Sunday Morning Sermon Series - The Purpose of Trials

Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military style.

Would you please turn with me to the book of 1 Peter chapter 1. That's 1 Peter chapter 1.

The title of this sermon is The Purpose of Trials. I preached this sermon in September in Puerto Rico when we did our advance trip.

That's where we're taking our mission team of 48 people this year. When I say trials, some of us, all of us at some point have probably referred to trials as really just a result of our sin.

Well that's not really trials. That's you touching a hot stove and getting burned. That's not what we're talking about today.

We're talking about actual trials. Actual trials. Not as a direct result of your sin.

But trials nonetheless. That's what we have in mind today and that's what Peter has in mind when he wrote this.

Thank you brother Jeremiah. So when we say the purpose of trials,

I want you to think about that sentence. That is implying that there actually is a purpose to them.

It's amazing how probably everyone in this room would say everything happens for a reason.

But the moment we cite specific examples that everything gets limited a little bit. But when

I say, when the Bible says that everything happens for a reason, it actually means everything.

Yes, even the one that just popped in your head when I said that. Everything. 1

Peter chapter 1 verse 1 -9 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and Asia and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the

Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, and it is kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while. If necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.

Verse 7 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 the praise and the glory and the honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you don't 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.

God has a purpose for these types of trials. That purpose is to teach us.

To teach us to rely on Him, to refine our lives through Him, and to rejoice in any and all circumstances.

First point that Peter is trying to make here is that the purpose of trials is for you to realize your necessity of God and rely on Him all the more.

Read with me again. In verse 1 it calls them the elect exiles.

What does elect mean? It means chosen. Thank you. It means chosen. The chosen exiles in all these places who are there, verse 2, according to the foreknowledge of God.

They're in all these places because of persecution both past and present. When Babylon sieged

Jerusalem and scattered the Jews across the world, to which they were never collected again until about 80 years ago by the way, because God said they would by the way.

They were scattered everywhere. At the same time, Peter writes this in about 63

AD and persecution has begun in the city of Rome where Peter is writing from and they have been scattered.

You know what happens in church history any time persecution hits the church? Two things.

One, it spreads like wildfire and it becomes all the more refined.

All the more refined. The past two years, we've seen some persecution in the church and great persecution worldwide.

Great. 1 Peter 4 tells us judgment begins in the house of God.

God judges the nation. You know the first people He judges? Us. Isn't it amazing that anyone else find it hilarious that during the heights of COVID, these

TV faith healers close their services. The ones that can with a handkerchief heal a cripple and make people's arms and legs grow back.

Canceled services for COVID. Doesn't that make you wonder? You know what's amazing?

A lot of those prosperity folks haven't reopened. And praise God. Because judgment begins in the house of God.

When God judges the nation, He begins with His house. Did Jesus not do the same?

He judges His own first. Judgment begins in the house of God. And yet,

Peter writes to encourage these exiles elect and chosen by God.

You know what would have happened had persecution not happened in Rome?

Even though Jesus told them to go to all the world, you know what the Christians would have done? They would have stayed right there. And we would not see our brothers and sisters in heaven from Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

But you know why we will? Because persecution hit the church and the

Gospel spread. Isn't that amazing? There was always a purpose to trials.

Always. Verse 3 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. Why great mercy?

Do you truly understand the mercy that it took to save you?

Do you understand that? I can tell you, you don't. But to try to help a little bit.

I need you to understand something. And I've said this before. Mercy is not the fact that you don't go to hell when you die.

Mercy is that you're not there right now. The Bible says

He gives life and breath to every creature on planet earth. Every creature.

It is by the mercy of God that we don't perish now. Often, Brother Jeff says, what?

That when it comes to the holiness of God, you and a street -walking whore are on the same level, yes?

And we all say amen. Let's put that a little more clearly. And I bet I won't get as many amens.

You and me and the racist bigot are on the same level of need of mercy for God.

