1 Peter 1, as we move on from verses 3-5 and begin to look at verses 6-9. 1 Peter 1, we will read verses 6-9 this morning. I remind you that this is God's Word, His holy, inerrant, and infallible Word. We do well to listen and to heed these words in faith. Please hear the Word of our God this morning. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Thus far, the reading of the Lord's Word. May he bless it unto us. Please join me in prayer this morning. Great God, as we come to your word this morning, how we pray that in this time you would grant us your spirit, that our hearts might be of fertile soil to hear and to receive, to lay this up, to practice these things in our life by your grace, that we indeed, O Lord, in that glorious day when Jesus returns, may be faithful and found faithful, and that our faith shall have stood the test of time and the persecutions and the sufferings and the afflictions of this present age shall give way to the endless day of day itself. We thank you, O Lord, for the hope that is laid up for us in Jesus Christ. Grant to us now his spirit, and we pray this in his name. Amen. As we have worked our way through 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5, we've beheld many of the glories and the wonders and the delights of what it is to be one who is born again. A God out of His infinite grace and wisdom, power, kindness, that He rebirths us, as it were, in a spiritual sense to be made after the likeness of Christ. But you remember that as we've worked our way through these verses that Peter shows us more particularly what we are born again to. And he laid these out as we work through them week by week that we are first born again to a living hope and all the joy that we have as Christians to live in this hopeless world with more hope than we could ever begin to imagine. We saw that we are born again to an inheritance, an eternal inheritance that is unfading, that is imperishable, that is undefiled, that is kept in heaven for us of all the glories that await us in the age that is to come. And as we saw last week that we are also born again for a salvation, for the fullness of salvation that God by his power keeps and guards not only our inheritance, but also us, that one day we might come to delight and to enjoy in all the heavenly blessings that we do have. So here in verses 3 through 5, we could say that Peter speaks to the greatest delight of what it is to be one who is born again, to the delights of joy and of peace and of grace and of hope and of an inheritance that we long for and that we wait for. And in some regards it would be wonderful if Peter just left his letter there. If he was just, Amen, let's close in prayer and let's move on to something else. But Peter doesn't do that because Peter understands that the delights that we have in Christ through the gospel, that at least in this day and age is only half the story. You remember that even as Peter addresses his letter to the churches, that he addresses us not only as those who are elect, not only as those who have been foreordained and predestined from before the foundations of the world to enjoy the glories of Christ himself, but that we are elect exiles. That our life is not only one that's made up of innumerable and imperishable delights, but that our life is also made up of difficulties. That it is made up of sufferings and trials. And as we come into verses 6 through 9, this is where Peter introduces us to one of the major themes of his book. And not only a major theme of his book, but a major theme in the totality of all of the scriptures, and that is the theme of suffering. Peter tells us here that while in the one hand we grasp all the delights that are awaiting us and to come, that in this present life that we grip onto these difficulties. And he says here in verse 6, that in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. And so Peter begins to open his theology of suffering. And when we think of suffering, and particularly Christian suffering, in our day and age and in our church, it is often misunderstood for a whole variety of reasons. That this is an experiential doctrine, that this is a practice that many of us, particularly in 21st century America, really struggle to comprehend and to grasp and to rightly understand. There's a number of reasons that undoubtedly comes with this. One is just pure confusion. And we don't exactly know what it means to suffer. And what does it mean to suffer for the sake of Christ? And we look at our padded lives and our lives of opulence. And we look at the New Testament. We look at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And we say our lives are so unlike their lives. So what is this that we are called to as Christians? What is the suffering that we're called to as Christians? In other cases, we can so easily deal with the doctrine of suffering in a very confusing or a very careless manner that we just begin to think that everything is suffering or that nothing is suffering or there are other times when this just stirs up within us the weakness of our faith and that we're just cowards and that we don't want to grapple with what it is to be elect exiles living in this world called to endure these various trials for a whole host of reasons. This experiential truth of suffering these various trials in this day and age