The text of scripture I want us just to look at today is verses six and seven of 1 Peter chapter number one. I'll just continue on with our theme of looking at the word precious in different parts of the Bible. You'll see mention of the word precious here. It says, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season of need be. You are in heaviness through manifold temptations. that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. In these two verses, the apostle Peter is addressing the Lord's people in his day. And he speaks to them in particular here about trials, and sufferings in the life of the Christian. These believers to whom Peter was writing, they were going to be sorely tried for their faith. Soon they were to be brought into the crucible, so to speak, a fiery trial and suffering for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are warned by God's servant of this very fact. If you turn over just a few pages in your Bible to chapter 4 of this epistle, you'll see this warning given. In verse 12 and verse 13, as Peter speaks to these Christians, he says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ. Now, to encourage and indeed to help them deal with this time of great suffering and trial that was to come upon them, this time of testing, Peter here tells these Christians that the trial of their faith was precious. It was something of great value, something vitally important to them as Christians. And this he does through the words in particular of our text in verse 7 there. But he says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes. When we think of gold, we think of one of those metals that is perhaps one of the most precious, one of the most costly that anyone could afford. Yet here Peter tells these Christians that their trial of their faith was something more and more precious. and the gold, and indeed the very finest of gold that could be mined from the earth of God's creation. And my just here is the trial of the faith of these believers, and Peter's day was precious, so it is still the same with the Lord's people today, whoever they are, wherever they are to be found. Yes, the trial of our faith as God's people today, those who are saved by the grace of God in this service of worship, is something that is very valuable. something that is very precious, something of great worth to you and I who are saved. Yes, it is valuable, it is precious to you and I who are saved, but also we must not miss this. It is also valuable and precious to the Lord God, our Savior Himself. In order that you and I might gain the full meaning of this great truth, there are three things I want us just to note here, particular from our text this morning regarding this matter of trials in the life of the believer, or if you like, even trials in the life of the church of Christ. You notice, first of all, with me here, the reality of trials in the believer's life. And you see that from what Peter says there in verses 6 and 7. He says, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing. of Jesus Christ. And in those two verses, you will notice three words in particular that stand out there, that really highlight the reality of trials in the believer's life. Notice the mention there of the word heaviness. In verse 6, it says, if needs be, ye are in heaviness. What does that word heaviness mean? It really means to grieve over some incident in life, some happening in life. And then you see also there the word temptations at the end of verse 6. It talks there about manifold, in other words, many temptations. And that word temptation there really means to be proved. You think of a new car that may be designed by some manufacturer. Before that car can be sold to the public and taken out on the road and be driven along the motorway, the highway or whatever, that car has to be tested. It has to be proved if it is roadworthy, if it is usable, if it is safe on the highway. And that's really what this word temptation here means. It means the believer's faith being tested, being proven by the trial or the tribulation that comes their way. Then in verse number 7, you have the word trial. It says there, the trial of your faith. And that again means to test. And it really shows here the reality of trials in our lives as believers. Now, can I say this morning that none of us who are saved, no believer who is saved, is immune from trials and sufferings and afflictions and tribulations in this earth. My, you and I as believers, we often have to deal with trials that are common to all mankind. The Bible says man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble in this life. You and I as believers, we have to deal with loss. We have to deal with sickness, with sorrow, with disappointment. These things can happen to us and affect us personally. They can affect our homes, our families, our loved ones. They can even affect us nationally, in the land and in the country where we reside and live. You think back to the awful dark days of World War I and World War II. What it must have been like to have lived through those awful dark days, yet in the midst of those awful dark days nationally upon the nation, God's people were not immune from the troubles of the nation and the trials of the nation at that particular time. And then on top of this, there are trials that come our way, trials that you and I also must suffer as God's people because of our faith in Christ. because of our stand for the gospel, because of our adherence as God's people to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And child of God, remember this truth, especially if you're young in the faith today, that this world where you and I live is no friend of grace, no friend of the Christian. No friend of the church of Christ. This world is enmity as far as the believer is concerned, as far as the church of Christ is concerned. Turn your Bible back to John's Gospel, chapter 15, and you'll see this. John's Gospel, chapter 15, and look with me, please, at verse number 19. Here the Lord was addressing His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. And they were sad, they were sorrowing, they were grieving. The Lord was going to be parted from them. And they were just a little handful of people, weak in and of themselves. And the Lord reminds them, he forewarned them here, that this world would be no friend to them. Look at what he says in verse 19 of John 15. He says, if ye were of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." Look at what he says, therefore the world hated you. The world hated Christ. The world hated the apostles of Christ, and the ungodly world will always hate the people of God and the cause of Christ right to the very end of time. That animosity will not change, and you can trace it right back to the fall of man