01/08/23 Christ Our Living Hope

Foreign your skin thank you like this foreign everything is awesome thank you this is crazy all right test all right hey can you all hear me now do y'all want to hear me hey we're going to be celebrating a baptism this morning praise the Lord amen I want to introduce you to our sister in Christ her name is Abigail come on down to Abigail this is Abigail Morrison her parents they joined the church oh back in November I think it was at the end of November and her younger sister was she joined as well but Abigail hadn't because she had never made a public profession of faith and so she stopped by the office with her dad oh about a week and a half ago and she said you know I know that I'm saved it was about two years ago but now I just need to be baptized I'm ready to follow the Lord in this visible symbol of obedience and so if y'all would celebrate that with me just say amen she also wants to come and join our church and if you would affirm her as a church member would you say Amen awesome praise the Lord now Abigail do you believe that Jesus is the son of God yes do you believe that I died on the cross for your sins yes you believe that he was buried in this same likeness by submersion and that you were ready to follow him all the days of your life yes do you want to be a member of our church yes okay

Do you love the Lord yes you ready to follow him all right amen Abigail it's my privilege as your brother in Christ and as your pastor to baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit buried in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life thanks again it's wonderful to celebrate that amen and let's pray and then we'll turn the service over to Austin God we thank you for what you're doing we in our church we thank you for a new life for New Birth we give ourselves over to you Lord as believers who have followed through in obedience to you responding to that Gospel call Lord we give ourselves to you're so good you're so wonderful so awesome Lord today I just pray that we would just get a little taste of what it's like to be in your presence God we know that the Holy Spirit is Among Us because there's more than two or three gathered Lord just today we ask that today would be a day where maybe if someone else in our congregation maybe they're there and maybe they don't have their baptism on the right side of their salvation or maybe they maybe they don't have faith in you Lord that today would be that day we ask for your peace to be honest we give you this service Lord you're so good in Jesus name amen well good morning church what a great way to start off our Sunday morning amen we've got just a couple of announcements for you today if you don't have a bulletin you can find one I'm willing to give mine up just for you so if you need

It you can come find me it's got a lot of information in there but we just wanted to highlight a few things today first off we have a business meeting on January 29th that is the last Sunday of the month so two weeks from today it's at one o'clock and so the way that's going to work out is it's we're going to have a potluck lunch following the service right after the service so bring something in you know your crock pot or something like that you can plug it in down in the kitchen and it'll be ready to go after the service yeah bring something to share and if you don't we'll probably let you in anyway but you know bring something to share just to make sure there's enough and we'll have our business meeting directly after the potluck I'll also say for those of you who are not members come to the potluck anyway bring something have some good food and fellowship and then if you need to you can take off right after that but for those of you who are members I would really encourage you to stay if for no other reason just because it will help you understand kind of the way that we function as a church yeah and all that good stuff we also have Financial Peace University wow what timing coming up starting on is that last Wednesday did it already start oh I'm way off okay they still sign up they you can still sign up so if you're still interested in that the window is still open but it's closing fast so go ahead and sign up for that on the church app or you can call into the office and we'll help you out with that just a couple of more things here the last Saturday in January January 27th we're having a family game night or I'm sorry that's a Friday my bad family game night and you just show up bring some board games we'll have a good time together just hanging out and playing board games and finally The Men's Ministry Beast feast

Is on January the 20th that's going to be like a Wild Game Feast it's kind of the idea but you know it doesn't have to be wild bring some meat have some fun and we like to eat here amen yeah that's what we do so bring some food and have good Fellowship I'd like to invite you now speaking of Fellowship to stand up and greet one another as you want I'm not going to make you but go ahead and say good morning foreign thank you [Music] thank you foreign all right well praise the Lord God is good and all the time God is good right hey yes there is a bigger leak I was told those were stitched up so you know I know I did use the bathroom before service it always seems to be when I'm wearing khakis khakis so super noticeable anyways hey oh you know I was praying that the Lord would humble me so there you go yeah there you go oh God it's good hey so we've got as you guys know we are in that process of receiving questions from for our elders and their as they're coming forward I would ask Steve Jim if y'all would come forward because some of these questions that you'll ask were really good and this one that we're going to tackle today really concerns the Southern Baptist convention Jim do you mind getting that it tackles the Southern Baptist convention which as you guys know has been not just a Hot Topic you know in our church as we've talked about it but you know in NBC News and all sorts of different things