and in this life is misunderstood. And so we must, with the help of the Spirit, being guided by God's Word, seek to rightly understand what Christian suffering is. And here in verses 6 through 9, As we begin to weigh into these verses this morning, Peter addresses for us both why it is that we suffer and how it is that we suffer as Christians. That he deals with these two points, the why do we suffer, why do we have these various trials, and secondly, how is it that we are called to suffer. And so this morning we wish to just focus on those two points, the why we suffer and the how we suffer. You notice Peter comes into verse 6 here that first what he begins to lay out is how or why it is that we suffer. Peter notes there in verse 6 as he reminds us and has told us of all these glories that we await for, that he opens verse 6 by saying, in this you rejoice. This being all that that has preceded this in verses 3 through 5, that the Christian and as Christians, as those who are born again, we have innumerable reasons to rejoice in this world and in this life, that we have this hope, that we have this inheritance, that we have this salvation. But rejoicing is not the sum total of the Christian life. The rejoicing is not the only thing that we are called to do in this life. At least we're not called to rejoice as Christians simply because everything in life seems to be going well. This isn't why we are called to give thanks. This isn't why we are called to praise and to bless God, but rather that we are to rejoice in these things, despite this fact that in this age and in this world, as those who are elect exiles, that we must suffer. So for the Christian, rejoicing and suffering are not in distinction or they're not butting heads with one another, but as Christians we are called to rejoice in this life despite the fact that this life is filled with innumerable difficulties and afflictions. And you see the way in which Peter goes on in verse 6 here, saying, in this you rejoice, and then he gives us a type of concession, and he says, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. And you note first, or at least I draw your attention to it, that Peter tells us, if necessary, that our suffering as Christians in this day and age is necessitated by something or by someone. I never cared to get bogged down in Greek grammar, but you note if you have a different translation than the ESV that we're using, that some translations don't say if it is necessary, but that it is necessary. And that just comes back to the fact that in Greek conditional clauses are interpreted and translated differently than they are in the English. The point that I want you to see here is that Peter is telling us that in this life, that though we rejoice, that there is a need, that there is a necessity that compels us to suffer these trials in this life. Now as we read that this is necessary, as Peter tells us if necessary we have been grieved by these trials, perhaps the first thing that we ought to ask is who or what makes that necessary? Why is it that as Christians living in this day and age and in this world, why is it necessary that we suffer? Sometimes we can think that our suffering as Christians, that it is purely circumstantial. That it is just the results of what's going on in the world, perhaps. perhaps of the politics, perhaps of the darkness of our day and age, that it's really just circumstantial and the difficulties that we face in life or the challenges that I have in meeting the needs of my family or some other circumstances what necessitates that for the moment I suffer. At other times we can think that suffering, that it ultimately arises and becomes necessary because of the individual choices that I make. Right? People who look at those who are suffering and who are in anguish, and sometimes we can just look at them and we can think, well, if they hadn't done this or they hadn't done that, if this Christian hadn't gone here, if they hadn't said that, then they probably wouldn't be suffering in the way that they are. That our suffering is necessitated by our choices, good or bad choices, wise or unwise choices, that this is ultimately what necessitates suffering. And if we could just make good choices all the time, then maybe we can just get along in this world and we can live at peace with those who are around us. There are some who think that this necessitation is driven by our choices, others who want to reduce it to nothing more than particular characters or persons in the world, those who are in power, those who have a particularly evil bent against Christians and the things of faith, that it's really their fault that we're suffering and so let's vote them out of power, let's just get some legislation here, and then we don't need to worry about it. Now undoubtedly there may be an element of truth there. There may be something in the circumstances of our lives and the choices that we make or different people that we encounter in this day and age that necessarily bring on suffering. We have to see that as Peter speaks here of our suffering being necessary, if necessary, that we should suffer these trials. The line behind all of these other reasons is one grand and supreme and glorious reason. That there is, we could say, something else at work in the necessity of Christians to suffer these