Tonight I would like you to read one verse. First Peter 1:7 says, “So that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Tonight I will speak on the proving of faith or the testing of faith. The Bible shows us that there can be no faith without testing. All faith must be tested. Faith has to be tested for the following reasons.
God tests our faith in order that we may grow. No Christian can grow without first having his faith tested. Every Christian who is growing has his faith tested. I can say without reservation that all Christian faith must be tested. The only way for faith to grow is by testing. The only way that God helps us grow is by testing our faith. We come to God and receive all of His grace by faith. When our faith is tested, we spontaneously grow.
God tests our faith not only for our growth but also to satisfy Himself. No one who has believed in the Lord and received God’s grace can avoid the testing of faith. The testing of faith proves that we have genuine faith. It is genuine faith that satisfies God. A faith that is approved is a glory to God’s name. God’s name is glorified in this world through an approved faith. When we pass through tribulations, persecutions, obstacles, and darkness, and we still believe after these tests and still stand fast after these trials, this faith will glorify God’s name.
God tests our faith not only for the purpose of our growth and God’s satisfaction. Our approved faith will shut up the mouth of Satan. Satan will not easily concede that we have believed, and he will not allow us to say that we have obtained what we have believed in. He will always come to deceive and bother us. By testing our faith, God will take away any excuse from Satan. When he realizes that we are uncompromising, he will retreat. As long as he can deceive us, he will stop us and not allow us to go in peace. If it is possible, he will take God’s blessing away from us. He will not let us go until he has exhausted all means. In order to stop the mouth of Satan, God has to test our faith.
Another reason that God tests our faith is so we can render help to others. An untested faith cannot help others. Others receive our help only when our faith has been tested. If a man has believed, but his faith has not been tested, his faith is not trustworthy. Satan can do nothing about a faith that genuinely has been tested; he cannot overturn such faith. Only this kind of faith will help the church. Brothers and sisters, faith that has been tested is much more precious than gold which perishes though it is proved by fire.
Now let us consider the relationship between the testing of our faith and overcoming. God wants to test our faith in order to make sure that our faith is indeed faith. All genuine faith is long-lived. All short-lived faith is not faith at all. Genuine faith is always long-lived. It will believe after three days, a month, a year, ten years, or even fifty years. Genuine faith can withstand one obstacle, five obstacles, or ten obstacles. Genuine faith will believe after it is tested once, five times, or seven times. Any faith that is short-lived and that falls and evaporates with a slight shake is not faith at all. All faith is necessarily long-lived.
In the Bible we see that overcoming is a matter of believing God’s Word. God says that His Son is our life, our Head, our victory, our sanctification, and our power. We know that He has borne our burden and is responsible for all of our affairs. We know that He supplies us with endurance and meekness, and we know that He is supplying us within with everything that we need. Thank and praise the Lord! We know, and we believe. But such faith has to pass through the test.
A brother said to me this morning, “I have already let go and already believed. I should have overcome. But as I was riding home on a bicycle after the meeting yesterday, an old man knocked me down outside a department store. Although I did not say anything to him, I was angry within. What happened to me? I have let go, acknowledged that I cannot make it, and believed that Christ is my victory. Why did my anger come back to me? I thought that I would not be angry anymore.” Brothers and sisters, there are two reasons for this.