← Back to sermon library

good evening welcome back to free race baptist church uh regards to announcements there's only two really uh and that is uh one i referred to this morning the butlers are traveling uh back uh this week uh tomorrow they'll be traveling for a few days so just to remember them in prayer uh many kilometers between dryden and chilliwack so we can pray they'll have a safe safe trip as they travel back and the other announcement i forgot this morning so my apologies to chloe butler uh but she is here tonight and uh she we did senator send out an email in regards we'd like to start the nursery again uh we had stopped it during the uh during the um when we were kind of shut down as a church and we decided not to use the nursery facilities uh for the sake of sanitation so we would like to get that going up again in the uh the week after school starts so i think september the 6th is a sunday um so if we could uh with so we'd start the following sunday so if you'd see chloe we would like to have a couple of workers a couple of ladies there each week uh just we'll run it in the morning only we'll look down the road possibly the evening but uh but certainly just try and get it up and going for the morning so if you are a lady and you're interested in helping volunteering uh to be in the nursery uh see chloe and uh and there's just a bit of a few details in regards to a a criminal record check and an application that needs to be filled in more just for uh for government purposes we at least try to follow follow where we can uh so uh so if you just see chloe we'd appreciate that well let's begin worship this evening now uh turn our attention to god's word and we'll begin with psalm 46. so if you can turn your bibles please to psalm 46. psalm 46 to the chief musician a psalm of the sons of korah a song of almath god is our refuge in strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea though its waters roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with with its swelling there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of god the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high god is in the midst of her she shall not be moved god shall help her just at the break of dawn the nations raged the kingdoms were moved he uttered his voice the earth melted the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our refuge salah come behold the works of the lord who has made desolations in the earth he makes wars cease to the ends of the earth he breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two he burns the chariot in the fire be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our refuge please turn with me in him books i should have checked with lucas like i'm not sure if that's a 9b or 98. it is 9b so please turn your handbooks to 9b as in boy 9b and i'll ask you to please stand now is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign is [Music] is [Music] let's pray and go to this god that we have just sung of and ask him to help us in our in our evening of worship let's pray our gracious and our loving heavenly father we have been invited by your holy word into your presence to bring our praises to bring our uh to bring our our praise before you and so lord we come to you through your son the lord jesus christ this night seeking to praise you seeking to lift up your high and holy name cause us lord to see you for who you are to reverence your holy name to consider who we are and that that that great condescension uh between you and us that father you sought us in our sinfulness you sent your one and only son your dear son the lord jesus christ to die as a as a as a sin offering on our behalf how we praise you lord that it was through his the the gift of his death upon the cross that has saved us that we have a saving interest in the things of christ here tonight that we've gathered here for the second time this day to bring worship to you because father we we have much to worship you for how we praise you for having cleansed us having washed us in that precious blood of your son the lord jesus christ who would ask that you would cleanse us afresh even now from our sin from our uncleanness because we know father that when we are when we look at the law we see that we still are sinful yet father you have uh you have paid the penalty for all of our sins and how grateful you are for the fact lord that you not overlook our sin but you paid the penalty for that sin you've paid for that sin so that we stand not in our own righteousness but rather in that righteousness that comes through your son the lord jesus christ that righteousness that has been imputed to us so lord how we praise you for the the gift of our salvation we praise you for the gift of of of worship we praise you for the gift of the local church that you bless us with here that we can gather as a people and where you have promised to to give your special blessing your special press and presence uh when the people of god gather and you've commanded us to gather father so that's what we do here this evening and we pray you would be pleased to to tabernacle amongst us and and hear us this this night hear our praises hear our worship hear our hearts thanks uh for all that you have given to us in your son the lord jesus christ we thank you also father for the gift of the holy spirit for if we were to meet without the spirit of the living god that we would meet in vain but we thank you lord that just as we met this morning and we're and through the through evidence of the holy spirit we're reminded of the things of christ and the things of christ were made clear and and made potent from the in the sermon we pray again tonight fathers you would be pleased to bless the word of god as it goes forth from this pulpit bless bless ryan as he brings the word embolden him father give to him your spirit and we pray that your spirit would take that word and make it a refreshing word to each each heart and each life here this evening father we gather from all sorts of different backgrounds and and and and issues to deal with in life perhaps the week past perhaps even present issues or the week ahead father all these things are known to you and how gracious you are father that you do tabernacle with us we pray that that spirit living god would be pleased to take that word this night and may be a comfort to some and an encouragement to others maybe it may be a uh maybe it may it be uh that which would would cause us to to become uh more made more and more into the image of your son the lord jesus christ shave off those rough edges father that are still that that remaining sin still uh still encumbers us with we pray lord that you would do that work of grace in the hearts and lives of any any who do not walk with christ and who do not know the forgiveness of sin as was made clear this morning truly lord they are to be pitied and we know about by the spirit