he was to God But he also that faith was a believing faith that God was gonna keep his promise Wow So this guy that's the reason why this guy went all the way for three days to Mount Moriah You know why because he believed in the Word of God Wow Here's the question to you this morning Do you believe in the word of God? Do you believe in the promises of God? Do you believe in when if you drop dead today, if you're a child of God, then you're going to be in the presence of the Lord? So why are we afraid of dying? I heard somebody said this way one time, everybody loves Jesus, but nobody wants to go see Jesus. Let it be Isaac, the fulfillment of God's promises. Look what it says in verse 18, "...of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called." So we see here that Abraham had that hope in his heart that God will raise him up from the dead again. Why are we so willing to claim God's promise but so hesitant to obey God's commands? They both come from the same God, don't they? Okay, let us see. God calls us to obey. What parent doesn't like their children to obey them? You show me a house that their children obey their parents, and I tell you that's a peaceful home. You show me a home in which children don't obey their parents, I would tell you that's a home with a lot of mayhem going on in there. You don't want to be there. Can you imagine he tells you to do something and they talk back to you? That's America today, isn't it? I saw this with my own eyes one time, I was in a workplace, not where I work right now, I was many years, I was a teenager, I was not even married. I never forgot this, I was not even a Christian back then. But this guy, you know, his son had an accident with his father's car, they worked together in the same job, both there, I knew both father and son in there. And his son came in and first thing approached the father and then, I guess they didn't see each other since then, he said to the father, Dad, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to have an accident, I just, Me to me is like this, a car is a car, it's replaceable. A life is not. I don't know how you think about it, that's the way I think about it. You know, okay, the car is, I'm glad you're okay. We'll replace the thing, okay? This guy spit, this father spit so many words at this guy, at his son, that I never even heard before. I was taken aback. How you think the son reacted to the father? He threw back everything the father said, right at the father. And the father looks at this guy, the Portuguese guy that was there, he said, see, there's no more respect today. You know what this man said? You need to watch the way you open your mouth towards your kid. How's that hurt? You see, what parents don't like their children to obey? But in order for us to obey our parents, they need to lead by example too. Ouch The homes of america today God calls us to obey him even when we don't understand look what the bible says in proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 trust In the lord what told thine heart and lean thine to thy own understanding See abraham did not understand the scoop of the whole thing. He did not But you know what but he obeyed god. He trusted god with god's promises Listen, sometimes the Lord does things in our lives. Sometimes he tests us and you know what we don't understand What do you do Do what the Bible says trust God With all your hearts. So Lord, I don't know what you're taking me. I know I'm just gonna trust you. I Okay, so let's go to point number three. We're almost done. Solid faith recognizes the Lord's testing. Solid faith obeys even when we don't understand. And number three, solid faith trusts God with all things. So we learned these things about this morning here. Look what it says, accounting, verse 19, that God was able to raise him up. Even from the dad, from Hansel, so you received him in a figure. So Abraham believed that if he sacrificed his child, which was a very hard thing to do, what parent wants to do that? What parents want to be put in that spot? He was willing to do, but he did because he believed God's promises. Wow. You know one of the great, I mean, letter A, Abraham reasoning. You know one of the great promises that God have to the human race? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe it in him will not perish but have everlasting life. You see, that's a promise to the human race. And that's a true promise. God calls every human being from, no matter what language they speak, no matter the color of their skin, no matter anything, God is not a racist. God says, whosoever will, that's a promise of God, I will save. What does that mean? It means your sins will be forgiven, the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be imputed on that person, and that person is headed to heaven. I know a lot of people in this world are more concerned about earth, about here and now than eternity. Oh, I have time to believe in Jesus when I die or before I die. Guess what? Thousands upon thousands don't have that. You can drive in your car, be nice and be comfortable, listen to the music and enjoy before, boom, somebody comes and you're done and gone. Oh, I'll die of a good old age. Who promised you that? You? See, I mean, the ignorance sometimes of our own thinking. I'm going to die of a good old age. We don't know if we have another tomorrow. We don't know. So Abraham's reasoning right here is that he believed what God said in his promises. We have, we Christians, we have to believe God's promises as well. Let it be, we see the son of promise, Isaac. The phrase receiving him in the figure right here, verse 9, is actually the Greek word for a parable right here. In many ways, Isaac is a figure of a parable of Jesus right here. Jesus who was sacrificed to death and then he was literally raised from the dead. Listen, Abraham believed in the promise of God. This is what people do today. I'm talking about Christians. Oh, I am so deep in trouble not even God can help me. You ever heard that? What do you mean not even God can help you? That's a lack of faith or no faith in God at all. I mean if God created the world, this universe, everything out of nothing, if God raised you, if God is sustaining you, God can't help you? Wow. Let's say like little feet or no feet at all. God can do for you and me what we cannot do for ourselves. We have to believe in God's promises. It's amazing what you hear from the mouth of people. Not only from, even Christians. Oh, you know, I have done so much wrong. You want to be go back to church? The