Better than Refined Gold (1 Peter 1.6–7)

The morning sermon is about the first epistle of Peter, which was written to churches facing severe persecution in the Roman Empire. The believers were being ostracized because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Peter emphasizes the importance of praising and glorifying God in the midst of suffering. Our salvation brings us joy, even in the face of persecution. The suffering we endure tests and refines our faith, making it stronger and more genuine. Our faith is more valuable than gold because it is eternal and will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Well, this morning we are continuing our study in the first epistle of the Apostle Peter written to various churches who were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire, what today would be Turkey. These churches were under severe persecution. The believers in this context were refugees and pilgrims and foreigners, literally, not just in the spiritual sense. They were being ostracized because of their nationality, because of their ethnic background, but above all things, and most importantly, because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Your calling as a believer and our calling as a church is to praise and glorify the name of our Lord. Thus, Peter in verse 3 begins, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And his praise is going to go all the way to verse 12. We've looked at the first three verses, verses 3 and 4 and 5. And this morning we are going to look at verses 6 and 7. Better than refined gold is today's sermon. So, please open your Bibles in 1 Peter chapter 1 and let us quickly read verses 6 and 7. Again, page 1047 in the few Bibles. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Let us pray, dear God. Thank you for this opportunity you give us to approach you now by means of your word. Thank you, Lord, for the privilege that we have to sing to you, to pray to you. Thank you for the forgiveness and salvation you have granted to us. Now we pray that your Holy Spirit would open our hearts and open our minds so that we will not only understand your word but embrace it, make it our own and live in light of it. Amen. I like to read a lot of different books of all sorts. I like to read fantasy books. I like to read novels. I like to read biographies, historical books. I like to read some scientific books. Well, they are the ones that I like the least, but I have to read them. I like to read theology books and commentaries as I prepare. Now, most pastors, at least this is one of my problems as a pastor, I tend to spend a lot of time reading the technical, exegetical, commentary books as I prepare for Scripture that I don't read too much devotional books. There are some books written out there by fine scholars that, though theologically, are a little bit devotional. One of those books that I love, if you get your hands on it, it's the book called Knowing God. It's actually a theological book, but with a pastoral heart on it. There are some devotional applications there, Knowing God by J.I. Packer. And this week, I figured I would have some gold in this book again, so I opened it up and checked out. Is there something that I can read that I can use to begin my sermon this morning? And of course, J.I. Packer never fails me, or J.I. Packer. And at one point, as he's talking about the trials of Christians, he wrote the following, It is often the case that fellowship with God is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest when the cross is heaviest. I don't know if you understand what he's saying. I think we have lost our passion and our fire for God because our cross is too light. It is often the case that fellowship with God is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest when the cross is heaviest. He's talking about suffering, difficulty. But if you understand J.I. Packer, you know that he's using the word cross on purpose, not to mean the cross you have to carry as when people trivialize this word. Oh, I have a big cross to carry. Why? Well, because I have to put up with my wife. By the way, that's not my case, okay, just to be clear. We trivialize that word cross. Oh, I had a big cross to carry while we were going on vacation. What happened? I got a flat tire. I don't think that's what J.I. Packer is thinking. He's thinking about a real cross like that of Jesus that you suffer because of your convictions and because of your faith. And that is what we are about to read. That is what we just read. When Peter writes, he says, in all of this you greatly rejoice. It makes me think of J.I. Packer. Fellowship is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest. In all of this you greatly rejoice. But then he says, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Last week when I began preaching through Peter, and I preached an introductory message about this passage, I made it very clear that really to apply Peter to our present context is a great challenge for us preachers, for you too. To understand the epistle, at least this first paragraph, is not that complex. It's straightforward, clear. There's some very difficult and obscure passages in 1 Peter which will arrive, but for the most part it's clear, straightforward. To understand what it means is not a challenge. The challenge of 1 Peter is to apply its message to our present context or our reality. Why is that a challenge? Because in the process of doing that we can trivialize what they're facing. I gave you