Well, good evening, everyone. As I mentioned this morning, we're going to continue on this evening in our going through the book of 1 Peter, or the first chapter of 1 Peter, in a sense of part two to what we looked at this morning. So if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 Peter, we'll read chapter 1. We'll just read the first 12, maybe the first 16 verses to set the context.
So 1 Peter 1, verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. things which angels desire to look into.
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. Thus far we'll read. Let us pray.
Our God and our Father in heaven, again we come to you, Lord, and again we ask for the power of your Holy Spirit to be among us now as we gather together here and as we look together into your Word, Lord, as much as we needed the Spirit this morning, we need the Spirit again this afternoon to aid in ministering the Word, to aid in hearing the Word. So, Lord, I pray that you would be pleased to bless us in that way now as we look to Look to your word and see how the glorious truths that we saw this morning, of the hope that we have for us as believers, and how that ought to affect our lives as we deal with the experience of life in this lower world. So, Lord, I pray that you would be pleased to bless us. I pray that this would be a means for edification, for the building up and strengthening of our most holy faith, and that it would be a means for those here who do not know you as Savior, that it would be a means that they would that they would see Christ and see Him as the only way of salvation, and by grace would put their faith in Him as Savior.
So I pray now that you would be pleased to bless us, and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. So as I mentioned,
Introduction
the passage that we come to now is a continuation of what we looked at this morning, a continuation of the of the hope that we have and how this now, the practical side of things, how does this affect our lives as believers? As we go through this life and things come at us, various circumstances, how should we respond to those as believers in light of this future glory that we have to come? So this, we saw this morning, we saw the hope of the future And and and then now we're looking at the joy in the present and and so so this morning we saw just as a very brief recap and for those who may not have been here that That that we have this hope of a future glory awaiting us and that the hope is not a wish It's not a desire that that I hope this happens, but but it's a reality. It's a it's a it's a living hope it's a hope of eternal life, it's a And it's a guaranteed hope.
It's founded on the reality of the resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we saw how it was preserved, how the inheritance itself is preserved, and how us as heirs of that are preserved for this inheritance, for this future glory that we will get to experience. We saw that it is incorruptible, it is undefiled, and it does not fade away. So it's not subject to death, it's not subject to sin and any force of evil, or subject to the effects of time.
So now as we come to this next section, we'll look at verses 6 through 9 in detail. And it breaks down into three main sections again. Verse 6, what I call the paradox of Christian experience. Verse 7, the purpose of our trials.
And verses 8 and 9, the principle of maintaining joy in trials. That's sort of the application, the conclusion. The principle of maintaining joy in trials, verses 8 and 9.
The Paradox of Christian Experience
So the paradox of Christian experience. When we read that first line in verse 6 there, in this you greatly rejoice, so now for a little while you have been grieved by various trials. It's not hard to catch the irony there. It seems like it's sort of a paradox there of joy and grieving at the same time there.
If you turn briefly to 2 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul does the same thing there. He gives a sort of a several, or a bit of a list there, just of paradoxes of the Christian life. Much of the Christian life is paradoxical. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 in verses 9 and 10. So as, well, maybe we can back up a bit here.
Verse 4, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings, by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true." So now we see these paradoxes, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and yet not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things." So it's these paradoxes, paradox of the Christian life, being able to greatly rejoice and grieving, being distressed at the same time.
Joy and Grief: Two Sources
Now, how is that possible? It seems so unnatural. And that's exactly right, is that it is not the natural response. And that's the whole point of the message this afternoon, is that we aren't to respond naturally the way that natural man, unbelievers, would respond to trials and suffering.
The unbeliever natural man would respond in anger, in resentment, in bitterness, fear, anything that's all opposite to joy, how the believers ought to respond. So why is the believer to respond differently then and why is it unnatural? It's because the believer is a new creature in Christ. this morning, that we have been begotten to a living hope, born again, regenerated. You are a new creature in Christ.
And now, yes, we still have that old nature, the natural man, as Paul says, but we've also been given this new nature, the spiritual man. And in light of that, we've now become part of the kingdom of God. a child of God, part of the heavenly kingdom. And now because of that, our focus has changed. We no longer focus on the temporary world as the be-all, end-all, as the end of our life.
