Testing for Reactions
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
November 14, 2007
1 Peter
1: 7 That the trial 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:
James 1: 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into
divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.
These scriptures speak of the trial of our Faith, and we see that God
gives us these trials for the purpose of approval.
Let me read our text from the Wuest translation for you… 1 PETER 1: 6 - 8 "In which last
season you are to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a
triumphant exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if
perchance there is a need for it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of
many different kinds of testings in order that the approval of your faith,
which faith was examined by testing for the purpose of being approved, that the
approval being much more precious than the approval of Gold which perishes,
even though that gold be approved by fire testing, may be discovered after
scrutiny to result in praise and Glory and Honor at the time of the Revelation
of Jesus Christ."
Therefore we should never fear the trials that we are going
through, because these trials are placed upon us for a specific purpose, and
that is for the purpose of testing us and correcting us in our thinking, and
for bringing forth in each of us the Character traits that God has ordained for
us.
1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you: 13 But 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.14 If
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.]
God tests us because he loves us...
Hebrews 12:6-8 For whom the
Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. 7 If
ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chastens not? 8 But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Our problem as a human race is that we need to realize that
God does not think like we think, and his ways are higher than our ways.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it.
Any test our Loving Father places us in is to bring forth an
advancement in our character. Every test we take is for a purpose. And the test
is not to disprove the thing being tested, but tests are designed to prove the
thing. That is why I like so much the Wuest translation of 1Peter 1:7 That we are tested for the purpose of Approval.
And when we pass the test, there is always a reward. When we finish 1st grade
we are tested, and when we pass the test we are asked to come up higher. We
don't give a child in the first grade a college entrance exam. We wait for them
to pass through all the stages of their education that prepares them for college
before we give them that test. Therefore, a test is designed with a purpose in
mind, and Our father’s tests are designed to show you and I what stage of
growth towards our adoption that we are in. We have a promise that we will not
be tested beyond that which we have been prepared to pass. So when we have been
tested we can expect to receive the reward for passing.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is
tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him.
Therefore as James tells us our attitude should be one of joy when we
receive the trials because it shows that God, our father is looking our way.
You know there is nothing sadder than to see people who are all alone in
this world and have no one to share their life with. What is worse is to know
that there is no one who cares about you or your life. Therefore, when we are
in the midst of our trial we should be more than happy, for as James said we
should count it all joy when we are being put to the test, because the tests is
ordained to build the character of God into us. Now, not only so, but the mere
fact that you are being placed under test ought to let you Know that God has
His eyes on you, because you are His.
So the trials are ordained to show us the true condition of our hearts as
God said in James 3: 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your
hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Now, in Deuteronomy 8: 2 we hear God speak to
Israel saying, And thou shalt
remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness, to humble thee, and to
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou would keep his commandments, or not.
Here we find God telling
Jesus said in Luke 6: 45 A good
man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and
an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is
evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
You see the test will allow us to know what is inside
our own hearts, so we can deal with it. So pay close attention how you react
when you are mistreated by others. And just remember, every man will have to
give an account before the judgment seat of God what deeds he has done in this
body. So make sure that your yeahs are yeah, for every idle word you speak you
will have to give account of one day. Matthew 12:36 But I
say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment. So many people gossip and then justify
themselves by saying, “well, it was only the truth”. Truth or not,
Gossip is gossip. They crucified the Lord Jesus Christ thinking they were doing
God a favor. Paul thought he had to protect the Faith, and went about it by
killing believers until God knocked him off his high horse. The word of God is
a discerner of the Thoughts and intents of the heart, so God knows your motives
for saying what you say, so make sure you are aware of your own motives as
well. And it matters not what your motives are character assassination is still
murder in God’s Book.
We are given words to measure up to, so that our measure of Faith is the
measure God has ordained for us to have.
In 1 Corinthians 4:12 we are taught
how that we should respond to persecution and personal attacks. “And
labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted,
we suffer it:” Now, that is the measure we have
been given, and when we examine our own hearts by listening to what we say, it
reveals where we need the most help in. Just be honest and listen to yourself
sometime. Do you spout off and think it is ok for you to do so, but then when
you hear someone else do the same, what do you think about them then? That will
show if you have a hypocritical spirit anointing you or not. And if God shows
it to you then let it go. You can’t get rid of that devil if you don’t want to
get rid of it.
