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Tested (1381) (dokimazo from dokimos = tested, proved or approved, tried as metals by fire and thus purified from dechomai = to accept, receive) means to assay, to test, to prove, to put to the test, to make a trial of, to verify, to discern to approve. Dokimazo involves not only testing but determining the genuineness or value of an event or object. That which has been tested is demonstrated to be genuine and trustworthy. Dokimazo is used 22 in the NT... Luke 12:56 "You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? Luke 14:19 "And another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' Romans 1:28 (note) And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (Literally = And, according as they did not approve [dokimazo] of having God in knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not seemly) Romans 2:18 (note) and know His will, and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, Romans 12:2 (note) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 14:22 (note) The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 1 Corinthians 3:13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 1 Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 16:3 And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem; 2 Corinthians 8:8 I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. 2 Corinthians 8:22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent, because of his great confidence in you. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Test (peirazo - present imperative) yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine (dokimazo - present imperative) yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test? Galatians 6:4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. Ephesians 5:10 (note) trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Philippians 1:10 (note) so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (note) but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (note) But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 1 Timothy 3:10 And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 1 Peter 1:7 (note) that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test (dokimazo - present imperative) the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Dokimazo is used 18 times in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) (Job 34:3; Ps 17:3; 26:2; 66:10; 68:30; 81:7; 95:9; 139:1, 23; Pr 8:10; 17:3; 27:21; Jer 6:27; 9:7; 11:20; 12:3; 17:10; 20:12; Zech 11:13; 13:9). Here is an interesting use... Psalm 26:2 (David's incredible plea to God) Examine (Lxx = dokimazo = present imperative) me, O LORD, and try (Lxx = peirazo = present imperative) me; Test (Lxx = puroo [heating precious metals red hot in order to refine them] = aorist imperative) my mind and my heart. (Ed: Do we dare pray this prayer? Considering the gold that comes from the furnace of affliction, do we dare not?) Spurgeon comments on this Psalm: There are three modes of trial here challenged, which are said in the original to refer to trial by touch, trial by smell, and trial by fire. The psalmist was so clear from the charge laid against him, that he submitted himself unconditionally to any form of examination which the Lord might see fit to employ. Examine me, O Lord. Look me through and through; make a minute survey; put me to the question, cross examine my evidence. And prove me. Put me again to trial; and see if I would follow such wicked designs as my enemies impute to me. Try my reins and my heart. Assay me as metals are assayed in the furnace, and do this to my most secret parts, where my affections hold their court; see, O God, whether or no I love murder, and treason, and deceit. All this is a very bold appeal, and made by a man like David, who feared the Lord exceedingly, it manifests a most solemn and complete conviction of innocence. The expressions here used should teach us the thoroughness of the divine judgment, and the necessity of being in all things profoundly sincere, lest we be found wanting at the last. Our enemies are severe with us with the severity of spite, and this a brave man endures without fear; but God's severity is that of unswerving right. Who shall stand against such a trial? The sweet singer says "Who can stand before his cold?" and we may well enquire, "Who can stand before the heat of his justice?" These words are designed to include all the modes in which the reality of anything is tested; and they imply together that he wished the most thorough investigation to be made; he did not shrink from any test. Albert Barnes. As gold, by fire, is severed and parted from dross, so singleness of heart and true Christian simplicity is best seen and made most evident in troubles and afflictions. In prosperity every man will seem godly, but afflictions do draw out of the heart whatsoever is there, whether it be good or bad. Robert Cawdray. When your life is whole before God and others, when you're practicing integrity, when you have a good conscience, you don't have to be afraid of the battle or the furnace or the X ray or the testing. God will see you through. When you walk with integrity, you walk on