“Rejoicing and Suffering”–(Part II)
(1 Peter 1:3-9)
Series: Strength Through Adversity
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
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Take your Bibles and join me in 1Peter, chapter 1 (page 814; YouVersion).
Recently we began a series of messages in 1Peter. Peter is writing this letter in about the year AD 63 to Christians to whom he refers to in verse 1 as, “pilgrims,” or sojourners, or temporary residents, these Christians were scattered among the area of modern Turkey and they were “pilgrims” or “sojourners” both socially and spiritually, socially ostracized from the Romans in those Roman provinces listed in verse 1 and spiritually pilgrims in the sense that this world was not there home. Peter talks about salvation in verse 2 and then he elaborates on this salvation in verses 3 and following.
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Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
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,
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
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Pray.
Introduction:
As I studied these verses again this week I thought about this metaphor of a toolbox. A mechanic uses a toolbox and carries it with him so that when he gets into trouble he opens the toolbox and uses various tools to help him. And I thought of these verses this way as I studied. If I could give you a toolbox to equip you for the times you face trouble and difficulty then the toolbox would be these opening verses of 1Peter. And I want to show you what I mean by that in a moment.
The title is, “Rejoicing and Suffering.” We have mentioned before that too many professing Christians wrongly divide those two words. For many, a person cannot have both joy and sorrow together. For many, joy is defined by the absence of suffering. Yet for the Christian, we have both together. In fact, in verse 6 of the text we read of these two states existing side by side: “In this you greatly rejoice though…you have been grieved by various trials.” For the Christian, joy is not defined by the absence of suffering but rather joy is that which makes possible the enduring of suffering. The Christian has joy in spite of the suffering.
We saw last time that verses 3-9 provide for us two main, overarching truths about salvation, two truths about salvation that emerge from the text. The first:
I. Salvation is a Gift that lasts for Eternity [3-5]
Salvation is a God-given gift that lasts forever. That’s verses 3-5 and then what Peter does is he gives us three aspects of this salvation. We saw that our salvation is:
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It is a Sovereign Salvation (3)
What we mean by sovereign here is that God is the one who gives it, God is the one who makes it happen. It is God-given to a people who do not deserve it and are incapable of earning it. Secondly:
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It is a Secure Salvation (4)
Our salvation is secure. It will stand the test of time. Peter refers to this living hope as, “an inheritance, incorruptible,” and so forth. Thirdly:
3) It is a Sustained Salvation (5)
In other words, God sustains our faith in Christ, He keeps us believing in Him.
This morning we’re going to see how this salvation serves as a motivator and encouragement during times of struggle, challenge, and difficulty. Here’s the second, main, overarching truth. We said salvation is a gift that lasts for eternity. Number two:
II. Salvation leads to Growth during times of Adversity (6-9)
This truth implies that there willbe times of adversity.
Throughout the New Testament we read time and again that times of adversity are not rare moments in the Christian experience, but are actually the norm of the Christian experience. Suffering is common to all Christians. Suffering is part of the journey we each are on as we “sojourn” through this fallen world on our way to the Promised Land of heaven. Let me share just a few of the many passages that teach this:
Acts 14:22, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
Romans 5:3-4, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
James 1:2-4, “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.”
And of course our passage before us here in 1 Peter and verse 6, Peter mentions our “being grieved by various trials.” Suffering is the norm of the Christian experience. Our suffering, however, is not a pointless suffering. God is in our suffering, He is working in and through our suffering. So here is the first sub-point:
1) As we Live for Christ our Faith will be Tested (6-7)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
We said that suffering is the norm of the Christian experience. And Peter has in mind specifically the suffering that these Christians are experiencing as they live in a culture that is very much “anti-Christian,” a Roman culture that would, in just a few years, mean the severe persecution and death of Christians simply because they were followers of Christ.
So I think that’s important for us to remember as we read Peter’s letter. He’s not talking about suffering because we got a flat tire on the way to church today or suffering because the rent is due and we’re a couple hundred dollars short. At the same time, however, these verses certainly apply in those situations. This passage has implications for suffering on every level and applies to every situation where we are grieved by various trials.