But one of the things that I think is really important is for us as Leaders to clarify not just you know our desire to remain in the Southern Baptist convention but one of these questions is actually directly pertains to that it says what concerns do you have about the Southern Baptist convention and how do you see First Baptist Church of camdenton's role in the convention in terms of participation in activism okay my concerns would be primarily on Focus Scripture and even the Baptist Faith the message in section 15 it says that the only way to make effective and Lasting change in society is by evangelism and discipleship of the individuals and if those are the guard rails of our ministry here at First Baptist that our focus is on changing individuals through evangelism and discipleship Society will follow as people get saved if we take our Focus off of evangelism and discipleship and put it on other things we do have the option of going into areas where God has not given us the mandate to be political agents he's given us the mandate to evangelize in discipleship and if we follow and focus on that we're not going to have time to do a lot of the other things because we're going to be so busy I say if you spend your time rowing the boat you don't have time to rock that so if we're busy rowing our boat of evangelism and discipleship rocking is can we can do what we can do but it's not our primary focus and I think the I would just say our focus is clearly prescribed both in Scripture and in the Baptist faith and message and we need to stick closely to that amen we have a document here that's available this is coming off of a question that was asked last week about

The overlap coordination between ethnos and SBC this is a oh item by item comparison of the doctrinal statement of ethnos 360 with that of the Baptist faith and message and it's all color-coded for those of us that don't like to read words and they're available in the office if you want to check it out the correspondence between the two is just line by line it's really close but if any anyone has that kind of a concern if because Jim and I are both backgrounded in ethnos I'm more background than he is because I'm fully he's active but anyway if you have that question and wonder if gee are these guys weird and which way are they weird you can go find out as far as the activism part for us as an individual congregation the guard rails the word that Jim used is very appropriate because if we stay within those guard rails we really won't have time to be worrying about saving Society we can work on individuals within society and that's the Mandate we have in Scripture if you look in Matthew 28 verses 18 to 20. It doesn't say go ye therefore and fix Camdenton it's talking about working one person at a time individual by individual to see the Lord reach out and save them as we do that as we disciple believers the effect we have in society is a good one but it isn't why we're here all right thank you just show their show your appreciation for their willingness thank you guys [Applause]

So you know I did ask for as you guys know we are also asking for folks that are involved in our community groups to come forward and share testimonies and one of the groups that is just rocking and rolling thanks to the leadership of Tom and Heidi is our young adults and so I want to I want to ask Ellie and there you are Keith come forward and just share kind of your testimony of what community groups has meant to you guys you're an ethnos 360 student and you're a local so it's just kind of cool to see some different contrasts here so I'll turn it over to you guys well hello my name is Ellie and like Cody said I'm an ethnic student and I've been here for about two years I came in August of 2021 and when I was asked to like share a testimony of our young adults group like I was thinking now the first things that came to mind that has been such an encouragement to me in this season has been the aspect of fellowship and just doing life on life with other people in our church here that are my age and things like that when I joined back in August 2021 it was we were kind of picking up again after the cobit season and we were like about a group of like 10 I think and it just started out as a group coming together on Thursday nights eating food because we like food and just hanging out together and building that relationship and that was like super cool because we got to we didn't just dive into God's word right away together which we did that here on Sunday mornings but we really got to know each other in a personal Way by building that relationship and so over time in the past two years that I've been here we didn't only grow in number but we also grew in depth so we're now like a group of when we're all together like 20. So we've really doubled in size but we've also like I said grown in

Death where we're able to we know what is going on in each other's lives and we know how to encourage one another we know how to challenge each other in God's word we're able to celebrate together like today we get to celebrate Taylor and we're really on board with that and then also support one another pray for one another and it just really brought a lot of depth in relationship as well and I think this is really cool because as a young adult you're in a transition stage pretty much just kind of figuring out what life is like on your own and in churches there's not always a place for that like we don't know exactly always where we fit and so it's been really cool to be a part of this young adults group because that Gap has been filled because there is a community to be a part of you're welcomed into it and it's been a really cool thing for me to experience and be a part of in this season good morning my name is Keith like you said Cody introduced me I'm a local I've lived in Missouri for about 16 years and my previous Church actually didn't have a large young adult community about the first week of November I was invited to young adult group so I've only been here about three months but in that time I've seen an astounding amount of growth in my life just because I have a source of accountability Community friendship and it's a it's neat because everybody else is roughly the same stage of life that I am so as I grow in my Christianity and in my faith I'm doing so with a body of Believers my age and it's an active Living God that we're serving and I get to see that every day you know in our group you know it's a it's been a very neat process and a very welcoming you know the hospitality that's been shown to me and the exemplified or the example of Christ's love and the way that we ought to

