Facing Your Trials in Hope - 1 Peter 1
June 1, 2008
Turn with me this morning to the end of your Bibles, to the book of 1 Peter, chapter 1. We want to think this morning about problems.
A little boy once was outside his house trying to sell a lawn mower. His pastor walked up and the boy was able to persuade him to buy the worn out lawn mower. The pastor pulled on the rope several times to make sure the mower would start, but nothing happen. Not even a spit or a sputter. The boy told the preacher that he would have to kick the mower and say a few cuss words before the mower would crank. The preacher said, "Son, I can’t do that. It’s been years since I said a cuss word." The little boy replied, "Just keep pulling and it will come back to you."
I’m sure you’ve been there before. Maybe it’s not a lawnmower, but you’ve faced some sort of problem that takes you to the breaking point.The story is told of the man who submitted his insurance claim form and had it returned. He resubmitted it with the following note:
I am writing in response to your request concerning Block #11 on the insurance form which asks for “the cause of injuries” wherein I put “trying to do the job alone.” You said you needed more information, so I trust the following will be sufficient. I am a brick layer by trade and on the date of the injuries, I was working alone, laying brick around the top of a four-story building when I realized that I had about 500 pounds of brick left.
Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to put them into a barrel and lower them by a pulley that was fastened to the top of the building. I loaded the bricks into the barrel and flung it out over the side of the building with the bricks in it. I then went down and untied the rope holding it securely to insure the slow descent of the barrel. As you will note on Block #6 of the insurance form, I weigh 145 pounds.
Due to my shock at being jerked off the ground so swiftly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Between the second and third floors, I met the barrel coming down. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. Regaining my presence of mind, again I held tightly to the rope and proceeded rapidly up the side of the building, not stopping until my right hand was jammed into the pulley. This accounts for my broken thumb. Despite the pain, I retained my presence of mind and held tightly to the rope. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed about fifty pounds. I again refer you to Block #6 and my weight.
As you would guess, I began a rapid descent. In the vicinity of the second floor, I met the barrel coming up. This explains the injuries to my legs and lower body. Slowed only slightly, I continued my descent, landing on the pile of bricks. Fortunately, my back was only sprained and the internal injuries were minimal.
I am sorry to report, however, that at this point I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. As you can imagine, the empty barrel crashed down on me. I trust this answers your concern. Please know that I am finished “trying to do the job alone!!”
This morning, I don’t know what problem you are facing, but I do know that when we come to the scriptures, we find practical help for daily problems. So, this morning, as we look in 1 Peter 1, let’s pause and ask God’s blessing on His word. PRAY.
Today, we want to start looking at the book of 1 Peter. We’ll continue on is some future weeks. But next week, we’ll have a special treat. A missionary named Dan Lupton is going to be with us. Dan used to pastor a large Free church in Kenosha WI, but left it a few years ago to travel to the czech Republic as a church planting missionary. Dan will be with us, sharing about his ministry. I know you will enjoy hearing from him.
Today, as we look at the book of 1 Peter, Peter gives us some practical help in dealing with the problems we all face in life. Peter sees that a problem is coming to the Christians he is writing to, and he writes to give them encouragement. We face similar problems in our lives today, and we want to learn from God’s words written through Peter and apply them to our lives today. Let’s read 1 Peter 1:1-7. I’ll be reading from the NIV.
Peter writes to the Christians who were scattered throughout Asia Minor, the area that is today called Turkey. And he knows problems are going to come to them, just like they come into our lives today. So, the
PROBLEM: We face TRIALS! Think about your life - do you have any problem situations? Is there anything in your life that you’re struggling to work through? Peter tells us we will face problems, and to face them, we need to understand a few things about them.
Trials are Expected - In the end of this book, in 4:12, Peter writes, Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. For some reason, we buy into the line that the televangelists give us: the prosperity gospel: if you are a Christian, you will be rich and successful and God will solve all your problems. The only problem with that is it isn’t true! God CAN solve your problems and make you incredibly rich, but he probably WON’T, even though he could. We can expect that we will face problems in life. Next,
Trials are Varied - 1:6 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Take note of the word “all kinds” - it literally is the word “many colored”. There is not just one or two types of trials - they come in all shades and colors. Monday you may be blue and discouraged; Tuesday you may be green with envy; Wednesday you may be yellow and afraid to witness. Our trials are multi-colored: they don’t just come in one form.
