Amen. We're going to look this evening at a paradox in the Christian life. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10, concerning his life in ministry as an apostle, that his life was marked by two characteristics. And humanly speaking, you think that it's a paradox. How can the apostle Paul be a man that was sorrowful, But how could he also be a man that was always rejoicing? How do you have both sorrow and rejoicing in the same cup? Not only Paul, did he experience that, what seems to be a paradox, but if you look at the life of our Lord Jesus, an examination of his life, he was known as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, but also a man in his humanity that had the fullness of the spirit and all joy, peace, love, and gentleness and you look at that and say well how can it be that the savior in his humanity was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief but also a man in his humanity that had the fullness of joy and his cup overflowing and goodness and mercy following him all the days of his life How can we as Christians, as we follow Jesus Christ and follow Paul and follow Peter as they followed Christ in their day, how can we really embrace this paradox in the Christian life? Peter knows about this paradox that there is both joy and grief and peace and sorrow in the Christian life and somehow by God's working in us, we can have both in the same That's what Peter's going to get at in verse 6 to verse 9, this paradox of rejoicing, but also rejoicing when we're grieved by various trials. And the way we'll look at this tonight is by looking at the future reality that we rejoice in. But then also looking at the present reality that we have sorrow in. And if you think of a sandwich, I remember in seminary they talked about sometimes texts are functioned like a sandwich. There's the bread on top and the bread on the bottom that have the bookends to the passage. And then there's the meat in the middle. And verse 6 and verse 9, you could say, are like the bread pieces rejoicing on top and rejoicing on the bottom. And then in the middle, the meat is hung on the words though. So verse 6, in this you rejoice. And then here's the meat. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you've 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 the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though, another piece of though meets, 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. There's the Christian paradox. inexpressible joy though grieved by various trials though living in this world by faith in the unseen Christ that we love but we haven't laid our eyes on him yet by sight two pieces here the future reality that we rejoice in. That's what Paul is pointing us to. How can we have joy in the midst of sorrow, peace in the midst of grief? And it's found in verse 6 and in verse 9, this rejoicing that Peter's talking about. If you look at the phrase in verse 6, in this you rejoice, You say, well, what is this that we rejoice in? A better translation would be, for that reason you rejoice. Well, you say, well, what reason? It's found in verse three to verse five, the reason that we looked at last week, that there is, by the grace of God, in our lives as Christians, this living hope that God has caused in us. He's caused us, verse three, to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Peter says, for that reason you rejoice, that God by great mercy has caused you to be born again to a living hope. How? because you've been united to the living Savior who's been raised from the dead. And this great future inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, full of glory, kept in heaven by God. Peter's saying this is how you can rejoice. This is how your cup can overflow in any situation. It's by remembering the reason for which God has caused this joy in your life. This reason is the new life that he's given us, being born again. Regeneration, that's what Peter's getting at. For this reason, in this, you rejoice that God, he's causing you to be alive in Christ Jesus. He's given you this blessed hope. That's what Peter's getting at. The way we can rejoice, Peter's saying, think of God's work in your life and think of this future reality that is yours because God's caused you to be born again. And we know he's talking about this because if you look at the last piece of bread in verse 19, all of those statements in between are almost like a little parenthesis, but the meat here, verse 6 and verse 9, they're really connected. Verse 6 is saying, in this you rejoice, and then he goes off on a, you could say a little tangent, but verse 9 is summarizing what we rejoice in. In this you rejoice, verse 6, Then verse nine, that we will obtain the outcome of our faith, the obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And next week, Lord willing, we'll look at this salvation in a greater extent. Verse 10, concerning the salvation, the prophets spoke about it. And then we see also the angels long to inquire in this salvation. But Peter is saying, This is how you can rejoice. It is because one day you will obtain something great. You will obtain the salvation of your souls. How? By faith, by grace through faith, by receiving, not bringing something, but by receiving this free gift, that's what Peter's getting at. And if you look at chapter one, verse 21, that word faith, it's always tied to this blessed hope, this salvation to be fully revealed at our Lord's return. And you can see that in verse 21 of 1st Peter 1. Again, faith and then the hope of the glory to come is what Peter loves to press in on. And he writes in 1st Peter 1.21 that through him, so through our Lord, we're believers in God. who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, and