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Let's go ahead and get into our study of God's word. This is why we're here in first Peter. We're going to be kicking off in verse three. But in Peter's letter, as you're turning there, chapter one, there are at least 15 times that Peter will refer to the Christian suffering. He'll even use eight different Greek words to describe it. He'll talk about the Christian suffering for living godly. Some of you know what that's like, how you're persecuted because of your biblical worldview or because you decide to live holy as the Lord is holy. You will suffer for living a life that's pleasing to the Lord. You'll suffer for calling yourself a Christian. You name the name of Christ and you're persecuted because of that. You'll be attacked by unbelievers. Peter will write, and you'll suffer because of that. In the context of our letter, Peter knows that there was going to be more than just suffering, but there was going to be a persecution of those that have faith in Jesus. And we know that from history that that indeed happened. And it seems like we're heading there again. There is power in the name of Jesus. And see the kingdom of darkness. The devil is not threatened by the name Mohammed. He's not threatened by the name Buddha. He's not threatened by the names of the millions of gods of Hinduism. Because there is only one name given among men under heaven by which we are saved, and that is the of Jesus. He is the one that sets the captives free. He is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life. And so there's power in the name of Jesus. And if you ever want to stir things up, all you got to do is say the name of Jesus and everything just stops. Have you noticed that? I remember one morning I was training at. At. At the gym, and this guy. And I don't know how this always happens to me, inevitably someone will ask me, well, what do you do for a living? And I say, I'm a pastor. And it's like, oh, oh. And we start talking about Jesus. And I'm telling you, the moment the name of Jesus is spoken, the music turns off, all the weights stop clanking, and everyone's quiet and they're listening. Because of the name of Jesus and the work that the Lord has done in your life, because of your faith, he's faithful to complete it. He is going to continue that work until the day that you stand before him and hear, well done, you, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord. But until that day comes, we know that there are going to be difficulties and trials and tribulations and persecution. And so, in light of that, Peter was writing to encourage the church to push back against evil. He even says, resist the devil. And if you haven't noticed, there is an onslaught of evil coming our way. It's already here. And it's the church's job to be the salt and to be the light and to push back against that evil that wants to destroy our land, to destroy you, to destroy your marriage, to destroy your family. Satan has come to rob, kill, and to destroy. Jesus says, I've come that you might have life and life more abundantly. And in First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 9, Peter writes and says to the church, resist the devil, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. See, it would be one of the tactics of the devil to get you to think you're the only one that's experiencing this. You're the only one that's struggling right now. And how do you know this? Well, because you've seen other people's lives on Instagram and they don't have problems like you do. Everyone's life is perfect. Their vacations are perfect, their makeup is perfect, their family is perfect, their home is perfect. And then you discover none of it's real. Did you know that all these studies are now coming out to show that a lot of these married couples, they're actually not even married? They're pretending to be married couples that live together, that have this amazing married life and they don't even like each other. They're hired to look like they're married couples. It's entertainment. It's not real. And yet we look at our lives and we say, well, I'm falling short every single day, my life. I have struggles, I have difficulties. And they're real and they're hard. And I don't know how I'm going to make it through. But I hope at the end of our short time that we have this morning together in God's word, that you will discover at a personal level that every trial, every painful situation, every difficulty will be used for your good and for the glory of the Lord. Would you please join with me as we pray? Father, I ask now that you would add your blessing to the reading and to the study of your word. Lord, I would like to pray specifically for those that are having a hard time. I want to pray specifically, Lord, for those that are in the midst of a fiery trial. Lord, I want to pray for those who are having their faith tested. They are questioning your love. They're questioning your faithfulness. They're questioning the validity and truth of your word. They're under spiritual attack. And I'm asking, Lord, that you would lift them up today. I'm asking, Lord, that you would remind them of your faithfulness. I'm asking, Lord, that you would give them spiritual insight. And Lord, that they would not grow weary while doing good. For in due season they shall reap if they do not lose heart. And so, Lord, would you give us ears to hear what your spirit would say to your church. And we ask these things in Jesus name and we all say Amen. In verse three of First Peter, chapter one, Peter writes, and he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. And that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in. In the last time. Now, if you have been a student of the Scripture for some time and you have studied the New Testament, you would have discovered that the Pauline epistles emphasize this major theme of faith. Have strong faith. If you would read the letters of