Why do Christians suffer

Is there anyone here that does not have a worship guide?

Raise your hand.

I hope you're going to be keeping these notes.

I want you to have a little, anybody that does not have a worship guide, raise your hand.

I want you to be able to have your little notes on 1 Peter, and then we're going to go into 2 Peter, Jude, and 1 John.

But don't you love learning the Bible?

One thing I made a promise years ago as a young pastor that our church would learn the Bible.

We would teach the word chapter by chapter, verse by verse.

And I have done that over these last 40 something years.

I've taught the word.

And shepherding, I love the word.

I love the word.

Because you shall know the truth and say it with me, and the truth shall what?

Set you free.

So today we're going to be looking at 1 Peter.

1 Peter.

And by the way, I'm so excited, Deedra, about y'all going to Honduras.

I have to admit, I am real excited that Dan and the director over there in Pastor Tomas has invited me to go with Dan in their statewide or whatever they do.

Dan was telling me at the funeral Friday, he said they're bringing pastors from everywhere in their evangelism conference, and he's gotten a copy of my book, Jesus Awesome Christian Life and Evangelism, an evangelism part, and hopefully be praying.

I'm trying.

When I was with the Rollins Foundation, they took that section on evangelism and translated thousands of copies into Spanish.

So I'm trying to see if we can get some of those to take with us.

So that would be powerful.

But anyway, why do Christians suffer?

Why do Christians go through trials?

It's not if you are going through trials.

It's when you go through trials.

I learned after 40 plus years of ministry, you are either going in the fire, are you in the fire, or are you coming out?

If you are an ambassador for Christ, Satan doesn't like you, and he's going to do everything he can to stop you.

And he uses trials and temptations to stop you.

There hadn't been any of us in here that hasn't gone through a fiery trial.

Isn't it amazing Peter says fiery trials?

Why couldn't he just say trials?

Why don't it have to be fiery?

I tell you, you'll learn that today.

But isn't it amazing, he says, Count it not strange concerning the fiery trials that are going to try you as some strange things happen to you?

1 Peter 4 12.

That's a key verse in the whole five chapters.

Don't, you know what that means?

Count it not strange.

Don't get caught off guard.

Hey, in other words, be watchful.

Be ready for the trials that are coming.

Amen.

So, as we look at and answer this question, let's look at verse six.

And boy, we dealt with three heavy subjects in the first five verses last week.

I've gotten a lot of comments on that.

All good.

All good.

All good.

Amen.

Amen.

All good.

All good.

The first thing he says, in verse 6, he says, Wherein ye greatly rejoice.

Now notice he didn't just say rejoice, he said greatly rejoice.

Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

Oh my goodness.

He just turns around and he says, You're going to get excited about many different types of trials and temp and temptations that are coming to you, and they're going to be so trying that you're going to be heavy, like a heavy burden, loaded down.

Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't make me want to rejoice.

Does it you?

Oh, I can't wait to be burdened down.

I'm going to just have myself a rejoicing party.

Hello?

David asked that question in our stab meeting Tuesday.

Are you looking forward to having some trials and temptations?

I looked at him, I said, no.

They're not fun.

And Eve's going to tell us that.

He says, but look, for a little while, a little season, we face trials and suffering.

We will be in heaviness and sorrow because of the variety of all the temptations.

Now, where do they all come from?

I could start naming them like sickness, suffering, criticism, loneliness, abuse, disappointment, emptiness, greed, selfishness, drunkenness, deceit, strife, drugs, anger, and I left this one.

Gluttony?

Hello.

I grew up with preachers who preach everything about every sin in the Bible but gluttony.

But the really it's Galatians 5, 19 through 20, the lust of the flesh.

All those characteristics.

All those are your trials and temptations.

My little grandson, Braden, has been talking about salvation.

He's seven?

Eight.

Okay.

I missed it a year.

But he was in the back seat and they've been talking, they're reading through the Bible with his daddy.

Isn't that something?

They've together, they're reading through the Bible this year.

And the problem, John says, we were with him recently.

He says, Braden asks too many hard questions, and so they're calling me and Susan, wanting us to give them some answers.

And finally, finally, John had to tell Braden, you can't ask any questions till we at least get through reading the passage of scripture.