then here's that word faith and hope tied together, so that your faith and hope are in God. Peter is using this word faith and tying it to hope, and what he'll get at throughout the letter is he's showing us that our faith this, you could say, eschatological, this end times, culmination, climax of what we will obtain on that last day when our Lord returns, fixing our eyes on the glory to come, Peter's going to show us is what God uses to help us persevere through sorrow, through grievous trials, through various trials. Fixing on this glory, this salvation that is to be revealed. This living hope that is ours. This inheritance of the new creation that is ours. Being kept and guarded by the power of God that is ours. And all those benefits, they're not loosely attached over here. And so it's not like you have to come to Christ and then you have to go and pick up a basket and try and find all the different benefits and put it back into your backpack. No, Peter's saying if you've come to Christ, Because you're united to this glorious, whole, full Savior, you get all the full, eternal, infinite inheritance that's His, because you're joined to Him. He's the true heir, but now you're united to Him. He's your elder brother, and now this inheritance is yours. You're joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Do we know the reason then Paul, or Peter rather, brings up this future inheritance? How do we know for sure that this glory to come produces praise and rejoicing in all circumstances? How do we see that connection? Well, if you look in verse 6 to verse 8, we see here, we'll look in a moment at the present reality, but look what happens. He goes to the various trials in the world, but he doesn't end there. There's a cup of trial. But then there's also the cup of rejoicing, and he's saying that if you fix your eyes on this glory to come, you'll be able to be like the one who, though, verse six, now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, and then halfway through verse seven, that you may be found to result in praise and glory and honor When? It says, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter's saying when Jesus Christ returns, though you've been grieved through various trials in this world, you're gonna abound. You're gonna overflow in glory and praise and honor when your Savior returns. How do we know that? Verse 8, he says, because though you haven't seen him, you love him. think of the love you're gonna have when you see him even though you're grieved by various trials in this world you love him still and Peter says though you don't now see him you believe in him and look at this and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory so how do we know that gazing upon this future reality of the glory to come and our Savior and His return, how do we know that produces joy and rejoicing and inexpressible joy? Well, we see Peter making that connection. We see this parallel of the paradox in the Christian life, that it is this focused look by faith on the glory to come that produces this in our life. And the question is, Do we have that present joy, whatever experience we find ourselves in? Because that verb rejoicing in verse six is actually in the present tense. So Peter's not saying you rejoice at one point, but in the sense that Peter's getting at is that this rejoicing is a present characteristic, a statement of fact on these believers in Asia Minor. sent out into exile, those suffering. Peter's saying, if I could look at your life, even though you're grieved by all these trials, I see this rejoicing, I see something that only God can do in the soul of a believer, this present characteristic. Now, if you look throughout the Bible and you see various trials, sufferings, persecutions, You look at the people of Israel and they went in the wilderness and they had different trials there and at different times, you see that they forgot God, the one who delivered them from Pharaoh and part of the Red Sea, they forgot that God could provide for them in the wilderness. And so they have a, you could say a trial of some kind and what do they do? They don't rejoice that the God who delivered me in times past is the God that can deliver me in times present and the God that can deliver me in the future. The people of Israel, they weren't like the believers here in Asia Minor, but the characteristic of their life as you look throughout the Old Testament is that they had a stiff neck. Often you see the prophets speak of them as a stiff-necked people, a hardened people, a grumbling people, and that was God's greatest displeasure with the people of Israel. They weren't rejoicing, they weren't giving thanks and honor to God as they ought. But when we look at our own heart and we ask the Lord to examine our own life, we see we're not really much better than the people of Israel. And we know the temptations within is to have this joy, this rejoicing, this cup of rejoicing that is inexpressible and full of glory. We know what it's like for it to wane in the human sense. We know what it's like for the rejoicing to grow cold and dim. What do we do in that circumstance before we get to our present experience? If we want to see what the people of Asia Minor had, these believers in Jesus Christ, that they rejoiced, they thought on the salvation to come. What do we do if we find that our own heart, our own life, is growing cold, is waning, is not rejoicing as we ought? George Mueller, I love this exhortation, he says each day he needs to get his soul happy in Jesus Christ. That's what Peter's getting at. You're not going to endure and persevere through various kinds of trials, whether in the church life or in the world, if you're not getting your soul happy in Jesus. GK Chesterton wrote a