of the living god they will remain dead in their sins but we pray lord that you would be pleased to to to to present yourself and and awaken dead in hearts uh to make make them alive in christ jesus this night we do pray father how we praise you for your holy word we pray you'd bless that word this night as well cause it to be a word that we would store up in our hearts that we would desire the fullness of the word of god in our lives day by day that we would meditate upon the the things of christ the love of the lord jesus christ that would be enough to get us up out of bed in the morning and to see us through a day and to pill our heads at night that father these are the things that we that we will be consumed with we pray lord that you would give to us unity in this church as you have in the past that you would give us unity in the future as well these are the things that we would that we would come around these are the things that we would that we would desire to to to be about uh is the things of christ the the things contained in your holy word give to our pastor father safe traveling mercies as he travels this week as along with his wife rebecca we pray lord that you would bless their time along the road give them safety and give them fellowship with one another and with you as well and we pray lord that in due time you'll return them safely to us and we do once again just commit austin and amy into your hands for later this week as they are to be married we thank you father for the bonds of marriage and how we pray that you would be pleased to bless them uh own own their marriage and own their time together may they always be a couple that would desire to be in the word of god and that they would make that the center and the focus of their lives together as they build their lives around christ we do pray lord that your rich blessing would be added to them and that they would know that blessing in the in the days and months and and years ahead father we do ask your blessing to once again be upon uh the curries in honduras our hearts go out to them as they have not been well but we thank you father that ultimately you are you are the god of our life of the very breath that we hold in our lungs and we praise you father that you would be that you are the god who who also gives life and gives strength and liberty and we pray they might know that that help and aid bless the means as they are applied as well through the through the medical uh system there through the doctors the medication we pray that all these things father they would give you glory that they would that they would respond positively to the things that they are that they are seeking to take we do pray for again the week ahead in regards to the building project we pray that it would continue on and that the men who are doing it would be kept safe and that father again there would be as we see that building go up that would be an edifice uh not to the not to the glory of man but rather to the glory of god we pray that from that building the gospel would go out for years and years to come and that many would be drawn in and many would be saved through the preached word there bless pastor carlos we do pray lord again as we've prayed in the past we we pray again for the situation in afghanistan right now it is truly a tragic situation the wickedness of men uh is so evident uh the rawness of of the the devil of this world is evident on every front yet father you have your people there in afghanistan we pray your blessing upon them that you would keep them father put a hedge of protection around them and cause them to to to be uh to be unmolested by the by the taliban and by others who would seek to use this opportunity to uh to wreak havoc and destruction amongst your people lord that's not the only country we think of nigeria as well and the the atrocities are that happened there uh month after month that day after day we pray lord your blessing upon your people there and all over this world father your people are persecuted we pray that by the blood of martyrs ultimately your church would be built and that you promised never to never to forsake your church it is your church father you will protect your church and the gates of hell cannot prevail even the wicked gates of of in afghanistan will not prevail the church will grow and we thank you for the growth that we are hearing about in the church in afghanistan it's growing astronomically they say and for that we give you our praise and pray lord that it would continue that they would not shrink back under such dire circumstances but rather you would give them boldness and ultimately you would bring their enemies to their knees and cause them lord to to to confess the lord jesus christ or remove them we do pray so lord again we just ask your blessing to be upon our upon our meeting time here tonight thank you that we are part of that church universal who gathers on the lord's day to worship you we're not just a small group in one church in one city but rather we are part of a much larger group and ultimately part of even that heavenly throng that gathers gathers uh to worship the the the lamb for all of eternity how we praise you father that is our goal that's what we have in mind that's that's the mark that is before us and so help us to press on this night keeping in mind that that is that is that that is the the goal of all christians is to ultimately enter into emmanuel's land and and there we will see the lamb and praise and worship so lord help us in this lord world to worship and we pray your blessing upon this time now for it's in jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me him books to him number 245 245 and i'll ask you to please stand [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] here [Music] is [Music] and please turn with me in your bibles to the last chapter of the book of exodus the last chapter of the book of exodus chapter 40. last week we read chapter 39 obviously and the the work the building work was completed and and then the last thing was the um was the clothing put on by the by uh by aaron and the as a as the great high priest and chapter 40 kind of ends uh with god's glory coming down you'll see that in the last section last paragraph 34 to the end god's glory is coming down and filling the tabernacle is kind of the last thing in some ways yet there's a problem even at the exodus ends kind of in a sense with a problem and that that problem is that no one could go into the tabernacle because of the holiness of god there so it's obvious it's very it's very important that leviticus follows exodus because the writer moses the writer he continues on with the sense that he lays out in the first nine chapters of the book of exodus uh he lays out that that how this would be done how would we be able to get into the tabernacle how could the tabernacle be entered and it would be through a bloody knife