More Precious Than Gold, Part 1

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.

This series from 1 Peter is titled, Live as People Who are Free. Today we want to consider how the freedom Christ bought for us changes the way we face hardship. On a visit to Egypt, Rich spoke to a man selling leather wallets at an outdoor market. The man held a lighter up to the wallet to prove its quality.

Because it was genuine leather, the flame didn't ruin it. Like leather, genuine faith in Christ endures through trial. 1 Peter 1, 6-9 delves into the beautiful work God accomplishes in His people through hardship. Let's listen in on this message titled, More Precious Than Gold. This is one of the paragraphs of his letter, otherwise known as Elect Exiles of the Dispersion.

That is a good description of the church. So part three of that series today, More Precious Than Gold, is the title of today's message in verses six through nine. There's a lot to get through. There's a lot packed in this paragraph. This is one paragraph that I have actually committed to memory. It is a lofty view, verses three through nine, in fact, committed to memory, and I encourage you to do it as well.

Maybe someday we'll recite that together here in worship time. But let me begin with this illustration. Let's say that you have been invited to a summer party. It's an outside party.

It's a beautiful day, and there's plenty of shade in the yard. You've got all your friends, a lot of friends and family there. And there's a videotape set up, a video camera tape.

Listen to me. A video camera, I hate when I show my age, on a tripod. And you're going to take, you know, just to record all the events going on, you know, and it's an automatic lens and zoom and wide angle and all that stuff. And you've got it set up.

You've got all the party ready to go. The food's there. The activities are there.

It's a beautiful day. Somebody comes along, kicks the tripod, they don't know it, and the camera falls down to one little place, right? And it just so happens that as the afternoon party's going on, throughout the course of the day, there is one person sitting right in view of that lens, and that person ain't happy. They've been bullied. Somebody said something mean to them, and they're sitting there. And they're crying about it, and the person comes up to again, and they're bullying them some more.

And all of this is captured on this video recorder. You go back the next day, say, hey, let's watch the party. You go back the next day, and you turn it on.

What kind of a party was that? And you miss everything, all the good stuff that was happening, the beauty, the joy, the enjoyment of talking with each other, doing activities together, the music, all of that, you miss out on it. Why? Because that lens was zoomed in on this one negative experience because somebody kicked the tripod. Peter says, this is what can happen to our perspective. The negative experiences that we have in life, we can zoom in and get fixed on them so that we're missing the big picture. And he says, what we need to do is keep the big picture in view. I want to begin this morning with the focus of the Christian mind.

Last week we talked about your inheritance. What is it that God has in store for you? First of all, the identity, in verses one and two, the identity of a free people. And what is it that God has in store for you? You've been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What an incredible statement that is. And then, in verses six through nine, verse five, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And then for today's text, in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while if necessary you've been grieved by various trials. First of all, let's talk about the focus of the Christian mind. Keeping that illustration of the party in view.

What is the focus of the Christian mind? How does he begin verse six? What does the text say? In this you rejoice. Now, here's something you need to understand about this. It doesn't really come out in the English, but in the original language of this, he says in this you rejoice.

You know what? That is middle voice indicative. It's an indicative. In other words, it's not an imperative.

What Peter is not doing here, he's not saying, you need to rejoice. That's not what he's saying here. It's an indicative.

What do we mean by indicative? This is what is. So he's saying, this is the focus of the Christian mind and it could very well be that Peter knows some of the people that he's writing to. And he says, I've heard reports and with all the stuff that you've had to endure, I'm hearing rejoicing coming out of you. Isn't that awesome? Do you know somebody like that?

I might ask you to share a little bit about that later on. Do you know somebody who has experienced deep sorrow and yet their life exudes joy? Powerful testimony.

And this is what Peter is pointing to. In this you rejoice. Two things.

First of all, what he has done. Why do we have reason to rejoice? The first verse I ever remember memorizing, 1 Thessalonians 5 18. Remember what it says? I do.

Because I memorized it. In everything, what? Give thanks. For this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. In all the things that you like, give thanks. Is that what it says? No. What we realize is that regardless of what the circumstances are in our lives, whether it's prosperity or adversity or anywhere in between, we always have cause to give thanks.

Why? Because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. History.

We have to look at history. What has God done for us in Jesus Christ? That's why we continually need to have God's self-disclosure open to us and gripping us, gripping our hearts and our minds. The focus of the Christian mind is what he has done for us. The gospel.

Preach the gospel to yourself over and over and over again. It will rescue you from being captivated and consumed and preoccupied and overcome by the evil of the day. Secondly, the focus of the Christian mind is on what he has waiting for us.

And that's just what he covered in verses three to five just prior to this. What he has waiting for us. The living hope that is ours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You see the history and the future there. The living hope.

Why? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's history. The hope that we have is anchored in a real event in history. It's not just myth. And so that's where the Christian mind is to be focused.

That's where the Christian mind is focused. So let's talk about joy for a minute. In this you rejoice. Joy. What is joy?

I've defined this before. Now some people say, well you know I'm in right up right down right happy all the time. Is that true? If it is, we need to talk. That's not what joy is. Because we tend to equate joy with an outward emotion, an outward expression of, I'm just happy. It's not joy. What is this joy and the rejoicing of which Peter speaks?

And Jesus talked about it too when he was talking to his disciples. He says, in this world you will have tribulation. He says, but have joy. Be of good cheer, he says. What is this joy?

Here's the definition. Joy is a settled satisfaction in God's goodness, God's love, and God's sovereignty. A settled satisfaction.

Notice we're not talking about an outward emotion necessarily. It is a settled satisfaction in God's goodness. You know, you understand that God is unfailingly good. There is never a time that God is not good. You've heard me say this before, but some people have been having a really good time and say, you know the Lord has been good to us recently, and I'm like, was there a time when he was not? Watch what you say.

I'm going to quiz you on it, right? God is unfailingly good. You know why? Because he in his very being defines good. Good is not something to which God aspires. God is good. So, joy is the settled satisfaction in God's goodness, his love, and his sovereignty.

Back to the elect exiles that he speaks of in verses one and two, right? Understanding, first of all, that God is unfailingly good. Secondly, I am the object of his loving concern from eternity and for eternity. I am the object of his loving concern. You see, therein is the foundation of joy. So, joy is the settled satisfaction in God's goodness and love and sovereignty. So, as he begins verse six with that, in this you rejoice. Then he says, though now for a little while if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. Now, let's talk about, we've talked about the focus of the Christian mind. Now, let's talk about the paradoxical reality of Christian experience. You have been grieved by various trials. The Christian standard translates that you have had to struggle.

You have had to struggle. July 18th to the 23rd, Rome was on fire. The city of Rome was on fire.

70% of the city burned. A lot of people started blaming Nero for that. And, you know, the legend goes that Nero was playing a fiddle while he was watching Rome burn. That is, by the way, just legend. There's no historical fact to actually back that up. I was pretty put out when I heard that because, you know, he was my inspiration for taking violin lessons in boarding school. So, I'm just kidding. Christians were blamed. Now, this is historical fact.

Christians were blamed for the fire of Rome that burned 70% of the city because the attention was starting to go to Nero, and he wanted to divert the attention off of himself, so he blamed the Christians and started burning Christians. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.