Knowing God in the Fire of Adversity - Part Two

In this Part of the message, we will be examining why it is essential and necessary for us to experience trials and adversity, the purpose.

We we also examine the promises of God concerning trials and the pattern in scripture. Then in Part 3 of this series of messages we will examine the prophetic type in Daniel 3.

Finally we will look at the rest of Psalm 31 (we looked at the first part of the Psalm in Part 1)

The Purpose of Adversity and Trials

James 1v2-4 says

2¶My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

In this passage in James, we find the purpose of trials.

• They produce patience or perseverance.

We are instructed to count it all joy when we experience different and various trials. I don't know about you but being truthful, I haven't always rejoiced but one thing I know is that some of the times I have felt closest to Christ has been during trials.

The word for trials is the Greek word:

Peirasmos

Strong's g3986

Pronounced pi-ras-mos

Definition:

(a) trial, probation, testing, being tried, (b) temptation, (c) calamity, affliction.

- Origin: From peirazo; a putting to proof (by experiment (of good), experience (of evil), solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity.

So the Word is basically saying, that we are to esteem adversity, testing, affliction and calamity and consider it a good thing and rejoice in it.

Why because the trying or testing of our faith produces a persevering and unwavering trust and faith in God.

Our fleshly nature recoils at trials but if we are to be used of God, if we are to know God, then we must endure and go through trials, we must experience the furnace of affliction, so that He can forge us into vessels of honour that will be made fit for the Master's use.

The Greek word for patience is:

Hupomoné

Strongs g5281

Pronounced hoop-om-on-ay

Definition:

endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for.

- Origin: From hupomeno; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy.

- Usage: enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).

The fire of adversity produces endurance, steadfastness and perseverance.

It produces the kind of faith that we read of in Job 13v15

15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

Note that in v4 of James 1, we are instructed to let patience have her perfect work so that we might be perfect and entire lacking nothing.

The Greek word for perfect is

Teleios

Strong's g5046

Pronounced: tel'-i-os

Definition: perfect, (a) complete in all its parts, (b) full grown, of full age, (c) specially of the completeness of Christian character.

Origin: From telos; complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); neuter (as noun, with ho) completeness.

Usage: of full age, man, perfect.

The Greek word for entire is

holokléros

Strong's g3648

Pronounced: hol'-ok'-lay-ros

Definition: complete in every part, sound, perfect, entire.

Origin: From holos and kleros; complete in every part, i.e. Perfectly sound (in body).

Usage: entire, whole.

The Greek word for lacking nothing

leipó

Strong's g3007

Pronounced: li'-po

Definition: (earlier: to leave behind, abandon), (a) to be wanting, (b) mid: e.g. with gen: to come behind (in a race), be left behind in, fall short of (some standard), be wanting in.

Origin: A primary verb; to leave, i.e. (intransitively or passively) to fail or be absent.

Usage: be destitute (wanting), lack.

So patience or endurance must be total and come to full completion, it cannot be cut short, if we are to come to a place of full maturity and completeness in every aspect of our character, so that we will not come behind, be lacking or fall short of God's standard.

This is the first purpose for passing through the fire of adversity, no matter how painful or unwanted that experience might be.

1 Peter 1v6&7

6¶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7That the trial of your faith (NKJV says that the genuineness of your faith), being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The trying or testing of our faith is likened to how gold is tried in the fire.

The process of refining gold is described below: The dore has to go through a trial by fire at a refinery. In an exciting process called refining, it is re-liquified in a furnace and then heaped with generous amounts of soda ash and borax. This effectively separates the gold from impurities and other metal traces.

So, like gold, our faith has to be exposed to the refining process, in order to produce pure, unadulterated faith, that is free from impurity and contamination.

So, the second purpose of testing is to produce a purity and genuineness of faith that might be found unto praise and honour at Christ's appearing.

If our faith is not tested it will not be proven to be genuine. However a faith that is tested in the fire of affliction and that produces endurance and genuineness, will mean that we will be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man, we will not be ashamed at His coming.

1 Peter 4v12-14

12¶Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

14If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

The third reason is that as the people of God we are called to be partakers in Christ's sufferings.

This is an alien concept in these days, when we are being taught that we are not meant to suffer. A gospel that has made God into a kind of Santa Claus, who will give us whatever our heart desires. The message that attracts so many in our day is all about prosperity, blessing and the worship of self. Self denial, taking up your cross and suffering for Christ, are alien concepts in the seeker friendly, hyper grace gospel that is propagated by many preachers in this day.

However, what happens when the storm comes?

What kind of enduring faith does such a message produce?

