1 Peter 1:5-9 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Trials come to everyone. If you breath, you will be tried. It is only in a fantasy – or in Heaven in the Presence of God – that you will be free of trials. In our bulletin today we have a grateful note from a member who was tried. It was nothing the member did that brought the trial, but as the member’s Church we reached out and ministered in the midst of that trial.

God allows trials so that we can learn to trust Him, and so that His Church can minister and NOT BE SELFISH.

Another family was tried when a loved one unexpectedly died. Again, this trial came without preamble or foretelling. It was not earned nor deserved, but came anyway. The trial again gave our Church an opportunity to “wash the feet of those in need”. This is what Jesus was illustrating when He, the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:1) knelt down and washed His disciples feet. Jesus asked His disciples,

John 13:12-15 “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

We wash one another’s feet when one of our members suffers, and we minister to that suffering. We are most like Jesus when we – like our Lord – lower ourselves to serve those in need. This is what Christ calls us to do every day. We are tried if we breath.

Many times trials come because of the evil of others. I’m sure you all heard how three black Churches and at least one business had KKK fliers placed on them. I never saw the flier, but I understand it was very upsetting. July 13, 2023 two individuals were arrested in connection with those fliers. They could face from 2-12 years in prison for posting the fliers. The adult male suspect claimed he thought he had a First Amendment right to post them. If so, he is ignorant. You do not have a First Amendment right to invade private property, nor to destroy public property. The man also claims that “he is a Christian”, which is a lie. The Bible says:

1 John 4:20 (NLT) If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

This man “trespassed” to hang those fliers. Trespassing is a sin. This man “hated” to hang these fliers. Hatred is a grievous sin. The Bible uses the term “trespass” to describe the act of stepping outside of rightful boundaries into Another’s territory. There is physical trespassing, and spiritual trespassing.

When we violate God’s Law, doing what He says we ought NOT to do, we are trespassing. This is what unbelievers, not believers, do. In Ephesians 2:1 we as Christians are told “you WERE (past tense) dead in the trespasses and sins”.

It Is The Power Of God And His Word That Saves

Let’s go back and look at verses 5 and 9 of our text:

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

This text says a lot about who is saved. We are saved “THROUGH FAITH”. Through faith in what? This fellow who posted those hateful fliers said he is a Christian – but his faith is not in the Bible. The practicing homosexual or heterosexual sinner – violating God’s Word – profess to be saved by faith. By faith in what?

I believe part of the confusion has to do with so called, self professed PASTORS. A recent study found that only 37% of American Senior Pastors believe the Bible is God’s Inerrant (without error) Word. That’s nonsense! It is the Word of God that saves the Christian. James the Stepbrother of Jesus did not believe his brother to be the Messiah until after the resurrection. Once saved, James wrote:

James 1:21 (ESV) Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Salvation comes when you HEAR the Word of God, the Bible, and REPENTING of your sins “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls”. It is the Gospel in this grand old Book that saves us. When the Apostle wrote to the Church at Thessaloniki, he said:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (KJV) For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

When the Word of God is RECEIVED as it is, the WORD of GOD, then it “effectually worketh” (Greek energeō, empowers) in us. We are told in:

Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It is the HEARING of God’s Word that saves us. Oh, that glorious Gospel, that Christ died for our sins! Oh, that wonderful truth, that God so loved us that He sent His Son:

Galatians 4:4-7 … born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

But once saved, brought into the Family of God, the Bible says:

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith …

Word Study: Once saved by receiving God’s Word, the Christian is “kept” (the Greek phroureō), literally “GUARDED from hostile invasion, PROTECTED by careful watch, PRESERVED by a Greater Power”. If you are saved you are GUARDED how? By the “power of God”.

God watches over what He has so preciously purchased. You cost God the Blood of His dear Son. Jesus laid His life down for you. The Bible, God’s Word, says so.

You are saved by His Blood, by His Trials, by His Suffering (that is, if you are saved). And if you are saved you know that your salvation is in progress. Look at the last part of verse 5:

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Your salvation is NOT COMPLETE. If you are saved by faith in Christ, you are on a path we will study about in Sunday School. Salvation starts when you receive the Word of God and turn away from the word of man. Let’s look at verse 9:

Those Who Are Saved OVERCOME

1 Peter 1:9 Receiving the end {télos} of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Word Study: The word “end” (the Greek telos) means “the TERMINATION, the limit at which a thing ceases to be, the GOAL, the FINISH LINE”. Salvation is not ended, but started on the day that you – believing God’s Word – received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Salvation started that day that you were received into the Family of God by the Holy Spirit, being BORN AGAIN. But the TERMINATION or the GOAL has not been reached.

Let me quote our Jesus very carefully. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:17-22 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Christian, you will be persecuted. You are light in the devil’s dark world. You believe the Word of God as opposed to the word of man. Your faith cannot be skin deep. “he that endureth to the end {télos} shall be saved”. The proof of salvation is that you are tried, and continue in your faith with Jesus.

Though what that man did to the three black churches was horrid, on a scale of 1 to 10 it’s no more than a 1 when compared to what other Christians have endured!

