Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: Hope in Time of Trial - I Peter 1:6,7

 

Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: Hope in Time of Trial

I Peter 1:6,7

Introduction:  As we began our look into this first letter of the Apostle Peter, we noted that the apostle wrote to believers in Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles, who were scattered through the nations of Asia Minor. They were exiles and pilgrims, sojourners in a fallen world. Even so, as the letter begins it is already clear that the “brokenness” of the world does not leave us in despair. There are trials and there is suffering in the world, but we have a living hope because we have a living Savior! As we quoted Dr. Ed Clowney last week:  “Our hope is anchored in the past: Jesus rose! Our hope remains in the present: Jesus lives! Our hope will be completed in the future: Jesus is coming (1:5,7,14)!”   

        We were reminded that at the beginning of the Christian life, as we are born again to a living hope, we have the promise that our inheritance is sure and God himself will keep us, until we see Him. Today, we will see that as pilgrims living in a fallen world, we have a sure hope, but that does not mean we are exempt from suffering. We shouldn’t be surprised by suffering. The “Hall of faith” in Hebrews 11 reminds us of the suffering believers experienced in times past. Then in chapter 12 the writer invites us to consider the example of Jesus himself...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted (12:1-3).

Jesus endured the humiliation of the cross to give us victory.  Remember the words of the psalmist who also viewed our experience as pilgrims.  The writer said in Ps 84:5-6a,

⁵ Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.  ⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring...

The “pilgrims” were passing through a desert on their way to Zion, the City of the Great King. The “Valley of Tears” was probably a literal place on the way to Jerusalem, but it can also be a metaphor for life in a fallen world. There is pain. There are even “grievous trials.”  Our hearts can be broken. We can feel alone or abandoned or misunderstood. We can be treated unfairly. But “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself...” Don’t grow weary. Don’t lose hope. That is…

The BIG Idea:  As pilgrims, we have hope, even as we pass through trials in life, trusting that God is working all things together for our good and for His glory.

I. A Pilgrim’s Promise: Your sorrow will be turned to Joy! “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!”  (Ps 30:5). Trials are not fun, but they have a purpose, and they are temporary (6).

       “In this [or, “in whom”] you greatly rejoice...” In what? There are a couple of possibilities. Dr. Clowney said: “...it is possible that he is thinking, not just of all the blessings we have in Christ, but of Christ in whom we have the blessings...”  The translation of the relative pronoun could be “in this” or “in whom.”  The previous context was talking of the Lord, who intervened in human history to accomplish his gracious purpose. If you know Jesus, you are “in Christ,” that is your position, and He is the source of our joy. What He has done for us also brings us joy, so maybe this is a case of “both/and” rather than “either/or.” We rejoice in Him and for Him. We also for what He has done for us in His death and resurrection.

       Verse 6 likely refers back to the sure hope that Peter has alluded to the opening of this letter, the verses we considered last week.  Read again verses 3-5,

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,  ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

“In this you greatly rejoice...” Jesus conquered death, and so, our hope is sure in Him!  If we understand that truth we have reason for rejoicing!  This is cause for “great rejoicing!”  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the inheritance that is ours because of God’s amazing grace toward us, the initiative He took to give us new life and a sure hope, all allow us to rejoice in the Lord always, despite the trials we face in this life. 

       Peter is writing as one pilgrim-exile to another. Our hope is based on history, that is the resurrection of Jesus, and it looks forward to the promise of an eternal inheritance that will never fade, kept for us in heaven.  We can have joy now, because we know that the best is yet to come!  Remember the story of the believer who died, and she had asked that when her body was placed in the coffin that a fork be placed in her hand so that it was visible at the funeral.  The reason was that it was always said at the church pot-luck dinners, after the entrees were served but before the desserts were put out, “Hold onto your forks, the best is yet to come!” She wanted to give her pastor the opportunity to tell her family and friends that this life is not the end of the story, God has a future in store for us that is better than we could possibly imagine. The best is yet to come! (cf. 2 Cor 4:17-18). Here, Peter tells his readers that our future hope brings joy to our hearts, we know that we are His, we are forgiven, we have peace with God, and He has prepared an eternal inheritance for us.  As the psalmist said, “Weeping may last for a night, but joy [or, “a shout of joy!”] comes in the morning!”  Jesus told his disciples “Your sorrow will be turned into joy.” As pilgrims, we have hope, even as we pass through trials in life, knowing God is working all things together for our good and for His glory.