and a burning sacrifice that's really what the first nine ten chapters are in leviticus so as we kind of look forward to what we will be reading next week and for nine or ten weeks after that that's what we have to look forward to because the presence of god is is wonderful but that presence has been brought down through the lord jesus christ and god does set out god lays out in the book of exodus and leviticus how he is to be worshipped and i think we're all familiar with the uh with the regulated principle that's why we believe in the regulative principle we don't get to worship god how we choose we worship god the way he has chosen to be worshipped and so it's very important that's a that's a diametrically opposed to the other way of worshiping however we feel best what feels best to us and how we think god would like to be entertained uh that just is not part of exodus and leviticus we need to worship god the way he intends to be worshipped the way he ought to be worshipped so as we finish as they say we do finish exes in a sense with a problem but not to worry the problem is soon solved in in the first few chapters of leviticus so let's begin reading exodus chapter 40 beginning at verse 1. then the lord spoke to moses saying on the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tenth of meeting you shall put it in you shall put in it the ark of the testimony and partition off the ark with the veil you shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it and you shall bring in the lampstand and light its lamps you shall also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle then you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and you shall set the lava between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and put water in it you shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen at the court gate and you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and you shall uh howl it hallow it and all its utensils and it shall be holy you shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar the altar shall be most holy and you shall anoint the laver and its base and consecrate it then you shall bring aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water you shall put the holy garments on aaron and anoint him and consecrate him that he may minister to me as priest and you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics you shall anoint them as you anointed their father that they may minister to me as priests for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations thus moses did according to all that the lord had commanded him so he did and it came to pass in the first month of the second year on the first day of the month that the tabernacle was raised up so moses raised up the tabernacle fastened its sockets set up its boards put in its bars and raised up its pillars and he spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it as the lord had commanded moses he took the testimony and put it into the ark and inserted the poles through the rings of the ark and put the mercy seat on top of the ark and he brought the ark into the tabernacle hung up the veil of the covering and partitioned off the ark of the testimony as the lord had commanded moses he put the table in the tabernacle of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil and he set the bread and order upon it before the lord as the lord had commanded moses and he put the land excuse me and he put the lamp stand in the tabernacle of meeting across from the table on the south side of the tabernacle and he lit the lamps before the lord as the lord had commanded moses he put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil and he burned sweet incense on it as the lord had commanded moses he hung up the screen at the door of the tabernacle and he put the altar a burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and offered upon it the burnt offering and the grain offering as the lord commanded moses he set the lava between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and put water there for washing and moses aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet with water from it whenever they went into the tabernacle of meeting and when they came near the altar they washed as the lord had commanded moses and he raised up the court the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the screen of the court gate so moses finished the work then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle and moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle the children of israel would go onward in all their journeys but if the cloud was not taken up they did not journey till until the day that it was taken up for the cloud of the lord was above the tabernacle by day and fire was over it by night in the sight of all the house of israel throughout all their journeys amen let's pray our gracious and our loving heavenly father how grateful we are father for the fact that you did send your one and only son the lord jesus christ so that when he died upon that cross he tore that very partition in two that divided mankind from you how we praise you father we have access into your very throne room this night this night not through the not through the blood of bulls and goats but rather through that precious blood of your son the lord jesus christ it was spilt upon the cross not for his sins but rather for our sins how we praise you father that you've invited us you uh to to come you've invited us into your presence you've told us to to approach boldly that throne knowing that we have access through the through our high priest our great high priest the lord jesus christ the lord as we as we remember these things now how we praise you for them we pray lord as we gather around your word to hear it for a second time that you would be pleased to bless that word father cause us to be made more and more into the image of your son the lord jesus christ cause this lord to see our own wor our own unworthiness when we consider the gospel that that ryan spoke of this morning the fact lord that you would set your love upon us that you would give to us your one and only son to die upon the cross for us and and uh cause us to be uh inheritors of along with the lord jesus christ of all that of all that eternity possesses how we praise you father for the gift of our salvation cause us to revel in these things this night to praise you in our hearts to worship you and to behold our god this night that we get to come into his presence not just this night at church but when we go home when we rise from our beds tomorrow when we go to bed tomorrow night father we always have access into your presence and may we may we use it and avail ourselves of it often we thank you for that forgiveness of sin we pray you'll be pleased to bless us again as we approach your word cause your word to be uh to be relevant we do pray that your spirit