The Joy of Salvation, Part 1

Beloved, welcome trials, welcome testings. God's purpose in them is that the proof of your faith may come to be more precious to you than the world's most precious commodities. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's said that God never wastes affliction, and yes, that's true. Sickness, financial struggle, a serious accident, even the sudden loss of a loved one, these are all opportunities for you to become more like Christ. And as you will see today on Grace to You, there are five specific reasons why the trials you experience actually should produce joy in your life. Over the next half hour, John is going to help you understand and take hold of the joy that overwhelms even in the worst of troubles. It's the joy that you find in our great salvation. That's the title of John's series, Our Great Salvation.

And if you're able, grab your Bible, follow along 1 Peter chapter 1, starting in verse 6 as John begins the lesson. Joy is an element of salvation. It can be forfeited by sin, at which point we are to be exhorted to experience again the joy that God has provided for us. Salvation then has built in joy that every believer should experience constantly. Now the question that comes to our minds is how do we experience that joy? How do we capture that joy? Let's face it, most of us are not all the time filled with joy.

We're not all the time experiencing rejoicing. What then is it that restores that joy? What is it that motivates that joy? What is it that captures that joy? What is it that discovers that joy? Well, that's exactly what we're going to find out from Peter in verses 6 through 9. Peter tells us five things, five points of contact to rediscover your joy. I don't know where you are in your Christian life, but if you're not rejoicing always, if you're not rejoicing always in the Lord, if you don't have that deep down sense of peace and satisfaction, that glowing heart, that burning, exhilarating thrill in your life, no matter what the circumstances are, you need to get your joy back.

And Peter gives us five perspectives. Your joy is going to come from deep within. It's not related to your circumstances.

It's not related to what you're experiencing in one sense. In another, I'll show you that it is. It comes from confidence in certain things.

The first one, it comes from confidence in one, a protected inheritance, a protected inheritance. This is the first great verity that brings salvation joy. The next source of salvation joy is not only a protected inheritance, but a proven faith, a proven faith.

This is so practical. In this you greatly rejoice, you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. Now listen to me carefully. I told you to focus on the joy of anticipation.

Here's the balance. Here's another kind of joy. Here is a joy that is even though you are now going through various trials. Now that brings it right back to this world.

So that it's now, watch this, it's not only how you view your future, but it's how you view your present. Joy comes, now listen carefully, not in spite of trouble, but because of trouble. It comes through trouble.

How? Because trouble, verse 7, is the proof of your what? Your faith, which is more precious than gold. God brings trials into your life to prove your faith. Some people think that severe persecutions, severe trials of believers steal the joy of anticipation. No, they add to the joy of anticipation.

They add to it. Why? Because the one great thief of the joy of anticipation is doubt about what? Salvation. If I am worried about whether I'm saved or not, it's very hard for me to enjoy the prospect of my future.

So, this is very important. So, Peter slides from the future into the present, from what might seem to us as anticipation into reality. As I have told you through the years, God has a way of saying things with an economy of words that is absolutely beyond human comprehension. And in that one little sixth verse is a description of trouble that is so profound.

In fact, I didn't see it until I kept reading it over and over and finally it dawned on me the depth of this statement. Just about everything you need to know about trouble is in that one verse. Now, let me show you. Let me give you some principles, okay? Principle number 1, trouble doesn't last. Isn't that good to know? It doesn't last. Verse 6, in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while or a season. It's temporary. It's transient.

It'll go away with this life. There's a second principle here. Trouble doesn't last, but trouble serves a purpose.

Look at the verse again. In this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while, next two words, if what? Necessary. You know why trouble comes into your life?

Because it's what? Necessary. Trouble serves a purpose. You say, what's the purpose? I don't get the purpose.

Well, let me remind you. To humble us, fair enough. To wean us from worldly things. To help us look to heaven.

To reveal what we really love. To teach us the value of God's blessing as over against the pain of life. Trouble comes to enable us to help others. Trouble comes to develop enduring strength in our character. And trouble comes sometimes to chasten us for our sin. It serves a purpose. Chapter 5, Peter said in verse 10, after you've suffered a while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. God has a purpose in it. Make you better.

