Now, if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to I Peter. I Peter chapter 1, and we'll
be looking at verses 6 through verse 9. I Peter chapter 1, verses 6 through
9. And I've entitled this message,
True Joy and Necessary Trial. TRUE JOY. THE APOSTLE SAYS, WHEREIN
YOU GREATLY REJOICE. AND THAT'S GOING TO BE MY FIRST
POINT IS TRUE JOY. WHAT IS THIS THAT WE ARE TO GREATLY
REJOICE IN? AND SECOND OF ALL, PAUL MENTIONS
THIS, GREATLY REJOICE THOUGH NOW FOR A SEASON IF NEED BE. YOU ARE IN HEAVINESS THROUGH
MANIFOLD TEMPTATIONS, THAT THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH BEING MUCH
MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD THAT PERISHETH, THOUGH IT BE TRIED
WITH FIRE, MIGHT BE FOUND UNTO PRAISE AND HONOR AND GLORY AT
THE APPEARING OF JESUS CHRIST, WHOM HAVING NOT SEEN, YOU LOVE.
in whom, though now you see him not yet believing, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls." So the first
thing we deal with is what is this that we are to rejoice in?
True joy. What is true joy? Now we know
that there are many things that a believer may joy in or find
joy in this world. There are many things that bring
us joy. You think of things like your
family. They can bring you joy. Your children, your spouses,
your friends. Those times of celebration, when
you have birthdays, that makes people smile. They get a little
cake with the candles on it, they just smile. And graduations,
a bunch of that is happening right now is graduations and
newborn babies. It's time to celebrate when you
see a new child come into the world. Weddings and food. Oh, food. Man, I love food. It's just wonderful joy and pleasure.
Cheryl and I went out and ate a steak the other night, and
there was nothing like it. It was so great. It was just joyful. My mom had
recently broken her jaw. And she's not able to chew hard
food. But the other day she told me,
she said, you don't know what joy food brings me. And there
was, she ate something that she could chew. And she said that
flavor just burst in her mouth and she started crying. She started
crying, it was so good. We bring, that brings joy, doesn't
it? These things, they give us joy and they cause to. But this
kind of joy, We know this, it is given to us of God. If we
rejoice in anything in this world, we find a little joy, a little
comfort, a little excitement here. We know this, it's given
to us of God and we should be very thankful for it. But I know
this, that this joy, even though we should give thanks for these
joys, this is true, it's not lasting. That steak I had was
good, but it didn't last. You know what I want? I want
another one. It would be nice to have another one. But that
joy, it just doesn't last. And so we should be thankful
in times of celebration, those given to us of God. But these
moments are fleeting moments. They're fleeting things. They
don't last. Not any lasting joy. And even
though we should give thanks for these things, we give thanks,
I think it's in Ecclesiastes chapter 5, the wise man wrote this in verse
18 of Ecclesiastes 5, he said, Behold, this is what I have seen,
it is good and comely for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy
the good of his labor, that he taketh under the sun all the
days of his life. which God giveth him for his
portion. It's good. Those things aren't
bad. I don't downplay those things because they do bring some joy. But we have to understand that
these things must be in their place. They are under the sun
and therefore they are always fleeting joys. They only last
as long as they're there. And so some people, when they're
so enamored by these joys, they try to scrape them all in. You
know, when that manna came down and they took more than they
needed, it breed worms. You think about that with riches
and treasures of the earth. You think just because you have
ten steaks, well, you can only eat so many. And then the rest
just rot. They don't cause you any joy. But the rejoicing that Peter
is talking about is not something fleeting. It is something that
is forever. It's something you can rejoice
in every single day and every single minute of your life. It
is something that can endure not only through this life but
