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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
September 4, 2022
Rejoicing Through Distressed
1 Peter 1:6-9
Introduction
Turn to 1 Peter. This morning we will continue our examination of the first paragraph in Peter’s message of hope and encouragement to stand firm in God’s grace to a suffering church. As we have already seen, it is packed full of great theological truths, so we are taking our time to feast on them. Let me begin this morning by reading through verses 1-12 in a slightly modified version of Young’s Literal Translation. Though such wooden translations are not very good English, I find such translations helpful in thinking through what is emphasized in the Greek text.
1 Peter 1:1–12 (YLT- modified), 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the choice sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to [the] foreknowledge of God the Father, [by] sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and may peace be multiplied! 3 Blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the abundance of His kindness (mercy) did beget us again to a living hope, through the rising again of Jesus Christ out of the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in the heavens for you, 5 who, in the power of God are being guarded, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In which ye are glad, a little now, if it be necessary, being made to sorrow in manifold trials, 7 that the proof of your faith—much more precious than of gold that is perishing, and through fire being approved—may be found to praise, and honour, and glory, in the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, not having seen, ye love, in whom, now not seeing and believing, ye are glad with joy unspeakable and glorified, 9 receiving the end of your faith—salvation of souls. 10 Concerning which salvation seek out and search out did prophets who concerning the grace toward you did prophecy, 11 searching in regard to what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ that was in them was manifesting, testifying beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory after these, 12 to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering these, which now were told to you (through those who did proclaim good news to you,) in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, to which things (angels) do desire to bend looking.
Peter’s emphasis in the heading that he is writing to “elect . . . according to the foreknowledge of God . . .” and in the first sentence that “God the Father . . . who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope” are among the many Scriptures upon which the doctrine of election is based. The Biblical teaching that God is sovereign in salvation is offensive to many who want to emphasize man’s response to God’s calling as the cause of salvation. That was demonstrated again in the unusually high number of people that unsubscribed from receiving my sermon notes via email this past week. That is not an uncommon reaction whenever I preach through a passage that deals with God’s election in salvation. Though the reasons for this will vary from individual to individual ranging from ignorance of the Bible from having never read or studied it to defiance against God’s sovereignty, the reality is that election – God’s sovereign choosing – occurs throughout both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Whether you like it or not, you do have to deal with it. I am not concerned whether a person understands the intersection and interaction of God’s sovereignty and man’s volition, for it is what J. I. Packer called an antinomy – two truths in apparent contradiction to each other that are resolved in the mind of God. What I am concerned about are those that want to emphasize either one to the exclusion of the other. That is especially serious for those that end up trusting in their own self declared goodness to seek and choose and supposed righteous deeds as evidence of their goodness instead of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation from sin is by God’s grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone or you will be standing alone to be judged by God without an advocate and without recourse. (See: To The Chosen & Born Again to Living Hope)
While election is offensive to some professing Christians, it was a great comfort to those who were suffering for their faith in Christ. It was a reminder that what was happening to them had neither caught God by surprise nor without purpose. Jesus told his disciples in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” The section of this passage that we will be examining will emphasize this truth.
Greatly Rejoice – 1 Peter 1:6
This morning we are going to examine verses 6-9, but since verse 6 begins “In this you greatly rejoice . . .” we must review verses 3-5 which are the antecedent to the “this” which explain the reason for greatly rejoicing. As I explained last week, verse 3 is a doxology with an explanation in the verses that follow it. Praise belongs to and is to be given to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because out of His own abounding mercy He caused us to be born again, regenerated, to new spiritual life as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) though faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10) giving us a living hope and an incredible inheritance. It is a living hope because it is a confident assurance that transcends life on this earth to eternal life in heaven. Jesus’ own resurrection proves His claims about Himself and that His promises are true including giving eternal life to those that believe in Him.
This inheritance is incredible because its very nature is far beyond this world and the curse of sin that is upon it. It is imperishable meaning that it cannot decay, rust, perish, or be destroyed. It is undefiled meaning it is absolutely pure and because it is also unfading it cannot be stained or polluted for it is unchanging in its character. The first reason for this is that its location is in heaven where it is reserved for us. This description shows that the second law of thermodynamics is not applied there for there is no diminishing of power or order as required by entropy. Second, it is protected by the power of God, and since He is holy and infinite with respect to wisdom, space and might, nothing can outsmart Him, avoid Him, overcome Him, or subvert Him. Nothing can be a threat to a believer’s inheritance because God is sovereign.
