A People Who Rejoice

a) We’re continuing in our series through 1 Peter called A Distinct People. Last week Peter continued to encourage his original readers & us of our new identity. God not only chose us before the foundation of the world, but has caused us to be born again to a living hope & glorious inheritance.

b) And Peter says in v3 the appropriate response to God’s great mercy & work for us is praise: “Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” But now Peter’s going to tell us the other appropriate response is to rejoice. As always, let’s begin by hearing God’s holy word in 1 Pet. 1, v6-12.

Read & Pray. I’ve titled today’s message A People Who Rejoice.

I want us to see 3 reasons why we rejoice. And here’s the 1st reason: we are a people who rejoice, even in suffering, b/c of God’s great work for us.

a) Remember v3-12 is 1 long sentence in the original Greek. In v6 Peter’s continuing his thought from v1–5. And now Peter says at the beginning of v6: “in this you rejoice.” We are a people who rejoice b/c we are elect exiles foreknown by God the Father & sanctified by the Spirit.

b) We’re a people who rejoice b/c The Son sprinkled us w/ His blood & cleansed us from our sin. The Father & Son have poured out the HS who has caused us to be born again & united us to Christ & made us spiritually alive to a living hope & an imperishable, undefiled & unfading inheritance.

c) We rejoice b/c God has promise to keep this inheritance for us, & He has promised as we saw in v5 last week to guard us by His power through faith until we obtain this promised inheritance. And so Peter says we not only worship, but “in this you rejoice.” But then look at the rest of v6.

d) “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” Peter shifts his focus from what God has, is & will do to our present trials & suffering in this world. And we all know by experience that trials & suffering are inevitable in this fallen world.

e) It’s not a matter of if we will face trials & suffering, but rather how we will respond when various trials & suffering come. Will we respond w/ surprise? Anger? Hopelessness? Despair? We will try to ignore or minimize our trials & suffering? Will we self-medicate w/ drugs, alcohol, or food?

f) See, apart from Christ & all of God’s great work for us, we might respond to trials & suffering in those ways. But being born again helps us to see & respond to the trials of life differently. Peter says we can respond w/ joy b/c of God’s saving work for us.

g) Notice in v6 “though now for a little while.” Trials & suffering will come, but only for a little while. They are temporary. Even if we suffer our entire lives, it can’t compare w/ the eternal joy & blessings we have in Christ. Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 4:17:

h) “For this light & momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Now you might read that & think: Paul doesn’t understand my suffering. But Paul says this in 2 Cor. 11:24-27: “5x I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less 1. 3x I was beaten w/ rods. Once I was stoned. 3x I was shipwrecked; a night & a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, from robbers, from my own people, from Gentiles, danger in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil & hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger & thirst, often w/o food, in cold & exposure.”

i) We also know that beyond all of this, Paul was given a thorn in his flesh. See Peter & Paul knew the trials & sufferings of this life & of following Jesus. Yet they both exhort us that we can rejoice, even in our suffering, b/c of God’s great mercy & work for us. As Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:18:

j) “to look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Now I know joy is not the 1st response we think of when we think about our trials & suffering. It seems counter-intuitive.

k) Yet, joy despite our trials & suffering is a consistent theme & teaching Jesus Himself. He said in Mt. 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when others revile you & persecute you & utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice & be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

l) Before we move to the next point, notice something important in v6. Peter says these Christians were “grieved by various trials.” Christian joy doesn’t deny the hardships of life. It doesn’t pretend we’re happy when we are sad. Peter doesn’t deny the reality of trials, suffering & grief.

m) Peter knew his original readers had been grieved by various trials. Scripture never promises that we are believers will never be grieved, sad or suffer. Instead, Scripture teaches us how to grieve & express sadness w/ real joy & hope. The Psalms teach us how to express our grief honestly to God.

n) But the Psalms also show us how cling to God in our trials & suffering. Friends, it’s ok to be sad & to grieve. Our Lord Himself wept at Lazarus tomb & over Jerusalem. We grieve, but w/ hope & joy. We can have real joy in the midst of trials & suffering while we grieve.

o) We grieve b/c life is hard & b/c trials & suffering & pain are real. But we rejoice b/c of all that God has done for us. We follow the lead of Jesus Himself of whom Heb 12:2 says: “For the joy that set before Him endured the cross.”