John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, you would understand that there is an emphasis placed upon the love that comes from the Lord that he has shown us, that we are to show each other as we are to love one another. But with Peter, there is an overwhelming message of having an overcoming hope, particularly in the midst of trials, in the midst of difficulties. When you as a Christian just say, you know what? I've had it. This is too much. I'm done. What a great, great book of the Bible to have for right now. See, with all the struggles in life that are real and all the pain, all the suffering, we live in this world. Jesus said, in this world you will have tribulation. He didn't say that everything was going to be easy. He didn't say that it would be tiptoeing through the tulips. He didn't say that your life would go perfect. He said, in this world, actually, contrary to this life of ease, you will have tribulation. But he didn't just leave you there. He said, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I have overcome the world. That's the hope that we have. We must never forget as a follower of Jesus that we have a living hope, because Jesus is alive. He's alive. And God in his great mercy has made us alive spiritually when we were dead in our trespasses and in our sins. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, where it says, and you he made alive who were dead in your trespasses and in your sins. That's who we were before Christ. We were born dead in our sinful nature. You didn't have to teach us how to sin. We did it excellently all on our own. It was a part of who we were. But then we met Jesus. He changed who we were on the inside, and then that started being displayed on the outside. You know, often people will come to church and they'll try to, you know, better their life or be a better person. Because, you know, popular belief is, well, you get to heaven by being a good person. You got to make sure your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. And so I'm going to stop partying so much and stop drinking so much, and I'm not going to cuss as much as I used to. I'm not going to be, you know, connecting emotionally, physically with these different people. I'm going to try to be a better person. And they'll go a few months and then they get frustrated and they say, well, you know what? I just can't do this anymore. I tried this whole Jesus thing. It just didn't work out for me. And what they were saying is that if they could clean up the outside, that somehow would. It would make its way inside. But you realize very quickly that that's an impossible task. See, when you put your faith in Jesus, he takes what was dead inside and he makes you alive spiritually. He changes who you are on the ins. So now all of a sudden, your desires change, your thoughts start to change, your words coming out of your mouth. The way that you live is all changing because of what Jesus did for you on the inside. The inside goes to the outside, not the outside to the inside when it comes to being born again, made alive spiritually. And all of this is possible because of what Jesus did on the cross and because he not only laid down his life, he rose again. Listen to what Paul says in First Corinthians 15, verses 15 through 20. And he says, and we apostles would all be lying about God, for we said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you're still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost. And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead and he is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. And because Jesus rose from the dead, you will be raised again into eternal life. And you have that hope and you have that assurance. See, Christianity, if we to use this term loosely, is the only religion in the world. And we understand it's a relationship with God, but it's the only religion in the world that is not a works based religion. Think about it. You have to earn your way to heaven in every other religion in the world. But you know what the caveat is? You won't know if you're good enough until after you're dead. That's kind of a big deal. And I don't know if you would agree with me. That's a little too late to find out if you were good enough to get to heaven. See, when you put your faith in Jesus, you have that assurance of salvation. You have an inheritance that is there waiting for you in heaven. And so we have an inheritance in heaven that is described by Peter as being incorruptible, undefiled. It doesn't fade away and is reserved in heaven with our names on it. With your name on it. Now, it was a couple years ago and Austin and I were trying to figure this out where I came to speak at a men's conference up at North Bay. And I had scheduled my flight out of Orange county to get here just in time, or I landed in Baltimore so that I could drive. You know, it was closer than flying into Dulles. And I had a car reservation and I timed it perfectly that I would get in land in Baltimore, I would get to the car rental agency, I would get my car, I mapped it out, I could get there in time because I was speaking that night and it would be really bad if I wasn't there. And I was the only speaker for, you know, that conference. And so I get to the desk to get my reservation, my, my car, and I walk up and say, hi, my name's Garrett Beeler, I have a reservation for a car. And they said, sorry sir, we don't have a car for you. And I said, well, what do you mean you don't have a car. I made a reservation, and they're like, I don't know what to tell you, but we don't have a car for you. And I said, well, what's the point of having a reservation? And I said, isn't that like, the whole point? Like, I go online, I reserve a car so that when I get here, there's a car saved for me with my name on it. And evidently there were about a hundred other people that were in the same boat, and some were very, very vocal about it. There were no cars for anyone, and they all had reservations. And