Zechariah
13: 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine
them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call
on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall
say, The LORD is my God.
Daniel
12: 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked
shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall
understand.
Psalms
105: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the
LORD tried him.
Psalms
66: 10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is
tried.
Psalms
17: 3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou
hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not
transgress.
Job 23:
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold.
1 Peter
4: 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to
try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
Hebrews
11: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover
of bonds and imprisonment:
Proverbs
17: 3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD
trieth the hearts.
Psalms
11: 5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth
violence his soul hateth.
Psalms
7: 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish
the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
God wanted
You know that is the best medicine sometimes. When you see
someone doing something that is not right, don’t blast them, pray for them that
God will help them to see what they are doing. Because when God takes off of
you that blind spirit that is predominant in
And as David said in, Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.
Now, tonight we
are looking at How God tests us for our reactions so we can see what is in us. I
believe the trial of our faith are just little tests that God places across our
path to test our reactions and to see what we are going to do or what we are
going to say. We have a promise from God that “the Bride will say nothing unless he has Thus
Saith the Lord.” And God
wants to hear His own Words come forth from the lips of His Children.
Now, from the
Message Reaction
to an Action 59-0810 pp. brother Branham said, 3 For you
cannot get anything from God until you get close to God. You know, it's
written in the Scriptures, "Draw nigh unto
Me and I'll draw nigh unto you." And if
we're here now for one sole purpose, that is to draw nigh unto God, let's do
that with all that's within us, draw nigh unto God. 4
And I want to say this: that God will never hear your prayer as long as you
hide iniquity in your heart. He will not do it. God will, ... The Bible said
over in, I believe in I John 3, "If our hearts condemn
us not, then we have confidence in God”, that is if we have no condemnation in our
heart. I just went through an experience of that a few days ago. And I might
just stop here to tell you about it, for we never want to be in any hurry. Now,
that's what one of the great ruins of our American heritage today, is we're
trying to run over the top of everybody. Look
like we're trying to run over the top of God, not waiting. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."
5 I've been going through some
testings at home, and... And I've been called in to witness some things in
a--for a trial. And they'd comb me over, and over, and over, till I was just so
tired, till I,… it looked like that the whole world was a poultice, pulling on
top of my head. I come home that morning and the wife said, "Well, how you
doing?" I said, "Honey, them things would drive a person out of their
mind." And so, I just set down to eat dinner, and--and the phone rang. We
have an answering service, and this was the private phone at the parsonage. So
just then it rang, and she went in, answered it. She put her hand over the
phone, she said, "Billy, them attorneys again." "Oh," I
said, "Honey, I--I couldn't stand it another afternoon (about six or seven
days of it then)." I said, "I just couldn't stand it." And I got
up from the table and went out the door. I said, "Tell them I'm not in
here now," and went around behind the house. I felt real bad. And I come
back. And my--my wife is a whole lot better woman than I am a man. So when she
come to the door, looking at me, she said, "Was that just exactly right,
Billy?" I said, "Sure." I knowed it wasn't already. But I wanted
to make her think that my story would stick, so I said, "Yeah, I wasn't in
here, just then." She said, "But you were in here when they
called." I said, "Oh, it's all right."
6
And I went on out. There was one waiting, a man with a sick baby. All the way
down to pray for that baby, my... I just felt awful. Then when I got down there
to pray for the baby, Something said to me, "Why, you are a liar. And you
mean that you're going to lay your hands upon this baby? This man's come for
about four hundred miles for you to pray for this sick baby, and you just told
a lie and had your wife to tell one." Then our hearts condemn us. You see?
That was wrong. So I said to the man, I said, "Mister, if you'll just hold
your place, I'll pray for your baby. But I'm not worthy to pray for your
baby," I said, "because I've got something to make right before I
pray for your baby." I said, "I done something that's wrong, and my heart's
condemning me. And I've got to go make it right first."
