Meet Your Psychiatrist: He Helps You Live by Faith — Warren Wiersbe

The Spirit of Faith in 2 Corinthians 4

We're reading tonight 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Now, I'm going to read the entire chapter. We're going to focus on verse 13 as the key to the chapter. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost, in whom the God of this age hath blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken.

Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. There are few books that Paul wrote that revealed to us his heart so much as 2 Corinthians. In fact, this book was written out of suffering and misunderstanding.

The Corinthian church misunderstood Paul's motives and his plans. He'd promised to give them two visits and he could only give them one visit and they criticized him for it. When you turn to chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians, you discover Paul had really been going through difficulty.

Verse 3. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them who are in any trouble by the comfort with which we ourselves are comfort of God.

In verse 8. We would not rather have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us, ye also helping together by prayer for us.

You see, Paul had been going through difficulties. I can't conceive of such a thing. Paul knew how to pray. Paul had been up in the paradise of God. Paul knew the Lord. He got into difficulty. Yes, he did so much so that he almost gave up.

I suppose in this day and age, with all the pressures and difficulties and troubles that are in this world, our biggest temptation is to quit. Isn't that right? That's our biggest temptation. We get notes on the back of registration cards sometimes, sometimes anonymous, sometimes signed, where people say, I'm ready to quit.

Please pray for me. Please help me. And Paul came to a point where even the great apostle Paul was ready to quit. So 2 Corinthians is written about this whole experience of suffering that Paul was going through.

Trusting God Rather Than Ourselves

And one of the themes of this book is simply to trust God. Verse 9 of chapter 1, he said, I went through this experience that I should learn not to trust in myself. Now, if anybody had reason to trust in himself, Paul did.

Paul knew the scriptures. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul had had experiences beyond anybody else. One of the dangers of spiritual growth is getting to a point where we think we can't learn anymore.

Now, if the new Christians have problems, sometimes the older Christians have worse problems because we can get to the point where we think we've learned it all, we know how it works. Paul said, I had to go through all of this difficulty to learn not to trust in myself but to trust in the Lord.

Look at chapter 1, verse 24, the last words. For by faith ye stand. When the winds begin to blow and the storms begin to gather, I'll tell you, my friend, you stand by faith, not by sight. The things that are seen are temporal.

The things that are not seen are eternal. And you and I have to go through life standing by faith. Now, we don't just stand by faith. Chapter 5, verse 7, we walk by faith. It's one thing to stand there and the storm is blowing and the earthquake is shaking everything.

Then God says, okay, get moving. You say, Lord, I can't walk in an earthquake. Move. I can't walk on the water. Move. And then, my friend, something harder than standing by faith, you start walking by faith.

And all the way through 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking about the importance of faith. This is why in chapter 4 he focuses on the spirit of faith. Verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, Psalm 116, verse 10, he quotes the psalmist, I believed and therefore have I spoken.

We also believe and therefore speak. Now, the word spirit in verse 13 has a lower case s. It can be translated, we having the same attitude of faith. We having the same outlook of faith. You could call this Paul's definition of PMA, positive mental attitude.

Or the power of positive thinking, if you please. Paul is saying here, in spite of all the difficulty that I went through, God gave to me a spirit of faith, an attitude of faith, a holy optimism. I was ready to quit, but I kept on going.

The Holy Spirit Generates Faith Through the Word

Now, I think even though it is a lower case s, meaning the human spirit, it could well be translated with a capital S, meaning the Holy Spirit. In fact, Bishop Hanley Mole, whose knowledge of the Greek language is far superior to mine, does this in his translation.

He makes it a capital S, and his explanation, I think, is very obvious. Whatever happens in my spirit has to come from the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit is the spirit of faith working in my spirit to give me an attitude of faith.

So that I don't walk around discouraged and gloomy and defeated. Now, having said all of that, let's answer the question tonight. How does the Holy Spirit of God help us to have an attitude of faith? Somebody here tonight says, Oh, Pastor, I wish I had that attitude of faith.

I am facing a problem like you've never seen before. It's not just an ordinary problem. This is special. This had to be created by a committee. And I need an attitude of faith. You say, I go to work tomorrow, and when I punch in, that bell that rings on the clock is not just marking my time clock.

That means round one. And I need faith. You say, Pastor, I've got people living in the building where I live, and ooh, you should live with such people. I need faith. Now, all of us do. If we don't need faith for ourselves, we need faith to be able to help other people.

And you know, nothing is more contagious than discouragement. Somebody walking around draping crepes and pulling down the shades and turning off the lights. And also, nothing is more contagious than encouragement.

