Pastor Cameron Lloyd | June 23, 2024
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GOOD MORNING church. It’s a joy to be with you this morning. I count it no small thing to be bringing the word for us on this Lord’s Day. So I thank you for being gracious to be me as we take a short break from our study in the gospel of Luke. If you are new to Alliance, my name is Cam Lloyd. I have the privilege of serving as the Youth Pastor here. And if you have a bible this morning, I want to invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 1.
I want to begin by confessing something to you. The older I get, the more I notice that much of my prayer time is spent trying to prevent the hard things in life when it is precisely the hard things that are meant to be used for our benefit. What do I mean?
About a week or so ago, I was met with this reality in a fresh way. I had the privilege of participating in our Italy mission trip—partially. I had to come home a bit early. But while I was there, I met a sweet, charismatic man who worked with our team as one of our translators. His name is Michele. Or Michael for us southerners. One morning, I found myself eating breakfast with Michael. Through broken English and the assistance of Google Translate, Michael and I shared our life stories. Towards the end of our conversation, he asked me about my family. I told him about my wife and two children. I rather proudly showed him pictures and videos on my phone. Naturally, I asked the same question. I asked him if he had any children. That week, he came alone to the camp, so I wasn’t sure if he was married or had a family. Michael, who typically had a smile plastered to his face, quickly softened and grew more serious. This was when he told me about his son David, whom he and his wife lost in a tragic car accident.
The conversation dissolved quickly after that, but over the next few days, I would hear in greater detail about his son David. You see, David had a powerful testimony. From a young age, David quickly fell madly in love with his Savior, Jesus Christ—so much so that his family and the staff at the camp we were working at knew that David would be used mightily for the Lord.
But while on holiday, when David was at the promising age of ten, Michael and his family found themselves on the shoulder of a highway in a broken-down RV. While waiting for help, the RV was struck by another vehicle, seriously injuring both parents and eventually killing David.
You see, these are the hard things I mean. The first question that naturally comes to our minds when we hear a story like Michael’s is, why? Why would God allow this? I mean, this kid had a promising future. He was a faithful kid raised by faithful parents. Why would it all just end, and why would this now be a part of Michael’s story?
So I want to ask this morning, What hope is there for a Christian when the sorrows seem certain? Maybe, like me, you have wondered what God was and is doing in the midst of your pain.
It was about two years ago this month that I found myself lamenting to a close friend that I know it is summer, but it feels like I am deep into winter. If I were to guess, many of you have felt this same way at one point or another. Many in this room bear the scars of many trials you have picked up along the way on life’s journey.
One thing that is not certain in Scripture is the abundant, prosperous life that we so eagerly desire and pursue. Rather, what does seem to be certain is that we will face many hard things. Now, if we know that suffering through trials is certain for the people of God, it’s only natural to ask why. However, a better, more biblical question we should eventually seek to ask is, what is the purpose of our suffering? What is meant to happen within us when we face the inevitable?
This morning, I would like to try answering that set of questions from God’s Word. I believe our present text provides us with some answers. 1 Peter 1 has been a great comfort to me these last few years. Over the next few moments, my hope is to encourage you and maybe even equip you to know confidently that there is purpose in our sorrows. Not only that but we can also be found rejoicing in the fiery refinery of our faith.
So let us look together at 1 Peter 1:3-7, which says:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Prayer:
BODY
Admittedly, at the outset, these verses look like a contradiction. Our hearts want to object to the fact that the two things mentioned, especially in verse 6, cannot be present in one’s heart. We think, “Can this be so? Can we really be found rejoicing while feeling the full weight of sorrows?”
Peter, an eyewitness to the ministry and sufferings of Christ, is writing to a people who are in need of great comfort. They themselves have experienced great suffering. They were classified as exiles physically as they were dispersed all over the known world. But in a very real sense, they were exiles spiritually for they were experiencing great persecution for following Jesus Christ.
