Tempted, Tested and Tried

The following message is presented by John Elliott, a minister in the United Church of God.

People tend to view lives as an opportunity to experience something from birth to death that is peaceful, it's wonderful, it's blessed, it's happy, it's full of success. It's called life. And we as humans sort of map it out from the beginning. We get educated, we learn what we really like, we begin to pursue those things, we maybe pursue someone that we like, a career that we like, a place that we like. So many things. And life is going to be sort of this nice, clean, straight shot that we're going to experience. And then if we've done something, maybe good or God likes us enough, we'll get to do this eternally. And it's just going to be great.

So when we think of life in that way, then all anomalies to our sort of lined out, pure life are to be avoided. We really, really need to avoid all the other things that don't fit into our life scenario. God views people's lives through a totally different lens than we do.

God is not about those things. He didn't make you and me and the earth that we live on and all of its complexities, the sky above us, the stars, the heavens. He didn't create all of this so that you and I could sort of pop in and have a nice little life that is pure and simple and lots of fun. Let's go to Matthew 6, verse 25. When God came to earth in the flesh as Jesus Christ, He immediately, right off the bat, began to teach us what this life is really about from God's perspective. In Matthew 6, verse 25, He says, Therefore I say to you, don't worry about your life. This is not the focus of what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, about your body, about your clothing, about your house.

Is not life more than these things? Dropping down to verse 33. But you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's what this life is about. It's a brief opportunity for God to create temporary humans to sample His nature, to learn about His kingdom, to celebrate it every week, Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath, to put it right in the forefront of our minds, to put His plan of salvation through the Holy Days, year after year after year, to put it right there. We will tend to avoid those things and slip back into the sixth day of the week, mindset, and pursue a nice life with good food and a nice place to live with lots of enjoyment. And hopefully there won't be any problems along the way, and maybe we'll get to experience that forever. Going back to God's viewpoint here, His purpose for us, let's see a few things in Scripture today that He says about His purpose for you and me, having a life. In Exodus chapter 16 and verse 4, God called some people out to Him, the nation of Israel, just like Jesus spoke to people and said, I'm saying to you, so those who God is working with here, the Lord said to Moses, Exodus chapter 16, and verse 4, Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. And the humans say, Oh, good! Food! Good food! Dependable food! This is working out! This is going to be great! In fact, this is God's food, and my health is going to be good. I'm not going to have to worry. This is contributing to a good life here. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them to see if they will walk in my law or not. See, God's purpose for us is to test us to see if we really will be godly children of His kind imbued with His Spirit that actually are sons and daughters in the God family of the God kind versus those who are of a different kind, a different mindset from a different father who merely want to tag along for the people of God. And that's the benefit. In Exodus 20, God gave the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. The Israelites were resistant to hearing that directly. And in verse 20 of Exodus 20, Moses said to the people, fear for God has come to test you and that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin.

God has this goal for humans, all humans eventually, that we will not be of that sinful, lawless mindset of the lawless one of Satan and have to be destroyed. But rather, we'll repent and be of the God mindset. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 2, once the Israelites came under the direction of God being led out, Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 2, it says, And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness. So here was God leading Israel around in a very small territory down in the Negev Desert south of Jerusalem there, which actually occupies a little more than half of present-day Israel. The Israelites marched around and around. Now you think for 40 years God wanted to show one generation, then another generation about the wonders of the desert, how few things live out there and occasional creatures that come by and just so they could have a marvelous life and experience in the desert. That doesn't really come to mind. He led you in the wilderness for 40 years to humble you and to test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. That was to test them before he brought them into the Promised Land.

You and I are being tested before we come into our Promised Land, which is the very Kingdom of God.

In Judges chapter 3 and verse 4, in this situation, they were left that he might test Israel by them so they could have a tempting influence. He left them there so that Israel could be tempted by them or tested by them to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. You and I are left in the world. We're not taken out of the world. That we might be tested to see if we truly will obey God and obey his commandments and live by the mindset that God puts in us through his Holy Spirit. Eventually, God will test every human being who has ever lived and ever will live to know who is really devoted to being of the God-kind and who is faking it, who really doesn't want to be there.

Are you tempted, tested, and tried yet? That's a question that perhaps we don't step up to ask. We'd like to shy away from that. We don't want to encounter things that are contrary to our sort of smooth view of life.

