Tested, Tried, Triumphant
Notes
Transcript
Do you ever wonder if you would be who you are today if it hadn’t have been for some experience in your life? There is a hypothetical question that gets asked periodically. It is hypothetical because it is impossible to do. The question is this: If you could go back in time and change one thing about your life, what would it be? After 39 years of living on this earth, I have decided my answer to that question is nothing. The answer is nothing because I do not know how changing one thing might have impacted the person I am today. I do not know who I would be if I hadn’t made the choices I did or experience the things I have, the good or the bad.
The Christians dispersed through these five Roman provinces were so due to persecution in the places they lived. They were no strangers to suffering. They were in the thick of it. We talked last week that this suffering was tolerable because of a living hope, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Suffering is of no value if there is no reason for it. We talked last week that our incentive for suffering is anchored in a hope for eternal life. Our incentive for suffering is an inheritance awaiting us, an inheritance that is secure. It is kept in heaven for us as we are guarded by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, or the last day.
Suffering is part of the human experience, but it has powerful lessons for the believer in Christ. Today we will talk about the power of going through trials.
Rejoice in the midst of trials.
Rejoice in the midst of trials.
I want you to hear something today. Your circumstances don’t define you. They do not determine your value and they do not determine who you are. Your circumstances are what they are, and regardless of the degree of severity of stress it adds to your life, it is possible to rejoice in the midst of trials. In fact, our ability to do so is part of what makes us peculiar people to the rest of the world.
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
The first two words, “in this,” refers to what was said in verse three through five. We bless God for the living hope he has provided through Christ, the inheritance secured for us in heaven, and a salvation ready to be revealed in the last day. We rejoice even though right now we may experience suffering.
But there is good news here. There are four words here that are reassuring: “for a little while.” This reminds us that what we endure is only for a little while. It won’t last forever. One day it will end. Our suffering is not eternal. Our hope in Christ is.
I don’t know the problems you face in their entirety. I don’t know what just entered your mind when I said that. I do know some of you face physical ailments that you will face for the rest of your lives. I know some of you are enduring some economic hardships. I know some of you feel stuck in relationship challenges that don’t look like they will ever get better. These things will one day pass. Circumstances could change, but you do not have to wait until change comes to experience joy in the midst of those trials.
Trials don’t dictate your relationship with Christ. Your relationship with Christ will dictate how you face trials. If God is only praiseworthy when life seems trouble free, you have a misunderstanding of what Christianity is about, and a weak faith.
We believe that God is praiseworthy in the trials, but we also believe that trials have real value.
Trials have refining power.
Trials have refining power.
Nobody likes to be uncomfortable. But we are willing to endure discomfort if we believe that the discomfort will lead to something greater. This is at the heart of rejoicing in the midst of trials. Whether we like it or not, trials can make or break us. Trials as a believer in Christ have a way of refining you.
Verses six and seven here are very similar to the word of James, which is more well known.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Trials do have a purpose. They exist to refine us. Trials test our faith. When things are comfortable, it is easy to trust the Lord. In fact, we take it for granted. But when things begin to become uncomfortable, we have a choice to make. We must choose between continuing to rely on God, his provision, and his faithfulness or jumping in the driver’s seat and try to maintain control over a situation based on your own experience and wisdom. Either God remains in charge, or we take control.
The Bible teaches us that we are not in control. The gospel of Christ teaches us that we are to hand over control to the one who can take our brokenness and recover and pursue God’s plan for our lives. Trials, as unpleasant as they are, teach us to hand over that control to God. Doing so stretches our faith, because the temptation is to tell God he’s not doing it right (or fast enough), then take control. As we lean in to having our faith tested, we can see that God is producing endurance in us.
The summer Olympics wrapped up in Paris not long ago. Athletes spend their whole lives training to compete at the highest level possible. They spend day after day training themselves. They push themselves to their limits, and then just a little further. When this happens, the body builds endurance. When you stress your body long enough and in the right way, your body’s capacity to handle that level of activity increases. Do this over years and you find that you can run faster for longer periods.
Similarly, when we face trials in life, and choose to continue to trust God to see us through them, it brings stress in our lives. That stress tests our faith and produces endurance. We can endure that stress easier and for longer because we have been conditioned for it. Endurance refines you.
