WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:05.839 Well, again, let me say good morning to you all. I love the Easter season, love the sound of bells. 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:14.599 I was reading not too long ago, I saw an article in the New York Times by a philosophy professor at Notre Dame, 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:22.800 and there's been a lot of research on happiness and what are the factors that determine whether or not we live happy lives. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:31.020 And this particular person has reduced it to four crucial circumstances that will allow you to have a happy life. 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:33.740 Number one, you need to be sufficiently free from suffering. 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:36.340 I mean, that's pretty intuitive. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.260 Number two, meaningful work. 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:42.659 Number three, the proper use of pleasure. 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.920 And number four, loving relationships. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:52.400 So if you have these factors, then you're going to live a reasonably happy life. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:58.079 And it's really helpful to know that as long as you have access to those four factors. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.579 What if you don't have access to those things? 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:08.159 This morning, we're looking in the lectionary at the New Testament reading, 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 9. 00:01:08.539 --> 00:01:15.079 And if you know anything about this letter, Peter is writing to Christians who are dispersed throughout the known world. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:19.079 And because of their faith, most of them are facing pretty severe persecution. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.340 Some in the form of imprisonment or even death. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:32.780 But many in the form of marginalization, social exclusion, socioeconomic marginalization and disadvantage. 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:41.219 And so we can say, I think with a reasonable degree of confidence, their lives were definitely not sufficiently free of suffering. 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:45.260 They faced the reality of suffering on a daily basis. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:52.159 And yet, in verse 8, he describes these Christians as rejoicing with inexpressible joy. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:02:02.960 Christians are able to rejoice, to experience joy, even in the midst of suffering and trials. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.319 In other words, it says here that Christians are able to rejoice while grieving. 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.759 That we are able to have joy in the midst of grief. 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:14.219 So the question we want to ask this morning is, how? 00:02:14.979 --> 00:02:16.379 How is such a thing possible? 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:22.699 What we'll begin to see is this, is that while happiness is rooted in your circumstances, 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:30.439 joy, the kind of joy that enables you to rejoice even in grief, is rooted in faith. 00:02:31.399 --> 00:02:33.159 And where you put your faith. 00:02:33.959 --> 00:02:40.139 And this passage shows us three ways that Christian faith produces joy, 00:02:40.679 --> 00:02:44.179 even in the midst of grief and trial. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:45.000 Let's pray. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:52.699 Lord, we ask that as we open your word, that the hope of the resurrection would shine through this text. 00:02:53.620 --> 00:03:00.180 That you're not a fabricated God described in a dead word. 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:04.180 That you're a risen God who speaks through a living word. 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:08.900 We pray that you would speak to us this morning that as we open this written word, 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.219 we would actually come to face with the living word, Jesus Christ. 00:03:12.699 --> 00:03:14.639 He is the one we've come to see this morning. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:21.139 We pray that in our encounter with him, we would receive what we need, each one of us. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:25.340 And that as this happens, you would be glorified as your promises are fulfilled. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.740 We pray this in your son's holy name. 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:28.259 Amen. 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:34.439 So the first way that faith produces joy is this. 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:39.240 Faith points us beyond trials in our lives. 00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:41.780 It points beyond trials. 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:43.819 Verse 6 says, 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:51.240 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.300 Now what is a trial? 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:56.659 A trial is a specific kind of suffering. 00:03:56.819 --> 00:03:58.639 This isn't just suffering writ large. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:07.680 A trial is a situation in which being faithful to Jesus is what is causing you to suffer. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:15.080 It's because you've chosen to follow Jesus and therefore you have invited suffering into your life. 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:27.319 And so the word that Peter uses here, test, right, a test of faith, it means a test that discerns the true nature of something. 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:33.500 So imagine a pirate with a gold coin who like bites into the coin to see if it's real, right? 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:39.339 Only what Peter's talking about is as we suffer, our faith is like that coin. 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:43.439 It's being tested to see if it's real and genuine. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.860 So what are some examples of trials we might face? 