But they were going to church and he said, Mom, I don't know about this salvation.

He says, I'm selfish.

Seven years old.

And you say, children don't understand.

He says, and I know you can't be selfish and be saved, so I'm not really ready if I'm ready to be saved.

Now, that's great wisdom.

I asked Mary, I said, Can I bring him, let him preach that message to our church at seven?

He says, I'm really not sure I'm ready to be saved because I'm selfish and he kind of likes it.

Hello.

Now you said, now wait a minute.

Oh, you mean he likes sin?

Yeah, and guess what?

You do too.

Hello, you okay out there?

Why do you like it?

Why do I like it?

Because as Moses said in Hebrews 11, sin is fun for a season.

Yes, for a season.

Sin is fun for a season, but then you're gonna pay.

You're gonna pay.

Be not deceived.

God is not mocked.

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.

You can be sure your sins will find you out.

You with me?

And that's what he's saying here.

The word temptation.

Powerful word.

Hey remas.

It's what it means in the Greek.

Payrimos.

Here's what it means: a trial that tests a person's integrity, virtue, and consistency.

I'm gonna say that again.

That's powerful.

It is a trial that tests a person's integrity, virtue, and consistency.

It is trouble, affliction, and adversity.

It is also an enticement to sin from temptation.

And we're going to have times where our character is tested by temptation to do wrong.

We also have times when we will have trouble, heartache, or face persecution.

However, the storms of life, how often they come, bring us back to our senses.

You know what I've learned?

God will sometimes knock us off our white horse to get us to realize it's not all about us, but it should be all about Him.

So sometimes our trials come to bring us back to our senses.

Not I, but Christ.

I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live.

Yet not I.

But Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2.20.

Listen to what Job said in Job 9.17.

And the first point is our season of suffering.

Verse 6 shows us our season of suffering is just for a little time.

But notice what he said.

Notice what Job said.

Job said this in Job 9.17.

He said, For he breaks me with a temptation and multiplies my wounds without cause.

Wow.

Job said that.

Thank God.

These tests of storms, though, last only for a little while.

Can I get an amen?

The recipients here, Peter was writing to was during the time of Nero, and we talked about that last week.

He was really the Hitler of his day.

He was just horrible with the way he killed and tortured Christians.

But even today, Christians, we should expect to be ridiculed, rejected for our faith.

And we're seeing that right now more than we've ever seen it.

They try to make us, isn't it amazing how the news media tries to make Christians look like idiots?

That we're ignorant of anything.

We can't think for ourselves.

That we have Christianity, our faith is our crutch.

But you know why?

The lifestyle and morals of the Bible are so different than from the world and the laws that no wonder they think we're crazy.

Why would we believe in sex?

Hey, hey, why would we believe that a person ought not to have sex until they get married?

Why would we believe that?

I mean, it's just common now.

You know?

If it feels good, you do it.

Why would you?

No one has the right to tell me not to do something if I think it's right for me.

That means no absolutes.

That means no submitting to authority.

That's why we have chaos.

But it's going against God's word.

It all started back in Genesis.

Persecution is no fun at all.

We know that.

When it is faced, hey, we know persecution acts like a refiner's fire that burns draws out of our lives and draws us closer to God.

That's what it does.

I wrote this to me.

You know what trials over the years have brought to me?

Two things.

One, they humbled me, but secondly, they toughened me.

They matured me, and I'm not talking about toughening me in a prideful sense, but it conditioned me, even's a better word.

It conditioned me to face future trials that lie ahead of me.

Hey, I wrote this.

We should expect persecution, but we should not be terrified when it comes.

We should expect it, but not let it terrify us to the point it disables us.

Amen?

To the point where we just want to give up.

We know that God is with us in our suffering, giving us courage, comfort, and peace.

He says we have boldness because we have our faith in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 3.12.

We have boldness and courage.

The righteous are bold as a lion.

Amen.

We also know that one day we're going to live in eternity with Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen?

So, two things under our seasons of suffering.

Ready?

Number one, they are passing, they're just for a season.

Verse 6.

Just for a season.

Secondly, look at verse 7.

Your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Woo! Now, this is powerful.

Your trials, my trials, are precious.

Have you ever thought of trials being precious?

They're better than gold.

Now that's powerful.