news article in the paper, and some man asked him the problem of the world, and he didn't say, well, the people in my church are the problem in the world, or the people in the world are the problem in the world. He just wrote in his essay, I am. Period. And that's telling something. When we long for revival, when we long for the church, and when we long for men and women to rejoice in the glory to come, our first response must be, Lord, do that in my life. Lord, give me that joy that is inexpressible. filled with glory. George Muller knew that. I must get my soul happy in Jesus. And if we all do that, that's going to be a happy rejoicing church. Now how do we get our soul happy in Jesus? If you look at briefly two texts, I love these texts. Psalm 85, The psalmist knew what it was like after they've been in exile to have a grumbling heart, a heart that does not rejoice. And in Psalm 85, we have an inspired prayer from those, the sons of Korah, who asked God to do just this, to make, you could say, their soul revived, happy, rejoicing. Psalm 85, verse six and seven, we can each pray this every morning we get up. Psalm 85 verse six to seven, will you not revive us again? For what great aim, Lord? Will you not revive my soul again? Will you not restore it and kindle it up afresh? That your people, that me first, Lord, may rejoice in you. Show us your steadfast love, O God. O Lord, grant us your salvation. It's very interesting if you look in verse nine, Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him. So after the psalmist has prayed that God would revive their soul in his heart, that he would have this rejoicing in God, look at the consequences. Verse nine, when this salvation is on our heart and on our lips and we're rejoicing in what God's done for us, look at the outcome. It's that glory may dwell in your land. I remember listening to a sermon on this, that would this maybe be the way that God would send revival? We know revival is a sovereign work of God, but what if we prayed this, that God would we be a rejoicing people so that this nation would see your glory on full display, that a rejoicing people in God, regardless of the circumstances we face, would be so blessed and used by you, that glory would be filled and glory would dwell in our land." The psalmist prayed that. Peter knew of rejoicing and the Christians in his day and difficulty. What else can we pray? If you look at Psalm 90 verse 14, another Beautiful prayer by Moses, each day to have his soul satisfied. What, by the trinkets of this world or by God? Look what Moses prays, and this is where joy is produced. You'll see this connection, Psalm 90 verse 14, Moses says, satisfy us, and we can each pray this tomorrow morning. Satisfy me, you could personalize it, in the morning, With what? With your steadfast love. With this salvation that you've given me. Satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love for what great aim? That we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Do you see that connection? How is joy produced in God's people? It is meditating right now by faith and then one day by sight on this salvation that we have obtained. That's what Peter is getting at. In this you rejoice. regardless of the circumstances. And what? That we by grace, by the great mercy of God, will obtain the salvation of our souls. And Peter, he knows that it's not just an entranceway into the kingdom of God, but the gospel is for God's people day in and day out, and we must preach this gospel to our souls if we're to be happy, if we're to be satisfied or rejoicing in the biblical sense. So you can take some texts in the Psalms, and Calvin says the Psalm books, the anatomy of the human heart, there's a Psalm for every situation you're in that you can pray and bring before God. And then you can also, as Sinclair Ferguson says, go to the New Testament in the Gospels, see the life of your Lord Jesus Christ, and then look throughout the epistles and see every blessing that is tied up in Jesus Christ. Paul says that Jesus Christ is your justification. So you don't just have justification, that great declaration of being righteous in the sight of God by Christ's righteousness clothing you by faith. But Paul will say Christ is your justification. Justification is tied up with Him. If you didn't have Christ, you'd have no justification. It's not something separate. So look throughout the New Testament and see that in Christ phrase, and see your name tied up in that. In Jesus Christ, you're justified. In Christ, you're sanctified. You, as Peter will say, have been born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We'll be glorified because of Christ. Those are things you can do to think about the future reality in Christ that you've received already, but await the greater not yet. And Peter says that will cause joy when there's that paradox of sorrow. Now with that said, let's look briefly at the meat in 1 Peter 1, verse 6-8. We can have true rejoicing when we fix our eyes day by day on the salvation we've received, In what circumstances can that promise be ours? Look at verse 6 again. First, that word though. In this situation, though, now, in this time frame, Now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." Peter's first speaking about the nature of these trials, and he speaks of the time frame. He's not necessarily saying that suffering in this world will be short, only a couple years of suffering. That's not what he's saying, but he's using this word a little while in terms of what we read in 2 Corinthians 4. Our suffering in this fallen world on the pathway to glory is but for a little in comparison with the glory to come. We sense the outer man wasting away, though the inner man is being renewed day by day. But Paul