solid ground. Never try to serve two masters. Always keep your heart undivided before the Lord -- Warren Wiersbe. Prayer, Praise and Promises Psalm 66:10 For Thou hast tried (Lxx = dokimazo) us, O God; Thou hast refined (Lxx = puroo = heating precious metals red hot in order to refine) us as silver is refined. Spurgeon comments on this Psalm: For thou, O God, hast proved us. He proved his Israel with sore trials. David had his temptations. All the saints must go to the proving house; God had one Son without sin, but he never had a son without trial. Why ought we to complain if we are subjected to the rule which is common to all the family, and from which so much benefit has flowed to them? The Lord Himself proves us, who then shall raise a question as to the wisdom and the love which are displayed in the operation? The day may come when, as in this case, we shall make hymns out of our griefs, and sing all the more sweetly because our mouths have been purified with bitter draughts. Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Searching and repeated, severe and thorough, has been the test; the same result has followed us as in the case of precious metal, for the dross and tin have been consumed, and the pure ore has been discovered. Since trial is sanctified to so desirable an end, ought we not to submit to it with abounding resignation Spurgeon adds another note: Convinced from the frequent use of this illustration, that there was something more than usually instructive in the process of assaying and purifying silver, I have collected some few facts upon the subject. The hackneyed story of the refiner seeing his image in the molten silver while in the fire, has so charmed most of us, that we have not looked further; yet, with more careful study, much could be brought out. To assay silver requires great personal care in the operator. "The principle of assaying gold and silver is very simple theoretically, but in practice great experience is necessary to insure accuracy; and there is no branch of business which demands more personal and undivided attention. The result is liable to the influence of so many contingencies, that no assayer who regards his reputation will delegate the principal process to one not equally skilled with himself. Besides the result ascertainable by weight, there are allowances and compensations to be made, which are known only to an experienced assayer, and if these were disregarded, as might be the case with the mere novice, the report would be wide from the truth." (Encyclopaedia Britannica.) Pagnini's version reads: "Thou hast melted us by blowing upon us," and in the monuments of Egypt, artificers are seen with the blowpipe operating with small fire places, with cheeks to confine and reflect the heat; the worker evidently paying personal attention, which is evident also in Malachi 3:3,, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." To assay silver requires a skillfully constructed furnace. The description of this furnace would only weary the reader, but it is evidently a work of art in itself. Even the trial of our faith is much more precious than that of gold which perisheth. He has refined us, but not with silver, he would not trust us there, the furnace of affliction is far more skillfully arranged than that. To assay silver the heat must be nicely regulated. "During the operation, the assayer's attention should be directed to the heat of the furnace, which must be neither too hot nor too cold: if too hot, minute portions of silver will be carried off with the lead, and so vitiate the assay; moreover, the pores of the cupel (Ed: a small shallow porous cup especially of bone ash used in assaying to separate precious metals from lead) being more open, greater absorption will ensue, and there is liability to loss from that cause. One indication of an excess of heat in the furnace, is the rapid and perpendicular rising of the fumes to the ceiling of the muffle, the mode of checking and controlling which has been pointed out in the description of the improved furnace. When the fumes are observed to fall to the bottom of the muffle, the furnace is then too cold; and if left unaltered, it will be found that the cupellation has been imperfectly performed, and the silver will not have entirely freed itself from the base metals. (Encyclopaedia Britannica.) The assayer repeats his trying process. Usually two or more trials of the same piece are made, so that great accuracy may be secured. Seven times silver is said to be purified, and the saints through varied trials reach the promised rest. C. H. S. WW: The reason God tries us and tests us is to prove us. He's proving nothing to Himself. He knows us from top to bottom. Instead, He's proving something to us. God considers us as valuable as silver, and He puts us into situations that test and strengthen us. -- Warren Wiersbe. Prayer, Praise and Promises Psalm 139:23 Search (Lxx = dokimazo = aorist imperative) me, O God, and know (Lxx = ginosko [know intimately, experientially] = aorist imperative) my heart; Try (Lxx = hetazo [examine, test, afflict] = aorist imperative) me and know (Lxx = ginosko [know intimately, experientially] = aorist imperative) my anxious