When I saw that, I said, now how can that be?

And you're going to see in a minute.

You're going to see the character traits that trials that are more precious than gold build in us.

Far succeed any materialistic thing you could gain.

And you're going to see that in a minute.

They're precious.

I love what Jesus said.

God gave me this verse this morning, and so it's not on your outline, but you may want to jot it down.

In Matthew 5, 11 and 12, he says, Blessed are you.

Hey, when they persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Verse 12, he says, Rejoice.

There's that joy.

That's that understanding how your trials are more precious than gold.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

Jesus said that.

Those are red letters.

Now you can see why in verse 6 he said, greatly rejoice, because he's got rewards waiting for each and every one of us in heaven for those that endure their trials and temptations.

That's good.

You got a crown waiting?

You got a crown waiting.

Which brings me to the second point.

The strength from our trial.

The strength from our trials.

Our seasons of suffering is for a short period.

They're passing and for a season.

They're precious and special.

Why?

Well, first of all, the strength that we get.

Look at it.

He says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perish, though it be tried with fire.

Might be found unto praise and honor, glory in the appearing of Jesus Christ.

In other words, you endure because you know God is using your trial and your situation, your circumstances to mold you and to shape you into the instrument, the instrument, the testimony, the ambassador that he wants you to be, and he's got a plan for you, and he's got to test you before he can trust you.

Amen.

Hello?

He tests you before he trusts you.

He has to.

To see if you're real.

Remember?

And you're going to see this what a trial means.

Oh, that's good.

It really means genuineness.

We'll see that in a minute.

But have you ever wondered why your trials have to be so hard?

Hello?

Come on.

Wouldn't it make more sense for God to just go easy on us?

Have you ever prayed going through a major trial and saying, whoo, Lord, I need some relief?

Been there?

Hello.

And instead of sending relief, it seems like to me he turns up the heat.

Amen.

That's right.

I read an article about a giraffe.

You ready for this?

A giraffe.

In fact, the writer, by Gary Richmond, as he describes the birth of the giraffe from his book, A View from the Zoo.

That caught my attention.

Because they said this would be a good illustration about going through trials for Christians.

I thought, how in the world is a giraffe going to be a good example for Christians?

Well, then I read the oracle.

When a mama giraffe has a baby giraffe, the baby giraffe comes out and falls ten feet, lands on its back, okay, and immediately it kind of rolls over with both of its feet tucked under with its head up, shaking its head to get all the fluids and birth fluids out of its eyes and its nose, snorting so it can start to breathe.

Well, the big mama giraffe then steps over the baby giraffe.

And we're talking about a baby giraffe and a big giraffe.

Then the mama giraffe leans down with the head and checks on the baby giraffe, making sure the fluids are gone and all that.

Then you know what the mama giraffe does something that you would think would be absolutely crazy.

The mama giraffe takes its foot and rears back and bam! Head over hill goes the giraffe.

The mama giraffe comes back, waits a minute, see if the giraffe gets up.

If it doesn't, bam! And then finally, the giraffe gets up.

And about the time it gets up, now you know the mother's excited.

You know what it does?

Something that's really bad again.

It bam! Kids get back down and it rolls over again.

And if that giraffe doesn't get up very quickly, guess what happens?

It does it again.

Because it's teaching that giraffe, you gotta get up and you gotta get up quick.

And you gotta stay with the herd if you don't, the lions, the tigers, not the bears, but the hyenas, the wild dogs, will have them for lunch.

And I thought that many of us have been many times in our life seen that, hey, we've been knocked down and we stood right back up after a trial, only being knocked down again by the next trial.

Why?

It was God helping you and me remember how we got up, urging us always to walk with him regardless of how many times we go down.

The righteous fall seven times, but they get back up.

Is that not good?

Problems, trials, heartaches.

Are no fun.

They burden us, bog us down.

Yet Peter states that there is great value in those trials.

Here's the word trial.

They're more valuable than gold, he says in verse 7.

What does Peter mean by the word trial?

It's the Greek word dokameon.

And it means, ready?

That by which something, now what, is tried or proved for authenticity and genuineness.

In other words, God's going to see if we're real.

God's going to see if we really are what we claim to be.

Wow.