2nd, we are a people who rejoice, even in suffering, b/c it purifies & strengthens our faith

a) Peter said in v5 God will guard us through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And 1 of the ways God guards us through faith is by strengthening our faith so we & our faith will endure. And 1 of the ways God strengthens our faith is through trials & suffering. Look at v6-7:

b) “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you’ve been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it’s tested by fire-may be found to result in praise, glory & honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

c) Peter uses an analogy of gold. He says gold is tested by fire or put through the fire to remove its impurities. Likewise, we go through the fire of trials & suffering to purify & strengthen our faith. Peter says: “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.”

d) If necessary tells us our trials & suffering are not random or accidental, but are designed by God to accomplish His purpose in us. And v7 gives us that purpose: “so that the tested genuineness of your faith…may be found to result in praise & glory & honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

e) Trials & suffering not only strengthen our faith, but prove our faith to be genuine. John Piper says, “I have never heard anyone say, ‘The really deep lessons of my life have come through times of ease & comfort.’ But I have heard saints say, ‘Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love & growing w/ Him has come through suffering’.”

g) Samuel Rutherford a Scottish Presbyterian minister in the 1600s said it this way: “When I was cast into the cellar of affliction, I remembered the great King always keeps his wine there.” That’s why James 1:2 says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds”

h) Why? James 1:3-4 says: “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect & complete, lacking in nothing.” See, when life is comfortable, it’s easy to believe our faith is strong & our joy is rooted in God.

i) When the comforts of life are stripped away & trials & suffering come, it reveals if our faith is strong & where our joy truly lies. Our suffering & trials burn away self-confidence & self-reliance & drive us to put our hope & faith in God alone. Look at v8-9:

j) “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him & rejoice w/ joy that is inexpressible & filled w/ glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of yours souls.” Right now, we don’t see Jesus. He’s seated at the R hand of the Father.

k) But as we believe & love Jesus b/c we’ve been born again by the Spirit, 1 of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. We rejoice b/c we know & love God. We rejoice b/c the Spirt dwells in us. We rejoice b/c we know the outcome of our faith is the salvation of our souls.

l) See, that’s why we can be a people who rejoice no matter the circumstances of our life. B/c as Rom. 8:28 says: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God uses all things to strengthen our faith.

m) Our trials & suffering burn away impurities like self-confidence & self-reliance. Our culture sees suffering as an obstacle to joy, but Peter says the tested genuineness of our faith will result in praise & glory & honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

n) When Christ returns, we’ll obtain the outcome of our faith: the salvation of our souls. Christ will be glorified by our faith in Him. Our faith will resound in praise, glory & honor. But not only will God be glorified by our faith, but b/c of our faith we will hear Jesus’ words from Mt. 25:23: “Well done good & faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your Master.”

3rd, we rejoice, even in our suffering, b/c we are privileged people living in a privileged time

a) Look at v10-12: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched & inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ & the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the HS sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”

b) 1st, Peter says his original readers & us live in a privileged time. Why? B/c we live in the days not of promise, but of fulfillment. We may experience great difficulty in this fallen world. It may seem like the church is declining & the world is becoming more & more evil. But Peter reminds us, the OT prophets would have longed to live in our days.

d) He says in v10 the OT prophets “prophesied about the grace that was to be yours.” They lived during a time before the Messiah was revealed. They pointed forward to Him & His work for His people. They searched the Scriptures to understand who the promised Christ is & when He’d come.

e) The OT prophets didn’t yet enjoy the fullness of God’s grace. They didn’t yet understand the fullness of the mystery of the person & work of Christ. As Jesus said in Mt. 13:16-17: “blessed are your eyes for they see & your ears for they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets & righteous people longed to see what you see & did not see it & to hear what you hear & did not hear it.”