would abide here uh both in the speaker and in the and in the congregation that we would hear from you and we do just pray all these things in jesus precious name amen well please turn with me your hymn books to the last hymn which is 223 before we hear the preaching 223 i'll ask you to stand once again please foreign [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] me [Music] forever [Music] amen [Applause] well good evening everyone in uh as i mentioned this morning we're going to continue on this evening in our um going through the book of first peter for the first chapter of first peter in a sense of part two to what we looked at this morning so if you will turn uh turn in your bibles to the book of first peter we'll read chapter one we'll just read the first 12 uh maybe the first 16 verses um to set the context so first peter chapter 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 who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to live 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 will 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 need the 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 that now as we as we look to look to your word and see how the the the truths the glorious truths that we saw this morning of the hope that we have in for us as believers and how that ought to affect our lives as we deal with the with the experience of 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 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 and see him as the only way of salvation and by grace would 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 this the passage that we come to now is a continuation of what we looked at this morning the continuation of the of the the um the the hope that we have and how this now the the practical side of things how how does this affect our lives as believers as we go through this life and and things come come at us various circumstances how does how should we respond to those as as believers in light of this future glory that we have to come so this um we saw this morning we saw that the hope of the future and and and then now we're looking at the joy in the present and and um so so this morning we saw just as a very brief recap and for those who may not have been here that um that we have this hope of a future glory awaiting us and that the hope is not a wish it's not a desire um 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 it's and it's a guaranteed hope it's founded on the on the reality of the the resurrection um the resurrection of jesus christ it's founded and it's and it's 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 that we will get to experience we saw that it is uh it is incorruptible 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 as we come now to this next section we'll look at verses uh six through nine um six through nine in detail now and and it breaks down into three main sections again verse six what i call the paradox of christian experience verse seven the purpose of our trials and verses eight and nine the principle of maintaining joy in trials that's the the sort of the application the conclusion the principle of maintaining joy in trials versus eight and nine so so the paradox of christian experience when we read that first uh that first line in verse six there and 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's it seems like uh it's it's it's it's sort of a paradox there that the of the same joy and and and grieving at the same time there if you turn turn briefly to second corinthians chapter six and paul does the same thing there he gives us sort of a several or a bit of a list there just of of paradoxes of the christian life much of the christian life is paradoxical second corinthians chapter 6 in verses 9 and 10. so as as um well we can we should we can back up again a bit here verse 4 but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of god in much patience in tribulations and needs in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labors in sleeplessness in fastings by purity by knowledge by longsuffering 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 as deceivers and yet true so here you 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 the the these paradoxes paradox of the christian life having been being able to greatly rejoice and and grieving being distressed at the same time now how is that possible it seems so unnatural and that's that's exactly right is that it is it is um it is not the natural response and that's the whole point of the message um this afternoon is that we you know we we aren't to respond naturally the the way that natural man unbelievers would respond to trials and and suffering you know the unbeliever natural man would respond in in in anger in resentment and bitterness fear every anything that's and that's it's all opposite to to joy that the how the believers ought to ought to respond so why does the why is the believer to respond differently then and why why is it unnatural is because the believer is a new creature in christ we saw that this morning that um that we have been begotten to a living hope be born again regenerated there's it's it you were a new creature in christ and and now yes we have we still have that old nature that the the natural man as paul says but but we've also been given this this new nature the spiritual man and and in light of that we've now become part of the kingdom of god um a child of god part of the heavenly kingdom and and now because of that our our focus has changed we no longer focus on the the temporary world as the be all and all as the as the the you know the end of the of our life but but we understand now we are no longer citizens of this earth but we are citizens of heaven as paul says to the philippians and so that's what uh that's what peter's referring to here when he says in this you greatly rejoice he's referring back to what we looked at this morning and 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 an inheritance that we are that we will receive the glory that is to come and and so now we understand that that the reality that we are we are both part of this temporal realm this this where we find ourselves here now today in the temporal realm and we are and we are part of the eternal realm the heavenly realm and you know so understanding that there's there's more to just to to more to us than just our life on this earth here now but that's um but that we have 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 at the end of the sermon of that concept there so but but so it gives us a great cause for rejoicing knowing that we have this in our 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 in when we when we experience the reality of this glory to come then we will be rejoicing that is to be sure we will be rejoicing then but he's speaking right now right now in this you greatly rejoice here