Born (Again) For The Glory – Part #2
1 PETER 1:1-25 – TEXT
1 PETER 1:6-12 – TODAY’S TEXT
* 1 PETER 1:6 – “Wherein ye GREATLY REJOICE, though now for a season, IF NEED BE, ye are in HEAVINESS THROUGH MANIFOLD TEMPTATIONS”:
* 1 PETER 1:7 – “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the APPEARING OF JESUS CHRIST”:
* WE MUST KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL OF GOD’S PLANS FOR OUR LIFE AND HOW GOD “ROLLS OUT” OUR LIFE – IS ALL FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE FUTURE WORK OF THE MINISTRY IN ETERNITY – AND IT ALL BEGINS NOW THAT WE ARE “BORN AGAIN” AS CHRISTIANS!
THIS IS THE REASON WHY MY FAVORITE HYMN IS “BLESSED ASSURANCE”:
“BLESSED ASSURANCE, JESUS IS MINE! OH WHAT A FORETASTE OF GLORY DIVINE! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long”.
“Perfect submission, perfect delight, VISIONS OF RAPTURE NOW BURST ON MY SIGHT; ANGELS DESCENDING BRING FROM ABOVE ECHOES OF MERCY, WHISPERS OF LOVE, This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising the Savior all the day long”.
“Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, WATCHING AND WAITING, LOOKING ABOVE, FILLED WITH HIS GOODNESS, LOST IN HIS LOVE. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising the Savior all the day long”.
* GOD IS PREPARING US FOR A LIFE TO COME, AND IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE THE “RAPTURE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST” AND “THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST JESUS” – KNOW THIS – I AM HEADING FOR HEAVEN, FOR “POST GRADUATE STUDIES”!
But as of now, God is preparing you and me for a life and service – YET TO COME! Nobody yet knows all that God has in store for us in Heaven and His earthly mission, that we share with Him during His “Millennial Reign”, here on earth. But this we do know, life today is a school in which God is training us up, for our future, that is in store for us in Heaven, and our earthly mission. This explains the presence of “TRIALS” in our lives. They are some of God’s tools and textbooks in the school of Christian experience.
*TRIALS MEETS NEEDS
The phrase, “IF NEED BE”, indicates that there are special times when God knows that we need to go through trials. Sometimes trials discipline us when we have disobeyed God’s will (PSALMS 119:67). At other times, trials prepare us for spiritual growth, or even help prevent us from sinning (2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-9). We do not always know the need being met, but we can trust God to know and to do what is best for us!
The Apostle Peter used the word “TRIALS”, rather than “TRIBULATIONS” OR “PERSECUTIONS”, because he was dealing with a general problem that Christians face, as they are surrounded by unbelievers. He shared several facts about “TRIALS”:
*TRIALS ARE “MANIFOLD” (VARIED)
The Apostle Peter used the word “MANIFOLD”, which literally means “Variegated, many colored”. He used the same word to describe “God’s Grace” in 1 PETER 4:10. No matter what “COLOR” they may be – a “Blue Monday” or a “Grey Tuesday” – “GOD’S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT” TO MEET THE NEED! We must not think that because we have overcome one kind of trial, we will automatically win them all. “Trials” are varied, and God matches the trial to our strengths and to our needs.
*TRIALS ARE NOT EASY – RIGHT?
The Apostle Peter did not suggest that we take a careless attitude towards “Trials”, because this would be deceitful. “Trials” produce what he called “HEAVINESS”. The word means “To experience grief or pain”. It is used to describe the Lord, in the “Garden of Gethsemane” (MATTHEW 26:37), and the sorrow of saints, at the death of loved ones (1 THESSALONIANS 4:13). To deny that our “Trials” are not painful is to make them even worse. Christians must accept the fact that there are difficult experiences in life, and not to just put on a “Brave Front”, just to appear more spiritual.
* TRIALS ARE CONTROLLED BY GOD
“Trials” do not last forever: They are “FOR A SEASON”. When God permits His children to go through the “Furnace”, He keeps His eyes on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. If we rebel, He may have to reset the clock, but if we submit, He will not permit us to suffer one minute too long. The important thing is that we learn the lessons He wants to teach us, and we bring glory to Him alone.