walls are going to fall down. Which walls? You see this, the things that, you know what? I love the story of the prodigal son because all of us been there. You got that? All of us been there. That is a one. I'm glad God have that in the Bible. You know why? Because all of us are prone to Go that way. All of us. I don't care who you are. All of us go that way. But you know what? There is a God who loves us unconditionally. And when we come to the end of ourselves, we can look back to home and say, oh, my father loves me. I'm going home. You're thinking about in the Jewish culture, eating with the pigs, that's something you just didn't do. The guy was eating with the pigs. That's how low he became. The Bible is telling us he was in the lowest of the lowest in his life. We are prone to go that way, all of us. You see, the son of promise was Isaac because through Isaac, the one he would God tell him to sacrifice will come Jacob. Right? And through Jacob, the 12 tribes of Israel. Abraham believed in God's promises. May we believe in God's promise as well. Get this by faith, the faith of Abraham may inspire us, but it is the faith of Jesus that saves us. There was no atonement on Mount Moriah, but on Golgotha. It is once for all and perfect sacrifice for sin. It was what was done there that saves Abraham and Isaac and you and me. We often ask the question from this passage, would you love God enough to be willing to sacrifice your only son to him? But the good news of the gospel is that God loved us enough that he was willing to sacrifice his only son for us. You know, we know from the passage in Genesis that God hold his hand and say Abraham I never intend for you, but Abraham was willing God provide a land for that sacrifice You know what? Well, we don't have to sacrifice our children Jesus went to Calvary Listen Christianity is not a religion is a relationship with Jesus He went to Calvary's cross, shed his blood. He was the sacrifice that God demanded for the sins of the world. So you and I can have salvation. Listen, I am glad I found Jesus. I hope you're glad you found Jesus. Listen, I didn't lose the zeal of my salvation yet. I love serving my Jesus because I understand that he went to Calvary for me. He was nailing that cross for me. He said it was for the sins of the world or for me. Even if I was the only person on the face of the earth, Jesus would go there so I can receive salvation. I think when we get to heaven someday, We're gonna, I don't think, we're gonna praise and sing the Lord for all eternity. You know why? Because right there, when this sin for nature is gone, we're gonna understand what he did for us. And the joy of our hearts, we'll praise him for all eternity. Because there we understand the ultimate sacrifice that God did. I conclude with this. One of the ways we demonstrate our faith is by unquestioning by an unquestioned obedience to God's command. At the beginning of today's message, I ask you a question. How obedient are you to God's command? Abraham teaches us that faith and obedience go together. Faith recognized that God sometimes do test us. And that test sometimes goes all the way to the grave. Sometimes that test goes for a month or two, a year. But you know what? He wants us to see how much we really love Him. Not Him see us, because He already knows what's in our hearts. It's how much we, He wants us to see how much love we have for Him. Faith trusts that God works all the details of life. that I challenge you to commit yourself to live in unquestioning obedience to God's command. Sometimes, you know what? I tell you folks, and I live in this planet too, life doesn't make sense. Right? Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. He said, I tried this, I tried this. I don't know what to do anymore. You know what we need to do? We trust Him. I put it like this. It's better to start a day with God than start the day by ourselves. In the little things of life and the big things of life, include God in it. Because if we do, we probably avoid a lot of mistakes in our lives. We will. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for the faith of Abraham. solid rock of faith. Lord, the test that you gave him was not an easy test, even though we make light of it. It was a hard test, but he believed you, Lord. Lord, sometimes we too, individually, go through some hard testing in our lives. Sometimes we get discouraged and we feel like, Lord, we don't understand why we're going through those things. But we, if we really open our hearts and minds, you just want us to see for ourselves how much we really love you. May we get there. May we let that sink in our minds this morning. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. If you could stand please. I'm gonna sing a song of invitation this morning. Page 509. Take time to be holy. 509. Get there. I'd sing a few verses if there's something in your heart this morning. You want to rededicate yourself to the Lord as an altar here. If you're not saved, you never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, just come forward. I'll take you to my office over there. I will show you from the Bible how can you receive salvation. Let's sing. Page 509. Take time to be holy. ♪ It's time to be holy ♪ Speak off with thy Lord ♪ Abide him in all ways ♪ And feed on his word ♪ Make friends with God's children ♪ Help those who are weak Let me put it this way. If you were to drop dead right now, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm not trying to do that. Just a reality. If you were to drop dead right where you are, are you 100% sure you're going to heaven? I'm not talking about baptism, church affiliations. I'm not talking about what church you belong to, nothing of that. I'm talking about your religion and what Jesus Christ. If you would drop that right now, you and your heart, can you say, I am going to heaven because I received Jesus as my Savior? It's not a lip talking, this is a serious question. You're the only one who have the answer, not me. I cannot answer for you. What about us Christians? Do I believe in God's promises? Am I trusting God with every little detail of my life? It's just life is all about me. And God is just on Sunday. May the faith of Abraham show us that it takes strong faith to believe in God's promises. Let's sing one more verse. And we will be done. Take time to be holy The world rushes on Spend much time in secret With Jesus alone By looking to Jesus Amen. We're going to do something different this morning before we leave. Manny, would you come forward?