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we're looking at chapter 1 verses 6-9 but I'm going to read uh 3 through through n to set the context of these verses First Peter chapter
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1:3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great Mercy has caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the
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resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who
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are protected by the power of God through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly Rejoice even though now for a
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little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even
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though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ and though you have not seen him you love
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him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejo Rejoice with joy inexpressible and full
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of Glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls let us
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pray Our Father we do again ask that you would teach us give us those ears to hear those Sanctified ears that we might hear what you would say to us as a congregation as
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congregation as individuals as those who have called upon your name we ask that you would truly build us up that you would
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make your church ready for that great day when you will come again as a bride adorned for husband we ask that you would do these things in Christ's name
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I first began to work at the big uh French Tire Factory south of town and for whatever reason thinking about about that this week uh so long ago there were
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things odd things that I remember some things good and some things not so so good um having spent the previous 12
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Years in New England I had forgotten how much I had missed sweet tea but one of the things that I thought of and I I guess I can only say that the
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Lord brought it to my mind was one of the ear early days I was there Michelin decided that they were going to do a big Wellness campaign they
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had built a new um workout center and went on a heal Health kick for us and we had to have our cholesterol tested so we did the um
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sample blood sample and then a week or so later they came by and we were lined up in the hallway and uh we were to get our cholesterol number and
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um it may seem strange to some of you but uh Professional Engineers and scientists can sound like a bunch of sixth graders getting their report card
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what' you get what'd you get what'd you get right what is your number and people were getting their number and some came out happy some sad but when I sat down with the nurse she
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looked at my chart and she turned to me and she said honey I don't know what doing but keep on doing
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it well I say that to say this that I think when we read these verses 6 through N I think Peter is saying and he doesn't use that word he calls them
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beloved keep on doing it keep on keeping on the way you're keeping on here the there are there are those and and the Greek is hard here I struggled with this trying to understand
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because the theologians are not in agreement as to exactly how the the Greek words go in this you greatly
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Rejoice but what I see here is the Living Hope and the guaranteed inheritance of verses 3 through five yeah I like that
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sweet tea sweet tea but uh suffering and grief and trials not so not so much and yet I think Peter is not
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exhorting them I think Peter is commending them commending them here but he makes this astonishing claim he says that suffering for
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Christians is a test of faith that will result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
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revealed these people just like us have never seen Jesus in the flesh but Peter says this outcome is true this will be the result of your
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suffering this will be the result that you will see and that you are seeing because I think he not only looks at the
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at the future at the end of verse five to be revealed at the last time the word is eschatology or escaton which we get our word eschatology the science
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the study of the last things but he's having them look at the present and again there are some who
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take this in this you greatly rejoice and they say no that's looking in the future you will greatly Rejoice at when
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Jesus is revealed but I don't think that's where Peter goes here we have to look at the nuts and bolts here a bit but it says in this you
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greatly rejoice it could be in which you greatly rejoice it could be in whom you greatly rejoice and the theologians give us four
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possibilities he could be referring immediately to the last time in verse vers five the future day of judgment but if that is all that Peter
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is looking at then what he's asking people to do is just keep focusing on the future just keep focusing on the future and you can gut it out and you can make
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can make it but Peter is speaking of the present time some believe that he's referring back to Jesus in verse
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three our living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and he does mention Jesus in verse 8 and he is a central figure In this
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passage and I think we see it and again there are some theologians who say hold on hold on Buddy you can't refer back to the gospels you can't see an echo or
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hear an echo of the gospels because those weren't written when Peter wrote but I think our Minds naturally go there it could refer to God blessed be
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the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in verse 5 protected by the power of God the one who garens us who guards us protects us he has begot us
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gotten us to a new life and his power is protecting us and it certainly is a Divine uh
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divine dominent thought from the Divine perspective but Peter again is not ignoring that but he's also not ignoring that his focus is on the present time