But we understand now we are no longer citizens of this earth, but we are citizens of heaven, as Paul says to the Philippians. So that's what that's what Peter is referring to here when he says in this you greatly rejoice He's referring back to what we looked at this morning or even to the beginning of the chapter There is is is this this hope that we have this this this hope of eternal life this Where we know we have a future of glory awaiting us in an inheritance that we are that we will receive the glory that is to come And so now we understand that the reality that we are both part of this temporal realm, this where we find ourselves here now today in the temporal realm, and we are part of the eternal realm, the heavenly realm. And it's the understanding that there's more to us than just our life on this earth here now, but that we have a hope, an eternal hope laid up in heaven for us. And that gives us great cause for rejoicing.
We'll look more in detail as we get towards the end of the sermon of that concept there. So it gives us a great cause for rejoicing, knowing that we have this in our future. He says, in this you greatly rejoice. And he's speaking here in the present tense.
Now, he's not referring to the future. When we experience the reality of this glory to come, then we will be rejoicing. Now, to be sure, we will be rejoicing then. But he's speaking right now.
Right now, in this, you greatly rejoice here. And even though you are grieved by various trials. So yes, we ought to be rejoicing even at the same time as we are grieving by various trials, and he says here, you've been grieved by these trials, and he's not asking them to, he's not saying that it's wrong, that they're grieving, that they shouldn't be grieving, that they should always be happy, and they can't be upset at the pain that they're going through. That's not what he's saying at all here.
Kelvin says he's not asking them to divest themselves of their humanity. So it is, it's still, we can still be upset when we lose a loved one, when we have some sort of, you know, whatever our trial may become. We're not called to be emotionless robots, you know, but yet we, so we are still, it's still okay to have grief and disappointment, that's okay. But it's anger, it's resentment, it's bitterness, you know, despair, those are the things that are not okay.
Those are the carnal responses, and those are things that come from that old nature, and that old nature that we are to be striving to put to death. So, the Bible gives us a wealth of text to comfort us in light of our circumstances. So, again, it's acknowledging that we struggle, that we experience hardship, and how do we And it gives us comfort there. Cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5 verse 7.
Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you. Psalm 55 verse 22. He will never leave you nor forsake you. We find that phrase many places in scripture.
And notice here how he says that you're experiencing your grief by various trials. He uses this word various there, which literally means multi-colored or multi-faceted. So various trials. And I think it's important to know that our trials are not all the same.
We experience different things. Different people experience different things. You know never never never think that if someone else is experiencing something Worse than you might be they're suffering worse than then than you are then that you're that your trial your pain is not Important to God that it doesn't you know that it that it doesn't matter to him the very UM You know or or the other way that our suffering is too much how you know, of course, there's nothing to too much for God's grace. It's interesting, in 1 Peter 4 verse 10, a few chapters down the road here, he uses this exact same word to describe the grace of God, the multifaceted.
He says according to the manifold grace of God. So our trials may be multifaceted, may be manifold, but so is God's grace. God's grace is also manifold. So there's no trial too big, no trial too small for God's grace.
God cares about the littlest To the greatest difficulties and pain that we experience but notice what all these all these texts are doing here all these these The last few I read they're casting all our cares on him cast our burden on the Lord that they're all pointing us back To to God they're reminding us that we are they're pointing us back to that heavenly that heavenly reality that we are we are God's children now he is that he is our God, we are his people. And so it's putting our focus, it's again, it's putting our focus back to the right place. It's not saying, you know, you got this, dig in, you know, dig in a little deeper, just, you know, find it in you somewhere, you know, keep calm, carry on, that kind of a thing. It's saying that God cares for you.
He's with you, even in this. And the world often responds when some catastrophe happens, something disastrous happens, the world responds with a, well, where was God today? You believe in a good God, where was God today when that happened? I remember when the Twin Towers collapsed, for example, that question, oh, where was God today?
That's the response of the world. But the believer responds to trials that they experienced by saying, God is with me. God, my heavenly father is with me. And that is a cause for rejoicing.
So no, so understand that it is okay to be grieved. It is okay to be disappointed, to experience pain and suffering. And that is okay. We are allowed to respond in that sense.
