Thank you for worshiping the Lord in song today, in prayer, in giving, and in reading God's word. Let's worship God by listening to his word and responding to it. We take your Bibles and turn to 1 Peter 1. Again, I so much appreciate Jared bringing the word last week. And it is a wonderful blessing that he brought and thought-provoking. We're going to get our study today. And even as I say that, I said it at breakfast, but since Rachel and Marie are gone, there are 10 pounds of potatoes baking in the oven right now. And Jared Lee and my family will not be able to eat all of that. I realize that. But if you do not have plans, or if you just want to change your lunch plans, please join us. We're just gonna have a baked potato bar and we'll have a good time together and we'll enjoy a little more fellowship. So that is an open invitation if you'd like that right after the morning service. But we're gonna continue and conclude this short series that we've had, More Precious Than Gold. And I'll bring in the young people for this. What, so far, have we already learned is more precious than gold? One thing, what would you say? What is more precious than gold? God's Word. Very good. Number one, God's Word is more precious than gold. What else? Micah. Wisdom. The wisdom of God, the wisdom from above. Get wisdom. It is more precious than gold. Very good. Now, maybe the hard one to remember. Cadence. A good name from Proverbs 22, talking about a good reputation. We studied that a couple weeks ago. And we saw how people are more valuable than possessions. And us being around them and having Christ-like character before them and the good reputation that comes from that is more precious than gold. Now, you already know what's more precious than gold today because you see it on the screen. It's in your manuscript in front of you. So my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, today let's consider testing of your faith. Let's pray. Father, as we look together again at your word, we ask that you would allow us to align our priorities with yours. As your people, who are bought by your blood, who will one day be with you forever, we ask in the very few days we have left on the earth that we would prioritize what matters to you. Thank you for giving us light with what should matter to us. Lord, teach us this, as today's topic is one that is just harder to wrap our minds around. We pray for your help in Jesus' name. Amen. This last week, my son's soccer game was in the rain. It was on Wednesday. And of course, when you're watching a game in the rain, it's not a lot of fun to watch the game. And of course, The people on the field didn't look like they were having much fun either. They looked cold. That's kind of hard. But what caught my attention was just on the other field to my right, as I was watching, was the football team that was practicing. They were going through their normal drills, which aren't very much fun. But when you have to do all those drills in the rain, they really don't look like much fun. No one wants to do those things. That's miserable. It takes grit, it takes determination, it takes commitment to do those things, but that's what it takes to be the best. But of course, I look at them at my age and I say, well, good for them. I'm glad I'm not you. I'm glad I don't have to do that right now in the rain. You see, we don't naturally gravitate towards things that are difficult. We don't naturally gravitate towards the things that stretch us. I mean, we're Americans. We work hard so we can take it easy. We don't welcome deviations from the plan to live on easy street. We want everything to be just so. And we often think, if it's just so, it'll be great. But Jesus doesn't promise easy street to his followers, quite the opposite. He said that anyone who would follow him, they must deny themselves, even promised oppression. He said in Luke chapter 22 verse 17, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. That's something hard to stomach. But notice how Jesus assesses that kind of difficult situation. He says in Luke 6 verse 22, blessed are you When people hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. You say, that doesn't sound blessed. That doesn't sound very good. But Jesus said, it is. And James echoes what Jesus said when James said in chapter one, verse 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. Steadfast under trial. We've been going through the series on more precious than gold, which helps us to know what God wants us to set as a priority. He wants us to look at God's word, at his wisdom, at his character, which yields a good reputation. And he wants us to value those commodities. And the thing about those things, it's easy for us to think, yes, I should value God's word. I should value God's wisdom. I should value God's character, which brings about a good reputation. I understand that. I can give myself to that. It may be hard, but I can do it. I see the value in it. But now we come to the last of our seed, and it's in a category all by itself, because it's really nothing that we strive for. We know that we're gonna experience it, but we really don't pursue it. It happens. It's what God calls testing of our faith. And the Bible teaches through and through that God tests faith with trials. Psalm 11.5 says that the Lord tests the righteous. Proverbs 17.3, the Lord tests hearts. Jesus in Revelation 2.23 says, I am he who searches mind and heart. So we read in 1 Peter 1.7 that the tested genuineness of our faith, though it be tried by fire, it is more precious than gold. We're told that we're not supposed to be surprised by the test of our faith. We're told that God knows how to rescue us from these things, 2 Peter 2.9. The testing of our faith, it's not something that anyone pursues, but it's something that God does promise will happen to us. And it is of utmost important when it comes that we understand why it is so valuable. I wanna answer two questions today in the course of the message. First, I wanna understand what is the testing of faith? That's the