Now you understand when Jesus told the disciples, and all the thousands were there, and then he told them what it was going to cost them, they left by the thousands.

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

It is a test.

Our trials are just like gold.

Genuine faith is proved by adversaries and adversity.

James put it this way in James 1.

Count it all joy.

Watch.

When you fall into what?

Same word.

Diverse temptations.

Knowing that the trying of your faith works patience, and let patience have its perfect work, that you may be mature in the things of Christ.

Wow.

That's good.

We cry out to God more than when things are going tough than when things are going good.

Let me ask something.

If you've gone through a major trial, did that not bring you to your knees to just, I call wail out to God?

You don't do that when things are going well.

Hello?

Remember that.

Remember that.

We even tend to clean up our lives in order to secure help as we go through the trials.

Isn't that amazing?

Let me repeat that.

That's pretty important.

We have a tendency to clean up our lives when we're in our trials because a trial makes us evaluate our lives, and there's things there that we ought not to be doing that we do it.

We have a tendency to get it right right then.

Hello, come on with me, say amen or on me.

Now that was a tough good preacher.

Let us purify ourselves, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness and the fear of God.

2 Corinthians 7, 1.

And that is so true.

I love what he says.

Submit yourself therefore to the Lord Jesus in James 4, and we'll be getting there.

He says, resist the devil and he'll flee from you.

Then what does he say in verse 8?

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Cleanse your hands, ye people, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.

See how that fits?

See how the puzzle fits?

And that's good.

The fire of trials causes us to live more pure and clean lives and learn to trust God more and more.

Christ is honored and glorified when our faith is tried and proven, when we walk strongly through the trials and temptations of life.

Here's what I said.

The world sees our faith is genuine.

Now watch this.

When people see us go through a major trial.

Now, don't get me wrong, when you're the joy of the Lord is our strength anyway, we know that.

But I mean, when you know when people really notice, not when we're everything's going well and we're prospering.

Now, they know something's different because the joy's there, the radiancy's there.

But boy, when you get knocked down like the giraffe, and they see you jump back up with that same joy, that same peace, that same excitement, even though you're going through a major trial, that's when you really become a living testimony to that lost person.

Because, see, they've gone through some or they will, and they don't know how to handle them.

They sure don't bounce back with a joy of the Lord like that is our strength, like you and I do.

When Susan had her miscarriages, she was able to witness and minister to so many people, ladies that had had miscarriages.

And we're gonna see, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm trying to keep this in order.

I'm trying to be a good teacher, honey, but I'm about to get about to lose it.

But standing, in fact, they see the power of Christ in our lives and the rejoicing of our hearts in Him.

And then, guess what?

They want to know how we do that.

The consequences of our trials develop a number of traits in our lives that are very vividly seen.

And here's, get ready.

This is worth you being here.

Here they are.

What happens?

The Lord may be trying, if you're going through a trial right now, to develop these traits when we're going through them in us.

First of all, patience.

Number one, patience and peace.

Knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience.

We said that in James 1.3.

And then watch this.

We got the verse here.

Look at 2 Corinthians 4.8.

We are troubled on every side.

You ever felt like that?

You're distressed.

Felt like that?

Yes.

You're perplexed?

Yeah.

That means you don't know what to do.

Yes.

But not in despair.

But in other words, he says, you have these feelings.

You're going through all these emotions and these things that Satan's throwing at you.

But you don't have to worry.

You don't have to be in despair.

That means you don't have to give up and quit because you won.

You won the victory.

I read the last chapter.

We win.

And God's promised you that He's never going to leave you nor forsake you.

And then notice what He says.

But blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all, in all our tribulations.

Woo! I love that.

This is my comfort in my affliction, for they, hey, thy word hath quickened me.

Patience and peace.

Now watch this.

Number two.

He's developing in us.

I love this.

This is, now you're gonna, you're gonna see 2 Corinthians verses 1, 3, and 4, like you've never seen before in this context.

Watch this.

Trials and temptations come so that we can be victorious because, yes, we we we're taught patience, yes, we have the peace of God that perfects in us to understand that we know that all things work together for good.

We understand that, so we're patient, we have that peace, but also it enhances our ministry.

In fact, we see, and I wrote it this way, it trials prepare us for future ministry.

Watch this.

