Sermon Summary: No matter how eventful a person’s life may be, he or she leaves behind a name. That’s why people have made up a saying, right? “When a tiger dies, it leaves its skin behind, and when a person dies, it leaves its name behind.” I want to say it this way: “When a person dies, it leaves behind a testimony.” That’s why the title of today’s sermon is “Testimony.” There are two types of testimonies: failed testimonies and blessed testimonies. First, let’s look at examples of failed testimonies in the Bible. 1) The testimony of Adam and Eve who ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:6). This is the testimony of the incident where they broke the first covenant between God and man. Because of this, all of humanity was cut off from God. 2) The testimony of Adam killing his younger brother Abel (Gen. 4:8). This is the terrible testimony of the sin of murder. 3) There are also bad testimonies about Lot, Abraham’s nephew. His wife turned into a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26) and he had children through inappropriate relationships with his two daughters (Gen 19:35-38). 4) There are also many bad testimonies about Saul, the first king of Israel. Two of them are the incident where he killed 85 priests (1 Sam 22:18-19) and the incident where he ended his life by committing suicide (1 Chron 10:4-6). 5) There is the testimony of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and eventually committed suicide (Matt 26:14-16; Matt 27:3-5). Next, if we look for examples of testimonies of blessing in the Bible... 1) There is the testimony of Noah who built the ark and saved his family (Gen 6:8-9; Gen 7:1). 2) In the case of Abraham, there are many testimonies of blessing. There are testimonies of receiving the promise of blessing that descendants will multiply (Gen 13:16), the testimonies of receiving the only son Isaac at the age of 100 by God’s grace (Gen 21:1-3), and the testimonies of offering up his son as a burnt offering to God (Gen 22:1-10). Meanwhile, Isaac (Gen 26:12-13) and Jacob (Gen 30:43) also have testimonies of blessing. However, among these and other testimonies, the one we must have is the “testimony of salvation.” If we look for a person in the Bible who had a clear testimony of salvation… 1) Apostle Paul. “As Saul was traveling, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he answered him, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’” (Acts 9:3-5). This is Paul’s testimony of salvation. He used this testimony when he preached the gospel (Acts 22:6-8; Acts 26:13-15). 2) Zacchaeus also had a testimony of salvation. “Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham’” (Luke 19:8-9). 3) Cornelius (Acts 10:1-2; Acts 10:13-15; Acts 10:34-35) and Philip (Acts 8:5-8) also had testimonies of salvation. There are common characteristics and confessions that appear in those who have testimonies of salvation: 1) A life of self-denial. “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it’” (Matt. 16:24-25, cf. Gal. 2:20). 2) A life of spreading the gospel. “Every day in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching the good news that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:42, cf. Acts 8:12-13; Acts 20:22-24). 3) A life of prayer. “Continue in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2, cf. Acts 2:42). Concluding the message. Do you have a testimony of salvation? If so, are the characteristics (self-denial, gospel preaching, prayer, etc.) of those who have a testimony of salvation appearing in your life? Let’s pray. ▣ Sharing: 1) Do I have a sure testimony of salvation? ⓶ Am I showing the characteristics of someone who has a testimony of salvation? ▣ Practice: I will live a life as someone who has a sure testimony of salvation (please apply it specifically).