says the light and momentary afflictions Not that they're not significant, not that they don't hurt and don't bring sorrow. They're light, momentary, not in their nature, but in comparison with the glory to come, they're light and momentary. That's what Peter's saying. So suffering is hard, it's real, it hurts, it feels like a long time. But Peter's saying, lift your eyes. It's for about a little while in comparison to the salvation you'll receive when your Lord returns or when you depart and depart and be with Christ in glory. Acts 14.22, it's interesting, Paul says this to the disciples, That he was strengthening the disciples, encouraging them in the faith. And you say, well what is he encouraging the Christians with? How does he strengthen the disciples? Listen to what Paul said. He encouraged them, he strengthened them to continue in the faith, to persevere. by saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. He's not saying that you have to go through all these different sufferings to enter God's household, his kingdom, and receive salvation. That's not what he's speaking about when he speaks about the kingdom of God. What he's saying is that before we enter the very presence of God, when we receive that final inheritance, when our Lord returns, or when we go to Him, when we depart this world, he encouraged them by saying, it's through many tribulations. And I love John Newton, he says, it's through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. That's what Paul's saying. When you face various kinds of trials, don't be alarmed. When Christians suffer and it seems like two steps forward and a couple back, don't be alarmed, it's through many. tribulations, that we must enter the kingdom of God. And Peter will say in verse 6 of 1 Peter 1, it's a little while in comparison to eternity, and then he says about the nature of these trials, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. Now, the various trials that these believers are facing, we know it's suffering for righteousness sake, it's suffering persecution for the cause of Christ, and you could Read through the letter, we'll get to it eventually. But we know they're exiled for their faith in Jesus Christ. There's Jewish believers in Christ who are now exiled from Jerusalem and suffering in that extent. Chapter 2 verse 12 talks about believers facing false accusations for the cause of Christ. Chapter 2 verse 18 and 20, unjust treatment for the cause of Christ. Chapter 3 verse 1, a hint of Christian women in the church being converted but now they have unbelieving husbands and now there's this tension and suffering and hardship within their marriage. Peter's speaking about various trials in that immediate context, but we know we could broadly speak in a general sense about any kind of trial, but that's what these believers are suffering in. It's for the cause of Christ. It's for his gospel to advance. And what we see here is not a people complaining. We see a people with this holy confidence rejoicing, pressing forward, because this glory to come so possesses their heart that they can't help but praise Jesus Christ. That is the nature that they're facing. And you can see the purpose of their suffering in verse 7 when God sends suffering and persecution across the church. He writes that, Here's the aim, the purpose of these various trials for this particular church. Verse 7, it's 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. Peter's saying that that out of God's providence, it's not necessarily something wrong with the church when the church goes through persecution, but he's saying that under God's providence, God so uses the sinful intentions of men and actions of men for a good purpose in the life of the church, to test, Peter says, to prove the genuineness, the authenticity of the believer's faith in Jesus Christ. And it's interesting, he compares it to gold. And if you think of a goldsmith, the goldsmith puts gold through the furnace and the gold, all the dross on the gold is scraped off and the gold piece is more pure. It's more refined. But if you put a piece of hay in the furnace, it's just going to go up in smoke. It's going to be done away with altogether. But Peter's saying to the believers here, be encouraged that that the fact that you're enduring through various trials and rejoicing, that actually testifies to the genuineness and the authenticity of your faith in Jesus Christ. And he says, I want you to know though, your faith in Jesus Christ is even greater than gold. He says, In verse 7, it is more precious than gold. Why? Because gold perishes. You can invest in gold, but the gold, you can look at the stock market and the stock is always going up and it's always going down, and eventually gold is going to be all done away with altogether in this world. It's going to be burned up by fire, Peter will say in 2 Peter. What's Paul saying or what's Peter saying? He's saying that your faith in one sense is like gold being refined, proving the authenticity of your faith, but it's greater than gold because gold perishes. Your Savior that you have faith in, He never perishes. He never increases in value. He never decreases in value. Jesus Christ has infinite value and infinite worth. And Peter's saying that trials in your life are a means of Christ stripping you down to the bare bones to show the foundation that your life is built upon. And we know a boat is only truly tested when the storms come. And that's what Peter is saying. Your faith in Jesus Christ is not a waste. The world will say it's a waste. Satan would love to think that you're wasting your time worshiping Jesus Christ. But Peter says you are doing something that is of infinite value. That if you give your mind to Christ, and your heart to Christ, and