Future ministry.

Are you ready?

Watch 2 Corinthians 1, 3, and 4.

Well, first of all, 2 Corinthians 4, 17.

Let's do it first.

Yes.

For our, I've got it in order.

I'm trying to go with you, Jason.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us far, hey, more exceeding an eternal weight of glory.

In other words, God, oh, you're working so much, you're being so pleasing to God, you're being so conformed to the image of Christ.

He's burning out that that crud and that junk in our lives and in our hearts.

He's purifying us so that.

Are you ready?

Now watch.

2 Corinthians 1, 3 and 4.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.

In other words, it doesn't matter what you're going through, even death itself, God's going to be comforting you.

And I've been there, I've seen it.

He's going to be comforting you.

But now watch this.

But why?

Who comforts us in all our tribulations, everything, all those lists in Galatians 5, verses 19 through 21, that whole list, he says, who comforts us in all our tribulations.

Galatians 5:19–21

Now watch, here it is, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comforter wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

There it is.

He's preparing you for a future ministry where he's going to place you so you can be a living testimony of God's comfort to those, that ministry or to those people that he's placed you there.

Woo! That's good.

Honduras, you're going to be a comfort to the people that you're going to minister to.

That's a future ministry.

God's preparing you through trials and temptation for a greater ministry.

Can I get an amen?

Let's give God a clap offering for that.

Come on.

And that is exactly what Shadrach, Meshach, and Nebednego, Daniel, and the lion's in.

They all went through that trial so that they could be prepared to be used greater by God.

And that's good.

Job put it this way: Job 23, 10.

He knoweth the way that I take.

He knows the way that I take.

Why?

When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

And that's good.

Jewelers.

Is there any women in here that like jewelry?

Diamonds?

Anybody like diamonds?

Three of you.

I'm going to try that again or I'm going to preach online.

Are there any ladies in here?

Well, let's maybe men too.

Are there any ladies and men that like diamonds?

Thank you.

That's a little better.

Again, I was doing a little research on diamonds.

Bling bling.

Bling bling.

And you know how they really see the genuineness?

Now watch this.

The authenticity of a diamond?

They put it, they drop the diamond in a glass of water.

Pure water, clear water.

And you know what happens if it's genuine?

Just lights up.

But if they put an imitation or succone, I like seconies.

Hey honey, I've got you a beautiful big dye.

Don't throw it in the water.

It makes you polish it every morning.

But you put that imitation in a glass and it just goes dull.

See where I'm going with this?

God has to put us in deep waters.

So we'll brighten up and be the person and fulfill the ministry that God has us to be.

A light set on a hill.

Cannot be here.

But it takes deep waters.

It takes going through the fire to get all that dross and that crud off of us so that when we drop down in that deep fire, when she had wrapped Meshach in a bed, Nico were thrown in the fire furnace.

When Daniel went into the lion's stand, wow.

Man, that's good.

Number three.

It produces, trials, production, fruitfulness, and spiritual growth in us.

Every branch in me that bears no fruit, Jesus said he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit.

God is not satisfied with our growth.

Can I get an amen?

God is not satisfied with where we are with him, and neither should we be.

He will prune us even when we are being fruitful.

Why?

He wants us to bring forth more fruit.

Man, that's good.

James 1, 2.

1 Peter 3.15, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope.

As I was reading and researching for this message, I came across an article.

Margaret Sangster Pippen.

Never heard of her before, but she had written in the mid-1950s.

Listen to this, her father, who was a British minister, his name was W.

E.

Sangster.

He began to notice some uneasiness in his throat and dragging his leg.

When he went to the doctor, he found that he had an incurable disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy.

His muscles would gradually waste away, his voice would fail, his throat would soon become unable to swallow.

Sangster, when he found the news, here's what he did.

He threw himself into his work as in British home missions, figuring he could still write and would have even more time for prayer.

Erica?

Let me stay in the struggle, Lord, he pleaded.

I don't mind if I'm no longer a general, but give me just a regiment to leave.

He wrote articles and books and helped organize prayer sales throughout England.

I'm only in the kindergarten of suffering, he told the people that pitied him.

Did you hear me?

He says, I'm only in the kindergarten of suffering.

Gradually, Sangster's legs became useless.