for all eternity. It is a kind of joy that he calls
in verse 8, joy unspeakable and full of glory. Because the source
of this joy, the source of this joy is founded in an eternal,
immortal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent triune
God. There is the foundation and source
of the joy that Peter is speaking of. That's why he says this, wherein
you greatly rejoice. What is he talking about? He's
talking about all that he had said before of God. All that he had
said before that God has done, that God is and God has done
for his people, that's what we should rejoice in, in God. So believer, are you in need
of joy? Are you tired of the joys of
this world? I'll tell you, as you grow older,
I'm experiencing this, and many of you that are older, you know
this to be true, the joys of earth, they're just not worth
the effort. Used to when you're young, used
to get out and used to chase them. And when you found them,
what did you catch? Nothing. You caught the wind
because they're elusive. They're always more. There's
always something more. And then eventually, God's people,
by grace, we get tired of chasing the wind. And so do we need real
joy, lasting joy, true joy? Are you cast down and needing
some rejoicing? Then there is endless supply
of eternal joy unspeakable and full of glory, where? In God. In God is our joy. In God is
our rejoicing. And so this vast wasteland, that's
all you can say about this world. It is a desert. It's a barren
land. Where the joys of the flesh are
nothing more than pools of muddy water. You go out in the desert
and you may find a pool of muddy water. That may satisfy you for
a little while until it dries up. And they dry up so fast,
don't they? Earthly joys. They have the illusion
of real joy, but they never satisfy it. What the man in Ecclesiastes
said is this. He that hath silver is not satisfied
with silver. Have you found that true about
yourself? You just say, I know this about young people because
I was one. If I just had this. THEN I'D BE HAPPY. IF I CAN JUST
ATTAIN THIS ONE THING THEN JOY WOULD FLOOD MY SOUL AND I WOULD
BE CONTENT FOREVER IF I HAD THIS THING OR THIS PERSON OR THIS
TRUCK OR THIS VEHICLE OR THIS IF I JUST GET MY DRIVER'S LICENSE
IF I JUST GET TO COLLEGE IF I JUST GET A JOB WHAT HAPPENS THESE
ARE MUDDY POOLS YOU DRINK FROM THEM AND THEY ONLY LEAVE DIRT
IN YOUR MOUTH BECAUSE THEY DON'T LAST There's nothing wrong with enjoying
them, but I'll tell you this, if you're not thankful to God,
all you'll want is those things, and those things won't ever satisfy.
There's no joy in it. But where there is true joy is
beholding the harmony, the order, and the unity, and the work of
the Godhead. Now there is everlasting, there's
an ocean of joy there, an ocean of joy. that you can drink from
at every moment, you who believe on Jesus Christ. Now that's who
I'm talking to. Peter's talking to those. He
says to the elect, to those who have obeyed the truth, to those
who have been sanctified through the Spirit of God, to those who
are the called according to God's purpose. I'm not speaking to
everybody because not everybody rejoices in God. Most people
don't care one whit about God or his son. They don't have any
interest in that. Give me the world. I want my
muddy pool. That's what they want. They want
this joy that's fleeting. You can have it. I don't want
it. I need something that lasts. I've had that muddy pool and
I don't want it. I want Christ. I want something
that lasts. This is speaking to God's people
this morning. If you are a believer in Jesus
Christ, then this is yours. Here's joy. And if you're not
a believer in Jesus Christ, the reason you have no joy is because
you have not Christ. If you have Christ, you have
joy. If you have not Christ, you have no comfort, no joy,
and you're not going to. You're not going to. Only joy
is in Christ. And this morning, if you want
joy, you've got to be in Christ. You must believe on the Son of
God. Receive Him and you will find joy. You will find more
joy than you could ever imagine. And so then, when Peter says,
wherein, look at that, wherein we greatly rejoice. I want us
to go back and see wherein we greatly rejoice. If we're God's
people, this is what we rejoice in. We rejoice in the Father.