But again, like I said, not with anger, not with resentment, but it's okay to be grieved about them. But then again, now bringing it back here, as we look at this, we see that we are these texts, again, that they point us to the heavenly reality, and that is the reason why we can, as believers, can simultaneously experience both joy and distress. It is not a contradiction. It's a paradox, like I said at the outset.
It seems to be a contradiction, but when we look at it, it's not. It's because the joy is rooted in the realities of the heavenly realm, and the distress is a response to the realities and the situation that we face in the temporal realm. So it's two separate sources, if you could say. Matthew Poole He says, their grief and joy were about different objects.
They might be in heaviness by reason of present afflictions and rejoice in hope of future glory. They might grieve as men and rejoice as saints. Sense of suffering might affect them, and yet the faith of better things coming relieved them. If their heaviness did in any degree abate their joy, yet it did not wholly hinder it.
And though their joy did overcome their heaviness, yet it did not wholly exclude it. So we have to have our focus in the right place. And then the grief and the distress, it does not lead to bitterness, to anger, to despair, and even to overcoming our joy there. So it's focusing on the heavenly realm, the present reality of being God's child and the future glory that is to come.
And we'll see that as we get to our last point in more detail. And that's what Peter does here, though, as we move along. That's what he does for his audience here.
Trials Are Temporary and Necessary
He says, though now for a little while you are grieved. Now, he's highlighting that it's temporary, that it's short-lived, maybe relatively speaking, but I don't believe it's in a, you know, this too shall pass sort of ways. You know, sometimes we say that to to somebody who's suffering or who's experiencing something. We say that to our kids.
They're, you know, they're upset about something and they're, you know, they're grieved by some various trial. And they come and you say to them, well, you know, like maybe you just need to go to bed and by tomorrow it'll be all better. This will pass. You know, but I don't believe that's what Peter is doing here.
This morning we read in our prayer meeting, we read about a Nigerian lady two years ago, I believe it was, lost her husband to these Fulani herdsmen, these Muslim militants. I think it was two years ago. He was a pastor. She lost him.
This past week or so, she was burying her son, who she lost to these Fulani herdsmen again in another attack. And at that funeral, they attacked again during the funeral and killed three more people that were part of the friends and relations of this lady. How do you say to a lady like that, this too shall pass? We get the daily, actually, updates out of Myanmar.
We see what's going on there. And our friend there who is comforting these believers in Myanmar, you know, you can't say this too shall pass because you just don't know that. But what Peter is doing here is reminding them that the trials that they're experiencing now, they're limited to this temporal realm. There will come a time when they will be over, whether it's the time of Death or the time of if Christ were to return before that But there is a time they are limited now and in their in their eternal in their forever home There will be no suffering and no pain So and then he says here he says here that if necessary If you know if for or if need be though now for a little while if need be if necessary I'm gonna lean quite heavily on some commentators there for this for this phrase now because in In the form that it's in, in the original, there's various ways of writing conditions in the Greek, and the structure is here that it implies the reality of the condition.
So, John Calvin says that the condition needs to be taken as a cause. So, we could say, for a little while, if necessary, and it is necessary, you have been grieved, or better, for a little while, because it is necessary, you have been grieved. So we see that it is necessary, there's a reason why this is happening. The rest of that Kelvin quote there, he says, the condition is to be taken for a cause, For he purposed to show that God does not, without reason, thus try his people.
For if God afflicted us without a cause, to bear it would be grievous. Hence Peter took an argument for consolation from the design of God. Not that the reason always appears to us, but that we ought to be fully persuaded that it ought to be so, because it is God's will." So the trials, the pain, the suffering that we undergo, it has a purpose.
The Purpose of Our Trials
And that's our second point. here, the purpose of our trials.
Faith Proved Genuine by Fire
So he starts out in verse 7, and that, the genuineness of your faith. So the word that, that's our purpose clause. That's how we know he's going to tell us now what is the purpose of that. We might not know the exact reason in our own situation, the exact reason why these things are happening, as Kelvin says here.
But yet we can be assured of the general purpose. Peter gives us the general purpose of of trials. Why do we experience trials? And that's in verse 7, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So the genuineness of your faith. So he's not talking about whether you have faith or not, whether you can stand up to this test, and if you fail, that you had no faith. He's speaking to believers. He understands that they have They have saving faith.