What happens when persecution comes and people have been taught and bought into the lie that they won't have to endure persecution for the name of Christ?

The early church suffered persecution with everyone except the Apostle John suffering martyrdom. Throughout history men and women suffered persecution, with many enduring tribulation in many countries today. However we in the West have bought into the deception that we are somehow more worthy of avoiding such a fate. It doesn't line up with scripture folks.

No, the Word clearly states:

12Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

The great chapter on faith in Hebrews 11 states in v35-38

35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Are we going to believe and adhere to what the Word says or to what man says?

Notice the second part of 1 Peter 4v13 says, if we are partakers of Christ's sufferings then we will also experience His glory when it is revealed. We will rejoice with great joy.

V14 also tells us that if we are reproached for the name of Christ that the spirit of glory and of God will rest upon our lives.

Another important reason why we pass through the fire of adversity and endure trials is so that we can comfort and support brothers and sisters when they are experiencing trials and adversity.

Comfort in Suffering

3¶Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

4who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

5For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

6Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

7And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

The reality is, you may know the scriptures, you may know the theory but unless you have passed through the fire of adversity yourself and most importantly proved God and known His divine empowerment, relied on His Word and known it's life giving and hope giving power and experienced it providing light in the midst of the darkness then you cannot truly comfort, support and encourage others.

Theory and the power of positive thought won't cut it in the fire.

But if you have known the Lord enlightening your darkness and the valley of Achor (trouble) becoming a door of hope, Hosea 2v14 then you will be able to support others from a position of knowing. Experiential knowledge alone and not theory will enable you and I, to empathise with and help others.

It's in the fire that we come into a deeper knowledge of the Lord.

It's in the fire that God chooses us.

Isaiah 48v10

10Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

So to summarise, the following reasons, are why God allows us to experience trials and adversity:

1. They produce endurance and perseverance

2. They produce a purity and genuineness of faith

3. We are called to be partakers in Christ's sufferings

4. If we experience testing and know God's help and grow in faith as a result, then we can comfort and support other members of the Body of Christ from a position of knowing

The Pattern in Scripture

When we study scripture we can see a clear pattern throughout scripture regarding testing and trials.

In fact, the place that is most often associated with testing in scripture, is the wilderness.

In Deuteronomy 8v2&3

2And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

We can clearly see that God led the children of Israel through the wilderness for forty years, to humble and test them, to reveal what was in their hearts and prove them, to see if they would believe and obey His commandments or not.

V2 is very revealing and of great significance. He humbled them and permitted them to experience hunger and fed them with manna (the Bible calls it angel's food which means that angels eat) in order to teach them an invaluable lesson;

That He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Here we see the ultimate purpose of the wilderness journey.

Unfortunately the children of Israel failed the test.

Psalm 78v40-42

40How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

41Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.

42They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

Again in Hebrews 4, we read that the children of Israel, although they heard the Word of God in the wilderness, did not believe but disobeyed God and therefore He declared that they would not enter the promised land (rest).

In fact, after the spies returned with an evil report in Numbers 13 and the people refused to go into the Promised Land because of the giants, the sons of Anak, the Word tells us, that God threatened to disinherit and destroy them and make of Moses a new and greater nation. Numbers 14v12. However Moses interceded for them and the Lord didn't destroy them. However, God declared in v22&23

22“because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,

23“they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

Again in Psalm 95v8-11, we see the consequence of unbelief in the wilderness

8"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

9When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.

10For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’

11So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

We see this pattern of the wilderness as a type continuing in the New Testament.

First, we see that John the Baptist - the one Jesus called the greatest of the old covenant prophets - was prepared and forged in the wilderness. See Luke 1v80 and 3v2.

We see Jesus himself, being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted and tried by Satan before He began His earthly ministry.

Luke 4v1&2a

1¶Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2being tempted for forty days by the devil.

In stark contrast, to the children of Israel (notice that they were in the wilderness for 40 years and Jesus was tempted for 40 days) Jesus passed the test.

He indeed learned that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Satan began to tempt Him when He was most vulnerable and weakest from a natural prospective. The Word tells us that Jesus was hungry as He hadn't eaten for 40 days.

Three times Satan tempted Jesus and in the following areas:

1. In the lust of the flesh (make these stones into bread v

2. The lust of the eyes (when Satan took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world offering to give them to Jesus if He would bow down and worship him v5-8

3. The pride of life. (Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and told Him to throw Himself down to prove He was the Son of God)

See 1 John 2v15-17

In every case, unlike Adam and Eve when they were tempted and the children of Israel, Jesus obeyed, believed and declared the Word of God, with the words It is written, and in doing so overcame Satan.