We rejoice in the Son, and we rejoice in the Holy Spirit. We
rejoice in the work of the Triune God in our salvation. There is
our joy. Remember, he's writing, he says,
to the elect according to the foreknowledge of who? God the
Father, wherein we greatly rejoice. In what? The election of God
the Father. We rejoice in the election of
God the Father. Believer in Christ, let us then
in our hearts by faith give praise to God our Father for His electing
grace. This morning, right now, give
joy. There's joy in that. There's joy in understanding
the Father chose me. There's joy in that. The Father in grace chose us. Rejoice, believer, for God the
Father has not only chose you, He unconditionally chose you. There was no merit in you. There
was no purpose. There was nothing in us that
moved God to choose us over anyone else. Yet, He did. He did. He chose us. WITHOUT MERIT, WITHOUT
OUR WORKS, HE EVEN CHOSE US BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. THIS IS WHERE
ELECTION TOOK PLACE. IT TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE WORLD
BEGAN, WHICH MEANS IT TOOK PLACE BEFORE SATAN, IT TOOK PLACE BEFORE
SIN, IT TOOK PLACE BEFORE ADAM AND EVE, IT TOOK PLACE BEFORE
ANYTHING WAS MADE. GOD CHOSE A PEOPLE. GOD CHOSE US IN CHRIST. before
our father Adam brought physical and spiritual death, sorrow,
pain and suffering into this world. It was the father in sovereign
election, unchangeable love for us, who predestinated us to be
his children, that we should be blameless and that we should
be holy and he purposed that we should be accepted. only by
the merits of Jesus Christ alone. It was God the Father, our Father. I like that when Jesus said,
I go to my God and your God, I go to my Father and your Father. Just as much as He is the Father
of Jesus Christ, He is my Father. Isn't that something to rejoice
in? I have a father. I, who was a bastard, have a
father, an adopted father, one who adopted me, one who chose
me. You know this in Ephesians. It's
very clearly stated in Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed be who? The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He, the Father, hath chosen us in Him, Christ, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. What was His motivation in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children? What was the the means by Jesus
Christ unto Himself. What was the whole purpose of
this? That we should live unto Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will, according to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. According to His eternal love,
He decreed all that He chose should be saved. Saved. One thing about election is this,
it's sure to salvation. It's always to salvation. Election
is not salvation, it's unto salvation. It's purposed of God that He
should save us. It is the decree of God. Therefore
God said in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, now you listen, this pool
of joy, this ocean and river of joy, God says this, The Lord
hath appeared unto me of old, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. May God, the Holy Spirit, now
testify to our hearts that we are loved. Does it matter who else loves
us? If you are loved by the Father,
is that not sufficient? Because His love is never changing. I don't fully grasp this, do
you? My love is so mutable and changeable,
it's so dependent upon what people do to me and for me, But His
love is nothing like that. His love never decreases. Listen to this, His love never
increases either. It's always as high as He is. It's always as eternal as He
is. Believer, the Father loved us,
not in a cold and impersonal choice. It's not an impersonal
choice. He didn't choose us like you
would choose a car or you would choose an object. He chose us
as a parent would choose a child to be adopted. He chose us out
of love and affection. And what's the proof of His love? With loving kindness have I drawn
thee. Has He drawn you with loving
kindness? I'm talking about that which is in Christ. That's the
loving kindness that God shows to His people who are sinners.
He draws us not by law but by grace. Have you been drawn by
law? Well, you're not loved of God. God doesn't draw men by
law, He draws them by love, by grace, by mercy. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Remember He said this to those
children that were not yet born, Jacob and Esau. He said these two children being
of the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, in the same womb at
the same time, He said for the children not yet born, being
born neither having done good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. Not of works, but of him
that calleth. You see election and calling,
they go together. How do you know your election
except of him that calleth? It says unto her, For Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. God told you by Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then, this election is not
of him that willeth. This salvation is not of him
that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. Believer in Christ and
you should rejoice in God the Father who loved you. chose you,
adopted you to be his children. That's what Peter is talking
about, wherein you greatly rejoice. In what? Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 3. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a living hope. Have
you been begotten again in living hope? Then that's how you know
the Father loved you. Know you are the elect of God.
