PASS THE TEST OR BE RETESTED
Deut. 8:2,5,15-16; Mal. 3:1-3; 1 Cor. 3:12-15
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
2. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.
3. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.
4. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.
5. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting — 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.”
6. So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen. A young woman was coming toward him, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. He started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured.
7. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and then he saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.
8. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. He felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was he desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had warmed and upheld his own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. He did not hesitate.
9. His fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful. He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held out the book to the woman, even though while he spoke he felt choked by the bitterness of his disappointment. “I’m Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”
10. The woman’s face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you asked me out to dinner, I should tell you that she’s waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
11. Hollis Maynell tested John Blanchard’s devotion to her. She tested his character. God does the same to us!
[This fictional story was penned by S.I. Kishor, originally published in Collier‘s magazine in 1943 under the title “Appointment with Love.”]
B. TEXT
1. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. Deut. 8:2,5,15-16.
3 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me….the Lord you are seeking will come to his Temple…” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming?...For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, Mal. 3:1-3.
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames” 1 Cor. 3:12-15.
C. THESIS
1. We’re looking today at tests: their pain, purpose, and payoff.
2. The title of this message is “Pass the Test or Be Retested.”
I. THE PAINFULNESS OF TESTING
A. WORLDLY TESTING PAINFUL
1. I’ve never taken a test that didn’t cause me some anguish.
2. Conventional tests test the limits of our knowledge, abilities, endurance. Strength, determination, mental powers, etc.
3. But there is a common denominator in all testing: difficulty and painfulness.
4. ILLUSTRATION
a. A cattleman out on a range in Wyoming rode into a clearing and spotted a cowboy who’d either been thrown or had fallen off his horse. Near him stood a bull. The animal snorted, dropped its head, and charged the cowboy.
b. The cowboy dove into a hole in the side of the hill. Just after the bull ran by, the cowboy jumped out of the hole. The bull charged again, and he jumped back in the hole. Then he jumped back out of the hole.
c. This was repeated two more times. Finally, the cattleman on the horse yelled, “Hey! Why don’t you stay in that hole until he goes away?”
d. “I would but there’s a bear in that hole!” he yelled. He was between a bull and a bear, the proverbial “Between a rock and a hard place.” Have you ever been there? That’s how tests are!
B. YOUR PAIN MAY INDICATE TESTING
1. Many of you are in pain – physical, emotional, or mental.
2. Some “ “ “ “ confusion.
3. You wonder where God is.
a. “Why hasn’t He answered my prayers?”
b. “Why would He let this happen to me?”
C. SIMILAR FEELINGS OF BIBLE PERSONALITIES
1. DISCOURAGEMENT
a. In some of your lives there seems to be a conspiracy of discouragement aimed at destroying your zeal for the Lord and ultimately your faith.
b. “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life….He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” 1 Kings 19:3-4. Discouragement affects even the strongest and most spiritual!
2. DELAYS
a. For some there have been delays in the fulfillment of God’s will for your life/ family.
b. For 25 long, lonely years Abraham waited for God to give him a son.
c. For 13 long years Joseph waited for his vision’s fulfillment.
3. LOSS
a. Some of you have experienced terrible losses – of family members or finances devastated by some calamity.
b. We see David (1 Sam. 30:4) weeping bitter tears outside Ziklag, where his family and possessions have all been stripped away.
4. TEMPTATION
a. For others, you have encountered a besetting sin, a temptation that won’t go away and that torments you every day, tempting you to abandon your convictions and go back to the world.
b. Didn’t Joseph, who was constantly tempted by Potiphar’s wife, also feel the terrible grip of temptation?
D. WHAT IS THE REASON, THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT ALL? (discouragement, loss, delays, temptations)
II. THE PURPOSE OF TESTS (value of all this pain)
A. A PURPOSE FOR GOOD
1. Listen to what Moses said, “He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you” Deut. 8:16.
2. It’s all part of God’s big plan to do us good! He’s moving us toward the awesome and amazing future He is planning for us!
B. BRINGS OUT TRUE CHARACTER
1. Look what the Bible says about Hezekiah, who had just experienced a God-given victory over his greatest foe, Sennacherib king of Assyria and was healed of a fatal disease;
2. “But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart” 2 Chr. 32:31.
3. Though Hezekiah was a good man, he had a major character flaw of pride, that came out when he began to brag and flaunt his riches to the Babylonians, which later came back to bite the entire nation and his family.
C. YOUR DEVOTION TO GOD WILL BE TESTED
1. The 3 Hebrews – friends of Daniel – are great examples of believers who withstood the world’s demands that they compromise. They wouldn’t bow, budge, or burn.