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and the point of view is of the ones you who are being protected by the power of God his focus is on the ones who are being
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guarded and it could refer to all of verses three and five The Living Hope the inheritance that we have which is
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imperishable unfading and undefiled but the most plausible to me is that yes while that is very
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compelling and it is the setting in which we find ourselves the in which or in this could
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this could be explained by by an oldfashioned word
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wherein the wherein is temporal it means in this period in which you find yourselves in connection with the future in connection with that which will be
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revealed at the revelation of Jesus Christ where our Salvation is ready ready to be revealed at any moment
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but I think he's saying in which or wherein you now find yourselves you greatly rejoice and again as I say there are some who say well the mood is not clear
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in the Greek and it's not it could be you were rejoicing it could be you are rejoicing and it could be you will rejoice but I think that is answered in
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verse 6 and verse 8 where their book ends the the fancy word is an inclusio that we we see you greatly
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rejoice in these trials and you will greatly rejoice when Jesus is revealed and I I think that it's not an
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imperative that it's not in the future but it is now there is what it's called in Greek ad durative we continue to exalt
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not because Peter is telling us you will do this what he is saying you are already rejoicing in these trials keep on keeping
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on keeping on and the rejoicing is is a strong word it it means more than than just um you know I I feel joyful one
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joyful one author says you ought to this is my paraphrasing of him but think of the
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celebration Jubilation that's what rejoicing means and although these people are subject to various trials are manifold Trials of many
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kinds they kinds they jubilate how often do we jubilate that that is an English word by the way I had to look it up and see how it's
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pronounced Paul is saying you people jubilate you exalt in these trials and to jubilate it's to feel Joy
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and great Delight it comes from the Latin word jubilar which means to shout there there is an expression here not of just well you I feel happy no
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this is Jubilation this is exaltation this is celebr ation and again as I say the trials are a manifold they they're they're
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trials and they're different from Temptations it could be various mental and emotional
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distresses it could be Financial losses they're experiencing it could be harassment by their neighbors it could be life sorrow and we've read a lot about those this
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week haven't we not Temptations are are Direction and urging us to evil but but trials are anything that goes into testing our
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character and I believe that that is a better translation than Temptations in your scriptures and those trials can come from the outside can they not again
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those who would harass us people disease disasters either
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natural or natural or man-made but they can also come from
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doubts fear wondering why I have a passionless spirit so Peter kind of sounds I don't know when I first read this and looked
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at this he sounds kind of evasive or unequivocal he says in this you greatly Rejoice even though now for a little
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while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials but the this phrase and again please remember that verse 3 through 12
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is one is one sentence and as I looked at and I have to consult my my book it's uh Mr Wallace wrote the book Greek grammar beyond the
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basics and he rails against particular one translation in particular that we want to take this sentence and we want to somehow Eng lzee it we want to chop
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it up into little short phrases and hermetically seal them from one another but Paul's sorry Peter's thought goes all the way through this and again the
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the wherein he's looking at your present situation their present situation but again I I can't help but thinking Peter Peter was a man just like
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us he went through these emotions and distresses from the outside and from the inside and even though it sounds kind of
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unequivocal the even though now for a little while if NE necessary has connections with our
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grief and he's saying the grief that you experience is experience is real he's not minimizing that he's not saying just deal with it he is acknowledging it is real he he is saying to them you have
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been distressed you've been hurt by these various trials and it is happening now maybe differently for your brother or
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sister than is for you because there are various trials and we don't all go through the same trials at the same time in the same way but he's saying your grief does not
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lessen your joy because it's comparatively a little while brothers and sisters they will
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cease and it is necessary and this is this was the hardest part for me to understand if necessary we want to put the common comma there if necessary you have been distressed by various
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trials well I think it's necessary on two accounts ours and God's it's necessary to acknowledge the distress and the grief created by these
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sufferings enduring these sufferings again there are Christians who who will poo poo these things uh you know you you can handle
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it but I think in the context it is necessary for God when God finds it necessary for our
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I have another illustration and I read this and I thought well that's an illustration I need to use and because this is what we're like and then the more I studied it I thought no no this shows us what we're not like especially