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:55.000 Well, I think probably most of us believe that if we're not married, we should trust that God will eventually bring someone into our lives. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.199 Or if you are married, you trust that God brought that person into your life. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:18.740 But then maybe you face a situation if you're single where somebody comes along and they are handsome or beautiful, they're intelligent, they have a great job, they're successful, they're very interested in you, you're very attracted to them, it's going really well, and it's been a long time since there was anybody like this that you really could see a future with, 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:22.139 except for the fact that they are totally opposed to the fact that you're a Christian. 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:32.740 And you've got to decide in that moment, do I really trust that God's going to bring somebody into my life or am I going to take advantage of this opportunity that's right in front of me? 00:05:33.719 --> 00:05:46.159 Or if you're married and it's been 15, 20 years and you've had a couple of kids and you're struggling and you feel like you have nothing in common and you're looking at this person across the table feeling like, did I make a huge mistake? 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:52.460 And you've got a marriage counselor and friends who are saying, you know, you should probably walk out. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:54.760 Your happiness is what matters most in this situation. 00:05:55.980 --> 00:06:04.040 And you're saying, do I really trust that God brought this person into my life or am I going to take advantage of the situation that I'm being presented with? 00:06:05.080 --> 00:06:13.160 Maybe you believe theoretically that we should only care about what God thinks, that we shouldn't let other people's opinions dissuade us. 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:21.060 But then we go through our daily lives and we're in situations constantly where we find ourselves self-censoring. 00:06:22.840 --> 00:06:28.100 Because we know that if we say or represent certain viewpoints, it's not going to go well for us. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:29.520 Do we really believe that? 00:06:30.460 --> 00:06:35.840 Or maybe we say, you know, I believe in forgiveness and I know the Bible talks a lot about forgiveness and Jesus calls us to forgive. 00:06:36.340 --> 00:06:39.180 But then somebody really hurts you and they really wrong you. 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:39.700 And guess what? 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:40.740 They are not sorry. 00:06:41.820 --> 00:06:43.140 They are not repentant. 00:06:43.860 --> 00:06:46.280 In fact, they're blaming you. 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.620 And then Jesus says, well, we should forgive as we've been forgiven. 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:56.100 And you say, well, I'm not sure that applies in this situation. 00:06:57.020 --> 00:07:01.379 These are all trials that we face and they bring an enormous amount of suffering into our lives. 00:07:01.580 --> 00:07:05.140 And the default perspective focuses on the trials themselves. 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:05.980 Right? 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:06.620 The risk. 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:06.680 The risk. 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:09.340 The risk of giving up that relationship. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:10.800 The risk of staying in the marriage. 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:12.200 The risk of speaking up. 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:17.600 The trial focuses on the potential cost of doing that. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.200 And so the result is that these trials seem insurmountable. 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:22.939 I can't imagine myself doing that. 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:33.240 But what faith does is it changes, it reorients our perspective to where we're no longer simply focusing on the trial. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.439 We're able to see through the trial to what's beyond the trial. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.120 And it does this in two ways. 00:07:39.219 --> 00:07:43.699 The first thing that it does is it lets us see beyond our trials to future glory. 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:45.459 That's what Peter is talking about here. 00:07:46.379 --> 00:07:49.699 Peter says that trials happen, quote, for a little while. 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:53.779 Now, you imagine what some of these people were facing in the first century. 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:56.039 For a little while. 00:07:56.500 --> 00:07:59.779 How dare you belittle my suffering, Peter? 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:11.180 But what he's saying is we need to understand that all of the trials in our life, everything that's happening now, relatively speaking, is merely happening for a little while when compared to eternity. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:15.620 Now, all of this depends on your perspective, right? 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:28.579 Suffering and trials, if you just compare them to other people's lives, you take your suffering and trials and you compare your life to other people's lives, it may mean that your suffering seems interminable. 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:34.100 But what happens when you take your life and you compare it to the weight of eternity? 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:35.500 Right? 00:08:35.560 --> 00:08:37.159 That begins to change things. 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:43.620 What do you believe about eternity in comparison to this temporal life? 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:44.179 Life. 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:47.740 Imagine two people go and they each get the same job. 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:48.980 Social experiment. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.220 And each person is told the same thing. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:58.259 You're going to work in a hot, windowless, un-air-conditioned, small office. 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:00.080 You're going to have no weekends off. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:01.340 You're going to have no vacation. 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:04.340 It may actually sound like some of your jobs. 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.720 And you're going to do this for a year. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:09.740 And both people are told that. 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.500 Hot, windowless office, no weekends, no vacations. 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:13.360 You're going to do it for a year. 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:14.779 And it's menial work. 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:16.659 It's menial work. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:19.620 There's only one difference. 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:22.139 One person is told at the end of this, guess what? 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:23.340 You're going to make $20,000. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.600 The other person is told at the end of this, you're going to make $20 million. 00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:31.659 Right? 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.039 Big difference. 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:34.179 Right? 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:37.019 That first person is going to be grumbling and complaining and blah, blah. 00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:38.940 The second person is just going to be happy as a clam. 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:40.420 I'll do whatever you want me to do. 00:09:41.460 --> 00:09:42.140 $20 million. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:50.600 Your perspective about eternity really radically shapes your experience of the present. 00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:56.200 The other thing faith does is it lets us see beyond our trials to the hand of God behind them. 00:09:57.780 --> 00:10:01.520 Peter says that trials happen, quote, for a little while if necessary. 00:10:01.880 --> 00:10:05.160 Well, who decides whether or not the trials in your life are necessary? 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:05.360 God. 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:07.919 God. 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:10.120 God does. 00:10:11.659 --> 00:10:13.299 So here's a hard truth to swallow. 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:16.179 We focused on this last week a bit on Good Friday. 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:19.719 As well as the Easter vigil for those of you who are there. 00:10:19.819 --> 00:10:24.279 Whatever trials and suffering you're facing now, they're in your life because you need them. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:31.819 Because there's something that God is doing in your life that can only be accomplished through that trial. 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:44.920 There are some qualities, some virtues, maybe some of the qualities or virtues or aspects of character that we most desire for ourselves that can only be found on the far side of suffering. 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:47.680 And that is a mystery. 00:10:47.900 --> 00:10:51.060 And I don't pretend to understand how or why it works that way. 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:55.259 But we all can think of examples of people who have been through tremendous hardship. 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:59.679 And they have become, in a way, beautiful as a result. 00:11:04.359 --> 00:11:08.279 This truth leads to the second way that faith produces joy. 00:11:08.579 --> 00:11:10.539 It doesn't just point beyond our trials. 00:11:10.979 --> 00:11:14.159 Faith is actually strengthened by trials. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:21.360 So what is the result of faithfully enduring trials, according to Peter, in verse 7? 00:11:22.079 --> 00:11:31.419 He says that a faith that endures trials and hardship becomes a faith that is tested and genuine. 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:39.159 In other words, this is a faith that is durable enough, it's strong enough, it's resilient enough to withstand anything. 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:47.120 This is the kind of faith that Peter says is more valuable and eternal even than gold, which one day will be dust. 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:53.159 The gold that you treasure and hoard is going to be dust, but your faith is going to last into eternity. 00:11:53.319 --> 00:11:55.339 Now, how do we get this kind of faith? 00:11:56.579 --> 00:11:59.740 And what we need to understand is that faith is very much like a muscle. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.439 I thought faith was a gift. 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:04.659 Well, it is. 00:12:05.339 --> 00:12:07.139 God gave you muscles, didn't He? 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:09.939 He gave you, but He wants you to use them. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:15.159 He gave you faith, but He wants you to use it, right, in order to go stronger. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:18.699 And in order to go stronger, muscle and faith have something in common. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.620 They have to be met with resistance if they're to grow. 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:27.720 I had a friend in college who could bench three times his body weight. 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:30.059 Three times his body weight. 00:12:30.179 --> 00:12:32.840 Now, some of you are like, well, I'd do that on a Tuesday, right? 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.800 But for me, I looked at that and I thought, that's impossible. 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:38.300 I saw him do it. 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:40.780 He could bench three times his body weight. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.120 This guy was not a lightweight guy either. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:47.180 And how does a person like that get to be that strong? 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:50.200 Well, normal person, no superpowers. 00:12:50.780 --> 00:12:56.780 Over time, he simply increased his resistance as he was lifting, and his muscles grew stronger. 00:12:56.779 --> 00:13:07.220 When you lift weights, or so I've been told, the goal is literally to put more resistance on your muscles than they can withstand. 