His voice went completely, but he could still hold a pen shakingly.

And Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter.

And in the letter he said, It's terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice to shout.

He is risen, but it would be still more terrible to have a voice on Easter morning and wake up and not want to shout.

Wow.

That's commitment.

That's commitment.

Number four, proving and perfecting our maturity.

The Lord uses trials to develop maturity in our life.

Job said, but he knoweth the way that I take when he tries me.

I shall come forth as gold.

Psalms 119, 67.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray.

Listen to that.

But now have I kept thy word.

God uses trials and temptations to bring us back when we try to wander off.

Can I get an amen?

And we're all guilty.

Trials are used by the Lord to prove us and to remove the dross out of our lives.

For thou, God, hast proved us.

Thou hast tried us as silver is tried.

Psalms 66, 10.

I read another story.

About attempts to ship fresh North Atlantic cod from Boston to San Francisco during the 19th century.

At the time, the only way to ship the fish to the West Coast was to sow around the South American continent, a trip that took months.

And you can imagine the first attempt to dress the cod after they had reached there.

In fact, by the time they reached California, the fish were not exactly fit for consumption.

So next, the cod were placed in a holding tank, and they decided they'd put them in a holding tank and just send them directly to San Francisco.

Well, they got there this time and they dressed the cod and they found they were kind of mild and no taste.

Just blend.

Then a gentleman had a suggestion and said, I've got an idea.

He said, let's ship them again in the tanks because they were still kind of fresh.

They were.

But he said, let's put some catfish in there.

God said, catfish?

He said, catfish are their enemies.

He says, I know.

He said, you know?

Yes.

He says, they won't just flounder around and just lax a daisical float.

They'll swim to stay away and to out to figure out the stay away from the catfish.

So they did, and guess what?

When they got there this time, oh, and they were fresh and unbelievable, fantastic fish.

Why?

The man says, you've got to have an enemy to keep you on your toes.

Woo! Is that not awesome?

I thought, oh, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, has a roaring line, walks about seeking whom he may devour, resist him.

Watch.

By being steadfast in the faith.

1 Peter 5, 8, and 9.

Be watchful, be on your guard.

Because your enemy is roaring every day.

Whoo, that's good, preacher.

I gotta go.

Number five, panting and dependence upon the Lord.

As the deer pants after the water brook, so pants my heart for thee, O Lord.

Psalms 42, verse 1.

Psalms 42:1

Dependence upon the Lord develops trust and intimacy with him.

I love what he said in Psalms 56, 3.

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Psalms 56, 11, in God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid of what man can do unto me.

That's good.

Number six, pining for heaven.

The Lord in his word, trials changes our focus from earthly matters to eternal matters.

Isn't it amazing when you get into a major trial?

All of a sudden all these worldly things no longer matter.

Hello?

Especially if it's someone that said, you know, it's cancer, you could die.

All these earthly goals and stuff, they no longer matter.

Huh?

That's right.

They really don't matter.

All that matters now.

My eyes are fixed on thee, oh God.

And the Lord is my trust.

Lord, search me, know me.

Anything there, get it out of me.

Lord, I love you.

I want to be with you.

Purify me.

Lord, I I need you right now.

Lord, I need you right now.

Show me what I gotta do, what I must do.

I'll do it! Longing for heaven.

Yes, yes, at the funeral Friday.

I read the words of Paul when he said, For I'm having a problem between the two.

Staying here and continuing to work for the Lord and helping disciple these immature Christians that need discipling so they can build the God's church.

But he says, I'm I'm so troubled.

I'm so troubled.

He says, Because I have a desire to part and to be with Christ, which is far better.

And then lastly.

Well, Psalms 119, 71, you've got to see this verse.

It's there for you.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statues.

And then number seven, my prayer life.

I'm afflicted very much.

Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy word.

Men ought to always pray and not to faint.

Woo! Consider my affliction, he said, and deliver me, for I do not forget thy law.

Psalms 119, 153.

Woo! And that brings me to the last point.

But do you see?

Do you see what the trials do?

Can I get an amen?

Man, is that not awesome?

It really makes you understand it more.

It almost, now you can, now you can see why they say count it on joy, because you know what it's going to do in you.

And you know what it's going to do for you.

Last thing in them through.