the example when Peter writes to the slaves, and he tells them to submit and to obey their masters. And we transfer this truth to our today's context, and we apply it mostly, for the most part, to the context of our job. And we understand it, well, if you're having trouble at work, or difficulty with your boss, and maybe some conflict there, remember the principle of Peter, submit your authorities and all of that. But that really is a cheap, it's the best we can do, but it's really a cheap way of applying the text. As I pointed out in that first sermon, number one, you're not a slave. You have rights. You can sue your boss. You can go to his superior. You have laws that protect you. The slave did not. You're not afraid that your boss will come and take your wife from you, and make her his mistress. The slave had to be worried about that constantly. Not only that, when the boss, the master did it, he had to accept it without complaining. It brings a lot of complications when you really think about that context, and we will deal with those passages in due time. But that's the first caveat I want to give. As we look at this passage, we should not trivialize, make light of the context of Peter, and we should be very careful, we should not make the mistake of equating the original context to that of ours, as if they were the same. That would be a gross mistake. They're not the same. However, our job as students of the Bible, and as preachers, and as believers, is nevertheless to apply the principles of the Scriptures. So this is the first caveat that I want to say, or the second as we go into this book. The passage is about greatly rejoicing in the midst of suffering. But please do not mistake suffering, or do not understand suffering in a general sense. The context does not allow for all kinds of suffering. If you have a backache, it doesn't qualify. If you're struggling with your health, it doesn't qualify. If you've got a flat tire, it doesn't qualify. If you even are having trouble in your marriage, it only qualifies in a certain context, even with your back. What is the prerequisite so that we can do our best in applying this text? And it's simple. If your suffering is the result of your belief in Jesus Christ, that's the only suffering that qualifies as we explain this passage. By that, I'm not saying that the Lord doesn't use suffering of all kinds, your health, or different things like that, even a flat tire. Yes, He does. And there are other verses that we can look at in other parts of the Bible. Not 1 Peter. So, today we're concentrated on the specifically defined suffering in the context of this passage. Suffering in the midst of persecution because of your faith. Now, the point of this passage is not so much to emphasize the suffering, but the joy. Thus, Peter is going to tell us that salvation yields joy when persecution heightens. For the heat of suffering purifies our faith. Now, we'll break that down as we look at this passage. But the point is that your salvation, the reality that you belong to Jesus, and the reality that you have received His forgiveness, causes in you a great joy, great joy, even in the midst of great persecution. And as this happens, as this suffering takes place, your faith is being purified, refined, cleansed, made more beautiful. And therefore, the title for today's sermon, Better Than Refined Gold. And that's what Peter will say, that our faith is not even like gold. It's better than refined gold. And we look at that. So, as we look at this passage, the first thing that we need to understand, and the first thing that we need to understand, understanding the caveat that I just gave, is that the realities, and I put realities in plural because I'm thinking of all of the things that are involved in our salvation. The realities of our salvation, forgiveness, grace, eternal life, new birth, sanctification, justification. The realities of our salvation are the source of joy in the midst of suffering. As Peter writes, he says, in all this, you greatly rejoice. Interestingly, he says greatly. It's not just sort of happy. You are bursting out of joy. You are bursting bubble, if you want to put it that way. You greatly rejoice. Though now, for a little while, you may have to suffer grief in all this. All kinds of trials. Now, what is he saying here? What does all of this mean? Well, first of all, we need to understand a couple of things. And the first thing is that our salvation, though not yet fully realized, is eternal. And that's why we rejoice. We rejoice in all of this because we have a conviction of the transcendence of our salvation with Jesus Christ. Remember, it is our salvation that is the source of this joy. But why? Why is our salvation this source? Why the conviction that we belong to Jesus? The conviction that we have been forgiven. Why is this source of joy? Because even though you are going to die in a few years, you will live forever. That's why. Notice that the apostle says, in all this you greatly rejoice. What does he mean by this? In all this. What is this? Well, he just told us, right? He told us in verse 3, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoiled or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice. So what is all this? Well, the reference of all this is the new birth. Our salvation, which is compared to the inheritance, can never perish, spoiled or fade. This inheritance is kept safe in heaven by God for us. That is why you rejoice in all of this. Because it's eternal, it's safe, never