Your Faith Must Stand Trial 1 Peter 1:3-9; 13-16; 4: Let s take our Bibles this morning Turn to 1 Peter 1

Transcription

1 Your Faith Must Stand Trial 1 Peter 1:3-9; 13-16; 4:12-13 Let s take our Bibles this morning Turn to 1 Peter 1 a couple weeks ago I was up at the work out center where I exercise when it cold outside I was on the stationary Bike or Elliptical machine similar to a stair master But I was Sweating to the Oldies Sports Center was on Sports Nation TV The commentator made a comment that caught my attention What good is talent without testing He said If you are a good athlete you want to be tested You want to go up against different opponents You want to face different situations to find out how good you are where you can improve What good is talent without testing Wow that is really good In the back of my mind I wasn t all that great in Athletics growing up Being tested is not something I would have gotten too excited about 1

2 But earlier that morning I spent some time in 1 Peter 1 Peter talks about our faith More precious than Gold thought tested by Fire And I thought As a Christian What good it faith without testing Testing shouldn t be something that I am discouraged by difficulties shouldn t be something that causes me to doubt my faith When we are going through the fire there should be a sense of excitement anticipation The Lord is up to something here Even though I don t completely how God could turn this situation around I do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose This morning I want to read a few verses in 1 Peter 1 a couple in 1 Peter 4 The Title of the Sermon this morning: Your Faith Must Stand Trial 2

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober in spirit, set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as though some strange thing were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12-13 Pray: all of us are going through testing of some kind here this morning we ask for an anointing that brings deliverance healing open our eyes to lies compromise 3

4 A while back I read a story of a woman named Daria in a 4 square publication talks about what God is doing thru missions Daria was part of a Muslim community that prided itself in being 100% Muslim. (a very strict sect of the Muslim religion) Her personal identity her family honor her social status value were completely intertwined with Islam To put it simply if Daria left her faith she would lose her life If her family ever found out she was no longer Muslim they would kill her without question If by some chance she escaped she would lose everything else she had based her life her value honor emotional support family friends in the village everything she knew up until that point in her life Daria worked in a small restaurant in a village where some young 4 Square missionaries had moved to being an outreach begin a church secretly one on one (Not advertised no Signs) 4

5 Over a period of time she noticed the love and kindness they had for her the value they seemed to place on her life especially as a woman Finally one day she asked them some questions about Christian What was it about why it was different a few months later with fear in her eyes faith in her heart she asked How do I become a Christian? What is amazing to me their first words were Are you sure? This will effect everything in your life everything you have based your life on up until this point? She had thought about it a lot apparently another friend had become a Christian said she was sure This brother said Are you ready to die for your faith? if that should be the result of your decision She said Yes? They prayed with her to receive Christ She committed her life to Him eventually forced to flee her village family friends 5

6 Now she is a part of the underground church in that area of the world she works strategically and sacrificially to spread the gospel among her people That is so different than faith here in America We live in a generation that is very self centered very Me oriented Meism We live in a generation that cannot deal with delayed gratification We want everything now we want everything fast we want everything quick My concern for the Church In an effort to appeal to this generation I feel like we have watered down the gospel to try to make it appealing If feel like we have made God Kind of a Heaven Santa Claus Who is there when we need Him Who gives us what we want Without cost without sacrifice without testing As a result I m not sure if people who think they are Christians we have really been prepared people for a real walk with the Lord 6

7 How many know real faith is proven in the furnace of affliction Real faith is proven through times of testing Real faith is proven through seasons adversity IN Hebrews 11 The Great Faith chapter in the Bible It talks about men and women Who lived by Faith during their time here on earth Some experienced tremendous miracles They walked through the red sea on dry land they saw the walls of Jericho come down They shut the mouths of lions some saw their dead raised back to life others were beaten some were imprisonment Some were put to death by stoning; [ some were sawed in two; others were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated 38 the world was not worthy of them. For They were looking for a city whose builder and architect was God It doesn t matter if you are if you are rich or poor married or single Male or female young or old your faith is going to be tested! 7

