The Test of Faith Part 2
The Test of Faith Part 2
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
James 1:2-3 (NKJV)
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
We know God tests our faith, but the scriptures also encourage us to self-test.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT) Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
It is necessary from time to time to test ourselves and confirm if we are still standing in the true faith once-for-all delivered unto us.
Jesus rebuked Thomas for rejecting God’s usual order and demanding a special sign.
John 20:24-29 (NLT) 24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
Jesus rebuked Thomas because…
He did not believe the testimonies of those who had seen Jesus. These were people he had known personally for 3 ½ years.
He did not believe Jesus’ prophecy.
He had experienced Jesus’ for 3 ½ years, heard His teachings, seen His power, and witnessed His integrity. Yet, He refused to believe Jesus’ promise to come back from the dead. He failed that test of faith.
By contrast, God did not rebuke Gideon for putting out a fleece, which was effectively the same thing Thomas got corrected for.
Why did God go along with Gideon’s fleece but rebuked Thomas?
Gideon was a baby in his walk with God. Thomas was not.
Hebrews 5:12 (NLT) You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
Thankfully, that failure was not the end of Thomas’s story. He grew strong in faith and became the Apostle to India, where he was speared to death by Hindu priests.
Gideon also grew in faith and led 300 men in battle against an army of three hundred thousand.
God knows what each of us needs and what He has to do to get us to the place He has in mind for us.
In order for us to pass the test of faith, we need to know what we are being tested for.
What is being tested when our faith is undergoing a trial? Before answering that question, let us consider a few bold statements.
Salvation is a consequence of faith, but salvation is not the ultimate goal of faith.
John 3:16 (NLT) “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
A lack of faith indicates a lack of knowledge. If You know God, you will have faith in Him and you will be saved,a s a result.
Getting answers to prayers and obtaining the promise is a consequence of our faith, but not the ultimate goal.
Hebrews 11:13-16 (NLT)13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:39 (NLT) All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.
God’s ultimate purpose in sending Jesus was that we may know Him, the Father.
This bold statement requires unpacking.
We can ask what caused death and the need for man to be saved?Disobedience.
What caused disobedience?
The serpent’s temptations.
What made the temptation effective?
Adam and Eve’s ignorance of God.
What is the solution to man’s problems?
Knowledge of God.
John 17:3 (NKJV) “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:25-26 (NLT) 25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
Every test of faith is a test of our knowledge of God.
Every time we are tested, our response will be pulled from our store of knowledge about God.
3 Levels of Faith: Young, Intermediate and Mature Faith
Has little to do with chronological age or even how long we have been believers. Rather, it has to do with growth in our knowledge of God.
Basic differences:
Young Faith (Believes but is not sure because it lacks sufficient evidence.) Motto: “God is good, because He gives me what I want.”
With young faith, I am the arbiter/judge of God’s goodness. My reference points are ‘’how he treats me, how He makes me feel.” When I feel good, God is good. When I don’t feel good, I am not so sure about God anymore. Everything is personal. Even if God is good to everybody else, unless I get what I want, I struggle in my faith.
Psalm 116:1-191 I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 2 Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath…
5 How kind the Lord is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours!6 The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and He saved me.
Mark 11:23 Whatsoever you desire when you pray, believe that you will receive and you shall have it.
Adolescent Faith (Believes and is sure, based on plenty of evidence, but when contrary evidence appears, it begins to shake.)
Motto: “God is good, but I still want what I want.
Intermediate faith has progressed beyond requiring personal evidence alone. It can appreciate God’s goodness in the world at large. But God has to prove Himself over and over again, as if He were on probation. Questions like “How can a good God allow so much suffering in the world?” will trouble it and cause it to falter.
Job 13:15 NKJV Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
Sadly, this is the stage at which most Christians are stuck.
Mature Faith (Believe because it knows God’s character.)
Motto: “God is good. Whatever He wills is good.
With mature faith, God’s goodness is established in His person, irrespective of how He makes me feel, or what is going on in the world. Mature faith no longer requires fresh evidence, or updated information. At this point, we are past the stage of tasting, we have arrived at the point of knowing that God is good.
Psalm 34:8Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.
When God’s deeds cause discomfort or pain, the mature is patient in the conviction that what God wills is best and will make sense someday. Those at this level of faith are able to wait on God, which is perhaps the most difficult thing God requires of us.
1 John 3:22 NKJV And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. We know that we receive whatever we ask because we ask according to His will. Into thy hands I commit my spirit.
At this stage, we are completely sold out to Him. His will has become pleasing to us and we want what He wants. The things we ask are no longer contrary to His will. We receive whatever we ask when we pray, because we are praying His will.