But let's ask this question from what we are going to see in scriptures today. Am I fully tempted, tried, and tested? That's the title of the sermon. Consider that everyone must be tempted, they must be tried, and they must be tested in order for God to know how to judge them, how to assign them. And those who will enter his kingdom will be enduring and faithful in doing right and having the godly mindset. There are no exceptions from Genesis to Revelation, from Adam and Eve all the way through the second resurrection. Everybody will be tempted, tried, and tested. David was, Isaiah was, Jeremiah was, Adam and Eve were, Jesus Christ was, all the prophets were, all the disciples were. The apostles were, the faithful are, all the way through the book of Revelation, everybody. But not me, right?

You see, I'm an exception. I mean, you are, right? We kind of sense this. God likes me. I mean, God blesses us, right? And we pray for his blessings, and we want to avoid any other no illness, right? No financial issues, no health issues, no persecution issues, no death in the family, no, you know, all these things. We've got to avoid these things, and God, please take away everything from eyesight to pain, to persecution from the outside, accusations, false accusations, deception and temptation of the seven deadly sins, if you want to call them that. You know, keep all that from me. Keep me in a cocoon somewhere, in a place that's safe. Well, surely God would not need to test the most righteous person on earth, right? I wouldn't consider myself to be that. You might not consider yourself to be that, but God considered someone to be that. His name was Job.

Job, in Job chapter 2 and verse 3, is stated by God himself to be the most righteous person on earth at the time. Job chapter 2, beginning in verse 3, then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?

Now, Job had already endured a massive trial, massive trial. He got a phone call. Well, they didn't have phones. He just got a call. Hey, Job, all your kids are dead, and their wives, and probably all your grandkids are dead, in one shot. And I'll tell you what, that can change a life right there. That can change everything you've ever done and all that's important to you and everything on your mind and all your plans. They just go out the window, and you've got a whole new reality to deal with.

And Job passed that test and moved to the next one. Have you considered my servant Job that there's none like him on the earth? He's the most righteous person on earth at this time, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil, and he still holds fast to his integrity. He has stood the test that was given him. Although you enticed me against him to destroy him without cause, destroying a righteous person without cause will come. And that might be character destruction, assassination, it might be some other destruction. Yes, it's part of the test from Satan the devil who wants to kill us all. So it's something that we should be armed with the armor of God, ready for, anticipating, and we should survive quite well. Now, we look down here in verse 7. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. You know, the first one was a mental trial. It was an attack. It was persecution. The second one was a physical trial of the flesh. When you stop and think of people who have had trials of the flesh, they would include David. They would include Jesus Christ, who was tortured without deliverance for us. They would include the Apostle Paul, all the beatings and the stonings, and perhaps the eyesight that God would not heal him of. And God does not heal, as we can see with Paul, when he determines not to do so. There are good things to test us, to give Paul a big job, a big work, the most person who wrote the most books of the Bible, and then make it where he can't see, if that indeed was the case, which it looks like it was. What about the most perfect man who has ever existed on the earth? The most perfect man who has ever walked this earth? Surely he wouldn't have to be tempted, tried, tested, would he?

40 days, Luke says, that Jesus was tempted, and he endured everything that Satan threw at him. We see three or so temptations that were given him, but he threw everything at Jesus, and Jesus endured them faithfully and perfectly. No compromise, no flaw. And then he was tested by the Pharisees, and then he was tested by the Sadducees, and then he was tested by the the council. He was tested by the Sanhedrin, he was tested by the Romans, he was tested by Pilate. In the end, remember, Pilate found him unworthy of death, free to go, nothing to say against him. He just had one question for him. Jesus, are you a king? Jesus could have wiggled out of that one easily, and probably or possibly rightly so. He could have said, not yet, and Rome wouldn't have had a problem with him.

But Jesus, you see, that's who he was, and that's who he was about, and that's why he was here, and that was him. And he stood and did not deny that for which he was here, and for which God the Father had sent him, and the role for which he came to fill for you and me as our Savior. And he said, you rightly say that I am a king.