so even and and even though you are grieved by various trials so yes we ought to be rejoicing even even at the same time as we are grieving by various trials and and any and he he he says here you've you've been grieved by these trials and it's and and he he's not asking them to he's not saying that it's wrong that they're grieving that that they shouldn't be grieving you know they should always be happy and now then you know they can't be upset at the at the pain that they're go that they're going through that's not what he's saying at all here um kelvin says he's not asking um 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 may become we're not called to be in emotionless robots you know but yet we so we are still it's still okay to have grief and and disappointment that's okay but it's anger it's resentment it's bitterness you know despair those are those are the things that are not okay those are the carnal responses and those are things that would that come from that old nature and that old nature that we are to be striving to to put to death so um the bible gives us a wealth of texts to to to comfort us in light of our circumstances so it again it's it's acknowledging now we struggle that we experience hardship and and how do we um how and it gives us comfort there cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you first 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 that that phrase many places in scripture and notice here how he says that you've been you you're you're experiencing your grief by various trials he uses this word various there which is literally means multi-colored or multi-multi-fast um you know so various uh ver various trials and it's i think it's important to know that our trials our trials are not all the same we we experience you know different different things different people experience different things so um you know never never never think that if someone else is experiencing something worse than you might be they're suffering worse than than than you are then that your that your trial your pain is not uh 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 too too much for god to for god's grace it's interesting in in first peter 4 verse 10 a few chapters down the road here he he uses this exact same word to describe the grace of god the multi-faceted he says according to the manifold grace of god so this this the the our trials may be maybe multi-faceted maybe manifold but so is god's grace god's graces 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 these these the 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 that he is that he is our god we are his people and so it's putting our focus it's it's again it's putting our focus back to the right place it's not it's not it's not saying you know you got this dig in you know you know digging a little deeper just just you know find it in you somewhere you know keep calm carry on though that kind of a thing it's it's it's it's it's saying that you know god cares for you he's with you even even in this and you know the world often responds when there's when some some catastrophe happens something disastrous happens the world responds with a where was god today you believe in a good god where was god today when that happened i remember um you know the when the twin towers collapsed for example that would that question oh where was god today that's the that's the response of the world but the but the the believer responds to the two trials that they experienced by saying god you know god is with me god that my my heavenly father is with me and that's that is a cause for rejoicing so so so so no so understand that it is okay to be grieved it is okay to to be disappointed to be you know to to to to experience pain and and suffering and that is that is okay we are allowed to respond with in in that in that sense but again like i said not with anger not with resentment but we are it's okay to be grieved about them and and and so now so and and but but then again now bringing it back here as as we as we look at this we see that we are we are we are um these texts again that they point us to that to the heavenly reality and that's that is the the reason why we can as believers can simultaneously experience both joy and distress it it is not a contradiction it's a paradox like i said at the outset that it is a it seems to be a contradiction but when we look at it it's not it's because the joy is rooted in the heaven in the realities of the heavenly realm and the distress is is a response to the realities in the situation that we face in the in the temporal realm so it's two separate 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 relieve 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 fully exclude it so so we so the the we have to have our focus in the right place and then the the the grief and the distress it does not lead to to bitterness to anger to despair or to even to overcoming our joy there so it's focusing on that 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 as we get to our last point in in more detail and and that's what uh and that's what peter does here though as we move along that's what he does for his audience here he says though now for for a little while you you um you are grieved now and this is he's highlighting that it's temporary that it's that it's it's it's short-lived maybe relatively speaking but i i don't believe it's in a you know this too shall pass sort of ways you know sometimes we say that too to somebody who's suffering or who's experiencing something or say that to our kids or you know they're upset about something and and they're you know they're they're grieved by some various trial and they come and you say to them wow you know like maybe you just need to go to bed and by tomorrow it'll be all better that this will pass you know but but i don't believe that's what peter is doing here i mean this morning we read um in our prayer meeting we read about a 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 her this the friends and relations of this lady how do you say to a lady like that this too shall pass we think of we get the we get the uh daily actually updates out of myanmar we see what's going on there and and uh what or our friend there who is comforting these these these believers in myanmar you know it's it's you can't say this too shall pass because you just don't know that so but what but what peter is doing here is reminding them that these the trials that they're experiencing now they're limited to this temporal realm there there is there will come a time when they will be when they will be over whether it's the time of 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 um if you know if for or or if need be though now for a little while if need be if necessary i'm going to lean quite heavily on some commentators there for this for this phrase now because in uh in the the forum