first question, what is it? And secondly, what is the value? of the testing of faith, the testing of faith. Well, what's the testing of faith? We'll begin by just breaking it down into the pieces there. What is faith? And then what's the testing of faith? Let's start with that. If you came into this place with no knowledge of the Christian faith, I'm trying to explain it to you in the plainest terms. Faith, as we think in the Christian sense, is trust in God. Paul said, I have faith in God, and the Christian faith is faith that is focused upon God. It is not a blind leap. It is eyes wide open, fixed upon God, God who is the true and living being, the God of all the universe, the sovereign over all things, the greatest of all beings that is. that ever has been, that ever will be. He really exists. He's the maker of heaven and earth. He's the greatest of all. God is not a figment of our imagination. He's a real person. As we look at each other and say, yeah, he's a real person, she's a real person. Yeah, so God is a real living being too. And the Christian faith is fixed upon God. And two specific aspects of him. Number one, Christian faith is going to trust that God able to do what he says. God made a lot of promises. You remember the promises that God made to Sarah and Mary, and they were beside themselves because they did not understand how they could conceive a child. But the Bible tells us again and again, with God, all things are possible, which shows us God is able to do things that we can't even imagine. He's able to make all grace abound to us. He's able to help us. He's able to strengthen us. He's able to save us from our sin. God is able. Faith means that we trust that God can do those things. Furthermore, it means that God is reliable to keep his promises. Psalm says that everything that God does is trustworthy. He says it, you can depend on him. As the book of Joshua says so well, all the promises that God made to the people of Israel, It says that not one word of all the good promises of God failed. All of them came to pass, Joshua 21 verse 45. That's what God's like. So when we think of people in the Bible who had faith, who do you think about? Well, there's a lot of people. Of course there are. We have a whole chapter of the Bible, Hebrews chapter 11, which records for us a hall of faith, people who had faith in God. But there is one person who stands above the rest. There's one person the Bible holds up as the father of the faithful. He is the example of faith. He is the one who is fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. He was the one who said, who believed that he would become the father of many nations as he had been told. What's his name? Abraham. In your song, young people, Father Abraham had many sons. That's who we're talking about. He's our father if we share the faith that he had. So we learn what faith is by Abraham. We also learn about the testing of faith by him as well. So when you take your Bibles, will you turn to the book of Genesis beginning in chapter 12. I really encourage you to do this with me. And if you mark in your Bibles, which all of you should, mark a few ages. ages as we go through the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis. The story of Abraham begins in chapter 12, where it says, and it's quite familiar to us, it says in chapter 12, verse 1, now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your family's house, father's house, to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation. The first thing Abraham was to do, go, go. Leave what you know and what you hold dear, go to a place I'll show you. That's all God gave him. And it says in verse four, that Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old, that's what you should underline, 75 years old when he departed. You turn to chapter 15, verse two, and he's talking to God again, and he says to God, you promised that I would be the father of many nations, but I remain childless, verse two says. You turn the chapter to page 16, verse 16, and it says at the end of the chapter, Abram was 86. So young people, how many years went by? 11 years went by. 11 years when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. But you turn to chapter 17 and we learn that it wasn't through Ishmael that God would fulfill the promise. It says in chapter 17, verse 1, that Abram was then 99 years old. And the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I will multiply you greatly. And Abraham falls on his face, verse 17, and he laughs to himself. And he says, shall a child be born to a man 100 years old? Shall Sarah, who's 90 years old, be her child? I mean, those of you who are closer to 90 today, can you imagine becoming pregnant? That's what he's asking. Being 100 and becoming a father? And then God says in verse 19, Sarah, your wife will bear you a son and you'll call his name Isaac. And then we turn to chapter 21, verse five. Another number for us to underline. The Bible says Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. So who can do the math? How long did Abraham wait? He waited longer than Mr. Jacob has been on this earth, young people. He's waited, he waited almost twice of some of your ages here, 25 years. That's a long time. Now turn the page to Genesis chapter 22. Abraham has finally had this child that God had promised him and he waited 25 years. Some years have passed since between chapter 21 and 22 because we learn another story. Genesis 2 verse 1, after these things, God tested Abraham. Good to underline that part. God tested Abraham. Just so you know, it's not like God told Abraham that he was being tested. This is the narrator explaining to us what is happening. Say, what was the test? Here we go. He says in verse two, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains on which I will tell you. Now we can't miss what God is commanding Abraham to do. God commanded Abraham to kill his only son Isaac, the son whom he promised would make him the father of many nations. The promise would be through Isaac, his son. And can you imagine