Interact with each other has just been an astounding experience so I thank you guys as a community for helping the Young Adult Community grow and it's been a neat process and it's an honor to serve and to grow with people my age and I think that's probably the biggest benefit that I've had in the last three months is our young adult community so thank you [Applause] well thank you Keith and Ellie at this time we as has been our habit we're going to take a moment and prepare our hearts and our minds for worship and indeed you know we've already been worshiping here this morning amen worship through telling of God's work and worshiping through celebrating God's work and the professions of Faith this is all part of worship but right now I'd invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes as we prepare to engage in singing and hearing God's word preached and so Lord we pray that you would remove the distractions from us this morning Lord that you would prepare us to overcome those distractions Lord we pray that you would help us to forgive where we need to forgive that you would help us to ask forgiveness where we need to that you would help us to serve you in these moments because you're worthy and Lord you have called us here to worship together because it's pleasing to you Lord we pray that you would help us not to be focused on the things that don't matter but to be focused on you and the good work that you have done and are doing and will do in us and through and it's in Jesus name we pray amen well I'd invite you now to stand and join us in singing our great praises to our great God [Music]

Immortal invisible God only wise enlightened accessible hid from our eyes Most Holy most glorious the Ancient of Days Almighty Victorious Your Great Name we praise foreign [Music] above your clouds which are Fountains of goodness and love Most Holy most glorious the Ancient of Days for Mighty Victorious Your Great Name we praise [Music] all life comes from you Lord to both great and small in all life you live Lord the true life of all we Blossom and flourish but quickly grow frail we wither and perish but you never well great father of Glory pure father of light your angels adore you availing their sight all praise we will render O Father of Grace till one day in slander we see face to face Most Holy most glorious the Ancient of Days Are Mighty Victorious your great name we pray Most Holy most glorious the Ancient of Days on Mighty Victorious your great name we pray [Music] amen his name is great today and every foreign [Music] to trust in Jesus just to take him at his word just to rest upon his promise just to know the saith the Lord Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I've proved him more and more Jesus Jesus Precious Jesus Oh for Grace to trust him more oh how sweet to trust in Jesus just to trust his cleansing blood just in simple Faith to plunge me meet the healing flood Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I proved him more and more Jesus Jesus us all for Grace to trust him more

Yes to Sweet just from sin and self to cease just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace is us Jesus how trust him how I proved [Music] Jesus [Music] Jesus oh for Grace to trust him more foreign [Music] and I know that thou art with me will to be [Music] us Jesus how I trust him how I proved him more and more Jesus Jesus Precious for Grace to trust him more [Music] and of course some of us can sing that song today and think wow yes I am in a season of life where I just feel like I can trust God with everything and it I have no doubts whatsoever I'm sure that there are people in this room who are thinking man I wish that I trusted Jesus like that right now but maybe today that's not how it feels maybe you're not saying wow I'm so glad I learned to trust him like it's a done deal I don't need any help in that area maybe that's not you today and you know what that's okay we can rely on him and we can grow in our Reliance on him son it's we look to you and it's all about walking through the darkness of this world those those evil things that we see all of the time and knowing that we can look to him for answers and for peace even though it's difficult he's promised that he will he's there he's there for us [Music] Deliver us from evil Lord we sojourn in a broken world the evil hands give rise to war

Remind us this is not our home we look to you we look to you Sovereign king of all the Earth we do you in your strength we will endure in your strength we will endure foreign [Music] crouching at the door to turn us from my narrow way we look to you we look to you Christ the Conquering Son of God we look to you to you Lord complete what you've begun [Music] Deliver us from evil Lord the devil's seeking to divide with trembling Hearts we hear his Roar but your strong arm will crush his power we look to you we look to you come and in his Earthly we look to you Lord Deliver us we pray [Music] you will come again to rest [Music] foreign [Music] Sovereign king of all the Earth we look to you we live in your strength we will endure in strength we will endure we're gonna close today with the song we've been doing the last couple of weeks all glory be to Christ set to the tune of course of all blang sign which always reminds me of the new year as we look to him as we look to him especially for you know how many of you have already failed at your New Year's resolutions how many oh come on there's more than that I'm raising my hand you see me [Music] even as we're we're dealing with those things with those things as we look to him we can be focused on giving all glory over to him and at this time I'd invite our ushers