You know, Jesus went on during his crucifixion to be discouraged, tempted, repeatedly, taunted, so many things. He was tried, tested, and faithful in godliness. In agape, love. Love God with your heart, soul, and might. Love your neighbor as yourself. Everything thrown at him. He stayed on point. I am agape. I am love. God is love. The God family is love. Now, God wants to know, are you in the God family? Are you love, too? Am I love, too? Let's see. Let's throw a few things at you. I'll let Satan throw a few things at you. He's a necessary evil. Let's see if you're really love. He tells the church at the end time, he who endures to the end in agape will be saved. So we need to have this enduring quality in our temptations, in our trials, in our testing. We need to be the real deal, the genuine article. The Greek word translated trials or temptation are trials of any type. They can come in any different ways. And the interesting thing about a trial, it may be a singular event of some kind, but when it impacts you, it sort of breaks apart into pieces and hits you on so many different levels at the same time. Concurrently, it might hit you here, but your awareness of others who have trials suddenly expands. You have empathy and sympathy for others that you didn't before. It hits you here and it tests your faith. It hits you here and, oh, God is involved because all things will work together. So many things happen to every one of us when a trial impacts our life. To test and try something out is necessary. It's beneficial. Think of Boeing aircraft, for instance. Many of us grew up at a time when new airplanes came out, when new airplane designs came out for passenger jets, you usually had, I used to count them three, three major crashes, until they figured out what it was that was the defect that would take that plane out. Then they were pretty much good to go after that. Today, they're able to do that in so many different ways. They'll test and stress test every piece of that plane before it's ever even assembled. They'll run every type of scenario that they possibly can. And finally, they'll attach it and they'll fill that plane full of barrels of water and they'll really lay it down above its maximum weight. And they'll go out and they'll push that thing in turns, in various types of bumps and turbulence before they ever put a person in it or certify it. Then they'll learn from that and they'll come back and finally you'll get a plane. Today, we don't expect new aircraft to fail.

Same happens with boats or anything else. You have test drives of vehicles.

Some of you are familiar with some of the testing facilities for vehicles where they create a prototype. It's ready to go into production and they send some out to this testing ground. And they'll run them maybe 24 hours a day through severe tests and severe weather. They're usually out in deserts and places where they can really take this thing through its paces. We live near one in Arizona and afterward they would take those cars and they would dig deep holes in the ground and they would bury them. And the manufacturer that had that big test track and that huge thing out there, that testing thing, had buried so many cars down through time in the ground there that they had run through tests. Same with any type of seagoing vessel. When you build something or when you repair something, you want to take it out and put it through its paces to see if this thing is going to function when you're way out at sea or when you're traveling some remote highway somewhere or when you're up in the air where you can't breathe and it's cold and you can't walk out on the wing and fix something. See, those are the reason why. Now, if God's going to bring us into his kingdom and make us into a God-being that's powerful with creating abilities which God-beings have, he wants us to be fully tempted, tried, and tested before he puts on that type of eternal glory. Let's go to Jeremiah 17. We might often think, as I find myself doing, that I'm pretty good. I think I've gotten through the test stuff. I'm ready, you know, bring the kingdom. And then we read Jeremiah 17 and verse 9. It says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? You know how it is. Sometimes we think, oh, everything's going just too good. It's just too smooth. I'm not seeing any problems. I'm feeling good about everything. What's wrong? You know, because the heart is deceitful and it'll mask things. Well, who can know it? Verse 10, I the Lord search the heart. I test the mind. God will know. He will test even to give every man according to his ways. In other words, will it be the kingdom of God or the lake of fire? I have to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. And this has to be the genuine article. In Wikipedia, it defines a sea trial is a testing phase of a watercraft, including boats, ships, submarines, any kind of watercraft. It's also referred to by a Navy personnel as a shakedown cruise, because that's what you try to go do. Go get some heavy seas and shake that thing apart if you can. It's usually the last phase. It happens at the last phase of the construction process and takes place out on open water. It can last from a few hours to many days. It's interesting that the shakedown cruise. Adam and Eve had a shakedown cruise, didn't they? David did. Jesus did. Put under adverse pressure. These aren't normal things. A certain serpent coming up to you and going through that. That's not normal. What Satan did to Jesus and what society did to Jesus, that didn't happen to the average person. What happened to David? That was very abnormal. Having a king being controlled by demons who wants to kill you just isn't normal. It's not an everyday occurrence. Peter was one who had his metal tested, as they say.

God needs to know our breaking point. If you ever look at, you're going to buy some rope or some fishing line or some cable, something strong. If you look on the package, it has its breaking or tensile strength. That has been tested to a certain strength and at that strength or above it will break. Well, God needs to know what our breaking strength is and he will never test us above what our breaking strength is, but he wants to know that we will not break within the prescribed amount of pressure.