7
And I took out down to the attorney's office, and knocked on his door, and he
come to the door, said, "I thought you were gone." I said, "I
was only gone around behind the house while you were calling." And I said,
"Sir, I tell you what I did." And I explained it to him. I said,
"You all had me in such a fix," I said, "I just didn't know. You
questioned me this way, 'Did they do this?' or, 'Did you see this?'" And I
said, "I told you everything I knew, over and over and over." But I
said... I told him I went to pray for a sick baby, and what happened. And he
said... walked... Got up out of the seat and walked around behind his desk,
looking me right in the eye, put his hand over on my shoulder, reached down got
my other hand, he said, "Brother Branham, I always had confidence in you,
but I got more than ever now."
8
That made me feel good. Then I got in my car and went out to my little old cave
where I go to pray. And I thought, "Now,
if you done wrong, go confess your wrong first, then come back to God."
So I went out to my little cave, and I prayed all afternoon. And I told the
Lord I was sorry I did that. I wasn't fit to pray for His people anymore. And I
couldn't have faith as long as I knew I'd lied. And I said, "You forgive
me, Lord, And give me grace, and I won't do it anymore." I prayed till
just long about time the sun was going down. It was a way back in the
wilderness. And a creek run some three or four city blocks from where it's at,
down into a valley. And I walked out; the foliage was heavy on the trees now.
And I was standing on a great big rock after I come out of the cave to...
Always... It faces the east. I always go out after I prayed for a day or two,
or hour or two, stand on this rock, and raise up my hands, and praise the Lord;
for someday, I hope, even if I am in the grave, that when He comes, I'll rise
and see Him coming from the east.
9
And I stood on this great huge rock and had my hands up praising God. And I,...
After I'd finished praising Him, I dropped my hands down, I said, "Lord,
one day, Moses stood in the cleft of the rock and You passed by him." I
said, "If You forgive my sin, and You're going to try me again, just pass
by once more, Lord, to let me know that You've forgiven me, and that my iniquity's
all gone, and I shall go then and pray again for the sick people." You
might not want to believe this, but at the judgment bar, you and I have to
confess it again, you'll know it was true. There were... Just as still as it is
in here, not no wind nowhere, and right over to my side, a little whirlwind
caught into the bushes, and here it come, right along the side of the cave by
me, and went off down through the woods. I wept like a baby with both hands up
in the air. If our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidence in God. But God will not answer us if there's
something we're hiding in our hearts. So let's confess all our sins and
wrongs, and trust God to pour out His Spirit in such a measure that there'll be
a great spiritual outpouring in this old camp meeting grounds here, whatever it
is, that sick people would be healed and sinners will be saved. I'll be praying
for you, and you pray for me; and together, God will bless us all.
So we see that God places little
things along our path to try us and test us so we can see where we need to
focus our prayer and our desire to right our wrongs. Now, we know that repentance is a change of
the mind, and when a person comes to the place that they think they can do no
wrong or say no wrong, and are not willing to repent or change their
mind, that is when that person has stopped growing in Grace and has begun to
turn to disgrace.
I just don’t understand why it is so difficult for some people to be able
to admit that they have been wrong. Those words are so small and yet so awful
hard for some people to say. So I am going to ask every one of you in here to
repeat after me, “I was wrong, will you
please forgive my littleness.”
Brother Branham also said from his
sermon Reaction to an action 59-0810 P:2 Isn't
it strange how God does things? He will let us get right down to the last, the
last mile away. You know, He likes to do that. He did it with the Hebrew
children. He knew who He could trust, so He let them boys walk right up to the
fiery furnace, till they could almost smell the fire, and He never moved. But
when it comes time, He will move. He will move, but He waits till His own time.
He wanted to see what kind of a reaction they'd have. He knew they'd made their
stand. And when He knows that you make your stand... He will let Satan take you
to the last mile of the way. But just remember, He's still there. He wants to
see if you really mean what you're talking about. "Oh, I believe God's a
Healer. Yes, I sure believe it." And the next day, you still got your pain.
