The Joy of Salvation, Part 2

Our faith, already proven genuine, awaits its eternal reward.

There's no insecurity in this. The proof of the faith, already tested, results in the honor, the glory, and the praise. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Whether you're studying hard for good grades knowing you'll be recognized at graduation, or putting in extra hours to meet a deadline knowing you're collecting overtime pay, there is a proper motivation for devoting yourself to the work as you anticipate being rewarded for it. But where your Christian life is concerned, is the anticipation of eternal reward a legitimate motivation for devoting yourself to worshiping God? Shouldn't spending eternity with God be motivation enough? Well, today John MacArthur will show you what should be motivating you to live your life for Christ. Pursuing heaven isn't just a mysterious exercise, it's a means to a fantastic end, as you'll see in John's study called Our Great Salvation.

And now here's John with the lesson. First Peter 1, 6 through 9. Peter's theme is salvation joy. He moves out of the wonderful doxology of praise to God in verses 3 to 5, and in verse 6 says, in this you greatly rejoice. And he calls for praise to be given to God for salvation, for the glorious, eternal inheritance that belongs to the believer.

Let's begin, and you follow as I read verses 6 through 9. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. 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.

And though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Clearly the subject here is joy. Salvation joy is the theme that Peter has in his heart. You know, throughout Scripture, those who know the Lord, those who walk with God, those who put their trust in Him experience joy.

For example, if you were to read through the Psalms, you would find that a ringing theme in the Psalms is joy. In Psalm 4 verse 7, it says, Thou hast put gladness in my heart. In Psalm 5 verse 11, Let all who take refuge in Thee be glad.

Let them ever sing for joy. In Psalm 9 verse 2, I will be glad and exalt in Thee or rejoice in Thee. I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.

In Psalm 32, I believe it is. In verse 11, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones, and shout for joy all you who are upright in heart. In Psalm 37, a familiar one, verse 4, Delight yourself in the Lord. Psalm 43 verse 3 and 4, O send out Thy light and Thy truth. Let them lead me, let them bring me to Thy holy hill, to Thy dwelling places. Then I will go to the altar of God, and then this wonderful line, to God my exceeding joy. And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God my God.

And then He asks the question, Why are you in despair, O my soul? When you have received salvation, you should never be in despair, you should always experience joy. To sum it up, we could say that it is a Christian's duty to be as joyful as he can possibly be.

We could also say it is God's purpose and God's plan and God's will to see that we are as joyful as we could possibly be. Now the question comes, how do we get a grip on that joy? So many times we don't have that joy. We need to hear what Paul said, the command, rejoice, because there are times when we don't. How do we capture that joy?

How do we learn to focus on that joy? Peter gives us the answer. He tells us here how we can make that salvation joy a reality in our lives. And it is a question of focus.

It really all depends on what you choose to look at, what you choose to concentrate on. The first thing, and we'll give you several, the first is a protected inheritance. That is the first cause of joy which Peter refers to. And notice it in verse 6, In this you greatly rejoice.

What does he mean in this? He means in the salvation described in verses 3 through 5. In the eternal inheritance reserved in heaven for you which will never perish, never be defiled, and never fade. Because God has promised to you a protected inheritance which is the fullness of eternal salvation, you should rejoice.

Rejoice in this, that you have a protected inheritance. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 32 says, Remember the former days when after being enlightened you endured a great conflict of suffering, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. In other words, you suffered as believers. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property.

Why? Knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. What a great statement. The writer of Hebrews says, You accepted joyfully the seizure of your earthly property because you know that you have a better possession and an abiding one. That is a property, a possession, an inheritance that could never be seized and could never be confiscated, could never be stolen.

That's the joy of anticipating your protected inheritance. Beloved, we should continually have joy because nothing can take away our eternal life and nothing can remove us from that. Now the second source of salvation joy is not only a protected inheritance but a proven faith.

