Peter chapter 1. I'll begin reading in the middle,
but I'm definitely going to go back and use the first part of
this chapter, but this caught me as I was reading this text
in verse 6. Wherein you greatly rejoice,
Though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations." Now, the title of my message is, The Joy
of the Suffering Saint. The Joy of the Suffering Saint. Paul said, wherein you greatly
rejoice. The joy. What is the joy of the
saint? Though now you rejoice, even
though now, for a season, if need be, are in heaviness through
manifold temptation." So, the joy of the suffering saint. Now, who is Paul, Peter, writing
to? We know this from the very beginning.
He is writing to the scattered church. He says that the apostle
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadonia, and Bithynia. Strangers scattered. Does this not remind you even
of our church, of the church today? Scattered. Scattered. The church of God seems to be,
in our day, as it was in this day, scattered. A few here, a
few there, a few here, a few there, scattered all over the
place. But I tell you, the church today is small and scattered
and few, not for the same reasons as the church was in this day.
The church today is small not only because there are few who
believe the gospel, But it is made smaller, even smaller, by
those who profess to believe on Christ and yet forsake the
assembling of themselves together. That's one of the reasons why
the church is so scattered today. Because so many who profess to
believe refuse to assemble themselves. So many saints who profess to
love God and love Christ, forsake the fellowship of the saints
for the pleasures and earthly kin and treasures of this world."
I'll tell you this, I know some saints, and I do believe them
to be saints. But yet, because they had amassed
so much in their retirements that they had moved away from
the Gospel, retired out on a lake somewhere, so far from any place
to worship, They move to where their children are, their grandchildren
are, and they don't even have any care as to know whether there's
a church that preaches the truth before they go. I know saints
who have left the gospel, the safety. And I tell you, it is
safety here. God has His church in this world
for the good of His people. Paul said, I preach these same
things to you because it's safe. It's safe. Yet they left the
safety of the church for the education or good of their children. I know those who profess to believe
in Christ but love peace in the home. And so to keep peace in
the home, they forsake the assembling of themselves. And to those believers
who have left the church and are scattered abroad, you know,
I give them counsel just as Christ gave counsel to the church of
Laodicea. Buy of me gold tried with fire. Forsake this world and all the
vain treasures. Repent. Repent. Obey the gospel commands of our
Lord through the apostles who said this, Forsake not the assembling
of yourselves together. Did I lose anybody? Did I lose
anybody on that? Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together. It's not complicated, is it?
Why, Paul, should we not do that? Why should we not? But exhorting
one another. And so much more. Not only exhorting
each other, but what does the assembling do besides exhorting
one another this evening? You are exhorting me. I, by my
presence here in preaching the gospel, am exhorting you. To do what? Stand fast in the
faith. Stand fast in the truth. That's
what we exhort one another when we see one another, and much
more. We exhort one another to love, don't we? We do. You know, I love you when you're
absent. I do. I miss you. And those saints
that are not here tonight because they cannot be, I tell you, my
heart aches for them. I love them and I want them to
be with us. I tell you, there's something
about this this assembly. There's a special bond here because
Christ said this, where two or three are gathered together,
I am there in their midst. How many times has the Lord Jesus
missed an assembly? Never! Never has He missed an
assembly. He has perfect attendance. He
has perfect attendance. He's always here. And we exhort
one another to stand fast in the gospel. It gives us boldness. It provokes us to love and service
to one another. You know, believers are pictured
in the gospel as sheep, aren't they? What the Lord said. He
said, I'm the good shepherd and know my sheep. You know how He
knows us? He knows us by election. He chose
us. The Father chose us as His sheep. We are chosen sheep. And He said,
not only that, you are purchased sheep. I purchased you with My
blood. I own you. You're Mine. And you know what
He says? He said, My sheep know Me. I know my sheep and am known
of mine. We know Him by the power of the
Holy Spirit, by the regeneration of us in our hearts. He's given
us life and faith. And you know what He says? He
said, I lay down my life for them. I lay down my life for
the sheep. He purchased us. And He said,
other sheep I have. This is what He's talking about
you and me, because we weren't there. But He said this about
us. Other sheep I have. which are
not of this fold, them I also must bring. I must bring. And there shall be how many folds? One fold. And one shepherd. I'll tell you this, tonight,
I talked to a man, the preacher of the gospel this afternoon,
Brother Bruce Crabtree. There are sheep in Newcastle,
Indiana tonight, hearing the gospel. And yet I know this,
we are not two different foals, we are of the same foal. We have
one shepherd. But you know what all the sheep
are doing? They do the same thing. They gather together. It's the
nature of sheep to gather. If you find a sheep that is alone,
he is either lost or he's sick. Because sheep, they gotta have
each other. They're gregarious creatures.