Third principle comes out of this little verse. Trouble brings pain. Trouble brings pain.

Nobody ever denied that. Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed. God knows about it.

That's why He brings it. He's talking about mental anguish, not just physical. Mental anguish, sadness, sorrow, disappointment, anxiety. Sure, trouble brings pain. So we have a little theology of trouble here. Trouble doesn't last. Trouble serves a purpose. Trouble brings pain. It's supposed to be painful.

Did you get that? That's its point. It's supposed to distress you, to drive you from the world to the Lord, to purge your sin, to refine you for greater usefulness. There's a fourth principle. Trouble comes in many forms, have you noticed?

Verse 6 says, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been distressed, by various trials, parasmos, troubles, trials. It comes in many forms. The word is poikilos. It means many-colored. Trouble is many-colored. By the way, Peter uses that same word one other time when he describes the many-colored grace of God. That's a beautiful thought. That's a beautiful thought. Trouble is multi-colored and God's grace is poikilos multi-colored. It's as if there is no color trial that God can't match with a color of grace.

Beautiful thought. Grace to match every trial. It comes in many forms.

You just think you've gotten over one, and another one comes. But last little principle, trouble doesn't, shouldn't diminish joy. Notice verse 6, in this you greatly rejoice.

Here it is, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials. You greatly rejoice even though you are in trial. The point being, trouble doesn't diminish joy. It shouldn't diminish joy. Why? Why shouldn't it diminish joy?

I'll tell you why. Verse 7, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now listen to this very carefully. This is a profound truth. Peter says, here's why trials don't take your joy. Here's why trials produce joy, because if you pass through the test, your faith becomes proven.

I don't know about you, but that's an exciting thought. Trials prove the validity, the genuineness of our faith. That's a tremendous benefit.

If you went through life and never had any trial, never had any trouble, your faith was never tested, you wouldn't know your faith was real. That's basically what he's saying. Trials come, various trials come. They distress you. They are necessary. They are temporary.

They don't steal your joy. They come like fire to burn the dross off the metal to see if there's something real there. The faith is really revealed in the trial.

It's genuine if there's something there when the fire has done its burning. God's purpose and trouble. Now listen carefully as to test your faith.

For who? Him? Does He need to test your faith? Does God need to do something to find out if you're real?

No, He knows what's in your heart, right? So who is the test going to benefit? You.

You. The word for proof here in verse 7 is used because it is borrowed from the process of a saying metal, and that kind of a saying of metal was to determine its true character, discover its purity, put it in a fire and burn off everything else, and what was remaining would be the true content. By the way, if they put something in the fire and there was nothing left, they knew there was no real metal, no gold at all.

That happened to Judas, didn't it? Put through the test, the fire, he proved to be zero. God tests the believer to reveal whether his or her faith is genuine, just like he tests gold, and it mentions gold in verse 7 that's tested by fire. Fire equals trials. The gold is your real faith, and when the fire comes and all the dross is burned off, the real faith is revealed.

Now it kind of works like this. Think this through, okay? Your heart is grieved, okay? You're going through trouble, trial, suffering, pain, and you're in the midst of anxiety and all of this. The environment around you is collapsing. Nothing's working out.

The way you want it to work out, you're going through all kinds of pain and concern, and you start to look around for somewhere to put your comfort. Most people in the world put it in money, friends, booze, drugs, sex, vengeance, whatever, and the trouble burns up everything because everything they put their trust in is also going to be consumed. None of it lasts. It'll all burn in the fire. The Christian rises above all that. He rises above everything that is subject to change and decay, and he casts his anchor, as Hebrews says, within the veil in the heavenlies where joy is unalterable.

The source of joy is permanent. And that's exactly what Peter is saying here. When you go through a test, if you try to solve that by more of the junk of the world, it'll go up with the rest of it. But if you rise above that by faith and hold on to God and Christ, your faith is proven. The point is, if you come out the other side of the test believing God, trusting God, believing Christ, trusting Christ, then you know your faith is what? It's real.

It's real. That's precisely what our Lord said in Matthew 13. There's some seed goes into the ground, the plant comes up, the sun comes out, scorches the plant.