This is so vital. Verse 6 says also, Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. In other words, you rejoice even though you're going through trials. And then verse 7 says, Because of the proof of your faith. In that great verse 6, Peter gives us a real theology about trouble. He tells us trouble doesn't last when he says for a little while. He tells us trouble serves a purpose when he says if necessary, God brings it because it's necessary for our spiritual perfection. He tells us it brings pain and it's supposed to by saying you have been distressed. He tells us it comes in many forms by saying various trials. And he also tells us that it doesn't have to diminish joy because of the little phrase even though now.

In other words, even though you're having trial, it doesn't touch your joy. It has a purpose. It comes in many forms, brings pain but doesn't last. It is for your perfection.

It is for your spiritual development. Spurgeon one time said, The steps by which we ascend to the place of joy are usually moist with tears. Joy comes out of pain. Now why is it that this is so?

How can we have joy and pain? Verse 7, Because it proves the validity of our faith. It proves our faith. And it proves that our faith is more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire. We have a proven faith. Not proving your faith to God, He knows, but proving your faith to yourself so you can rest confident in that faith.

Sometimes a person will come and say, Boy, I'm insecure. I don't know if I'm saved. I don't know if my faith is real. I doubt whether my faith is real sometimes.

I'm not sure I'm saved. And very often there's nothing that can be said to increase that confidence because that confidence is going to come when that person passes through trials. And when severe trials come and go and you're still believing and you haven't shaken your fist in God's face and walked away, that's the evidence that your faith is real. And when you have that proven and tested and tried and revealed genuine faith, then there's joy in your heart, exhilaration in your heart and you can truly rejoice. I rejoice in a proven faith which to me is far more precious than gold even when it's been tested by fire. It can't touch the treasure of a proven faith. Don't you rejoice in that? Don't you rejoice in the confidence that your faith is real and your salvation is real and your inheritance will genuinely come to pass?

Let's go to the third thought here. Peter telling us reasons for joy reminds us that a proven faith along with a protected inheritance should cause us to constantly rejoice. Then thirdly, introduces to us another very important reality and that is a promised honor, a promised honor. And I believe in verse 7, he lays it out for us in magnificent terms.

He says, 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. You rejoice in your protected inheritance. You rejoice in your proven faith. And I'll tell you, you rejoice in your promised honor. I rejoice when I look ahead. I rejoice in the prospect of what God has for me in the future by His grace.

Now, just a technicality in this verse, the word that at the beginning of verse 7, hinah, with a subjunctive in the Greek indicates purpose. And what he is saying here is that the proof of your faith, and then he describes the faith as more precious, but it is the faith which will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So it's not only the joy of proven faith, but it is the joy of anticipated reward. The proving of faith is not here the main thought.

The proving of faith is not the purpose. The proving of faith is the means to the purpose, the means to the end, the means to the goal. And the goal is praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

That's the goal, your eternal reward. So you greatly rejoice because of your eternal salvation. You greatly rejoice through all the troubles and trials of life, which are simply ways to prove your faith because a proven faith will ultimately be an honored faith. True faith will come through it all. And in the end, praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, I don't want to blow your spiritual fuses, but I want you to understand something here. The praise and the glory and the honor, I believe, has to do with you.

It has to do with you. In other words, God wants to grant you praise, and God wants to grant you glory, and God wants to grant you honor. It doesn't say here that it will result in us praising, glorifying, and honoring Him, but that we may be found because of our faith, worthy of praise, worthy of glory, worthy of honor when Jesus comes.

That's incredible to think about. I mean, to imagine that we will someday see the Lord and receive from Him praise is incredible, incredible. Look at chapter 2, verse 20 of 1 Peter. In the middle of the verse, if when you do what is right, you see it there? If when you do what is right and suffer for it patiently and endure it, this finds what? Favor with God. Isn't it wonderful to know that you can have favor with God? That you can please God?