Somebody who has an attitude of faith and says it can be done. Now, there are four words that summarize the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this matter of living by faith. The four words are treasure. That's verse 7.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Trouble. That's verse 8. We are troubled on every side. Trust. That's verse 13. We have the same spirit of faith. Testimony. We believe, therefore we speak. Now, the formula goes like this.

Treasure plus trial or trouble plus trust equals testimony. Oh, you say, I wish I really could give testimony of what God has done in my life, but I'm afraid he hasn't done very much. Here's the formula now.

If the Holy Spirit of God is going to give to you and me this attitude of faith, this holy optimism, treasure plus trouble plus trust equals testimony. Let's begin with the treasure, verse 7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

This treasure he's talking about is the treasure of salvation. I wonder if you and I realize what a priceless treasure we have down inside. When you were saved, God gave to you his own life, eternal life.

The Holy Spirit came to live in your body, and God did a very peculiar thing. He put a priceless treasure in an earthen vessel. Now, Paul is not suggesting here that our bodies are not important. He's suggesting just the opposite.

Our bodies are important. The fact that he has put this treasure in our bodies makes our bodies very important. But they are earthen vessels. I suppose the most magnificent collection of treasure I ever saw in my life was in the Tower of London, where the British crown jewels are on display.

You cannot believe it. You cannot believe it. You walk into this room and these spotlights that make these lights look like birthday candles are just shining down upon these jewels. And you can walk all around these cases, but don't you dare stop.

If you stop, the guard just keeps you going. My good friend Dr. Sugden said to the guard in passing, Do these jewels belong to Queen Elizabeth? Oh, no, he said. She must share them with the next monarch.

And then Dr. Sugden turned to me and he said, Just think of it. The crown that God gives us belongs to us. The treasure is unbelievable. You cannot describe it. And yet, those treasures that we saw in the Tower of London are so much garbage compared to what God has put down inside of us.

We have this wonderful treasure of eternal life. Now the interesting thing is this. God put this treasure in you that the treasure might increase. Salvation is God's investment. I hope there's more treasure in me today than there was in 1945 when I got saved.

You say, you mean you have more eternal life? I hope that God has more of my life. I hope that eternal life has become abundant life. I hope that the treasures of the Word of God that He has shared with me are down in there producing an investment that bears dividends.

You see, here's the way life goes. God takes you and me and God puts a treasure in us. He said, I'm making a deposit in your life. The reason the devil fights you is because you've got a treasure. The reason the world hates you is because you've got a treasure.

The reason the flesh fights against you, remember the flesh is not the body, is because you've got this treasure. And the reason you're so important is because you have this treasure. And the reason the future is so wonderful is because you have this treasure.

Now he puts the treasure in the earthen vessel so that you and I can realize the power of God. You see, I don't have the strength to protect this treasure. I don't have the power to reflect this treasure.

If my body is run by me, that treasure is not going to be bringing glory to God. But if my body is run by the Lord, then in spite of this earthen vessel, God is going to get the glory. I shouldn't say in spite of, I should say because of.

Now I'm going to preach. I'm going to exhort. Some of you have a difficult time accepting the fact that you are human. Now I have news for you, you are not angels. And I am not an angel. We are not spirit creatures.

We are not gods. We're human. And Paul said, I have this treasure in an earthen vessel. I have accepted my humanity. I know I'm made of clay. That's a good thing to do. Don't wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and say, oh it's too bad you're human.

Wake up and say, you know, I'm just a human being. I'm just made of clay. I'm just a vessel. But I've got a treasure down inside. And I am important to God because I am his treasure house. I am his bank.

He has invested in me. And he's waiting for a dividend. Now how does he get the dividend? First the treasure. Then the trouble. Now it seems to me that if I had put a treasure in so fragile a thing as an earthen vessel, I would protect it.

I did a very stupid thing at home one day. One of the kids and I, we were fooling around and laughing and joking. And I ran a little bit too heavy. And I broke something in the china cabinet. And was in the doghouse for a little while.

I thought to myself in self-defense, well if that thing was so important, why didn't we put it someplace where it wouldn't break? And I look at this scripture and I say, Lord, you've put this treasure in an earthen vessel.

And this vessel is so fragile. Why don't you protect it? And he said, oh no, that's part of the formula. I put this treasure in the earthen vessel, but nobody can tell the treasure is there until that vessel goes through trouble.

Trouble Reveals the Treasure

And so treasure leads to trouble. You know why God permits trouble to come to our lives? Number one, so that you and I will value the treasure and not the vessel. You see, we don't value the vessel by itself.

We value the vessel because of the treasure. And God has put this treasure of eternal life into my body, and that's why my body is important. But God says, I don't want you to make your body so important, you forget about the treasure.