Here in, let's go to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 16. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 16.

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might. So you and I are offered this. It's not we go into these trials by ourselves. We have God's might through his spirit and your inner man. What will we do with that? Is it really becoming us? Are we really at one with Christ and with each other? That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love, fixed to the rock. You know, when you're rooted and grounded in love, it doesn't matter what's happening above, does it? The storms, the tempest. If you're rooted and grounded, you're in agape love. You're loving God with your heart, soul, and might. You're loving your neighbor at yourself. That's the example Jesus set. If you're that tree planted by the riverside, it really doesn't matter what the weather is or whether it's a drought because the roots are in to the water. Rooted and grounded in love. Jesus said, if your house is built on the rock, it doesn't matter what the storms, the tempest, the floods are. It's irrelevant.

Verse 18, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, and the depth to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. Note that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now that's what God wants to know. Am I filled with Christ? Am I filled with the fullness of God? Am I filled with love? Am I rooted and grounded? Well, sea trials will tell you that.

Peter was tested. And this is a great example, actually. It's a very, very good example. We tend to look at this negatively, but we shouldn't. This is a good, positive example. There are many trials in life. You don't just get one shot. Jesus said, if you deny me, I'll deny you. So don't go denying Christ under any circumstance, no matter how strong the temptation, the threat of death, etc. Don't do that. Is that where we start? In Luke chapter 22, we'll look here in verse 55. Just jump right into the story. I think you know the background.

Jesus Christ had been arrested. In verse 55, now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Peter was a faithful disciple. Peter was a point man. If you read through the Gospels, you'll find Peter was pretty much right there. And Peter had been in the Garden of Gethsemane with him. He encountered the Romans and Judas when they came. You know, an ear got lopped off. They were with him. And Jesus said, I mean, Peter told Jesus, we're not going to let anything happen to you. We're with you.

So, verse 56, a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, this man was also with Jesus.

Of course, now you're in a courtyard here. And now you're where the trial is going on. And now the threat is death for him and those associated with him.

The pressure of this trial has mounted up. The pull on that rope, the tensile strength, is being stretched here pretty far. And Peter said, woman, I do not know him. In other words, I've got this life lined out here. It's supposed to be smooth, supposed to be long lived. That's my plan. This anomaly doesn't fit, you know, getting killed in the next hour. And after a little while, another servant said, you are also of them, them now. Peter said, man, I am not. Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, surely this fellow was also with Jesus, for he is a Galilee.

And Peter said, man, I don't know what you are saying. So Peter's undergoing a trial here, a test, with temptation. The temptation is save your life. Immediately, the rooster crowed, and in verse 62, so Peter went out and wept bitterly. He said, I didn't pass that trial.

I failed. I had a C trial, and a part of me broke. That part needed some work, some repair. Now let's go to Acts 2, verse 36. This is a great illustration, a really important one that God has given us, because this is how we grow. These are phases in our life where, just as Peter said, he went out very dissatisfied with his performance. In Acts 2, verse 36, here Peter is now standing, some 50 or so days later, before the same crowd who was chanting for the death of Jesus Christ.

And he said, therefore, let all the house of Israel assuredly know that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He is not only Lord, he is the Messiah. He was the Messiah here on earth. Now, is Peter concerned about what he had been concerned about before? No, he is boldly proclaiming that these people were murderers. Now, when they heard this, verse 37, they picked up stuff and killed him. No, actually they didn't.

They didn't cut him. They were cut to the... Well, it really didn't matter about them, did it? What matters here is about Peter. Peter stood up and he passed the test. As he looked in their eyes, he probably was tempted to say, y'all are sure nice folks out there.

Come and see us now here. No, he didn't say that. He said, you crucified Christ the Messiah. And all the ears of those who didn't recognize Christ, and it also contributed to his death, were listening. And what they cut, whose heart they cut, was not why Peter said what he said. When Jesus Christ was tempted, he deflected those temptations by simply not entertaining them, just as Peter did here. He just didn't entertain it. Right's right. I am who I am. I'm of God. I am called. And that's what Jesus was.

As they said, you can take a boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. That's who he is, you see. And that's who God wants us to be. In Hebrews 4, verse 15, we're encouraged, as Paul said, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.