various trials and in these grievous ways. And that is that what lies behind all of these other causes is the prime or the ultimate cause, and that is the will of God Himself. That this necessary affliction and suffering that we must endure, that ultimately it comes back, to the will of God. If you just flip your page over there to 1 Peter 3, verse 17, as Peter talks again of suffering, you note what he says there. That is, he is admonishing the church here that when we suffer, we must make sure we're suffering for righteousness sake and not for unrighteousness sake and not for some sin that we have committed. But you know what Peter says in verse 17, he says, for it is better to suffer for doing good And the note here, this conditional clause, if that should be God's will, then for doing evil. That it is better to suffer for good if that should be God's will than for doing evil. What we note here in the theology of Peter's suffering is that sometimes God's will determines that we must suffer. And that other times God's will determines that we shouldn't suffer. But that ultimately what necessitates our suffering as a Christian is whether or not God wills it. We can understand this in a very practical and experiential manner. Perhaps you think of missionaries who bring the gospel to these front lines and to these nations that are still plunged into darkness and that one missionary will go out and proclaim the gospel at the cost of his life. And another missionary will go out to a similar people group and yet he'll see great prosperity of the gospel going forth and he sees the salvation of many individuals that he proclaims the gospel to. And the question is, ultimately why is it that the one missionary gave his life and the other missionary sees such great success with the promotion of the gospel. And Peter would tell us here that ultimately what it comes down to is that God himself and his will determined that this missionary should go forth and give his life for the sake of the gospel, and this missionary should go forth in the power and the strength of God, and witness the conversion of hundreds or thousands of souls. What Peter drives here, not only here in verse 6, but throughout the totality of his letter here, is that God is ultimately sovereign over the suffering of his people. And you know that this is one of the first lessons that that great righteous sufferer of the Old Testament learned, Job. That as Satan came and he afflicted Job, that as Satan came and sought permission from God to kill all of his livestock, to kill all of his children, to bring all of these sicknesses and these skin diseases and these boils upon Job, that what is it that Job confesses after Satan has done his worst to Job, that Job declares, it is the Lord who gave and it is the Lord who has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And that we are told that in all these words, Job sinned not. That Job understands what Peter understands here, that God is ultimately sovereign over our suffering. And God's will sometimes necessitates that we must suffer, and at other times God's sovereign will says that we don't need to suffer. We need to grasp this. And yet it's fair enough to say that this is a challenging, that this is a humbling and sobering doctrine. When you perhaps look at people you know in your life, or maybe your own life, and you think of the sufferings, the afflictions, the darkness that you have endured, and how often we can say, is this really God's will? Does God really think that it is good for me to endure this impenetrable darkness in my life? Does he really will that I should die this death of cancer? Does he really will the death of my friends or my loved ones? Does he really will a difficult marriage or finding myself in difficult financial straits? Does he really will this pain and this agony that I endure every day of my life? Brothers and sisters, the biblical answer is yes. Yes, God really does will that. That God is sovereign over our suffering. Now this is something that can challenge faith undoubtedly. Yet we look at that greatest suffering that anyone ever endured, the suffering of Christ himself. One who suffered greater pains and torments and afflictions than we could ever begin to imagine. And yet what is it that the disciples, Peter himself declared in Acts chapter 4, but that Pontius Pilate and that the Jews and that the Romans, that they did nothing to Christ other than what God's providential hand had ordained should befall Christ. And if God's will can will the meticulous, the painful, the merciless suffering of Christ, then certainly all of our sufferings are under His sovereign control as well. And that isn't to say that the afflictions or the trials that we endure, this may not be our choice. And we may really not want this, and we might not desire these afflictions that we must endure. But in His infinite and His infallible wisdom, God Himself wills it. And if you can, without any blasphemy against the divine name, think that if you were clothed with the same sovereignty and the same knowledge and the same love and the same wisdom and the same power and compassion of God Himself, then it is true, brothers and sisters, that you would ordain your life. just as God himself has ordained it in the course of your life. That God himself is the one who necessitates