To come forward to take the offering [Music] let's pray together dear Lord we thank you for this day that you've given to us we thank you for this opportunity that we have to give to your work Lord remind us that the things of this world are not supposed to be the things that we are concerned with Lord we can look to you and you've said that you care about the smallest of the birds you care about clothing the grass of the fields Rich more richly than Solomon and so Lord we know that we can rely on you Even in our giving whether that's of our money or our time or our talents Lord [Music] we ask that you would bless this offering in Jesus name [Music] should nothing of our ever stand no Legacy survive unless [Music] the Lord does raise the house in vain its Builders strive to you opposed to Mars what is your life [Music] finishes at dawn all glory be to cry Christ all glory be to Christ Our King o glory be to Christ his rule glory be to Christ his will be done his Kingdom Come On Earth as is of who is himself Our Daily Bread Praise Him the Lord Of Love [Music] the Thirsty without price we'll take a cup of glory be to Christ oh glory be to Christ Our King all glory be to Christ his Rule and rain will end

Ever sing all glory be to Christ when on The Day The Great I Am the faithful and the true the lamb who was for sin or slain is making all things new Behold our God shall live with us and be our steadfast light and we shall air his people be all glory be to cry [Applause] [Music] King o glory be to Christ his Rule and reign will ever sing all glory be to Christ all glory be to Christ Our King o glory Christ his [Music] [Applause] God so Lord we ask that you would help us to turn all glory over to you Lord that we would not try to boast in our works because Lord we know that the only good work is done in you and through you and for you Lord help us to Worship in what we say and do it's in Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to the book of First Peter gonna be in First Peter chapter one thanks to some very generous brothers and sisters I was able to get me a new Bible so praise the Lord for that we are going to be in verses six through nine today and we are talking about suffering in the midst of Hope today because Christ is our Living Hope and so a couple of things before we really get into the passage I just want to share a little I guess I don't know testimony but it leads up into what we're going to talk about today so growing up I didn't I wasn't

Raised in Christian home didn't see much any kind of spiritual activity except that like once when I was seven years old my mom tried to make me sit down and watch the old Jesus of Nazareth movie you know the one with Robert Powell you know with the blue eyes never Smiles motionless like yeah that was the extent of my encounters with Jesus and I remember I went to a summer camp in the year 2000 which shouldn't be 23 years away at this point but it was and that's when I received Christ I was a teenager and I came home and I was so excited and I was telling my mom and my stepdad guys I want to sit down I want to tell you about what Jesus did in my life how he radically transformed me and how he saved me I mean it's just it's amazing and they go that's wonderful son we're Christians too and I kind of went what and it took me aback and I even at that point I didn't see much fruit like we started going to church a little bit but I didn't see much in regards to Lasting fruit in their lives we still didn't pray we still didn't read our Bibles we still you know didn't do any kind of spiritual disciplines I didn't see much of the fruit of the spirit and fast forward a few years my mom she was this is in 2012. My mom she's at work and she's she goes into a freight elevator at work and it's one of those that closes like this and the top part malfunctions and it comes down right on the top of her head and crushes some vertebrae in her neck and absolutely devastating injury she now suffers from debilitating headaches sleeps upwards of 20 hours a day she's now incompetent she like

Medically and what's interesting is God has used that to bring about sanctification in my mom's life it's in the midst of all that suffering and all of that inability that God has caused her to become like a wonderful example of suffering and faith in the midst of suffering my parents they still they live in poverty you know they're paycheck to paycheck and sometimes there isn't enough in that paycheck and my stepdad this is this is the kind of sanctification that I'm talking about okay my stepdad he works at a church and he got a little Christmas bonus this past year and he goes to the bank and it was a lot of money for that church and even a lot of money for my parents is a couple hundred dollars and he goes through the drive through and talks to the teller teller's working with three different people and he cashes his check and notices that it feels a little heavier but just tosses it into the seat next to him and so he goes he drives down for a little bit he's like you know I bet you there's a bunch of ones in there let me just check this and count it and as he opened it up the first five bills were hundreds and so he goes right there were 70 100 bills in yeah and he goes someone made a mistake and immediately you know I mean he they could use that money and he goes like I just felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me this is him telling me that's not your money and so it goes back and he returns it to the bank president Bank president's just flabbergasted he goes why did you bring this back like no one would have known he goes God would have known God