Right? Is that a little more culturally appropriate today? There is no human being through any merit of their own that can get one inch closer to God's holiness.

Not one. The Bible says that our righteous acts are as filthy rags in the sight of God.

What do you think your sin looks like? It is a great mercy needed to save our souls.

A great mercy. In that what? He caused us to be born again.

He caused us to be born again. Was Lazarus calling out for Jesus?

No. You know why? He was dead. That is our spiritual condition before Jesus.

And look, we went from dead and orphaned to alive and adopted.

That's your spiritual transformation. Dead and orphaned to alive and adopted.

The book of Ezekiel says that not only were you dead and orphaned, you were in a pool of blood.

That's how Ezekiel calls it. You were laying in a pool of blood with no heartbeat and orphaned.

And God said, live. That is how you got saved.

That is a great mercy. And it goes more than that. It wasn't just made you alive and left you to yourself.

He adopted you as His child. And look what it says. Into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

See, our hope is living because Jesus is also living. Through a living hope.

Reminder, biblical hope is not like saying, I hope the

Titans make the Super Bowl next year. Biblical hope is not saying, I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow.

Biblical hope is an awaiting and expected outcome. It is the bride the months before her wedding.

It's coming. She is awaiting an expected outcome. And so are we. We are the bride of Christ.

Our groom is coming to get us. He is. He's coming to get us

His bride. We have been adopted into that family by the

King of the Universe. By the King of the Universe. And then it's more that that King who adopted us, because remember, there are no children of God by natural birth.

We've all been adopted. What does it say? Verse 4. Into an inheritance.

You see, if you're not understanding the point of why trials help you rely on God, it's because you didn't recognize your need for Him in the first place.

Do you not see this? You went from dead and orphaned. Now you're alive and adopted. And the

King of the Universe has an inheritance for you. And let's read about that inheritance. It is imperishable.

That means it can't die. It is undefiled. It is pure.

And it is unfading. It's just as strong as it was on day one. And where is this inheritance?

It is kept in Heaven for you who are being protected by God's power.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't recognize that your salvation does not hang upon your good works, that your salvation does not hang in your hands as much as your children are your children no matter what they do, so you are a child of God, bought by God.

And your inheritance is in Heaven and is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

Does that not give you a living hope? Does that not give you a living hope? Our trials should demonstrate our utter need for God and our total reliance on Him.

But our trials do something else. Point two, they refine us. How is gold refined?

Isn't it amazing? We have a substance that becomes of more value when we set fire to it.

By allowing the impurities to be burned away again and again and again and again, it becomes more valuable, doesn't it?

More useful, doesn't it? What happens to a tree when it's properly pruned?

It grows back stronger. The storm came. Yesterday I got out, finally, and I chopped up a bunch of limbs with my saw from my yard and some of my neighbor's yards.

This has happened two or three times in my neighborhood, and the trees keep on growing stronger. Even though the dead limbs came off, made a great mess, and messed up a bunch of stuff, the tree actually got stronger.

Why? Because the impurity, the dead weight, was cut away so that the alive can garner all those nutrients.

Gold is refined by fire. Trees are pruned.

And those are the analogies God decided to use for how our Christian life looks like. Are you resisting

God's refining of your life? Are you resisting God's pruning of your life?

And by the way, what's amazing, we'll read this passage in a minute, in Hebrews 12, verse 2, it says something amazing.

This was a crucial verse for my understanding of my Christian life. And I hope it is for someone in here as well.

Hebrews 12, verse 2 says this, Let us lay aside every sin and weight that ensnares us, so that we can run the race.

Now did you hear that? Every sin and weight. That means there are things weighing you down that in and of themselves are not sinful, that still need to be cut away.

You hear that? Every sin and weight. If you are one of those people who in your brain, when you decide to make a decision, you say the following sentence, well, there's nothing wrong with.

I am speaking to you. I'm speaking to you. Lay aside every sin and weight that so easily ensnares us, so that we can run.