our suffering and so faith must yield and faith must learn to pray even as Christ, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So we see the first reason why it is that we suffer, that it is necessary that this necessity flows from the very will of God. But we see within these verses a second and yet very closely related reason why it is that we suffer. And you see that as Peter comes into verse 7. Now, it's a little challenging, the grammar. And if we were to diagram this particular phrase here, verses 6 and 7, that Peter tells us that we need to endure these grievous trials. And then he comes in verse 7, and he gives us these two words, so that, right? This is, as many of you know, this is a purpose clause. This is a reason to why it is that we suffer. And Peter tells us here, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And you see that Peter very helpfully gives us an illustration showing us why it is that God sometimes wills that we suffer, and at other times God wills that we not suffer. Focusing more particularly on why it is that God sometimes wills that we suffer, Peter's illustration here is that of refining gold. Many of us, though we haven't done this ourselves, we're probably somewhat familiar with this. And when you go out into the world and the caves, the mountains of the world, and you mine gold, that gold doesn't come out pure. That gold comes out in chunks. That gold comes out with all this dross, with all these impurities, with all these imperfections. And so you bring this gold as you've mined it, and you bring it to somebody, you bring it to a forger, you bring it to a refiner, and at least in Peter's day, and probably far more high-tech today, a refiner goes and he does what's necessary to purify that gold. And it was common in these days that you would take this gold and that you would thrust it in the midst of a very fiery, very hot furnace, because gold has a high melting point, usually more than the dross and the blemishes that are inside of that gold. And through the process of this fire, that dross would be burnt away and the gold would be taken out, and then it would be put back into a furnace, perhaps a second, third, fourth, fifth, sometimes up to seven different times, in order to burn away all of the imperfections and all of the impurities of this gold. And when we think in such materialistic and economic terms, nobody looks at the gold refiner and says, how dare you take that gold and put it into the midst of this fire. Don't you understand that this is going to hurt the gold? What kind of cruel person are you? No, but when we go to purchase this gold in the store, we want to know, has this gold been purified? Is this genuine gold? Is this the most valuable gold that I can buy? Nobody blames the refiner for this. Peter tells us that this is why God sometimes necessitates our suffering. Because our faith, like gold, needs to be refined. And what an honest truth it is to acknowledge of your faith and to acknowledge of my faith that our faith in this world is not yet so pure. That it is not mixed with all sorts of dross. With the dross of our own works. That our faith is often mixed with the dross of our own self-reliance, with the dross of our pride, with the dross of our ignorance, with the dross even of our unbelief, that even in our faith that yet we do not yet believe as we ought. And what God desires from us is to refine us. He desires a pure faith. He desires a beautiful faith. And this is why it is that God at times determines that it is necessary that we suffer so that our faith can be refined. Now again, you just think of who it is that is writing this letter. This is Peter. This is Peter. This is one who doesn't simply write these things from the ivory tower, but this is one who understood the experience of what it was to go through hardships and difficulties to have his faith refined. You think back in Jesus' earthly ministry as we did last week to that night when Jesus was betrayed, that Jesus there telling his disciples that somebody's about to betray him, that he's going to die. And Peter in his great and his bold faith tells Jesus, what? I'm ready to go and die with you. And Jesus looks at Peter and says, Peter, don't you understand that before the rooster crows three times you are going to deny me? Peter thought that his faith was pure. He thought that it was refined. He thought that he was emboldened and courageous to go and to bear the sufferings of Christ. And no sooner had he promoted himself that we find him in the courtyard there in three different times denying that he knew Christ. Yet what a different scene we get of him in the last chapter of the Gospel of John when Christ comes and he gently restores Peter. If you love me, feed my sheep. If you love me, feed my sheep. If you love me, feed my sheep. And then we see in Acts chapter 2 and we see the cowardly Peter now galvanized with bronze faith as he stands and declares the wonders of Christ in the Gospel to 3,000 souls that were converted on that day. That as Peter writes this, he speaks from a heart and from an experience that he knows what it is to be cast into the trials, into the difficulties, into the remorse of a weak faith with the result that ultimately his faith was purified and it was galvanized and it was beautified by the grace of God. We hear that