your life to Christ, That is the best life well spent. And now you say, well, how do I know that this faith in Jesus Christ is more precious than gold when I feel, as Peter's people did, various trials that actually grieve. You've been grieved. You've been wounded. You've been afflicted. The rod has hit you hard. You haven't seen sunshine for many days. How can we How can we know the present trial won't undo us? That's a genuine question. I'll give you a quote that I found helpful from a friend. He writes, well you fear that a particular trial may be your undoing. it will be the one that proves the genuineness of your faith. And then he goes on and says, keep on trusting the one who keeps you trusting, and you will be kept by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed. That's what Peter's saying. He's saying, though you feel like you'll be undone, by various trials. Keep on trusting the one who's keeping you trusting. Keep on looking to the one who's keeping you and holding you for the salvation to be fully revealed. And that's how God preserves his people. Now, very quickly, what other present reality do we experience? Not only do we experience various trials, but in verse eight, that final though statement is that we experience various trials, and we live through them by faith, but it's right now by faith in an unseen Christ. Though, verse 8, you have 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. What Peter's saying is, though you haven't laid your eyes on Jesus Christ yet, He's precious to you. You love Him. You serve Him. You say with that hymn writer, I am His and He is mine. You say with the other hymn writer, when all else fails, He still remains. Jesus is mine. And our Lord says, John 20 verse 29, blessed are those who have not seen Me and yet believe. That's what Peter's getting at to these believers here. They haven't seen him as the apostles had. And he says, though you have not seen him, you believe in him. And that phrase, believe in the unseen Christ, one professor, Dr. McLean, writes it this way, that this belief It's threefold. It's knowledge. Though you have not seen Him, you have knowledge of Jesus Christ. But it doesn't just stop with knowledge. It goes to ascent, to believe, to understand that these facts and knowledge about Christ are true. But then true belief, true faith, it doesn't just have knowledge and assent about Jesus Christ, but it has trust as well that you rest personally in Him. And Dr. McLean would go on and say, well, it's no good if you're tired and you need to take a seat. And you say, well, I know that's a bench right there. And I believe that that bench will uphold me. But you never just sit back and sit in the bench. Well, that's not true belief. That's not true faith in the knowledge of the bench and the belief that a bench will accomplish that work that it's been designed for. It's not belief, faith, until it's trust, until you let go and rest and receive. And that's what Peter's saying. It's not that... He's not rebuking them and saying, you got to love Christ more even though you don't see Him. He's commending them. He's saying that this is also a present reality in your life. You're rejoicing presently, but you're also loving Jesus Christ even when you don't see Him. And when afflictions arise and when persecution from Nero comes, It only increases your love for Christ. And it only expands your heart to see Him as He is. That's what Peter is saying. And I know many of you, this evening thinking pastorally of various trials many of you have faced over the last several years. In Peter's language here, the fact that you still love Jesus Christ and are worshiping Him, Peter says, is testimony to the authenticity and the genuineness of your faith. As Newton says, that grace has kept us safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. How can that paradox be your paradox? Paul says sorrowful yet rejoicing as Peter says rejoicing obtaining the salvation of your souls though grieved by various trials though not seeing the Savior we love with sight yet but by faith How can that paradox be yours? Well, it's yours in Jesus Christ. And Samuel Rutherford, I'll conclude with this. I find it helpful. Writing to a widow in his church, suffering affliction, almost in the presence of Christ, her days are running short. Samuel Rutherford says, when you will look back to all the pains and sufferings that you felt in your life, then you shall see your life and sorrow was only one step, one stride from prison in this world to glory everlasting." And that is the heartbeat of Peter. We're one day closer to our eternal home, we're one stride closer and further away from this prison, you could call it, this fallen, groaning world, to everlasting glory. And that understanding, that belief, that trust, that's what helps God's people persevere, both in joy and in sorrow, in the same cup. May God help us, let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you that as Paul said in Philippians 4, Lord, that we can abound and we can be brought low, that we can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me, Lord. And we know, Father, that often we don't take these promises to heart and bring them in prayer to you, Lord. But we pray this evening, Father, that we would have a heart and faith expanded and strengthened and encouraged that we would be able to live in this world with our eyes fixed on Jesus, but also useful for the advancement of your kingdom in this world. And we pray this, not for our name, not for our legacy, but that Jesus Christ would be praised both in our life and for generations to come, and then for all eternity. in His presence. And we ask this in His name. Amen. Amen. We're going to sing 404 from Hymns of Grace in response.