1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached (oneidezō to defame, criticize, scold, insult:, (suffer) accusation, despise, reprimand) for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept (froo-reh'-o to be a watcher in advance, to mount guard as a sentinel, (post spies at gates); to hem in, protect: - keep (with a garrison) by the power ( dunamis ability ) of God through faith unto salvation (so-tay-ree'-ah; rescue or safety deliver, health, salvation)ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, (ol-ee'-gos
small (in extent, degree, number, duration or value); briefly, a while) if need be, ye are in heaviness (lupeō to distress; sadness, grief, sorrow, make sorry) through manifold (multiple) temptations:(pi-ras-mos' a putting to proof, experience of evil, discipline, provocation, adversity)
1Pe 1:7 That the trial (trying, testing) of your faith, (pistis constancy, loyalty, belief, reliance) being much more precious (tim'-ee-os
valuable, costly, honored, esteemed)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:
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
True faith is, in every case, the operation of the Spirit of God. Its nature is purifying, elevating, heavenly. It is the
eye of the renewed soul, the hand of the regenerated mind, the mouth of the newborn spirit. It is the evidence of spiritual life.
To him that believes it is said, “All things are yours.” Faith is the assurance of sonship, the pledge of inheritance, the grasp of boundless
possession, the perception of the invisible. Within your faith there lies Glory, even as the oak sleeps within the acorn. Time would fail me to tell of the powers, the privileges, the possessions and the prospects of faith. He that has it is blessed. For he pleases God, he is justified before the throne of holiness, he has full access to the Throne of Grace and he has the preparation for reigning with Christ forever.
You cannot gather the fragrant rose without its rough companion the thorn. You cannot possess the faith without experiencing the trial. And if God gives you great faith, you must expect great trials. For, in proportion as your faith shall grow, you will have to do more and endure more. Little boats may keep close to shore, as becomes little boats. But if God makes you a great vessel and loads you with a rich freight, He means that you should know what great billows are and should feel their fury till you see “His wonders in the deep.”
He that has tested God and whom God has tested, is the man that shall have it said of him, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.” Had Abraham stopped in Ur of the Chaldees with his friends and rested there and enjoyed himself, where had been his faith?
He had God’s command to leave his country to go to a land which he had never seen, to sojourn there with God as a stranger, dwelling in tents. And in his obedience to that call his faith began to be illustrious. Where
had been the glory of his faith, if it had not been called to brave and self-denying deeds?
Would he ever have risen to that supreme height, to be “the Father of the faithful,” if he had not grown old and his body dead and yet he had believed that God would give him seed of his aged wife Sarah, according to the promise? It was trying of faith that made him feel that nothing was impossible to God. If Isaac had been born to him in the days of his strength, where had been his faith?
And when it came to that severer test, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” When he rose up early and gathered the wood and took his son and went three days’ journey, setting his face like a flint to obey the Command of God—when at last he drew the knife, in faithful obedience to the Divine Command—then was his faith confessed, commended and crowned.
Then the Lord said, “Now I know.” As if, even to God, the best evidence of Abraham’s faith had then been displayed—when he staggered not at the promise through unbelief, reckoning that God could restore Isaac from the dead if need be—but that it was his to obey the supreme Command and trust all consequences with God, who could not lie.
Herein his faith won great renown and he became “the Father of the faithful,” because he was the most tried of Believers and yet surpassed them all in childlike belief in his God. If God, then, has given to anyone of us a faith which is honorable and precious it has full surely been submitted to its own due measure of trial. And if it is to be still more precious, it has yet more trials to endure.
We remember, also, two reasons for the trial of faith. The trial of your faith is sent to prove its sincerity. If it will not stand trial, what is the good of it? That gold which dissolves in the furnace and disappears amid the flame is not pure gold. And that faith of yours, which is no sooner tried than it evaporates,
Of what use would it be to you in the hour of death and in the Day of Judgment?
No. You can not be sure that your faith is true faith till it is tried faith. You can not be certain that it is worth having till it has been fitly tested
and brought to the touchstone of trial. It must also be tested to prove its strength. for many necessary purposes there is a needs be for trial. Peter says here, “If need be” that there should be a trial of your faith. You will get that trial, because God, in His wisdom, will give faith what faith needs.
“His fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly purge His floor.” Jesus shall sit as a refiner.” It is the Lord Himself that will be as a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. Who may abide the day of His coming? “Refining fire go through my soul.” Yes, let the devouring flame go through me and through me yet again, till this earthly grossness shall begin to disappear.
As Moses soon put his shoes off from his feet when he beheld God at the burning bush, so shall we put off the fleshly encumberances of our supposed spiritual experience . The way to stronger faith usually lies
along the rough pathway of sorrow. Only as faith is contested, will faith be confirmed.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory (brag and testify) in tribulations (thlip'-sis pressure, affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, trouble) also knowing that tribulation worketh (to work fully, accomplish, finishes, fashions: - cause to perform) patience; (cheerful endurance)
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; (tried & approved) and experience, hope: (to anticipate w/ pleasure); expectation confidence)
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
We may wisely rejoice in tribulation because it works patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope. And by that way we are exceedingly enriched and our faith grows strong.
The trial of our faith is useful, not only because it strengthens it but because it leads to a discovery of our faith to ourselves
Ill:
• A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
• One day a small opening appeared.
• He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours,
• As it struggled to force its body through the little hole.
• Then it seemed to stop making any progress.
• It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.
• So the man decided to help the butterfly.
• He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon.
• The butterfly then emerged easily.
• But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings.
• The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment,
• The wings would expand and be able to support the body,
• Which would contract in time. Neither happened!
• In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life;
• Crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.
• It never was able to fly.
• What the man in his kindness and haste,
• Did not understand was that:
• The restricting cocoon;
• And struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening
• Were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into the wings;
• So that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