this is often the experience of our brothers and our sisters who endure some of the most trying circumstances. And we see it in the scriptures themselves, not always on the large scale, but sometimes just through the mundane difficulties of life. We can never shortchange the refining work of God, no matter how small it seems to be. Remember, a number of years ago, a well-known son of a very well-known American theologian, his young daughter had died, and after the death of his daughter, his wife had died. Many in the Reformed world wanted to ask the son of a really well-known theologian, weeks or months after the death of his daughter and his wife, just to glean from him and say, what is it that you've learned? You've gone through this valley of darkness, now share the wisdom that you have seen in enduring the suffering and this affliction as the desire of your eyes was taken away from you. And I remember as this man responded to those who were asking that he said so simply and honestly and straightforwardly, he said, I know everyone's just hanging to hear what it is that I've learned and what I've come to appreciate and the great lessons that God has shown me through the suffering and this affliction. But you know, the honest truth is I haven't learned that much. I'm still grappling with why this happened. And perhaps the greatest lesson that I've walked away with is I sure wish I had held my wife's hand more. Sometimes we go through great difficulties, even for the smallest refinements, even for the smallest dross to be burned away with, and yet God delights in seeing our faith brought through and refined and purified. Is this not what the psalmist said in Psalm 119? It was good for me to be afflicted. It was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your statutes. That the psalmist confesses whatever affliction he was enduring, it was good if for no other reason than that he learned to keep God's Word. Or you think of Paul as he dealt with this grievous thorn in his flesh and three times praying, remove this from me. And what was the lesson that he learned? How was his faith refined so simply that he depended not upon his own strength, but that in his weakness, God's strength was made perfect. see sufferings and afflictions, they refine our faith, sometimes in great ways, sometimes in small ways. Maybe you can personally relate to this. Often we talk to our brothers and our sisters who have gone through the dark night of their souls, who have gone through the valley of the shadow of death, who have endured innumerable afflictions, and we hear the good that they've experienced, and we hear that, oh, this has stirred up within me a resolve to be more committed to the Lord, and the things of the Lord or I learn not to fear men or to fear the opinions of others or to value life and to realize that in an instant it can be taken away and so with new vigor I'm mustering myself to strive for the things of the Lord or I've learned dependence upon God that I would never have known before if I hadn't gone through this affliction. I've learned what it is that God is worthy of all things and that in my suffering and anguish that even here I can glorify him and bless his name and worship him. Perhaps this is an experience that you can relate to, but perhaps, just perhaps you can't. Perhaps you've gone through various trials or sufferings or afflictions and yet you are standing on this side of them and you are going, how is this refined? How has this been good for me? What has this cultivated and produced in my life? How has my faith stood? I don't feel like my faith is flourishing in the midst of these afflictions, but they are floundering. Perhaps you can't experience. Peter tells us here that through these trials our faith is being refined. Perhaps you can't relate yet. You see, what we're not promised in the Scriptures is that we will always understand how our faith has been strengthened. We're not promised that in this life we will always see the good that comes from these afflictions that God has sovereignly brought upon our lives, that we may not in this life see all the refining work of God in our hearts and our minds and our souls. But brothers and sisters, faith learns that when we can't trace the hand of God, that we are to trust his heart. And he has shown us in his word, through the words of Peter here, that our afflictions, that they are necessary not only because of the will of God, but that God's will is that our faith would be refined through these afflictions. And so we see why it is that we suffer as Christians. More briefly this morning, we also see in these verses how it is that we suffer. How it is that we suffer. We see this chiefly in verse 6 as Peter writes, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. Here in verse 6, we see at least three descriptions of how it is that we as Christians suffer. Not only why we suffer, but also how we suffer. The first description that I would draw your attention to is found in these words that Peter speaks, that you have been grieved. That you have been grieved by these trials. Now this word grieved, it is a striking word. It's a word that should perhaps pop out at us, particularly in our day and age in American Christianity. I so wish that we didn't need to say it, but it needs to be said. The Christians, when you