So we can run. And this is not a sprint, ladies and gentlemen, it's a marathon.

But Hebrews 12 says, the course has been laid out for you.

Laid out. That's the race we're running. That's the race we're running.

And God is pruning away the stuff that you don't need to serve

Him. That which is weighing you down. That may or may not in and of itself be sinful, but holding you back from being more obedient.

God is pruning that away. Are you fighting that? Are you fighting that pruning?

The Bible has one word to describe how you submit to that, and that's the word humility.

Read with me. It says, humble yourself, therefore, in the sight of God, and He will lift you up in due time.

At His proper time. Humble yourselves, therefore, in the sight of God.

The Bible says He opposes the proud. Do you really want God as your enemy?

He opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

Not to the worthy. One time, an adult in here was contemplating whether or not to go as a chaperone on a youth trip.

This was years ago. She said to me, Josiah, I don't feel worthy to go.

My answer may surprise you. I said, you're not. That's why it's called grace.

And that's all they need to see. The beauty of it is that you're not worthy. God makes you worthy.

The beauty of it is that you can just be one beggar showing another beggar where the bread's at.

That in and of yourself, you're not, but God is and is refining you to be that.

That level of humility is all that's needed to make a difference in someone else's life. And if you say, that's

God's job to develop them, that's right. And guess what? He decided to use you to do it.

That's what He decided. He decided to use you to do it. Are we resisting

God's refining? Because let me tell you something, it can be uncomfortable having those branches pruned away, can't it?

It can be uncomfortable being refined by fire, but the end result is a purified, alive tree that can produce fruit.

Sometimes trials are used as an opportunity to burn away the impurities that are keeping us from obeying

God. Read again in verse 6. In this, that is that inheritance, right?

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary. And yes, for some of us, sometimes it's necessary.

If necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. I could look around this room and see many examples of that.

The most important question on planet Earth, the most important question when you read the

Bible, here's a little Bible study tip for you, is to ask the question, why?

Who, what, when, and where can be answered by a Wikipedia page? Why is what's important.

And in verse 7, if my Sunday night Bible study crew does not get this,

I'm going to cry. In verse 7 it says, so that. What Greek word is that?

Henna. Everyone say henna. It's my favorite word in the Bible. So that.

It answers the question of why. Why? So that. So read again, verse 6.

In this you rejoice, though for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials.

Why? Why? So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, though it's refined by fire, may be found to result in the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Look again, when? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

It's not all going to be revealed now. When does it say? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. A little side note for you.

Wake up. Listen. A little side note for you for later. Write it down. Revelation 15, verses 3 and 4.

If you ever want to know what it's going to look like when God finally reveals what He's been doing all along,

I pray that you read those two verses. They help me a lot. Revelation 15, verses 3 and 4. But, in summary it says this, that one day, we will see all that God has been doing since the creation of the world, and we'll agree that His righteous acts have been revealed.

That every one of His ways were righteous even if we couldn't see it at that time. These elect exiles

Peter's writing to, for many of them, they probably did not get the answer to why they were in persecution at that time.

They probably did not get the answer. But, look at that second city right there or second region, province

I should say, Galatia. Hey, we have a book of the Bible written to them, don't we? To that region of churches there.

It's called Galatians. It was a group of churches. It's the only letter in the

New Testament of Paul's that was written not to one specific local body, but to a group of churches. You know what's amazing?

You know why there's Christians there for Paul to write to? The dispersion.

They took the Gospel with them. Now they may not have had the opportunity to see what

God was doing all along, but we can now look back and see what He's doing. And one day that will be the case for every one of us.

One day we'll be able to look back and see the symphony He's been orchestrating all along. Our job in the meantime is to trust that He has a plan and He will reveal it in His time, not ours.

The purpose of trials is not simply to learn to rely on Him or even only to be refined by Him, but it's to learn to rejoice in any and all circumstances.