that? Abraham has waited 25 years for this son to be born to him. And now God is telling him to kill him. How can God ask for that kind of thing, that kind of sacrifice? And how is God gonna fulfill his promise to multiply Abraham's descendants if Isaac is gonna be killed? So what's going through Abraham's mind? We're told in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 19. The Bible tells us that Abraham considered that God was able even to raise him, to raise Isaac from the dead. You see, when God told Abraham to offer his son, He obeyed God because he believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead. Because God had promised a great nation through Isaac. That's what it says in Genesis 22 verse 3. Abraham arose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac. Abraham did just as God commanded. And you remember the story from Sunday school, how Abraham raised the knife to slay his son, and then God stopped him. Isaac was spared. And then God explains the whole test. It's very important that you look in your Bible at Genesis 22, verse 15 and following. This is the point. We're trying to determine what is the testing of faith, and here it is. It'll be explained for us. says the angel of the Lord, verse 15, called the Abraham a second time from heaven and said, by myself I've sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you. I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because, mark this, you have obeyed my voice. That's the testing of faith. The testing of faith is obeying God. In faith, we wait for God to fulfill his promises, and in the test of faith, We obey God's voice. And this is exemplified in the life of Abraham. But it's also demonstrated through our scriptures. The test of faith is always gonna be connected to what God has said. It's always gonna include something that God has said, and whether or not we're gonna listen to what God has said, and obey what God has said, despite the circumstances that we find ourselves in. Now I want us to review some of the tests of faith in the scriptures so that this really is worked into our hearts. So turn forward in your Bibles to the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus, and turn to chapter 15. You'll know this is right after God's people have been delivered out of Egypt. They've crossed the Red Sea. In the book of Exodus, we see that God makes a name for himself by delivering his people so that they can serve him. And as God has promised his people that they will serve him in the holy mountain and that they will eventually make it to the promised land flowing with milk and honey, God's people have to decide, is God going to really keep his word? Are we really going to make it to the mountain? Are we really going to make it to the promised land? So we read the story that God is going to test the faith of his people again and again and again. Chapter 15, verse 22. It's three days after Israel has left the Red Sea, and they don't have any water. We're talking about a huge amount of people in the wilderness with no water. Why? Because God was testing them, whether or not they depend on him. Because God does provide the water, verse 25. He does provide a test of whether or not they'll depend on him. Not only did God provide them water. Chapter 16, God provides them with food that they needed for every single day. You know, that test was the test of manna. Say, why did God give his people manna? Why did he feed them with manna? Chapter 16, verse four. It was to test them, whether they would walk in my law. He turned forward to chapter 20. God not only gives water, he not only gives food, he gives them the 10 commandments. And he explains why he does that in verse 20. God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. And then, in summary, we go forward to the book of Deuteronomy. This is the second time they're on the brink of the promised land. The second giving of the law. Chapter 8, verse 2, we find that God has led his people Israel through the wilderness for 40 years. Why did he do that? Chapter 8, verse 2, to test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. You see, God is testing his people to see whether or not they'd obey. It doesn't stop with that. God warns his people about false prophets, about dreamers who want to persuade them. Why would God have that test? Deuteronomy 13 verse three and four. You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. And you shall walk before the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. And you shall serve him and hold fast to him. There's influences to do something else, and God says, I'm allowing those things to test you whether or not you'll listen to me. Furthermore, as we read in the book of Joshua and then into Judges, we know that the Canaanites were not utterly driven out of the land, not utterly destroyed. We learn, in fact, that God did not utterly drive them out. Say, why not? Judges 2, verse 21, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did. You see, God tested Israel in a variety of ways through daily provision and direction, even through deception. and difficult people. All those different ways God tested whether or not his people would listen to his voice. You say, well, none of us have to worry about that. None of us are on the journey to the prime land. None of us are running through the wilderness. None of us need water and food and man and all those kinds of things. So what are we supposed to learn from all this? Well, I think there's some easy parallels for us to understand. I mean, doesn't inflation test our faith in God's daily vision for us? And we feel it at the grocery store. Don't gifted speakers who claim to have heard God cause us to question our traditional way of thinking about God, our traditional faith? Why shouldn't we be more progressive? People seem so polished. They're so persuasive. Why shouldn't we listen to these people? That can test us. Why is it that we have to battle against our sinful flesh? I mean, why can't we just be rid of our sin when God saves us from our sin? Why