II. A Pilgrim’s Pain: As Christ suffered, so will those who set their eyes on Him. “...though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials...”

       One of the inevitable facts of life is that the consequences of living in a fallen world impacts us all.  Many times over the years people going through trials have asked in frustration, “What did I do to deserve this?”  The truth is, sometimes it is our own sin. Sin has consequences. A lifetime of alcohol abuse may well result in liver disease later in life. Sometimes it may be God chastening us to correct us and draw us back.  As a loving Father he will not leave us indefinitely to our wandering. “He chastens every child He receives.” He’ll discipline us to get our attention. You’ll know it when it happens! Much of the time our suffering is just the fact that we live in a world under the curse, a universe that is fallen.  The description of the pilgrims’ experience is powerful,

“...you have been grieved by various trials...”

The trials we experience as pilgrims in a fallen world can be grievous and of many kinds, sickness, accidents, natural disasters, betrayal, abuse... you've seen it... you've been there. They can bring grief to our hearts that sometimes seems almost too much to bear. Paul spoke of God’s knowledge of our limits in I Cor 10:13,

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

The word “temptation” is the same Greek word, peirasmos, that appears in James 1:2,12 and I Peter 1:6; 4:12.  It can mean “try, test, or tempt.”  Paul is saying in I Corinthians that God knows us intimately and precisely. He is our Creator. He not only read the manual, He wrote it!  The trials can be grievous, but God knows our limits.  He knows what we can take. Someone said that in our trials “God always has an eye in the clock and a hand on the thermostat.” He won’t allow the heat to go higher, or longer, than we can handle.   

       Our sufferings are temporary, “...for a little while.” Someone may be dealing with a handicap or a chronic illness and think, “I don’t see how you can call this ‘a little while’!”  I don’t want to minimize the suffering or hardship that anyone is experiencing. I’ve seen enough people go through persistent pain and heart-wrenching grief that I realize none of it feels like “a little while.” But if we can fix our hearts on heaven just for a moment, if we can remember that the “suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us,” we can find hope. We were created for eternity, and the day will come when God himself will wipe away the tear from our eyes, and then… forever!  But know, for a little while, during our sojourn in this fallen world, we will have tribulation (Jn 16:33).

    “...as was necessary...” Our trials are necessary? We know discipline is necessary. Whether or not you have children you have been around them enough to know that most kids don’t always spontaneously love what is good and cherish every opportunity to obey their parents. At some point, in some way, they will test the boundaries. One dear sister in our church Maine used to say, “I have never seen a child yet who had to learn to disobey!” That goes for adult children too, in our fallenness we choose to do things our own way! So, discipline is necessary. And God chastens every child he receives. Because He loves us. It is necessary to teach us. What about other trials that we pass through?  Are they too “necessary”?  This seems like an odd phrase, until we consider how this word is normally used in the NT. It is typically used to describe “divine necessity,” that is, something that has been integrated into the master plan of our sovereign King. Jesus himself is the example in that it is the word that Jesus typically used when he described the certain and “necessary” unfolding of history that would including his suffering, death, and resurrection.

Luke 9:22  “...saying, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’"

Luke 17:25  “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

Luke 22:37 “For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment."

Luke 24:26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

Then in Acts we see the same word applied to believers, like Paul,

Acts 9:16 “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

God is that big. He is sovereign over history, and somehow, he works together all things, even the hard things through which we pass, for our good, and ultimately, for His glory.  James similarly said at the beginning of his letter that God is at work, and will use trials to accomplish something in us,

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing...” (James 1:2-4).