Go back to Matthew chapter 25 for a moment, that great sermon of our Lord on the second coming. Matthew chapter 25, do you remember this statement in the parable of the talents? Verse 21, His master said to him, the servant who gained five more talents, well done, good and faithful slave.

You were faithful with a few things. I'll put you in charge of many things. Enter into the what? The joy of your master. Did you know you can make God rejoice? I can make God rejoice. God will say, well done, good, faithful slave.

I'll put you in charge of many things. Enter the joy of your master. Verse 23 says the same thing to the one who gained two talents, the very same thing. We will receive praise from God because of salvation. Look at Romans 2 29.

He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. And listen, and His praise is not from men, but what? From God. True faith receives praise from God. That's an incredible thing because true faith is a gift from God.

What a thought. He gives it to us and then praises us for it. What generosity. When we face Jesus Christ at the revelation, at His appearing, at the apocalypsis, the unveiling, the manifestation of Christ, we will receive praise from God. I believe that has to do with verbal praise. I believe that's when God will commend us verbally, well done, good, faithful servant. We will find praise from God to us. The second term that Peter uses is glory, praise and glory. And I believe, again, he has in reference here the glory that we receive. Look at Romans 2, as long as you're there, verse 7. It says, "...to those who by perseverance in doing good, seek for glory and honor and immortality, implied God will grant eternal life." In other words, here he's talking about believers and he says it is the pursuit of believers to seek glory and honor and immortality. Verse 10 says, "...glory and honor and peace implied will be given to every man who does righteous deeds, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." And again, God's going to give us glory.

If the first one, praise, means verbal commendation, this means perfection of person, perfection of person. God is not just going to give us verbal commendation. He is going to give us His glory. He is going to endow us with His glory. Jesus Christ, you remember, it says in Scripture, John 1.14, was God incarnate and it says, "...we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus was God's glory incarnate and the Bible says that when we see Him, we'll be what?

We'll be like Him. So we'll possess the glory of God. So we will receive verbal commendation and perfection, eternal glorious perfection of person in Christlikeness. And the third word Peter uses is the word honor.

What does he mean by that? Probably rewards. If we sort these words out, they may really be overlapping synonyms, but if we look for a unique meaning in each, the first is verbal commendation, the second is perfection of person, and the third is rewards, honor from God given to us because of our service rendered to Him. In Revelation 22, 12, Jesus said, Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his work shall be, and he comes to give rewards. First Corinthians chapter 3 discusses the service that we render and the fact that He will come to reward us. Second John 8 warns us not to lose those rewards, but in faithfulness to receive a full reward. It's really an unbelievable thought, really an absolutely incredible thought that God who alone is worthy of praise, God who alone is worthy of glory, and God who alone is worthy of honor will give all three to us.

You say, how can that happen? Because we will be at that moment in time made in the exact image of whom? Of Christ. And because we are made in the image of Christ, full possessors of the righteousness of Christ, fully endowed with that perfection of body and soul that only eternity can produce, we will then be worthy of praise and worthy of glory and worthy of honor.

And when will it happen? At the apocalypse, at the revelation of Jesus Christ, the time when He returns to judge and reward His redeemed people. Notice verse 13 of chapter 1. Peter really has this on his mind as do all suffering believers, I think. Gird your minds for action, he says, 1 Peter 1 13.

Keep sober in spirit or maintain your priorities. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you when? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. And what is that grace? What is that gracious gift that God will give? Praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapter 4 of 1 Peter, verse 13, he says, to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exaltation. Rejoice now that in your faithfulness and rejoicing here you will be rewarded by a greater rejoicing at the revelation of Jesus Christ when He comes.

In some sense, our eternal reward, of course, is connected to our faithfulness here and He seems to be saying we will be rewarded with a greater joy if we have expressed a greater joy in this life. First Corinthians 1 7 also refers to the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the next verse, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we would tie the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is that unique time in which the Lord comes to reward His redeemed people. That is our promised honor.