This is the way God done this. He gave us this picture to show
us that's what we are. We are sheep. Are you the sheep
of the Lord Jesus Christ? And by nature we should flock
together. Is there any scattered abroad? Is there any who's gone
away from the church of God for the things of the world? For
earthly kin? Do these things separate us from
the saints? Whatever it is, leave it. Leave
it. I didn't lose anyone, did I?
Leave it. Forsake it. Flee from it. and go where God's Word is established,
where God has called a man to faithfully preach the gospel.
This is my exhortation, this is the exhortation of Scripture
to every believer scattered abroad. Find a place where the saints
of God meet, and join yourself to that church, submit to that
pastor, and faithfully support the gospel. And I tell you this,
God will bless you. There's no doubt about that.
Is that not the testimony of every saint of God who has been
faithful to the assembling of the saints? It's a blessing.
It's a blessing. But these who are scattered here,
they were scattered not so much by willingly. These saints were
scattered unwillingly, weren't they? They were scattered and
running for their very lives. These saints weren't just going
off to see their children, or they weren't just going off for
frivolous things. They were scattered because they
were running for their lives. They were afraid at any moment
that the soldiers would break down the doors and haul them
off to the Coliseum. But I tell you this, they still
found places to worship, didn't they? They huddled together in
caves and dens of the earth. to worship Christ. And don't
believe or listen. And this should encourage us.
I know that some people aren't able to come into the worship,
and they're scattered because of sickness, because of trials,
and because of difficulty. And that's not, because that's
not always the case of the saint, they go off frivolously. Sometimes
they're separated without any control. I tell you this word is to them.
This Word is to those who are suffering, to saints who are
suffering. These saints were suffering.
They were scattered in peril for their lives. But listen,
no matter where they are found, no matter where God's saints
are scattered, no matter where they are found in the world,
and no matter their trials and difficulties, no matter how great
or how small their troubles, whether it be small or great,
whether they are fleeing for their lives, or because they've
been forsaken by family or friends, because they've lost the riches
of this world for the worship of Christ, Peter says this, wherein
you greatly rejoice, though now. Though now you suffer. Though
now you are scattered. Though now you are hurting. But
you know this, even while you're hurting, you can be rejoicing.
you can be rejoicing. He says, wherein you greatly
rejoice, and this is what I want the suffering saints to... I
want to give us a list of things in this text we can rejoice in. No matter what you're suffering,
no matter what we're enduring, we have great things to rejoice
in. First of all, notice this. I
want you to understand you can rejoice in your election. Peter
says, the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. You who are believers in Christ,
you who are born again of the Spirit of God, no matter what
your trouble, you can hold fast to this. You are chosen of God. specifically chosen. I like this, because it's not
as though God put His hand in a big pile of marbles and started
pulling out names. No. He said, I'll specifically
take you, and I'll specifically take you, and I will specifically
take you, and you, that's what election is. It is a specific
purpose and choice of God. And God specifically chose you. He called you by name. Remember, our names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
Now, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. The word election or
elect to those outside of Christ is very scary. You know, this
is, when people talk about it, you talk about election to an
unbeliever or to a workmonger, they're going to be scared, and
I want you to understand that. They're afraid, and they should
be. They should be. Election to those outside of
Christ is very offensive and very fearful. For if salvation is only for
the elect, and it is, then those who are not chosen of God are
doomed and have no hope. And they don't. Scriptures are plain. For the
children not yet being born. neither having done good or evil,
that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand. It is said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, For Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? I know what you're going to say.
You're going to say, God's unjust. He already anticipates the argument. You're going to tell me God's
not fair. God's not just to choose one and let one hate one before
they've done anything. I beg your pardon, he said. God's
not unjust, God forbid. Or he said to Moses. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor him that runneth,
but God that showeth mercy. So election is not according
to man's will, it's not according to man's running or works. It's
according to the sovereign mercy of God to have mercy on whom
He will. And whom He will, He loved from
eternity. And you, believer, are loved
from eternity. You should rejoice in that. You
should rejoice in that. The matter of election is sovereign.