The important thing about this is that it is easy to work hard on one problem - let’s say your speech - and after months of hard work you get your speech under control - you’re not bursting out in profanity or telling sexual jokes or cutting down others - but then Satan brings another trial of a totally different kind to you. And we aren’t prepared for it, and we end up making a mess of things. Trials are varied, and we need to be ready for anything Satan throws against us. Sometimes the thing we would least expect comes from the person we think the most unlikely. Satan schemes to attack us any way he can. Next, consider that
Trials are Hard - 1:6 - no where do we ever find that the trials we face are going to be easy. Yes, Jesus did say, my yoke is easy and my burden is light - but that is teaching that it is not burdensome to follow Christ - that does not say that our trials won’t be hard! It says here in verse 6 - you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials - this word for grief used here is the term mentioned when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26. It is the term used for those mourning a death in 1 Thessalonians 4. Don’t ever think that the trials are going to all be easy. If they were easy, they wouldn’t be trials! Also remember,
Trials are Limited - verse 6 tells us, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by the trial that we think we will never get beyond it. I had a professor in college who said every test day, “This too shall pass.” Our trials are limited in duration. They only last for a season. And Peter also tells us, they come for a reason.
Trials are Controlled - verse 6 - Peter points out, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. The KJV says, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. Something we are not quick to accept is that sometimes we NEED to go through times of trial and testing. It is for our good. God knows what he is doing. It is easy for us to complain to God and try to get out of going through the trial, but we need to understand that often God allows the trials to come because they are for our good.
So, that is the problem: we all face a variety of flavors of trials in our lives. But the good news is that Peter doesn’t just warn us that we will face problems, but he also gives us HOPE!
The POWER for facing these problems that are going to come into our lives is this: HOPE - we can have a confident optimism (that’s what hope is - a confident expectation that God is working on our behalf). Peter warns us that problems of all types will come, but he encourages us to have HOPE! Today, if you are facing any type of trials in your life, I would tell you to have HOPE! What do we know about hope?
• Hope is centered in God - Ps. 43:5 - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
• Hope comes to us by God’s grace - 2 Thess. 2:16 - May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
• Hope is reasonable - 1 Peter 3:15 - Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. We don’t have a blind faith, but a reasonable hope that can be shared with others.
• Hope has a basis (in the resurrection of Jesus Christ) - 1 Cor. 15 - And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith . . . if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. The reason for our hope is the truth of the resurrection. Because Christ rose, we believe that we too will rise from the dead.
• Hope is Confirmed (by the Holy Spirit) - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. How can we have hope when we face trials? The Holy Spirit of God who resides inside of us instills us with that hope. And then,
• Hope is a Defense against the Enemy - 1 Thess. 5:8 - But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. When Satan attacks us and tries to tempt us to sin, our hope in God, our confident expectation of his working in our life to provide salvation, is a sure defense, an armor that protects us and keeps us safe. So, that is a little explanation about hope. But let’s go back to 1 Peter, and see
The Basis of Hope - Peter answers the question, Why do we have hope? He answers us in verse 1, Because. . .
• I am Chosen by God - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. This concept of election or God’s choosing is one that theologians have tried to understand for thousands of years. And even though we don’t understand it, we believe it.
Election means that God chose me - it was His doing, it was God’s design. God loves me. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Max Lucado writes,
God is fond of you...
If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
If he had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.
By the way, it may be difficult for you to believe that God knows your name...but He does. Written on His hand. Spoken by His mouth. Whispered by His lips. Your name.
Our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give. You are a gift to the world, a divine work of art, signed by God. You were knit together. You weren't mass-produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth...by the Master Crafts-Man. He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. God is for you. Had He a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If He drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, He's carved your name in the bark. Maybe you don't want to trouble God with your hurts. But He cares about you. He is waiting for you, to embrace you whether you succeed or fail. Your heavenly Father is very fond of you and only wants to share His love with you.
"You wonder how long my love will last?
Watch me speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts.
Find your answer on a splintered cross, on a craggy hill. That's how much I love you."
When you face trials of all kinds, first remember that God has chosen you. You are on his team! You are his first string! You are on the starting lineup.
In the Jewish culture, all little boys went to school to train in the law by a teacher. But then after that, those who were good enough could seek to train under a rabbi. The student would follow the rabbi around, and ask to be trained by him. The rabbi would then question the student and if he was good enough, smart enough, the rabbi would agree to train him. The rest of the boys who never made the grade ended up going about their family business - fishermen, carpenters, tax collectors.