2. And when they came forth from their testing (the furnace), there wasn’t even the smell of smoke on their clothing. In other words, the fire/test didn’t leave its mark on them.
3. Many people are scarred by life’s difficulties, but when you through them with God, He can cause them not to mar your heart or mind. He gives His peace and healing!
D. IT’S GOD’S WAY OF REFINING US
True Christianity is something within you that will eventually work its way out. Some time ago I talked about…
1. “How Does a Caterpillar Turn into a Butterfly?” [Scientific American, Ferris Jabr, 8/10/12]. The crucial change starts after it settles down into its death-like hibernation.
2. God causes it to release a chemical that turns its insides to mush -- no perceptible parts. All the old caterpillar organs are dissolved! It’s old DNA is destroyed & somehow a new DNA takes its place!
3. From the old mush emerges a whole new creature: the brain, internal parts, head, legs, and wings of a butterfly. It’s an absolute miracle!
4. I want to say, this morning, that it’s such a change that must take place in you if you want to go to heaven. The old you must die and be replaced by the divine nature of Jesus Christ!
5. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” Gal. 2:20.
6. REFINED: as we reject the world, His Christlikeness rises to the top!
E. IT’S A WITNESS TO OTHERS
1. Others must see our dedication
2. The test gives the lost around us the opportunity to see how differently Christians act than others.
3. It also gives God a chance to work a miracle where they can see His hand move.
F. SO WE WON’T BE CONDEMNED
1. Malachi said, “Who can endure the day of his coming? Who shall stand?” (3:2). Certainly not lost people.
2. Paul said, “the fire [of judgment] will test the quality of each person’s work.” 1 Cor. 3:13. Judgment must begin at the House of God – with God’s people. All will go through the fire; our can be now, not later.
3. “Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world” 1 Cor. 11:32.
4. If you deal with your faults now, you won’t have to at the Judgment Seat.
III. PASS THE TEST OR BE RETESTED
A. PAINFUL REALITY IF WE DON’T PASS
1. If we don’t pass, we have to take the test over again.
2. Pharaoh flunked the same test TEN TIMES and so he got a final exam in deep sea diving!
3. Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they wouldn’t move on with God. They kept going around the same mountain over and over because they were stubborn and wouldn’t listen to God. Hello? Is that you?
4. They could have been enjoying the promised land much earlier if they’d just listened and obeyed God. You too can enter God’s joy if you’ll abandon your self-determination and start letting God lead.
B. GLORIOUS JOYS IF WE DO PASS
1. EARLIER EXAMPLES:
a. Elijah (discouraged and wanted to die) obeyed and was soon caught up to heaven.
b. Abraham got his son.
c. David (Ziklag) recovered his family and was made King in months.
d. Joseph was elevated to the throne of Egypt.
2. Let’s see our trials/tests as means to purify us, to take us to a higher level.
3. Let’s respond to our difficulties in a positive, trusting attitude, knowing that our Father knows the path we take and will eventually lift us up.
4. “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined” Ps. 66:10, NKJV.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Bobby was 13. One day his dad asked him, “Bobby, what’s the hardest word in the English language to say?”
2. Bobby had just watched “Mary Poppins” so he instantly said, “I know! It’s Supercalafragalisticexpealadocious.”
3. His dad said, “No, that’s not a real word.” Then Bobby remembered a teacher saying the longest word was “Antidisestablishmentarianism.”
4. But his dad didn’t agree with him. He said, “That may be the longest word, but that’s not the hardest word to say. The hardest word to say is “No.”
5. Bobby shook his head, “That’s not hard to say! It’s only two letters!”
6. His dad said, “It may be only two letters, but it’s still the hardest word to say. Because it’s hard to say “NO” to selfishness, to sin, to anger, to meanness, to pleasure, to our own wants and wishes.”
7. That dad was right. We will all be tested with wrong choices. It’s up to us to say “NO” to them and “YES” to Jesus!
B. GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR OUR GOOD
1. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” Rom. 8:28, NKJV.
2. It doesn’t matter what your trials look like or how bad things may be, God is still on the throne! He’s a delivering God; He hasn’t forgotten you. Start dreaming again, believing again!
3. If you’ve been facing a trial, stand up where you are. If a believer is standing near one whose standing, go over and put a hand on their shoulder and let’s pray.
C. THE CALL
1. Jesus Christ is your only hope of salvation and heaven. If you want Christ in your life, step out of your seat and meet me down here at the front.
2. Prayer for salvation.