They try to twist God's election and say it's based upon what
man does. Well, you see, God foreknowledge,
according to the foreknowledge. So what God did is He foreknew
what man would do and choices man would make, and therefore
He made His election based upon the will of man. That lie is not found anywhere
in the Word of God. Matter of fact, everywhere the
word foreknowledge is used, it has reference not to actions,
but rather to people. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. Who is he talking about? Strangers
scattered. He's talking about people. He's
talking about persons. Not actions of persons. in Romans
8, 29, for whom He did foreknow. Not what He did foreknow, whom
He foreknew. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son that He should be the firstborn
among many brethren. And what did God predestinate
these chosen people for? He said, to be called, justified,
and glorified. That's what God purposed for
them. God purposed that these things
happen for us who are the elect. You who love God, who believe
on Christ, you, you who have the Holy Spirit
living in you to give you faith in Christ Jesus alone, you may
greatly rejoice You may greatly rejoice no matter how much trouble
you're in. You can rejoice in this. God
chose you. Chose you. In sovereign grace
and mercy, God hath from the beginning chosen you to what? Salvation. To salvation. Now see, it is not only the Four
knew you in love and predestinated you to salvation, but He also
purposed how you should be saved. He not only said, I'll save you,
He also purposed how you should be saved. Look at our text. He
said, "...to the elect according to the four knowledge of God
the Father." Here's how. Through sanctification of the
Spirit. Oh, it's so wonderful. God doesn't
leave anything to chance. How many times have you made
plans, but there's holes in your plan? You just kind of left it
up. You just said, well, I want to
go here, and if this happens, then I'll do this. If the other
happens, I'll do this. You just kind of leave it. Why?
You have no control over what's going to happen anyway, so you
recognize it, and you plan for it. You try to plan for it, and
it never usually works out anyway. But that's the way we do things. That is not how God does things. Praise God for this, that He
did not just choose us to election and then just leave it up to
us. No, He said He chose us and predestinated us to be conformed
to the image of Christ. How? Through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth. So this is the second
thing you should rejoice in, your sanctification. Your sanctification
of the Spirit. unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Seeing we are all born dead in
sins, Paul tells us that we by nature are the same as every
other fallen man. Though chosen of God, though
elect of God, we were not born with such righteous minds and
righteous natures. We were born the same as everyone
else, dead. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin, who walked according to the course
of the world, the prince of power there, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. We all had our conversation in
time past, the lust of our flesh. Not one of us that missed that.
We were dead walking after our own lust and worshiping the God
of our own imagination, just like everybody else. No difference. No difference. But now there's a difference.
Now there's a difference. What made the difference? In that answer, I believe that
you can see whether a man knows the gospel or not. What made
the difference? But God who is rich in mercy,
for His great love. Wherewith He loved us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died. You see, we were by nature fallen. What made the difference? The
mercy of God and His great love, His eternal love. by which He
elected us and chosen us and given us to Christ before the
world began. By this, God manifest His great
love unto us, even that while we were yet dead in our sins,
having nothing pleasing to God, having no hope of self-salvation,
God sent His Son to die for our sins. The greatest manifestation
of God's love to His elect is this, He sent His Son to die. John said this, hear in His love. You want to know what love is?
Stop looking at our pathetic excuse of what we call love.
It's not it. Herein is love, not that you
love God. That's not it. Herein is love,
not that you love God. The scripture says, but that
He loved us. And what's the manifestation
of that? He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And that by His one offering,
by the one offering of Jesus Christ, do you not realize this,
you elect of God, that He had forever put away our sins, forever
purged our sins, God took all of your sins even before they
were ever committed, imputed them to His Son, charged them
to Christ, made Him to be sin for us. And God in justice poured
out His wrath on His Son on that tree and paid the debt for all
our sins. And so satisfied was God that
Jesus Christ sat down. Sat down. Isn't that something?