The splendid joy for Christians.

We looked at the season of suffering.

It's short.

It's precious.

We've looked at now all the strength that we get.

But then we see right here, look at what he says.

Verse 8 and 9, whom having not seen ye loved, 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.

Our joy stems from our faith in the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

You've heard the saying, love at first sight.

Most humans' love follows the sight of the eyes, but Peter's love follows the love not of eyesight, but the love of heart sight.

He gave his heart to the Lord.

Proverbs 23, 26 says, My son, give me your heart and let your life observe my words.

Whew! Give me your heart.

Give me that heart.

Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and watch this, and that your joy might be full.

Wow.

So we see that we are to put all our trust in him and our joy will be real.

And then verse 9 says, one day our faith will end.

When is that going to be?

When we go to be with Jesus.

When we go to be with Jesus.

Amen.

The word right here translated receiving.

Now watch this.

Means to get something that is promised.

That's important you understand that in verse 9.

When he says we receive, it means that God has guaranteed you that you're going to receive what he told you you're going to get.

All those seven things that we just talked are going to be a reality in our lives.

Because of our faith.

Because of our faith.

Many folks go through life without any faith in the Lord and hobble alone without any hope at all.

They think that Jesus, I wrote this down.

They think that Jesus, in fact, I wrote this from an old commentator named B.R.

Lakin.

Here's what he said.

He said, people without faith think that Jesus is a joke.

The Bible is a bunch of bunk.

Heaven and hell are hoax.

Faith is a farce.

And they claim that the grave ends at all, and there's no God, no heaven, no hell.

And they embrace the idea that they will be accountable and answerable to no one, especially God.

They undoubtedly don't know the word of God.

Because one day every knee's going to bow.

Every tongue's going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Philippians 2, 10 and 11.

Amen?

Amen.

William Penn, the founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was well liked by the Indians.

And one day they told William Penn, tell what we're going to do for you.

In the morning when you wake up, you, as far as you can walk, in a day, we'll give you the land, the Indians told him.

Now they told him, not thinking he would probably do that.

You with me?

Well, guess what?

At daybreak at five o'clock in the morning, he walked till dark.

The Indians could not believe how much land he had covered.

But sticking to their word, they gave it to him.

All the land that you see in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that whole most of the quarter of the state is what they gave to William Penn.

Now, why did William Penn do what he did?

Because he believed what the Indians said.

If he can believe Indians to do what they will say, how could we do anything less than believe and do what God says?

Amen.

And here, just write them in.

And I'm through because I've already preached it.

But I want you to have them.

The benefits or effects of our faith.

One, the sight of our faith in Jesus, Philippians, I meant 1 Peter 1.21.

The salvation, number two, of our souls.

Number three, the security of our faith.

1 Peter 1.5.

The specialness of the Savior is seen right here in 1 Peter 2.7.

A real Christian is an odd person.

You believe that?

Some of you say, wait a minute.

I don't know if I know what you're thinking.

Pastor Danny's weird.

But have you ever thought why we're considered weird?

I asked that question.

I'm going to answer it.

Because we're rejoicing tribulation.

Yeah, but all right, what's this?

We feel supreme love from one person who we never saw.

We talk every day to someone we cannot see or hear.

We expect to go to heaven on the virtue of another.

We empty ourselves in order to be full.

We confess we are wrong in order to be declared right.

We must lower ourselves in order to be exalted.

We are strong when we are weak.

We are the richest when we are the poorest.

And by giving we keep what we have and gain more.

No wonder we're weird.

The writer put it of Hebrews said faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And then the last thing, number, well, two more, the strength we have in suffering.

1 Peter 4, 19.

And then the steadfast stance against Satan.

1 Peter 5, 8 and 9.

Whew, woo! That's what our faith is.

That's what our faith is, folks.

The last thing above all, taking the shield of faith whereby you're able to quench all the fire darts of the wicked one.

Hey, hey, right there, in itself, the last thing, the steadfast stance against Satan, that's our faith.

That's why when these temptations and all this, the temptations, the trials come, we can say, are you ready?

We know.

That all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Amen.

Is that not good for the church?

What truth?

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

So next time that trial and that fire cut, if you really digest and assimilate these truths, you too can say, I count it all joy.