And now I can have a clear conscience I can I'm storing up for myself treasures and have him where moth and rust don't destroy and so I guess that's a testimony of how I've seen suffering bring about that work of sanctification and obedience in I guess my own circle in my life and so maybe you're going through something today maybe you're you're suffering maybe it's a debilitating injury maybe it's you know just not really maybe people think that you're a jerk because you are a jerk I don't know but we're going to talk about suffering today and I hope that's a blessing to you as we talk about three points about faith and if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read the book of First Peter chapter 1 verses six through nine God's word it says this 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 let's pray and so Lord we do give you this time we thank you for your word and I pray that today that we would walk out of here going wow that Scripture changed my life Lord thank you for the life change that's the evening my mom's life for the life change that I see even in my stepdad

I pray that the rest of my family that don't know you would come to Know You Lord God I pray for maybe people in here that they don't know you that today would be that day of salvation that they would have that inheritance that is imperishable that's undefiled that's kept in heaven Lord we just I pray that people would know that peace God and that you would work in our lives in Jesus name amen all right so our passage begins with that little phrase in this you rejoice now what is this that's a good question right the this In this passage that we just talked about is in reference to the entirety of verses three through five let's read it says this blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great Mercy he has caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and 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 and it is in that we rejoice it's an inheritance that we have guaranteed to us by faith in what the Son of God accomplished for us on the cross and it is a Living Hope which we talked about last week and it is in that we rejoice and that word Rejoice it's not the same kind of rejoicing that we read about in Philippians 4 where it says rejoice in the Lord always again I'll say rejoice it's it's a different word it's the Greek word agalayo which means inexpressible Joy jumping up and down hooting and hollering kind of Joy it's it's the kind of joy that we receive in situations and actually it's not the only time that this word appears

In the New Testament when we look over in Acts chapter 16 we read about the Philippian Jailer the Philippian Jailer he's he's watching over Paul and Silas and they're singing hymns in the middle of the night they're singing Gospel songs they're singing The Gospel and all of a sudden this earthquake hits and causes all of the doors to open and all the shackles to fall off and the flipping and Jailer thinks everyone has escaped so my life is forfeit so I'm just going to pull out my sword and I'm going to fall on it because it would be better than to suffer torment at the hands of the Romans well Paul stopped him Paul said don't do that we're all here and as a result of hearing the Gospel sung over and over in the middle of the night he said sirs what must I do to be saved and Paul he says believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household and they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once he and all his family then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced it's that same word agalayo and along with his entire household that he had believed in God this kind of rejoicing is a result of going from death to gladness from hopelessness to Hope he was ready to fall on his sword and God saved him that's the source of his rejoicing it's not the only time actually that we see this word it's actually used in The Book of Revelation chapter 19. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the Roar of many Waters and like the sound of Mighty peels of Thunder crying out Hallelujah for the Lord Our God the Almighty Reigns

Let us rejoice you don't think that's just going to be this you know consummation of all things God is good like you know no we're going to be hooping and hollering and celebrating with an exultant kind of rejoicing it says let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready and it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous Deeds of the Saints this is the kind of rejoicing that Peter says that you and I get to experience even right now because of our faith in God because you have been born again to a true and Living Hope you have this kind of rejoicing we ought to Peter says 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 now there's quite the contrast there the big contrast because you've got this rejoicing this hoof into hollering excited triumphant gladness that's overflowing because of Salvation and then you've got this grieving by various trials that is quite the contrast and they exist at the same time and how does that even happen does this mean that Christians get to look at pain and trials and suffering and go woohoo Agony awesome I'm excited for that can't wait to see how God uses this kind of displeasure in my life you know that's that's that's almost borderline psychotic if that's our attitude towards towards suffering so what on ver what on Earth does

This verse mean here's what here's here's what Peter is saying to us is that we have been saved we have been rescued we have been secured we have been redeemed we have a new nature we have a living hope we have a new heart we have a new mind we are now at peace with God and so we don't Rejoice because of our suffering but that in spite of our suffering and in spite of all the Terrible Things in this world the believer you and I because of our faith in Christ we know that's not the end of our story we know it's not we know what the end of the story is it ends at the consummation of all things with the glory of God not just in heaven but in the New Jerusalem and the new Heaven and the new Earth where where we get to abide forever with God with him together Glory peace with one another that is great hope it's a great place to say Amen the first point that we're going to be talking about today is the testing of faith the testing of Faith because your faith will be tested it's natural it's the reason for testing Faith it's the same reason why gold is refined fire it tests it burns up all the impurities there's a skimming process that takes place sometimes they use acid sorry sometimes they use acid to dilute some of those impurities too when the fire tests it the gold melts all those things are burnt up and what you get is a much more refined and as a result much more much more valuable gold and the Lord he uses trials to refine us that's his purpose behind them in verses six and seven we learn four things about these trials the first thing is that trials they last for a little while suffering May last for days weeks months

