Introduction:
A. Let’s start with this cartoon.
1. The cartoon shows a grumpy boy heading off to school with his dad reminding him: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
2. The boy replied: “I know ‘this is the day the Lord has made.’ Can’t I rejoice and be glad tonight?”
B. Do you ever feel that way – Can’t I rejoice later?
1. Maybe you don’t often feel joy-full.
2. But Scripture tells us to “Be joyful always.” (1 Thess. 5:16).
3. And Scripture says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4)
4. Here’s a great quote: “We have learned that joy is more than a sense of the comic, more than earthly pleasure, and to a believer even more than what we call happiness. Joy is the enjoyment of God and the good things that come from the hand of God. If our new freedom in Christ is a piece of angel food cake, joy is the frosting. If the Bible gives us the wonderful words of life, joy supplies the music. If the way to heaven turns out to be an arduous steep climb, joy sets up the chair lift.” (Serwood Wirt, Jesus, Man of Joy)
5. And listen to these insightful words of Elton Trueblood: “The Christian is joyful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate. The humor of the Christian is not a way of denying the tears, but rather a way of affirming something which is deeper than tears. Yes, a few things in life are absolutely tragic, no question about it. First among them, a joyless Christian.” (Charles Swindoll, The Finishing Touch, Word, 1994, p. 65)
C. So how can we experience this inexpressible and glorious joy?
1. How can we rejoice in the Lord always regardless of what is happening in our lives?
2. Those must have been important and often asked questions in the 1st Century as the church faced ongoing and ever-growing persecution.
3. Let’s look at how the apostle Peter answered those questions.
4. Our inexpressible and glorious joy is based on a number of things.
I. Our Joy is Based on God’s Mercy.
A. In First Peter 1:3, Peter wrote: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
1. Peter began this wonderful section with a sweeping doxology regarding the wonder of our salvation.
2. And it all begins with God’s mercy.
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. How great and wonderful is God our Father and His Mercy!
B. We would have no opportunity for salvation or joy if it were not for God’s mercy.
1. It is God’s mercy that is the motive behind everything that God does for us.
2. God’s mercy focuses on our miserable, pitiful condition as sinners.
3. God’s mercy is His compassion toward all of us who were dead in our transgressions and sins.
4. All of us were once in a wretched and helpless condition because of our sin.
C. Paul wrote: But God ”who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ…” (Eph. 2:4-5).
1. Because of God’s mercy and Christ’s death and resurrection, we have new birth into a living hope.
2. And all of this should certainly cause us to rejoice! Amen!
3. God loves you and is merciful toward you, and gave His one and only Son to die for you, so that you can be forgiven and live with God forever – Do you think you can rejoice in that?
II. Our Joy is Based on Our Inheritance
A. Peter continued: 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you…
1. Everyone knows what an inheritance is, right?
2. An inheritance is wealth that is passed down from person to person at the time of a person’s death.
3. Some of us will receive an earthly inheritance which might be a house, car, other items like jewelry, Caribbean islands, or cash.
4. Receiving an earthly inheritance is good, but receiving a heavenly inheritance is even better.
5. As Christians, our names are written in Christ’s last will and testament – He’s left us an inheritance!
B. The apostle Peter reminded those exiles in Asia Minor, and us as well, that even in the midst of persecution, they ought to praise God and patiently wait for His promised eternal inheritance.
1. So what’s so great about our heavenly inheritance?
2. Peter used three descriptive terms to help us appreciate our eternal inheritance.
3. He said that our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading – it can’t perish spoil or fade.
C. Let’s quickly look at each of these three desciptions.
1. What does it mean for something to be “imperishable?”
a. To be imperishable means that it is not liable to death and is not subject to destruction. It cannot be lost, stolen, broken, or ruined.
2. What does it mean for something to be “undefiled?”
a. To be undefiled means that it is unstained or unpolluted. It is flawless and perfect.
3. What does it mean for something to be “unfading?”
a. The word literally describes a flower that does not wither and die.
b. Being used in this context, the term means that our heavenly inheritance will never lose its magnificence.
c. It will never grow old, wear out, or disappoint us in any way.
D. And is any of that a cause for rejoicing? I think so!!
1. Everything about our earthly experience is characterized by things that perish, are defiled and fade.
2. Nothing in our world is permanent – except death and taxes!
3. Our bodies wear out. Houses and cars and all our stuff – is prone to be lost, stolen, broken or ruined.
4. But everything about our heavenly inheritance is the exact opposite.
5. Our heavenly inheritance is safe and sound – kept in heaven for us – and once we receive it there, it will always remain the same – great and glorious.
6. If that isn’t a cause for rejoicing, I don’t know what is!
III. Our Joy is Based on Our Faith
A. Peter continued: 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 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.
1. We note, first of all, that it is through our faith that we are able to be shielded by God’s power.
2. The word “shielded” is a military term that means guarded, shielded or protected.
3. The tense of the verb reveals that we are constantly being shielded by God’s power through our faith.
4. We are not shielded by our own power, but by the power of God through our faith.
5. And if our faith remains true, then God’s protection will keep us until the end of our lives or until Christ comes – whichever comes first.
