MensBreakfast#1-100513

Passing the Test of Faith – Bruce Wilkinson – Lesson #1 – 10/05/13 – Notes

Your faith is something that is continually tested.  It is important to God.  Note Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 11:6(ESV)
⁶And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 

 “Count it all joy” when encountering various trials (circumstances – situations – pains)   – because when tested we can find ‘joy’.   Note:   James 1:2-4

James 1:2–4 (NASB95)
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,   3      knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  4      And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4(ESV)
²Count it all joy, my brothers,^£ when you meet trials of various kinds,   ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

God’s Goal –  The we may becomemature, complete and lacking nothing.

It is part of the sanctification process and the goal of God that wants His children to be mature, complete and lacking nothing. 

The testing will test what we believe in our heart.

#1 – Be assured that God test all His children at various times and various ways. 

Rectangle #1 – God tests   all   believers many times in many different ways.  It is the ‘circumstances’ that we find ourselves in that is the ‘testing’. 

God does NOT announce when a test is coming or even when it is occurring.  Yet the perspective of a test should be with joy.  When we are in a difficult situation we need to consider it ‘joy’ as we are there to learn more about our God.

The occurring of the test and the fruit of the test is what I choose to believe as the outcome of the process and the reflection of it.  Remembering that life continues to have testing. 

1 Peter 1:6–9 (NASB95)
6  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  7      so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  8      and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,   9      obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:6-9(ESV)
⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 
⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 
⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

“now for a little while, if necessary”  –  Every test is needed by the person.  Every test brings pain, stress & grief while we are under it.  Recall:  Hebrews 11:6 (above). 

7 Principles of the Test of Faith:

1.       The test is only for a little while.

2.       If need be.    (it is for you)

3.       Every test brings distress & pain of some kind.

4.       There are various trails

5.       God brings the trails so that we have genuine faith.

6.       Our faith is more precious than gold.  (It is important to God that we have faith –  Hebrews 11:6)

7.       Your faith is God’s glory at the second coming.

In Part he stated the following:

#1 – When you are tempted in your test of faith remember everyone is tested as well, you’re not the only one. 

#2 – When your faith is tested make sure that you believe that God fully knows what is going on in every area of your life.  Don’t believe that God doesn’t know about this pain, circumstance, or suffering in your life.  Don’t believe that if God only knew about it He would change it.  It is a lie that God would change the test, He has permitted it.  It is for your good. 

#3 – Be confident that God knows every single thing going on in your life in every way that it is happening.  He is there to lead you through it. 

Rectangle #2 – God know everything about your tests.

John thought that since he was close to Jesus he’d see him in prison, suffering, and pain that He’d release him.  Thus the lack of faith that John experienced because of this wrong thinking on what he considered to be God’s plan that didn’t include him in prison.

Matthew 11:2–6 (NASB95)
2 Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples   3      and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”  4      Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:  5      the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.  6      “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Matthew 11:2-6(ESV)
2£Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 
3and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 
4And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 
5the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers£ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 
6And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

 Question:  Jesus basically was saying to John:  “I could give you what you want, but I will not – still will you believe in me?”  Jesus knew everything about John’s test.

Rectangle #3 – God is with you in every test.

Daniel 3:15-18(ESV)
¹⁵Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.^£ But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 
¹⁷If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^£ 
18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel 3:25(ESV)
²⁵He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Note the proper attitude of trusting God  in His knowing what was happening to these three and confidence that God could save them if He so choice.  Still, they were trusting their God, not the King’s gods.

#4 God has ultimate control at all times.

Rectangle #4 –  God is ultimately in control all the time.

Job’s testing was of believing in God no matter what he had or did not have.  He worshiped God for whom He was, not what He gave.

Job 1:13-21(ESV)
¹³Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 
¹⁴and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 
¹⁵and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants^£ with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 
¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 
¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 
¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 
¹⁹and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
²⁰Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 
²¹And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Satan was given permission to take from Job whatever he wanted except his life.  –  It was a test of “What do I believe about God?”

#5 – Be sure you believe that God has unlimited power.

Rectangle #5 –  God has unlimited power.  

Moses  –  an example of no matter how powerless we feel, God is all power and can do anything.

Numbers 11:10-32(ESV)
¹⁰Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 
¹¹Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 
¹²Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 
¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 
¹⁴I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 
¹⁵If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 
¹⁷And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 
¹⁸And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 
¹⁹You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 
²⁰but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 
²¹But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 
²²Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 
²³And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
²⁴So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 
²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
²⁶Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 
²⁷And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 
²⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 
²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 
³⁰And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
³¹Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits^£ above the ground.   (60 bushels each.)
³²And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers.^£ And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 

Moses couldn’t figure out how such a large quantity of meat could be delivered in the wilderness.  He forgot that God was all powerful. 

Questions:

1.       What is in your heart and mind?  That is where the enemy attacks you.   

2.       We don’t want to think:  If God was here he’d get be out of this.  OR  If God was here he’d fix it.

Basically:  What do we believe about God?

When God tests you He is testing something in your heart regarding Him.  It is something about Him that you believe but is not true.  It is that the belief you have is unscriptural and hindering your faith, thus the test to adjust one’s thinking.

The Decision:  Do we believe who He is or do we chose not to believe.  Do we conjure up our own God, thus make God to be what we want Him to be?  When in a situation if we inject that the way to fix this situation is thus and so we are not having ‘faith’ in God and His ways.

NEXT time on 11/16/13 – How the beliefs we have and what the underling secret is to how to successfully pass the test of faith that God brings to us.