Peter compares it to gold being refined by fire:
so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Refining gold employs a process where the gold is melted down so impurities can be removed. The melting point of gold is 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a very hot and dangerous process. If gold could talk, it would scream.
Going through trials feels like refining gold. The temperature climbs and then the pressure builds and the stress level rises. It hurts. It’s painful. If refinement was easy, we wouldn’t be talking about it. Refinement has a price. It will cost you something. But the person you become on the other side of the trial is often a more beautiful version of you because you are becoming more Christ-like.
So remember not to run from trials, but embrace them knowing it will produce godliness.
Embrace a sightless faith.
Embrace a sightless faith.
We are laughed at by the nonbelieving crowd for what they call a blind faith. But I want you to understand that a blind faith is not the same as a sightless faith. A blind faith is a faith that they believe is based on zero evidence for the claims. The nonbeliever, and the atheist in particular, argue there is no evidence for the Genesis account of creation. There is no evidence for Noah’s flood, the Exodus, and a whole host of other stories found in the Bible. To believe Christianity is true is to believe blindly, or with a lack of evidence.
A sightless faith is not a blind faith. Look at what Peter says in verse 8,
and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Nobody here has ever seen Christ with our own eyes. We have seen artistic interpretations of what he might look like, but nobody has ever seen a photograph or Jesus himself in person. So we have a sightless faith. It is not a blind faith, but a sightless faith. We believe a man and God we have never seen. But we believe based on evidence. There is scientific evidence for the creation of the universe from nothing. There is evidence that the universe has amazing precision in design. We do have scientific evidences for a worldwide flood. We do have historical evidences for the Exodus and a number of the Old Testament stories. We do have evidences for the resurrection of Jesus. What we don’t have is modern eyewitness testimony.
Peter is an eyewitness. John is an eyewitness. Matthew is an eyewitness. Much of the New Testament is based on eyewitness testimony. But you and I don’t have that. We believe based on the eyewitness testimony of others.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he was making appearances to his disciples. Thomas is famous for doubting the testimony of his friends. Thomas needs evidence. He needs proof. He wants to put his fingers on the wounds. Well, Jesus shows up eight days later. Thomas is there and he gets his chance. He places his fingers on the wounds on Jesus’ wrists and believes. Then Jesus says this:
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
You believe based on evidence, but it is true that you have a sightless faith. However, it won’t always be a sightless faith. One day we will see him for who he is. One day our sightless faith will become seeing faith. But right now you love him. Right now you believe in him. Right now your hope is anchored in a living savior. And this should bring us great joy.
Do you have the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in your heart? If you don’t know that song, you might need to go to children’s church next week. Our joy does not come from living a life that is always good or perfect. It comes from a hope amidst the trials of life.
Cling to the promise of salvation.
Cling to the promise of salvation.
Are you glad God doesn’t change his mind? There are examples in scripture where God does choose compassion and mercy instead of judgment when it came to the Israelites breaking the covenant. What I mean when I say that God doesn’t change his mind is he never alters the terms of the deal. At no point in the history of existence has God altered covenant terms.
God has remained faithful to every covenant he has ever made with man. He has never changed the terms of the deal. This is good news for us. The last verse in this passage says,
obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
Think about this for a second. The gospel of Christ presents a massive problem for humanity. Our rebellion against a holy God has cost us our lives. Our souls are in jeopardy. Our eternal future is very bleak. But God flips the script when he sends Christ to pay the penalty for our rebellion, purchases our pardon, and offers salvation for our souls. It is God’s consistency in covenant keeping promises that gives us confidence to trust him with our eternal souls.
We trust God with the most important thing we have: our lives. Our trust would be foolish if the Bible presented us with a God who was inconsistent or has been shown to change covenant terms on a whim. His promise is sure. So cling to the promise of salvation. It is our hope.
Life is hard, but you can have joy in the midst of trials when you remember that they are temporary and that they are not meaningless. Trials have refining power. They teach valuable lessons. They have a way of making you into the person Christ wants you to be. While enduring trials we embrace a sightless faith, longing for the day we see our savior face to face. So we cling to the promise of salvation knowing that God will never change the terms of his covenant. We have a tremendous hope.
What would you do if you knew you would not lose? What would have to change to make room for that? Refinement has a price. You can become who God wants you to be, but you will have to pass through some refining fire to get there. What do you need to start facing to be where God wants you to be? Ask him.