Years it could be your whole lifetime like you know my mom she's going to have a debilitating headache for the rest of her life but they're going to last for a little while and how can that be it is because in light of Eternity trials are going to last for mere moments like our lives feel like they last forever you know we got a saying in our in our home the days are long but the years are short imagine for a moment 10 million years from now you're in heaven with God what is your trial and your suffering going to look like in light of those 10 million years of joy and peace Peter he writes in the second letter that he authors in verses three through eight but do not overlook this one fact that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years in a thousand years is one day so these are these are afflictions that we might feel like man this is taking forever to get to a resolution but remember that God has a purpose in it in second Corinthians chapter four it says for this light momentary Affliction is preparing for us the Eternal weight of Glory notice that contrast there got this light momentary Affliction the Eternal weight of Glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen But to the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are transient the things that are unseen are eternal and so just as heavy as the sufferings in this life feel the weight of Glory is much more real and heavier not that they're a burden to bear but they're definitely highlights in the midst of suffering we have hope that it will it will end one day like so whatever your Affliction is it might be a mental illness it might be

Some type of mysterious thing it could be a depression whatever it could be whatever that thing that God has that's a trial in your life there there's a purpose behind it which we'll get to in just a bit but one of these days all that suffering will end the trials will be over we will stand before God and he will tell us well done good and faithful servant way to go that's also one of the reasons why hell is the most hopeless place there is no end to that suffering they don't get to look forward to one day it'll all be over see the most hopeless person in the world right now has infinitely more hope than the best center in hell secondly trials they serve a purpose I've already alluded to that but the Scripture says if necessary which might make you think that's optional but when you look at the Greek it is the Greek word a day on which means it must happen means that it is necessary that's why he's alluding to it had to occur in John chapter 4 verse 4 Jesus it says that Jesus had to pass through the land of Samaria he had to it's one of those things hey it's that word a day on in Acts chapter 1 verse 16 it says Brothers the Scripture had to be fulfilled a day on that means that trials they will happen in your life they will happen in my life it doesn't matter how gracious you are how kind you are how loving or Christ-like you are you will go through suffering because the Lord went through them as well it must happen they must occur and they're not the result of Fate they're not the result of the unbiblical idea of karma what goes around comes around it's not because you're in Enneagram 9 or anything like that trials are sent by the will of God for believers but not all suffering is the

Same though I've already said this but I'll say it again if you if you're suffering in your relationships because you're a jerk that's not godly suffering in First Peter later on he actually says but rejoicing so far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed if you are insulted for the name of Christ you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil doer or as a meddler yet if anyone suffers as a Christian let them not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name so if Christians are to suffer let us do it because of our faithfulness to God and trusting ourselves to God's strong hands rather than as Liars or meddlers or anything like that and I guess I should clarify this nor will we always see the purpose in our sufferings on this side of Eternity sometimes you won't get the answer that you're looking for just won't happen a lot of the trials and sufferings that we experience God he will reveal them at the last day we will understand why we suffered we will understand the trials that we went through and what God's purpose was even in them but trials also bring pain they bring pain it's a real pain that word grieve it can be understood as sorrow and distress you know and in John chapter nine I love reading that passage about the man that's born blind and so the Pharisees asked this question as passed by saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind they believe they have bad things happen it's because there was sin

All right they didn't learn the lesson from job right and Jesus answered it was not that this man sinned or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed into him you think about what this man was going through he had spent his entire life begging he knew hunger he knew what it was what it was like for people to assume the worst well either you or your parents did something utterly terrible in order for you to suffer like this you deserve what you're getting right now it's not God's way what did Jesus say It was not that this man sinned or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him so he suffered hunger he suffered poverty he suffered all these different things but the pain that he experienced is real and God is faithful to see us through that pain through that Affliction by his grace finally Trials come in different forms the text here in First Peter it says that there's various trials the suffering the severity that you experience or I experience are going to be different in varying degrees it doesn't mean that you're tougher doesn't mean that you're stronger you know if you're if you're if you're walking in Christ alone that's not a good thing because that's one of the functions of the church that's why we're defined mostly by our one another statements to bear with one another to love one another to endure with one another to admonish one another to do those different things these one another statements because you and I are not strong enough in and of ourselves we need each other we need the Holy Spirit we need Jesus we need the father we need those things because even that will bring about Holiness in our lives but God he