So then secondly, we rejoice in God the Son. Believer, we greatly rejoice
in the Father that loved us and chose us, but we also rejoice
that He did not leave our salvation to us. He did not leave, listen, any
part of our salvation to us. He did not bring us to the threshold
of heaven's door and expect us to even roll in. Why? We could not. We would not. Therefore God, not leaving it
up to us, gave everything to the Son. He gave every part of
salvation to the Son. Why? Because He delighted in
the Son. He delighted in the Son. Therefore the Scripture
tells us that we were chosen in Him. Chosen in Christ the
Son. So then let us rejoice in the
Son this morning. Let us rejoice in His agreement
with the Father. That He agreed to be our eternal
surety. To be our eternal representative. Our eternal Redeemer. Our Savior. The Savior of all the elect.
You remember Judah, and that famine came, and Joseph sent
them back with all that wheat and their own money, and they
ate up all that wheat that was there. And Jacob said, ìGo back and
get some more.î He said, ìWe canít unless you let Benjamin
go.î And he said, ìI wonít let him go. If you donít let him
go, weíll starve to death.î And you remember the only reason
he let Benjamin go was that Judah said, I'll be surety for the
lad. I'll bear the blame. This is what it is, be surety.
I'll bear the blame if I bring him not again to you. That's
what a surety is, it's a guarantee. This is what Christ did with
the Father. He guaranteed the salvation of
the souls of His elect. And the Father gave Him charge. As Jacob gave Judah charge over
Benjamin, even so the Father gave Christ charge over all the
souls of His people. Therefore, friends, there never
was a time that the Father failed to delight in the Son. And because
He had given us to the Son, there has never been a time He is not
delighted in you. Now, I know this. As believers
in Christ, we find no delight in ourselves. Look in the mirror. Is there any delight? There is
none. We confess that we are undone.
Woe is me, I am undone, said Isaiah. We confess that we are
sinners. But you know what? God's delight
in us is not based on us. It is based on our union with
Christ. He delights in us because He's
always delighted in the Son. It was the Father in sovereign,
unchangeable, immutable decree put us in the Son and then now
delights in us. And so then rejoice. because
of the love of the Son of God, who loved us, who agreed to do
all that was necessary to bring us to God, make us holy and acceptable
before God. That's the purpose of assurity.
Hebrews 7 22 it says that Jesus is by so much more was made a
surety of a better covenant a covenant not of works a covenant of grace
he was made surety by God and that in Isaiah chapter 9 you
know you know it very well it says for unto us a child is born
unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his
shoulders The responsibility of bringing the whole kingdom
of God to God was on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. But I'll tell you this, we needed
a surety because we could not do it ourselves. Isn't that true
of every believer? We, by nature, were not blameless. We were unholy. We were unrighteous. By nature, children of wrath,
haters of God, rebels in mind, in heart, and in body. We were
rebels from the top of our head to the soles of our foot. We
were depraved and dead in sin. By nature, opposed God. We loved darkness rather than
light, lies better than the truth, sin rather than righteousness.
And we were deceived and being deceived. And we could not and would not
come to Christ. This is against all modern religion,
isn't it? Who says, you know, all you have
to do is just decide to come. You can't even decide. And what
does your decision mean? Nothing. Nothing. Jesus said, No man can come to
me. That's simple, plain language,
isn't it? We're not complicating things.
He said, No man can come to me except what? The Father which
hath sent me draw him. It takes the power of God to
draw a sinner to himself. Therefore, this is the reason
God sent His Son into the world. To save His people. Isn't that
the declaration of the angel? When He came into the world,
He said, Thou shalt call His name Jesus. Why? Why is His name Jesus? Because
it means something. Jehovah saves. That's what it
means. Thou shalt call His name Jehovah
saves. For, this is why you're going
to God. He shall save His people from their sins. That's what
He came to do. Therefore, the Son of God in
grace and love for us. united himself to humanity. You realize that he from now
on in eternity will be a man? He united him. He left the throne
of God, the deity, where he was praised continually. He left
it and became a man, humbled himself, so that he might become
our high priest. High Priest. It's an amazing
thing, that office of High Priest. In Hebrews chapter 5, the Apostle
tells us about this office. That's what a surety is. That's
what some would represent. A High Priest was a surety. He
was a representative. He was one to do the work for
the people. That's what Paul tells us in
Hebrews chapter 5. He said, For the high of every
high priest is taken from among men, and is ordained for this
purpose, for men. in things pertaining to God,
that he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin, who can
have compassion on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way,
for he himself is also compassed with infirmities, and by reason
thereof ought, as for the people, so for himself to offer for sins.
