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The Trial of Your Faith
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone SDA Church, CA, USA
Delivery: 2008-05-31 15:34Z
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2008-05-31 15:34Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kirl-1peterpt02.php
Those who believe in Jesus are kept by the power of God through faith. At time’s end, the universe awaits a special revealing. The privilege of believers at our end of time is to show others what being like Jesus really looks like. The whole creation groans awaiting the revelation of the sons of God (Romans 8:18-22).
But we do not live in a society that prizes labor or patience or anything that takes time. We want it now via pushbutton. We are products, not of enlightenment, but of the decline of our race. And so, in 2008, even Christianity shines only dimly. It is seen as but one option among many. We do not stand out. We are very thin Christians.
And yet, today to us comes a message. God has a word spoken to us at 1 Peter 1:6-9:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Rejoicing in Our Daily Trials
The Bible says that those in whom salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time—those who are kept by the power of God through faith—rejoice in daily trials.
If that is not your experience then it least gives you a target. Are you grateful for your daily trials? So grateful that you rejoice in them? How easy it is to become frustrated and tramp through your day complaining over your latest unnecessary difficulties. But are they unnecessary? Does God or does He not know just what you need to grow?
Why would one rejoice in his daily trials? The Christian sees beyond the moment. He is thankful for what God can do with him and through him in the moment, but he also has set his eye on the end results. Heaven is doing something. The believer knows that there is a purpose, a goal. God is not a scribbler; He is creating a masterpiece. We cannot see the whole tapestry right now, but we can see the part of His providence that runs through our experience.
If reality had been such that you had lived in the time of Michaelangelo, perhaps you might have had some opportunity to go and see the famous artist at work. Maybe all you would have opportunity to see was his accomplishment of a few seemingly unimportant brushstrokes. But you would rejoice to see those. You would not have to see the finished product to be glad for the creation of a beautiful work of art, and that it was your privilege to have seen even an apparently obscure part in its preparation. Likewise, you do not have to see and understand every single detail of the infinite God’s plans in order to be glad that the mighty Creator is at work in His studio, and that your life is part of the canvas. The end product will be exquisite; that is enough.
How many Bible characters can you think of who saw the end of their part? Do you think Job understood that thousands of years later, we would be especially benefited by the insights from his hard experiences? Do you think that Abraham grasped that his life would be made one of the example patterns for what eventually would be called righteousness by faith? Do you think that Daniel had any clue whatsoever that when he resisted eating the king’s food, that it would be one of the especially helpful stories for those who would live at time’s end?
Numerous Testings and Temptations
Peter says that one rejoices even in the midst of numerous challenges. They faced outright persecution; we face an overly busy life. Which do you prefer? Changing persecutions is mostly outside oneself; changing a busy ife is mostly something within your reach if you want it badly enough.
The too-fast life makes it harder to invest in quiet time, Scripture reading, meditation, so that one can discern God’s solutions. Instead, our decisions are made on the fly, by means of hazy recollections and vague notions about what God said in His Word. Such solutions often are of limited help. We are not so sure how it all turned out. We move restlessly from challenge to challenge instead of confidently. We are not sure whether God has led or whether we have blundered on ahead or behind. It shows.
Our heaviness through manifold temptations does not necessarily mean only many temptations; it also indicates their wide variety. Again, God is growing us. So He permits us to face a wide range of challenges. We need to be in His watchcare or we will not grow from these difficult events. If you are going to receive the brunt of the oncoming storm anyway, you might as well build your spiritual muscle in the process.
Peter says that under duress we may rejoice, in heaviness we may endure. Some think that there is never any time in the Christian experience when we should be anything but happy. But here we find rejoicing and heaviness together. It looks like things are more intricate than some have thought. Remember Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and even so many other occasions. He rejoiced in God, but His was a road of sorrows and heaviness as well.
The Trial of Your Faith
The Scripture tells us that the trial of our faith is “more precious than of gold that perisheth.” Gold is first mentioned in Genesis 2:11, 12. It is described as good. The word “Gold” appears 417 times in the Bible. For almost 6,000 years it served as the most basic medium of exchange of men. The United States dropped the gold standard in 1971. That is, beginning at that time, the paper dollar was no longer backed by, could no longer be redeemed for, gold. And from 1933 until 1974, it was illegal for United States citizens to own gold in the form of gold bullion without a special license. If you bought an item for $1.00 in 1913, that same item purchased in 2008 would cost you almost $22.00. In the last six years alone, by some measures, the United States dollar has lost 40% of its value. Meanwhile, gold is presently selling for nearly $900.00 an ounce.
The point is that gold is an enduring store of value. From the beginning until now, gold has been that. And yet, our Scripture warns us that there is something more valuable even than gold that perisheth. Gold will doubtless endure until the earth is made new. Then, the Isaiah says, men will cast their idols of gold and silver to the moles and the bats (Isaiah 2:10-22). the value of gold will perish. When God finishes His demonstration of the outworking of sin and the outworking of righteousness, when He intervenes and ends the present system of things and remakes the earth, physical gold will not matter.
But there is something that will matter so much more at that time. Not your gold, not even your faith, but at that time, you will understand that the most thing that you own is the only thing that you own. The trial of your faith results in the gold of character. Character at the end is not transferable. You can in a sense transfer character now; you can receive from Satan or from Christ attributes of character by copying them. But in the last day, your character will be what you have made it (Revelation 22:11, 12). It will not at that time be transferable.