You see that last phrase there in verse 6, “grieved by various trials.” The Christians living in the 1st Century Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia faced trials few of us have every faced or will ever face. Now, having stressed this so that we feel the weight of it, let me add that the way they could endure those trials is the sameway you and I can endure ourtrials today–various trials we face, trials like declining health, being behind in the rent, getting a flat tire, family loss, parenting struggles, private battles like loneliness and depression. We will each encounter “various trials.”
Now, look closely at how verse 6 begins. Peter writes, “In this you greatly rejoice.” What is the “this” of verse 6? In “this” you greatly rejoice. Well, he’s not talking about the trial. How goofy it would be to rejoice in the trial: “I’m so happy I wrecked my car! I have an incurable disease!” No, context is king: the “this” refers back to what Peter had been writing about in the preceding verses and, of course, he had been writing about the Christian’s salvation. This wonderful salvation Peter writes about, this living hope, this inheritance, this salvation that is given sovereignly by God, a secure and sustained salvation, in this you greatly rejoice, in this salvation you greatly rejoice.
There is a link from suffering back to salvation. There is a link here from the present experience of suffering back to the theology of salvation. Peter is saying, “Here’s how you get through difficult days: you go back to your theology. Do you see how important theology is? We talked about this in our Wednesday theological reading group as our group is reading through a systematic theology and discussing each chapter as we read. We said that people sometimes say without really thinking, “Oh, don’t give me theology, just give me Jesus.” Well you can’t have Jesus without a theological understanding of who Jesus is. We have to be sure we are getting our information from what the Bible says about Jesus. That’s what systematic theology is; it is the opening up of the Bible and reading what all of the Bible says about any given topic.
You need the theology of verses 1-5 to live in the suffering of verses 6-7. You need the systematic theology of verses 1-5 in order to survive and understand the suffering of verses 6-7. I mean in verses 1-5 you have something of a systematic theology nearly in its entirety. You have the doctrine of election and foreknowledge–which, you will remember doesn’t mean “foreseen,” but “fore-loved,” God lovingly set His affection upon the Christian before he or she even realized it, that’s election–God’s sovereign and loving choice to save–and then Peter says God regenerated our dead hearts, we have been “begotten again,” born again to a living hope. God did this not because we deserved it but, “according to His abundant mercy.” You read there in verse 3 of the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection, verse 4 our inheritance in heaven, verse 5 how God keeps us saved so that we persevere to the end, you even have glorification–the final state of our salvation–there at the end of verse 5, a “salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.”
So Peter says in verse 6, “In this you greatly rejoice,” in this salvation I have been writing to you about. In this you live. In this you breathe. In this you rejoice. When the going gets tough, remember this, remember your salvation.
Now, note this also in verse 6. Peter says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.” Trials last “for a little while.” That is to say, however long our trials and difficulties may last, they are relatively short when one thinks of them in the context of eternity. Again, theology helps us. Christians know only past and present salvation. The Christian can say, “I have been saved from sin’s penalty and I am being saved from sin’s power.” And the Christian looks forward to the future, his or her inheritance, a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, so the Christian can say, “I will be saved from sin’s presence.” Right now, I am living in what Peter calls “a little while,” a relatively short experience when compared to eternity.
Paul makes the same point in Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Note also that Peter says in verse 6, “In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.” If need be, that is, “if God deems it necessary, if God wills it, if God believes it is necessary for us to be grieved by various trials.”
See, trials are not things that happen to us as though some impersonal force of nature were humming around the universe and things just happen to us and there’s no rhyme or reason for them. The idea is that God superintends our trials and sufferings. He is there and He is working through our trials and sufferings–verse 7– “so that” your faith may be tested and proved genuine.
So sufferings and trials of Christians are within God’s will. This doesn’t mean any of us can fully explain how sin and tragedies are beneficial to God’s overarching plan, but it does mean that God is at work in them and through them for many purposes, not the least of which is to strengthen our faith. So we can say that sufferings and trials are within God’s will. Peter says this more directly in:
1 Peter 3:17, “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”
1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
When you suffer, remember that God is in control. Peter will go on to say later in chapter 2, “Christ suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow His steps (1Peter 2:21). When Christ suffered He gave up everything. Our suffering is “for a little while.” God is with us and is working through our suffering.
