Genuine Faith Always Gets Tested
1 Pet. 1:3-12
Sept. 25, 1999
I am really excited about getting this sign put up, and I’m excited about being a
church that proclaims Hope through Jesus Christ. I thought about the people that will
drive by our sign, some everyday on their way to work, some everyday from their house
to town, some once a week to play golf, some once a week to eat at Lazy Earls, and it
could go on and on. Alot of people are going to see our sign. In fact, I have had quite a
few people ask me if we were selling our property since we took our old sign down, I told
them no, we were putting up a new one. People notice, people are watching, and folks
will read this message, New Hope for the New Millennium.
I’ve been thinking about these people. They have names, addresses, families, they
have sorrows and victories, they have hurts and hopes, they suffer through divorce, some
are just getting married. There a lot like us. They are busy, they are trying to make their
way. They get many of the same bills that you get in the mail. They listen to the same
world news that we do.
You see, we do have many of the same trials and tribulations in this life, we endure
many of the same things, it’s part of the human experience, the difference for the Christian
is This Hope that goes beyond this World. We have a Hope that far outlive the Y2K
crisis, if there is one. We have a Hope that will still be valid even if Wall Street becomes
obsolete. We have a Hope that goes beyond health, sickness, and even death. Our Hope
is Eternal, and as a Christian, That Hope Lives in Me.
Let me tell you today, there’s Hope for Clarksville, there’s still Hope for America,
it’s found in Jesus. If you have this Hope say Amen!
This morning, I want to share with you a Great Scripture describing this Hope
Eternal that is ours to have today. Let’s read again v.3-5.
To possess this Living Hope something must happen in your life. There must be
what the Bible describes as a New Birth. And the Bible in v.3 tells us that this New Birth
is a Gift of God, It’s the Gift of Faith.
God has given you the ability to put your Faith in Him, and when you do so, He
freely pours out his Mercy and his Forgiveness, and by His Divine power, you are
RE-BORN, spiritually you become new, unblemished.
This gift of Faith flowed from His Mercy. God’s Mercy described in this verse
characterizes who He is and how He relates to people. We should Praise God for His
Mercy!
ILL. A survey was taken of CHRISTIANS concerning their understanding of being born
again. One-third said they had heard the term used but didn’t know what it meant.
Another third said they thought they understood it but had never experienced it. The last
third said the new birth had happened in their lives.
Friends, if this survey was accurate, 66% of people who profess to be Christians
have not experienced the New Birth. Sadly, I believe that probably is pretty accurate in
our society.
Friends, there are many, many people who would call themselves Christian, but
would not be able to explain exactly what that means, or what happened spiritually to
make it so.
Can I tell you something this morning? If there’s anything we need in our church’s
more than anything today, it’s people who are genuine in their faith, people who are
authentic in their walk.
I can tell you what people are looking for in a church today, and I’m talking about
unchurched, non-chistian folks who would consider coming to church. They want a
church were the people are real. A church that doesn’t just go through the Religious
motions, but instead a people who actively involved in Worship and in Service. They have
all heard the talk, they are looking for the Walk.
Friends, this New Birth produces a real live Spiritual Life, this new Birth produces
a living hope that is evident in your life.
“This hope is the eager, confident expectation of the life to come.”
CHUCK SWINDOLL WROTE IN HIS BOOK “COME BEFORE WINTER”
“Take from us our wealth and we are hindered. Take our health and we are handicapped.
Take our purpose and we are slowed, temporarily confused. But take away our hope and
we are plunged into deepest darkness.........stopped dead in our tracks, paralyzed.”
Where do we get our Hope? The Christians Hope is based on the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Eternal life is ours because God has promised it to those who put their trust
in the crucified but now living Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to remember the Christians who were receiving this letter from Peter, they
needed to be reminded of the Hope they had in Christ. They needed to be reminded that
they could reley on Him, that he would bring them through their tough times. How many
of us need to be reminded of that this morning?
Friends, you have a Hope that goes beyond this world and it’s problems, don’t
ever lose sight of that.
There’s more. This New Birth also gives us the promise of an inheritance.
Now what kind of inheritance is this anyway? Is it stocks and bonds? Is it a garage full of
belongings? Read V. 4.
Friends, no matter how hard this life gets, never forget what God has for you, “waiting for
you”, protected by his power, it will be worth everything you could give and then some.
And all this is given to you as a Gift, when we put our Faith in Jesus Christ and Make him
Lord of our lives.