thoughts; Spurgeon comments on this Psalm: Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men. He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had need be a true man who can put himself deliberately into such a crucible. Yet we may each one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered. Try me, and know my thoughts. Exercise any and every test upon me. By fire and by water let me be examined. Read not alone the desires of my heart, but the fugitive thoughts of my head. Know with all penetrating knowledge all that is or has been in the chambers of my mind. What a mercy that there is one being who can know us to perfection! He is intimately at home with us. He is graciously inclined towards us, and is willing to bend His omniscience to serve the end of our sanctification. Let us pray as David did, and let us be as honest as he. We cannot hide our sin: salvation lies the other way, in a plain discovery of evil, and an effectual severance from it. Dokimazo was used in classic Greek to describe the assaying of precious metals (especially gold or silver coins), usually by fire, to prove the whether they were authentic and whether they measured up to the stated worth. That which endures the test was called dokimos and that which fails is called adokimos. Dokimazo means to put to the test for the purpose of approving, and finding that the person tested meets the specifications prescribed, to put one’s approval upon him. For example Paul writes that unregenerate mankind did not approve (dokimazo) of having God in knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not seemly. (Young's literal translation see note Romans 1:28) In this incredible verse in Romans 1, fallen men presumptuously put God to the test for the purpose of approving Him to see He if He would meet the specifications which they laid down for a God Who would be to their liking! But sinful man did not stop there, for finding that He did not meet their specifications, they refused to approve (dokimazo) Him as the God to be worshipped or to be kept in its knowledge! They tested the infinitely precious God as they would a mere coin, and chose to turn aside from Him! Dokimazo means to make a critical examination of something to determine its genuineness. Dokimazo was used in a manuscript of 140AD which contains a plea for the exemption of physicians, and especially of those who have passed the examination (dokimazo). Dokimazo was thus used as a technical expression referring to the action of an examining board putting its approval upon those who had successfully passed the examinations for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Dokimazo was also used to describe the passing of a candidate as fit for election to public office. Richison adds that... Greek literature used the word “test” for examining candidates for a medical doctorate. Candidates for a medical doctorate must be tested. It is crucial to find out if they are the genuine thing. We do not want an incompetent surgeon operating on us. When doctors prove genuine by examining, they meet the attestation. It is obvious that God wants to discover what constitutes our character. Character is best ascertained when we are placed under duress. God will detect our weakness and strength by giving us an exam. It will be a difficult exam. Get out your blue books. God is about to find out the genuineness of your faith! God refines our faith by trial. When it comes to trials, everyone is in one of these three stages: They are experiencing a trial, coming out of a trial or about to go into a trial! In the Detroit, Mich., area there are proving grounds for automobiles. The purpose of these proving grounds is to test the mechanical soundness of cars before they are out on the market. Test drivers run these cars for days without turning off the motor. The cars are put through bumps, curves, water, hills and many more obstacles for long periods of time. The manufacturing companies want to know whether the shocks and brakes are going to hold up under punishment. In the same way, God wants to develop our faith so that we will stand up to the bumps of life. Have you assayed your life? Have you found it genuine? Will you pass the exam? Will God regard you as appropriate for His service? God makes His assessment after He puts us to the test. He will judge us to ensure we are real and genuine, and if we are He will approve us for service. (Excellent verse by verse analysis) On the basis of the truth in Romans 1-11, in Romans 12:2 Paul charges believers to not be conformed (assuming an outward expression not reflective of Christ Who is really inside you) to this world (the beliefs, values, moral atmosphere, etc of this present evil age which is ruled by Satan), but be transformed (daily, continually be undergoing a metamorphosis or change in your outward appearance which manifests your new, inner redeemed nature) by the renewing (re-programming your mind, as the Spirit changes your thinking as you saturate your mind with Scripture allowing it to control and guide your steps) of your mind, that you may prove (dokimazo) what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (see note Romans 12:2) In a similar exhortation to the Ephesians who were formerly in spiritual darkness but now were light in the Lord, because of who they were in Christ, they should walk as children of light continually trying to learn (dokimazo - continually putting every thought, word and deed to the test in order to prove) what is pleasing to the Lord (The one point of all moral investigation is, does it please God?). (see note Ephesians 5:10) Walking in the light, in the Spirit, according to the Word and the revealed will of God is a sure way to test and approve what pleases our Lord. MacDonald puts it this way What does the Lord think about this? How does it appear in His presence? Every area of life comes under the searchlight (what a picture of "dokimazo"!)