It will be unfolded in that time. What a glorious reality that is to realize what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians. He says that the Lord is coming.

Marvelous passage. He is coming. This is a plain indication, verse 5, of God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. He'll come from heaven and give us relief from all affliction. He'll deal out retribution to those who do not know God, to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day.

So He comes to judge the wicked and be glorified in His saints on that day. Paul says in that familiar text, the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be ours in that day. And so the proof of our faith here, found to be genuine here, will be gloriously rewarded at the apocalypse of Christ.

Would you notice one thing? It doesn't say that our faith has to wait for the rapture to be found genuine. Our faith, already proven genuine, awaits its eternal reward.

There's no insecurity in this. The proof of the faith already tested results in the honor, the glory, and the praise. So this is not teaching that we'll never know until that time. We can know as our faith is proven.

No insecurity here, only that a promise is very clear. A proven faith, verified as real by trials, can live in eager expectation of eternal reward. If that doesn't give you joy, you're earthbound. Think of what you'll have in heaven, the perfection of body and spirit, the authority and dominion, the power and presence of sin forever broken.

Never again its crippling effect on life and relationships. Perfect freedom from all evil, nothing to defile, perfect pleasure, perfect knowledge, perfect comfort, perfect love, perfect delight, perfect peace, perfect joy. And we rejoice now in the prospect of that. So in that great time when the Lord Jesus comes and is revealed, He comes to judge the wicked and reward His own, we will be with the Lord in fellowship. That's the supreme relationship of heaven. We will see the Lord in close and intimate communion. That's the supreme vision of heaven. We will be loved and adored, and that is the supreme honor of heaven. We will reign and share His glory, the supreme privilege of heaven. And we will serve, and that's the supreme duty of heaven. What an honor!

What an honor indeed! That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, and his study here on Grace to You is called Our Great Salvation. Throughout this study, John has talked a lot about longing for heaven, how every Christian should have that deep desire for heaven. And yet, John, many of us go through seasons, maybe frequent seasons, when we don't long for our eternal home the way we should.

And I'm wondering why that is. What sorts of things can hinder that eager expectation of heaven? Well the simple answer is that we just get so tied down to earth. We invest so much energy in this life, in the activities of this life, the possessions of this life, the achievements of this life, the purposes of this life.

I mean, we're like people whose feet are in concrete. We're just earthbound. We're being bombarded constantly with things that people are selling us and promoting to us, that chase us down paths of temporal, earthly gratification.

And the more of that stuff we're exposed to, and the more of that appeals to our nature, the more earthbound we become. People who don't have those things, people who have to cling to Christ because He's virtually all they have, because they have meager possessions, people in other parts of the world who struggle for the bare necessities, those who know Christ in that kind of situation long for heaven. That's why John said, don't love the world. Don't love the world.

Look forward to what is ahead. That's why Paul said, set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth. Where your treasure is, as Jesus put it, your heart will be.

That's right. Well, thank you, John. And friend, of course, setting your affections on things above means knowing what God's Word says about your future as a Christian. The MacArthur Study Bible can help you discover those truths and much more. Order a copy when you contact us today. To order, call 855-GRACE or visit our website, GTY.org. The MacArthur Study Bible is an all-in-one theological library designed to help you understand God's Word and apply it to your life. More than two million people around the world have benefited from this resource with its helpful charts and maps and, most of all, its 25,000 study notes.

It's reasonably priced and shipping is free. To get the MacArthur Study Bible, call us at 855-GRACE or you can order from our website, GTY.org. And if the MacArthur Study Bible or these radio broadcasts have helped you grow spiritually and set your affections on things above, would you tell us your story? We'd love to hear from you. Just send us a note to letters at GTY.org or you can reach us by regular mail by writing to Grace To You, P.O.

Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace To You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Be back tomorrow to learn more about how you can experience joy even in the midst of tough times. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace To You.