Will we rejoice as God takes us (as) tiny grains of carbon, who live under the heat and pressures of this world’s opposition, and wonderfully uses that pressure and heat, to transform us into jewels that reflect His majesty and power, His beauty and grace? Can we rejoice
Tests, trials, and temptations… will we be faithful as His love is faithful?
Trials - test and temptation - the trial of one’s fidelity, integrity, virtue, and constancy - Whether from
Trial or proving
External - adversity, affliction, trouble - sent by God and serving to test or prove one’s faith, holiness, and character
Or arising from bodily infirmity
Or with regard to the temptation to sin
The internal temptation to sin - Condition of things in our mental state - lapses of faith or holiness - we are not sharp
Will we remain, stay in that place God has us to do His work, as our first response is almost always to run…
Remaining - self-control, remembering God, and waiting, holding fast in the face of its arrival
Persevering - cheerfully enduring, trusting God and His promise to make good, allowing it to finish its work to receive the promise
God’s work in God’s way, working all things for good (Rom 8)
God imposed tests - internal, birthing (Romans 5:1-8)
So rejoice in your tension, your suffering… the testing of our fidelity, our love and faithfulness, our appreciation and gratefulness for our good Father’s mercy! Remembering that love is not love until its tested, neither is fidelity - the tension between the two of us
Roman 5:1-5 “1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also glory, or rejoice, in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Afflictions - persecution distress, tribulation
Pressure - what constricts or creates friction - narrow space where one is hemmed in - interal pressure that causes someone to feel confined and without options
Cares the challenge of coping with internal pressure of a tribulation - the urge to leave or go - when feeling there is “no way of escape”
The distress of a woman giving birth - to…
The afflictions Christ had to undergo - and which, therefore, his followers must not shrink from
World imposed trials - external, pressure (James 1:2-18; 1Peter 1:3-9)
James 1:2-5 “2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
1Peter 1:3-9 “3Praise 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, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These 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. 8Though 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, 9for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Self-imposed discipline - choosing to abide in word, prayer, and fellowship
2Peter 1:5-6 5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
1Corithians 9:26-27 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Hebrews 10:24-25 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Temptations - the world and my flesh and its desires - fleeing, resisting, falling, and repenting (James 1; 4; Romans 8:13; 1Corinthians 6:12-13; 1John 2:15-16)
Relief of the flesh (Gal 5)
The peace of God (1Peter 4)
Afflictions - persecution distress, tribulation
· Pressure - what constricts or creates friction - narrow space where one is hemmed in - internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined and without options
· Cares for the challenge of coping with the internal pressure of tribulation - the urge to leave or go - when feeling there is “no way of escape”
· The distress of a woman giving birth - to…
· The afflictions Christ had to undergo - and which, therefore, his followers must not shrink from