But what he's focusing on here is the result in a sense. The faith is after having been tested, the genuineness there. We might say your faith having been tried or your tried, your tested faith there. And that's why he compares it to gold.
He says that it's more precious than gold. Gold is purified by fire, not only to remove the impurities and to purify it, but it's also a test for the genuineness of faith. It's to determine that it is, in fact, a pure product. It's to produce something valuable, something precious.
And our trials are like that. Our trials are that proof test of our faith. So first, they would be there to produce a stronger faith, to increase our faith, to grow it. Peter compares it to gold here.
We can think of other metals as well that are tempered or made stronger through extreme heat, and you end up with a better product, with a stronger product. James 1 verse 2 to 4, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So you see that the idea of working towards perfection or completion there, that the trials are serving that purpose.
But I think mainly Peter's point here is to prove It's genuineness. And he wants us to understand that that is what God is doing here when we undergo trials.
Arguing from Lesser to Greater
And he argues from the lesser to the greater. We see Jesus doing the same thing when he taught about the goodness of God to his disciples in Matthew chapter 7. He says, what man among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask Him? So he starts with arguing from the lesser of us as human fathers, knowing how to give good gifts to the greater. How much more will God do that? And Peter does the same thing here.
So, you know, your faith, having been purified, having been tested, having been proved to be genuine by these various trials, is much more precious in God's sight than gold would be in our sight, gold which is purified, tested, and proved to be genuine by fire. Matthew Poole again here says, if men do so far esteem their gold that they will make the excellency and preciousness of it appear by trying it in the fire which purges away the dross and discovers the goodness of the metal, No wonder if God will have the faith of the saints more precious to him than gold is to men, tried by afflictions, that the excellency of it may more fully be discovered." Or as Matthew Henry says, the soundness and the goodness of our faith may be discovered. So if man is willing to take something as precious to him as gold and throw it in the fire in order to prove that it's genuine, and to test its genuineness, God more so will take something as precious in his sight as our faith and subject it to trials to prove its genuineness. And that's why Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 6 that we saw earlier, that though we are poor, yet we are rich, or yet we possess all things.
So we might not have a lot of wealth in this lower world there, using Paul's example, And even if we did, it perishes, as Peter says here, right? That even the most precious metal, gold, it will break down and wear out over time because it's something that belongs to this temporary realm. But we have something of value in the spiritual realm, the richness of faith, something that is precious in God's sight, something that He is working to refine and to purify in us. And now when I say something of value in the spiritual realm, that is not in regards to our justification and to what makes us right with God.
We do not bring our faith and Christ in order to be made right with God. We are justified by grace alone on account of the merits of Christ alone. Our faith does not merit anything. So when I say that it is a value, it's not a value towards our justification, towards our salvation.
But Peter does call it, in 2 Peter chapter 1, he calls it a precious faith, it's precious in God's sight. So we see that, we see Jesus doing the same thing, contrasting temporal riches with eternal riches in Matthew chapter 6. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And how do we do that?
That is through faith. And that is where Peter takes us now, to the value of a tried and of a tested faith that proved to be genuine faith, that it may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So that's the idea here, is the result to be found to that. So having the result.
So our tried faith, our tested faith, will result in these things. And that is at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know, when we see Jesus in heaven, faith is no more because now we see him. So at the end of our faith, and this is the result.
And our faith results in praise, Honor and glory. Paul uses that same wording in Romans 2 as well. Some translations will say praise, honor, and peace, but the same idea, that our faith results in that. Honor here, speaking of being highly esteemed, and then praise is the declaration of that esteem.
So as believers, our faith, upon the revelation of Christ, we will receive honor. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5, each one's praise will come from God. John 12 verse 26, if anyone serves me, him, my father, will honor. Isn't that amazing when you think about that? Because we know, we understand that God gives us faith.
Faith is a gift of God. And then God sends us trials to purify, to prove the genuineness of that faith. And as a result, then we receive praise, honor, and glory. from Him. And is it because of what we've done?