Yes, there are weaknesses at times. We're not supposed to stay weak. We're supposed to grow and overcome. But our high priest was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. In all points tempted. You see, everybody gets tempted. Not just one little thing or two little things. We all get tempted, or the work could be tested, the work could be tried. You see, we're all going to show to God what's in us under adverse circumstances. You know, in Luke 4, where the devil tempted Christ, he tempted him by, I'll let you live.

I won't torture you to death. I'll let you rule now. You don't have to go through all the stuff that's going to happen in the next 2,000 years.

I'll let you rule now with me. See, so many things there would appeal to this human idea of continuation of a nice life without a lot of upset. Yet he consistently rejected any kind of a self-personal quest that came from the outside.

Now, you and I are in the last phase of conversion. It's like those sea trials for boats and ships that happen at the end, or like airplanes or cars. They're pretty much ready to go, and that's when they get tested. But look at your life. You probably feel like, come, Jesus Christ, bring the kingdom. Let's do the wedding ceremony. That'll be exciting.

It's time for you and I to have the fullness of our conversion tested, to show God during ongoing testing, trial runs, temptations, in our shakedown cruise, actually, what works well and what still needs attention. And that's not a bad thing. That's not a bad thing at all. We tend to view it as negative because, you see, it's an anomaly to the smooth little life that we think we're here to have. When, in fact, it's there to actually prepare us for the eternal life that God wants to give us. Let's go to James 2 and verse 20. And notice something in this regard concerning true, true faith. James 2 and verse 20, he says, but do you want to know, oh foolish man, and maybe we don't in our normal life, but God does, that faith without works is dead. Oh, he might say, oh, in my little smooth life, I'm a Sabbath keeper. I keep the holidays. I tie, therefore, smooth sailing into the kingdom.

Okay, so faith without works is dead. Well, I believe all those things, right? But am I, have I become those things? Have I become love? If I haven't become love, then that faith in God, his commandments, his laws, his plan of salvation is death to me.

Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

I mean, that's where the rubber meets the road. I mean, it really is.

To actually take your only son and say, okay, I'm going to love God with all my heart, soul, and might by giving up that which is most precious to me.

Do you see that faith was working together with his works? And by works, faith was made complete.

And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. It wasn't just he believed God and was counted him for righteousness. No, with a knife in his hand, he believed God and he did what God said. And God said, you're for my kingdom. You're a child of mine. You're tested. You're tried. You're true. And he was called a friend of God.

In verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

In our living God's commandments, which are loving him, loving our fellow man, under all circumstances, every single circumstance that can hit us is what a godly person is. And Jesus exemplified that. And so did our forefathers. And so are you and me to to our best ability with God's help. We need to live, love, truth, and write. And our faith and our belief is shown through the trials and the tests, and including some temptations that come along. He says, sure you wouldn't want something else. Sure you wouldn't like to go back to that smooth little deal there where everything feels good. Here's a few things that'll feel good. They'll hurt other people, but they'll feel good to you. And we say, nah, been here, done that, learned that one. I'm not of that father anymore.

So am I agape? Are you agape? Or are we carnal? That's what God wants to know. If you're carnal, well, that means physical. Physical is going to get burned up. It's not God's will that we stay physical and get burned up, that we change, that we convert, that we go through a process whereby we become like Him. And to that end, temptation is very helpful. And testing is very helpful. And sea trials are very, very helpful. In James chapter 1 here, in verse 13, James 1 and verse 13, it says, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. You know, it just so happens that Satan provides a very helpful service, doesn't he? Actually, it's helpful. We tend to think of him as horrible and awful, and he is, and sinful, and that's rotten, and he's trying to get us to be killed and everything else, right? But God over here is life. And if we're with God, we have life. We don't need to fear Satan and death. But Satan does provide a very helpful element of saying, Are you sure you don't want to be over here? Are you really sure? Let's throw out some temptations here. Maybe a few boils on the skin, maybe a few losses in life of some loved ones, or health, or interruptions. And let's see if you really love God. That is helpful. If it weren't, it wouldn't happen to Abraham, Job, Christ, Paul, etc., etc., etc. Verse 14, But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. That responsibility, see, is up to us. The temptation is not a problem. Christ was tempted. The problem comes if we are drawn away to the temptation. If it's like, Oh, yes, I think I'll just think about that for a while. Maybe I'll just have a sample of that. Just have a bite of that forbidden fruit, you see.

Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. That's on our heads. So temptation is not a bad thing. Not bad at all. In fact, the more you mature and grow and develop, when temptations come along, you just say, Yep, uh-huh. Get behind me, Satan. It just becomes what it is. And what it is is not what you've become. It's not you. It's not the family that you're in. Not what you're part of.