—conversation, standard of living, clothes, books, business, pleasures, entertainments, furniture, friendships, vacations, cars, and sports. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) Paul prays for the saints at Philippi (and a good model prayer for us today) that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve (dokimazo) (continually like a "spiritual metallurgist" assaying the things in their lives that were of real value, as to discern that which was true and genuine) the things that are excellent (some things are good and others are better - the good is often the enemy of the best. Dokimazo speaks of investigating to determine which is the best), in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ." (see notes Philippians 1:9; 1:10) Two good tests to enable you to exercise spiritual discernment include (1). Will it make you or others stumble? (Mk 9:42, 43, 45, 47; Lk 17:2) (2) Will I be ashamed if Jesus should return? (1Jn 2:28, 3:2,3, 3:21; 4:17) Ben Patterson wrote that The American Banking Association once sponsored a two-week training program to help tellers detect counterfeit bills. The program was unique--never during the two-week training did the tellers even look at a counterfeit bill, not did they listen to any lectures concerning the characteristics of counterfeit bills....All they did for two weeks was handle authentic currency, hour after hour and day after day, until they were so familiar with the true that they could not possibly be fooled by the false." (Ben Patterson, Waiting: InterVarsity Press, 1989) Regarding men being considered for church leadership Paul states "let these also first be tested (dokimazo - present tense indicates an ongoing test not a onetime test or probationary period) then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach." (1Ti 3:10) The test and approval here do not refer to a formal examination, but have reference to the general assessment of a believer’s service by the church as to whether they fulfill the specifications set down in (1Ti 3:8) Once they become officially recognized as deacons, this evaluation is still to be continuous (reflecting dokimazo in the present tense). Note the word "also" indicates that elders likewise are subject to ongoing "dokimazo". In Luke 12:56 dokimazo is translated “analyze” and is used in reference to predicting the weather, Jesus declaring to a multitude who had come out to hear Him: You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” A short while later, in telling a parable of the kingdom while dining with a group of leading Pharisees, He spoke of a man who excused himself from attending a dinner given by a wealthy man because he had bought five yoke of oxen, and [was] going to try them out (dokimazo)" (Lk 14:19). Paul uses dokimazo to describe the future Judgment Seat of Christ (2Cor 5:10) of believers (not for punishment but to determine reward) when each man’s work will become (plainly, openly) evident (shown for what it really is); for the day will show (disclose, declare) it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test (dokimazo) (and critically appraise) the quality (character and eternal worth) of each man’s work." (1Cor 3:13) Tested by fire - Fire is the symbol of testing. Just as it purifies metal, so will the fire of God’s discernment burn up the dross and leave what is pure and valuable. Or as William Dyer put it "Fiery trials make golden Christians." Jonathan Edwards adds that... Eminent virtue always shows brightest in the fire. Pure gold shows its purity chiefly in the furnace. Stephen Charnock (Puritan author of The Attributes of God) wrote that... We often learn more under the rod that strikes us, than under the staff that comforts us. Paul charges the Thessalonians (in context referring to prophetic utterances, but applicable as a general principle) to continually examine (present imperative) (sift and test to prove whether genuine, worthy, authentic, discerning between true/false, right/wrong, good/bad) everything (Greek = "no exceptions"!) carefully; hold fast (present imperative) (embrace wholeheartedly, take possession of) to that which is good (inherently genuine, true, noble, right, not just what might appear beautiful on the outside); abstain (present imperative) (continually hold oneself away) from every form of (actively harmful, malignant) evil." (see notes 1Thes 5:21-22) Comment: All of the present imperatives call for these actions to be our lifestyle, our