Promises to give us all that we need by his grace to grow in the midst of Trials and something else that's important to know is that Jesus he can relate to all of these things all those things I mean he suffered for a little while he's not suffering anymore he's the Lord of all creation he intercedes before us in the throne room of God his suffering had a tremendous purpose there was only one truly innocent person to ever suffer we talked about this in my community group this morning that's one of one of the reasons why we talked about Community groups so much is it's one of the biggest blessings in my life and I know it will be in yours but we're talking about how only one truly innocent person ever suffered and it was Jesus and look at what God did in the midst of that kind of suffering because there's a tremendous purpose in it now look at verse 8 with me it says though you have not seen him you love him though you do not now see him you believe in him Rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with Glory now in this we learn about the second point of Faith the evidence of faith the evidence of faith and there's three things here firstly is love is the evidence of Faith it's that Greek word agapeo which is in a present tense so it's an ongoing it's not hey in the past I loved God but maybe not so much more or in the past I love what the Lord did but maybe not so much anymore no it's an ongoing relationship that's why we talk about a daily walk with Christ that's why it's so important for you and for me to have Daily Times of prayer to have Daily Times of Bible study to have Daily Times where we're just communing with the father because it's an ongoing faithful relationship I can't imagine not talking to my wife

For one day like it'll devastate me if that ever happens because I have a deep great love for her the great thing about God is that he never leaves us he never will leave us and so we can be with him every day so don't neglect that gift of Grace that we have access to the father but let's see here where was me where was I but this is not so the reason why we have those daily Bible studies and that daily prayer time is not so we would know more about God right it's so that way we would know God more it's not so we would know what his will is for our lives although we do want that and we do want to know about God but so that way we would know what his desire for our lives is as well see we want to be pleasing to the father of heaven we want to love him with all of our hearts and souls and minds and strength and we want to do that and so loving the Lord is the evidence of genuine faith not love for who we think that the Lord is and I think that it's important for us to remember that Peter he could visualize Jesus you know it says though you do not now see him you love him though you have not seen you believe in him right Peter he could visualize everything about Jesus he could picture that day first being called repairing his Nets after a bad day of fish and here comes Jesus and he can picture seeing Jesus for the first time he can remember that moment he can remember walking on water towards Jesus and sinking in the waves and Jesus looking at him and reaching down and pulling him back up he can he can picture Jesus transfigured on the Mount

Of Olives he can he can remember Jesus teaching crowds he can remember Jesus on the cross and yet the people that he's writing to have never seen Jesus you and I we've never seen Jesus but we believe in him and that's oh I got some little points here there we go that's the second evidence of faith is belief though you do not now see him you believe in him that word is in the Greek is pesteuo which means to lay your confidence upon like we can lean on him completely in the context of this verse is not about saving faith which is a gift of God but it's about the faithful life of belief toward God that we live but it's also a present tense verb and that means that's an ongoing step of faith that once again daily walking with the Lord and we continue in our walk with him and we don't see Jesus but we love him but that won't always be the case what I mean by that is that one day our faith will become sight that we will behold God fully in his glory and we look forward to that now the third result is of course Glory Faith results in that and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with Glory that we're glorious duck says the mind which means a Transcendent Supreme expression of joy and the Greek it's a perfect passive participle which means that it is something that has already happened in an event in the past that means that it is guaranteed and look at it look at it carefully with me though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory and I want you to think about this in light of the context of the passage because it's about suffering and trials how can Christians be ecstatic in the midst of Troy of these trials and persecutions and sufferings that they're

Experiencing how on Earth can we do so with a joy that cannot be quite defined with words well the answer lies in our hope you see believers who know that their suffering is temporary who know that there's a purpose in it we now have a Living Hope and so now even when some of the worst things in this world happen we can stand firm in the future hope of what God did for us on the cross and the past knowing that because he did that and he was raised with Glory we have an eternal hope that is secure for us even right now third point is the result of faith there's two words in this passage that point to a conclusion and verse seven you see result and in verse 9 you see outcome and both of those words are in relation to the faith the test 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 now in 2014 there was a California couple who they were doing some gardening in their yard and they found a jar and inside that jar was 10 million dollars worth of gold coins that's pretty cool right it's a true story too and I kind of wonder what if I were to tell you that in your yard or on your property I didn't know quite where but there was 10 million dollars worth of gold okay it's somewhere maybe two three feet deep somewhere in that area and I convinced you like it's it's somewhere there I know that it is right how many of y'all are going to grab a shovel as soon as you get home and you're going to start doing some digging right I mean I'm there I'm there with you I'm I'm saying hey we're giving an

