The 7 Tests In Which We Must Be Victorious - Refining : The Purpose Of Trials And Tribulations

7 TESTS IN WHICH WE MUST BE VICTORIOUS

REFINING - THE PURPOSE OF TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

OUTLINE

1. THE TEST OF LOVE

2. THE TEST OF FAITH

3. THE TEST OF OBEDIENCE

4. THE TEST OF SACRIFICE

5. THE TEST OF HUMILITY.

6. THE TEST OF ENDURANCE

7. THE TEST OF PATIENCE

1 Corinthians 10 : 13

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Job 23 : 10

" But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. "

Isaiah 48 : 10

" Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. "

THE MESSAGE

7 TESTS IN WHICH WE MUST BE VICTORIOUS

REFINING - THE PURPOSE OF TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

1. THE TEST OF LOVE

Trials and tribulations can be a test of our love. They can reveal whom or what we love most in our lives . They reveal our priorities and desires . The Lord wants us to love Him more than anybody else or anything else. The depth of our love to God is revealed during the seasons of trials. The Lord also wants us to love our fellowmen which includes even our enemies . Therefore trials and tribulations test our love towards God and our fellowmen.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

Mark 12 :30-31

" And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. "

Matthew 10: 37

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

John 21 : 15

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said, you know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my lambs."

Romans 8 : 35-39

" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "

Matthew 5 : 44-48

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

I Corinthians 13: 4-7

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. "

2. THE TEST OF FAITH

Trials and tribulations can be a test of our faith . Do we beleive in God even in the midst of pain and suffering ? Do we beleive in the promises of God even when everything looks impossible.? Do we trust in God even if He does not deliver us?. Do we trust in God even when we do not understand His ways and workings in our lives ? The depth of our faith in God is revealed during times of trials and tribulations.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

I Peter 1 :6-7

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith— of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."