Joys in Trials

Sermon Text

1 Peter 1:6-9

“6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Various trials bring genuine grief, but they are neither meaningless nor permanent; God uses them to refine and reveal faith more precious than perishing gold.
• God's purpose in suffering is not to cultivate stoicism or a desire for pain, but to remove competing trusts and conform his people increasingly to holiness.
• Job, Joseph, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel, and Paul illustrate faith tested through unwanted hardship while God's grace proves sufficient.
• Believers can rejoice without denying sorrow because their deepest joy is Jesus Christ, whom circumstances cannot remove from them.
• Prosperity can test faith as truly as loss: wealth and worldly cares may reveal that security and delight have shifted from Christ to possessions.
• The goal of faith is salvation and the sight of Christ; those who now love the unseen Savior will one day behold his face and enjoy him forever.

• Can I name the grief of my present trial honestly while also trusting that it is temporary and purposeful?
• What impurity, idol, or false security might God be exposing through this pressure?
• Am I demanding an explanation from God, or learning that his grace is sufficient even when the trial remains?
• Is my joy rooted in Jesus himself or in circumstances that can be changed or taken away?
• Could prosperity, comfort, or accumulating possessions be testing my faith by addition rather than subtraction?
• How can the church help me fight for joy without pretending that suffering does not hurt?
• Do I truly long for the day when faith becomes sight and I see Christ face to face?

Various trials

The many forms of grief, loss, pressure, suffering, and even prosperity through which the true object of a person's trust is exposed.

Refining fire

The biblical image of God using pressure to expose impurity, strengthen faith, and reveal what is spiritually genuine.

Genuine faith

Real trust in God that endures testing because its object is Christ rather than favorable circumstances.

Inexpressible joy

Deep, glory-filled delight in Jesus that coexists with grief and cannot be finally taken away by earthly suffering.

Sanctified use of trials

God's gracious employment of hardship or testing to expose idols, deepen dependence, and conform believers to Christ.

End of faith

The completed salvation believers receive when faith gives way to sight and they behold Jesus in glory.