Invitation right now okay right you like wrap up the service Faster come on now God he is the ultimate standard for truth what he says is valuable we can take to the bank and what he says here is that faith is far more precious than gold yeah how many of us are willing to cultivate a faith that's far more precious than gold are we willing to walk with him are we willing to take that initial step for many of us we're fine cruising along until Trials come our way and it is those trials that Force us closer to the father there are the those are the trials that who brings a way that send us nigh unto the shore of the rock of Christ that for Christmas got this hymn Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself in the it's my favorite hymn Charles Spurgeon the great English Pastor he said I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against The Rock of Ages so when there are trials and things like that's the purpose behind him that we might know the glory of God more and more and more and more and more in verse 9 it says obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your soul so what's what's the end it's the salvation of our souls and someone said I was asked well what is a soul that's a good question I think in this context it means all of Who We Are now it's not like we're going to die and become these amorphous Spiritual Beings and this kind of heightened spiritual State and that's just you know kind of this mystical existence you know that's not what the Bible teaches the Bible actually teaches that we receive new resurrected bodies

The Bible teaches that we will be perfect that we will inherit a new Heaven and a new Earth very real physical tangible things and so and so the end of Salvation Redemption all that future Glory should lead us to rejoicing God right now right where we're at and so let's let's summarize what we've learned here we are overjoyed even in the midst of suffering because we know that's only for a short time that the trials that we experience they have a purpose they won't last forever they come along in different ways there's different types of pain that we experience but the pain is real but when we draw close to God in the midst of suffering God is glorified and we will see God glorified at the end of all things and we will be rewarded for our faithfulness in spite of not seeing Jesus we still believe in him we still love him and because of that we have a sure hope and foundation and we know what the outcome of our faith is it's the salvation of our souls in its most complete sense and we have that hope and yet there's maybe some of you here that you don't have that hope you don't know God you don't have that full Assurance to know that God is God and he sits on his throne even right now ruling and reigning and that he's drawing you and he's calling you to himself the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Christ Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you will be saved it's as simple as that we don't have to complicate it believe on the Lord Jesus Christ turn to

Him that you might have the joy and the security that I have that my mom has and that for every believer that's sitting in here that you have as well head hand heart head I want you to know that the end result of your salvation of your faith is salvation we'll get there one day just endure with Christ follow him he's got you hand I want you to consider what it means for you to rejoice in the midst of Trials what does that look like biblically what how are you taking time to seek God's hands when the waves get choppy when you walk through a dry season consider what it means and heart I want you to believe that God's purpose for your suffering is for your good we may not always see it we may not always like it but God has a purpose in it in First Peter chapter 5 verses 9 and 10 this is how Peter concludes this whole letter he says that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your Brotherhood throughout the world and after you have suffered a little while the God of all Grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you may God be glorified in our lives this week let's all stand let's respond in worship God we thank you for all that you've done we thank you for your mercy and if there's anyone here that maybe they need to lay hold of that mercy God that today would be that day that they know you that they love you that they walk hand in hand with you that you would just call them out of darkness and into that Marvelous Light and that they would just believe in the name of the Lord Jesus

Christ and what you did not only on that cross but when you stepped out of that grave so many years ago that you fully truly really were resurrected and because of that life that we have a Living Hope and I pray that would happen in the lives people who don't know you today Jesus name and [Music] as morning Dawns and day awakes to you I bring my knees oh gracious God my source of strength in you I live and breathe each hour is yours by wisdom planned each deed empowered by Sovereign hands renew my spirit help me stand be glorified today foreign [Music] let every effort of my life display the matchless worth of Christ make me a Living Sacrifice be glorified today [Music] as Sun gives way to Darkest Night your spirit still is he here and though my strength Fades like the light new mercies will appear I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to find all Victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our trials and suffering give way to final Victory be glorified today foreign [Music] come on there we go good to see you imagine that remember this that young fella that come up here last week and had a little speech to give I think

It's supposed to just pray and go you know well he might have got it from his old man I don't know this is his birthday and let me tell you the biggest blessing about this boy he says sometimes dad do you think you might be wrong about that imagine that too let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for the many blessings of life and we just thank you also sometimes for what we go through because it's just a little while in Jesus name amen okay