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in light of our Sunday school this morning so if you'll bear with me for a little bit this is from a book that uh Chuck had recommended to me to read it is a novel um and I read it a novel
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about once a decade but it's on it's called The Last Days of Night and it's said in 1888 when and from the the protagonist is is the
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attorney who is trying to keep Thomas Alva Edison from suing George Westinghouse so he's rubbed shoulders he's had personal interviews if you will
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with four of the richest men in the world at that time Edison what in house JP Morgan and Alexander granell but he's contemplating the
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lawyer is he's contemplating two types of people who don't care at all about money and of the first he says they're so rich for so long that the question of
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money had honestly never occurred to them they didn't even think about it just spend whatever you know you don't think about the money but this is the one that I think perhaps relates to us
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he calls them the unknowing poor they had never had a dime to buy anything for pleasure they never had a dime to do almost anything much less to spend it on
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themselves he says they were not happily poor that would be kind a condescending caricature being poor they did not make
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any being poor did not make anyone happy it was only that some people managed to be both and I I thought at first well
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that's Christians and then I thought well no no because what our brother said this morning it might seem to the outside world that we manag to be both joyful
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and suffering being grieved being crushed and yet
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outside world that we're managing grieving and suffering together with together with rejoicing but as our brother said we are
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drastically radically fundamentally different from the world and even though it may look to them like we're managing to do rejoicing
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in our in our grieving they do not know we do not enjoy suffering I don't think that's what Peter is saying enjoy
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your suffering we don't seek suffering although some Christians that you'll meet say oh you know I I suffer for the Lord I enjoy suffer no again I think
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that's an erroneous caricature of Christians James in chapter 1 he says count it all joy my brethren when you meet various
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meet various trials he seems to say that trials s bring an occasion for joy and I think they do but what Peter is trying to get us to see is that God's purpose in the
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purpose in the trials make grief the past and past and joy the joy the present Karen job in her commentary on
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Peter says Believers Rejoice because of the certain eschatological hope that awaits and that forms the context for
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life now we we don't look for suffering we we we some Christians it's
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almost as if they believe that they have to be their own atonement that they they have to Sor if I say it crassly this is what came to my
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mind I'm mind I'm sorry but we read in the scriptures without the shedding of blood there's no forgiveness of sins and some Christians it's almost as if if I don't shed then I
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can't be forgiven that's not what Peter is saying what he is saying is that these trials have put you in a crucible to
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show the genuineness of your faith and that's why he goes to verse 7 that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even
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though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
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Christ I call it the true Golden Rule it it it pains me to listen to Christians who think the phrase do unto others as you would have them do unto you is script is is a Bible
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verse just verse just because we know that our escal es catological future as job says does not
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real Peter says sufferings have purpose suffering proves the genuiness of faith and again some fall into the Trap that sufferings must mean that I I lack
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Faith No sufferings are testing your faith some people say I'm suffering that must mean I have failed that I'm an unbeliever and no Peter would say
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no listen listen to my imagery here listen to what I'm saying the proof of your faith and again I would I would strike that out and put the genuiness of
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your faith being more precious than gold which is par perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in these things
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gold is tested by fire to see if it's genuine and and please I I would have a little warning little warning here don't read too much into this verse about what he's saying about gold and
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fire there is a metaphor in the scriptures there are some prophetic passages where God's refining fire is burning up all that is dry
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all that is not pure Peter doesn't go there some of the commentators do but I think we need to stay what is Peter telling
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us and Peter again many will go to this they assume that Peter is writing at the time of Nero where where he's and I
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won't say it as crassly as I I think of it but his horrific treatment of the
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but Peter's not I don't think referring to any of that I don't think he's thinking of any specific thing he's not saying gold equals faith and trials equal fire as many people
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want to want to do what he's saying here is that even gold tested by fire will perish in the final fiery judgment
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but genuine faith is tested faith and it's more precious than gold because it will stand in that final fiery destruction when Jesus is
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revealed your faith he says tested by trials is more precious than anything this world has to
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offer gold is tested to see if it's genuine is this real gold your faith is tested to see if it's genuine is this real faith and not all of us as I say will
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experience the same trials but ha perhaps this is why pa Peter says the trials are
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necessary later on in this same letter he writes beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your