All those high priests, they just went in there and they never
sat down. You know, there's no chairs. No chairs in that tabernacle. No chairs. No place to sit. The only place to sit is the
mercy seat. And that's not for them, that's
for God. So no place to sit. But yet Christ went in there
one time and forever removed our sins. Believer, no matter
what you're suffering, Rejoice in this, that through the sanctification
of the Spirit and obedience of Christ, and the sprinkling of
the blood of Christ, God hath made you holy. Made you holy. We who have been chosen of God,
God has made Christ Jesus His Son, then to be all our salvation. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, that no flesh should glory in
His presence, but of Him, of God, are you in Christ. That's
election. Union with Christ. Who of God
is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Jesus Christ then, by God, was
made all our salvation. So when Jesus Christ was risen
from the dead, quickened by God the Father, accepted by God the
Father, and lives before God, even so were we quickened in
Him. Quickened, the Scripture says,
Ephesians 2. We were quickened together with
Him. Together with Christ. who is our federal
head and king and representative in heavenly places. And this
is his sovereign will. The sovereign will for all of
the elect of God is this, that in the ages to come, Paul said,
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. And this is how he's going to
demonstrate this to all of his elect. And you'll see this, that
this is how he demonstrated it to you. This is how he showed
you your election. This is how he showed you your
redemption in Christ. Even by this, for by grace you
are saved through faith. And that faith is not of yourself. Yet faith is a gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
we are his skilled craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God before ordained that we should walk
in them. So then, what is the evidence
of our election? What is the evidence of our redemption? How do we know that the riches
of God's eternal love and grace are toward us? I'll tell you
what, you can know all there is to know about election, you
can know all there is to know about redemption. But you know what I desire to
know most? If I have any part in it. I have an interest because
I know only the elect are saved and only the redeemed are bought
and paid for. I know that. Are you one of the
elect? Are you redeemed by the blood
of Christ? How does one know such things?
Well, most religious folks will tell you, well, this is how you
know. Well, you have to make a profession of faith. You got
it. I talked to a fellow today and
he said this, you know, well, you got to, you got to come down
and make a confession. Is that how you know you're elect?
How many millions of people have come down an aisle and made a
profession of faith and went away just as lost as they came
down? That's no confidence in that. There's no confidence in
some profession of faith that you made one time. Some people
say, well, you've got to do good works. That's how you know you're
elect, if you just do good works. If you're baptized, then you're
elect. If you obey the law, you do the best you can, then you
can know. That's not what the scripture says. None of these things are evidence
of our election, nor are of our redemption. I tell you, believers
will make a public confession in baptism. They will. But that's
not our evidence. We don't trust in that. True
believers have no trust in that. We do it because it's obedience
to our Master. We do it as a public confession
of our faith before everybody. That's the only public confession
the Scripture gives. There is no such thing in Scripture
and there's nothing in the book about it coming down to a front
of a church. Nothing! There's nowhere in the book is
that found. The only profession of faith is baptism and believers
will do that. Will gladly do that. But we don't
have any trust in that pool. No trust. That's not my evidence. Believers can and do good works. We're created by God unto good
works. We will. Now, I know this, no
believer... I don't even think we... When
we do good works, we don't even know about it. Because the moment
I do something good, usually, if I know about it, I've already
bragged about it, it's ruined. That's just the way it goes.
The best thing for us to do is not even know we're doing it.
That's the best thing God can do is keep that from us. But
that's no evidence. There's a lot of evil people
doing good things. So that's not our hope. Joining
the church is not our hope. Being faithful to the church
is not our hope. Now, that's what we'll do because
we desire it. It's the new heart within us
that desires it, but that's not our evidence. What is the only
evidence that the Scripture gives for true faith, true elect and
redemption, election and redemption? It is faith in Christ is the
only evidence. That's the evidence. Faith in
Christ. We do none of these other things
for acceptance with God, nor do we trust in Him for our assurance.
The only evidence of our election is the gift of faith. By grace,
in the new birth, without which no one can believe on Christ
or enter into heaven, in the new birth, the Holy Spirit sanctifies
us. Now look, you don't have to be
a genius to understand this. Sanctification is holiness. Holiness. And in the new birth, God makes
you holy. He gives you a new nature that
wasn't there before. He creates in you a new heart. That's what He promised in the
covenant, isn't it? A new heart will I give you.
My spirit will I put within you. That's a part of His covenant.