suffer by the will of God to refine your faith, you have divine permission to admit that this suffering is painful. You have the right to be sorrowful over the afflictions that God in His love and His wisdom gives to you. I was reading in the course of this week, or actually I think it was a couple weeks ago, an article that spoke of Dutch grieving. Probably better I use this illustration before our snowbirds return for the winter. Because this individual had noted that the Dutch seem to be notorious at neglecting the grief and the sorrow of afflictions and suffering, that often what the Dutch do is that they say, well, I know I have a lot of suffering, but this person over here has it far worse off than I do, and so who am I to feel bad about what I experience? I don't know if this is true amongst the Dutch, but what I can tell you is that this is very common amongst Christians, just period. As Christians, we often think that we don't have an allowance to give voice to the immense pain and to the agony and to the trials that suffering brings about us. A number of years ago, one of my instructors in seminary published a little book. The title says it all, Christians Get Depressed Too. And it was a response to Christianity that goes out there and says that Christians don't have a right to get depressed, that Christians and their faith seems to be lacking or it's failing if they're despondent or if they're melancholy. And my instructor wrote to say, no, that's just not true. Even Christians get depressed. That depression isn't simply an ailment of those who are unbelieving or of those who are not Christians, but that this is true of the Christian life as well. But how often we as Christians can look at our sufferings and our afflictions and we can kind of wave them away? Do we want to dismiss it? Do we want to say, well, this really in the scope of things isn't that bad, and so who am I to cry or to mourn or to grieve? Or we want to disguise our pain and being something that it's not? Or we want to downplay it and minimize it or deny it altogether and say, well, I know I should just be rejoicing. I should be a happy Christian. So despite the fact that life It seems so overburdensome right now. I just need to pick myself up and play the stupid Pollyanna game and be optimistic about everything. No, when we suffer according to God's will. Brothers and sisters, it is often, often painful. And it is often sorrowful. Look at biblical examples. You think of David and the how long psalm, Psalm 13. He cries out over and over again in the midst of his affliction and his suffering, How long, O God? How long must I endure this? How long must I have sorrow in my heart all the day? Or you think of Paul as he bore the sorrow of seeing his kinsmen, according to the flesh, rejecting the gospel and he declares, I have continual pain in my heart that my brothers, according to the flesh, have rejected the word of promise. Or you think of Christ himself as the preacher of Hebrews tells us that in the course of his earthly ministry that he offered up vehement cries and prayers to the one who could spare him from death. Suffering is grievous. And undoubtedly we can grieve sinfully, but to grieve is not sinful. And Peter tells us here that this is one aspect of how we suffer. That we suffer in being grieved. But you see a second description of how it is that we suffer, that Peter says you have been grieved by various trials. Now, within Christianity today, in American Christianity, we can so often think that suffering is a monolith. You think perhaps of that wonderful book, no discredit to it, but Fox's book of martyrs. It recounts for us all the heroic acts that our brothers and sisters in Christ endured throughout the early church, and being persecuted and being tortured and being thrown to wild animals or to the flames of the fire. And sometimes we can think that this is all that really defines what Christian suffering is, that it's physical persecution or physical martyrdom. And yet you see what Peter tells us here is that suffering is not a monolith, but that suffering is suffering various trials. This word various here means multifaceted. It means coming in many different expressions. It's used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to speak that many colored coat that Joseph was given by his father Jacob. And Peter tells us this here, that the suffering isn't of one brand, it's not of one stripe, but the suffering that God necessitates in our life for the refining of our faith, that we are grieved by, that this comes by various trials. A Christian's suffering is sometimes emotional. And we can't overlook that. We are emotional beings and there are things that we endure that stir up our emotions and cause us to weep and to mourn and to lament and to carry upon ourselves a heavy burden. At other times, Christian suffering expresses itself through mental difficulties and mental afflictions. feeling as though we can't know God and see God and perceive God, or thinking and having a mind that's confused as we try to relate and understand the world in which we live, that there are times when Christian suffering is physical. When we are beaten, when we are flogged, when we are imprisoned, when we are scorned and ridiculed by others, that sometimes Christian suffering comes to us by way of spiritual