f) On this side of the cross, on this side of the empty tomb, we know who the Christ is. We know His words & works. We enjoy the benefits of His death & resurrection. We’ve been united to Him by faith & born again to a living hope & inheritance. The HS dwells in us & seals us as God’s children

g) We enjoy all these great privileges that are far greater than those enjoyed by the OT saints. Think about this. Would you want to live in Abraham’s day? Would you want to live in Moses’ day to witness the parting of the Red Sea & God leading His people through the wilderness?

h) Would you want to live during the period of the Judges? Would you want to live during the reign of King David? Would you want to live in the days of the prophets as the great mystery of the gospel were foretold as the people were removed the land & living in exile?

i) Perhaps you would want to live during Jesus’ 1st coming to see & hear Him preach the Sermon on the Mount. But Peter says we live in a privileged time b/c we live the days of fulfillment. We & the Christians in Asia Minor are those who have heard the good news the OT prophets longed to see.

j) But 2nd, we are also a privileged people b/c we are the recipients of God’s saving grace. Many people to this day are still enamored w/ angels. And they are amazing creatures. They dwell in the throne room of heaven. Heb. 1:14 says they are ministering spirits sent out by God.

k) Consider all that the angels see & hear. They observed the unfolding of God’s plan throughout history to save a people through Jesus. They were there when God revealed His plan to the prophets. They were there when the Father sent His Son into the world.

l) They were astonished to see the eternal Son of God humble Himself & take on flesh & become like us in the womb of the Virgin Mary. They announced w/ wonder & delight the pregnancy of Mary. They split the skies open to sing praises at His birth. They ministered to Jesus at His temptations.

m) They marveled as He learned obedience by the things He suffered. At the climax of His sufferings, at the height of His agonies on the cross, the angels were silent as the One who knew no sin was made sin for us. They heard Him cry: “It is finished” & saw Him breathe His last.

n) And when the stone was rolled away that 1st Easter Sunday, angels were there to witness the eternal Son of God made flesh rise from the grave to new & eternal life.

o) And when He ascended into heaven, angels reminded the disciples that in the same way Jesus left, He would 1 day return. Lk. 15:10 says angels rejoice in heaven when 1 sinner on earth repents & believes. But at the end of v12, Peter says the angels long to look upon our salvation.

p) See, angels don’t experience God’s salvation. Heb. 2:16: “for surely it is not angels that he helps, but…the offspring of Abraham.” Long to look means to peer in from the outside. The angels bore witness to the life & ministry of Jesus. But at no point were they the objects of His mission.

q) It was not for them that He came. It was not for them that He lived, obeyed, bled, died, rose from the grave & ascended. It was not for them that Jesus is 1 day coming again. He came for you. He bled for you. He died for you. He rose for you. He’s coming again for you.

r) And Peter says the angels peer in from the outside on all of this as a spectator, not as a recipient. They don’t know what it is to be adopted as a child of God. They don’t know what it is to have the Spirit of Christ dwell in their hearts. They don’t know what it is to be sanctified by grace.

s) They don’t know what it is to experience the joy & wonder of being a saved sinner. But we do. What a privileged time & people we are. What an inexpressible joy! The OT prophets searched & inquired for what we now experience. The angels long to look into what we now experience.

t) If the angels are amazed & rejoice at the good news preached to us & received by us, how much more should we as the recipients & beneficiaries of that good news be amazed & rejoice.

Let me close this way.

a) In what or whom is your joy rooted? If it’s in something of this world, you will be riding an emotional roller coaster. Peter calls us to root our joy in our God & His great salvation He has given to us in Christ. It’s a joy that no circumstance, trial, or suffering can take from us.

b) Peter calls on us to face our trials & suffering knowing God is sovereign even over our suffering & He uses them for His glory & our good. What trials are you facing right now? What grief are you experiencing? Friend, you don’t have to ignore, minimize or try & hide that grief.

c) God wants you to grieve. But God also wants you to come to Him & call upon Him & trust Him. Keep trusting & believing & loving Him. No matter how hard life may be, no matter how hard life may get, we live in a privileged time & we enjoy the privileges of a great salvation.