1 Pet. 1:6-9 Dealing with Life

Intro: About 2,500 years ago, Solomon looked at the course of human existence and concluded that life is vanity, or emptiness - Eccl. 2:18-23. He saw righteous people suffer and felt that it was an injustice. I believe Job may have felt much this way during his time of trial. Many if not all of you have either gone through or maybe are going through trial’s and difficulties and had questions, doubts and concerns.

Let me assure you that everything isn't doom and gloom, things may look bad and you may be dealing with something very serious! But believe it or not, we believers have it pretty good! Peter gives us several reasons to rejoice - v. 3, We have a Living Hope; v. 4 We have a Lasting Inheritance; v. 5 We have a Long-term Salvation; v. 6 We have a Longed for Final Reward. With all this in mind, let me say that not all is bad! In fact, there is much cause for rejoicing in the Lord today! And, we need to get about the business of doing just that!

We must realize, there will be trials that come our way. We may not understand them, nor appreciate them when they come, but we need to be prepared for them just the same. That is Peter's purpose in these verses. He wants to encourage his readers, but he also wants to prepare them for what is surely to come. Let's see what Peter's can teach us about our trials and why Christians suffer. He gives us three words that we need to keep in mind about our trying times.

I. V. 6 A WORD ABOUT REALITY

A. Rejoicing Is Our Common State - If you spend enough time around some believers, you will come away feeling that the Christian life is one big series of problems and that there is no room or reason for praise. In reality though, we are to be a rejoicing people. We are to rejoice in spite of our troubles - Ill. (Luke 20:10) And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

B. Redemption Does Not Guarantee Us Immunity from Trials - The Christian who feels that just because they’re saved they are going to be shielded from trouble is in for a terribly rude awakening! Being saved is no hedge from trouble! Christians get sick! Christian marriages fall apart. Christian parents have trouble with their children. Christians have financial troubles. Christians fail God and make bad decisions causing problems in their lives that must be dealt with, Christians walk through some deep, dark valleys. Whether we have made the valley or whether it was made for us, we don’t have to walk it alone. Jesus said it as plain as it could have been said - John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

(Ill. Remember that just because a trial came and took you by surprise and jerked the rug out from under your feet. It never took God by surprise! He knew about it before it happened and had already made a way to bring you out of that trial. God never changes and is still able to help you through - (Heb 13:8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

C. Rough Times Are In Store For Everyone - (Ill. No one is immune from troubles and trials! Ill. The struggles of Job. His life was going well, he was blessed, had a healthy and happy family and job was right with God, but his life fell apart!) Do not fall into the trap of these health and wealth preacher’s who tell you that if you are saved you will never have trouble again. This message is a lie. God wants you to know that there are going to be times when you will have battles! Sometimes these battles are going to be physical, some will be emotional, some mental and they all will involve you relation to and walk with the Lord.

(Ill. Peter calls these trying times "manifold temptations." This means that they hit us from every side and with often devastating consequences.)

II. V. 7 A WORD ABOUT REALIGNMENT

A. The Area of Our Trials - "The trial of your faith." When troubles do come, they seem to concentrate their power against our faith in the Lord. Satan wants to do all that he can to make Christians doubt the power of God to meet their need.

(Ill. If anyone knew this, it was Peter. Jesus had already told him that he was going to die for Christ, (Ill. (John 21:18) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. (Joh 21:19) This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.)

Jesus had already told Peter to expect rejection from the world, and Peter had already suffered for his faith - Acts 4 and 12.)

(Ill. Paul knew his share of suffering, Stephen suffered for Jesus, James was killed for his faith, Acts 12; it’s estimated that over 68 million believers have died during the last 2,000 years for the name of Jesus. Christians who find themselves suffering, especially for the faith, are in good company.)

B. The Alignment That Takes Place - (Ill. Peter speaks of the refining process that gold goes through. When the gold is subjected to the flame, the impurities in the gold come to the top. The result is far purer gold than that which was present before!)

(Ill. The same is true in the life of the believer, when Jesus allows us to go through the furnace of affliction, it serves to remove from our lives things that were not needed it brings out the impurities of our faith, life, emotions and relationship with the Lord bringing us into a closer and purer relationship with the Lord Jesus.)

C. The Abundance We Receive - Peter nudges us to remember that we aren't home yet! Our trials are working for our good - Ill. (Rom 8:28) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We may not see the benefit today, but when we stand before the Lord in Heaven, and we are rewarded for our walk with Him and for the sufferings we endured below, it will be worth it all them - 2 Cor. 4:17.

(Ill. The young eagle - When it is time to leave the nest, the mother will literally throw the infant from the nest. As he plummets to earth vainly attempting to fly, he fears sure and certain death. At the last moment, his mother swoops down from above, catches him, and carries him back to the safety of the nest. This is repeated several times over the next few days. Finally, the little eaglet will spread his wings and soar upward. Eventually, he will be able to fly above all the storms below, but only because he endured the fear of falling. Just like that mother eagle, God knows best. He will not let you crash and burn. He just allows what He does to strengthen your faith and to grow you up in Him. Let's face it, if the Lord never allowed us to fail, never allowed trials and temptations, and never called us to service where we were not experienced, we would never seek His help, never seek His guidance, and never see His miracles, never experience His moving and we would never grow!)

III. V. 8 A WORD ABOUT RELIABILITY

(Not that God can count on us, but that we can count on Him!)

(Ill. As we weather the storms of life and see God come through time and again, we can actually learn to develop a spirit of praise as we journey toward Heaven. We will find that our unseen Savior will see us through every trial! Just like the shepherd in Psa. 23, He ever abides with his own. When we face trials, He goes through them with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us - Heb. 13:5; His grace is always sufficient for every need - 2 Cor. 12:9. This ought to cause us to be filled with that unspeakable joy of verse 8!)

Conc.: I do not know why the Lord allows certain things to happen in folks lives, nor why He has allowed certain things to happen in my own life. I have came to realize this though, God has a plan, and His plan is perfect and doesn’t need any adjustment. God knows what he wants to accomplish and knows how to get there, whether we understand or not isn’t important. What’s important is that we accept, follow, obey and when necessary repent, seek forgiveness and move ahead with the situation we have, allowing God to use us, living for Him and making the best of the situation and circumstances. As the musicians come the invitation is two fold, first there is a man named Jesus who can see you through these storms of life, the opportunity is here, right now today, your eternal life depends on your relationship with him, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and savior will you come. Second, Christian do you have some storm, trouble, trial on your heart, something in your life, maybe its been there a while, maybe its time you get Gods business done. If so, this altar is open and Jesus is waiting and willing to help you and see that your need is met.

Saturday, March 20, 2004