Your opportunity to develop character for eternity is now. The clock is ticking. God is ready to help right now. It is the trial of your faith, the testing of it, its endurance midst the heat of the hotness of testing, that will survive. The melting point for 24 karat Gold is 1945 degrees fahrenheit. But your faith must have a higher melting point. It must be more able to endure than gold which perisheth.
Your faith will be, is being, shall be, tested. And the Word says that if you endure, the final result will be praise, honor, and glory when Jesus comes (1 Peter 1:7). See that it does not say praise, honor, and glory for you. Rather, all the praise, all the honor, all the glory, will be for Christ; your character, His glory. And the only way from here to there is the trial of your faith. This gives perspective to our daily challenges and frustrations.
Not Seen, But Loved
The Second Coming is still future. But while we have not seen Him, we love Him (1 Peter 1:8). How can this be?
He is the enfleshment of the character of God. He is the Example. He is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). He is the Ten Commandments in human form. He is beautiful because He is all that is selfless, all that is unselfish. He is the pattern Man. You would prefer that all your neighbors be like Jesus. You want your children to echo His friendliness, His mercy, His gentleness, His manliness. He is the truest Gentleman there ever was or ever shall be. He is the kind of man you would like your daughters to introduce you to. All this, and yet you have never seen Him.
He is the pattern you seek to follow. You want to be like Him because you are attracted to the way He is. No surprise; you were made to be that way. God designed you to appreciate certain things. You like colorful sunsets; you enjoy delicious cuisine; and, you are attracted to righteousness and goodness.
Peter says, “in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” You love Him without seeing Him, and you believe in Him without seeing Him. You rejoice in your belief in Him. You know where it is headed. You know that at times’ end sin is concluded and the promise of the kingdom is realized in the arrival of the kingdom. You have confidence in the future because you understand that God is not just one more empty myth among others, but that Christianity—true Christianity, at least—has substance.
True Christianity is no mere theory but is demonstrated daily in the lives of the followers of Christ. He is in their hearts and they give evidence of a power at work in them. It is a power for kindness in a harsh world. It is a faith that makes people gentle in a world that makes people hard. It makes you warm in a world that is cold. It changes people. It is real. It is authentic. It has currency. It costs something and it returns something. You reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). And you choose what you sow.
The End of Your Faith
If we are in Christ He will change us. We may not see Him but we may love and believe in Him. We are told that the trial of our faith is more precious even than gold which perishes. And that all comes down then to the end. We receive, at last, the end of our faith, that is, the goal, or conclusion, or purpose of it. Verse nine:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
There is a goal. God’s purpose is not random. He does not expose us to the world to no purpose, nor inoculate us against its wiles to no end. He is growing something precious, living. How do we receive the end of our faith? We must endure the trial. We must stay in close with Christ. When the sky seems to be falling, when the cold, hard realities of a world impacted by sin seems ready to overcome us, we need to step back and remember that He has a purpose.
One of the most interesting features of this passage is how it says something so different from what we commonly hear: that it was all finished at the cross. Jesus paid it all and we are already saved. Grab the rope and He will tow you in. But the New Testament says that faith has trials, faith has a purpose, faith has an effect. It is the testing that makes us stronger and the strength is necessary. Jesus prayed for His disciples. He knew that faith might fail (John 17; Luke 22:32). He did all that He could to strengthen them.
Without the cross we would not have Jesus as our sacrifice and as our High Priest. There would be no salvation to be had. But with Jesus as our sacrifice and as our High Priest, there is a salvation to be had. We must appropriate to ourselves Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, and we must appropriate to ourselves the inward work that He would do for us through His Holy Spirit. And that work is especially developed in the trial of our faith. We must have it. There are only two spiritual conditions: you are either growing or you are dying. So which will it be?
God’s plan is not to destroy us in the testing but to perfect us. He longs to save us and not to lose us. He does not take away the temptation but with the temptation makes a way to overcome. He does not take away the necessity of change but He makes possible our change so that the necessity is accomplished. And so there is a reason why we must endure. The cross did not take away the necessity of walking with Jesus; it made it possible to walk with Him, and it made our final victory certain if we will only stand next to Him in all our trials. Hold His hand tighter and tighter! Then to Him will all the glory be!
Conclusion
Now we are subject to grave things. A hard world seems to oppose us, demonic forces are arrayed against us. Our own practices and habits seem like cords enslaving us (Proverbs 5:22). We cannot see through to the other side of the consuming flame (Malachi 3:2, 3; Daniel 3:20). Where are you Jesus?
Jesus is here. He is ready to embrace you. He is ready to help you. Your salvation is the object He seeks. It cannot be faked. A new week awaits us. Jesus is ready to start again with you. He is ready to work for you. You accept His cross from two millennia ago; now accept His work for you from the sanctuary above in 2008. You are having trials; so have Jesus with you in your trials. Daily grow and daily know that Jesus sees in you a precious find, a person who longs to be good. And while we are not saved by our goodness but by His godness, let Him take you and shape you and make you whole. Then the trial of your faith will have its finished work. And Jesus will smile. GCO
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