So God has to bring trouble sometimes to make me realize how important the treasure is. God wants me, in other words, to remember the giver, not just the gift. Ever been to a party where the person is more concerned about the gifts than the giver?

We can get this way. And so Paul says, trouble comes. Trouble comes that we might emphasize the treasure, not the vessel. That we might look upon the giver and not just the gift. But more than that, when God permits trouble to come to your life and mine, it has a way of bringing Him glory because the treasure shines out.

Now, I don't care what anybody says. When unsaved people go through trouble, you don't see the glory of God. And you don't hear the glory of God. Now, I want to remind you, unsaved people do go through trouble.

Sometimes Christians say, oh pastor, my unsaved neighbors don't go through what I go through. How do you know? Our hospitals are filled with a lot of unsaved people. So are the cemeteries. Lots of heartache in this world.

But you know, when a Christian goes through trouble, when that vessel is going through the furnace, it has a way of magnifying the treasure. And people say, there's something different. The nurse says to me, you know, that church member of yours down there in that bed, she's different from all the rest of the people in this ward.

I really love to take care of her because there's something different. Of course there is. The treasure is shining through. The crown jewels are bringing glory to God. Paul is picturing here in verses 8 through 12 a man being chased.

Paul said, here I am, and I look around, I'm surrounded by troubles. You see, I've got one or two troubles. Paul was surrounded by them. We're troubled on every side, but I'm not distressed. I look around, I can't see any hope, but I'll look up and I can see it.

He says, I am perplexed. I don't know where to turn, but I'm not in despair. God's got a way for me. I'm persecuted, but I'm not forsaken. I'm knocked down, but I'm not knocked out. Boy, they've chased me and they've caught me and they've thrown me down.

But he said, even if they kill me, it doesn't make any difference. I bear around in my body the dying of the Lord Jesus. And if I die, then he lives. You say, why in the world would anybody be willing to go through trouble?

Now, we Christians don't go out and look for trouble. But Paul is saying here, when you've received the treasure, and you start building up that treasure, growing in the Lord, the next step is trouble.

And we are willing to go through trouble for three reasons. Number one, for Jesus' sake. Twice he says that. Verse 5, ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. Verse 11, we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake.

That makes it different, doesn't it? You say, oh, I'm going through some problems. Are you doing it for Jesus' sake? When you go through these difficulties, when I go through difficulties, do I come to the master potter and say, oh, you made this vessel.

You put the treasure in this vessel. Now, whatever you want to do, I'll do it for your sake. But Paul doesn't stop there. You know why else we go through trouble? Verse 15, for all things are for your sake.

For the sake of other people. He said that back in chapter 1. He said, we go through these difficulties that God may bless us, and we can bless other people. I'm glad to see that our churches today are discovering that the preacher is not the one who's supposed to solve all the problems.

Oftentimes, I get phone calls from our people, and they say, Pastor, so-and-so is in the hospital, or so-and-so is an unsaved person, and what can I do? Now, the average church, they'd say, sick him, preacher.

That's what we pay you to do. I'm glad Moody Church is not like this. Our people say, you know, Pastor, I can take care of this better than you can. You've never been through that before. I've known cases here in this church where people who have had problems with alcohol have been helped by people who have gotten victory over alcohol.

Where people who have gone through family difficulties have been helped by other people who have gone through these difficulties. And Paul says, we go through this trouble for Jesus' sake and for the sake of others.

But you know, we also do it for our own sake. We get something out of it. Verse 16, For which cause we faint not, but though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day. As we go through troubles, the treasure on the inside gets brighter and brighter and more and more valuable, even though the vessel on the outside may be kicked around.

You may go to bed at night tired and broken and in pain, but thank God when you go through difficulty, that inward man is being renewed day by day. So the first word is treasure. Now, do you have this treasure down inside?

Have you really trusted Jesus Christ so that you have this spiritual deposit? Now, if you don't, you better come and trust Him. Christ on the inside, you don't have any treasure. You've got trash. Your body is not a temple.

It's not a vessel holding treasure. It's a sewer for all of the things that are wrong. And so you better come and give your heart to Christ. Now, if you have the treasure, expect the trouble. But the next step is trust.

Faith, Doubt, and Unbelief

Paul said we're going through all this trouble, but look at verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written. Trust. Now watch this. When trouble comes, what does the Holy Spirit do for you if you'll let Him?

He takes the word of God and gives you faith. You see it? Having the same spirit of faith as it is written. Now, I want you to see something very interesting about this chapter. In this chapter, the Lord gives to us illustrations of what faith can do.