And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is
called of God, as was Aaron. Listen, so also Christ. glorified not himself, to be
made a high priest. But he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee, hath also said in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
This was His calling to be our High Priest, to offer gifts and
sacrifices to God for His people. Now, do you imagine that the
High Priest of Israel was a High Priest for the Canaanites? No. He was only a High Priest
for Israel, wasn't He? He was a high priest called of
God for that particular nation. Even so, Christ is a high priest
of God called for a particular people. Who are they? Just like
I told you, they're the elect. They're the ones God gave Him.
And on their behalf, Jesus Christ came into this world as a man
and He did two things. obedience to the law he obtained
righteousness, and by his sacrificial death he put away their sins
forever." Two things he did, two glorious works that you and
I can rejoice in because he did them on our behalf. Now listen,
I wasn't there. Were you there? I guess the oldest
room in this room is Scott. Scott, you're the oldest in this
room. Probably not the oldest watching,
but the oldest I can look at. You weren't there. You weren't
there. I didn't see him. Peter said,
though you've not seen him, you love him. I'm not seeing that. I wasn't there when he did it.
But guess what? Neither did I see Adam sin. You
see, I wasn't there when Adam sinned, but I was there in representative. And when he sinned, I sinned.
Therefore, when I was born, I died. I was dead. Even so, in Christ,
I was not there, but I was there. I was there when he was obeying
God I was there I obeyed God when he obeyed God just as I
sinned when Adam sinned when he obeyed God I obeyed God and
when he offered that sacrifice for sin as my high priest I offered
it it was mine he offered it for my sins he gave Not the blood of bulls
and goats as those old high priests. You know, those guys, they could
offer those blood, they were commanded to, God commanded them
to. And yet they could offer as many as they wanted. And it
never took away one sin. But this man, Jesus Christ, the
scripture tells us that he obtained eternal redemption. by His one offering. The Apostle
in Galatians 1 and verse 4 said He gave Himself for our sins. Do you realize He gave all of
Himself? He gave all of Himself to become
a man. He gave all of Himself to the
obedience of the law. He gave all of Himself as a servant
to God. God said, Behold My servant,
in whom My soul delights, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. And then, As an act of high priest
and sacrifice, Jesus offered his blood once, once for the satisfaction of God's
justice against our sin. Once. He offered himself to God. That's what Peter says, and if
you go back to your text there, look in verse 18, he says, Now
look, you believers, you know this, and you need to greatly
rejoice in this. For as much as you know, you
are not redeemed with money, silver and gold are corruptible
things, with your vain conversation, the tradition of your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. who barely was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. Isn't that what I just said?
I hope that you see the connection between election and what Christ
did, but was manifest in these last days for you, who by Him
do believe in God that raised Him up from the dead, gave Him
glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. He gave Himself
In love, He willingly laid down His life for His sheep. And so that His righteousness
might be imputed to us, our sins were imputed to Him. Now, what
it says in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, God made Him to be sin for us. who knew no sin. Now what Peter
just said, he said that without spot and blemish. That's who
he is. That's who he was. And yet God made him to be sin
for us. Mystery. Mystery. And here's
another mystery. That you, who are only full of
sin, might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's a mystery,
but it's the truth. And we only can see this and
believe this by faith in Christ. And now that Christ is risen,
And this proves what? That he was successful. That
he did not fail in saving his people. This should bring you joy. He did not fail. He has never been discouraged. Have you been discouraged? I'm
discouraged all the time. We plan and we scheme and we're,
oh, so discouraged in everything we do. Even when everything works
out the way we think it should, it still isn't perfect, is it? Look, listen, He's never discouraged.