The Bible does not say, be happy in the Lord always. Again, I say, be happy. The Bible does not say, this is the day the

Lord has made. I will be happy. The Bible says, this is the day the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it. The Bible says, rejoice in the

Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Philippians 4. What's the difference between joy and happiness?

Real quick. Joy is based on a foundation.

Happiness is based on a circumstance. Your mood can change based on what happens, but your joy should not be shaken.

Joy is based on a foundation. Jesus says to put that foundation on a rock so that no matter what the wind and waves do, that that foundation remains secure.

Happiness is based on a circumstance. There are many things that happen that don't make me happy. Don't make me happy.

But it should not shake my joy. Because my joy is based on a foundation that is greater than whatever circumstance

I'm going through. Y 'all hear what I'm saying to you? We can count it all joy, as James says, when we go through various trials, because those trials don't shake our foundation.

They don't shake our foundation. Look again in verse 8.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you don't now see

Him, you believe in Him. And look at this next phrase. Rejoice with joy. Rejoice with joy.

It's an amazing little phrase, isn't it? To rejoice with joy. That is indescribable.

It's amazing. The Bible says that this joy is indescribable, but it's my job to try to describe it to you, so I'm going to give it my best shot.

You know what this looks like. Some of you may have never experienced this. Maybe, if you've never experienced this, maybe there's a reason for that.

But you know the type of person I'm talking about. I'm not talking about a bubbly happiness.

I'm talking about a genuine joy that you can see in their eyes, that fills their spirit, that makes a difference when they walk in the room.

You know that type of person? A joy. The Bible says to rejoice with joy.

The word rejoice means to leap or overflow. In other words, to let other people see it.

Let me tell you something. The most encouraging thing in the world is when somebody else's joy is not shaken by a circumstance and encourages you, doesn't it?

How about maybe just once, if you haven't tried, be that for somebody else.

But listen, that's not a fake it till you make it. That's a recognition that your current circumstance is not the be all, end all of the universe.

As hard as it may be, there is something bigger and greater. And if your joy can be based in something other than your circumstance, that you're not living the life, you're not living life event to event, but you're living it day by day in the joy of the

Lord, even when you can't be happy, you can remain joyful. I think of no better example than Jesus.

I'll read what I was quoting earlier. This is actually on your paper. Hebrews 12 says this.

Verse 1 and 2. After speaking about all those who God has used their faith in many ways, this is what the author, the writer of Hebrews says, therefore, since we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely.

We already talked about that. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Verse 2. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

Now watch this next part. Who for the joy that lay before Him endured the cross.

Who for the joy that lay before Him endured the cross, despising the shame that is now seated at the right hand of God.

Jesus was not happy on the cross. I promise you. He was not happy on the cross.

But for the joy that lay before Him, the joy of pleasing His Father, the joy of collecting

His scattered, the joy of calling His sheep, for the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross.

For that joy, He endured the cross. I am not an arborist.

I don't know anything about trees. Sometimes I ask a martian because I don't know anything about them.

Other people can look at a tree and say, oh, that's a blobbity, blobbity, blobbity oak. I don't know trees. But I'll tell you what, if out in that field out there, well, out in that little area right there behind the trailer, if there was an apple tree and an orange tree, and I saw in August a bunch of apples coming off a tree,

I don't need a degree to tell you that's an apple tree. I don't care. I don't care who in this room tried to convince me that that was an orange tree.

If I see apples on it, ain't nobody in this room that can convince me that's not an apple tree. You could get any doctor you wanted.

Anyone with a PhD, I don't care. There is no one on planet Earth that can convince me that that is not an apple tree.

Why? Because I don't have to know all that scientific stuff. I see the fruit and I know what it is. And you can't convince me otherwise.

That is the exact analogy the Bible uses to describe Christians. That's the analogy it uses.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. You know what's beautiful about that though?

If a tree is out there, and it's producing fruit, but not as much as it could. You know, it's got a lot of empty stems, a lot of empty branches, not producing as much as it could.

Instead of cutting it down and throwing it away, you know what we can do? I could call Marsha.