Verse 16, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and perfect gift is from above. All things are going to work for good. All things of God are good. It comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. We're not going to be able to double dip here. We're not going to reach across the line and have a little bit of carnality with our spirituality. We're not going to be double-minded. Nope, no shadow of turning. Verse 18, Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, Jesus Christ, the logos, the truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his kind. And that's why we're here as humans, to be first fruits of a new kind, of a godly family kind. The spirit, agape, God, Elohim, to join that, but to be tested and vetted first.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13, notice what the Apostle Paul says to the church at Corinth. The church at Corinth was a church that was steeped in paganism, of all types, in their cultural setting. But these individuals were called out of that setting, as you and I have been. And here in verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 10, No temptation has overtaken you, except such is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.

So whatever the tensile strength is that we as a human have, God is not going to exceed that. No breaking strength there. For instance, go back to Peter. And in that situation, Peter saw the prospect of death. Peter did not see the hand of God.

In the next one, Peter saw the audience. He did not care about the prospect of death. He knew he was connected to the hand of God, and all things would work out. So once we have God as our faithful God, He's not going to allow us to be pushed too far. But with the temptation, we'll also make the way of escape that you will be able to bear it.

In 1 Timothy 6 and verse 9, here's what Paul tells the evangelists. The pastor, Timothy, 1 Timothy 6 and verse 9, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. Now let's go back to our initial scenario. Oh, my life, I want to be smooth, I want a good career, I want the nice life, the nice family, the nice health, the money in the bank. Those who desire that fall into temptation. To keep that, you see, I'm going to be tempted to keep that. I'm going to be tempted to not obey God. There'll be issues with employers and the Sabbath and Holy Days and being honest and cheating customers, etc., etc., etc. And into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. It talks about people being pierced through with that kind of thing. Where to come out of that? Where to be aligned with the family of God and not be snared, you know, snapped in a snare by temptations on the physical level.

You know, when we think about life, and this, I'm just sharing a lot with you today that has gone through my mind and much of my life. And I've looked at life and, you know, let's keep it smooth. Let's keep it going. Let's keep God pleased so the blessings keep coming, you know. And then what's this end time great tribulation thing? That just doesn't fit, does it? It doesn't fit in my timeline, not my future timeline. And I think some of us say, well, I hope that happens after I die. Well, that's not very loving, isn't it? So just it'll be there for my grandkids or maybe after them. Oh, it'll be there for their grandkids. I mean, the logic breaks down. But somehow it just doesn't fit. It's this big anomaly. Satan just messes up everything, right? Day of the Lord, Armageddon anomaly. But let's ask this question. Does the great tribulation and the day of the Lord factor in to God's purpose? Let's see in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 8.

Revelation chapter 3 and verse 8. Here Jesus is saying to his end time church, I know your works. Oh, we're being tested. He knows our works. We've been tempted. We're being tempted. We're being tried. We're being tested. And somehow he says, I know your works.

Remember how he said, I know Abraham will be faithful. See Satan, I know Job is faithful.

He says, because I know you work, see I have set before you an open door. He is the person who handles the door into New Jerusalem that only he can open, only he can shut. No one else can. And he's saying to you, I know your works. I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it. Come on in. For you have a little strength, you know, tested your strength. It's not great, but you have a little strength. And you have kept my word in all circumstances, in all situations. You have kept my word and have not denied my name. You did not succumb to self-preservation at any time by denying Jesus Christ. In verse 10, because you have kept my command to persevere in everything that comes along, every trial, every test, every temptation, you persevered. I also will keep you from the hour of trial. Oh, the hour of trial. So the day of the Lord is an hour of trial. The great tribulation is an hour of testing, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth to see, are they going to be of God or are they going to be of Satan? Are they going to follow the beast and the false prophet or are they going to follow Jesus Christ? These are the events that start to broil into an end-time test. It's very important that God tests everyone who's going to be part of that first resurrection, a vitally important resurrection, the better resurrection, the one to where the future rulers with Christ, the bride of Christ, sitting on the throne of God will be. Am I sufficiently tempted? Have I been sufficiently tried? Have I been sufficiently tested for God to know the real me? For me to be able to sense as well that I have grown or am growing in those areas that are necessary to fulfill what's been said right here. I know your works.