All of this is applied by faith in what God has done in the past in His election and in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, what He has brought about in the present in being born again to spiritual life, and what He has guaranteed for the future in the final aspects of salvation from sin and all of its consequences when in glorification we receive immortal and incorruptible bodies to dwell with God forever.
It is no wonder then that Peter states that they “greatly rejoice.” God has caused them to be born again to a living hope and guaranteed incredible inheritance through faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though Peter is writing to a specific people living in a particular area living in the first century, the truths and promises pointed out belong to all the elect, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in all places throughout time.
The term translated here as “greatly rejoice” (ajgalliavw / agalliaō) is interesting because it is found almost exclusively in the Bible and the writings of the early Church. It was derived from a word that means “to make resplendent” or “adorn,” so there is an emphasis within it on the demonstration or expression of joy. The word was used a lot in the Greek translation of the Psalms (LXX) to express joyous celebration extolling the help and acts of God such as Psalm 92:4-5, “4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands. 5 How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.” That usage continued on into the New Testament. It is a joyful gladness that must be expressed. Mary did so in Luke 1:46-55 in the Magnificat in which she exalts the Lord for what He was doing in her. Jesus did the same thing in Luke 10:21 after hearing the report of the seventy that He had sent out. It was the response of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:34 who after getting saved brought Paul and Silas “into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household”
Louw-Nida summarizes the meaning of this word as “to experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement.” That is why it is translated at times in terms beyond just “rejoice” or “be glad” as “rejoice exceedingly,” “to be overjoyed,” “exult,” ‘to be extremely joyful,” and even “jump for joy.” Paul’s use of this word conveys the strong reaction they had to being born again to a living hope and such an incredible inheritance, but it is made even stronger by its context of pointing out that they were currently undergoing a season of suffering.
Temporary Suffering – 1 Peter 1:6
After Peter points out they were greatly rejoicing over this, He continues on to describe their current situation, “even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.” I appreciate Warren Wiersbe’s brief commentary which pointed out four facts about trials from this verse. Trials meet needs, they are varied, they are not easy, they are controlled by God, and I will add to that, they are temporary. However, before I expand on those, I need to explain a little about the word used here translated as “trials,” peirasmovV / peirasmos. It has a root meaning of “to put to the test,” “to prove out” with the context indicating who is testing what and its purpose. Both people and things can be tested for purposes ranging from discovery, revealing truth or falsehood, exposing character, and challenge to refinement and purify. When related to testing of character, it can be translated as tempted. Will the person stand firm in faith and righteousness or will he yield to sin?
Louw-Nida summarizes the definition of the word group as “to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing – “to test, to examine, to put to the test, examination, testing.’” The idea inherent in this word can be illustrated by our own use of the word trial related to testing. Runners go through “trials” in order to qualify for the final race. Engineered products are put through trials to make sure they will work as intended in the design and corrections are made to any deficiency that is revealed in the trial. Even a courtroom “trial” is supposed to be for the purpose of revealing the truth of the matter. Character is put on trial when temptation is encountered.
Peter extensively uses the word for suffering in this letter, but he does not use it here though the testing is clearly related to that suffering. He does not use the word for persecution though it is clear that the trials they are going through are related to being oppressed and harassed for their faith. He does not use the word for tribulation though oppression that causes suffering is certainly experiencing trouble. Peter uses the word trial because it matches God’s purpose in what they are experiencing in their lives.
Trials are temporary for they are “though now for a little while,” or more literally, “briefly now.” Any particular trial is usually of relatively short duration because once its purpose has been accomplished the trial is over even if the suffering and oppression continues. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is an example of this in the realm of testing of character. “No temptation (testing) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted (tested) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (testing) will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” To this can be added that as the Holy Spirit does His work in conforming you to the image of Christ, what was tempting in the past is less so or even not tempting in the present. The same situation is no longer a trial because you have already passed it.
I will also add here that in this context in which Peter has just pointed out the inheritance we receive in heaven, then any trial or series of trials can only last the few short years of your life. All such testing ends upon glorification for we will be incorruptible.
Trials meet needs for they are “if necessary.” God will use the circumstances that occur in our lives or even directly intervene to bring about a trial in the process of continuing the good work He began in you of perfecting you until you are glorified (Phil. 1:6). He is also a loving Father that gives corrective discipline to His children to bring about holiness (Hebrews 12:5-11). Paul’s “thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan” in 2 Corinthians 12:1-9 was meant to keep him humble and dependent upon the Lord.