do we battle every single day with lust? Why, God? Why did Israel have those residing Canaanites in the land? We may not have the trials that Israel had, the test that Israel had, but we can be sure that they are traced upon our dial so that we will obey God's word in the moments that we really think we should lean our own understanding. There's the test of faith. Will I just go with what I think with my gut, with my heart, or will I obey the voice of God? That is the test of faith. And the Bible tells us throughout the scriptures that God tests faith through trials. Faith is trusting in God, that he is able and reliable to do what he's promised. And the testing of faith is obeying God, whether or not we will walk in the way of God with what he has said. That's what the testing of faith is. Now the second point this morning, what's the value of that? Why have our faith tested? Why is it more precious than gold? Why should it be our priority? There's two reasons I want to consider this morning. The first we find in James chapter 1, probably a very familiar passage to you. James chapter 1, verse 2 through 4. James 1, 2 through 4. It's in this passage that we learn that the testing of faith produces maturity. The testing of faith produces maturity. Read with me James 1, 2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Can you imagine what it would be to lack in nothing? I mean, to be able to post on Facebook, I lack nothing. How do you think most people would read that when you post that? They would probably think some kind of financial security that you make five or six digit figures every month, something like that. If you can say, I lack nothing, that must mean you probably make a lot of money, they would think. But instead, what James is talking about is altogether different. and far more valuable. James is pointing to spiritual maturity. He's talking about things that far surpass prosperity and peace and power and protection and pleasure and prestige, the things that people want so much. He's saying there's maturity, there's spiritual maturity available through the testing of faith. Because James is showing us that the testing of faith produces patience. It produces steadfastness. Patience is hoping for what we don't see right now. Remember, Abraham is the example of faith. Abraham was a patient man. He waited 25 years, 25 years for Isaac to be born. That is a lot of patience. I mean, if McDonald's goes over five minutes making our hamburger, we get nervous. 25 years. The testing of your faith produces patience. Testing of your faith produces perseverance. Romans chapter 5 verse 3 and 4. We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces endurance or perseverance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. You see the testing of faith produces all sorts of virtues that makes a person spiritually mature, that makes a person lack nothing. These people are stable and they're hopeful. You know that's what everyone wants. I promise you, all of the people who live around us, they want to feel stable and secure and hopeful. And most of them think if the stock market is up, and the person I want to be elected gets in, then things will be fine for me. But that's just terrible to base all of your hope and your stability on the stock market or on the elections. Obviously, we should pray for the welfare of our nation that tells us to do so. We should pray for its economy. We should pray for the election. We should vote for those candidates which we believe are most just in their plans. But in the end of the day, it's not a stock market. It's not an election that really should be what we hope in and have our faith in. Instead, it's all about whether or not we have some spiritual grit Do you have spiritual grit? Do you have steadfastness and patience? Because if you have spiritual maturity, it doesn't matter what era you live in or what the economy's like or who's elected. You lack nothing, James says, if you have spiritual maturity that comes from the testing of your faith. And that's why this testing of your faith is so valuable, because of how it strengthens the soul. The testing of faith helps you grow spiritually. Let me illustrate this, because I don't want us to get lost in the weeds for a moment, OK? Let's go to the greenhouse. You all can imagine. I feebly tried my hand this year at growing something from inside in the winter. I planted seeds. I got the trays. I got the soil. I got the grow lights. Those seeds had it going for them. They had consistent temperature. They had consistent water. They had consistent light. They had all that they needed to grow. But any gardener knows you better not put that plant in the ground when it's 30 degrees outside. You'll kill it. You better not put it in the ground when it's 80 degrees. as we had in our spring, unseasonably hot. You better not put it straight in the ground when it's 80 degrees either. Why? Because of the stress of going outside, you will kill it. You have to realize that there's a certain method to getting the plants out of the greenhouse. It's like the plants need recess. You put them outside for a little bit, then you take them inside, you put them outside, and you take them inside. You put them in a place that there's somewhat of a temperature control, and then over time, maybe in a place where they'll get a little bit of wind. You say, why is that so important? Because when a plant goes outside, it faces challenges, the challenges of the temperature, the challenges of the wind, Even so, what God does is bring us outside, spiritually speaking. He brings us through a cold winter. Why? So that we'll take root and we'll be strengthened, that we'll get some spiritual grit, some spiritual strength, some spiritual maturity. And I just want you to ask, I want you to ask yourself right now, what is it that God is doing in your life that is testing your faith so that you can grow spiritually. You might say, I don't know anything that God's doing. It seems like my schedule is blowing up though. Nothing that I hoped and planned is going the way I thought. It is when God changes our schedule that he is trying to grow our faith. It is when God brings us into conflicts and difficulties with other people that God is working to grow our faith. Everything that we experience from day to day, God has a singular purpose, to grow your faith, to grow my faith. And to be honest, myself, when God brings me outside into the cold, I feel like going back inside. But if I go back, I won't grow. Because it's not easy to go outside. Peter talks about the trial of our faith being a fiery trial. But what we have to realize is that is traced upon our dial by the son of love. The testing of faith produces spiritual maturity. That's why it's so valuable. One more point. The testing of faith produces genuineness. or it proves genuineness, it proves genuineness. 