fades or spoils or perishes. It's kept in heaven by the power of God. And you yourselves are kept through your faith. As we looked at last week, this is the gift of new birth and salvation that you have received. And that is why in all of this you greatly rejoice. Do you though? Do you? That is another thing that maybe, that's why it's a little difficult to apply for us because we are not facing what they are doing. And this is the next thing. He says, In all of this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. That is the other thing, by the way. We greatly rejoice, first because our salvation though not yet fully realized, it's eternal. Yes, we will receive the final package of our salvation, past, present and future. But we also rejoice in this salvation which is eternal because our suffering though intense and varied is temporary. Now, some people take Peter here being a little insensitive and kind of like minimizing the great suffering that these believers are suffering. He says, In all of this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, just a short little, just a little, a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Grief in all kinds of trials. Now, there's two ways to understand this for a little while and both ways are correct. The first thing is that Peter is thinking in practical terms. No suffering is eternal. I know some people struggle with chronic pain. The idea that Peter is saying, even there you can find some sort of alleviation and things like that. For the most part, you know, the suffering will be short-lived. It'll come to an end. And this is meant to encourage them. You know, it's very hard. It's difficult. It hurts. But it'll come to an end. The sun will shine again. The storm will stop. Now, the suffering, remember, is because of their faith. The persecution will end and it did. Even though, now for a little while, you may have to suffer grief of all kinds of trials. The other way to look at a little while is by contrasting this with the inheritance that we possess, the inheritance that we possess that will never perish or spoil or fade. You're suffering on this earth, even if it's a hundred years, 92 years, 93 years. It's just a little while in comparison to eternity. It's just a little while. That's why we can rejoice. Our suffering, even if it's intense and varied, it's only temporary. Yes, we are not minimizing the suffering. He talks about it in terms of all kinds of trials. There's not one thing that qualifies. But in the midst of persecution, he's thinking of both temptations to deny Jesus, that kind of test. It's an ambiguous word. It could be test or temptation, or it could be test of suffering of persecution. So, both are encapsulated, because these believers, as they're being persecuted, are going to face some temptations to give up Jesus Christ, to improve their situation. At the same time, they're also being tested constantly. Whatever the situations are, because of your faith, Peter reminds them, it's temporary. It'll come to an end, either when you die or before. But it'll come to an end. What do we do in the meantime? We greatly rejoice. That's why, as I said, salvation yields joy when persecution heightens. For the heat of suffering purifies our faith, our faith. And this is exactly my second point, which is the genuineness of our faith is tested and refined by our suffering. In South America, there is a, I call it a cult, a denomination that begins in Brazil. It's huge. They have evangelistic crusades of 20,000, 30,000 people in stadiums. It's amazing. You know what is their message? Their message is, quit suffering. They promise people that God's will for them is to quit suffering. And they get flogged. Why? Because nobody likes to suffer. Do you? And they are suffering, and they go because the preachers there, the apostles offer healing, transformation, forgiveness. They offer all of this. But that is a grotesque prostitution of the gospel message. It's a grotesque adulteration. It's a grotesque adulteration of the word of God. Because Peter tells his readers right here that the genuineness, the truthfulness of their faith is tested and refined by suffering. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. From these words, the first thing we discover is that our suffering is God's means for refining our faith. Now, when you look at this passage, the sufferings that Peter describes, the persecution that the believers are facing because of their faith, have two purposes. First, they're meant to test or to prove the genuineness of our faith. They're meant to test. They're meant to prove, are you really His? Are you really Jesus? How are you going to shine in the midst of fire? So, it has this dual purpose. Are you really His? Secondly, however, our suffering as a test in fire is also meant to purify our faith, just like gold is refined by fire. Now, gold is a precious metal, isn't it? But, it can be mixed with impurities, which lower its value and spoil its beauty. Now, even though it is a precious metal, it needs to be refined. And so, it is subjected to the intense heat of fire in a crucible, where these impurities rise to the surface. They rise to the surface of the melted gold, and then these impurities are skimmed off by the goldsmith. That's what they do. Now, I don't know much about that, but I do know a little bit because my sister works in a jewelry, and they would do these things with gold. You put it by the fire, and it would have some stains, some little dots and all of