No, we understand that it's not because of what we have done, because this has all come from God, but it's because of our union with Christ, that we are in Christ through faith, and we receive these things. We understand Christ did it all, but we become heirs of that kingdom of glory with Him. So our tested faith, tried faith, proved to be genuine through these trials, results in praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Refuting the Prosperity Gospel
Now, I have to point out at this point here, we can't miss it, that this is so contrary to the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. They say that if you become a Christian, you're going to be so blessed in this temporal realm that you'll have all these blessings here and now in this life. Your best life will be now. But the Bible teaches the exact opposite of what they say.
They say that you're going to suffer in this temporal realm so that your faith will be tried, so that it will be strengthened, and so that it will result in a future glory. And that doesn't mean that our lives on this earth are only going to be miserable, and if we hope to enter glory one day, not at all. But the wonderful plan that God has for our lives is eternal glory with Him in heaven. Our best life is not now.
But to get to that glory, we need a faith that is tried, that is proved to be genuine through sufferings that will happen in this temporal realm. It's the polar opposite of what they're teaching. So, yes, God is a good God. God loves to lavish us with good things, the Bible tells us, in this temporal life.
These prosperity preachers, they'll tell you that when you experience some sort of a trial, it's because you didn't have enough faith, and it's a problem with your faith. But the Bible says it's because you do have faith, and it's there to prove the genuineness of that faith. And we can know that God is working to purify and to prove that faith for himself. So it's a complete opposite message of the prosperity gospel.
But this is a great cause for rejoicing when we understand this, when we understand what God is doing with these trials. They are not there without a purpose. They have a purpose. God is working to purify and prove the genuineness of our faith.
And that's why James says we can count it all joy when we fall into various trials.
The Principle of Maintaining Joy in Trials
But now we come to the principle then of maintaining joy in trials. How can we, how do we, be joyful as we experience the various trials that we will experience in this life. Practically, how do we not lose our joy in the midst of trials? And that's in verses 8 and 9, we find that there.
We'll read verse 7 again. That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Faith and Love Fixed on Christ
So the focus of these verses here is Christ. It's the Lord Jesus. He says, you know, that we love him, even though we don't see him, that we believe in him, even though we don't see him. So it's the idea is faith.
It's belief without seeing him. Believing what has been revealed to us and without without having seen these realities. And he speaks of love here as well. And love to Christ proceeds from our faith in Him.
So when we believe in Him for who He is, how He has been revealed in the Scriptures, then our response is love towards Him. But the principle here is faith in Christ. That is the basic principle. And it's not just the the simple elements of a saving faith, of trusting in Christ as our Savior, believing in the, understanding His atonement, His obedience, those types of things for our salvation.
But it's a growing faith. It's a faith that grows stronger. And how does faith grow stronger? That is, well, because faith is built upon Knowledge faith is not is not a blind faith No, we we can't see Christ now, but it's but it's not that we don't know anything about him So we we we there's much to know about him And the more that we learn about him the stronger our faith grows the second Peter 3 verse 18 Peter tells us we're commanded there to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ So we need a faith that is growing a faith that is learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And how do we do that? Well, of course, is where we find the revelation of God's Son, the Lord Jesus, is in the Word. But it's using the means that we say, the means of reading the Bible, reading God's Word, learning about Christ as we find him in the Bible, and through much prayer, in conjunction with reading the Bible, learning of Christ. But it's also church attendance is also the means, another one of the means that we speak about.
Now, when pastors, you know, there's a reason why pastors say, come to church. You know, it's not just so that they can fill the house and have a big crowd to speak to. It shouldn't be anyways. I know from this pulpit, it's not when Pastor Butler says that, you know, come to church.
It's for this reason. It's so that we, the Ephesians chapter 4 very clearly tells us that Christ ascended on high. He gave gifts to men and those gifts were pastors and part of some of those gifts were pastors and teachers for the church. Maybe just, I'll just turn there for a minute because that gives us the reason why we ought to come to church.
It's for growing in this faith. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 10, oh sorry, verse 11. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints. for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ." Well, that's as far as we'll read there. So that is why we come to church, is to learn.
God has gifted men to teach and to preach. and to expound the word and to show who Christ is so that we may learn by it, that we may grow by it. And as a means of our growing faith in Christ, that is how we can experience joy. Our joy is founded on the faith, on what we know about Christ, by what we have learned from him. So what do we know?