B. Peter then said that all of this causes us to greatly rejoice.
1. The term translated “greatly rejoice” is an intense, expressive term that means to be supremely and abundantly happy – a happiness that is not tentative nor based on circumstances or superficial feelings.
2. And it is in the present tense which conveys the notion of continual joy.
C. Did you notice that this great rejoicing was able to be done in the face of suffering?
1. Rather than allow severe trials and persecutions to steal their joy and spoil their anticipation of future blessing in heaven, genuine believers with a biblical perspective know that such sufferings actually can add to their joy.
2. In the reminder of verse 6, the apostle lists features of the trouble God uses to prove believer’s faith.
3. First, Peter notes that their troubles are for a little while.
a. They are transitory – literally “for a season”
b. Which means that they will pass quickly – much like our time on earth!
c. I know it doesn’t feel like it is passing quickly when we are going through suffering.
d. Do you remember how Paul called our suffering “light and momentary troubles [that] are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor. 4:17)
4. Second, he notes that the trials may cause us to suffer grief.
a. In other words, these trials bring real pain.
b. That pain refers not only to physical pain, but also to mental anguish, including sadness, sorrow, disappointment and anxiety.
5. Third, he notes that they are all kinds of trials.
a. For the Christian, our troubles will come in many forms.
b. The Greek word literally means “many colors.”
c. Peter used the same word in chapter 4 when he pointed to the diverse forms of grace.
d. So just as trouble is diverse, God’s sufficient grace for believers is equally diverse.
e. God’s grace is sufficient for every trial.
D. In verse 7, Peter goes on to explain why these trials come and why we rejoice in them.
1. “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 Pet. 1:7)
2. The assaying process is a process for examining a metal’s purity and determines its true content and worth after all impurities have been smelted away.
3. By analogy, God tests the believer’s faith to reveal its genuineness.
4. Peter used gold in his analogy because it was the most precious and highly prized of all metals and was the basis for most monetary transactions in ancient times.
5. Just as fire separates gold from useless dross, so God uses suffering and trials to separate true faith from superficial profession.
6. But even though gold can be purified when tested by fire, it also is perishable.
7. Proven faith, however, is eternal, thus making it more precious than gold.
8. True faith will ultimately come through all of life’s troubles and trials and will obtain eternal honor from God.
9. True saving faith and its resultant good works always receive divine commendation.
10. And all of that will be revealed at the end when Christ comes and then the judgment.
E. Ultimately, Peter was challenging his readers to allow their faith to lead to joy even in the midst of their trials, because their trials lead to glory.
1. In light of the blessedness of salvation, no earthly difficulties should diminish a Christian’s joy.
2. Salvation joy is not some brief, shallow, circumstantial emotion, but rather is something permanent and profound.
3. Salvation joy results from the deep-rooted confidence that we possess eternal life from the living God through the crucified and risen Christ.
4. In verses 8 and 9, Peter concludes this point, saying that our faith becomes so strong that even “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.”
5. How wonderful – this joy we experience is inexpressible and glorious.
6. Those who live in personal communion with Christ experience a joy so divine that they cannot communicate it – humanly speaking, such joy is beyond human expression.
IV. Our Joy is Based on God’s Prophesies and Promises
A. Peter concluded this section with these words: 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
1. The living hope and the inexpressible joy that we now have in Christ is something prophets and angels have longed to understand.
2. Imagine being one of the prophets of the OT who were given prophesies about the New Covenant, and the coming Messiah.
3. Imagine knowing that the glories of the new covenant were not for you but for another time after you were dead and gone.
4. Imagine being angels who have a holy curiosity to understand the kind of grace they will never experience.
5. The holy angels do not need to be saved, and the fallen angels cannot be saved.
6. But the holy ones seek to understand salvation so that they might glorify God more fully.
B. Why did Peter think this should be so encouraging to them and to us?
1. No matter how difficult life’s trials are, we, Christians can face them triumphantly because of the greatness of God’s mercy, and our heavenly inheritance – things the prophets of old studied, the Holy Spirit inspired, and angels long to look into.
2. All these things were given for our benefit, and we possess their blessings, both now and forever more!
Conclusion:
A. There is really no reason for us to lose our joy when we can tap into all the present and future realities mentioned in this passage.
1. Our Joy is Based on God’s Mercy – How great is His love and mercy!
2. Our Joy is Based on Our Inheritance – kept in heaven, can’t perish, spoil or fade!
3. Our Joy is Based on Our Faith – which can stand the test of trials.
4. And Our Joy is Based on God’s Prophesies and Promises – stuff the prophets and angels could only wonder about, but that we possess!
B. Just before His death, Jesus assured his disciples saying: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn. 15:11)
C. May God help us be joy-full!
1. May we be full of God’s inexpressible and glorious joy.
Resources:
The MacArthru New Testament Commentary, 1 Peter, by John MacArthur, Moody Publishing, 2004
The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1 Peter, by Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1 Peter, by Edwin A. Blum, Zondervan, 1981