Peter keeps giving us some instruction into this Faith, this life of the Christian. Look at
V.6-7.
Can I ask you a personal question? Did you Rejoice that last time you were faced with a
trial? Now Peter doesn’t say to Rejoice, he says to Greatly Rejoice. Isn’t that kind of
strange?
Peter is wanting his readers to look beyond their circumstances, and he begins to paint a
wonderful picture here. Our trials our for a little while. There is a great contrast between
“for a little while” and Peter’s description of their inheritance that “can never perish, spoil
or fade.” Friends, our pain is passing; our inheritance is permanent. Can you say Praise
God?
These trials come that our Faith may be proved genuine.
ILL. A blacksmith, about eight years after he had given his heart to God, was
approached by an intelligent unbeliever with the question: “Why is it you have so much
trouble? I have been watching you. Since you joined the church and began to “walk with
the Lord”, and seem to love everybody, you have twice as many trials and accidents as
you had before. I thought when a man gave himself to God, his troubles were over. Isn’t
that what the preacher tells us?”
“With a thoughtful but glowing witness the blacksmith replied: “Do you see this
piece of Steel? It is for the springs of a carriage. But it needs to be tempered. In order to
do this, I heat it red-hot, and then cool it with water. If I find it will take a temper, I heat
it again; then I hammer it, and bend it, and shape it, so it will be suitable for the carriage.
Often I find the steel too brittle, and it cannot be used. If so, I throw it on the scrap pile.
Those scraps are worth less than one cent per pound; but this carriage spring is very
valuable.”
He paused, and the listener nodded. The blacksmith continued: ‘God saves us for
something more than to have a good time. That’s the way I see it. We have the good
time, all right, for the smile of God means heaven. But he wants us for service, just as I
want this piece of steel. And he puts the temper of Christ in us by testing and trials”.
The Strength of our Faith is developed through testing in the difficulties of life.
Warren Wiersbe is right when he said, “A Faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted.”
Christians, don’t despise the testing and trials that come in your life, they are the
very things that God will use to build you and shape you into the person He want’s you to
be. When we continually question and ask Why to the test in our life, we are missing what
God is trying to accomplish in us, and through us. So Rejoice Greatly for the tests and
trials that come your way, God is working on you!!!!!!
Read V.7-9
The Goal of our Faith is the Salvation of our Soul. We need to see the big Picture.
ILL. Can I tell you What Houston Nutt told his players yesterday after their loss to
Alabama. Now I wasn’t there, and I haven’t seen what he told them, but I know what he
said, or what his message was. Watch it tonight and see if I’m right.
Today was a battle, or a test, and we lost. We made mistakes, we didn’t take
advantage of all the opportunities that we had.
But I guarantee you, he reminded them of the bigger picture. That what happened
today was going to make them a better football team down the road. During the football
season your going to overcome adversity, your going to have to overcome injuries, your
going to have to improve and get better every week, and by keeping their eyes on the
bigger goal, winning the Championship, they will be able to overcome the obstacles along
the way.
The Arkansas Razorbacks could say that losing hurts too much, that it’s not worth
all the work to practice if you can’t be guaranteed a win.
They could choose to react that way. But they won’t, do you know why?
They have coaches that have them believing in each other, and they have them focused on
the big picture. And when you see the big picture, you don’t allow the obstacles along the
way distract you from where your going.
What this passage is teaching us, and as Peter sent it out to those who were
suffering for their faith, is that your Faith will be tested, and that when it’s tested you can
rejoice because of what that testing will accomplish in you. God will shape you and mold
you just as the blacksmith molded the steel, but first God wants to know if you will be
willing to go through the testing, and the trials. If you will Trust God, If you will use the
trials as a Faith builder, God will make, and mold you into what He desires.
On the other hand. If you look at every trial as some unfair, some unjust
punishment that causes you to doubt God and his Love for you, the test will only bring
what you allow it too, which will be sorrow and despair. Don’t curse what God allows
for Good.
Do you possess this New Birth? Do you possess this Faith in Jesus Christ? Friends, you
will not be saved because you attend Religious services, you will only be saved when you
By Faith Ask Jesus Christ to Be Lord of your Life. Is he Lord of your life?
YOU MAY BE A MIRACLE WAITING TO HAPPEN! WILL YOU ALLOW GOD TO
PERFORM A MIRACLE IN YOUR LIFE? IT TAKES FAITH AND TRUST ON
YOUR PART, AND HE PROVIDES