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:15.939 And what you do is you break down the muscle fibers, and then as the muscles recover, they develop an increased capacity to bear more weight. 00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:23.059 So it's this process of resistance, breaking down, and then rebuilding those muscles, and they get stronger over time. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.019 And listen, faith is exactly the same. 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:29.159 Trials, by design, trials are the resistance. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:39.079 They put you in a situation where following Jesus means dealing with resistance or challenge, which at times can feel like it is more than our faith can bear. 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:42.799 People get this idea that God never gives us more than we can handle. 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:43.899 That's not in the Bible. 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:47.159 Maybe that's power of positive thinking or something, but that's not in the Bible. 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:51.019 The only way you can grow is for God to give you more than you can handle. 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:53.319 It's the only way you're going to grow. 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:58.240 Because what happens is it begins to break down parts of your faith, like muscle fibers. 00:13:59.560 --> 00:14:00.900 And what does that do? 00:14:01.020 --> 00:14:05.000 It drives you back to the core of what you believe. 00:14:05.660 --> 00:14:08.640 It drives you to the very foundation of your faith. 00:14:09.680 --> 00:14:10.820 Verse 6, Peter says, 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.200 In this you rejoice. 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:17.320 He's suffering people, all kinds of trials, but they're rejoicing in this. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.020 What is the this he's talking about? 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:23.520 Well, he's referring back to the first five verses of the chapter where he lays out the gospel. 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:26.860 That's the foundation. 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:32.000 That's the core of Christian faith. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.279 In other words, here's how it works. 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:41.580 When trials overwhelm our faith, that drives us back to the heart of the gospel, what we really believe. 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:49.659 And as we are driven back into the heart of the gospel, our understanding and reliance on it becomes stronger. 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:59.259 You know, there's a lot of talk today about deconstruction and Christians deconstructing their faith and how bad and unfortunate that is. 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:01.980 But listen, there are different kinds of deconstruction. 00:15:02.259 --> 00:15:06.539 And there's a kind of deconstruction that is necessary for our faith to grow. 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:17.480 When trials overwhelm our faith, it often means that our view of God is too small, that it's inadequate. 00:15:19.819 --> 00:15:26.719 And what happens is that small, inadequate view of God has to be deconstructed before our faith can grow. 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:29.959 We have to go back to the foundation of our faith. 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:36.759 We have to be willing to question some of our fundamental assumptions because they may be wrong. 00:15:38.280 --> 00:15:45.639 And the foundation of our faith within the gospel is the historic event of the resurrection. 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:49.740 Christian faith is not wishful thinking. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:55.320 That's what Peter's talking about in verse 3 when he says that we've been born again to a living hope. 00:15:55.940 --> 00:15:57.460 This is not positive thinking. 00:15:57.560 --> 00:15:58.560 This is not wish fulfillment. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:09.339 He's saying Christians have a living hope because our faith is rooted in an historic event where somebody rose from death and came out of the tomb. 00:16:11.079 --> 00:16:14.319 So why do we believe in all of the other things we believe? 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.259 Why do we take Jesus' word seriously? 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:31.519 Or when Jesus seems to believe that all of Scripture is God's word and He quotes it as though it is coming directly from God and treats the Old Testament with the authority of divine inspiration. 00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:43.759 And then we see all of the other theological principles and concepts that arise out of that Jesus' doctrine of Scripture, which, by the way, is higher than probably any of our doctrine of Scripture. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:48.179 And we begin to realize that all of the foundation of Christianity is sort of based on this. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.779 Well, why do we believe in Scripture? 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:52.240 We don't believe in the resurrection because of Scripture. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.340 We believe in Scripture because of the resurrection. 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:59.100 That's the foundation of our faith. 00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:02.320 So we go back to the foundation. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.340 Why do I believe any of this? 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:08.319 The muscle fibers are broken down and then they begin to rebuild. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:14.680 That's the kind of deconstruction that needs to happen if our faith is ever going to grow. 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:19.539 I know people who, because of their faith, give away 90% of their income to the poor. 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:20.220 No kidding. 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:25.660 I know people who, because of their faith, have chosen a life of singleness and celibacy. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:31.860 I know people who, because of their faith, forgave people who murdered their family members. 