What do we need to know then about Christ that that helps us to have joy that aids us and having joy in the midst of suffering if we turn to Hebrews chapter 12 for a minute Hebrews 12 Verse 1 Read verse 1 through 4 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin." So understanding that Christ suffered and Christ entered glory so that we, through suffering, will enter glory. That Christ has gone on before us and has made it possible.
He died so that we might have life. And that is the crux of the matter. The hope, the glory that we have as believers is all possible because of what Christ has done. That Christ suffered suffered an eternity of the Father's wrath on that cross in order to secure eternal glory for us.
So that is where it starts, is understanding the suffering of Christ. So the cross is that answer to our suffering, the ultimate answer. And then knowing that he rose again, that he's now in glory, and that's where he's headed. So that is where we are going.
And that we now, through many tribulations, will enter the kingdom of God. That's what in Acts 14 verse 22, that's what we find Paul teaching there. Now, the interesting thing is there is that Paul was going around, and it says, and he went around to the churches in that area. And he says, and he strengthened the brethren by saying this, through many tribulations we can enter the kingdom of God.
So that was how he was strengthening them, by telling them that. Because the focus is not on the tribulations there, but the focus must be on the fact that we will enter the kingdom of God. It's that living hope that Peter talked about in verse 3 that we saw this morning. So that is what our faith is looking forward to, is that in this you greatly rejoice, that we have a future glory, future hope, all secured for us by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that is cause for great rejoicing. So knowing that Christ has done this for us, that we have this hope, this inheritance waiting for us. and that Christ has gone on before us, you know, to make it all possible that we enter glory. And now, then we also need to understand that our trials come from Him, that our trials are there for a specific purpose, and a purpose that God has.
Trials as Fatherly Chastening
If you're still in Hebrews 12, we'll continue there in verse 5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.
Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
So there's a purpose in verse 10. He says here that our humanly fathers chastened us, but God, our heavenly father, chastened us for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness. So understanding that, knowing that there is a purpose. These things happen to us for a reason.
God is at work in these trials. And we also are to accept the trials as well. In verse five here, he says, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord. So accepting them.
Turn back to 1 Peter again, but go to chapter four for a minute. Chapter 4, verse 12, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. So accepting the trials, understanding they're there for a purpose, and then accepting them. That is very important to realize.
Don't think it's strange. Don't despise it, as we saw there. And then also realizing that trials are part of this temporal realm, and limited to the temporal realm, as we saw this morning very clearly. Romans 8, verse 18, Paul says, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
So Paul, again, are saying there that on a scale, if you will, the scale of suffering that we experience in this temporal realm doesn't even compare to the glory that we will experience in the spiritual realm, in our heavenly home. So Matthew Henry here says, the trial will soon be over, but the glory, honor, and praise will last to eternity. This should reconcile you to your present afflictions. They work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
They are there for a purpose.
Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory
So when we have this focus, when we understand these things about our trials, and knowing that they are there, and having the right focus of the eternal realm where we are headed, and our trials are there to bring us there, to lead us to that glory there, then the result is what he says here, this joy unspeakable and full of glory. As John Gill says, it's a joy that's better experienced than expressed. You can't put it in words here. Like like Paul said to the Philippians of that peace of God that surpasses all understanding You know that there it's just you can't necessarily put it in words It's a it's a joy unspeakable and it's full of glory.
It's full of glory because the source is glory It's it's it's it's founded upon the glory that awaits us in heaven so that's how we that is how we maintain joy in the presence of Trials in the presence of pain and suffering that we have a faith that is built upon knowledge knowledge of who God is and what he has done for us and where we are headed that is why theology matters it really truly does we because these things are To we understand that our faith is built up is grown and it helps us to get through trials and it helps us to have joy in spite of the trials, because joy is not necessarily a response to the trial. We saw how, yes, we can have, in James there, we can have joy in response to the trial, knowing that it is God working in us there. But primarily, joy is the response to our Savior and to what we know about what He has done for us and what He has laid up in store for us, that inheritance that we that we are headed for, that is, our joy comes from knowing that and through faith, trusting in that, that is indeed what we will experience. And we saw this morning how that is a guaranteed thing, so we can be assured of that.
