Rejoicing in Trouble 1 Peter 1:6-9
Peter laid the firm foundation of what God has done and was continuing to do in, and through, and for those who were scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia in verses 1-5. They were chosen by God, forgiven by God through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, and given new birth into a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. They, each and every one, rich and poor alike, had an inheritance promised by God that could never be taken away, spoil, or fade--and it was being kept in heaven by God for them. And they themselves were being kept in this life by God Himself. What life-changing truth! What hope-filled reminders! What a wonderful and gracious and mighty God they were serving!
Now, beginning in verse 6, Peter acknowledged the trying situations and circumstances they were all facing and would continue to face living as exiles and strangers in the Roman Empire. Let’s read our Scripture for this morning found in 1 Peter 1:6-9.
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9 NIV)
“In all this you greatly rejoice…” It is critically important that we identify what Peter was talking about when he said, “In all this you greatly rejoice…” What is it that they were rejoicing in? They were rejoicing in all of the wonderful truths Peter had shared with them in verses 1-5. It is interesting that Bible translators tell us that the phrase, “In all this you greatly rejoice,” could also be translated, “In whom you greatly rejoice.” Edward Clowney writes,
Since Peter uses the same verb in verse 8 to describe our joy in Christ, it is possible that he is thinking, not just of all the blessings we have in Christ, but of Christ in whom we have the blessings. (Clowney, Edward. The Message of 1 Peter. pg. 34)
It’s not that they were rejoicing until trouble came their way, but they are rejoicing, present tense, even though they are suffering grief in all kinds of trials. This is a truth that no unbeliever can ever understand. It is a truth that most Christians never take the time to understand, much less seek to live out when they are going through the trials of life. For most people, as we are going through difficult troubles in life, our first and last thought has to do with getting out of the trial. We are consumed with getting out instead of focusing on the One who is working in us as we go through the troubles of life. Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s sermon on these verses that we are studying this morning was titled, “The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing.” In his sermon, he writes,
This verse to a worldly man looks amazingly like a contradiction; and even to a Christian man, when he understands it best, it will still be a paradox. "Ye greatly rejoice," and yet "ye are in heaviness." Is that possible? Can there be in the same heart great rejoicing, and yet a temporary heaviness? Most assuredly. (Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing. November 7, 1858)
I believe we can learn to rejoice in the Lord and what He is doing for us and in us while experiencing the heaviness caused by the trials of life. I want us to notice four things about verse six that are so important for us to understand. First of all, I want you to notice that Peter acknowledges these brothers and sisters in Christ were enduring “all kinds of trials.” The New International Version describes the trials they were suffering as “all kinds of trials.” Most other translations of the New Testament take the Greek word, “poikilos," which means, “various, diverse, or many-colored” and translates it as “various.” Peter will use the same Greek word later, in 1 Peter 4:10 to describe the various forms of God’s grace given to His people. Read that verse with me.