difficulties and spiritual desertions and spiritual darknesses. This is what Peter is telling us here, that the suffering that God necessitates in His will, that it comes in all sorts of varieties and shapes and sizes, and it comes in different degrees, sometimes in moderate degrees, sometimes in feeling like this is an overabundance of grief and suffering that I am enduring. Indeed, we can draw the principle out here that how we suffer is largely dependent on our personal faith. And that whatever challenges my faith, whatever stretches my faith, whatever refines my faith, that ultimately this is a form of Christian suffering. And how careful we must be, brothers and sisters, not only in looking at our own sufferings, but the sufferings of others. Because when our brothers and sisters genuinely suffer, sometimes we can look at them and turn our nose up. We could think if I was in their place, I don't think they would affect me this much. What's wrong with them? Can't they get their act together and get a grip? No, we ought to be incredibly sympathetic and empathetic as we see our brothers and sisters put through the refiner's fire as their faith and the dross of it is being burnt away that it might be pure and beautiful. So we see that Peter shows us how we suffer a whole variety of ways. We see thirdly here, Peter brings up another description. And what you have to love about verses six and following is that in no way does Peter minimize the pain of suffering. But Peter does reveal to us that we only suffer momentarily. And he says that in the opening of verse 6 there, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while. How can Peter say this? How can Peter tell us that our suffering is momentary? Doesn't Peter understand that there are those who have had a lifetime of suffering? that there are those who have had a lifetime of affliction? Does he not understand that there are countless numbers of Christians who feel as though they go from one suffering experience to another suffering experience, to another suffering experience, and that going through suffering can feel like anything but being momentary? How can Peter look at the anguish of our souls and the afflictions that we have to endure, and how can he say here, though now for a little while? How important it is to understand the contrast that Peter is making here. Peter says now, though now for a little while. This little three-letter word that we have in the English, this now, it's a temporal word that is used for this age. And the contrast that Peter is giving us is this age, the here and the now of suffering, these various trials that God determines and His sovereignty is necessary for us, contrasting the afflictions of this present age with the eternal age that is to come. And this is why Peter can say, no, only now for a little while are we called to suffer. And what Peter is saying is now for this present life, we have really painful hardships that we must endure as elect exiles, but brothers and sisters, when it is compared to eternity, even when a lifetime of suffering is compared to eternity, we only suffer for a little bit of time. A little bit of time do we have to bear these afflictions, and these griefs, and these sorrows, and these pains, and these anguishes, only for a little time. And then shall come the glorious and eternal day, that day when every tear is wiped from our eye, when every pain is done away with, and only joy and bliss remain. Peter is not telling us here. That it is only necessary to suffer for a few hours or days or weeks or months or even years. But that when faith stacks up all of our suffering in this life, and it stacks up all the glory and blessedness and joys and delights of the life that is to come, there is no comparison. That's what Paul himself said, isn't it? That he's light, And these momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. So, dear Christians, may this be the watchword for your suffering a little while, only for a little while. Your days and nights may be filled with moanings. And in this life, you might weep for weeks on end. You might groan under anguish for countless years. But soon, these days will give way to an endless morning of joy and of gladness, where there is no more pain and no more sorrow. But for a little while, we must suffer. And that's why we can sing as we are about to in just a minute here. Be still, my soul, the hour is hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed, we shall meet at last. Amen. Please join me in a word of prayer. Our sovereign, all wise and all good God, how we delight to be your disciples and to sit at the feet of Jesus this morning. And as we begin to grapple with and to comprehend this theology of suffering, You, by your infinite wisdom, have necessitated in the life of your people to refine our faith so that in that day we shall be presented by Christ with great joy and unblemished and pure. How we pray that you would grant us, O Lord, to endure and to stand for a little while against the afflictions of this world in order that one day we might enjoy the eternal blessed rest that awaits the people of God. We thank you for the comforts of your word, for the truth that it conveys, for the spirit that you give to us to understand and to persevere in it. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.