Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I want to preach this morning
on this subject, the trial of your faith. Now, we're not going to be talking
about somebody else's faith, but your faith. The trial of your faith. Peter said in first Peter chapter
one, verse seven, that the trial of your faith, your faith is
going to be put on trial. And it's not because God doesn't
know about the reality of your faith, but this is to teach you
something about the reality of your faith, if it is real. The trial of your faith And remember,
faith is connected with salvation. Peter spoke in verse four or
five of those who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation. There is no salvation, there
is no acceptance with God apart from faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, 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 honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. Now your faith, and you have
a faith of some kind, Everybody believes something. Somebody says, well, I don't
have any faith. Yeah, you do. You have some sort
of faith. Well, what about atheists? Well,
they believe there's not a God. That's their faith. It's truly
a blind leap of faith in the dark to believe something that
foolish, but it is a type of faith. Everybody has a type of
faith. If you're religious, you have
some type of faith. If you're not religious, you
have some type of faith. Now, your faith. I'm speaking
to everyone listening. I'm speaking to myself, my faith.
It will be tried and tested to prove whether or not it is real
saving faith. I want to know if my faith is
saving faith. or if it's a faith that does
not save. You know, James said, you believe
in one God, you do well, the devils believe and tremble. They have a type of faith, they
have a belief, but it's not saving faith. Now, I don't want to find
out that I do not have saving faith, that my faith was no different
than the faith of a demon. The trial of your faith. Now,
I would like to read some other translations of this. The proving of your faith. The proven character of your
faith. The genuineness of your faith. the tested genuineness of your
faith, the proof of your faith, the true metal of your faith. I like that. The proven goodness
of your faith. Now, your faith will be tested
continually, and it will be continually tempted to look somewhere other
than Jesus Christ. Let me repeat that. Your faith
will be continually tempted to look to somewhere other than
Jesus Christ as the ground of your assurance. Well, I must
be saved because this happened way back then. I experienced
this. I went down to the front. I rededicated
my life. I learned this. I experienced
that. I improved. I became a better
person. I quit committing this sin. Surely
I'm saved. You're going to continually be
tempted to look to something else than the Lord Jesus Christ
as the only grounds of your salvation. Now, we have the parable of the
sower as examples of people who had a faith that was not saving
faith. The stony ground here, receive the word joyfully, the
truth. But they didn't continue when
persecution arose because of the Word. They thought, I didn't
sign up for this. I didn't know this was involved.
When they find out that the world is frowning on them because of
the gospel, they fall away. We read of the thorn-choked hearers. They receive the word and seem
to rejoice in it. But the scripture says, the cares
of this life, the lusts of other things, the deceitfulness of
riches. I love that term, the deceitfulness
of riches. Entering in, choke the word and
they bear no fruit. It was not saving faith. There is such a thing as faith
that is not saving faith. Now, I don't want to have anything
to do with that. I want that faith that has tried
and comes out passing the test, the trial of your faith. Now, Peter tells us that this
trial is much more precious than gold. You know, the love of money is
the root of all evil. Not the money itself, but the
love of money. Covetousness is the root of all
evil. And I think it's interesting
how he calls gold, that which everybody covets, the things
it'll buy, the things it'll give, something that is just not precious. The trial of your faith, though,
is precious. It's of great value. Now, in Peter's writings, some
five or six times, he uses this word precious. And if your faith
is real, if it's tried and found to be real, it's going to have
a source, where it comes from, it's going to have a ground,
a basis of belief, there's going to be a true knowledge, and there's
going to be an object to that faith. Faith that passes the
test. Now you can have faith that doesn't
pass the test, it doesn't have any of these things. But true
faith has a source, this faith that passes the test. Peter put
it this way in 2 Peter 1.1, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us. Now, if you've obtained something,
it's because someone gave it to you. The source of true saving
faith that passes the test is God Himself. He gave it to you. And the ground of that faith
is the promise of God. What Peter called in 2 Peter
1-4, unto us are given exceeding great and precious promises of
God. This is what God has promised.
The reason I believe something is because God said it. That's
the only reason. That's the only ground of authority.
The promise of God. Now, thirdly, faith has a knowledge. There's something you believe.
And Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 1.18, you know that you
are not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious
blood of Christ. If you have saving faith, you
know that the reason you're redeemed is holy. because of the precious
blood of Christ. And true faith, faith that passes
the test, saving faith, has an object. Peter put it this way
in 1 Peter 2, 7, unto you which believe, he is precious. Christ himself is the object
of the faith that passes the test that is true saving faith. Now let's consider these four
points and see if our faith passes this test. First, the source
of true saving faith. Peter says, to them that have
obtained like precious faith. And the word obtained is defined
in the Greek dictionary to receive by divine allotment. to receive by divine appointment. The source of true saving faith
is God himself. If you receive this blessed faith,
it's because he gave it to you. If you don't have it, he never
gave it. If he gave it, you receive it. And you understand that the source
of your faith is God himself. It didn't come from you. It's
not a result of your free will or your decision or the act of
your reception. It's the gift of God. Ephesians
2, verses 8 and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Now, if you have true saving
faith, the faith that passes the test, you know it didn't
come as a result of anything you've done. You didn't decide
to believe. You believed because you had
no choice. You didn't have anywhere else to look. You found yourself
believing. You didn't make a decision, I'm
gonna start believing. I'm gonna start believing God. No, you
found yourself believing. You know why you found yourself
believing? Because God gave you this faith. It came from God. True faith always has as its
source God himself. I like what Paul called it in
Titus 1.1, the faith of God's elect. the acknowledging of the
truth which is after godliness. Now those who have faith that
passes the test and proves to be genuine, they all know the
source of that faith is God himself. And the next point that will
determine whether or not our faith is genuine and will pass
the test is what is the ground of that faith? Upon what basis
Do you believe what you believe? Now, I love in Hebrews 11, verse
one, where the writer of the Hebrews says, faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the ground of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Now, I have a hope that all my
sins even the sins I haven't committed yet, are forgiven sins,
forgiven by God himself. I have a hope that when I stand
before God in judgment, there will be nothing laid to my charge. I have a hope because of the
justifying work of Christ on the cross, that I stand before
God right now, having never sinned. nothing to feel guilty about,
no skeletons in my closet. I stand before God without guilt,
perfectly righteous, having the righteousness and merits of Jesus
Christ as my personal righteousness before God. I have a hope that
when my name is called in judgment, I will hear, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. And I have a hope that everything
that happens between now and then will be taking place for
my good. Romans 8, 28 says, we know that
all things. work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now I have that hope, but I can't
see any of those things. I can't see that I stand perfectly
righteous before God without sin because I have sin in my
own experience. I can't see how everything's
working together for my good. I mean, sometimes they're very
difficult. Sometimes they're very painful. And I say, how
could this be for my good? I can't see how it's working
together for my good, but I believe. Now, what is the ground, what
is the basis that I should dare hope such a thing, that I stand
before God without guilt, that I'm perfectly righteous? What
is the basis upon which I believe He'll say to me, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Upon what basis can I think that
everything is working together for my good and His glory? One answer to that, because God
promised it. That's the only reason. Whereby
are given to us exceeding great and precious promises. Now, these promises Peter says
are given to us, and they weren't given to everybody, only believers.
But they were given to believers. And they're exceeding great and
precious promises. Now his promises are not like
ours. When we make a promise, when we make a promise, we're
saying, I've got to promise this because sometimes I lie. Now,
we ought to always be good to our promise. Isn't that so? We
ought to always be good to our promise. If we make a promise
to somebody, keep it. But here's the problem with our
promises. We can't see the future. I might
say, tomorrow I'll be there to do this for you or that for you.
But the scripture also says, boast not thyself of tomorrow
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. I may be dead
tonight. I sure can't keep tomorrow's
promise if I'm dead. I can't see the future. I can't
see the circumstances that can change my efforts in keeping
a promise. I can't see any of those things.
I have no control. You know, I think it's interesting,
people who are control freaks, what's interesting is they don't
have any control. They try to control things, but they don't
have any control. God controls all. We control nothing. Now,
we ought to be good to our word, but God's promise is not like
ours at all, because God not only sees the future, everything
the future is ordained by Him. He said, the lot is cast into
the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Not a
sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father. He controls
the future. He sees the future. He controls
the future. When He makes a promise, it's
not like there are contingencies that maybe He didn't foresee
that would keep Him from breaking His promise. His promise is absolute. All the promises of God in him
are yea, and amen to the glory of God by us. All his promises
are sure. If the inheritance were of the
law, it's no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. It was said of Abraham, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory. to God. Now here's a summary
of God's promise. David, the man after God's own
heart, is dying. These be the last words of David. And here's words. He said, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure And this is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he make it not to grow. Now what
did David mean when he said, although my house be not so with
God? Somebody says, well, he had such a rotten family. His
kids were wicked. Some of them tried to kill him.
rape in his home, there was murder in his home, and God said the
sword's not going to depart from your house because of that issue
with Bathsheba. So he did have a very troubled
family. There's no question about that.
