#2 Testing & Trial – Two Kinds
We are not to test God either to. put God on trial or test Him to approve of Him. But we are to test the spirits (1John 4:1). We are also to "prove" all things (1Thes. 5:21). Both of these are the Greek word "dokimazo" which means the act of testing for the purpose of approval.
God puts us to the test to purify us (Isa. 48:10; Ps 66:20; 1Pet. 1:6-8). We are strengthened and matured by this testing. Notice James 1:12, "Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him." Both of the Greek words we have been talking about are used in this verse. The word translated "trial" or "temptation" (KJV) is the word from "peirazo." The word "test" or "tried" is the Greek "dokimazo" which means to be approved or accepted. In other words, he was put to the test to find out what kind of person s/he was and came through with flying colors and totally approved of God.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you" (1Pet.5:10). It is through our faithfulness in these tests that we become approved (James 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:12-13). We read a very unusual passage in 1Cor. 11:19 which states, "For there must be also heresies (factions) among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Note that the word "approved" comes from the word dokimazo. Sometimes we wonder why all the splits and divisions in the Churches of God. Sometimes we shake our heads at the departure of some from the sound teachings of the Holy Scriptures. But this is done so that those who are really genuine and stadfast will be approved. It reads like this in the New American Standard, "For there must also be factions among you, so that whose who are approved may become evident (manifest) among you."
God uses various circumstances and agencies to test us. Satan is one of them Satan puts us to the test but only for the purpose of testing with the hope that we will fail (Greek "peirazo"). Satan does this by manipulating circumstances within the limits God allows him. See Job 1:12; 2:6. At first he was not allowed to touch Job. Then he as allowed to inflict pain on Job but not kill him.
Satan hopes to break us down and get us to doubt and then desert God. But God does provide the way of deliverance or escape and will not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to endure (1Cor. 10:13). Not many people could endure what Job endured. Each of us has our breaking point and God will now allow us to be tested beyond that point.
The only type of test Satan administers is the type designated by the Greek word, "peirazo". Thus he is called the "peirazon" or "tempter" (Matt. 4:3; 1Thes.3:5).
We are told that we must be on guard because Satan is like a roaring lion prowling around to find a weakness that he can put to the test he hopes we will fail so he might have something he can use to accuse us before God. 1 Pet.5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" To be sober means to be temperate and self controlled. The phrase "be vigilant" is the word translated "watch" in Mark 14:34,37-38. It means to stay alert and ready. It implies that one must not be caught unprepared.
I have a client who is on probation for a drug conviction. He has to take a urine test on a random basis. Each night he must call in to find out whether his assigned number has come up for a urine test first thing in the morning. Sometimes he goes more than a week or two and other times his number will come up two or three days in a row. He, therefore, must always be ready to pass the test. We, too, must always be ready to pass the test. For Satan is looking for that weakness in us that he can put to the test.
We are told that we must "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Some people think that to resist is to put up a weak defense or weak willed resistance. The Greek word here is "avnqi,sthmi anthistemi {anth-is'-tay-mee" and is defined by Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as "to set one's self against, to withstand, resist, oppose."
I had a client some years back, a small, slight of build, Japanese woman who worked for a local utility company. She was working overtime during the winter months and when she came out to her car it was dark. As she opened the door to her car a man grabbed her and tried to pull her away to abduct her. She described how she had her car door open and had one leg in the car, her hand clutched firmly to the steering wheel. She was blowing the horn while he was tugging on her other arm trying to pull her away from the car. She hung on with the one hand and resisted his attempts with all her might.
Though security never came, the man finally fled for fear he would be caught but he did strain her back, neck, and arm. She had to have physical therapy and was psychologically traumatized. But she was not abducted, raped, mugged or murdered!! She put up resistance!
The Bible describes how people resist the wrong thing. "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith" (2Tim. 3:8). The Greek word here is identical to "resist" in James 4:7. These won’t resist the devil but they will resist the truth of God! Talk about mixed up and getting things backward! Let us make sure that we are on the side of truth – God’s side. The Pharisees ended up resisting the truth and doing the devil’s bidding by persecuting God’s Son and the truth He brought. We can be tested by Satan in this too.
We must take on the whole armor of God to withstand such a test (Eph. 6:10-12). We must use this armor to resist him and that resistance must be more than a weak resistance – it is with all our might (James 4:7; 1Pet5:9).
Satan uses two main tools. 1) he hopes to crush us under the weight of hardship. He did this with Job taking away all his possessions and his children. He then struck at his body putting him through near unendurable pain. We also see that he did things to the church at Smyrna (Rev.2:10). Suffering, either mental or physical, is a type of test. We read that even Jesus was put to the test and suffered. Because of that He is able to help us when we suffer (Heb. 2:18).
2) He urges us to a wrong fulfillment of natural desires. He urged Jesus to prove He was God’s son by turning the stones into bread (Matt. 4:3-4). Naturally, Jesus was hungry after fasting 40 days. Paul warns married people not to neglect their love making and thus put themselves in position to be tested for a wrong fulfillment of that natural desire. We will continue this subject in our next "Sabbath Thoughts."