And we could just cut away some of those dead limbs. And guess what would happen the next year? And the year after that.

And the year after that. See, instead of cutting it down and chopping it up as firewood and burning it, with a little bit of pruning, a little bit of care, it can become a more productive, fruitful tree.

Can it not? Ladies and gentlemen, if you are in this room, and you are not where you need to be with Jesus, that's not good.

But instead of kicking yourself and wallowing in the mud, and saying, I'm so worthless, I can't do anything right, submit to God.

Be pruned a little bit. Be pruned a little bit. And let me tell you something, when you tear away some of that unnecessary dead weight, your joy will start returning.

Your joy will start returning. I promise you it will. When you get rid of that, you are refined, and some of the impurities are burned away.

You quit worrying about all that stuff that doesn't matter. All of a sudden, what really matters comes to the forefront.

And your joy is returned to you. David said,

Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.

The joy of my salvation. You know how David got there? Repentance.

Repentance. And ladies and gentlemen, if you think that can only be done inwardly, in other words, through a prayer of forgiveness, and nothing changes on the outside, you need to re -look at our examples in the

Bible. Of David. Of Peter. That's not what happens. There is an outward sign of that.

Ladies and gentlemen, that pruning, though painful for a little while, produces more fruit.

And if you allow others to help you get there, they'll be able to see it too.

In other words, God is the one who does the pruning. This last part may hit some of us between the eyes.

Most of the time, He uses other believers to do it. That's what He decided to do.

We're sitting here reading 1 Peter. You know why we're reading 1

Peter? Because Jesus, and later Paul, rebuked Peter. Peter repented and became more mature because of it.

Were any of y 'all encouraged when we read verse 4 and 5 about our inheritance being imperishable and undefiled?

Was anyone in this room encouraged? You know why you were encouraged? Because Jesus, and moreover

Paul, had the gumption, the courage, to correct a brother.

That brother took to repentance, and we are sitting in a room 2 ,000 years later encouraged because somebody was held accountable.

Now some of us may bucket that accountability. But let me tell you something, that's how

God decided, for the most part, to do His pruning. It's through the hands of other people just like you and me.

That's how God decided to do it. In that, be humble, ladies and gentlemen, because the accountability you may be forsaking may just be the hand of God trying to prune your soul.

Lastly, Brother Andrew, lastly, what I pray is as we go through various trials that teach us to rely on God, to be refined by God, and to rejoice in God.

This is what I pray. And we mentioned this Wednesday night during Brother John's lesson. That every one of us can grow more mature at God to where we can all pray and live out

Matthew 13 .44. And this is my last passage for today. If you would turn there with me. Matthew 13 .44.

This is what it says. This is Jesus speaking in a parable. A parable,

Jennifer. You see that? He wanted you to think critically. He didn't just always say it out loud. You got that? I love you.

Yeah, but I mean it. Matthew 13 .44. This is what Jesus says.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered it up.

Then in his joy, he goes and sells everything he has.

And he bought it. He bought the whole field. This man found the treasure finally worth having.

The kingdom of heaven. And he sold everything he had and did it with joy because it was a good trade.

Because that's a good trade. It's a good trade. The best lie

Satan can ever tell is this. That if you submit to God, you will be unhappy. The point about pruning and refining is the more refined and pruned you become, the less you care about the dead weight that's now gone.

And not only will you do it, you'll do it with joy because all the other stuff that doesn't matter is cut away.

And when you resist that pruning, you are cutting away your potential and future joy that could be shared with somebody else in this room that needs it.

For the joy that lay before him. He forsook everything else and he did it with a smile because it was a good trade.

What I pray is that every one of us as we submit and allow God and God's people to cut away those dead branches, that we realize and do it with joy because it's a good trade.

It's a good trade. If you don't know what I'm talking about, if you don't know that joy,

I swear to you there's someone in here that does. Do not leave this place without hearing about that joy because it will change your life forever.