some people were getting very, very angry, and they were yelling and they were screaming. And then I almost thought, man, I'm going to start getting angry now. But then it dawned on me. What if there's a guy that's going to this men's conference that's here at this rental place and sees me getting angry? This is a bad look. And so I just kept it to myself, you know, thank God. But I finally Ubered there and got in just in time. And I said, boys, I'm coming in hot. I'm coming in. I'm coming in. Worship had started and all of it. I made it. Thank God. But you will not arrive in heaven and find that your reservation has been canceled or has been given to someone else. Isn't that a good thing? For we have an inheritance that does not fade away, that is reserved for each of us who have faith in Jesus. Now, Peter doesn't describe what those treasures are. He doesn't say, well, the treasures in heaven are going to be like this. But he does describe what they are not. We who have faith in Jesus have an eternal inheritance that won't be corrupted, it won't be defiled, it will not fade away, and it will not be given away. Sorry you got here late. We gave your treasures to the guy that came here before you. There won't be a government, heavenly government shutdown, nor a heavenly economic crisis. We can all say, well, thank you, Lord, for that. All of these things I'm very happy about. And when we stand before Jesus, we will discover a storehouse of heavenly treasure given to us by the Lord. And as a follower of Jesus, we have been set apart from the world through our faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit sets us apart. It's the process known as sanctification. We have been cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus as he laid down his life for the sins of the world. And he said, it is finished. What was Finished. Well, the price was paid for our sin. The process of getting to salvation was now laid out for those who believe. And so we have been begotten by God or made alive spiritually. Some people in the church will say, well, you know, I'm a Christian, but I'm not one of those born agains. Well, what are you then? In John 3, you know the story, the ruler of the Jews, one of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, he came to Jesus by night. He was the first ever nick at night. Before nickelodeon ever did it, he came to Jesus by night and he said, what must I do to be born again? Or what must I do to be saved? And he said, Jesus said, you must be born again. You must be made alive spiritually. And so if you say you're a Christian, but you're not born again, I have some bad news for you then. You're not made alive spiritually. You must be made alive spiritually. You must have that sinful nature of yours. When you're dead in your trespasses and in sin, you must be made alive. And that process takes place through your faith in Jesus, and he makes you alive. And if you have been made alive spiritually, you have an inheritance waiting for you in heaven. So these things pertain to those who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. As we read in verse five of first Peter chapter one, he says, you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, the Greek language is a very robust language. English, we kind of have one word and it kind of encompasses everything. Like, you know, I love my wife and I love the dodgers. Those are two very simple or two very different things with a simple word attached to both. Here in the Greek language, this word for kept is actually a military term. It means to be guarded or protected by a military escort, either to prevent a hostile invasion or to keep inhabitants of a besieged city from leaving. So a couple things to point out here real quickly. If you have faith in Jesus, you are guarded and protected by the Lord until you arrive at your final destination, which is eternity with Jesus in heaven. Number two, you are guarded and protected by the Lord through your faith in Jesus against the judgment, the condemnation, and the wrath of God. Because the price of your sin was paid on the cross through what Jesus did, you now are guarded against. You are protected from the wrath of God upon unrighteousness. That is who you are. And you're kept through your faith in Jesus. If you're kept through your faith in Jesus, what do you think is going to be the number one attack against Christians? Your faith? Your faith? Do you truly believe what you say you believe? You know, for years we thought that there was middle ground. We thought that there was such thing as a gray area. In light of recent events, we have understood more fully that there is no middle ground. There never has been any middle ground. There never will be middle ground. You are either following the Lord or you are not. You who are kept by faith are going to have your faith tested. You are going to have your faith attacked. You will be persecuted because of your faith. This is why Peter is writing, because the church will experience difficult times. It may not just be a big collective attack or persecution, but it will for sure be individual, strategic attacks against you who have made that decision to follow Jesus. Jesus did the work. He paid the price for your sin. We simply must believe in whom and him whom he sent. God sent his only son. In conversation with Jesus. In a conversation with Jesus, there were those that asked, as was recorded in John 6, verses 28 and 29. They said, well, we want to perform God's works too, like we want to do what God's calling us to do. Jesus told them, this is the only work that God wants from you. Believe in the one whom he has sent. This speaks foundationally of having a real, genuine faith. See from your faith in Jesus all the great things that you desire to do, all the ways that you want to be used by God and stem from your faith, your connection to Jesus. He is the vine, we are the branches. Apart from him, we can do