In Matthew 24:13 Jesus against said, “he that shall endure unto the end, télos the same shall be saved”. True salvation endures trials. True salvation holds onto what God has promised, as God holds onto us. True salvation proves itself by the fruit of the life. We who are saved no longer serve darkness, but we serve the LIGHT of God:

Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end télos everlasting life.

Illustrate True Suffering: On July 22, 1209 a false prophet called Pope Innocent III sent a howling mob through the French city of Béziers (pronounced bes-E-ehh). When the Catholic inspired crusade came to the city, Catholics of that city were told to hand over Protestants. They refused. The Christian History Institute notes:

“Arnald-Amaury, the pope’s representative, wrote complacently to {Pope} Innocent, “Our men spared no one, irrespective of rank, sex or age, and put to the sword almost twenty-thousand people.” A popular account asserted that he was asked at the height of the slaughter how the killers should distinguish Catholic from {Protestant}. He is supposed to have replied, ‘Kill them all; God will recognize his own.’”

Illustrate True Suffering: On July 17, 180 twelve Christians stood in front of the Roman administrator of North Africa, Proconsul Saturninus. They were told that they were supposed to publicly declare the Emperor to be god. Our Lord Jesus said “everyone who denies Me before men, I will deny before My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 10:33, NLT). The Proconsul demanded that the Christians publicly say that the Emperor is equally god with Jesus and with the Heavenly Father. The leader of the group of Christians, Speratus said “We have never done ill, we have not lent ourselves to wrong, we have never spoken ill, but when ill-treated we have given thanks; because we pay heed to our Emperor.” Refusing to declare the Emperor as god, the twelve Christians were beheaded for their faith.

Those who are genuinely saved are “kept by the power of God through faith”. Those who are genuinely saved are not in unity with the world, but are OVERCOMERS:

1 John 5:4-5 … (ESV) everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

If your faith can be deconstructed, and detached from God and His Word – then you were NEVER SAVED. The SAVED are KEPT! The SAVED OVERCOME.

Every Trial Has A God Designed Purpose

The Christian is KEPT by God. The Christian will OVERCOME. The Christian will not be FULLY SAVED until we get to glory. Understanding these truths, how do we deal with trials?

1 Peter 1:6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

There are some Christians who never get very far in their walk with God because they whine about everything. They whine about the temperature of the building they are sitting in. They whine about the slightest discomfort. They whine if the Church service goes overtime.

And they miss a great blessing.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:4 (NKJV), “Blessed are those who mourn, for they SHALL BE COMFORTED”. Trials drive us into the arms of Christ. Trials prove our salvation. Several years ago a faithful member of this Church – in the dark valley of death – looked at me and said, “I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really saved”. I came alongside him in that valley – and told him to reach out and, by faith, hold onto the hand of Jesus. He reached out, grabbed that hand, and was carried by the Master beyond the valley of the shadow of death. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear NO EVIL”. Why will you not fear evil, even as the specter of death looms. “For YOU, My God, ARE WITH ME. YOUR Rod, and YOUR staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

The trial drives us into the hands of our life’s authority. What is your authority? Is it money? Self pleasure? Fame? Good health? Or is your Authority God in Christ?

Illustrate: I love the fairy tales my mama read to me when I was a child – and many of these tales (which are fantasy) relate to the reality of life. Do you remember the Three Little Pigs? That’s a great story! The first Little Pig built his house of straw, the second Little Pig of sticks, and the third Little Pig of brick or Rock. When the “big, bad wolf” came, he said:

“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”
“No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.”
“Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”

He makes good on the boast of the house of straw and of sticks – but when the “big, bad wolf” comes to the house of brick or Rock, he has no success. No matter how that wolf huffs and puffs, the house will not fall in. Isn’t this what Jesus told us? He said:

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Where have you built your life? If you have built your life on Jesus and His Word, then:

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

You “greatly rejoice” (Greek agalliaō), “are exceedingly glad” when you walk through the valleys of life. Yes, it is HEAVY. Yes, there are MANY TYPES of TRIALS. But what you are going through is not without purpose. It comes “for a season”, and with the purpose of making you more like Christ. God is at work in you, dear Christian.

1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Did you read this. Your FAITH is MORE PRECIOUS than GOLD. Gold, like all money, comes and goes. But your faith in God GROWS, bringing you closer to God every day. As you go through this life, every trial whittles on your soul, taking away impurities, and making you the child of God the Father wants you to be.

And one day Jesus will comer and get you! When He does, your faith will be found “unto praise and honor and glory” when you meet Jesus on that grand day!

There Will Be Joy Unspeakable When We Are Glorified

1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

The day we see Jesus face to face – be it through death or through Rapture – will be a day so joyful that words cannot describe it. It will be glorious.

I hope to see you there.

If your salvation will not OVERCOME whatever life throws at you, then you’re not a child of God. A child of God OVERCOMES. What has God declared? I will let Jesus preach the end of this sermon:

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Will you be in glory with Jesus? What is the Authority of your life? What is the Authority of your life when tried? If it is Jesus, Beloved, the best is yet to come. But if not, all that is left is an empty faith and a burning eternity. I beg you, call upon the Name of Jesus and be saved. Amen and Amen.