The Apostle Peter illustrates this truth by referring to the “Goldsmith”. No “Goldsmith” would deliberately waste one precious ounce of gold ore. He would put it into the smelting furnace, long enough to remove the cheap impurities; then he would pour it out and make from it A BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE OF VALUE. It’s been said that the Eastern Goldsmith would keep the metal in the furnace, UNTIL THEY COULD SEE THEIR FACE IN IT. So our Lord keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ in our trials!
The important point is that the “Glory” is not fully revealed until Jesus returns for His Church. Our trying experiences today are preparing us for THE GLORY TOMORROW. When we see Jesus Christ (“THE MAN OF SORROWS” – ISAIAH 53:3), we will bring praise, honor, and glory to Him – if we have been faithful in the SUFFERINGS of this life. Just as the assayer tests the gold to see if it is pure gold or counterfeit, so the trials of life test our faith to prove its sincerity.
* A FAITH THAT CANNOT BE TESTED – CANNOT BE TRUSTED!
In “The Parable of the Sower of the Seed”, the “SEED” (THE WORD OF GOD CONCERNING SALVATION) that fell on the “SHALLOW GROUND” produced near rootless plants, and the plants died when the “SUN” came up (MATTHEW 13:1-9, 18-23). The “SUN”, in the parable, represents “TRIBULATIONS AND/OR PERSECUTIONS”. The person who abandons his or her faith, when the “GOING GETS TOUGH” is only proving that in reality, his or her faith in Christ Jesus was “SHALLOW”.
Just like in God’s “First Church”, when God call the Hebrew people out of Egypt, they had enough faith in the Word of God – to sprinkle the blood of “The Passover Lamb” (CHRIST JESUS – 1 CORINTHIANS 5:7), over the doorway of their homes and “The death angel passed over them”, and just as the Hebrew people had enough faith to believe God, that they would pass through “The Red Sea”, without being destroyed and they praise God, for their “SALVATION” but when they went in the “WILDERNESS” (OF LIFE) – the TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES, that they suffered, led to their “UNBELIEF” and they perished in the wilderness, before they could enter into “THE PROMISED LAND”!
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16 – “For which cause we faint not; but though are outward man PERISH, yet the inward man is RENEWED day by day”.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 – “For our LIGHT AFFLICTIONS, which is but for a MOMENT, working FOR US a far more EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY” ;
2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 – “While we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”.
ROMANS 8:16 – “The (Holy) Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the CHILDREN OF GOD”:
ROMANS 8:17 – “And if CHILDREN, then HEIRS; HEIRS OF GOD, and JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST; if so be that we SUFFER with Him, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER (WITH CHRIST JESUS)”.
ROMANS 8:18 – “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in US”.
This explains why the Apostle Peter associated “Rejoicing with Suffering”. While we may not be able to rejoice as we look around in our trials, we can rejoice as we look ahead. The “SALVATION” mentioned in 1 PETER 1:6 refers back to “The Second Return of Christ Jesus”, mentioned in 1 PETER 1:5.
The patriarch “Job” went through many painful trials (JOB 1), all of them with God’s approval; and yet he understood somewhat of this truth, about the “Refiner’s Fire”:
JOB 23:10 – “But He knoweth the way that I take; when He had tried me, I shall come forth as GOLD”.
* IT IS ENCOURAGING TO KNOW THAT WE ARE: “BORN AGAIN” FOR GLORY, WE ARE KEPT FOR GLORY, AND WE ARE BEING PREPARED FOR GLORY. BUT THE FOURTH DISCOVERY, PERHAPS, IS THE MOST EXCITING OF ALL – CHRISTIANS CAN ENJOY THE GLORY NOW!
The Christian philosophy of life is not “Pie in the sky by and by”. It carries with it a present dynamic that can turn suffering into glory today. The Apostle Peter gave four directions for enjoying the glory now, even in the midst of trials.