that it's in in the original there's there's various ways of writing conditions and in the in the greek and and the structure is here that it implies the implies the reality of the condition so um john calvin says that the condition needs to be taken as a cause so we could say if for a little while if necessary and it is necessary you have been grieved or or or better for a little while because it is necessary you have been grieved so um and and and uh so we see that there's a there is it is necessary there's a there's a reason why this is happening the 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 so the the trials the pain the suffering that we undergo it has a purpose and that's our second point here the the purpose of our trial so he starts out um in in verse seven and that the genuineness of your faith so that the word that that's our that's our purpose clause that's how we know he's going to tell us now what what is the what is the the purpose of that we might not know the exact reason in our own situation the exact reason why these things are happening um you know as calvin says here but but yet we can be assured of the general purpose peter gives us this the general purpose of of the of trials why 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 the genuineness of your faith so he's not talking about whether you have whether you have faith or not whether you can stand up to this test and if you fail that you know you had no you had no faith that's not he's speaking to believers he understands that they have they have saving faith but what he's focusing on here is the is the the result in the sense the faith is uh is uh um after having been tested the genuineness there the your you we might say your faith haven't been tried or your tried your tested faith there and that's why he that's why he compares it to gold there he says that it's more more precious than gold gold is is purified by fire not not only to remove the impurities and to and to and to purify it but it's also a test for the genuineness of of faith you know it's to determine that you know that it is in fact a pure product it's to it's to produce something valuable something precious and our trials are like that our trials are that proof test of our faith um they're not it so first they are there they would be there to produce a stronger faith to to to increase our faith to grow it peter compares it to gold here we can think of other metals as well that that are tempered or made stronger through extreme heat and you end up with a better product with a stronger product um james one verse two to four my brother encountered all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patients have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing so you see that the idea of of um of working towards perfection or completion um there that the trials are are serving that purpose but i think mainly peter's point here is to is is to prove its genuineness that um that you know and he wants us to to understand that that is that is what god is doing here when he when we undergo trials um and he argues he argues from the the lesser to the greater we see jesus doing the same thing when he was uh when he taught about the the the goodness of god in his in um to his disciples in matthew chapter seven 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 so um you know your your faith having been purified having been tested having been proved to be genuine by these these various trials is much more precious in god's sight than than gold would be in our sight gold which is which is purified tested and proved to be genuine by fire matthew poole again here says if men do so far as steam their gold that they will make the excellency and preciousness of it appear by trying it in the fire which purges purgeth 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 you know um and throw it in the fire in order to prove that it's genuine and to test its genuineness god more so we'll take something you know as precious in his sight as our faith and and subject it to trials to prove its genuineness and that's that's why that's why why paul could say in second corinthians 6 that we saw earlier that though we are poor yet we are yet we are rich yet we possess all things so you know we might not have a a lot of wealth in this lower world there um you know using paul's example and even if we did it 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 temporary realm but we have something of value in the spiritual realm the the richness of faith something that is precious in god's sight something that he is working to to refine and to purify in us and now when i say something of value in in the in the in the spiritual realm that is not in regards to our justification into what makes us right with god we we do not bring our faith and christ in order to to 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 that it is a value it's not a value for in order um towards our justification towards our our salvation but but peter does call it in us in second peter chapter one he calls it a a precious faith it's precious in god's sight so so we see that we see jesus doing the same thing contrasting temporal riches with eternal riches in matthew chapter six do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven and how do we do that that is through through faith and that's and that is where peter takes us now to the 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 the idea here is the result to be found to that so having the results so our our tried faith our tested faith will will result in these things and that is at the at the revelation of jesus christ you know when we when we see jesus in heaven faith is no more because now we now we see him so that the end of our faith and this is the the result and our faith results in praise honor and and glory paul uses that same wording in romans 2 as well some translations will say praise honor and peace but but the same idea that our faith our faith results in that honor here speaking of being highly esteemed and then praises the declaration of that of that esteem so as as believers we will our faith upon the revelation of christ we will receive honor first corinthians four verse five each one's praise will come from god john 12 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 to prove the genuineness of that faith and as a result then we receive praise honor and glory from him and and and is it is it because of what we've done no we understand that um that it's not a 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 we are in christ through faith and we and we receive these things we understand christ did it all but we become heirs of that kingdom of glory with him so so our our our tested faith tried faith proved to be genuine through these trials results in praise honor and glory at the at the revelation of jesus christ now we have to i have