God puts us to the test to purify us (Isa. 48:10; Ps 66:20; 1Pet. 1:6-8). We are strengthened and matured by this testing. Notice James 1:12, "Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him." Both of the Greek words we have been talking about are used in this verse. The word translated "trial" or "temptation" (KJV) is the word from "peirazo." The word "test" or "tried" is the Greek "dokimazo" which means to be approved or accepted. In other words, he was put to the test to find out what kind of person s/he was and came through with flying colors and totally approved of God.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you" (1Pet.5:10). It is through our faithfulness in these tests that we become approved (James 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:12-13). We read a very unusual passage in 1Cor. 11:19 which states, "For there must be also heresies (factions) among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Note that the word "approved" comes from the word dokimazo. Sometimes we wonder why all the splits and divisions in the Churches of God. Sometimes we shake our heads at the departure of some from the sound teachings of the Holy Scriptures. But this is done so that those who are really genuine and stadfast will be approved. It reads like this in the New American Standard, "For there must also be factions among you, so that whose who are approved may become evident (manifest) among you."
God uses various circumstances and agencies to test us. Satan is one of them Satan puts us to the test but only for the purpose of testing with the hope that we will fail (Greek "peirazo"). Satan does this by manipulating circumstances within the limits God allows him. See Job 1:12; 2:6. At first he was not allowed to touch Job. Then he as allowed to inflict pain on Job but not kill him.
Satan hopes to break us down and get us to doubt and then desert God. But God does provide the way of deliverance or escape and will not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to endure (1Cor. 10:13). Not many people could endure what Job endured. Each of us has our breaking point and God will now allow us to be tested beyond that point.
The only type of test Satan administers is the type designated by the Greek word, "peirazo". Thus he is called the "peirazon" or "tempter" (Matt. 4:3; 1Thes.3:5).
We are told that we must be on guard because Satan is like a roaring lion prowling around to find a weakness that he can put to the test he hopes we will fail so he might have something he can use to accuse us before God. 1 Pet.5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" To be sober means to be temperate and self controlled. The phrase "be vigilant" is the word translated "watch" in Mark 14:34,37-38. It means to stay alert and ready. It implies that one must not be caught unprepared.
I have a client who is on probation for a drug conviction. He has to take a urine test on a random basis. Each night he must call in to find out whether his assigned number has come up for a urine test first thing in the morning. Sometimes he goes more than a week or two and other times his number will come up two or three days in a row. He, therefore, must always be ready to pass the test. We, too, must always be ready to pass the test. For Satan is looking for that weakness in us that he can put to the test.
We are told that we must "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Some people think that to resist is to put up a weak defense or weak willed resistance. The Greek word here is "avnqi,sthmi anthistemi {anth-is'-tay-mee" and is defined by Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as "to set one's self against, to withstand, resist, oppose."
I had a client some years back, a small, slight of build, Japanese woman who worked for a local utility company. She was working overtime during the winter months and when she came out to her car it was dark. As she opened the door to her car a man grabbed her and tried to pull her away to abduct her. She described how she had her car door open and had one leg in the car, her hand clutched firmly to the steering wheel. She was blowing the horn while he was tugging on her other arm trying to pull her away from the car. She hung on with the one hand and resisted his attempts with all her might.
Though security never came, the man finally fled for fear he would be caught but he did strain her back, neck, and arm. She had to have physical therapy and was psychologically traumatized. But she was not abducted, raped, mugged or murdered!! She put up resistance!
The Bible describes how people resist the wrong thing. "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith" (2Tim. 3:8). The Greek word here is identical to "resist" in James 4:7. These won’t resist the devil but they will resist the truth of God! Talk about mixed up and getting things backward! Let us make sure that we are on the side of truth – God’s side. The Pharisees ended up resisting the truth and doing the devil’s bidding by persecuting God’s Son and the truth He brought. We can be tested by Satan in this too.
We must take on the whole armor of God to withstand such a test (Eph. 6:10-12). We must use this armor to resist him and that resistance must be more than a weak resistance – it is with all our might (James 4:7; 1Pet5:9).
Satan uses two main tools. 1) he hopes to crush us under the weight of hardship. He did this with Job taking away all his possessions and his children. He then struck at his body putting him through near unendurable pain. We also see that he did things to the church at Smyrna (Rev.2:10). Suffering, either mental or physical, is a type of test. We read that even Jesus was put to the test and suffered. Because of that He is able to help us when we suffer (Heb. 2:18).
2) He urges us to a wrong fulfillment of natural desires. He urged Jesus to prove He was God’s son by turning the stones into bread (Matt. 4:3-4). Naturally, Jesus was hungry after fasting 40 days. Paul warns married people not to neglect their love making and thus put themselves in position to be tested for a wrong fulfillment of that natural desire. We will continue this subject in our next "Sabbath Thoughts."
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