* 1 PETER 1:8 – “Whom having not seen, YE LOVE; in whom, though now ye see Him not, YET BELIEVING, YE REJOICE with JOY UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY”:
* LOVE CHRIST JESUS
Our love for Christ is not based on physical sight, because we have not seen him. It is based on our spiritual relationship with Him and with what the Word of God has taught us about Him. The Holy Spirit has poured out God’s love into our hearts (ROMANS 5:5), and we return that love to Him. When you find yourself in some trial, and you are hurt, immediately lift your heart to Christ in true love and worship. Why? Because this will take the poison out of the experience and replace it with healing medicine.
Satan wants to use life’s trials to bring out the worst in US, but god wants to bring out the best in us. If we love ourselves more than we love Christ, then we will not experience any of the glory now. The fire will burn us, not purify us!
* TRUST CHRIST JESUS
We must live by faith and not by sight. Faith means surrendering all to God and obeying His Word in spite of circumstances and consequences. Love and faith go together. When you love someone, you trust them. And faith and love together help to strengthen HOPE; for where you find faith and love, you will find confidence for the future.
How can you grow in faith during times of testing and suffering? The same way we grow in faith when things seem to be going well: BY FEEDING ON THE WORD OF GOD (ROMANS 10:17). Our fellowship with Christ through His Word not only strengthens our faith, but it also deepens our love. It is the basic principle of Christian living that we spend much time in the Word of God – WHEN GOD IS TESTING US AND WHEN SATAN IS TEMPTING US!
* REJOICE IN CHRIST JESUS
You may not be able to rejoice over the circumstances, but you can rejoice in them by centering your heart and mind on Christ Jesus. In each of our trial experiences, we can learn something new and wonderful about our Savior and Lord. “Abraham” discovered new truths about the Lord, at the mount where he OFFERED UP HIS SON (GENESIS 22). The three Hebrew men discovered His “NEARNESS OF GOD” when they went through the fiery furnace (DANIEL 3). The Apostle Paul learned the “SUFFICIENCY OF HIS GRACE” – when he suffered with a “THORN IN THE FLESH” (2 CORINTHIANS 12).
* Note that the joy that God produces is “UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY”. This “JOY” is so deep and so wonderful that we cannot even express it because words fail us! The Apostle Peter had seen some of the glory on the mount of transfiguration, where Jesus discussed with Moses and Elijah His own impending suffering and death (LUKE 9:28-36).
* 1 PETER 1:9 – “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls”.
* 1 PETER 1:10 – “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you”:
* 1 PETER 1:11 –“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, AND THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW”.
* 1 PETER 1:12 – “ Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto them- selves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven; which things the angels desire to look into”.
The Old Testament believers looked ahead by faith and saw, as it were, two mountain peaks: Mount Calvary, where the Messiah would suffer and die (ISAIAH 53), and Mount Olivet, where He would return in glory (ZACHARIAH 14:4). They could not see the “VALLEY” in between, THE PRESENT AGE OF THE CHURCH! Even the angels are interested in what God is doing in and through His church! Read 1 CORINTHIANS 4:9 and EPHESIANS 3:10 for further information and how God is educating the angels through the church.
If the Old Testament prophets searched so diligently for the truth of “SALVATION” and yet had so little to go on, how much more ought we to search into the subject, now that we have the complete Word of God! The same Holy Spirit, who taught the prophets and, through them, wrote the Word of God, how much more now, can teach us the truths in it (JOHN 16:12-15).
* RECEIVE FROM CHRIST JESUS
“BELIEVING AND RECEIVING” – IS GOD’S WAY OF MEETING OUR NEEDS. If we love Him, trust Him, and rejoice in Him, then we can receive from Him all that we need to turn our TRIALS INTO TRIUMPHS!
1 Peter 1:9 can be translated: “For you ARE RECEIVING the consummation of your faith, that is, the final salvation of your souls”. In other words, we can experience some of the future glory today.
* Charles Spurgeon used to say: “LITTLE FAITH WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL TO HEAVEN, BUT GREAT FAITH WILL BRING HEAVEN TO YOUR SOUL”!