that, and all of a sudden what you get is this shiny, beautiful thing of gold. A Christian's faith contains human sinful elements. You don't have to convince me of that. And these elements, once they are put in the crucible of suffering, of this testing, these elements are purged away, leaving the purified faith which survives the test. You know, we don't pray to God for suffering, and that's not what Peter is saying. I think it is a mistake when you start praying for persecution. I don't think that's warranted in the Scripture. God, if He brings it, He brings it. Peter is not telling them, pray for suffering, but he is telling them that God will use the persecution and the suffering to purify their faith. You see, too much comfort. And when life is too easy, it just makes our faith too dirty. Just get comfortable with stuff. We're not being tested. He says that our sufferings refine our faith. It tests us, but it also purifies our faith. We become holier, and we rejoice. One extra thing that he says here is that our refined faith, unlike refined gold, will never perish. Yes, Peter compares our faith to gold, that it's refined in the crucible as it is put in the fire. But he does make a point that our faith is not all the way like gold. It's better than purified gold. Because, as you pay attention, he says, these have come to the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire. Notice that he says that gold perishes. Even though it's purified and it looks beautiful, one day the gold will be gone. It will perish. There will not be more gold. Not your faith, however. Once purified, your faith may resolve in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed, the second coming of the Lord to eternity. Your faith will remain when tested, if tested and purified. Yes, purification is important because for God, our faith is more precious than gold. Both gold and faith can be purified, but only faith remains forever. Gold will eventually perish. Our faith will never perish. But for that to happen, we need some testing, some fire. One more thing, and that is that the approved faith will result in praise, glory, and honor at the coming of Jesus Christ. He finishes verse 7 by saying, again, these trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, and skip the parenthesis there, and skip the parenthesis there, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. All of these trials in a purified faith, it's meant to result, or it will result in praise, glory, and honor. So, our tested faith, as it's clearly stated, will result in God's praise, glory, and honor. But whose praise? As you read this passage, the first thought that comes to your head immediately is in the praise, glory, and honor of God. And I had to think a lot about this. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about this, because Peter remains ambiguous in the text. He doesn't tell us who is the object of praise, glory, and honor. Normally, you would think, well, it is God, right? Our faith would result in God's praise, in the praise of God, in the glory of God. In our giving praise, or our giving honor, or our giving glory to God. Peter does not add that like it is clear in other passages. As if Peter is letting us to believe that the praise, and the glory, and the honor will come from God to the believer. And as a matter of fact, that's what I am proposing here this morning. Now, that was very difficult for me. Why? Because my natural bent, because of my theological bent, is to say that every time there is the words of praise, glory, and honor, every time they're mentioned, it's got to be always to God. That's my initial inclination. But the more I worked through this passage, the more I studied, the more I thought through it, and the more I looked at the surrounding context, it doesn't make sense. And I think that's where Peter is at. I think Peter is telling his readers, your faith, as it passes the test, and as it is refined, will result in God's praise, praise, and in God's glory, and in God's honor to you. It doesn't mean that God's going to worship you. It doesn't mean that. It means that God is going to verbally tell you, Good dawn, faithful servant. You have done well. You have run the race. You have fought the fight. Well done, good and faithful servant. Now that doesn't go against the theology of the New Testament, where God constantly speaks of rewarding us. We will even receive crowns by God. And I realize that these crowns will be eventually thrown at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ. But that's the other motivation that Peter is giving us here. Salvation yields joy. He wants us to have joy when persecution heightens. Why? Because our suffering purifies our faith, and as our faith are purified, as we pass the test, as we are made holy, when we come to the presence of Jesus, God is going to recognize your perseverance. I think this is just way too much from God. He doesn't need to do that. But He doesn't need to do a lot of things He does for us. And He does it because He's gracious. I always say I would have been really happy if all He did was just forgave me of my sins. But no, He forgave me of my sins. He made me His child. He adopted me into His family. He gave me an inheritance that never corrupts. And He's preparing a home where I will live for the days of my life with Him. Talk about grace and mercy and salvation. And on top of that, Peter says that He will give us praise and honor and glory as a recognition of our perseverance. That's