"Well, maybe I never got it." Sure you got it, He just wanting to see
how you're going to react on what you said. You say, "Oh, praise God, I
believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit." The first little temptation that comes along, you fly off like a buzz
saw. He's trying to see your reaction on your action. He's trying to test you. "Every son that cometh to God must first be
chastened, tested." Every
child that comes to Him, He puts him through a test to see how he will act.
Be certain of God 59-0412A P:19 And the
woman as she seen that crucial hour coming, no doubt she checked up and said,
"Lord, I've done all that I know how to do." When you've done everything that you know how to do, and met every
requirement that God has required, that's where faith takes a hold. That's
where faith comes in. If you've met every requirement that God required you to
do, then sometimes God tests your faith, to see what kind of a reaction you'll
have on your action. Oh, He's good at that. It's just lets--it just proves whether you really believe
what you think you believe. You know He does that many times. 20 One
morning there was some Hebrew children was going to be burnt up. And they knew
that they had done God's will. And they said, "We're not afraid of the
king's commandments. Our God is able to deliver us from this fiery furnace.
Nevertheless, we'll not bow to his image." Now, God was going to give them
a test to see what their reaction to their action would be. And He let them
walk right straight to the fiery furnace before He ever moved. But when all of
God's requirements has been met, and you're certain of God, that God will do
it, stand still then, and God will do it. If you set in these meetings, and you
seen the Lord God move out over the audience, healing the sick and afflicted,
and yet, you seem to still have your disease... And when I ask for them to put
hands on each other, and you've made your wrongs right before Him; you've
accepted Him, and you've been baptized in Christian faith, and your heart's
clean before Him, then sometime when God delays His answer He's only wanting to
see what you'll react by. Just be sure that you believe that it's God and then
hold on to it. Don't you move.
Be certain of God 59-0125 P:21 You
know, He loves to test us. He loves to
see the reaction of your faith. Did you know that? God likes to see how
you'll react. When you say, "Oh, Lord, I believe You; Thou art my Saviour.
I believe that You are the Healer; I believe that You are the One Who gives the
Holy Spirit; and the things that I am requiring, You are the God Who gives
that." And then when you confess
all your sins and promise God what you'll do if He'll let you get well, and
then because it don't happen, you run off like a coward somewhere, God can't
use that. There's no way for Him to use you. There's no way for Him to answer
you, because He only answers by faith. Then all of a sudden you go away and
He can't answer. But real true faith stands there, being sure that God is. Be
certain that He is. And if God asks this thing to be done, to confess your sins
and so forth, and you've done it, faith says that He is; it's certain that it's
going to happen. Your request has to be granted. Oh, I hope you don't miss
that. If you're sure of God, God's sure of His Word. He's only waiting to test
you.
James 1:
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried,
he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him.
Look at the king who was going to die. When he found out about his death
sentence, he cried to God for 15 more years and said, “You know God, I have lived my whole life to please you, and I have
really tried to live a life worthy of your Word, so please hear my prayer and
give me 15 more years,” and God did. And so did the woman that Elijah
prayed for and she received a son when she could not have children.
Hebrews
11: 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that
had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
And from brother Branham’s sermon called, Elijah and meal offering 60-0310 P:25 he
said, And she had met every requirement. She'd lived clean; she'd lived
decent; she'd lived honorable, and she had met all of God's requirements. But,
looked like He was silent. God does that sometime to test you to see what kind
of a reaction you'll have. Don't forget it. If you pass over the platform,
you're prayed for, and hands laid on you, and it seems like nothing happens,
that doesn't stop faith one bit; you have met God's requirements. Now, if you have
met them... Now, if you're holding back on God, you know your heart condemns
you. And we know, "If our heart condemns us not, then we have..."
Now, but if our heart condemns us, there's no need of coming across the
platform; there's no need of asking God for anything, because you don't have
faith to receive it. But when you have met every requirement that God requires,
then faith steps out there and said, "God is God. I've met the
requirements."
Jehovah Jireh 57-0309E P:39 And
then one day God wanted to make it real plain to the people in