JACKSON, Tenn. — Sept. 11, 2015 — God allows Christians to go through tests so he can give them rich rewards, Tennessee Baptist Convention President Michael Ellis told Union University students Sept. 9.
Ellis, senior pastor of Impact Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, spoke in a chapel service in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel. He said God will test every Christian’s purpose, praise and profession to mold them into his image.
“God wants us to have pure profession of faith,” Ellis said. “The test of our purpose is not for him. The test of our purpose is for us.”
Ellis said tests are opportunities to be witnesses for Christ, and Christians must enter into trials ready to praise God.
“The praises of the Lord ought to be on our lips at all times,” Ellis said. “If you say you love the Lord, he’s gonna test to see if you really love him, so that somebody else can see that you love him. Others ought to see your praise.”
Empty words do not glorify God, Ellis said, but rather he is glorified when hearts are changed and Christians praise his name with joy and sincerity.
“We ought to love him and serve him,” Ellis said. “That we might push back lostness from east Tennessee to west Tennessee. We ought to have a heart for professing faith that others would get connected to our profession and receive Christ.”
Holding up the Bible, Ellis said all tests can be passed with God’s help. Every problem, he said, be it about a relationship or friendship, can be passed if time is spent studying the Bible.
“The ship is only a test,” Ellis said. “It’s not going to sink, because Jesus said that as long as he’s on board, it’s gonna continue to float no matter how many holes are in the boat.”
Christians face tests and temptations, he said, but the devil tempts to destroy while God tests to reward. Reading James 1:12, Ellis said Christians should endure tests with hope.
“You need to be encouraged that God is working it out for your good,” Ellis said. “God has a crown of life for you at the end of the test.”
Hope should be found in Christ alone, Ellis said, because Jesus passed every test given to him. Jesus, he said, even had a “beatitude about passing the test.”
“Jesus held on from the cradle to the cross that no one would be lost,” Ellis said. “No man knows the day or the hour that God shall appear, but one thing we do know is that if you have him as your savior, it doesn’t matter when he appears. It doesn’t matter because you belong to him.”
Video of Ellis’ address is available at livestream.com/uu/chapel.