Pastor David Freeman
Calvary Baptist Church
We begin this sermon by reading I Peter 1-7.
Think about life in its entirety. Our lives go through the stages of youth, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and senior. Throughout the stages of life, our greatest sources of joy can also be our greatest heartaches.
After we are saved, we are new creatures. We travel down life’s road with a new vision. We still have trials and tribulations, but we also have great gains: children and grandchildren. We suffer great losses in life with the passing of our grandparents and parents. Make no mistake, our faith is tried daily.
In verse 7, we see the word “precious” used to describe the trial of our faith. That’s not a word I generally use. It seems to be a word used by women to describe children.
In this verse, we see a rugged fisherman use this word. He speaks of our faith being tried like gold. When gold is refined it is placed in a hot furnace. The impurities are drawn off so that a better substance can come forth.
Sometimes God puts us in His furnace for the same reason. Although we may feel like it, He is not doing it to destroy us. He wants to purify us for better service to Him. When we are in real trouble, we try to fix things ourselves to maintain our life physically and spiritually, but God has His own way of purifying us. (Proverbs 3:4,6)
None of us is sufficient to read the eternal goal. We have all gone astray. There is none righteous, no, not one. We are all sinners and have to be saved. After salvation, there is no substitute for maturity. There is no short cut for maturity either. We mature through the trials of our faith. God uses those trials to teach us.
When the Apostle Peter wrote these verses, he knew that his crucifixion was just ahead. Our lives as Christians will be brought into perspective when we see Jesus.
Peter traveled with Jesus for three years. He was a man of bitter failures. Peter had quite a temper, and he took his eyes off of Jesus. He warmed himself by the enemy’s fire. He cursed. He denied Christ.
What was Jesus’s response to all of Peter’s failures? He told Peter to feed His sheep. In John 21:16-17, Peter preached the first message on the day of Pentecost. God wanted Peter to serve Him.
What can make such a difference in a man’s life? How can we become better? The answer can be found in II Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The trials of life make Jesus more real to us. When we love Jesus, everything falls into place. God renews His call to feed His sheep. We all have a job to do for the Master. Does serving God make your heart beat faster?
Loving something will draw your heart closer. Loving God draws your hearth closer to your church, to other believers, and to your husband or wife.
Rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory! Loving Christ brings joy into your heart. If you are a child of the King, you have an inheritance coming. You are an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. We need to love God, serve Him, and go forward for His cause.