So, when we think about the 12 disciples, these men were the little boys who weren’t “good enough” to go on to become a rabbi. But what did Jesus tell them - John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit. Jesus says, you are good enough - I chose you! Next, Peter tells us
• I am Born of God - vs 3 - In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is the mercy of God that is needed - why? Because God is choosing not to count my sins against me. What do I deserve? Eternal damnation! What do I receive? God’s mercy! To think that ALL my sins are forgiven gives me HOPE! Peter also says,
• I am Destined for Good - to be with God forever. God has already but aside an inheritance for me. His last will and testament is already made out. I’m one of the heirs. Verse 4 - In his great mercy he has given us new birth . . . into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you. Think of all that God possesses, and all that comes to me. Rom. 8:17 - Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. When you think of all that God has in store for you, you can but up with a few problems here in this life. Peter says your inheritance won’t fade out - it won’t be used up over time. Maybe you’ve had a pension or investment that at one time was worth a lot, but when the stock market went down you realized that it wasn’t worth much any more. Not so with our heavenly inheritance. There is no ruin in our inheritance - nothing can mess it up. There is no rot or decay - it will never be marred. It is being kept secure for us. Another reason we have hope is that
• I am Shielded by God’s power - vs 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. This word used here is the word for being protected by a garrison of soldiers. Think about walking in downtown Flint alone, at night, maybe in a bad section of town. You might be quite afraid. Then think how you would feel if you had a national guard unit around you. It is quite a different feeling.
Peter tells us we have a garrison of soldiers in the protective power of God. The word for “power” is the word we get our english word “dynamite” - so Peter is saying God is protecting us like a troop of soldiers with hand grenades! Now that makes you feel safe! God is on patrol, keeping you safe!
Remember, that no matter what trial you face, God gives you the strength to get through. 1 Cor. 10:13 - No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
So, that is the basis for our hope: I am chosen of God, born of God, destined for good, and shielded by God’s power. But Peter also goes on to tell us the
Blessings of Hope: He answers the question: What does hope bring to me? We’ve already said that trials are controlled, they are here for a reason. So what is God’s intention. Peter reminds us of two things:
• Joy - first, he reminds us that trials cause us to turn to have joy. It is not an act of faith to be joyful when everything is going your way. But when you face obstacle after trial, and you choose to have joy, that is an act of faith. Peter tells us, in 1:6-
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. We ae to choose to have joy - not to be happy that we are facing trials, but in the midst of the trials to choose to praise God and look to him. Next, Peter tells us, the trials will bring
• Growth - In verse 7, we see the trials establish our testimony: These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. The idea of proving used here is that of a goldsmith, who puts the gold in the fire so all the impurities come out. The fire refines the gold to make it pure. The trials we face refine us, and help get rid of the rough edges we still have. Peter writes more about this in 5:10 - And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. Peter says that after you go through the trials, 4 things happen to you:
1. You become perfect - not sinless, but you are finished, completed, the rough edges are gone. The word restore is the one used in Matthew 4:21 when the disciples were “mending their nets.” All the gaps in you are fixed by going through trials. If you lack faith, God will let you face desperation. If you need patience, he will send you trouble. God knows what you need, and he uses the trials to perfect you.
2. You become secure - the word firm is one that means to set fast. It is just like Gary LaMee pouring the cement in the holes for the fence at the ballfield. The concrete hardens and the posts don’t move. They are secure. And Peter knew that going through the trials was one way God helps make us firm in our faith.
3. You are strengthened - the word strong is one that means to “fill with strength”. Instead of being the spiritual 90 pound weakling, you become the weightlifter who can handle any weight. How do you get strong spiritually? By going through all types of trials. They make us strong. And fourth,
4. You are Grounded - the word steadfast refers to having a good foundation. Just like a house that has a solid foundation, it does not shift or crumble. What keeps you from becoming a basketcase when you face problems? You become grounded and steadfast by going through all types of trials.
So this morning, you may be facing some trials ahead this week. But that is good. Because God is with you, and he wants you to have hope, because he loves you and protects you and wants to use the trials to be a source of joy and growth in your life. The question is, will you CHOOSE to have hope when you face the trials. That is the encouragement of Peter. That is the encouragement of God. Let’s pray.