But suffering on account of Jesus was not unexpected. In the upper room, the night Jesus would be handed over to be beaten and crucified, Jesus said :
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Peter understood this, for Jesus told him directly that he would suffer for Christ’s name. Knowing this was a reality for God’s people, he wrote this letter as an encouragement to the suffering church. He also desired to show them how to live in the midst of their suffering. And this becomes one of the main themes expressed in this letter. Peter wants Christians to see that to endure the trials and sufferings in life, we must give ourselves entirely to God.
Think about it, how would you encourage someone that is suffering. For Peter, he begins with truth. In the first few verses, Peter pen’s some of the sweetest words of truths that we could ever read. It’s a treasure of promise for those who belong to Christ.
In preaching this text, Spurgeon would call verses 3-5 “a string of pearls.” Why is it a beautiful treasure to a Christian? Because in the backdrop of suffering, Peter announces hope to his readers. He begins by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Similar to his brother in Christ, Paul, Peter begins with a shout of praise. The reason is that he himself is holding on to some deep, satisfying truths about his and our future. When you know something good is about to happen, doesn’t the world seem to melt away with all its problems? Like that feeling when the game clock is winding down, and the opposing team has no chance of coming back to win the championship. You’re not thinking about feeling terrible early the next morning because you went to bed late.
The Promise of Our Future (V.3-5)
Like that, only a million times better, Peter shouts for joy and gratitude because of the promise of our future. So, what does the promise look like?
God Caused Our Hope
We first see that God has caused something in our lives. In verse 3, Peter says that God caused this “living Hope.” Peter uses one word here, “an-ag-en-nah’-o” or “produces again,” literally to make “born again” our hope.
God himself gives, out of his great mercy and provision, new life in Him. If you are not a Christian this morning, and you are wondering what is so different about these “Christians?” It’s that they have been made completely new. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that we are new creations. We are different! Quite literally, the old self that once walked according to our own selfish and perverse desires is gone, and a new man or a new woman stands in its place, glowing because they are cloaked in the righteousness of Christ.
It is God that does this. Not us. Ephesians 2 says we were dead in our sins. And God, out of his merciful desire to save his people, breathed life into our dead bodies through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. And just as Christ was raised, we are raised to new life. That’s why he calls it a “living hope.” Living hope, brothers and sisters, is eternal life. Peter is reminding us of life beyond this life. And in this promise of eternal life, there is also inheritance kept for us.
God Keeps Our Inheritance
Verse 4 says we are born again to a living hope through Christ “to an inheritance.” God’s salvation for us means an eternal reward is waiting for us. Peter shows these persecuted Christians how to look past their current circumstances. How they must look onward to a heavenly inheritance. And what exactly is this eternal reward? The Word of God reveals that it is life, righteousness, joy, peace, perfection, God’s presence, Christ’s glorious companionship, and anything else God has planned that has not been expressly revealed, is awaiting our arrival.
And what’s most amazing is that it is being protected by God. Unlike this broken world, the eternal reward that awaits us cannot be touched by the enemy and will never perish, spoil, or fade. It’s being stored for you. And not only that but the salvation we receive in Christ is being sealed by God.
God Seals Our Reward
Verse 5 says that God guards our salvation, which will be revealed in the last days. According to Ephesians 2, the reward of salvation is already given to the believer, but the completion of that salvation awaits the return of Christ and our King, Jesus.
Oh, how can we spend hours appreciating the beauty of this string of pearls? But for our time, may I just say what a thrilling joy it is to know that Christ assures us of a heavenly eternal reality such as this. This should be the roots that ground us in the midst of the storm. No matter how hard the wind beats against the limbs and rattles the leaves, we can stand unmoved because our roots are sunk deep and are holding on to the promises of God.
But remember the question I asked at the beginning: What is the purpose of going through the trials of life? Brothers and sisters, God is doing something in our trials. He has a purpose for us there.
2. The Purpose of Our Trials
Admittedly, the audience Peter is writing to is living under a different set of circumstances, much different from our own.