Joy in trials? We are sojourners, living for a time in this fallen world. We are not home yet, we are just passing through. Somehow, our experience of suffering and perhaps our tested and growing faith in the midst of it, reveals the brokenness of creation and the depth of God’s love for us.  After all, Jesus left Heaven to enter this sin cursed world, to make it possible for sinful humans (like us!) to be reconciled to a holy God.  Remember Paul’s words in his second letter to the Corinthians, “If any man be in Christ—a new creation!” We are already citizens of heaven and are only sojourners in this fallen world.  The Daily Dose of Hebrew this week, slowly working through Psalm 119, looked at Ps 119:71, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Count it all joy, because as pilgrims we have hope, even as we pass through trials in life, knowing that God is working all things together for our good and for His glory.

III. A Pilgrims’ Path: Through the fire and through the floods, God is interested in the journey, not only the destination! God is working in us, to teach us, to grow our faith, to deepen our love for Him, and to show us off to the world!

⁷...so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire...

       Gold, like other metals, can be refined in the fire. The impurities are burned away, and the metal comes out purer than before. Even so, as Peter says in his second letter, the day will come when this creation will be destroyed by fire. Gold and all! Our hope is in a new heaven and a new earth.  We pass through the fire – and God uses it to purify us, to make us more like Jesus. I’ve read that in ancient times the refiners working with gold would know the molten metal was pure when they could look at the surface and see their reflection. In a certain sense the purifying process will continue in us until we see Jesus, but God is working in us, to make us more like His Son.

       That is one of the ways that He uses trials for our good... Remember, God is good—all the time! That is easy for me to say when things are going well and my prayers are being answered the way I would like. When I experience affirmation and love from the people I am sent to serve.  I want to be so solid in my belief of that truth that I can say it the valleys, when I am struggling: “God is good and He does good – all the time!” Whatever we endure, we should consider what Christ endured for us. Our faith in Him and our love for Him should be strengthened through our times of hardship. Remember Jesus. Remember His grace, and the merciful work He accomplished on our behalf. As we are tested, as we persevere in times of hardship and trial, God will be glorified!  

...may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ...

       Our faith brings Him praise, honor, and glory.  It is as though God is showing us off to the universe, like a proud father he can say, “This one is mine, watch how he/she stands firm under trial!” Though it is grammatically possible to read this as affirming praise, glory, and honor going to the believer, and that may be the sense Peter intends, that seems to me to run contrary to this context. The emphasis is on God’s sovereignty, His gracious intervention in history for our good, His initiative on our behalf. Certainly it should be our desire that any praise, any honor or glory, go to the One who did it all on our behalf.  The song writer said, “If I should gain any praise, let it go to Calvary!” Is that your prayer in our trials? Job, in the midst of his trials, said “Though He slay me, yet shall I trust Him.” You remember how Job’s experience began? God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Did Job struggle? Did he question? Yes, but he stood firm in his trust in God. That kind of faith brings glory to the Father. Before the angels and before all creation, The Father gets to brag about how we are growing in our trust, even through the darkness and times of trial. “Have you considered my servant?” That is pilgrim faith. And so...

What is God saying to me in this passage? As pilgrims, we have hope, even as we pass through trials in life, knowing that God is working all things together for our good and for His glory.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?  It may be that you are going through the fire or a flood right now. There may be a trial that you are struggling with, a hardship, opposition, physical sickness, an addiction, whatever it might be. Know this: none of it is a surprise to God. Charles Swindoll said, “Nothing touches us that has not first passed through the hands of our loving heavenly Father – nothing.”  

       Does it help you to know that God’s sovereignty is such that He will use that trial to deepen your faith, and that your perseverance, your trust in the valley, will ultimately deepen through the trial and bring Him glory?  As Satan appeared before the Lord after going to and fro in the earth, God asked, “Have you considered my servant Job?”  Twice the same invitation was given (Job 1:8; 2:3)!  He not only allowed the testing of Job’s faith, He invited it!  For Job’s good, and for God’s glory.  I remember talking about this with some brothers who had been believers decades longer than me.  One of them asked rhetorically, “Am I willing to be considered?” It’s easy to trust God on the mountain tops, but will we trust Him in the valleys?  Look at what God has done for us, consider what Jesus endured for us. God is good, all the time. Even in the Valleys. Psalm 2 begins with the world in rebellion against God and His anointed. It ends with the statement, “Blessed are all who put their trust in Him.” Might we trust Him, in storms and floods, as in the sunshine. To God be the glory!   AMEN.