And this new nature, Paul says this in Ephesians 4, he says,
it is created after God in true holiness. True holiness. And out of this new heart, this
new nature, comes this fruit that wasn't there before. You
know what that fruit is? Faith. Faith. See friends, faith is not natural. It's supernatural. It's something that only comes
from a new creation of God. You see, faith in Christ plus
works is natural. Anybody can do that. You can
believe in Jesus plus anything else. That's natural. But to
believe on Jesus Christ alone, to believe and trust in His work
upon the cross, His righteousness that He performed, His resurrection
for our justification before God, trusting Him alone is a
fruit only God the Holy Spirit can produce. And this fruit of faith and repentance
toward God, it is the evidence of our election and redemption,
not the cause. That's important. See, that would
ruin the gospel. If you believe your faith and
repentance are the cause of your election and redemption, you're
in trouble. Faith and repentance are the
fruit, the result of the new nature. and prove our election
and redemption in Christ. That's the evidence of it. See,
Jesus said no man can come to me. That's natural. What's natural is you can't come
to Christ. What's supernatural is you come to Christ. Have you
come to Christ? Oh, then you have great cause
to rejoice, don't you? If you believe on Jesus Christ
alone, you have every cause to jump up and down and shout praise
to God. No matter what your circumstances.
Because you have heard the voice of the Son of God and God has
raised you from the dead, then only we, by grace, believe and not in our obedience. Now,
we were obedient. When God gives you a new heart,
you'll be obedient. And you know what the law is?
The law of obedience that the believer follows is this, that
just shall live by faith. Our obedience is faith in Christ,
love for Christ, and love for the brethren, which comes from
a new heart. But our faith is not in our obedience,
but rather in the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ died, that veil that separated men from God. What happened to
it? It was torn in two. That veil
that separated all of Israel from God, and the only one who
could enter into that veil in the presence of God was the high
priest. But after our high priest had
entered in once with his own blood, God tore the veil asunder,
and now the way is made open, so that all who trust in Christ,
all who are born again of the Spirit, may enter into the presence
of God. Why? You have been sanctified
by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. You've been sanctified. This is the evidence of our election
and redemption. Therefore we, no matter what
we suffer, though now you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, you may rejoice in this. I believe on Jesus Christ alone. Listen, if that's all you ever
got in this world, that's enough to give you enough joy to last
you for eternity. If you have faith in Christ. Because that's the evidence of
all the other blessings God has bestowed upon us. It's the evidence
of our election and redemption in Christ. And now, believer,
look at this. You should rejoice in this. Look
back at your text. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten
us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Now the apostle turns from you
and he says, look, God has given you a living hope. God has given
you life by the sanctification of the Spirit. You have a new
heart inside of you, a living hope. Now he tells you to turn
your gaze to the resurrected Christ. Here's our hope, here's
our confidence, here's our assurance. Even the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and our hope, our hope, seeing that Christ has been raised
from the dead, ever living to make intercession for us, we
have an inheritance. An inheritance. He's given us
this life and hope and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you. Believer, our God has chosen
you, our Lord Jesus redeems you, the blessed Spirit quickens you
and given you faith, and we are truly saved from the wrath of
God to come. Your sins are forever removed
from you. They're removed from us by the
death of Christ. His righteousness has been given
to us by the Spirit's imputation and impartation of the new nature. Yet, the word and promise of
God is very clear that there is much, much more to come. You can rejoice in election,
you can rejoice in redemption, you can rejoice in a new life
and faith that God has given you, but God says, that's just
the down payment. I've only given you a small measure
of what's to come. So you want to know what's to
come? You have to look at the resurrection of my Son. You have to see what
has become of Him to see what is going to become of you. Do you get that? What has become
of Him is what is going to become of you. He is raised from the
dead, He is seated on the throne of God, and nothing and no one
can move Him. This is your inheritance. It's your inheritance. There's
so much more to come. John says this, It doth not yet
appear what we shall be. Can you tell that? Is that not
true for you? It doth not yet appear. I just,
I can't see it. The only way you can see it is
by faith right now. You can't see it. You can't feel
it. If God ever gives us, though,
I do enjoy those times when He comes and I feel His presence
as though I could reach out and touch Him. Those are so few. But I enjoy those times. But
I tell you this, that's not even a small measure of what's to
come. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But I know this, when He shall
appear, we shall be exactly like Him. For we shall see Him as
He is. And so for now, believer, we
must contend with the fleshly nature of our sin. We must still
suffer the hatred of men, the loss of friends and possessions
of this world. Yet the apostle gives us great
cause to rejoice, for we have an inheritance that was purposed
of God, bought by Christ, and reserved in heaven for you. Let
me tell you a little about this inheritance. It's incorruptible. It doesn't rust. It doesn't gather
dust. You can't lose it. And you can't
ruin it. This inheritance is as uncorruptible,
undefiled, and eternal as Jesus Christ Himself. Matter of fact,
you listen to this. He Himself is the inheritance. And what he told Abraham? He
said, Abraham, I am thy exceeding great reward. I'm your possession. I'm it. And to the believer,
that is more than enough. His inheritance will never fade
away. It's undefiled. And, you know,
I enjoy this. You can't ruin it. You can't
ruin it. You didn't do anything to earn
it, and you can't do anything to keep it. It's already been earned, and
it's reserved. For who? You. Reserved. It's ready for you. In all its
glory, in all its magnificence, it is ready for you. Our inheritance of eternal life,
perfect righteousness, acceptance, and access with God is as sure
as the throne of Christ. For Jesus said, no man can pluck
you out of my hand. No man. In order to ruin this inheritance,
you would have to dethrone Christ, and that just ain't gonna happen.