There's a difference between faith, unbelief, and doubt. Oftentimes, people come to me and say, Oh, Pastor, the Lord can't bless me. I have so many doubts. And I hasten to say to them, Make a distinction between doubt and unbelief.

The Bible does. Now, what is faith? Faith means obeying God in spite of circumstances, in spite of feelings, and in spite of consequences. Faith just means obeying God. Faith involves the whole man. The mind, the heart, and the will.

With the mind, I understand what God wants me to do. With my heart, I desire to do it. With my will, I do it. But Noah is a good example. By faith, Noah being warned of God, being moved with fear. There's the emotion.

He was warned of God. There's the mind. Moved with fear. There's the emotion. Built an ark. There's the will. True Bible faith involves the whole man. The mind knows God's truth. The heart loves God's truth.

And the will does God's truth. Now, what's the difference between faith and unbelief? You see, in the Bible, we're warned against unbelief. Hebrews chapter 3 says, Today while you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, lest you have an evil heart of unbelief.

I don't read where he says an evil heart of doubt. Abraham had his doubts. Moses had his doubts. Gideon had his doubts. Jeremiah had his doubts. Peter had his doubts. Paul at the first chapter of 2 Corinthians tells me he had some of his doubts.

He despaired even of life. What's the difference between doubt and unbelief? Unbelief is rebellion against God. Unbelief is saying, I know what God's will says, but I'm going to harden my heart against it, and I won't do what you want me to do.

That's unbelief. Doubt is vacillating. When I have doubts, sometimes the problem is my heart. My mind knows what God wants me to do, but my heart is just a little bit afraid. Or sometimes it's my will.

My will is just a little bit paralyzed. Now, God knows the difference between doubt and unbelief. Unbelief is rebellion against God. It's saying, God, your word is not true, so I won't do it. Doubt is saying, Lord, like Peter, Jesus said to Peter, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Why did you waver? Why didn't you just turn your whole being over to me? Your mind and your heart and your will. Then the Holy Spirit could have generated faith down inside. You see, my friend, when we're going through trouble, we need faith.

We need trust. Trouble never makes a person better apart from faith. I've seen Christians go through trouble and get bitter, not better. Why? Unbelief. And so the Holy Spirit of God takes the word of God and generates faith.

Now, it's a miracle. Don't explain it. Don't analyze it. Don't kill it by giving it an autopsy. Just believe it. The Holy Spirit of God can take the word of God and generate faith down inside. Now, he gives us three beautiful illustrations of this.

Creation: God's Word Brings Light Out of Chaos

In verses 3 -6, Paul says, go back to creation. Go back to creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

I have seen situations like that. I have seen situations that were so formless and so empty and so dark, you wondered if anything could ever be done. But you know what happened? The very next verse says, and God, what? Said.

That's the word. Let there be light, and there was light. And out of that chaos came order. Out of that emptiness came fullness. Out of that darkness, God brought in light. Now, says Paul, if God could do this by the power of his word at creation, can't he take that little mess that's in your home and do something with it?

Can't he take that problem in your office? Can't he take this area in Moody Church or this mission field and do something about it? Of course he can. If we just let him. The Spirit of God takes the word of God and generates faith.

And that same word that gave the creative impetus can do it today. Now, in verse 7, he gives us a second illustration. I have a hunch. I will not give this as dogmatic doctrine, but I have a hunch in verse 7 Paul was thinking about Gideon.

Gideon's Earthen Vessels and God's Power

Remember Gideon with his earthen vessels? God came to Gideon one day. Gideon was that scared farmer boy hiding in the wine press, threshing some wheat to make some flour and hoping the enemy couldn't see him because the nation had been overridden by the Midianites.

And an angel shows up and says, Hail, thou mighty man of valor! I wouldn't have called him a mighty man of valor. But God did. And Gideon said, Oh, if I'm a mighty man of valor, why am I hiding? And if God is so powerful, where are the miracles we used to see?

Go in this thy might. The Lord is with thee. You know what happened? God took the weakest vessel he could find, Gideon. Scared. Why? He didn't know how to fight. He didn't know how to run an army. He got 32 ,000 people together and God said, Gideon, too many.

Too many. But Lord, I may lose the contest. Too many. Cut it down. He cuts it down to 300 people. Well, he said, Lord, where are the spears and the swords and the atomic bombs? Oh, no. No. Trumpets and pitchers and torches.

Oh. Strange weapons. Well, says the Lord, I delight to use the weak things. And I said, you surround the camp of the Midianites. When I give the signal, then you break those earthen vessels and the light's going to come out and you shout the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

And they did. And they won. That's faith. And Paul's saying to you tonight, oh, you've got awfully weak tools to work with. Well, we're not much, Lord. We think we are, but we aren't. And all we have are some torches and some pitchers.