Trials are not easy – for they cause “distress.” The word used here, lupevw / lupeō, is variously translated as grieve, distress, pain, sadness and sorrow and can be used in reference to both physical and / or mental / emotional experiences. Jesus was grieved in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prepared Himself through prayer for the trials and crucifixion He was about to suffer (Matt. 26:37). As part of Paul’s defense of His apostleship in 2 Corinthians 6 he lists out the many things he had suffered in serving Christ and the contrasts within it including “as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” That is a contrast to the rich young ruler that “went away grieving” because he valued his wealth more than following Christ. Trials and the distress and sorrow that come with them are simply part of life, the advantage for the Christian is that we know that God has a purpose in them so that we are not overwhelmed.
Trials are varied. Peter specifically calls them “varied trials.” Trials are diverse for the walk of faith for a Christian touches every area of life, so there will be testing in each of those areas. We will have to trust God for our physical well being as we await in frail bodies of flesh for a future immortal body. We must trust Him to provide what is needed to sustain life as we seek first His kingdom and righteousness. We must trust Him in the mental trials of not just understanding His word and believing it, but also defending it against those that attack the truth and us along with it. It is not easy to maintain correct theology and stand for truth when those around you are against it. There are also a range of emotions that can be part of going through trials beyond just grief and sorrow. That can include negative ones such as fear, frustration, anger, disappointment and depression in struggling through the trial as well as positive ones such as bravery, confidence, peace, love, joy and gratefulness.
James 1:2-4 uses the same words stating the reality and purpose of trials. 2 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” There could be joy in the trial because of the maturity it would bring about in that person’s life. That brings up the last sub-point.
Trials are controlled by God. Peter is seeking to give hope and encouragement to stand firm in the grace of God to a suffering church. Trials and the distress they bring are part of Christian life, but God had given them a living hope and an incredible inheritance in Christ, and nothing could take that away. He would use trials to accomplish His own purposes. God’s sovereignty helped them to endure the trials, and can help us too. But Peter goes on in verse 7 to explain both the reason for the trials and what should result from them. Both would be additional encouragement to them in the midst of their suffering.
The Proof & Result of Faith – 1 Peter 1:7
Peter writes, “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The word for proof here, dokivmion / dokimion, is a compliment to the word for trial. The ESV brings this out well translating it as, the tested genuineness.” The rest of the verse refers to the process of smelting gold so that it becomes pure as an analogy to God’s work in purifying the faith of those He has caused to be born again as His children. There are several Biblical passages that refer to this same analogy. Proverbs 17:3 succinctly states, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests hearts.” Job recognized the value of this stating in Job 23:10, “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (See also Prov. 27:21; Psalm 66:10; Isa 48:10; Zech. 13:9; Malachi 3:3).
When gold is smelted, the temperature is brought up in the furnace to melt it which causes any impurities to rise to the top where they could be skimmed off. The goldsmith would keep the ore in the furnace until it was pure, and he would know it was pure when he could see his face clearly reflected in it. God does the same thing with us in regard to our faith. He uses the diverse trials that are part of life to bring our faith to maturity as already pointed out from James 1:2-4, but which Paul also explains in Romans 5:3-5. The testing of faith drives off the impurities of sin and unbelief. God will continue His work of perfecting the Christian until the “day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6) when He returns and “we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). Or to use this analogy, gold is pure when it reflects the face of the goldsmith. The Christian is mature when He reflects the image of Jesus Christ in his life.
Now going back to verse 7, Peter’s purpose in mentioning gold tested by fire was to reference its purity and therefore its value. Pure gold is more valuable than gold contaminated with impurities. He states that a faith tested and proved genuine is much more valuable than such pure gold, and he increases the contrast by stating that gold is perishable. We tend to think that gold is imperishable because it is so resistant to corrosion, oxidation. But gold is subject to deterioration as it wears off as did a wedding ring that I had that wore through and had to be replaced. More to the point here, 2 Peter 3:12 points out that the elements of the present heavens and earth will be destroyed by intense heat and burned up. Gold is precious, but it will cease to exist. Tested and proved faith is more precious and it will last forever.
The result of such faith will be praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The relationship between tested faith and giving glory to God is expressed in Isaiah 48:10–11 which records God saying, 10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
Born again believers certainly can and should give praise, glory and honor to God in the present, but as already pointed to in the previous verses, it will be at the revelation of Jesus Christ that this will reach a culmination. Revelation here, apokaluvyiV / apokalupsis, refers to taking something out of hiding and therefore revealing, disclosing, making it known. Here it refers to Jesus’ return from heaven to reward His redeemed people. The vision the apostle John was given of heaven included this description in Revelation 4:9–11. 9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
The Joy of Faith – 1 Peter 1:8
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” 1 Peter 1:8 describes such faith in them and in all believers who did not live in the time and place Jesus did when He walked the earth. “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him.” Peter does not include himself in this commendation because he had seen and walked with Jesus during the years of His ministry. His doubt had been taken away by seeing the risen Christ (Luke 24:12, 34-45), and his love was revived by Jesus restoring him to ministry (John 21:15-19). They were those who had received the blessing that Jesus announced to Thomas when he saw Jesus risen from the dead and finally believed what the others told him, “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29).