This is why we can both rejoice and suffer. The two go together, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:10, “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Or in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—”
Note again what God is doing in and through our sufferings, verse 7, see that word “that?” This is a purpose clause, this the purpose for our suffering, “so that” God may do something in us and for us. What is that purpose? Verse 7:
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,
God uses our trials and sufferings to strengthen our faith and to prove our faith genuine. Peter compares in verse 7 the testing of our faith to the testing of gold. Gold, Peter writes, “perishes, thought it is tested by fire.” Picture the refining process of precious metals like gold. The gold is heated and the impurities rise to the top and are skimmed off or removed so that what remains is pure, precious, unadulterated gold. So what is valuable becomes even more valuable. And yet, even that gold will one day “perish,” writes Peter. This is to be contrasted with the Christian’s faith which will never perish–remember verse 5–Christians are “kept by the power of God through faith–and this faith which is valuable becomes even more valuable, more precious, when it is tested. When the Christian goes through difficulties and trials his or her faith grows and becomes stronger and more precious and more valuable.
Understood this way, there is no trial that is senseless. There is no suffering that is wasted. There is no difficulty without value. Every trial has a purpose and every purpose is good: “that the genuineness of your faith may be proved more precious than gold.”
Peter adds the phrase at the end of verse 7, he writes that our faith, “may be found to praise–or our faith may result in praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is, when Christ returns, the quality of our faith may result in praise, glory, and honor, or that our faith will win these things: praise, glory, and honor.
So remember this: God is at work in and through your trials. He is at work proving and strengthening your faith. He is at work removing the impurities of your present faith in order that you might win praise, glory, and honor when Christ returns. God is removing the impurities of your faith.
Remember that when you struggle. When you face difficulties–whatever form they may take; whatever “various trials” you face, God is removing impurities in your faith. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of depending more on money than depending on God. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of trusting in yourself instead of trusting in your Lord. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of feeling self-reliant, feeling a sense of wrongful pride in your successes. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of loving stuff more than loving God. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of trying to serve two Masters. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of seeking to win popularity and position. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of being in an ungodly, unhelpful relationship. Maybe it’s the impurity in your faith of finding your security in your job, rather than in Jesus. Whatever impurity in your faith it is, trust that God is at work for the good purpose of making your faith stronger.
As we live for Christ our faith will be tested. Here’s the second sub-point:
2) As we Love Christ our Faith will Triumph (8-9)
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Peter is writing about the Christian’s love for Jesus Christ. He has just mentioned Jesus Christ at the end of verse 7, writing about the return of Christ, and this reflection causes Peter to write a bit more about the Christian’s relationship with Christ. He refers to Christ–verse 8–as the One, “whom having not seen you love.” That is, the Christians scattered among these five Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, and so forth, never saw Christ the way Peter saw Him. They had not seen Him during Christ’s earthly ministry, nor had they seen Him in His resurrected body. Peter says, “whom having not seen you love.” Even though they had never seen Christ, they loved Him.
And even now, they did not see Him. Peter continues there in verse 8, “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him.” They had never seen Jesus the way Peter had seen Him, in the flesh, you know. Yet these Christians loved Jesus. And these Christians continued trusting in Jesus: “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”
It seems that Peter again is in the business of reminding Christians what they have in Christ. When you suffer various trials remember the Love of your life, remember Jesus. He is the One you love though you have not seen Him, you love Him. He is the One in Whom you believe. “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing.” Remember Christ when the going gets tough, He is the One you love. Continue loving Christ and your faith will triumph.
Continue looking to Christ, loving Him, believing Him, rejoicing in Him–see that at the end of verse 8?– “rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,” rejoicing in Christ as you live in this world, looking forward to being with Christ–verse 9:
9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
So we’re back to where we started: you need theology to endure suffering. While you go through various trials remember that God is strengthening your faith, removing impurities from your faith, so that you will keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ the One in whom and through whom you will receive “the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.”
As we love Christ, our faith will triumph.
Chicago lawyer Horatio Spafford understood this truth. Having already lost a son, Spafford later suffered more loss in the Chicago fire of 1871. Two years later, he tragically lost his four daughters in a terrible accident at sea. Yet it was Spafford who gave us the great hymn, “It is Well with My Soul,” a hymn written not long after the death of his daughters. He writes:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Spafford could not explain why God allowed such great loss, but He knew that God was in control and trusted Him. He later went through more ups and downs but loved Christ to the end.
As we love Christ, our faith will triumph.
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