Lesson 2

The Truth About Trials!

1 Peter 1:6-9

There are two words that don't seem to belong in the same sentence. And yet these two words (or at least their derivatives) are found together in a long and complex sentence which we call I Peter 1:6-9. They are the words "joy" and "trials".

It would seem to us that joy and trials don't belong together. Trials would mean the absence of joy and joy would require the absence of trials. And yet, Peter writing to the persecuted Christians of his day uses those two ideas in the same sentence. This sentence is compound and rather complex in its construction. In order to fully understand it, we need to do some dissecting.

So scrub up, put on your magnifying glasses and your thinking cap and let's study these four verses together today. (Read text).

Joy is the result of salvation, so all believers should experience joy. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Peter says that our salvation is cause to "greatly rejoice" (1:2-6a) and that "the salvation of our souls" (v. 9) causes us to "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (v. 8).

And yet, the truth is that even the saved are not often experiencing such joy. Why? Perhaps it is because of harboring un-confessed sin. Un-confessed sin forfeits joy. But that joy can be restored by confession and repentance. David, after acknowledging his terrible sins of adultery and murder said, "Restore to me the joy of thy salvation" (Psalm 51:12).

It is also possible to allow trials cause us to lose our perspective and to rob us of our joy. The Christians to whom Peter wrote were facing that possibility.

You see, there was a devastating fire in the city of Rome in July of A. D. 64, destroying lives and property. Before the embers had even cooled, Christians were being blamed by Nero the deranged emperor for the fire and a huge persecution occurred against Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, forcing many believers to flee for their lives. Peter's first epistle is closely associated with this event.

Peter makes several references as to how Christians were being regarded. They were slandered as evildoers (2:12) and were suffering unjustly (2:19-20). They were constantly being insulted (3:9) and reproached (4:14). There was every indication that things were going to get worse, 4:12-14 (read).

Because they were experiencing such difficulties, Peter reminded his readers of the blessedness of their salvation and the joy that should result from it.

To experience this joy, we need to know the truth about trials.

Truth #1 - Trials Are Temporary, 1:6b

"though now for a season"

At times, it seems that the trial and trouble we experience will never end. They can seem to go on and on and even to get worse. You know all the cliches'. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. Somebody said that Murphy was an optimist.

But the Bible gives us a promise here. Trouble is just for a season. Salvation lasts forever. We receive eternal life. Heaven last forever. But trials - they are for a little while. Trouble is temporary and transient, regulated to this life. There's is cause for encouragement and even joy.

Truth #2 - Trials Serve A Purpose, 1:6c-d.

"if need be, ye are in heaviness"

The word "heaviness" reminds us of burden and grief and sorrow that life can give to us at times. In fact, this word is used to describe what Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:37 says that He "began to be sorrowful and very heavy." But Peter wants us to know that times are necessary. He says, "if need be."

Trials serve a godly purpose in our life. They can teach us humility, wean us from worldly things, focus our attention on heaven, refocus our priorities, increase our appreciation for God's blessings, enable us to help others, develop enduring strength of character, chasten us for sin, increase our sense of dependency on God, purge us for greater usefulness and produce joy. Trials serve a good and godly purpose in our lives.

Truth #3 - Trials Come in Many Forms, 1:6d.

"through manifold temptations"

Not all trials are exactly alike. They differ in degrees of intensity and form. The text uses both the word "trial" (v. 7) and "temptation" (v. 6). Trials come from God to test us. Temptations come from Satan to solicit us to sin. Often it is when we are going through a trial from God that Satan solicits us to sin as an escape from the trial. An event in the life of Abraham illustrates this. While sojourning in the land to which God had called him, Abraham experienced a severe famine. This is a trial - a test from God. It is at this point that he is tempted (by Satan) to escape the effects of the trial by traveling to Egypt. This is a temptation from Satan. Trials make us stronger. Temptations seduce us to sin.

The Greek word for "manifold" literally means "many colored." Peter says that trials come in many colors. Peter used that word only one other time (I Peter 4:10) and it is to describe the grace of God. "Our troubles may be many colored, but so is the grace of God; there is no color in the human situation that grace cannot match. There is grace to match every trial and there is no trial without its grace" (William Barclay's Commentary on I Peter).

Truth #4 - Trials Are Precious Because They Prove Our Faith, 1:7-9.

Peter says that your faith is "more precious than gold". Gold must be purified by fire. A goldsmith puts the gold into a hot fire and it burns away all the dross, all that isn't pure gold. What remains is the precious metal. Peter makes both a comparison and a contrast between gold and our faith. Both go through the fire. The fire that a goldsmith puts gold into is like the trial that God puts us in to. Both are a purifying process. Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. By contrast, faith is more precious than gold because faith is more permanent than gold. Our faith will still be around when Jesus appears, v. .

It is a faith that loves One whom it has never seen (v. 8) that keeps on trusting (v. 8 - "believing") and keeps on rejoicing.

One day, our faith will end. That is, we will not longer need faith because we will see face to face and will know even as we are known. This is the ultimate consummation of our salvation, v. 9.

But until then ...

we can expect trials. They are temporary, purposeful, painful and multi-colored.

we can enjoy trials. They are God's purifying furnace to burn away the impurities and bring out the gold.