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10 NIV)
Just as God’s grace provides the wide variety of gifts that each of us have been given, God also provides the grace for the wide variety of trials that each of His people will face in life. There is no trial that you or I will ever go through that is beyond, or outside of His grace, grace which is sufficient to carry us through each and every trial. The second thing I want us to notice is that God’s people suffer “grief” as they go through the many trials of life. The Greek word, “lypeo," means “to cause severe mental or emotional distress.” This is the same Greek word that was used to describe what was happening in the minds and hearts of Jesus’ disciples when He told them He would be betrayed into the hands of men who would kill Him. Matthew tells us, in Matthew 17:23, “And they were deeply distressed.” It is the same word used in Matthew 26:37, to describe Jesus’ state of mind and heart when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed that the cup of suffering might be taken away, if there was any other way. Matthew tells us that Jesus “began to be sorrowful and very heavy.” And, last of all, it is the same Greek word that Paul used to contrast the grief of believers with unbelievers when a loved one dies who knew the Lord. Paul writes,
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NLT)
As I look out over our congregation I know the grief and sorrow some of you are going through right now, but there are many of you who are going through a fiery trial in your life and I have no idea what you are going through. Maybe those closest to you know, and I want to assure you, the Lord is well aware of what you are going through. No matter what kind of mental or physical pain you are experiencing, I want you to remind you that being a follower of Jesus will never exempt you from the trials, pain, and suffering of this life. Jesus told His followers, “In this world you will have trouble…” My brothers and sisters, our grief is real. Our pain, as we go through the trials of life, stings us at the depth of our souls. We cry tears just as real as the tears of unbelievers. Don’t ever let anyone, especially well-meaning Christians, try and convince you that you shouldn’t cry or feel sorrow or suffer grief because you are a Christian. The difference between you who are followers of Jesus and those who are not, when it comes to grief and sorrow, is this: We grieve, but we do not grieve like those who have no hope. The third thing about verse 6 that is critically important for us to understand is found in the little phrase, “may have had to.” The King James translation of this little two word Greek phrase is, “if need be.” The New American Standard translation is “if necessary.” Let’s read the New American Standard translation of verse 6 and see if that little phrase doesn’t jump out at us.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, (1 Peter 1:6 NAS)
What was Peter trying to get across to those early believers who were going through the trials of life? He wanted them to understand that God is in control, even of their troubles. They weren’t the victims of a random universe, they were enduring the fiery trials of life under the watchful eye of their Sovereign God. They knew, they had experienced the everlasting, overwhelming love of God, the One who had given them new birth into a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. God had not changed. God was as in control of their trials as He was of their new birth into a living hope. Their circumstance and situation was not happening by accident. Our Father only allows us to go through what is necessary for us to become who He has created us to be. Understanding this is so important if you and I want to be able to rejoice in our trials. Our God is a God of purpose. You can go through the entire Bible and find illustration after illustration to show you the truth of what we have been discussing. When he was just seventeen years old, Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers. The young Jewish boy ended up being sold by the Ishmaelites to an Egyptian man named Potiphar who was one of Pharaoh’s officials. Potiphar put Joseph to work overseeing his household. He was showing up early and staying late to make sure he did his job well. Then, Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of making advances towards her and Joseph was thrown into prison. He stayed in that prison a long time, some say twelve years, until he was released. Some of you know that Joseph, through a turn of events that only God could have orchestrated, ended up being second in command to Pharaoh and literally saving the nation and his own family back in Israel, who thought he was dead. After Joseph was reunited with his family, his father Jacob died. When his dad died, Joseph’s brothers thought he would have them killed. They lied, begged, and pleaded, but Joseph said,
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:20-21 NIV)
It reads like a Disney-like ending doesn’t it? Don’t you forget about all of those years of separation and the grief of suffering so many trials. Joseph was ripped from his family, from his homeland, and treated like livestock. He was sold by his brothers, sold by the Ishmaelites, betrayed by Potiphar’s wife, betrayed by one of the prisoners, and thought he would never see his father again. Yet, God was at work in all of Joseph’s troubles. I could go on and on sharing story after story of those who were serving God while feeling the heat of life’s troubles, but I want to stop for a moment and talk about us. Through the years I’ve met with men and women whose marriages were more than troubled. I’ve sat beside those who have been given notice that their cancer was terminal, there was nothing more the doctors could do. I’ve been with families who have buried a child, a gut-wrenching experience that they will never get over. I’ve had friends who have lost jobs with no backup plan. I’ve listened to the stories of those who have come here to Oklahoma City from other countries. My heart grows heavy every time I hear the stories of their being mistreated, taken advantage of, and hunted down by their own people. The question has to be asked, “Was it God’s will for my marriage to end? Was it God’s will for me to bury my child? Was it God’s will for my family to be broken up and scattered because of persecution? Was it God’s will for me to lose my job, my home, and my ability to provide for my family?” This past week I read a sermon by John Piper that helped me so much as I thought about all of these situations that others have faced, as well as the most painful times of my own life. He writes,