and the attack of Satan in the Garden of Eden. You think this morning of the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three young men, Very well-educated men, fine men in their day, but why were they cast into the fiery furnace? It was because they would not compromise their faith. They would not bow down to the false religions and the evils of their day and their generation. What has been said of the believer that if you're in with Christ, you shall be out with the world." And if you and I are in with Christ, you can be sure, dear believer, that we will be out with the world. And people, as this world comes to a close, and the Lord is coming back again, and as the world comes to a close, you and I can expect greater persecution greater opposition from the world and from the ungodly as we seek to live for Christ and witness for Christ and honor the Word of God in our day and generation. You turn in your Bible back to Matthew's Gospel chapter 24, one of those great chapters which really paints a picture of what this world will be like. prior to the days of the Lord's returning. And look with me, please, what is said there in verse number 21 and verse number 22. And there you see the opposition of the world to the Lord's people. It says in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 24, for there shall be a great tribulation. There'll be an awful tribulation that will take place before the return of Christ. It says, and there shall be great tribulation. Such was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, the sake of God's people, those days shall be shortened. Yes, I believe the Jewish people, yes, will suffer. Israel will suffer. By the world, the world will be against Israel, the Jewish people, before their Lord's return, but not only the Jewish people in Israel as a nation, but against all God's people, redeemed people, who seek to faithfully stand for God and the Word of God and the testimony of Christ. That opposition, that animosity will grow and intensify under the leadership of the Antichrist prior to the return of Christ. Yes, we see here the reality of trials in the life of the believer. But notice, secondly here from our text this morning, not only the reality of trials, but notice the purpose of trials in the believer's life. You look again at what Peter says to these Christians there in verse number six of 1 Peter 1. Notice the language that he uses. He says, if need be, yard and heaviness through manifold temptations." Notice that word, if needs be, it really means of necessity. In other words, Peter here was telling these believers that there was a purpose behind their trials. that it was necessity, that it was needs be for them, and it is the same with all God's people. You look at verse 7 there, it talks about the trial of your faith. This is something personal to the people of God and to the child of God. May the Lord allow us trials to prove our faith, to prove that our faith is genuine and that it is real. This was the case with Abraham whenever God put him to the test back in Genesis chapter number 22 and asked him to put Isaac, his only son, the son of promise, upon the altar on Mount Moriah. And remember this, dear people, Abraham was a great man of God. He was the friend of God. And it says in Genesis 22, verses 1 and 2, it says, an attempt to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. He wasn't tempting him to sin. No, there the context is to be tested, to be proved, to be tried. And said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here am I. And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains. which I shall tell thee of." And that incident, God was testing the reality, the genuineness of Abram's faith. And that is one of the purposes behind our trials when they come. The Lord is proving, He's testing the genuineness, the reality of our faith. Also, the Lord allows trials to strengthen our faith and to help us and to encourage us to lean upon the Lord more and more. James 1 and 3 says, the trying of your faith at work of patience. And then also the Lord allows trials to come our way, to chasten us and to draw us back to himself as God's people. Whenever we go astray, the psalmist testified that of his own life. He said, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept thy word. And he spoke of how the trial was used to draw him back to the Lord and to the very center of the will of God for his life. And again, that can be a purpose and trials that come our way when we go astray from the Lord. The Lord allows the trial to come to draw us back into the very center of his will. And then also the Lord allows trials to come a way to keep us humble as God's people at the feet of Christ. You think of the great apostle Paul this morning. and what blessings he enjoyed, what experiences he enjoyed in his Christian life. He was caught up into the very third heaven. He saw things there that he was not allowed even to speak about or utter. Such was his view of what he saw in the third heaven. But yet you read of Paul as he writes to the Corinthians, speaking of a thorn in the flesh. He describes it as the messenger of Satan to buffet him. And why did that come? What was the purpose behind it all? Paul gives us the answer to that question. He says, lest I should be exalted above measure. And my Paul prayed about that thorn in the flesh. He prayed that God would take it away, but God didn't take it away. He says, Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. Give them grace to keep them humble, lowly at the feet of Christ, at the feet of the Savior. And sometimes God allows trials to come our way to keep us at the lowly place, to keep us at the feet of Christ, the most blessed place where you and I can be as the people of God. Then also the Lord allows trials to purify our faith and to make us more and more like Christ. You look again at what Peter says there in verse 7 of 1 Peter chapter 1. He says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And as Peter writes here, he has in his mind's eye the picture of the goldsmith. the molten gold in the fiery furnace. And my, whenever gold is heated in the fire, what happens? The dross and the impurities in that gold are removed by the goldsmith as the gold is heated up to an immense heat and temperature till it becomes molten. The dross, the impurities are removed so that it becomes fine gold, gold of great worth, of great value, of great courage, so to speak. And by the goldsmith, he heats it until he sees a very reflection of himself in the molten gold before him and the furnace. That is what he does. And in like manner, dear people, God tries our faith so that more of Christ, more of our Redeemer, our Savior, whom we'll be remembering a little while around this table, so that more of Christ can be seen in us, seen in our lives, our conversation, our manner of life, our living before men, and our living before the world. You think of what Job said. Job was one of the most godliest of men that you can read about in the Old Testament history. And what did he say? He said of the Lord, when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And then we can also say that God allows trials so that we ourselves as God's people can be a help and a blessing and a minister to others in their times of need, in their times of trial. Turn with me in your Bible back to 2 Corinthians chapter number 1, and you'll see this from the words here of Paul how he speaks of how the Lord helped him in his trials so that they in turn could be help to others. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at what he says in particular in verses 3 to 6 of that chapter, 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3. He says, "'Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.'" Notice it. "'Who comfort of us in all our tribulations.'" Watch the purpose here. He says that, "'We may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. And whether we be comforted, notice it, it is for your consolation. and salvation. The Lord had helped Paul in his times of trial and trouble so that he could be a comfort and encouragement to others, even in Corinth at that time, going through times of trial and testings. The reality of trials, the purpose of trials. Notice one final thought this morning in connection just with our text. Notice the way to victory over trials in the believer's life. And dear believer, in our meeting this morning, you and I, yes, we can know victory in our days of trial by remembering this, that those afflictions, those trials, they are always for our spiritual good. You remember what Paul said in Romans 8, verse 28? He says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. And there Paul speaks of our trials, working for our spiritual good, for our spiritual blessing as the people of God. That can be very hard to understand at times, but always remember this, dear believer, in the trial, that God is working it out for your spiritual good. And whatever the trial is, you and I as believers, we should always pray in that trial. Pray that we would be drawn closer to the Lord our Savior. Over the years, if I minister to people and pastor them in times of need, that's one of the things I've always encouraged them to pray in their times of trial and affliction, to pray that the Lord would draw them closer to the Lord. And that's what David prayed. In Psalm 61, verse 2, he says, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Also, we can know victory in our trials by remembering that there is a time. Whenever those trials will end, they'll come to an end. And you notice there again how Peter emphasizes this in verse 6 of our text by using the little phrase there in the middle of verse 6, for a season. He says, "'When ye greatly rejoice, though now,' he says, "'for a season of needs be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.'" Notice that little expression, for a season. And every season, no matter what it is, it passes. Seasons come, the seasons go. And that's really the thought here that Peter was laying before the Christians, that this trial was just for a season. And so too, the seasons of our trial, They will pass. Yes, they will come. But they will also pass. You think of Joseph this morning. Joseph, again, was a godly man, a young man in the Old Testament book of Genesis. And he had many trials from his family, from his circumstances around him in life. And I'm sure he maybe thought, will these trials ever end for me? But the trials did end. The season did pass. And one day Joseph was elevated to the position of prime minister in captivity down in the land of Egypt. And remember what he said to his brothers, his brethren? He says, ye fought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. It was an end to his trial. The season of trial passed. Maybe I'm speaking to a believer this morning You're going through a time of testing. You're in the crucible of fire this morning, that fiery trial, through some circumstance or situation that maybe concerns you or concerns your family or others that you know. Well, always remember this, dear Christian, no matter how difficult the time is, no matter how testing the time is, that there's always a better day coming, that the season will pass. The clouds come, yes, but the clouds go. They pass. The hymn writer says, God's purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. I remember some time ago speaking to an old saint of God, one who has proved the Lord over many. many years speaking about trials and afflictions in life. And I remember them saying, there's always a better day coming. The season will pass. And that's really what Peter wanted these Christians to see. But also something else here to note, just as believers, we can know victory in trials by remembering this, that whenever Christ returns and our Savior is coming back again, You and I, we will see the reason why. You notice there how Peter reminds these Christians of this very fact? At the end of verse number 7, he speaks there about the appearing of Jesus Christ. He wanted these believers to view their trials in the light of the coming of Christ and the glory of Christ at His return. John chapter 13, verse 7, Christ spoke to Peter and he said these words, "'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.'" A dear believer in our meeting this morning, hereafter in glory. When the Lord comes back again in power and great glory, when every crooked thing will be made plain, you and I, yes, we will know the reason behind, we'll understand the reason behind every dark tread in the tapestry of our lives here on earth in this scene of time. Brethren and sisters in Christ, remember this today from our text that the trial of your faith is very precious. Keep this ever before you in the journey of life. No matter what the trial, the difficulty is as a believer, You'll be like Moses who endured as seeing him as invisible. You will be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Am I speaking to one this morning? And you're on, Steve. Let me say this, that if you are to know God's help and God's blessing in the battles and the storms of life, you must, first of all, repent of your sin and trust Christ as your own and personal Savior. Then when you do in the trials of life, like old Isaiah the prophet, you'll be able to say, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also is become my salvation. Tell me today, is the Lord your strength? Is he your song? Is he your salvation? in the battles and the trials and the storms of life. We'll just close our meeting today with a word.