And this inheritance is not only for those who profess faith in
Christ, but those who are kept by the power of God through faith. So now, the apostle not only
shows us our election, our redemption, and our new life, our new heart
and nature of faith in Christ, but he also gives us this hope.
This hope. Listen to this. You have an inheritance
in heaven, and you know what? Not only were you given faith,
but God has promised to keep you in the faith, or through
faith, until you experience it. I know this is our fear. What if I myself would be a castaway? I know every believer has thought
one time or another, will I be an apostate? I'll tell you this, there are
many who profess faith in Christ who have apostatized, who have
left Christ, left the Gospel. But I know this, according to
this Word, everyone who has true faith in Christ will be kept
by the power of God. Now, that's the power that keeps
you in the faith. Not your power. You won't keep
yourself in the faith. You won't. I've seen some strong
men try and fail. But if God has given you true
faith, He will keep you. And I like this word. It means
to garrison. To garrison. You who are believers
shall be garrisoned by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed. And listen, it will not fail. He will not fail to keep one
of his people in the faith. Therefore, rejoice, believer,
Rejoice you who believe in Christ for God has given us the inheritance
and will keep us until we experience it. This should keep us in a
state of joy even in the midst of our sorrows. Believer, do
you rejoice in such things by faith? We do. These are great
and high and incorruptible things. These are things that cannot
be moved. Though now you suffer. Though now you suffer, the Apostle
would have us not be deceived to think that we should escape
suffering. He says this, wherein you greatly
rejoice in your election, in your redemption, in your new
heart, in new nature, in the inheritance that is to come,
though now for a season, if need be, you in heaviness through
manifold temptation, through manifold temptation, that the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold which
bears it, though it be tried by fire, might be found to the
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ. You see, God has not promised you an easy
path. He said that we should suffer
manifold temptations. And listen, you're not going
to suffer unless it's necessary. So if you suffer, it's necessary. Why is it necessary? That your
faith should be tried. There will be some who will assume
themselves to be believers in Christ, trusting in their works
in Christ. And one day He will say to them,
Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Would
any of you desire to be in that condition? Therefore the Apostle
said, Make your calling and election sure. How is it going to be sure? How do we know that our faith
is genuine? Because it must be tested. And
when it is tested, it will be proven. Not to God, but to you. Isn't that what you want? Assurance?
Do you want assurance? Let me tell you how you get it.
Through manifold temptations. Manifold temptations. You see,
God would have your faith to grow, and the only way it grows
is through trouble. And what does trouble do? It
only proves the grace and mercy of God. It only proves the power
of God to keep you in the faith. And by this, by this we know
our election, our redemption, even by faith in Christ. And
this is all for the praise and the glory of Christ at His appearing.
Now, your troubles are not going to seem like they're to the praise
and honor and glory of Christ. But you'll find out in the end
they are. How do we see this? By faith.
The just shall live by faith. May God ever give us a heart
to rejoice in the things that we have. Rejoice in the things
that are yet to come. Even though we suffer in this
life, we know this, that God means it for our good. And I know that God has to teach
us this. I pray He will. I stand and be dismissed in prayer.