Maybe a bigger question at this point in my life is will I need additional testing in the Great Tribulation? Some will go through there. Some will come through with white garments. Some will be tested. Some will give their lives. Do I need that? Or am I demonstrating faithfulness in the small tests, comparatively small tests? They seem big at times. They seem really, really big at times.

But compared to those physical times ahead, they seem very small. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6, Peter lays this on us. Do we need further testing? That's how we could interpret it.

1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Does God need me to be grieved by more various trials of different types? Check the propeller. Check the rope. Check the cleats. Check the leakage. Check the motor. Check the windows. Check the various equipment. There are so many different trials that a boat would need to go through. So does God need to test me more?

Verse 7, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, especially to God, see, that's why we're here. That's why he's gone through all the creation, given us his Son, so that the testing here of our faith would show a genuineness more precious than gold that perishes, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's why we're here, so that you can be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's Jesus's will. In fact, he doesn't even want us to go through the Great Tribulation. It's his will that you and I don't. It kind of becomes our choice. In Luke chapter 21 and verse 36, he says, watch therefore. In other words, be alert. Be developing. Be converting. Be alert and diligent in this process of conversion. Therefore, and pray always. Be linked to God. Be part of the family. Be praying to God, praying for one another, praying with one another. Be stitched together. If you're that type of person, he says, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Standing before the Son of Man is important. Do you need additional testing and trials, as Peter said, if need be? Or can you be counted worthy with what you've gone through when that arrives and escape those things? That's his desire. But either way, God needs us all to be genuine, and that is determined by our being tempted and tried and tested during our lives. I would be woefully deficient if we don't go to Hebrews 11 in this topic and recognize the faithfulness of so many down through time who have been true, genuine gold in God's eyes, and set us an example and provide us with a cloud of witnesses, as it were. It shows us we can do this. Hebrews 12 and verse 36. Still others had a trial of mockings. Let's back up a little bit. Let's go up to verse 35 in the middle. Others were tortured. Torture is a tough deal. In one sense, any death doesn't last very long compared to a whole lifetime. But when you're in it, the dying process can seem extremely long. And torture is a temptation because torture is about giving up. It's about giving in. It's about compromising.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings, scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. Those things last a long time and are really nasty down in dungeons and other places. They were stone, sawn in two. They were tempted, slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. And where did that little view of life go for them? It went right out the window because that's not why they were here.

They were part of the family of God. And these things come at us to try to get us out of the family of God. And if we're really God's family, they can't take that away.

Of whom the world was not worthy. Verse 39, all of these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, didn't receive the promise yet, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So this is the collection of the children of God that will be in the first resurrection. And it comes through testing and trials. Let's prepare for end time, tempting and testing. Briefly, Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and verse 9.

Let's get into some specific things that we can be preparing for. Because Jesus Christ gives them to us. Then they will deliver you up. This is the end time. They will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. Probably not something we would want. But the question is, will we endure? Will we continue? Will we be godly? Now, if you get through those things, then verse 10, and then many will be offended, betray one another and hate one another. Now we've got to get through that. See another set of testing from a different totally different direction. Verse 11, then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. See there's the temptation. Oh, it's easier if you just come with this. It's going to be a whole lot simpler. So come over here. Verse 12, and because lawlessness will about the love, the agape of many will grow cold, they will stop being godly, representing God and the family of God. Because the circumstances are so dire, they'll just kind of retaliate like everybody else and they'll stop loving and they'll stop fighting for self, you see, self-preservation. Verse 13, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. If you come through all of that, then there's salvation. Dropping down to verse 24, for false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Still not done. Let's try signs and wonders and somebody is saying, I'm Jesus and I'm white and I'm calling down fire from heaven and just keep a different set of commandments. In Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, notice here, with regards to the church at this time, I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ has come, for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. Verse 11, and they overcame him. See, when we're to overcome, it's overcoming Satan, overcoming that mindset. It's winning. It means winning in the test, winning the temptation, winning the trial. They overcame him by the blood of a lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the dead.

Okay, so real deal under any circumstance, any situation. Hopefully we avoid all of that, but as Peter said in first Peter chapter 4 and verse 12, we need to be faithful. Ephesians chapter, I'm sorry, first Peter 4 and verse 12, Beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial it's to try you. No, that's not strange. It is with the old original view, oh my life, my smooth life, this happy life, kingdom of God's at the end, the bright spot at the end of the tunnel.