nothing. Without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord, the Bible tells us. And so Jesus said the work for salvation was finished. We now need to believe in that. We rejoice that the work was done. I don't have to earn my way or find out that I wasn't good enough after it's too late to do anything about it. I have that assurance of salvation. I have an inheritance that's kept for me with my name on it. And it says in verse six, in this, you greatly rejoice. Like, yes, amen to that. I do rejoice over that. But then all of a sudden, just when everything seems to be going good, you read the second half of verse six, which says, though now, for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Up until the second half of verse six, I was like, yes. And then you read the second half of verse six and you're like, no, I wonder how many of you here today, like, just generally speaking, how many of you here today would say that you're going through a challenging time? Just raise your hand. I don't know the details, but yeah, I'm going through a trial. Wow. A lot of you. I wonder how many of you that are currently being grieved by a various trial would say to yourself, you know what, I really needed this right now. In fact, this is good for me. I love it. Yet for a little while, Peter says, if need be, I'm grieved by a various trial. I mean, have you ever just sat back when everything's going smoothly and thought, you know what? I just need a trial right now. Things are going too well. I'll tell you what you really need is an examination and some prayer after service. Like, you don't ever say that if needed. Well, let's look at it from this perspective. The Olympic trials are held in order to select the cream of the crop, the top tier athletes to represent the country. See, trials will show athletes where they stand amongst the best of the best. Now, as a Christian, you will quickly discover in the midst of a trial that your sinful nature and your sinful desires will hinder you from conquering the trial, let alone enduring it. Now, sometimes in church circles, you'll have somebody on the outside looking into your life as you're struggling and working through your trial. Hey, brother, God's just trying to see what you're made out of. Now, I don't think that's heretical, but I think it would be better to say God already knows what we're made out of. And when we go through trials, we discover what we're made out of. We discover very quickly where our hope lies, if our faith is actually genuine or we're just kind of going through the motions. See, God will use trials in a very special way. See, trials will show us who we are and where our, our hope truly lies. And if our hope is in someone else or something else other than Jesus, you're done, you're cooked. You will be in a very bad spot. Trials. Now, this might just bend your brain in a way you didn't think it could bend according to what we just read. Trials meet a need that you have in your life. Trials meet a need. Yes, you heard me. Trials meet a need that we have as followers of Jesus in our life. Now, trials are selected by God. He'll use trials in our lives. Sometimes they're corrective where we get to a point where Like, Lord, I have sinned. Would you please forgive me? Would you search my heart? Would you see if there's any wicked way in me, lead me on the right path? It may be that the Lord uses trials to prepare us for something that's in the future, because he sees the beginning from the end, and he sees the calling that he has upon your life. And where you're at currently, you're not yet where he needs you to be. And so this plan that he has for your life out here, and you're currently here, he says, I need to prepare you to step into the great plans that I have for you, but you're not yet ready for it. And so the Lord can use those trials in a preparatory manner. But see, God determines the trials for our own good if there is a need to be met. And he'll also use various types of trials for different purposes. Yet in all things, they will be used for your good and for his glory to be revealed. This is probably one of the hardest things as a Christian to comprehend and to endure, because everything within you will scream the opposite of what we just read in God's word. I don't feel like God loves me. I feel like he's abandoned me. I feel like my prayers hit the ceiling and they come falling back down. I feel like God's word isn't true anymore because I've been waiting on the Lord and this isn't happening. I'm not seeing it. I'm not feeling it. I think this is all a farce, and the devil's right there saying, yes, that's the right path. No more faith, no more trust, no more looking unto Jesus. Lean on your own understanding. Go with how you feel. Speak your your truth, not God's truth. Just as a side note, if you've ever heard anybody speak their own truth, or if you have heard people say, well, you need to speak your own truth, can I just say this as a side note? If your truth is not God's truth, then it's Satan's lie. Look to what God's word says. And if your faith is being tested, it's hard. Trials are difficult. They're painful. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. You've experienced it. Some of you are currently going through it. You know the struggle is real. I mean, I know this sounds a little selfish, but I must confess, as a pastor, I'm much more open to you going through trials than me going through trials. I much rather have you come to me. Hey, could you please pray for me? I'm struggling. Than for me to be like, hey, I'm really having a hard time. Please pray for me. But yet our trials are controlled by God. Well, why, Lord? Well, Peter tells us why. In verse 7, he says that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This word genuineness in the Greek language means you have been proved or you have been tested and you have been found true. And so the fiery trial. As a follower of Jesus, that fiery trial purifies our faith like fire purges impurities from gold. Gold will perish. Godly character remains. For those of you that are currently walking through the fiery trial, do you not know that God is still with you? We walk by faith, not by feelings. We based our relationship with the Lord upon the facts found in the word of God. Facts don't care about how you feel. That's the word of God. The same yesterday, today and forever. He has not brought you this far to just say, hey, good luck. You're on your own from here. Fend for yourself. God said, fear not. I'll never leave you, and I will never forsake you. And you will be led by the Lord into the trial. You will be led by the Lord through the trial, and you will be led by the Lord out of it. And it will bring praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Warren Wiersbe, great writer, commentator, pastor, he said this, and I quote, when God permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat. End of quote. Many of you are familiar with this, but in the East, a goldsmith would keep the metal in the furnace until he could see his own reflection in it. At that time, he would know that the gold was pure. Think about that as a follower of Jesus, so too, after we have gone through our trial, we reflect Jesus in a greater way. Isn't it true that in the midst of the trial, you never pray more? You've never read the Bible more in your life. You have never gone to church more. You have never been so desperate to receive from the Lord. All of a sudden, Lord's got somebody's attention and then he begins to work in your life. The sinful areas of our heart are getting melted away. Even as the dross percolates to the top of that cauldron when it's heated to the right temperature and then it gets scooped out and removed. So Jesus sees his reflection in your life and others will see Jesus in you. Remember what Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You'll have a deeper relationship where you see the Lord for who he truly is and others will see Jesus in you. In Second Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 7 through 9, it says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels or this physical body, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Paul writes and says, we're hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We're perplexed, but we're not in despair. Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. And trials can come at any point in your life. Trials can come when you're doing everything that you're supposed to be doing. In Psalm 23, have you ever noticed the transition between verses 3 and 4? Maybe look at it later today. But David writes that the Lord leads him on the paths of righteousness for his namesake in verse three. And then immediately in verse four it says, he's walking through the valley of shadow and death. Sometimes the paths of righteousness will lead through the valley of the shadow and death. But even when you're in that valley, the Lord is there still with you. He is still leading you, he is still guiding. He is still protecting you who are kept through your faith. He hasn't abandoned you and he'll see you through to the very end. And here in our final two verses today we're given, I like to give you, as we're given, four things that we can hold onto in the midst of our trial. In verses 8 and 9 we read Jesus, whom, having not seen, we love. Though now you do not see him yet believing you, rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. So number one, as we close out today, love the Lord, love him, he loves you. And you won't find your relationship with Jesus being what it should be. If it's just a one sided relationship where God loves you and it's not reciprocated. Keep your love for the Lord primary. Number two, trust in the Lord. Have faith in the One that loves you more than anyone else. And if you truly say that you trust the Lord, obey what he is calling you to do, obey his commandments. We don't want to have a faith that cannot be tested, so we trust in him even when we don't see it, even when we don't feel it. Thirdly, in that same faith, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice that the Lord is going to work in your life. The joy of the Lord is your strength. And even in faith, we praise God in the midst of the trial, knowing that he'll be true to his word. And then fourthly, and finally, open your hands and receive from the Lord. When you're in the midst of the trial and you get to the end of yourself, we become very, very open to receiving from the Lord. And so you say, lord, speak to me. Show me what I need to know. Lord, please reveal your plan to me. Help me through this time, and be prepared for God to provide exactly what you need. And so when you maintain your faith, you'll find the end of that faith leading you to salvation for your souls and where I'll leave you today. In Romans 8:18, it says, Paul writes, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And so, church, take hope, keep resisting the devil, be steadfast in your faith. Look into Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith, and he'll not let you down. Let's pray. Father. We ask that you would continue, Lord, as we go our separate ways to move by your spirit. Your word, O Lord, endures forever. And so I pray specifically, Lord, for those that are going through those fiery trials who are having their faith tested, Lord, I ask that you would strengthen them and that you would lift them up, that you would encourage them and that you would walk with them, Lord. May they feel your presence. May they take heart, and may they have that hope that overcomes. And I ask for these things in Jesus name. And we all say amen. Let's all stand. You know, as Pastor Chuck used to do with me as I was growing up, and I kind of adopted this myself, I'd like to leave you with this. May the Lord bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he be gracious unto you, and may he lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in Jesus name.