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testing as though some strange thing were happening to you he's preparing us you are resident aliens you were chosen
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by God but you're treated as sojourners in this world you're marginalized you're distrusted you're looked down upon as second class citizens
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don't be don't be surprised these things will come upon you these you these trials and your faith will be found to be
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genuine because what is the result he says of these trials and testings praise and honor and Glory when Jesus
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returns Paul writes something similar in Romans 8 for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to
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us when Jesus comes again there will be an end to our sufferings for a little while and Jesus will come and that will be the
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end of our sufferings but I think he's also saying that when Jesus comes he will bring our reward of reward of Glory praise is a commendation
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I think the only thing we want to hear when we meet the Lord is well done thou good and faithful servant Glory well we've already talked about it
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I think our glory is to share in Glory and Honor what could be a higher distinction than to have God say welcome
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child yet Jesus himself will receive glory and honor and praise due to him as Savior and Lord and when he is revealed I can't help but
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think that we'll join those 24 Elders of Ro of Revelation chapter 4 and whatever crowns whatever that looks like whatever we'll have we will gladly C cast them at
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feet Peter is not exhorting these chosen aliens he is commending them he speaks of the past and the present and the future in verses 8 and N he says though you have not seen him you
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love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of Glory they they have not seen
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Jesus in the past but they love him and they don't see him now but by the eyes of Faith they
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believe in him Theologian Reinhard feldmeier read this in someone else's book but they quote oted him in faith
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and love the yet absent one is already present in them and therefore their present is filled with joy there there's the past there's the present there's the
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future and I can't help but thinking that what we see
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again is the man G Peter the the the humble man humble man Peter because he says to them though you did not see him before you love him and though you don't see him now you believe
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in him but Peter was one who saw him before did he not he saw him in the
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flesh and I think he can picture the scenes where his his love for Jesus grew day day by day when he saw Jesus take the little
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children and put them on his lap when he saw Jesus personally heal his mother-in-law when he saw the hand of
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Jesus reach down when he's drowning in the Sea of Galilee because he took his eyes off Jesus trying to walk on the
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water I think Peter's picturing those and I I think he can also see in his Mind's Eye the awesome Transfiguration where he saw the glory of Jesus where when God kind of pulled
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the curtain a little bit and gave those three men a glimpse of the glory of
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Christ and I think he could also picture the hot tears of Agony In The Garden of
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Gethsemane but but these Gentiles that he speaks to weren't there at the Transfiguration weren't there at the Garden weren't there at the healings weren't there at the Sea of Galilee and yet they love Christ and yet they
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not he wasn't there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples and they said we have seen the Lord and this is what he says unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger in the place of the nails and
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put my hand into his side I will not believe and then the next time Jesus showed up as they were gathered together Thomas was
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there and the scriptures don't tell us that whether Thomas touched the nail marks in his hands or not but Thomas did
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believe but Jesus says because you have seen me have you believed blessed are those who did not see and yet believed Peter is speaking to those people who are
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blessed because they have not seen Jesus but they have believed and maybe this is one time where Peter perhaps thought as did
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but kept his mouth shut Peter sees these people as genuine
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Believers genuine Believers genuine faith and and and why do we have this love and faith Why without seeing him we love him without seeing him we believe
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in him he says because you are receiving the goal of your faith the salvation of your souls your whole person there are those who want to divide us up and your soul
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goes to heaven and your it's the whole person that he has in mind the individual all of his Parts not
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separated and he's looking at the present even as he's keeping his eye on the future and he's saying you know know that this day will come it's it's
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preserved for you you're guarded for it you're experiencing now these trials and yet you are greatly rejoicing and I don't know that I can
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Define it because I don't think it's supposed to be definable with a joy inexpressible and inexpressible and Glory that's what he says you look
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forward to and what what is the end of your faith it is the true salvation of your soul let us
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pray Our pray Our Father we thank you for this this word we we are encouraged that no matter what you bring
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to us from the outside or the inside the trials that are
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necessary that you will purify us you will cause our faith to shine you will cause us to stand firm you will cause us to keep on keeping on because we look forward to that
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day when Jesus is is appears in glory and praise and honor that will be his and know that we have received the
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salvation of our souls we thank you for this glorious word we ask that we might walk in it daily in Christ's name we pray