why we come to Revelation. Revelations, right? And we come to this passage. That's what we read as part of our Scripture reading this morning. And you probably wonder, that's odd, why do we have a passage from Revelation this morning? This is at the end times. These are the believers that were left behind. They were not believers when they were left behind. But they came to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ during the tribulation. And these believers refused to be marked with the sign of the beast, the number of the beast. As a consequence of their refusal, they refused to be marked, to obey the beast. But they chose to honor God, knowing what that will take. They were slaughtered. They were killed. And now they are in the place of the beast. The presence of God and the intensity of the fire has not dwindled. More are being killed because of their faith. More are suffering. It is not dwindling. The fire is burning brighter and brighter. And they, in heaven, appealed to God. When He opened the fifth seal, they saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? And this is beautiful because God doesn't answer first. We are told each of them was given a white robe. And they were told to wait a little longer until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. It's always appalling, not appalling, but interesting and very challenging to me when I read this passage that God does not rescue the other believers. Could He? Of course He can. He doesn't go and interfere to avoid that those believers that are still there are killed. He says instead, like Peter, Wait a little longer. It's a short time. It's temporary. Wait a little longer. Those of you who have read Revelation know that the judgment is coming. God will, and in fact, He's doing. But He says, wait a little longer. But what does He do to those who are in heaven? He gave them a white robe. Each one of them was given a white robe. And what is that supposed to mean? Ladies, many of you here got married. Many of you dream or get excited about getting married on your white dress. And ladies, the young girls, probably when they think or dream of their amazing wedding, they think of the white dress. Why? Well, it's tradition. And there's nothing special about white dress. Don't judge a culture if they decide to choose blue dresses to get married. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing immoral, nothing. But in our tradition, in our Western tradition, white, white, because we want to express the purity of the bride. The tradition of the white dress was to express this purity. And purity signals beauty. And all of these things. These believers have been made pure. Later you will read they've been washed by the blood of Christ. They're given white robes because they will remain forever in the presence of God. And they will be rewarded and recognized by God. So, now that we come to the conclusion of this sermon. I don't want to trivialize the meaning of this passage. Because it's not fair to the believers, to the readers of Peter. And it's not fair to many Christians who right now are dying because of their faith. No, they're not struggling with a flat tire. No, they're not struggling because they have a poor social health program, whatever that might be. No, they're hiding because of their faith. They're being killed. Their houses are being pillaged. And this is true today. So, I don't want to trivialize the meaning of the passage. So, what's the best way to apply this passage? And I want to end with this application. It's two ways. First of all, even though our situation is not similar to that of Peter. It does happen in our context that believers suffer because of our faith. If you're being mocked because of you believe in Jesus, rejoice. It's only a little while. Remember what you've got. You have an inheritance that will never perish. If you're being belittled because of your faith, if you're being belittled because of your faith in Jesus, remember that it doesn't matter what man says, but it will matter what God says. Isn't it amazing? You know what drives me every day to pursue the things that I do? And this probably doesn't have too much, but when people ask me, why do you do a PhD? What a pain, you know? What does it give you? Yeah, I mean, there's not joy a lot of times. But my answer is because I want to hear one day, well done, good and faithful servant. That's my motivation in life. That's what I want to hear. Remember, make that your aim. Live today hoping and doing everything you can so that you may hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant, when you are facing trials because of your faith. But the second application is also important. Pray for those people who are suffering because of their faith. Get acquainted. Sometimes we are so disconnected of the realities of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we live our lives just like it is. It doesn't affect us. It's not close to us. Hey, check the voice of the martyrs. Go check it out. Look at the names. They'll hide the faces and things like that. Pray for them. And if you have the financial means to do it, support them. Look at other situations. Pray for believers. Be acquainted. Don't be so apathetic. But in the meantime, in the means of everything, finally, rejoice. Because our salvation yields joy when persecution heightens. For the heat of suffering purifies our faith. God is most glorified, as John Piper says, when we are most satisfied in Him. Thank you. God bless you.