1 Peter 1, 7, the tested genuineness of your faith. And that is to show us not all faith is genuine faith. Remember when Jesus told the parable of the soils, the parable of the sower who sowed seed on different types of soil? And remember what Jesus said about the seed that fell on the rocky ground? Luke chapter eight, verse 13. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing, fall away. You see, not all faith is genuine faith. But the faith that is genuine faith, the faith that is true, is the faith that stands the test of faith. And when we realize that we have this sort of faith, this sort of faith that obeys God, that stands despite the circumstances, then we realize, I have the real thing. I have true faith. And it's this true faith that's the real deal that is so valuable. Because without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith, we won't be with God forever. So when we have the assurance, I have the real thing, then we can have confidence in our soul that we're doing what pleases God, that one day we'll be with God. Because God has revolutionized our life. We have real faith that hasn't given up. It doesn't come when the bad things come. And this true faith that gives assurance also is a faith that will be rewarded. James 1 verse 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to them who love him. This is the testing of faith, which is so valuable. It is hard. It's not exactly something we pursue, but indeed what God is calling us to is to value it. So as you think of that football team who's practicing in the rain, doing all sorts of things that you're glad they're doing and not you're doing, yeah, glad they're doing it. And what God calls us to in this when it comes to the testing of our faith, it's not that we're scheduling this kind of thing. But what God does want is when it comes, that we stay true, that we have faith, that we obey what God has said. As we run through the scriptures, we see people like the psalmist who says, God, test my heart. Try my faith. See if there's any issue there. I want to be growing in you. So test my life. So there is this invitation to God, whatever you want, I don't have to have my own schedule, whatever you want, I'll do it. I think of the song that we sing, Speak O Lord, the second stanza, where it says, test our thoughts and our attitudes. That's the kind of attitude we want in response to the testing of faith, that we would even invite God to this thing. James tells us that we're to rejoice in trials, because of what we know they accomplished in our life. We are told that we should be patient in trial. And parents, if you need something to talk to the kids over the lunch table about when it comes to this, it is hard to be patient. Remember King Saul, who was supposed to wait seven days for the prophet Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice. It was seven days, but Samuel hadn't come. And King Saul saw the army seemingly going away, and he says, oh no, I better do something. I can't wait any longer. Remember what happened to Saul. The kingdom was stripped from him because of his disobedience. But it was king-elect David who refused to raise his hand against God's anointed, who waited on God's timing before he would be promoted to be the king. That's patience. Lastly, I'd say, in the test of faith, we seek to be obedient. It doesn't have to be flashy. For whatever reason, I was talking to the kids about this this morning, uniquely, and I said, you know, obeying is not always hard. It might not seem like the right thing to do, but obedience sometimes is quite simple. Remember what Elijah said to the widow of Zarephath. When she had almost nothing left, he said to her, make me something first. And I promise you, what you have will not run out. Not hard, but didn't seem, didn't seem like the right thing to do at all. Or think of Joshua who was told by God to walk around Jericho. What kind of battle strategy is that? Not hard! But why? You see, sometimes the ways that God wants us to obey aren't that hard, but we struggle so much with, well, why? We get the hardness of Abraham being told, take your son and offer him as a sacrifice. We get that. But we need to know that what God calls us to do is a test of our faith, and we need to embrace it. We sing living for Jesus wherever I am, doing each duty in his holy name, willing to suffer affliction and loss, deeming each trial a part of my cross. That is the attitude. that sees the testing of faith as more precious than gold. And let's pray for that together today. Father, we ask that you will help us to value this testing of faith that we find throughout your word. Lord, we want to be strong and hopeful people, but it will not come in a spiritual greenhouse. It will come through all the things that you schedule for us. And Lord, may we lean into those things, realizing that it may not be what we had planned, but we know that what you have planned is for our good and for our spiritual growth. And therefore, may we value the unsettling times of life, the times that we have to choose not to lean on our own wisdom, but to trust in you, to obey what you've said. Lord, we ask that you would confirm this to our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.