The answer is No, God does not will it, and Yes, he does. No, in the sense that he does not delight in pain for its own sake; he does not command sin or approve of sinning. But Yes, he does will that these things be, in the sense that he could prevent any of those things but sometimes does not, but rather guides them, because of higher designs than the destructiveness of sin or the deceitfulness of Satan or the painfulness of suffering. (John Piper, Joy Through the Fiery Test of Genuine Faith. October 24, 1993)
I can’t tell you how helpful Dr. Piper’s words have been to me this past week. God does not will any unnecessary pain in the lives of His people whom He loves so much that He willed the pain and suffering of His own Son, Jesus our Savior. The pain, loss, and sorrow we experience is not unnecessary, it is not meaningless, and neither is it due to God’s inability to stop it from happening. So what is the “meaning,” or the purpose of our sorrow and trials? We will come back to that in a moment, but let me tell you that what the Bible teaches about God’s sovereignty over our suffering is so far better than any alternative. If God is not totally in control and sovereign then your suffering and my suffering is absolutely meaningless and to be avoided at all costs. The fourth thing about verse 6 that was important for those early followers of Jesus to be reminded of is that their trials would only be for “a little while.” How long is a little while? I think of some of you and the trials you have had to endure and I wish you had only had to endure them for a little while, according to my timetable. You’ve been in the furnace of affliction for what seems like forever. Kathleen Nielson writes,
How long do you think is ‘a little while?’ What kind of time are we talking about? Probably God’s time, don’t you think? It’s most likely not just a few days or weeks. It’s probably not just a brief part of our exile; it’s more likely the whole thing–because this whole little while, in light of eternity, is just like a breath. A vapor. And so for a little while we lost loved ones; we are lonely or deserted; we are sick; we are poor; we cry; we bleed; we are oppressed or mistreated by those around us. Some of you are right in the midst of it–and not one of us is free while some of us are suffering. That means the whole body of Christ is suffering for this little while, until he returns. (Nielsen, Kathleen. Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering. pg. 50)
Peter was not the only follower of Jesus who held this view that life’s sorrows are brief in light of the eternity we will experience when Jesus returns and wipes every tear from every eye. The Lord gave John a glimpse of what life will be like for all of Jesus’ followers when He returns. John wrote about it in Revelation 21:4.
4 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4 NIV)
Can you imagine? Can those of you who have cried so many tears through the years imagine what it will be like when there are no more reasons to shed a tear? Can those of you who have had your heart broken into a million pieces imagine what it will be like in that place where there are only hearts filled with rejoicing? Paul wrote to the Corinthians and encouraged them with these words.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV)
There is no way we can ever see or understand our troubles as “light and momentary” unless “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Paul reminds us that our troubles are temporary, but God’s promises, for those of you who are followers of Jesus, are eternal. Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in Rome and said,
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18 NIV)
Our present sufferings, regardless of how badly they have affected us, are not worth comparing with what is before us. At the same time, Paul, and Peter in our study of 1 Peter, wants us to know that we are not merely to look forward to a day when our trials will be over, but they want us to know that there is purpose and meaning in our sorrow and affliction. I told you we would come back to this so I want us to focus on what God is doing in us and through us as we experience grief in all kinds of trials in life. We can discover this by taking a look at verse 7. Would you read it with me?
7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7 NIV)
Throughout history people have used all kinds of material goods as currency for buying and selling. The most popular and widespread of all has been gold. Gold has the most extensive history of any currency involved in trade and commerce, according to the website of the U.S. Money Reserve. They say that Lydian merchants were the first to utilize gold as currency about 700 B.C. The world may value gold, but God places a much higher value on your faith, your relationship and trust in Him. Jesus said,
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26 NLT)
God has a far greater plan for you and me than that we gain the whole world. His plan is that you and I be molded and shaped into the image of His Son. When gold is first pulled from the ground it looks nothing like the gold you and I are familiar with. It has to go through a process of heating to remove all of the impurities contained within it. Just as heat purifies gold, God uses the heat of our trials and troubles to purify us, to remove all of the impurities of pride, lusts, self-centeredness, idol worship, reliance upon ourselves, etc. God desires to use everything we are going through to draw us closer to Himself and use our trials to continue the process of transforming us into the image of His Son…if we will recognize His hand at work. Our understanding that God is not absent, but actively present, and at work in us can give us a new and desperately needed understanding of our trials. John MacDuff wrote,
When we are assured that nothing which is appointed by our Father can come to us wrongly, our cup of suffering becomes a cup of love! (John MacDuff)
Most of the time we will never understand the meaning or purpose of any given trial while we are in the fire. We may never understand the specific reason, but we can know that the One who has loved us with an everlasting love is at work. Knowing this can stir a trust in Him that we desperately need and that He greatly desires. Malcolm Muggeridge, the British author and TV personality, was born in 1903 in London. He became a follower of Jesus late in his life though he was constantly surrounded by Christians while dodging Jesus as long as he could. He wrote,
Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, everything I have learned, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness. (Malcom Muggeridge. Reader’s Digest [1/91], p. 158).