Don't think that way. It's not strange concerning the fiery trial it's to try you, as though some strange things happen to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you also may be glad with exceeding joy.

For if you are reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

In verse 17, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. God needs to know. This is a really important thing in the eyes of God.

Back a few pages in James, James chapter 1 and verse 2, we now can begin to put this into better perspective when we read, my brethren, this is to the church, the saints, those who have God's spirit, who are being considered for sonship in the first resurrection. It says, count it all joy. I think the word joy is misinterpreted here. The word means something positive, calmly positive. You know, when you when you connect this with all things work together for good, we have that calm, positive mindset when you fall into various trials. So he's not saying, count it all a party, because that doesn't make any sense to us, but count it positive. It is a peace.

Okay, it is a peace. Count it all peacefully positive when you fall into various trials, why? Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. So this word here means patient endurance, a continuance. Nothing bumps you off the tracks. It produces something that is enduring and faithful. But let this perseverance have its complete work. Oh, it has to have a complete work, not just a flash in the pan, a full complete. The word purview there can mean a mature, see the full, let it ripen, as it were, that you may be ripened and complete, lacking nothing.

So here we begin to see here, these things are important. At the Bible studies we've had recently in the area, we've gone through James, and I opened it up to the attendees to comment on this verse. And we had some wonderful discussions in both locations. And I'll just condense it down to the comments coming back were, trials expose us to new growth areas on several levels concurrently.

And they're very enriching to our lives. I asked them the question, would you like a new trial? Everyone said, no thank you. And then I asked, would you want to exchange the growth that you've gotten through trials for a removal of those trials? If you just somehow magically make them go away, you never had them. Not a person said, yes. They all said, no, absolutely not. I want to keep that growth. I treasure what I've learned and how I've developed in so many different levels. And then we started talking about the levels and various people talked about how many facets came out of a single trial and how enriched they were by them.

You know, we are called to this. As we begin to wrap this up, let's look at 1 Peter 2 and verse 21.

1 Peter 2 and verse 21. I thought I was called, especially when I was younger, to have just a blissful experience with my beautiful wife in a calm sea.

Turns out that's not what I was called to. 1 Peter 2 and verse 21.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us.

What are we called for in the previous verse? Beaten for your faults, but doing good and suffering. Doing good and suffering. To this you were called. To do good and suffer.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps who committed no sin. He went through that. No sin. No deceit found in his mouth. He didn't sort of fake it. Who when he was reviled, didn't revile in return. When he suffered, didn't threaten. But he committed himself to him who judges righteously.

See, you and I were called to this.

To be godly, no matter what is thrown at us, and things will be thrown at us. When we think about our life, we think about the testing and the trials and the temptation, if you roll it all together and look at the life of Abraham, God needs to know. Let's go look at a scripture in Genesis 22 and verse 10. Genesis chapter 22 and verse 10. It's an incredible statement here.

And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. There it is.

But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. He said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know. Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. Abraham had been tempted and tried and tested since he was a teenager, moving out of Ur to Haran, then being called by God in his amazing life with all of his blessings to go to Egypt and Canaan. And he's now 120 years old and God finally knows.

About the age of 120, God finally knows. How long will it take God to know about me and you?

In conclusion, let's hear from two apostles who were tempted, who were tried, who were tested, while being proven for eternal sonship. The first is in 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 9. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3. Again, the apostle Peter really stepped up. His life changed around from being a life with an ideal family and fishing and right there on the sea and living in a place that was very close to the water and a good climate to going and being an apostle to the Jews and the Gentiles and all that he went through. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance, incorruptible, and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. That's your purpose for being here on earth right there. That's why we're here. That's why God has done all of this. That's why you and I draw breath. Verse 5, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. That's what we're here for. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you've been grieved by various trials. That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold it perishes, although it's tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Yes, you and I have that as a purpose for our existence. And finally, from the apostle Paul in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1, therefore we also, talking here to those whom God has called to be part of the first resurrection, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. See, we're here for the race. We're here to endure. We're here to lay aside all other mentalities and mindsets. And follow God.

Verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God. And that's what now is being offered to you and me to sit down at the right hand of Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, to be on the throne with God, to be a God being, because we have been thoroughly vetted. So, brethren, let's look to Jesus Christ. Let's follow his example in our calling for sonship, like he had sonship. Live a faithful life while being tempted, tried, and tested for eternal life in the family of God.