"Untested Faith Can Not Be Trusted"

Greetings

It’s a special privilege to be with you on this wonderful Sunday. Special thanks to Father, Pastor Ralph Flowers and his beautiful wife Mother Yessia, for their love and encouragement to me a young pastor still learning his way to this incredible opportunity to share the word of God with you as we commemorate Fathers and to reflect on the role and blessing of fatherhood.

Intro my wife - I am here with you with my “good thing” my wonderful wife, a godly woman of noble character, a pride daughter of father James Goodridge and fellow worker in the proclamation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. My dear wife a Joanna Goodridge- Williams.

Introduction

Again, thanks to Pastor Flowers and the people of Solid Rock Healing Faith Center for this opportunity share with you. I want to speak on a topic: Untested Faith Can Not Be Trusted” from the book name after one of most tested father in the Bible. Every Christian father here will go or have gone through the process to determine whether you can be trusted or Not.

Job 2:1–6 (CSB)

1 One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”

4 “Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

6 “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”

Fatherhood

I heard a preacher say: there are three(3) Fathers each person here have two or all three and each Father has power and authority.

Heavenly Father- creator of all things, perfect in all His ways, ever loving and gracious. He’s alway seeking His Children

Earthly Father- Name and give identity. Trainer and point the way by living and modeling integrity not when things are great and the children are obeying your every commend but in difficult time(faith is under fire)

Spiritual Father-

Main

In the text, one day there was a heavenly meeting of “God Sons |children-heavenly beings” before Jehovah. This is a holy meeting yet, Satan- the accuser, the adversary- opposer of all that is God came in the presence of God and given the flood to give an account of his movement or location.(Where do you come from?) - Speaks- to the Character of our Heavenly Father- No matter how disobedience, disrespectful and sinful His creation is; He can hear them out/ talk with them.

The character of a godly Fatherhood (uprightness, decency,goodness and honesty) is revealed in how he deal with his accusers, with those who oppose his instructions- (do you close doors on people on your children who are disobedience, disrespectful?) or you leave room /space for conversation?

When Your Name Mentioned

God mentioned Job’s by name and describe him as a men who practiced fairness and justice.

- “Feared God”- value his relationship with his creator and live to honor him. Secondly;

- “Turned Away from Evil”- He actively fled from what was harmful.

Example: Sexual Sin (some of us here have fallen victim to sexual sin) /Temptation- Men, fathers, pastors, Bishops celebrities entertainers and TV personalities (Christians and secular) are losing their jobs and going to jail for sexual harassment, manipulation, and misuse of women or men. In Gen. 39:9 Joseph warned Potiphar’s wife about her evil interest in him “No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?” Verses 12 tells us, that when the moment came, Joseph acted on his confession and belief leaving behind his cloths, escaped and ran outside.(Gen. 39:12) “Untested Faith Can Not Be Trusted”

GOD KNOWS THE TRUTH, ABOUT YOU

Fathers, brothers and Sister, young men and young girls know this that whatever gifting or responsibility God our Heavenly Father has given you, your faith will be tested. In Jeremiah 17:10 God says : “I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.”

Satan accused Job of having an ulterior motive in his worship- worshiping God because of blessing- for what you can get from God. In context: In the church because of what you can get.

Satan said he is worshiping You because of his success, He’s worshiping You because he’s healthy. The same Satan, the accuser who by the permission of God caused the death of Job’s children and the destruction of his properties accuse and insinuate that Job traded his life(skin) for his own.

Impelling that Job is sailfish. Satan uses trouble and prove his point to God. Wickedness

It is recorded in John 4:23-24 Jesus saying: That the Father is seeking “true Worshipers”-spirit and truth- an attitude of reverence for God in and out of the church every day.

SKIN FOR SKIN

Closed and person- flesh and bones

From Satan accusatory mouth he review something about men- it is easy to point fingers when it not in your shoe, to question someone integrity when you’re not going through it. Example: We can sit here in the United States and have a lot of opinions about the unjust war in Ukraine or the work of other fathers but when it up closed and personal to you. “Satan said to God- the creator, the all knowing, the I am, the Beginning and the End: Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life-(health). But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce (CURSE) you to your face.”

-Human beings will give up everything to be health, they will compromise their values, their faith, their worship, their money and even denied God to stay alive. Peter said “I don’t know that men”

Today we say following: God will understand. God knows my heart or I am a human, I am not perfect. We make this accuses too often after we have compromised our integrity and dishonor God.

BEHIND THE SCENE

All of this is going behind on the scene - In Heaven, the present of God and Job is unaware. Too often we may not know the root cause of our trouble and difficulty of our lives but God knows how it all started and how is going to end. Be faithful by standing on the promises of God, the foundation our faith.

Untested Faith, untried faith or unprocessed faith- faith that has not going through difficulties, not face challenges - doubts fear and uncertain con not be trusted.

FATHERS SHOW YOUR WORK

My fathers , 1 Corinthians 3:13 tells us that “the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.” - the work done as fathers (Dads), as husbands, as parents , the work done as the head of the family and as Christians and our integrity and faith will prove itself in the furnace of adversity. When your children are know longer under your roof, when your health seen to be failing, when national, international fire is burning, can we continue to sing “It Is Well With My Soul” in the midst of it all and maintain our faith and integrity as believers in Christ?

PASS THE TEST

Fathers, pass your test, Fathers go through the process. Just because you failed Yesterday does not mean you can not pass today. Our God is faithful, and he will not let us be tempted beyond our abilities. God has given us the capacity the ability through the word of our testimony and the blood of the lamb to overcome.

Winning the battle on day at a time. One temptation at a time- God declare Job of winning the first battle which made God a winner.

Job faith was tested through his wealth. Tested through his family(wife a sign of closeness), through his friendships and his relationship with God his maker and yet through it all by the grace of God, he prove God right.

When it all said and done may we prove God right. May we come out on the other side of adversity victorious to the glory of God and a living testimony, a source of strength and positive encouragement.

Luke 22:32 (CSB)

32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Invite Congregational prayer for the Fathers to turned back.