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  WHATEVER THE COST
  by Charles E. Cowman
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Summary: The sermon emphasizes the principle of sacrificial obedience,
where surrendering to God at any cost leads to receiving a thousand
times more and experiencing the life more abundant.

Topics: "Faith And Obedience", "Sacrificial Living"
Scripture References: Genesis 22:16, Matthew 16:24, John 12:24, Romans 12:1, Philippians 3:8

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DESCRIPTION
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Charles E. Cowman preaches on the profound lesson from Abraham's
obedience in sacrificing his son Isaac, showing how God rewards those
who surrender their most cherished possessions or dreams to Him. Just as
Abraham's act of faith led to the multiplication of his descendants and
the eventual appearance of Jesus Christ, believers today are encouraged
to trust God's faithfulness in returning blessings manifold for every
sacrifice made. The sermon emphasizes that true surrender to God often
leads to unexpected abundance, joy, and fulfillment beyond what we can
imagine, culminating in a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

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CONTENT
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"'Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son...I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the
heaven;...because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:16-18).

And from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's
voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was
dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him
a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's
call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and
manhood, and for a noble family bearing his name. But the boy is
restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out
of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ.

That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of
His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We
renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had
dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto
self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the
crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness
of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme
sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by
losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that
family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges
and joys of membership upon any other basis. --C. G. Trumbull

We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and
that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is
the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave.

Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary
experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with
all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast
patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme
sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's
river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee
a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not
do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist;
though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. --F. B.
Meyer

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/charles-e-cowman/whatever-the-cost/
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