Through the lens of faith, through the lens of God’s love, Malcolm was able to look back and see God’s hand at work even in the most painful experiences of his life. He found meaning in suffering because of His suffering Savior. Our time is up, but let me share a story with you which I hope will illustrate how the perspective God has given us concerning our trials gives us so much meaning and strength and is far better than the world’s way of dealing with hardship.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was born in Zurich, Switzerland and became a doctor before coming to the United States with her husband. In 1969, she became known internationally because of her book, On Death and Dying. She opened the eyes of medical professionals that there was a better way to care for those who were terminally ill. Her work was instrumental in shaping today’s hospice care.
In her book, Dr. Kubler-Ross outlined what she called the “five psychological stages of dying” (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance). You may have heard these stages called the “five stages of grief.” It didn’t take long for the model developed by Dr. Kubler-Ross to expand beyond those who were dying to all of those who suffer loss in any kind of way. She went on to write two dozen books that have been translated into forty-four languages. TIME Magazine named her, “One of the 100 most important thinkers of the 20th century. Dr. Kubler-Ross died in 2004, but she suffered a series of debilitating strokes in 1995 which left her unable to continue her normal routines for the remainder of her days. This woman who had written so much about death and dying, how to handle the process of dying with dignity, experienced something quite different when she found herself on death’s door. Elaine Woo, in her article, Psychiatrist Changed How We Look at Death, writes,
She had wanted to die after the strokes left her partially paralyzed and unable to live independently. At the time, she expressed bitterness that she was still alive and made headlines around the country about how the guru of the “good death” could not achieve one for herself. (Elaine Woo. Psychiatrist Changed the Way We Look at Death. LA Times. August 26, 2004)
Such a sad ending to such a powerful career helping others. Dr. Kubler-Ross had a young protege named David Kessler who co-authored two books with her. After her death he wrote a book titled, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Meaning in the greatest trial of life, our own death? When I saw the title I thought maybe David had found something that his mentor lacked. I watched a video of him speaking this past week. In the video interview, David said,
There is no meaning in a horrible death or a pandemic or a wedding being canceled or a job being lost. The meaning isn’t in the horrible event, the meaning is in us. It’s what we find afterwards. (David Kessler, How to Find Meaning After Loss.)
I was hopeful until I learned that the meaning we are all to aspire to find can only be found in us. To say the least, I was very disappointed. At the end of the video I said, “You are the world’s authority on grief and this is all you got? There is no meaning outside of the meaning you can find within yourself?" No wonder the world is becoming increasingly hopeless. In all fairness to David Kessler, he is limited in the tools he has to work with because he does not know the truth you and I have learned this morning. God is sovereign over every aspect of our lives. He is at work in your tears, in your broken heart, and it is not just to comfort you, but it is to draw you ever closer to Himself and to mold and make you into the image of His Son. One day there will be no more tears, but today is not that day. Today is the day that we stand, with tears streaming down our faces, and proclaim, “Lord, I trust You! I know your love for me and that You are present in my suffering in ways I cannot even fathom. Lord, I trust You.” Do you? Have you? Will you? I want to encourage you this morning to verbally express your trust in Jesus. He is our Suffering Savior who is more than familiar with tears and sorrow. There was nobody standing around the foot of the cross that dark, dark day that was able to see anything beyond His death, but God was at work, He was not finished. Neither is He finished working in you. Will you trust Him? Mike HaysBritton Christian Church922 NW 91stFebruary 4, 2024