to point out at this at this point here we can't miss it that this is so contrary to the health wealth and prosperity gospel that's out there they say that if you if you become a christian you're going to be so blessed in this 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 of of what they say they say that you're going to suffer in this temporal realm so that your your faith will be tried so that it will be strengthened and so that it will result in a future glory and you know that doesn't mean that our lives on this earth are only going to be you know miserable and and and if we if we hope to enter glory one day not uh not at all but the the the the wonderful plan that god has for our lives is eternal glory with him in heaven our best life is not now and and uh you know but but to get to that to that to that glory we need to we need a faith that is that is tried that is proved to be genuine through sufferings that will happen in this temporal realm it's it's the polar opposite of of 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 in this temporal life but but the these prosperity preachers will tell they'll tell you that when you experience some sort of a trial it's because you you didn't have enough faith and it's the problem with your faith but the but the bible says it's it's because you do have faith and it's there to to prove the genuineness of it of that faith so it's you know and and we can know that god is is working to to purify and to to prove that that faith for himself so it's a it's a it's a complete opposite message of the of the prosperity gospel but this is this is a is is great cause for rejoicing when we understand this when you understand what god is doing with these trials they are they are not there for without a purpose they have a purpose god is god is working to purify and and and prove the genuineness of our faith and that's why that's why james says we can count it all joy when we fall into various trials but but now we come to the 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 that we will experience in this life um you know practically how do we not lose our joy in in the midst of trials and that's in verses eight and nine we find that there that that um well 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 so the focus of these of these verses here is christ it's the lord jesus he says you know that that that we love him though we don't even though we don't see him that we believe in him even though even though we don't see him so it's the idea is faith the the its belief without seeing him believing you know believing what has been revealed to us and and um without without having seen these these realities and he speaks of love here as well and love is the love is the love to christ proceeds from our faith in him so when we when we believe in him for who he is how he has been revealed in the scriptures then our our response is is love towards him and the but the principle here is faith in christ that's that is the the the basic principle and it's not just the the the simple elements of a saving faith of of trusting in christ as our savior um believing in the understanding the his his atonement his obedience that those types of things in for our salvation but it's a growing faith it's a faith that that grows stronger and how does how does faith grow go grow stronger that is well because faith is built upon knowledge faith is not uh 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 there there's much to know about him and the the more that we learn about him the stronger our faith grows second peter 3 verse 18 um 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 how do we do that well of course is is where we find the revelation of god's son the lord jesus is in his is in the word so but it's using the means that we we we say the means of of of reading the bible reading god's word learning about christ as we find him in the in the bible and through much through much prayer is in in 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 when pastors you know there's a reason why pastors say come to church you know and 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 that the christ ascended on high he gave gifts to men and those gifts were pastors and part some of those gifts were pastors and teachers for the church it's um maybe we maybe just i'll just turn there for a minute because it that gives us the the reason why we ought to come to church it's for it's for growing in this faith ephesians chapter 4 um verse 10 he he 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 as far as we'll read there so so that is why we come to church is to learn god has gifted men to to teach and to preach and to and to expound the word and to and to show who christ is so that we may learn by it that we may grow by it and and as a means of our our growing faith in christ we can we can um we can we that is how we have we can experience joy our joy is founded on the faith on what we know about christ but what we have learned from him so what do we what do we know that 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 we 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 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 so 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 has made it possible he died so that we might have life and that is the that is the the the crux of the matter that is the glory our our the hope the glory that we have as believers is all possible because of what christ has done that christ 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's this is where it it starts is understanding the suffering of christ so the cross is that 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 that is where that that is where we are we are going and then and that we now through through many tribulations will enter the kingdom of god that's what uh 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 strength he went around to these to the churches in that area there and and he says and he strengthened the brethren by saying this through many tribulations we can enter the kingdom of god so so that was how he was he was strengthening them by by telling them that because the focus is not on the tribulations there but are the focus it must be on the fact that we are we will enter the kingdom of god it's that living hope that peter talked about in in in verse three that we saw this morning so that's that is what our faith is is looking forward to is that that uh you know in this you greatly rejoice that we have a future glory future hope um uh all all secured for us by our savior the lord jesus christ and that is that is cause for for great rejoicing so knowing 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 we also we also need to understand that our trials come from him that our trials are there for a specific purpose and a purpose the that god has if you're still in hebrews