There's no real life there, no way to tap the roots, and under persecution and trouble, the thing dries up and dies and never bears fruit. Believe me, trouble, testing, persecution, trial reveals the character of faith. Trouble comes to prove whether your faith is genuine.

Let's look at that for just a moment. Back in Genesis chapter 22, you remember Abraham, God said, Abraham, go up and kill your son on Mount Moriah. What a tremendous trial. The son of promise, the son of covenant, go and take his life. And you remember Abraham in absolute obedience to God went up there and blipped up the knife ready to do it. After all, God said to do it and He was going to believe God even if God had to raise His son from the dead. The writer of Hebrews says the reason He was willing to kill His son was because He believed in the God who raises the dead even though He had never seen a resurrection.

As far as we know, there had never been a resurrection. He believed that God would do that because He believed God would have to do that to keep His covenant if Isaac was dead. So we get up there, ready to stab His son. The angel of the Lord in verse 11 came to Him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, He said, here I am. He said, do not stretch out your hand against the lad.

Do nothing to him. Verse 12, I know now that you fear God. That was a test. That was a test.

Now we know that you fear God. I don't think Abraham ever doubted that again as long as he lived. Job was put to the test and Job's faith proved real. It proved genuine because no matter what Satan threw at Job, he never stopped trusting God. When his would-be friends came with their witless suggestions, he still trusted God. When his wife told him to curse God and die, he still trusted God. God brings trials to test faith, to prove faith real to the one who has the faith that that one may live in confidence. Exodus 16, 4, the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them whether or not they will walk in My instruction. God is in the business of testing, not that He might know, but that men might know the state of their hearts. And you shall remember, Deuteronomy 8, 2 says, All the way the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not, to show you the state of your heart, not for Him, but for you. Now look what he says back in 1 Peter 1.

This is so good. Tested faith, proven faith, is more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire. Even though gold will pass the test of fire, gold is perishable. Proven faith is far more precious.

What a thought. Why is it more precious than gold? Because proven faith is eternal. It's eternal. Even though gold is refined and it passes the test of fire, it doesn't pass the test of eternity. Proven faith is more precious. Now why does Peter use gold as his analogy?

Because of several things. Gold was the standard commodity. We used to be on a gold standard.

We aren't anymore. In ancient times, gold was the standard commodity that backed up monetary transaction. It was the most precious of metals, the most highly prized of all the metals, and the standard of all monetary transactions.

It was the most precious commodity. And so, Peter is saying, gold which is so precious stands the test of fire, but does not stand the test of eternity. Therefore, proven faith is more precious than pure gold. Just as fire separated true gold from the counterfeit, so God uses suffering to separate true faith from superficial profession.

It's more precious than gold. Can anybody estimate the value of proven faith? Do you live with doubt in your life? And God knows you need more trials because that will prove your faith to you. I don't doubt my faith. There was a time when I was young that I did. I don't doubt my faith anymore. You know why? Because my faith has stood the test of trials.

That's not a commendation of me. I've had a lot of trials because God has had to do a lot of teaching for me to get the message. My faith is real. I can't tell you the value of knowing my faith is real.

Can you understand that? What a tremendous confidence that is. Who wants to live in doubt? True faith verified because it has been tested. Beloved, welcome trials, welcome testings. God's purpose in them is that the proof of your faith may come to be more precious to you than the world's most precious commodities.

Tremendous thought, absolutely tremendous. The apostles went on their way rejoicing. It says in Acts, because they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. And if I might be so bold, I might add they must have gone on their way confident too, confident in the reality of their salvation because they had heard from Jesus so many times this line, O ye of what?

Little faith. And when it came to the cross, they forsook Him and fled. And then there was Peter in his denials.

And how wearisome was their weakness. And yet they came to the point through suffering, where they stood for Christ, and they didn't vacillate. And they went on their way rejoicing, not only because of the worthiness of suffering, but of the confidence of passing the test. Beloved, we have hope, and hope brings us joy. Hope brings us joy.

Our hope is fixed in a protected inheritance in the future and in a proven faith in the present. And therein doth our joy lie. There's no reason for you not to live in the light of that joy, absolutely no reason at all. That joy is yours. And Jesus said, No man can take it from you.