These elected exiles in Pontus and beyond were living at a time when the majority of the world was hostile to Christians. We might think that hostility in our world and community is rising, but it has not reached anything like this yet. At the time of this letter, Christians were most likely living under the rule and reign of Nero, a psychotic bloodthirsty emperor who encouraged and sometimes mandated the brutal murders of God’s people. Peter himself would lose his life under the rule of Nero.
Reading some of the history at this time would make us all cringe. And yet, with that as a backdrop, what Peter says about trials in the next couple of verses is astounding.
That in the midst of our distress, God is orchestrating a clear purpose. Trials are part of his plan for you. It’s interesting that Peter uses the word “trials.” Peter did not use the word tribulations or persecutions, though he could have. It might have hit closer to home for his audience. Maybe you are thinking, I cannot relate to this life. I’ve got financial problems, not someone trying to kill me for my faith.
When Peter uses the word trials, he speaks to all of our struggles. The reason is he wants to not only speak about our most horrific afflictions but also to reveal the purpose of the most general problems that occur in the life of a Chrisitan.
In a very real sense, though you may not be living under threat of losing your life for your faith, this text is for you child of God who may be walking through every day, results of the fall, broken world type-stuff that seeks to steal your joy. So let’s take a look together at the elements of this designed distress.
Elements in Our Designed Distress
Trials Vary In Form
You’ll notice that the trials vary in form. These include kneeling by the hospital bed as you watch a parent or child fight for their life. This includes the marriage that is struggling. This includes thoughts of depression that you cannot seem to pinpoint why they are there, but nevertheless, they remain. It also includes something very real to the population that I minister to, wrestling through doubt and never quite feeling certain about this or that.
Followers of Christ have not been freed from struggles. And they do not become limited to trivial things. Trials are real. Peter also mentions that trials grieve us.
Trials Grieve Us
If you’re like me, you might have felt guilty for being so grieved by your sufferings. You know that God is good and that he may be doing something behind the senses, but it doesn’t lessen the sting. I think Spurgeon helps us here. You may or may not know that Charles Spurgeon suffered from depression for most of his ministry. In one sermon, he lamented:
“I was lying upon my couch during this last week, and my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for—but a very slight thing will move me to tears just now—and a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself, that I did not know what to do; wondering why I should be in such a state as this; while this poor woman, who had a terrible cancer, and was in the most frightful agony, could nevertheless “rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”
Maybe you, too, like Spurgeon, have felt the shame of wallowing in your sorrow. But church, look at the text. Peter says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” Notice it doesn’t say, “You can rejoice, even in the midst of cancer, or criticism, or whatever trial you like.” It says you can rejoice, even if you are grieved by various trials.
This is where I want to pause and ask, Is this you? Have your trials in life sent you in to despair and doubt? Are you living in grief? Do you feel like the end of your pain has no end in sight? Hold on dear brother or sister. Release is coming. Either in this life or the next. Brother and sisters, why are you feeling guilty for grief? Trails are painful. Your savior knows this.
I’m reminded of how John Bunyan describes walking through distress that leads to despair, doubt, and God’s goodness. In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and his friend Hopeful find themselves imprisoned in the dungeons of the Castle of Doubt. They are being berated and beaten by the Giant of Despair. For Christian, this situation should not be all that surprising, for Evangelist told him, “You cannot expect to travel far in your pilgrimage without having trials in some form. You have had some of this come to [you] already, but more will soon follow.”
But this time, the torment of doubt has crept in so severely that Christian begins to believe that giving up on this journey by giving in to death would be ‘[better than living in] this dungeon [of doubt].” But Hopeful is a good companion to have in the dark dungeon of doubt. Hopeful knows the goodness of God and encourages Christian to be patient and endure hardness like a good soldier of Jesus Christ, at least for a while. The time may come, reminds Hopeful, when we will receive a happy release.”
Yes, it is important not to be overtaken by your sorrows so much that you stop believing. But Christ’s very heart is for those who are feeling the full force of the pain. But take heart, for these are not the only two elements present in God’s designed distress. Next, we see that it is temporary.