8 Your Faith must stand trial! Single people think If I was just married I could escape this fiery trial that I am going through Married people think If I could just get rid of this guy my life would be so much easier Some people think If I had more money If I had a better job a more understanding boss Without Faith it is impossible to please God, because He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 There is something about faith in the midst of the circumstance you are facing In the midst of the challenge in the midst of the testing He is He is in the midst of the trial you are going through Sometimes we ask God to fix things He is not going to fix Sometimes we ask God to change things He is not going to change Sometimes we ask God to move things He is not going to move 8

9 Jesus said to the Apostle Paul My grace is sufficient, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will all the more gladly boast in my weakness that the power of Christ might me made manifest in me? 2 Corinthians 12:9 How do we do that in our life How do we keep from loosing heart? Peter said in 1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober in spirit, set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 #1 Prepare your minds for action the original language really say gird your mind for action that is a little strange for us IN Peter s day they wore long flowing robes if you were going to run you would pick up your robe tuck it into your belt girdle so you could move freely run The King James translation Gird up the loins of your mind loins reproduction 9

10 Isn t it amazing what Our mind produces Our mind does bear fruit it our actions attitudes emotions Our behavior starts in our minds Our action reactions starts in our mind our thought life If we are going to go through.. the firery trials we are going through If we aren t going to fall back into our old behavior the addictive patterns As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 1 Peter 1:14 We have to start with controlling our mind girding up our mind preparing our mind The way we do that is with the Word of God Did you know when you are in the dark you can t see but you can still hear If we turned off the lights completely in here You could see But you could hear line up your life Find your way through a dark time We prepare our minds for action being listening to God s word 10

11 God s word will produce God s thoughts in our life which will produce God s actions Christ character fruit of the Spirit Our thoughts our anger our fears produce death We have the word of God around us more in our lives than ever in the history of the world We need to get it into our hearts minds lives Peter will talk about that in chapter 2 Like new born babes long for the sincere milk of the word. #2 Set you Hope fully On the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ returns Set your hope fully Not partially but fully Unfortunately that is not easy for us We have a tendency to set our hope partially on Jesus partially on the stock market presidential election family job career success Set your Hope Fully Think with me for a moment on the disciples 11

12 some of the things they went through following Jesus When they were out on the lake storm feeding the 5000 Everything Jesus did everything He taught caused them to letting go of holding on to this world It caused them to out their trust in Jesu s Christ When Jesus died on the Cross that really stripped their gears They couldn t trust in this world any more They began to be focus so completely on Jesus and His kingdom everything they had trusted in this life had been taken away The same is true for us The goal of our faith stop trusting in this word fully trust in Jesus with our life God I stripping us of our trust in this world He is empowering us to put out trust in Jesus Millions of people consider suicide every year 10,000 s do it the reason pin points what they were living for I would rather die than loose this 12

13 Gird of the loins of your mind Set your hope fully Set your hope fully on this New King and His new kingdom #3 Set your character on God s character As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:14-16 We struggle with the idea of Holiness When we think of the word Holiness we think of strict rigid religious That is not what Holiness means Jesus was Holy People loved Him Jesus was wise Jesus was smart Jesus knew how to handle situations.. Jesus knew how to handle relationships Jesus was full of grace Jesus didn t compromise But Holiness was not what we think of When we think of the word Holiness Holiness the word Holy Means other set apart 13

14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1: st of all resist your former addictions not just chemical emotional relational It is amazing how the old ways of life come back when you are going through a trial We had so many ways manipulating controlling forcing people to do what we wanted for our comfort safety Instead Don t let those old behaviors control you Act like Jesus Be set apart respond in the spirit be led by the spirit Don t react in the flesh Lean into the New character I am producing in you The Fruit of the Spirit is Love joy peace Patience kindness goodness self-control 14