continual or habitual practice. But be careful! Do not depend on your old flesh nature to obey these commands. Faith renounces self-reliance and instead relies on the Holy Spirit, our Enabler to carry out these commands (and in fact every command . We don't just need a little help [this implies we just need a little "push" for example] to abstain from every form of evil! The true is that we need 100% of the Spirit's supernatural enablement - He is at work in us, energizing us, giving us both the desire and the power to obey - cf Php 2:13NLT! To avoid being pulled into error, keep a firm grip on the truth. Spurgeon said it well Beware! Error often rides to its deadly work on the back of truth! John has a similar charge writing Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test (dokimazo - present imperative - continually, to determine their authenticity) the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (they profess Christianity, but teach another gospel). (1Jn 4:1) The teacher, for example, is not to be put to the test for the purpose of condemnation but with the intent to approve. Paul combines dokimazo and peirazo (see related word peirasmos) in a warning to the Corinthians to Test (present imperative) yourselves (peirázō) to see if you are in the faith; examine (dokimazo - present imperative) yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?" (2Cor 13:5) Paul reminds the Corinthians--and us--that it is quite possible for a man or woman to profess Christ and salvation, yet still be unsaved (cf note Titus 1:16). They may even deceive themselves into thinking that such a profession has saved them. Therefore, we need to examine ourselves to prove ourselves. The sure proof is the realization that Christ is indwelling us, by the Holy Spirit, resulting in godly lives and glad acceptance of all the revealed Word of God, as inspired by the same Holy Spirit. Self-examination is one test from which no Christian is excused. Afflictions, they are but our Father's goldsmiths who are working to add pearls to our crowns. --Thomas Brooks Peter tells us that this approval of our faith is much more precious than the approval of gold, even though that gold be tested and shown to be genuine through testing by fire. No goldsmith would deliberately waste the precious ore. He would put the crude gold ore in a crucible in a smelting furnace, subject it to intense heat, in order to liquefy the solid ore. In the liquid state, the worthless impurities in the gold ore would rise to the surface and be skimmed off as dross (the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal). When the goldsmith was finally able to see his face reflected in gold remaining in the crucible, he would remove it from the fire, for he knew that he had pure gold. So our Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. Christ-likeness is God’s ideal for His child. Christian suffering is one of the tools He uses to bring about that result. Thomas Brooks put it this way... Stars shine brightest in the darkest night. Torches are the better for beating. Grapes come not to the proof till they come to the press. Spices smell sweetest when pounded. Young trees root the faster for shaking. Vines are the better for bleeding. Gold looks the brighter for scouring; and juniper smells sweeter in the fire. John Calvin wrote that Peter's argument is from the less to the greater; for if gold, a corruptible metal, is deemed of so much value that we prove it by fire, that it may become really valuable, what wonder is it that God should require a similar trial as to faith, since faith is deemed by him so excellent?...Gold is, indeed, tried twice by fire; first. when it is separated from its dross; and then, when a judgment. is to be formed of its purity. Both modes of trial may very suitably be applied to faith; for when there is much of the dregs of unbelief remaining in us, and when by various afflictions we are refined as it were in God’s furnace, the dross of our faith is removed, so that it. becomes pure and clean before God; and, at the same time, a trial of it is made, as to whether it be true or fictitious.... Afflictions ought ever to be estimated by their end...Our afflictions prepare us for receiving the grace of God... Our faith is really and truly tested only when we are brought into very severe conflicts, and when even hell itself seems opened to swallow us up... The more we are afflicted by adversities, the more surely our fellowship with Christ is confirmed! It is the usual way of providence with me that blessings come through several iron gates. --Thomas Boston George Mueller once said that God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hand as a means. I say—and say it deliberately—trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith Affliction is the shaking of the torch that it may blaze the brighter. --Horatius Bonar MacDonald adds When prevailing conditions are favorable, it might be easy to be a Christian. But when public confession of Christ brings persecution and suffering, then the casual followers drift away and are lost in the crowd. A religion which costs nothing is worth nothing. Faith which refuses to pay the price is spurious. It is the kind of say-so faith that James condemns. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted! The darker the night, the brighter the stars; the hotter the fire, the purer the gold. Too many professing Christians have a “false faith” which will be "proved" no faith in the trials of life as Jesus illustrated in His parable on the soils The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places...is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away" (Mt 13:20, 21). The person who abandons his "faith” when the going gets tough proves that he really did not possess genuine saving faith. On the other hand the more a tree of righteousness is shaken by the wind, the more it is rooted in Christ. Spurgeon addresses the relationship of trials and a believer's faith explaining that... Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier No stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky No water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand And no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities. (Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and evening : Daily readings November 12 AM) The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. Dokimazo is used 20 times in the Septuagint (LXX), Job recording that the ear tests (dokimazo) words, as the palate tastes food." (Job 34:3) In an OT parallel of faith tested and found authentic, David says to God Thou hast tried (dokimazo - subjected it to the Refiner's fire and assayed "pure"!) my heart...and dost find nothing." (Ps 17:3 - Spurgeon's note) That declaration might have some relation to his prayer to Examine (dokimazo) me, O LORD, and try (peirazo) me. Test my mind and my heart." (Ps 26:2 - Spurgeon's note) The psalmist records Thou hast tried (dokimazo) us, O God; Thou hast refined us as silver is refined. (Ps 66:10 - Spurgeon's note) Sadly we see faithless Israel trying God, the psalmist recording When your fathers tested (peirazo) Me, they tried (dokimazo) Me, though they had seen My work." (Ps 95:9 - Spurgeon's note) David declares "O Lord, Thou hast searched (dokimazo) me and known me." (Ps 139:1 - Spurgeon's note) And yet even knowing God had already "assayed" him for authenticity, David ends his song with this prayer Search (dokimazo) me, O God and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts." (Ps 139:23 - Spurgeon's note) Little wonder that David was declared by God Himself as a man after My heart who will do all My will" (Acts 13:22)! Solomon instructs us to Take my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest (dokimazo - tried and proved authentic) gold." (Pr 8:10) Solomon writes that As silver and gold are tried (dokimazo) in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord." (Brenton's English translation of the Greek Septuagint Pr 17:3) The NASB reads The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts. In a prophetic reference describing the elect remnant of Jews who will see their Messiah and call on Him as Savior and Lord Zechariah records God's prediction: " And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test (dokimazo) them as gold is tested (dokimazo). They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” (Zech 13:9) Those of Israel who "pass the test" (see study of the Jewish remnant) will thus be saved and restored to covenant relationship with the Lord. (cf Ro 11:25, 26, 27 - see notes Ro 11:25; 26; 27) Bishop Trench adds that dokimazo means that The ore is not thrown into the fining pot—and this is the image which continually underlies the use of the word in the O T—except in the expectation and belief that, whatever of dross may be found mingled with it, yet it is not all dross, but that some good metal, and better now than before, will come forth from the fiery trial. It is ever so with the proofs to which He who sits as a Refiner in His Church submits His own; His intention in these being ever, not indeed to find His saints pure gold (for that He knows they are not), but to make them such; to purge out their dross, never to make evident that they are all dross. As such, He is the Refiner of hearts ( "God...examines [dokimazo] our hearts" 1Th 2:4-note)." (See online for Trench's full discussion of dokimazo and peirazo) ) MAY BE FOUND TO RESULT IN PRAISE AND GLORY & HONOR AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: eurethe (3SAPS) eis epainon kai doxan kai timen en apokalupsei Iesou Christou: Thomas Watson writing on 1Peter 1:2 says... True grace will make us willing to suffer for Christ. Grace is like gold: it will abide the fiery trial (1Peter 1:7). And if, upon a serious scrutiny and trial, we find that we have the right jewel, the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:6), this will be a deathbed cordial. We may, with Simeon, depart in peace, being assured that though we cannot resist death—yet we shall overcome it. (The Beauty of Grace) Jowett explains that... The purpose of God’s chastening is not punitive but creative. He chastens “that we may share His holiness. (cp He 12:10-note, He 12:11-note) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/1_peter_17.htm#Tested%20dokimazo

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