What about Michael? But he also had some family members. Solomon,
the Lord loved him. What about Abigail? What about
Bathsheba? There were people in his family
who were of the Lord. When he says, although my house
be not so with God, he's talking about his old nature, his sinful
nature, his old man. Although my house be not so with
God, yet have he made with me an everlasting, eternal covenant,
ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he makes it not to grow. Now that
is the exceeding great and precious promise of God. The reason a
believer dares to believe what he believes is because it's what
God has promised. Now thirdly, what is the knowledge
of faith? Faith knows something. Faith knows something. Peter
said, you know, you know, every believer knows this. You know
that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver
and gold received by tradition, by your vain fathers and their
empty conversation, but with the precious blood of Christ. as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who was verily foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but is now manifest in these last times to you. You
know you are not redeemed with corruptible things. Anything
but God is corruptible. God the Father is not corruptible.
God the Son is not subject to corruption. God the Holy Spirit
is the Holy Spirit. The new birth, Peter says, is
not subject to corruption. 1 Peter 3, 4. The new nature,
that which is born of God, is not subject to corruption. Everything
else is. That means you are not redeemed
by anything that has anything to do with human nature. Man,
you were not redeemed by that. You were redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ. And this is what every believer
knows and understands. You were redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ. Now understand this about the
blood of Christ. Christ didn't make redemption possible. He
redeemed. Everybody he died for, he redeemed. When he said, it is finished,
the complete salvation of every single person he died for was
finished. Successful redemption. Now let
me say, I despise that teaching that says that Jesus Christ can
pay for somebody's sins and they wind up in hell anyway. I despise
that. It says he's a failure. If he
attempted to die for somebody's sins and save them and they end
up being damned anyway, then he didn't do what he came to
do. He failed. My only hope is that Jesus Christ's blood is
successful. He redeemed me with his precious
blood. Now somebody says, how can the
blood of one man redeem so many millions of people? Because of
whose blood it is. He is precious and His blood
is precious. And you know, He wouldn't do
you any good at all for me to die for you. You'd still be in
the same predicament. He wouldn't do me any good at
all for you to die for me. I'd still be in the same predicament
before God guilty. But if He dies for you with His
precious blood, He redeemed you. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. being made a curse for us. And now there's no curse for
me or anybody that he died for. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. Everybody he died for must be
saved because of who he is. His blood is the precious blood
of Christ. The Lamb without blemish or without
spot, He never sinned, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world. I love what John says in Revelation
13, 8. Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior, and He redeemed
by His precious blood. And if you have the faith that
passes the test, you know this, you're redeemed. by His precious
blood. And lastly, the faith that passes
the test. It has God as its source. It
has the Word of God or the promise of God as its ground. It has
the knowledge that redemption comes by His precious blood,
but faith has an object. That's why weak faith saves just
as surely as strong faith, because it's the object of faith that
saves. It's not the faith itself, it's the object of faith. Peter
put it this way in 1 Peter 2, verse 7, to you which believe,
He is God. precious. Now, I know Jesus Christ
is precious to His Father. Oh, how He delights in the Son. And He is precious to every believer. He's precious as my surety when
He took full responsibility for my salvation before I was ever
born. He's called the surety of a better
testament. He's precious in His life. That's
my righteousness before God. Oh, how precious He is in His
death when He put away my sin. How precious He is in His resurrection
when He was raised for my justification. And because of that, I stand
before God without guilt. How precious He is in His ascension
back to the Father, because He took me with Him. How precious
He is in His intercession as He represents me. Even now while
I'm speaking, there's a man in glory representing me, the Lord
Jesus Christ. How precious He is and how precious
He'll be on His return. He's precious in this sense.
He's all I have. He's all I have. Not only is
He all I have, He's all I need. Not only is He all I need, He's
all I want. He is the object of my faith. And to you which believe, He
is precious." Now, faith that passes the test has God as its
source. It has the promise of God as
its ground. It has the precious blood of
Christ, knowing He is our redemption, and it has Christ Himself as
its object. Now that faith will pass the
test, the trial of your faith. If that's what your faith is
made of, it will pass the test, and you'll spend eternity beholding
His face. I hope this message has been
helpful and a blessing to you. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com,
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