But God, you can take these earthen vessels and you can do something with them. The greatest illustration of all, of course, is down in verse 14, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If ever a situation looked hopeless, it was Good Friday.

The Resurrection as the Ultimate Victory of Faith

Just imagine those eleven disciples and those women and those other followers. And there they stand at Calvary and there is their Master crucified and He dies. They take Him off the cross and wrap Him up and put Him in a tomb.

Oh, how hopeless the whole thing seemed. Have you ever been through a Good Friday experience like that? The very thing you trusted died. The very hope that you had was buried. And there you stood saying, oh God, what's going to happen?

I'll tell you what's going to happen. Resurrection! And just a couple of days later, this same Savior came out victoriously. And Paul is saying, if God can take the chaos at creation, if God can take the weakness of Gideon, if God can take crucifixion and burial and out of all of these bring victory, can't He do it in your life?

Of course He can. But the problem is we don't let Him. Trust. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and generates faith in our lives. Now, the secret, my friend, is to get your eyes off of circumstances and get your eyes on the Word.

That's why he says up here in verse 15, we're looking not at the things which are seen, but I see a dead Jesus. The things that are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen are eternal. You can't see what the Holy Spirit is going to do.

But I see the great camp of the Midianites and their armies like the sands of the sea. Don't worry about it. You just haven't seen what the Lord's going to do. But I see chaos. If ever there was a mess, this is it.

Darkness and emptiness and formlessness. Wait a minute. God's going to work. You see, our problem is we really believe the things that we see instead of believing the things we can't see. And that's where the Holy Spirit comes in.

I remember the first time the Lord really taught me this lesson. I had graduated from high school and I'd been promised a job. My uncle, bless his heart, had gotten me a job. And I needed a job because I was going to go to college and wanted to pay my way.

But I'd also promised the church that I was attending I would help them for two weeks of vacation Bible school. And I'd only been saved a couple of years, and I'd promised. I said, Lord, this is what you want me to do.

And the guy said, well, you better come and work or you won't have a job. And I remember opening my Bible and beginning to read. And I wasn't just reading happenstance. I began to read in the Gospel of Matthew and worked my way through the genealogy that was edifying.

Finally got to the Sermon on the Mount, and I got to Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. And the Holy Spirit of God took that verse and He hit me with it like a sledgehammer. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

And the Spirit of God took the Word of God and created faith in my heart. And I said to my uncle, I'm real sorry I can't come for two weeks. He said, well, I'll check in and do it. He came back and said, we'll take you two weeks from now.

So I got to do my work in vacation Bible school and got my job. And I held that job for several years. That's what the Holy Spirit's talking about. He's saying, I'm the Spirit of faith. You can't work up faith.

A lot of people do. They work up their own kind of faith and it falls apart. The Holy Spirit of God takes the Word of God and generates faith in our heart. So there's treasure plus trouble plus trust equals testimony.

Testimony: Speaking From Personal Faith

That's our last word. Verse 13, I believe, therefore I speak. Now, lots of people speak who don't believe. Nothing is colder than a second-hand testimony. Yes, there is something colder than a second-hand testimony.

A second-hand testimony is 30 years old. You see, what he's saying here is I can tell you from my own experience. It's not borrowed from a book by somebody. I didn't hear this over the radio. I had this experience myself.

I believe, therefore I can speak. My friend, if you haven't believed, don't speak. We're not interested. But, oh, if the Spirit of God has given you faith to trust God for something, tell us about it.

We need to hear it. Testimony. Now, he's quoting from Psalm 116. I'll leave you to read Psalm 116. In Psalm 116, the psalmist went through trouble. He almost died. The sorrows of death overwhelmed me.

Apparently, somebody had lied to him about something. He got into trouble because of it. I said in my haste, all men are liars. That's Psalm 116. He cried out to God, and God rescued him. And he said, I believe.

Now I can speak. The Holy Spirit of God gives us faith, and then he gives us the testimony to glorify God. And the treasure shines out. Never forget this, friends. First, the test. Then, the testimony.

Oh, you see, I want to have a good testimony for the Lord. First, the test. Then, the testimony. And this testimony glorifies God. And then you know what happens? As you testify, the treasure gets to be that much better and that much bigger.

And God says, I've got to put him through some more trouble. And so you go through some more trouble, and the Spirit gives you the trust, and then you've got the testimony, and then the treasure gets that much better, and then you go through more trouble, and then you have more trust, and the treasure grows, and your faith grows, and God's glory grows, and people get saved, and revival comes.