Peter is writing to saints that were scattered over the area we now know as Asia Minor or Turkey. They were too far distant to have met Jesus unless they had traveled to Israel more than thirty years earlier and happened to have seen Him teach, and it is very unlikely any of them were among the 500 that saw Jesus in Galilee after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6). They, like we today, have a faith that is based on the report of eye witnesses and the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
Peter commends them for two specific responses. First, they love Jesus though they had not seen Him. Second, they believe in Jesus though they did not see Him in the present. Love and belief go together hand in hand to produce and strengthen each other. Those who love Jesus will believe Him, and those who believe Him will love Him. As stated in 1 John 4:19, we love as a response to Jesus first loving us, and the greater our understanding of that love the greater our love should be. It would seem that should be the normal reaction when someone finds out about the incredible love Jesus demonstrated in leaving the glories of heaven to become a man, live a sinless life and then voluntarily die on the cross at Calvary to pay for man’s sins. There is no greater love than someone who lays down their own life for his friends (John 15:13), but Jesus also laid down His life for sinners that hated Him. How could anyone respond any other way except to love Him? Easy, they do not believe the story.
As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23, 22 “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” He adds in 1 Cor. 2:14 that “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” But to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, the gospel is the power and wisdom of God to salvation for everyone that believes (1 Cor. 1:24; Rom. 1:16).
I want to quickly add here that Peter commends them for believing though they do not see Him now and Jesus said those who believe without seeing would be blessed. The quest for an experiential encounter with Christ in visually seeing Him or audibly hearing Him whether in a dream, vision or personal meeting of some kind is detrimental to faith instead of increasing it. 1) It opens a wide door for demons to lead you astray. 2) It is never satisfied for another encounter is always sought. 3) It shifts trust from God’s revealed word to personal experiences which then supersede the Scriptures.
Faith and love interact with each other to produce increasing maturity. Increased knowledge of God leads to increased faith and trust in Him which results in increased love for Him which turn creates a greater desire to know God better. It is an upward spiral leading to maturity that begins with knowing God. That is why there are so many prayers in the Bible for people to know and grow in the knowledge of God (Eph. 1:17; 3:18-19; Col. 1:10; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 5:20-21). Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17 includes the pronouncement “3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” and the petition, 25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” That is why it is so important to read and study your Bible for it is the starting point for increasing faith and love.
Because of their love for and faith in Jesus they “greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” Greatly rejoice is the same word we saw in verse 6 in regards to their reaction to God causing them to be born again to a living hope with an incredible inheritance. This is actually a continuation of that same joy for Jesus is the object of their faith and love and source of their living hope and guaranteed incredible inheritance. Peter magnifies this joy here describing it as a joy or gladness (carav / chara) that “cannot be expressed in words” (ajlavlhtoV / alalātos). It is a joy beyond what mere words can convey, and part of that is because it is also a joy that is full of glory, doxavzw / doxadzō. We get our word doxology from it and it refers to giving the highest praise and carries a sense of “to give and to have a share in the divine glory” (TDNT). The same word is translated as “glorified” in Romans 8:30 as the final step in what began with God’s foreknowledge and predestination of those He would call and justify. How can you adequately express a joy that is based in what is beyond this world?
The Reward of Faith – 1 Peter 1:9
Peter concludes in verse 9 with the reward of faith, “obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” This concludes the thought of this sentence that began in verse 3 with the blessing of God for causing them to be born again to a living hope and incredible inheritance.
The word for obtaining here, komivzw / komidzō, was used in classical writings to refer to the collecting of presents by the victor in the Greek games. As used here it expresses the reason for the joy beyond words for the promised end result of having faith was already being experienced in part though the fullness of it was yet to come – the salvation of their souls.