Trials Are Temporary
Peter says, “Though now for a little while” you have been afflicted with suffering. Your sufferings are momentary in the grand picture of your life and in light of the magnitude of eternity. This is not God’s FINAL plan for you. I heard it said a few months ago that the worst that life can bring your way is the closest to hell you will ever get. No matter how bad it gets in this life, you are kept from an eternity of torment and kept for a life of perfection.
Trials Have A Purpose
Next, I will touch on this a bit more in a moment, but for now one of the elements of our designed distress is that God is doing something in us and to our faith. Trails have a purpose.
And finally, our trials should never diminish our joy.
Trials Should Never Diminish Joy
Peter begins verse 6 with a statement to rejoice. That is, In light of our living hope, our eternal inheritance, and our security in Christ, we can rejoice in every trial. No matter if we are grieved unspeakably so. To the outsider, it is a paradox, a paradox that leads to praise? But this is no paradox. For two things can be present in the heart of a follower of Christ. When our eyes are set on the eternal promises that await us in glory, no matter the circumstance we face, our faith in Christ grounds us and produces joy beyond understanding. Because there is exaltation in our designed destress.
Exaltation in Our Designed Destress
According to verse 7, it is in God’s design that when we walk through trials, our faith is proved to be genuine, which will result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Christ. That is, when we face the fiery trials of life, our faith becomes far more valuable through testing.
Faith Becomes Valuable Through Testing
Peter illustrates this with a picture of gold being purified. When we are suffering because of the trials of life, it is like when the goldsmith takes the raw ore of gold to the refinery. Yes, it is valuable, but it must be cleaned. He places the gold in the crucible to be melted down in the fiery furnace. Once the gold is melted, the impurities can be removed from the top. It is also said that eastern goldsmiths would take gold to the fire until it would reflect their face like a mirror.
So it is with our faith. If you are a follower of Christ this morning, meaning you have put your faith in Christ as the only one who can save you, you have faith. But there are impurities in that faith. There are tendencies to love creation rather than the creator. To trust in it more than God. There is bitterness, grumbling, and pessimism present. Especially when hard things happen to you. These impurities are harmful to our faith. And it is in the fiery refinery of our trials that we begin to have those things removed.
A hard lesson to be learned is that characteristics like humility only come about when someone is humbled. It doesn’t feel good to be humbled. We like to experience the high points of life, and yet there is grace and goodness in the pains of life. When one pastor was speaking about the peculiarity of trials benefiting a Christian, he said “There are views to be seen from the tops of the Alps that you can never see elsewhere. Yes, but there are beauties to be seen in the depths of the dell that you could never see on the tops of the mountains.”
God is refining our faith in the valley. And this faith that is tested and proved to be genuine, Peter says, this faith results in joyful worship.
Faith Results in Joyful Worship Until We See Jesus Again
He says that this faith will result in praise, honor, and glory. There is some discussion on who receives this praise, honor, and glory. Is it us? Or Christ? I think the answer is both; however, the interesting thing about faith is that it is only as good as its object. This means that when our faith is in Christ, He is the one to be praised. It’s all about him and never about us and our ability. Our faith that is tried by fire results in praise, sure, but this praise brings honor and glory to the savior who has made our faith possible.
CONCLUSION
I’ll tell you an amazing testimony of a joyful faith that has been tried by the fire trials of life is my friend Michael, that I spoke of before. In the years following the tragedy of losing his son, Michael and his wife began to receive overwhelming support from the government and the church. Remarkably the Lord placed a unique calling on Michael’s life, to minister to children of his community. In fact the last memory I have of Michael is watching him serve kids in the name of Jesus with a big smile plastered across his face. Brother and sister, are you feeling burdened by the weight of your sorrows? The Lord is there. He’s doing something. He’s making you more precious than gold. Aren’t you thankful we serve a God that is acquainted with our sorrows. He’s refining you to the point that your faith reflects His face like a mirror.