in hebrews chapter 12 we'll continue there in verse five now and and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks 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 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 seen 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 so so there's a there's a purpose in in in in verse 10 he says here the the that our humanly fathers chastened us but but god our heavenly father trusts 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 it's not it is it is um it is god is god is at work in these trials and we also we also are to to accept the the trials as well in verse 5 here he says my son do not despise the chastening of the lord so accepting them if you turn back to first peter again but go to chapter 4 for a minute chapter 4 verse 12 beloved do not think it's 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 so accepting the trials that's understanding they're there for a purpose and and yet and then accepting them that that that is very important to to realize don't don't think it's strange don't despise it as we saw there and then and then also realizing that trials are part of this temporal realm and limited to the temporal realm as we saw this this morning very clearly romans 8 verse 18 paul says for i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us so paul paul again are saying there that the the on on a scale if you will the scale of suffering is not doesn't even compare to that that we experience in this temporal realm doesn't even compare to the to the glory that we will experience in in the spiritual realm in our in our heavenly heavenly home so matthew 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 so they they are there for a purpose and then when we so when we have this focus when we understand these things about our trials then then there and and and knowing that they are there knowing where and having the right the right focus of the eternal realm that where we are headed and there our trials are there to to to to bring us there to lead us to that to that to that glory there then then the result is what he what he says here this joy unspeakable and full of glory there that's uh as john gill says it's a joy that's better experienced than expressed it it's hard you can't put it in words here it's the same like like like paul said to the philippians of that peace of god that surpasses all understanding um 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 the 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 the 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 we can have a we can have joy in response to the trial knowing that it is god working in us um there but but primarily joy is the response to to our savior and to what 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 from knowing that from through and through faith trusting in that that that is indeed what we will what we will experience and we saw this morning how that is a guaranteed thing so we we can be assured of that so then when we when we experience our our next trial then how do we how do we respond choose joy is it is it that simple we hear that often you know choose joy you see the old fridge magnets um is that is is that really what we need to do just simply choose joy no we don't we need to we need to choose to have the right focus that's what we need to choose and and god will give the joy there the the it's the it's the the joy is the result of having the 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 every thought that we have about a trial that we're going through we run it through that lens that is that is focused on christ and we view it in light of the glory that is to come a glory that far far exceeds the sufferings of this of this lower world so you know you may have heard the little phrase what you focus on expands um that i think that phrase can be really misused but um in certain circumstances but there is an element of truth to that what you focus on expand 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 we are not our our response to the trials of this world is happiness and and and being grieved it ebbs and flows as as our various experiences come to us and as time goes on and and they pass but our joy ought to be constant because our joy is rooted in the in the biblical reality of of the of the spiritual realm and the bible gives us the past and the present and the future we have it all um we have it all there not we don't have all the details necessarily and that that full revelation will come at the end of the age at the revelation of jesus christ but but we know that jesus died jesus rose again and 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 then the greater our joy will become and then we will receive the end of our faith the the the goal in in the sense the telos of our faith the salvation of your souls the the the and and and souls that are being encompassing our whole human being as we are so that is that is what what we will receive at the end is that is the is the salvation of our souls its glory that is to come and then at the at the revelation of jesus christ then we will hear those those glorious words that jesus said come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and if you are not a believer here this evening and again i i warn you and i call you to come to to trust in christ trust in this savior and 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 oh lord we again thank you for your word we thank you for these glorious truths contained in there and the the the hope that we have of the future and the comfort that we can have now in in 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 we we look forward to that day lord we long for it and and i pray that you would help us to be diligent in the in the daily the the the the life here on this earth as we go through it now that we would 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 this is so apparent we 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 who is struggling with their various difficulties of life lord we all struggle in certain ways and and and some more some less and lord i pray that you would would just gird up and and strengthen the feeble that this that this message that we have we have looked at now that it would be a means to strengthen the strengthen and to encourage and to and to to to lift up those who are weary and and and 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 and in this week as we go about our business lord i pray that we would be diligent to lead lives at her that bring honor and glory to your name and in order we pray your blessing on us now and we pray this all in christ's name amen well let's close with uh doxology again i believe it's 568. in your hymnals please stand and we'll sing together [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] 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 you