Everyone He redeemed, He's going to save. Every one of them, he
said, this is the father's will. The father chosen, the father
gave to me, and this is the father's will. That I should lose nothing,
but raise them up again at the last day. Rejoice in the son. Man, if you've got nothing else
to rejoice in, do you not have a cause to rejoice in him? If
you've got nothing else to be thankful for, to praise, should
you not give thanks? Is there not a vast ocean of
thankfulness that we can draw from His death and His resurrection
and His righteousness? Yes, because that righteousness
is ours. That blood is ours. Christ is
mine and I am His. If I can't find any joy in anything
else, I should find joy in the Son. But not only this, we should
rejoice in the Spirit. in the Spirit. Look at what Paul
says back in your text, verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, listen, through sanctification of the Spirit
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. In verse 3, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according as if abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope. These are
the work of the Spirit. We who were loved of the Father
and chosen of the Father, redeemed and made righteous by the work
of Jesus Christ, we also were loved by the Spirit, who in the
eternal covenant of grace agreed to call us to life and keep us. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit, the sanctification of the Spirit. Unto what? Obedience. That's faith. And
the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the new
nature. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13,
Beloved, we are bound to give thanks to God always, brethren,
for you, beloved of the Lord, because God has chosen you from
the beginning to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Faith. This is the work of God the Holy
Spirit, we should rejoice in it. Now a man may rejoice in his
knowledge of election and redemption, but listen, if he's not experienced
the work of the Spirit, he doesn't have any cause to rejoice. You
can know everything about Calvinism, but if the Spirit of God has
not given you life and faith, If you've not been sanctified,
made holy by the Spirit of God in the new nature through obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Christ, you're none of His. The Holy Spirit moves on His
people in power through the preaching of the gospel, and He uses this
word to give life and regenerate the soul. And when there's life, How do you
know someone's alive? They're breathing. You know,
you see sometimes in the war movies, somebody gets shot and
they put a mirror up to his nose. Why? They want to see if he's
breathing. What's the breath of spiritual life? Faith. It's obedience, isn't it? Obedience
not to the law, but obedience to the law of faith. Obedience
to the law of love. That's the life that the Spirit
of God gives. He opens the eyes of the blind. He gives us a new nature. And
then, what do you do? What does a living man do besides
breathe? He feels, doesn't he? He feels. What does a spiritual
man feel? He feels his need of Christ.
He feels his need of righteousness. He sees God as God is, holy. He sees himself as he is, sinful. He sees himself in a hopeless
condition, unable to save himself. This is the work of the Spirit.
To cry, call unto God for faith, life and faith. Therefore rejoice
in the Spirit who has caused us to have the new birth." And
not only does He give us the new birth, listen, He keeps us.
This is something to rejoice in because you and I, if we were
given faith, could not keep faith. It is the Spirit of God who dwells
in us and keeps us. Look what Peter said. He said,
We are called unto a living hope, to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, reserved for you, who are, what? Verse 5, kept
by the power of God through faith, never apart from
faith, right? What? Unto salvation ready to
be revealed. We've not yet seen the fullness
of this, have we? We haven't. Yet, I know this,
I'm not kept by myself, I'm kept by the power of God. Is that
not a reason to rejoice in the Holy Spirit? to rejoice, and
you know what? The Holy Spirit, His work is
simply this, to point men to Christ. He doesn't point men
to Himself. I'm thankful for the work of
the Holy Spirit, and the work of the Holy Spirit is what? Pointing
me to Christ. Pointing me to Christ. Any spirit
that testifies of himself is not the Spirit of God. There's a whole religion based
on testimonies of the Spirit, right? They say, well, I have
the Spirit, how do you know? I can speak in tongues. I have
the Spirit, how do you know? I can raise the dead. I have
the Spirit, how do you know? I can do miracles. No. The only
way you know you have the Spirit, because Judas could do all those
things. The only way you know you have the Spirit is this.