I close with this. Those of us who are Scottish by descent endure a lot of grief from people who think the Scottish are miserly. And the stories are replete of such Scotsmen. One that is somewhat familiar through the years is the story of the Scotsman who arrived at Liverpool ready to embark upon a ship for America. He had purchased his passage on the ship. He fingered the few coins that made up his total earthly capital and decided that the trip was going to be a couple of weeks and in order to make it and have enough food, he would have to economize carefully so that he might have a little bit left when he arrived at New York to start his life. So he went to a small store and packed in his luggage a large supply of crackers and cheese to get him through his trip. As the voyage progressed, the sea air made him very hungry. To make matters worse, the dampness in the air made his crackers soft and his cheese hard.

Beloved, putting hard cheese on soft crackers is not a happy prospect. He wound up usually with a handful of crumbs. He was desperate with hunger by the end of the first week. To cap the climax, he kept smelling food on the trays the stewards were carrying to the passengers around him. He made up his mind one day that he would have one good meal. So he went into the dining room, ate the meal. At the end asked for the bill.

Steward said, sir, there's no bill. It's included in your passage. Poor man could have saved all his money that he spent on crackers and cheese.

Could have gone to the dining room, eaten as much as he liked. May I suggest that I have met a lot of crackers and cheese Christians? Don't cheat yourself of God's provision of joy. You're listening to John MacArthur, chancellor of the Masters University, reminding you to take advantage of the immense spiritual blessings that are yours in Christ. It's all part of John's current study on grace to you called Our Great Salvation. John, you said something today that at first glance seems like a contradiction. You said that trials don't diminish joy. They actually produce it.

So explain how that's possible. How can difficult times actually be the best thing for us? Well, James said, count it all joy when you fall into various trials because they have a perfecting work.

That's right. You know, we all think we should have life easy. We pray for smooth sailing. We pray to be delivered from troublesome things.

You know, we want everything to be comfortable. That does not produce deep trust, deep faith, deep assurance, spiritual maturity, and consequently, joy. Joy is a product of trials. Joy is a product of seeing the hand of God in the midst of struggle, in the midst of trial, in the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering. Trials produce joy.

That's why we're told to rejoice in our trials. This kind of instruction is essentially the message of a book called Anxious for Nothing. Or another way to title it would be Don't Worry. Anxious for Nothing. Times of testing come, but times of worry don't have to accompany them. Worry is not necessary. Worry is not the right response to suffering.

Joy is the right response when we understand what God is doing. And so I've pulled this and a lot of other really important truth from the Bible into this book, Anxious for Nothing. What it's going to do is help you keep your worry in check by cultivating contentment. Wow, wouldn't you love to have contentment in anything and everything? Health emergencies, financial struggles, broken relationships, even persecution?

You can be content. The back of the book includes Psalms for the Anxious. Many folks have written us through the years letting us know this book has made a profound difference in their life, particularly in trials. Again, we'll send a free copy of Anxious for Nothing if you have not contacted us before. Contact us now, we'll send it to you.

Thanks, John, and that's right, friend. If you or someone you know is dealing with worry, you should pick up a copy of Anxious for Nothing. When we hear from people who are going through times of suffering and they're struggling with worry, this is the resource we point them to, Anxious for Nothing. It continues to have a very fruitful ministry, and as John said, if you've never contacted us before, we want to send you a copy free of charge, so just request yours today. You can reach us by phone at 800-55-GRACE, and the title to ask for again, Anxious for Nothing. It's yours free if it's your first time contacting us. You can also email your request to letters at gty.org. If you've contacted us before, Anxious for Nothing costs ten dollars and fifty cents, and shipping is free.

The number again, 800-55-GRACE, or you can order from our website gty.org. I'd also encourage you to look for the Grace to You blog series called Attacking Anxiety, which gives you practical insight from John MacArthur and from our staff for defeating anxiety. And while you're at our website, remember you can download any of John's sermons free of charge in MP3N transcript format. There are over 3,500 messages available in our sermon archive, including those from John's current study, Our Great Salvation.

Our website again, gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week here with us. Join John again tomorrow as he shows you how to develop your spiritual appetite, specifically how to develop a greater hunger for heaven. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.