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:40.279 And in every case, I feel like I did when I look at my college friend benching 450 pounds. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.500 I feel like I'm looking at something that's impossible. 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:45.740 I could never do that. 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:54.219 But these are normal, everyday people whose faith has been strengthened over time by being faithful to Jesus in the everyday trials of life. 00:17:57.659 --> 00:17:59.379 Let's apply this before we move on. 00:17:59.459 --> 00:18:00.519 Do you want more faith? 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.859 Are you praying to God to increase your faith? 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:14.220 Find a situation in your life, in your work or in a relationship or your spending habits, how you spend your free time. 00:18:14.379 --> 00:18:20.579 Find a situation where you are compromising your faith because you can't imagine what faithfulness would cost you. 00:18:21.879 --> 00:18:27.859 And then commit yourself to following Jesus in that area of your life no matter what, no matter how difficult it might seem. 00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:32.059 That is God's weight bench for your faith. 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:36.159 That is God's weight bench for your faith. 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:39.940 So where are we so far? 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:41.359 We've seen a couple of things here. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:44.879 Faith produces joy even in the midst of grief. 00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:45.259 How? 00:18:45.399 --> 00:18:46.220 Well, two things. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:52.240 It points us beyond our trials to see eternity and to see the hand of God behind our trials. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.220 And it is strengthened by our trials. 00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:59.120 So when we face trials, we can always say, well, my faith is growing through this. 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:02.620 That's a reason to rejoice. 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:05.440 But then the question remains, what's it all for? 00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:07.500 What's it all for? 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:10.160 Verse 7, 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:16.940 So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:23.240 may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:25.700 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:32.660 Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. 00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:38.500 Glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:42.340 The third reason that faith produces joy is this. 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:45.360 Faith brings glory through trials. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.460 It brings glory through trials. 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:51.380 Through our trials, our faith becomes tested. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:52.560 It becomes genuine. 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:59.180 And then genuine faith, Peter says, means believing in and loving Jesus even though we've never seen Him. 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:08.480 And then it says that when we do see Him, this will mean the culmination of God's saving work in us. 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:13.779 And verse 9 says, we will obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:18.060 Now, we need to be careful here because it seems to be saying that we're just going to get saved. 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:22.320 But we need to understand that even though it's translated salvation of our souls, 00:20:22.820 --> 00:20:26.480 the phrase here is better translated entire self. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:27.380 Right? 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:28.279 Right? 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.160 The salvation or the renewal or the restoration of your entire self. 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:38.360 In other words, by faith we will obtain the total renewal of our whole self. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.259 Let me put it a different way. 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:53.019 God uses the trials in our lives to glorify us, which in this context means to make us more real. 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:56.379 To make us more human. 00:20:57.299 --> 00:21:00.079 To make us more fully human. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:05.940 The trials and the suffering in your life, God can use them to make you more fully human. 00:21:08.139 --> 00:21:11.420 You know, as I think about trials and struggle, 00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:17.240 I think about one of my favorite illustrations of this from the Velveteen Rabbit. 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:23.759 But I first heard it years ago from Tim Keller, who even now is facing his own trials in his battle with cancer. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:29.259 So I couldn't help but use it with a bit of an homage to him in the process. 00:21:30.620 --> 00:21:35.059 He quotes from the Velveteen Rabbit, and this is about a toy rabbit's quest to become real. 00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:41.720 And here he's talking to the skin horse, the oldest toy in the nursery. 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:46.180 So it's the Velveteen Rabbit who wants to be real, and he's talking to the oldest toy in the nursery. 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:48.200 And here's what he says. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:50.259 What is real? 00:21:51.180 --> 00:21:57.039 Asked the rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender before Nana came to tidy the room. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:02.079 Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle? 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.600 Real isn't how you're made, said the skin horse. 00:22:07.100 --> 00:22:09.039 It's a thing that happens to you. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:19.480 When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become real. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:21.799 Does it hurt? 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:23.200 Asked the rabbit. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:28.379 Sometimes, said the skin horse, for he was always truthful. 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:32.259 When you are real, you don't mind being hurt. 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.359 Does it happen all at once, like being wound up, he asked, or bit by bit? 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:41.240 It doesn't happen all at once, said the skin horse. 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:43.339 You become. 00:22:44.479 --> 00:22:46.079 It takes a long time. 00:22:46.979 --> 00:22:53.619 That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. 00:22:54.740 --> 00:23:00.839 Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.720 and you get loose in the joints, and very shabby. 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:07.659 But these things don't matter at all. 00:23:09.419 --> 00:23:15.159 Because once you're real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:27.220 So this shows us how it would be possible to rejoice even in the midst of grief. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:34.080 Because suffering and trials over time are going to do one of two things to you. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:38.819 If you suffer enough for long enough, as I know some of us have, 00:23:40.399 --> 00:23:42.679 it can rob you of all joy. 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.759 It can cause your heart to grow hard. 00:23:45.879 --> 00:23:47.240 It can make you deeply cynical. 00:23:47.819 --> 00:23:49.960 It can make you distrustful of others. 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:52.980 It can make you angry or full of despair. 00:23:52.980 --> 00:24:00.480 Or, instead of robbing you of joy, it can actually enhance your joy. 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:02.980 It can deepen your faith. 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:04.940 It can soften your heart. 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:09.460 It can make you more thankful for the good things in your life. 00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:16.960 It can make you more compassionate toward those who are different or who are struggling in their own lives. 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:18.279 It can make you more open. 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:19.559 It can make you more loving. 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:22.039 It can make you more really and truly human. 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:26.740 The difference lies in where we put our faith. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:33.380 There are many religions and philosophies that offer ways to cope with suffering. 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:42.660 But as far as I know, the gospel is the only one that says that suffering is inseparably connected to joy and glory. 00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:50.299 Only the gospel says, on the one hand, your suffering and trials are grievous. 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:51.980 You should grieve. 00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:52.880 They are evil. 00:24:52.980 --> 00:25:01.299 And yet, on the other hand, God redeems them and repurposes them for our glory and for His glory. 00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:09.460 And you say, well, how can we ever understand or believe that something like that is possible? 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.839 And, of course, the greatest example of this is the cross. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:19.480 The worst suffering, the worst trial ever endured, the greatest act of evil ever committed, 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:20.480 Jesus was there, the greatest act of evil ever made in the world. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:32.680 But also, this was the means by which Jesus was glorified. 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:37.440 This is how Jesus became who He was meant to be, which is the Savior of the world. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:45.279 And God promises that what happened through Jesus' suffering on the cross can also be true for us. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:52.620 That though we may suffer, and though we may suffer because we follow Him, that that is the path to glory. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.519 In other words, that is the path to becoming real. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:02.359 Becoming the men and women that we were always meant to be in Christ. 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:08.919 And what Peter tells us is that if we put our faith in that, then no matter what trials we might face, 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:13.079 that faith is going to point us beyond those trials. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:16.959 That faith is going to be strengthened by those trials. 00:26:17.179 --> 00:26:23.159 And that faith is going to bring God's glory into our lives through those trials. 00:26:23.919 --> 00:26:24.679 Let's pray. 00:26:26.539 --> 00:26:28.240 Lord, we thank You for Your Word. 00:26:29.679 --> 00:26:31.439 Chiefly, we thank You for Your resurrection. 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:39.359 We pray that now and through this season and through our lives, that that would be the cornerstone of our faith. 00:26:40.439 --> 00:26:49.079 I pray that for those whose faith is being broken down now, that Lord, Your sovereign hand would guide that process. 00:26:49.959 --> 00:26:51.639 Guide us back to what is firm and sure. 00:26:52.139 --> 00:26:56.119 I pray that for those of us who are facing trials or struggling or feel overwhelmed, 00:26:56.119 --> 00:27:03.319 I pray that these would be true words that not only sink into our minds but penetrate our hearts. 00:27:03.919 --> 00:27:10.559 And I pray that as we come around Your table, we would take great comfort in knowing that You're a God who not only comforts us in our suffering, 00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:18.759 but You are willing to suffer and to give Yourself that one day it might all end and we might see You face to face. 00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:21.319 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:21.960 Amen.