Salvation, swthriva / sōtāria, is multifaceted because it is not only rescue from a danger, it is rescue to a place of safety. In this reference it is the rescue of the soul from sin and its consequences to a living hope and God guaranteed inheritance in heaven. It is something that happened in the past when conversion takes place and the believer is transferred from the Satan’s kingdom of darkness to God’s kingdom of light. It continues in the present as the Holy Spirit sanctifies the Christian moving the saved farther away from sin and into greater holiness. It will be completed in the future when position and reality are joined in glorification as life in heaven begins where there is no sin and we are safe in the presence of God. Please note that it is the soul, yuchv / psuchā, that is saved, not the physical body which is just a vessel of clay that houses our souls in the present time. It is presently decaying, and if physical death is experienced, it will decompose. Our hope for our physical bodies is its replacement with a resurrected immortal, incorruptible one that will be radically different from the present one.
Conclusswthriva ions
Though the believers to whom Peter was writing were experiencing suffering for being Christians, they had overwhelming reasons to rejoice. Our sovereign God has a purpose for even the trials His children experience as He does His work to increase spiritual maturity and prove the genuineness of faith. Those who are born again have a living hope for God’s promises of a future inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading is absolutely secure in a salvation purchased by Jesus’ death and guaranteed by His resurrection. Those same truths and promises are great sources of comfort for every believer today who may also suffer for the name and cause of Christ for they enable them to greatly rejoice and take glory in all circumstances.
Sermon Notes – August 28, 2022
Rejoicing Through Distressed – 1 Peter 1:6-9
Introduction
The offense of election
Antinomy – two truths in apparent ________________ that are resolved in the mind of God
The comfort of God’s sovereignty to the suffering
Greatly Rejoice – 1 Peter 1:6
Verses 3-5 are the antecedent to “In this”
A living hope
An incredible inheritance
The application of faith
“Greatly rejoice” – ajgalliavw / agalliaō
Temporary Suffering – 1 Peter 1:6
“Trials,” – peirasmovV / peirasmos
Peter describes this as trials, not suffering, persecution or tribulation
Trials are temporary – “briefly now.”
Trials meet needs – “if necessary.”
Trials are not easy – “distress”
Trials are varied
Trials are controlled by God
The Proof & Result of Faith – 1 Peter 1:7
Proof – dokivmion / dokimion
Smelting gold
The ___________ of faith drives off the impurities of sin and unbelief
Faith is more valuable than pure gold which ____________
Born again believers are to give God praise, honor & glory in the present & they will at Jesus’ _________(Rev 4)
The Joy of Faith – 1 Peter 1:8
Faith – Hebrews 11:1
Peter had seen Jesus, but they had not
Love & belief go together to produce and strengthen each other
Love for Jesus is a response to His love for us – 1 John 4:19
People do not love Jesus because they ____________ believe His story – 1 Cor. 1:22-23; 2:14
The quest for experiential encounters with Christ is _______________to faith instead of increasing it
Faith & love interact to produce increasing ____________- knowing God increases faith which increases love
Their love for and faith in Jesus caused them to “__________________with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”
The rejoicing is _______________with the description that it cannot be expressed in words and is full of glory
The Reward of Faith – 1 Peter 1:9
Obtaining – komivzw / komidzō
Salvation, swthriva / sōtāria, is rescue from danger to a safe place
Salvation from sin is past – conversion, present – sanctification, and future – ________________
The soul, yuchv / psuchā, is saved, not the present corruptible physical __________
Conclusions
God’s actions & promises that bring salvation are overwhelming reasons to ____________ exceedingly
Those same truths & promises are sources of great ___________ for every believer today who may also suffer
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help.
Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Write down all the verses mentioned in the sermon and look them up later. 2) Count how many times rejoicing is mentioned. Talk with your parents about how the promises God is the source for great rejoicing for Christians.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What is meant by “greatly rejoice” in verse 6. Verses 3-5 are the antecedent giving the reason for rejoicing greatly in verse 6. Explain how what is in those verses would cause such rejoicing. What is the nature of “trials” in verse 6? Explain each of the following characteristics of these trials: They are temporary, meet needs, are not easy, are varied, are controlled by God. What is the meaning of “proof” in verse 7? How is faith proved in this sense? Why is it more precious than refined gold? What praise, honor and glory should you be giving to God now? What praise, honor and glory will you give Him at Christ’s revelation? What is faith according Hebrews 11:1? Why did Jesus say, “Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed” in John 20:29? What is the basis of faith for those referred to in verse 8 and today? Why do people love Jesus? What is the relationship to knowledge and faith to that love? What prevents people from loving Jesus even after hearing His story? How does the description in verse 8 magnify the nature of the rejoicing? What is the reward of faith? What is the nature of salvation? What is its application to the believer over time? Why does Peter say it was their souls that were saved? How do the truths expressed in 1 Peter 1:3-9 give comfort to believers who are suffering?
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