Then when we experience our next trial, then how do we respond? Choose joy. Is it that simple? We hear that often, you know, choose joy.
You see the little fridge magnets. Is that really what we need to do, just simply choose joy? No, we don't. We need to choose to have the right focus.
That's what we need to choose. And God will give the joy. There the it's the it's the the joy is the result of having a right focus in life and that right focus comes through conscious willful Obedience to do so to to to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ It doesn't happen by sitting back on on the couch and just hoping that you know, we will feel joyful we need to be making we need to be consciously growing we need to be We need to be taking every thought captive to Christ. Every thought that we have about a trial that we're going through, we run it through that lens that is focused on Christ.
And we view it in light of the glory that is to come, a glory that far exceeds the sufferings of this lower world. So you may have heard the little phrase, what you focus on expands. I think that phrase can be really misused in certain circumstances, but there is an element of truth to that, what you focus on expands. So we need to focus on Christ, focus on Him seated at the right hand of the Father in glory now, having prepared the way for us, and one day He will return and bring us there with Him.
And the more that we focus on that, the more we learn about that and understand that, then the greater our joy will become. And that is why our joy as Christians ought to be constant. our response to the trials of this world, happiness and being grieved, it ebbs and flows as our various experiences. come to us and as time goes on and they pass. But our joy ought to be constant because our joy is rooted in the biblical reality of the spiritual realm. And the Bible gives us the past and the present and the future.
We have it all. We have it all there. We don't have all the details necessarily and that full revelation will come at the end of the age, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. But we know that Jesus died, Jesus rose again.
And that he ascended into glory that he now lives and that one day he's coming to take us to glory with him So we have we have everything and our joy is founded on that. So our joy ought to be ought to be constant so the more that we distinguish between our Temporal life and our eternal life then the more that we can and the more that we let go of trying to find fulfillment in this temporal world But whether we find our fulfillment, our complete satisfaction, our joy in Christ, then the greater our joy will become. And then we will receive the end of our faith, the goal in the sense, the telos of our faith, the salvation of your souls. and souls that are encompassing our whole human being as we are. So that is what we will receive at the end, is the salvation of our souls, this glory that is to come.
And then at the revelation of Jesus Christ, then we'll hear those glorious words that Jesus said, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Application: Call to Trust Christ
And if you are not a believer here this evening, again, I warn you, and I call you to come to trust in Christ, trust in this Savior, and you will be saved, and you will get to experience that glory. Believe on Him, and you will be saved. Let us close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
O Lord, we again thank you for your word. We thank you for these glorious truths contained in their and the hope that we have of the future and the comfort that we can have now and the joy that we can experience in the midst of trials because we know where we are going and we know our Savior is there and has made it all possible for us. Our Savior, your Son, the Lord Jesus, seated at your right hand in glory right now. And Lord, we look forward to that day.
Lord, we long for it. And I pray that you would help us to be diligent in the daily, the life here on this earth as we go through it now, that we would yet be diligent to lead a life that brings honor and glory to your name, that you would give us strength in the trials, Lord. It is so apparent. We know our life is full of trials.
Our life is full of difficulties. And Lord, we pray for grace and for strength to get through these things. We know Peter has said we suffer from manifold trials, but you have a manifold grace that is available for each and every trial. So Lord, I pray that you would give us grace in the trials.
I pray that you would be with each one here who is struggling with their various difficulties of life. Lord, we all struggle in certain ways. and some more, some less, and Lord, I pray that you would just gird up and strengthen the feeble, that this message that we have looked at now, that it would be a means to strengthen and to encourage and to lift up those who are weary and encouraged to continue to look to Christ. and to find in Him our all in all. And so, Lord, I pray that you would bless us now. Be with each one of us as we continue on in this week as we go about our business.
Lord, I pray that we would be diligent to lead lives that bring honor and glory to your name. And Lord, we pray your blessing on us now, and we pray this all in Christ's name. Amen. Well, let's close with doxology again.
I believe it's 568. In your hymnals, please stand and we'll sing together. Praise God, who all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
But may the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, After you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. We'll close with a time of meditation.