Do you believe on the Son of God? And friends, you have nothing
to complain about. Why? You have God in the Trinity of
His persons engaged in your salvation. That same verse that I read in
Isaiah chapter 6 and chapter 9 verse 6 and chapter 9 verse
7 it says the zeal of the Lord shall perform this. Zeal? You know what's going to save
me? The zeal of the Lord. Not the zeal of myself, because
that zeal is weak at best. And most of the time it's not
even existent. The zeal that's going to save me is the zeal
of God. So there is what we should be thankful for. And not only
this, but the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit is engaged in causing
you to grow. That's why we get this next point
that he says, wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season,
listen, if necessary, if need be. You, through heaviness, through
manifold temptations, at the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found in praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, the necessity of trials. We greatly rejoice in God the
Father, God the Son and Holy Spirit, who has engaged to save
us, who has performed the work and now applied the work and
now keeps the work. But we have not yet received
the fullness of our inheritance. In fact, we still have doubts.
We still are so full of fears and unrest and pain and toil. We still have these things because
we still have the old nature of sin. This morning, the reason you
are not through the roof joyful is because of the old man. You
want to be everybody. I want to be happy. I want to
be joyful in these things. What pulls us to the earth is
what the old nature of sin. What drags us down? Why is it
that we limit our services to only a few minutes? Because the
flesh is weak, because our spirit would love to hear of this all
the time. It's the old man that brings
us down and and robs us of our joy. We still have this old man. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from this rotting corpse? I thank
God one day Jesus Christ will, but right now there is no condemnation. That's what he rejoiced in, isn't
it? Even though he had that rotting flesh and one day he had a promise
to be delivered from it, yet now he said, therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He rejoiced
in that. So even in the trials of this
life, we who are in Christ, listen, you can still find comfort. You
can still find joy in trials because of this. You only have
trials because they're necessary. God says, if need be. And listen,
only for a season. I'm glad that they're limited.
They're limited to a season and they're only they're only going
to happen if they're necessary. Necessary. In other words, listen,
all of your troubles have purpose. You don't know what that is and
that's what causes you distress. Causes me distress. I can't see
the end result of these things. But faith should be able to.
Faith should be able to see the end of our salvation. But eyes, these physical eyes
and this physical mind cannot comprehend how these trials are
meant for my good. And it causes us great distress.
But faith should see they're necessary. They're necessary. if need be therefore rejoice
in the spirit who gives these trials to us for our growth rejoice
that if you have a trial rejoice if you are in temptation because
it is our father who has decreed it Remember the same Father that
loved you? Remember the same Father that
put you in Christ? Remember the same Son that died for you? Remember
the same Spirit that quickens you and keeps you? This is the
same God who ordained your trials, who ordained your temptations,
and yes, even your failings. And He did it for one reason.
It was necessary for your good. He said, listen, I will not turn
away from them to do them good. Not one minute. There's not been
one minute, one second of one day God has ever turned away
from you to do you good. Why? That's the same as His blood
covenant. That's part of His covenant.
That He will keep you and not turn away to do you good. Therefore,
when God sends a trial, it is needful to us. Whatever the trouble,
small or great, the heaviness and manifold temptations are
necessary for a good wine. That's the question that comes
to mind, is it? Why? If God's purposed that I should
my salvation be finished in Christ and everything is complete, then
why must I need trials? Listen, because you must grow.
You must grow in those graces that God would. You know, Audrey,
when she when she was three, she made me a promise. You mad
at me for telling this. She made me a promise. She said,
I promise never to get bigger, never to grow old. And I remind
her of that promise every day, I see she gets older, she gets
bigger. She couldn't keep that promise.
You know, as a dad, I wouldn't want her to. I mean, you want
your children to grow. You want them. My son's going
to graduate next year, if Lord willing. But it's exciting for
us to see them grow. How much more is it for our Father
who loves us to see us grow in the very graces He gave us? Every
child is born with, if they're healthy, they're born with ten
fingers and ten toes. But they don't stay the same
size. They grow. And how do you know they're growing?