Notice, when Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, Jesus didn't contradict or challenge Satan's ability to give them. Why, because when Adam fell, Satan legally became the god of this world 2 Corinthians 4v4. This will only be reversed at Jesus second coming when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever. Revelation 11v15.

It tells us in Luke 4v14, that following His trial and temptation in the wilderness, that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. He had been empowered for ministry. The temptation had served it's purpose. Jesus was equipped and prepared to destroy the works of darkness.

1 John 3v8

8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The Promise

The third aspect of trials that I want to examine today, is the promises of God.

In 1 Corinthians 10v12 we are told that there is;

13No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

The Greek word for temptation in this verse is:

Peirasmos

This is the very same word that we looked at the start of this message in James 1v2.

God has promised us, that because He is faithful, He will not allow us to be tested above what we are able. He will make a way of escape for us, so that we can bear it.

The Greek word for escape is:

ekbasis

Strongs g1545

Pronounced: ek'-bas-is

Definition: (a) a way out, escape, (b) result, issue.

- Origin: From a compound of ek and the base of basis (meaning to go out); an exit (literally or figuratively).

Usage: end, way to escape.

Translated as (count): escape (1), outcome (1), they came out (1).

The Greek word for bear it is:

hupopheró

Strong's g5297

Pronounced: hoop-of-er'-o

Definition: to bear by being under, to endure.

Origin: From hupo and phero; to bear from underneath, i.e. (figuratively) to undergo hardship.

Usage: bear, endure.

Translated as (count): endures (1), I endured (1), to endure (1).

What a promise. God will provide a way out, an exit or escape for us, so that we can endure hardship and trials. He will strengthen and empower us, by His enabling grace and mighty power, until we experience the way out and escape.

Praise God for His exit plan!!

Another tremendous promise we find in scripture, is that if we suffer with Christ, we will also reign with Him.

From Suffering to Glory

Romans 8v17&18

17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

18¶For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Unfortunately, much of what is taught today focuses only, on the reigning part but the Word is clear, it is only those who share in Christ's sufferings, that will experience the joy of reigning with Him

This is made abundantly clear in Revelation 20.

Speaking of those who would not take the mark of the beast or deny Christ, during the Great Tribulation period (cf Revelation 6v9-11 and 7v9-17) it says in v4

The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years

4¶And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The Lord has also promised to deliver us when we go through trials

1 Timothy 3v11

He has also promised to bring us into a deeper experience with Himself and restore what we have lost.

Hosea 2v14-23 we have a wonderful passage of scripture which details how God uses trials and the wilderness experience to bring us into a place of blessing.

In v14&15 we read;

14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.

15I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Sometimes God allures His people into the wilderness (remember how we looked at the typology of the wilderness as a place of testing) to do us good.

The Hebrew word for allure means to entice or persuade but at it's root it speaks of enlarging or making room.

You see God entices or allures into the time of testing in order to enlarge our hearts so that we will have a greater capacity to receive spiritual gifts and to make room for God to take control of our hearts.

It's in the wilderness were God can get our undivided attention, so that He can speak directly into our hearts and lives.

God is the God of the heart so He allows us to experience trials that He might capture our hearts and create within us undivided hearts.

The Hebrew word Achor literally means trouble or disturbance. God will permit us to journey through the Valley of Trouble and to experience disturbance for our greater good.

He has promised that the place of trouble can become a door of hope!

Just look at the promised blessings:

• We will sing there as we did when we were first saved and delivered from the power of darkness i.e. The Lord will restore unto us the joy and freshness of our salvation v15

• He will bring us into a more intimate relationship with himself. The intimacy of communion and fellowship with Jesus as His bride v16

• He will cleanse and liberate us from idolatrous practices v17

• He will make a covenant of peace with us so that we will lie down safely v18

• We shall know the Lord experientially v19

• He will betroth us unto Himself and we will experience His faithfulness, righteousness, lovingkindness and mercy v19&20

V23 says;

23Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,

And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;

Then I will say to those who were not My people,

‘You are My people!’

And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

What promises!

There are many other verses which detail God's promises regarding His delivering power and promised strength during times of trial and testing.

In conclusion we have examined and demonstrated that God has a definite purpose in allowing us to experience trials and tribulation.

We have also seen how the wilderness is a type which represents trials and testing throughout scripture.

Finally, we looked at how God has promised to strengthen, empower and deliver us during the times of testing.

In Part 3, we will look at a prophetic type concerning the fiery furnace and how it relates directly to the days that lie ahead.