Knowing that the Testing of Your Faith Produces PatienceDecember 5th, 2009But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.  Job 23:10We are studying the Bible and its vast array of contents with such confidence that we need not be ashamed before any gathering of people in this world. Yet, the question is, in what precise way are the words of the Bible that we study guiding us as we stand on this great path along which we are running. The words of the Bible are training us and telling us exactly in which direction we are to walk, and yet there are times when we do not see this very clearly, even as we listen to sermons and follow a so-called life of faith.Let’s consider one example. In Old Testament times, David made great preparations for the building of the temple, but in the New Testament, the church that is the body of Christ is compared to the temple, and it says, “in whom [Jesus] you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). David made the preparations for Solomon to build the temple, and on the Day of Pentecost. After the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles, the word of God was conveyed first through the Jews, and then through the Gentiles. The gospel was first passed on to the Gentiles through the lips of the great apostles such as Peter, who first explained the gospel to Gentiles, and Paul, who was also entrusted with the ministry of the gospel, and it has remained and continued to spread until the present day. The Bible has been completed just as the words were recorded, and we all know these words are still alive and active  amongst us today.When we read the Old Testament carefully, we come to think about God in greater depth as well. When we think of God, we think of Him as the One who created the heavens and the earth, that the Word was with Him, that Word was God, and He is the One who sent His only begotten Son into the world. We think we know about God as we have come to realize the One who was in the form of God was born into this world, shed His blood, and died on the cross for the sake of our own personal sins. Yet, when we consider God through the Old Testament, we discover there are various sides to His character, and one of these is His tremendous patience.The Bible says that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (see 2 Peter 3:8). We may think that no matter how long history may have continued, to God it is no time at all. From the Bible, we can see that the events that happened yesterday, those that are happening today, and those that will happen in the future are all happening in the present time before God. God is the living God, and so the content of the words He speaks to us now and the words He spoke long ago to the prophets all encompass everything. Through the Old Testament and especially through the history of Israel, we can consider what God is supplying for us, waiting patiently as He tries to show us something as we are living in this world. The more we come to know God’s word, the more we see that we need tremendous spiritual and physical patience. As I read the Bible, there are times when I become a little confused by what it says. At such times, I consult other translations and compare them with what I have been reading. To give you an example, when Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He said, “do not lead us into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). This does not mean, “Do not tempt us”; since there are things that tempt us, this is a prayer, asking that God will make it possible for us to flee from these temptations. The Bible tells us that Jesus fasted for the forty days He spent in the wilderness, and then “when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread’” (Matthew 4:3). Here it says “the tempter,” but in the Korean Bible this is translated as “the tester.” In Genesis, we read, “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, . . . ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’” (22:1-2). It says that God “tested” Abraham. In the various translations of the Bible, sometimes the verb “test” is used, and at other times “tempt.” When the term “tempt” is used, there is a separate subject. As Eve stood before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent came to her and said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). God had said to Adam, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17), but the serpent—the devil—tempted Eve with the words, “You will not surely die.” In the Bible, temptation is when the words of God are completely reversed and planted in a person’s heart. Abraham’s faith was strengthened through God testing him. There are also times when God tests us, as it says in the letter of James, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:3). Satan imitates this, but the difference is huge. Let’s turn to James chapter 1. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, . . .  verse 1It says to count it all joy when you encounter these trials. This verses uses the word “trials,” but this is similar to tests. knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  James 1:3Here it says, “the testing of your faith.” Again “testing” and “trials” refer to the same thing. It says, “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Patience may, of course, include the kind of perseverance needed to sit at a desk for a long time studying, or reading a book from start to finish without interruption. In terms of faith, however, this patience is to be seen in the lives of many of the people who lived in Old Testament times. Also, God formed the nation of Israel though these people, and the way in which He deals with the problems in the spirits of each individual through the nation of Israel reveals to us another side of God’s nature through the words of the Bible. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer describes Jesus as “the author and finisher of our faith.” It says, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (see 12:2). When you are born again through the words of the Bible, it means there was a moment when perfect faith was implanted in your heart, in reference to the obedience that Jesus demonstrated when He obeyed, leaving everything in the hands of God. That is the moment you are born again. The Bible says that once the life of God has been implanted in our hearts in this way, the testing of our faith produces patience. Let’s consider through the Old Testament what is meant in the letter of James when it says, “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Here is says, “testing,” but in chapter 1 verse 12, the term, “temptation” appears again, and the “testing” here also means “temptation.” Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 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.  James 1:12-13When God tested Abraham, telling him to sacrifice Isaac, He was not tempting him; as it says in the letter to James, God does not tempt anyone. If you examine carefully the meaning within this passage, knowing there were times of testing at the time of Adam (the first Adam) and at the time of Jesus (the second Adam), we can see that since God does not tempt anyone, there is someone else who does the tempting. It says here that God does not tempt anyone. He tested Abraham, but He did not tempt him. He has never tempted anyone to sin. God had already acknowledged Abraham as righteous—the Bible says that God accounted Abraham’s faith to him for righteousness (see Genesis 15:6)—so now He was merely testing his faith. Herein lies the difference between testing and tempting. It is important for us to make this distinction. Otherwise, we may stumble and fall as we make an effort to live a life of faith in this world, since we become confused.But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  James 1:14Here we have the answer. It says that a person is tempted because of his own desires. The Bible tells us, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  James 1:15Here it says that when desire is conceived in this way, it results in death. The testing of your faith referred to in verse 3 is what produces patience, and it says in verse 4 that when this patience is perfected, you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. These words are on a very high level. Within this one chapter of the letter of James, we are shown the path to death, and something else. There are two point here. Let’s turn to Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9.The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.  verses 9-10Here it says, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind.” God tests the heart. Inside man’s heart, there are both a longing for eternity and the workings of the conscience so that, even if a person does not have a Bible opened before him in the course of his life, he may still have a vague idea of the One who created him. The Bible says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). God says that He tests the heart that is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.We may think that Bibles passages like this are unrelated to those who are already born again since it says that God searches the hearts of those who are wandering lost in sin, and guides their hearts, bringing them back to the words of the Bible. But let’s turn to Jeremiah chapter 20 verse 12.But, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart, let me see Your vengeance on them; for I have pleaded my cause before You.Whom does it say here that the Lord tests? It says, “You who test the righteous.” Here again it says “test.” It says that God tests the righteous. He also tests the hearts of the righteous. He sees the mind and the heart. When it comes to the testing through which the righteous believers go, it is as promised in the letter of James where it says, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Such testing may arise in the course of your life when you come to know through the Bible about the tremendous patience that was in the heart of Jesus as He was persecuted by many sinners and you have the desire in your heart to live in the same way. Some time ago, a huge tree just fell to the ground right beside me. If I had been standing just five steps to the side, I would have died on that day. At that time, I though

정회원으로 가입하시면 전체기사와 사진(동영상)을 보실수 있습니다.