It's because they're nurtured. They're fed. Their bodies are
working correctly. And listen, if we are spiritually
growing and nurturing. But listen, what causes growth?
The one thing we hate. Trials. Temptations. troubles. This is what the Father
has determined to use. He says, though it be tried with
fire, the trial of your faith, my friends, is necessary. Even though it be tried with
fire, Over in Zechariah chapter 13,
I read this just before the service, I didn't have it marked. It says
in verse 9, And I will bring a third part, these are his elect,
I will bring a third part through the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, will try them as gold is tried, and this
is always the result, they shall call on my name, and I will hear
them, and I will say, this is my people, and they shall say,
this is my God. See the result? This is the result
of trial of our faith is that we should increase in faith. That we should grow in faith.
Is there anything more necessary than growing in faith and love?
Is there anything? Can you think of anything? Without faith it's
impossible to please God. Isn't that right? How do I know
I'm God's elect? How do I know that Christ died
for me? How do I know the Spirit has given me new life? It is
only if I have faith in Christ. Now the faith is not caused by
anything in me. That faith that is true is given
of God and therefore that faith will endure. And not only will
it endure, it will grow. How does it grow? As gold and
silver are refined in the fire. Now, I thought of this, you put
gold, and you put a gold bar in the fire, it melts, all the
dross comes up, they rake that off, they pour it back in, and
you have pure gold. Pure gold. It's more valuable
after that, isn't it? But I noticed this, if you weighed
it before, and you weighed it after, the gold weighss less. Why? It had all that dross in
it, it's gone. But consider that faith is not
that way when it's tried. What if you put a two-pound gold
bar in the fire, it burned all that dross off, and you poured
it out, and you had a four-pound bar? Listen, that's what faith
is! When faith is tried, all of the
dross comes up. We see more clearly who we are. We see more clearly who God is.
We see more clearly what Christ has done. We see more clearly
that our inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled. It fadeth not away. We receive the end of our salvation. It's more bright. It's more valuable,
isn't it? Faith is more valuable when we're
through the trial. But what has faith done? Faith
is increased. It's not decreased. It's increased. It's become more valuable. And
it's become more. I'm going to close with this. You just heard it when we started
the service. I wanted you to get this twice because it was
really good, the hymn that was sang at the beginning of this
by Newton. He said, I asked the Lord that
I might grow in faith and love and every grace. might more his
salvation know, and seek more earnestly his face. Thus he taught
me to pray, and I trust he'd answer prayer. But in such a
way it almost drove me to despair. I hope, this is what we hope,
we hope that in some favored hour he'd at once answer our
request, and by his love's constraining power subdue my sin and give
me rest. Isn't that what you want? Isn't that exactly how
you think it should be? God, please give me more faith
and grace. And you expect Him to just come
in and everything be all roses, everything all smooth. That's
not how He does it. Instead, I've made me feel my
hidden evils of my heart. He let the angry powers of hell
assault my soul in every part. Yea, more with His own hand He
seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all my fair designs
I schemed, cast me down and made me low. "'Lord, why is this?'
I trembled and cried. "'Will Thou pursue Thy worm to
death?' "'It is in this way,' the Lord replied. I answered
prayer for grace and faith. "'These inward trials I employ
from self and pride to set Thee free and break the earthly schemes
of joy that Thou mayest find Thine all in.'" where in you greatly rejoice? In a God, the Father, who loved
you and chose you. In God, the Son, who gave himself
to die for your sins. In God, the Holy Spirit, who
out of all the people in the world chose me, called me to
faith, and keeps me after all the trials and troubles I've
endured. Who's kept me? Yes. And His purpose in hurting me
was not to kill me or destroy me, but only to make me love
Him and lean on Him more. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. It wasn't Him saying, half has not
yet been told. No. May God give you joy every
day if you just look to it we can find an ocean of joy even
in trials because they're needful and necessary otherwise you wouldn't
be hurting if it wasn't needful god bless this to you