Keys of the Kingdom 3 – Tried, Tested & Still Trusting

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls... Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ... but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:6-16)

When the revolutionary leader promises suffering instead of a better future, why would anyone follow Him—and why have billions?

The Value-Added Proposition of a Better Future

We are now fully engaged in the 2016 campaign season. Every political candidate running for office presents what marketers call a value-added proposition: if you choose me, I will do this for you. Hillary Clinton says she'll continue Barack Obama's agenda for more jobs and health care. Marco Rubio says Obama did a terrible job, and he'll do better. Bernie Sanders says Obama hasn't gone far enough. Donald Trump says they'll all raise your taxes, but he'll cut them. At the end of the day, every one of them boils down to the same promise: you will have a better future.

Politicians do this because every human being has an innate desire for a better future. The 19th-century British author Samuel Butler said, "Self-preservation is the first law of nature." We may articulate that better future differently, and candidates disagree on the path to it, but they're all selling the same vision. Back in 2008, President Obama ran on one word—hope—playing on the reality that every heart hopes for something better. Each of these politicians believes their agenda can satisfy that hope. I'm not entirely convinced.

A Revolutionary Who Promised Suffering

But what if a revolutionary leader came along and, instead of that stump speech, said: Join my revolution and follow me, but if you do, it may mean suffering and pain. Your health and welfare may diminish in this life. You will be hated for my name's sake, possibly persecuted, and you may even watch those you love suffer because you follow me.

I'm not talking about a fictional character. I'm talking about a man who actually lived 2,000 years ago and spoke those very things. Some of His most often-repeated words go like this:

He who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38)

In Matthew 16, Mark 8, and Luke 9 Jesus repeats it: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." Remember, a cross in the first century was not jewelry—it was an instrument of pain and death. In Luke 14:27 He says, "Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple," and the very next verse tells us to count the cost. Following Him is costly.

From 120 Followers to Two Billion

Why would anyone follow that pitch? The amazing thing is that within 40 years of Jesus speaking those words, tens—if not hundreds—of thousands followed Him. Fast forward 20 centuries, and more than two billion people identify as His followers. How do you go from the 120 followers mentioned in the early chapters of Acts to two billion, when the message is, "Follow Me, and people will hate you for My name's sake"?

The only answer is that the One who promised persecution and pain also promised something better afterward. He did: "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." But that reward comes in eternity, not here. Jesus' earliest followers all followed Him hoping for immediate, tangible gain—which is why they ran away when things got hard. He kept telling them it would come after this life.

What changed? The same One who promised possible martyrdom alongside salvation Himself suffered crucifixion and martyrdom—and three days later rose from the dead. There were over 500 witnesses to His death, burial, and resurrection, and they were so convinced of it that they went toward suffering and almost all of them to painful deaths, trusting that He would also keep His promise of resurrection in the future.

Peter Writes to a Suffering Church

About 40 years after Jesus rose and ascended, His follower Peter wrote a letter to Christians in what is modern-day Turkey, reminding them that there is suffering in this life but a great salvation to come. He wrote around AD 64, when a nationally sponsored persecution led by Caesar Nero was beginning to focus its anger against the followers of Jesus. Peter knew things were going to get hard, so he writes: it's going to be painful, but remember there is a great salvation.

In verse 5 he tells them they are "kept"—preserved and guarded—"by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Then verse 6: "In this you greatly rejoice." Where does joy come from in the midst of trial? Not in the suffering—nobody rejoices in pain, and those who say they do are sadistic. Our joy is in the salvation that is to come after.

These trials were not physical illness, foreclosure, a failed marriage, or the loss of a loved one—the normal suffering of a fallen world. The trials Peter speaks of were suffering for the name of Christ: intentional hardship imposed on people precisely because they were followers of Jesus. We rejoice in the midst of that, not because we like to suffer, but because our joy comes from salvation ready to be revealed at the last day.

The Hope of Heaven Makes Joy in Trials Possible

The hope of heaven makes joy in trials possible. Joy in suffering seems absurd—let's call it what it is. Yet nearly all the early Christian writers—Peter, James, John, Paul—wrote of joy in the midst of trials. That joy doesn't come from the trial; it comes from seeing through the suffering to the salvation.

Is this only theoretical, or is it practical? It's real. In Acts 5, the apostles were beaten and commanded not to speak in Jesus' name. Then verse 41 says they "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." That seems insane—foolishness—unless they trusted Jesus for something.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." The blessing is not the persecution; the blessing is the salvation. Luke 6:22-23 echoes it: "Blessed are you when men hate you... rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed your reward is great in heaven." Jesus always follows this teaching with great reward in heaven, appealing to our desire for reward—and He does not call that carnal. In fact, He tells us to serve for the reward He promises. Many biblical ethicists would say no, but Jesus says yes.

Why People Hate Jesus—and a Word to the Cynic

Jesus calls people to follow Him in the face of devastating harm, harm that comes because people don't like Him. They don't like the Jesus revealed in Scripture because He's exclusive, because He speaks hard sayings, and because He calls people sinners. No one likes to be called a sinner, but all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. When we're honest, looking in the mirror, we all know we're a bunch of screw-ups. He says, "You're a screw-up"—and then He offers grace, forgiveness, and pardon. That's good news.

The cynic asks: how is this different from the radical Muslim who takes his life for a heavenly reward? The answer is simple. This appeal calls you to die to yourself and endure suffering at the hands of others for the glory of Christ, while loving other people for their sake and their salvation. The other appeal is, "I'm going to take my life to take your life because I hate you." One is self-denial in love; the other is murder. There's a very clear difference—don't let anyone hang you up with that red herring.

God Allows Trials to Prove Our Faith

Paul said in Romans 8:18, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." But the obvious question is: if God is all-powerful, why not guard us from trials instead of merely in them? On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed in John 17, "I do not pray that You take them out of the world... but that You preserve them." Why?

Peter answers: "that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold... though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." God allows trials to prove our faith. He tells us this so we won't be surprised when it happens, and so that our genuine trust in Christ is shown—both to us and to naysayers.

It doesn't need to be proven to God; He already knows whether we'll stand. It's so that you know your faith is genuine and others see that you really trust Christ. Throughout church history, this is always the outcome: faithfulness under persecution causes unbelievers to believe. When they crucify Peter to see if he'll recant, and he refuses, saying, "I've seen the risen Lord," they conclude, "He must really believe what he said"—and the genuineness of his faith is revealed.

Rewarded with Praise, Glory, and Honor

The New Living Translation renders verse 7: "So when your faith remains strong through trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed." This isn't only saying your faith brings Him glory—though it does. Peter says that you, the faithful follower, will receive praise, honor, and glory when Jesus comes again. On that day you will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of the Lord."

Our trust in Jesus will be rewarded with praise, glory, and honor in eternity. To be candid, that's hard for me to wrap my mind around—as if going to heaven were not enough. The last book of the Bible, the Revelation, is the unveiling of Jesus in all His glory. When He is revealed in all His power, you who have been faithful will receive praise, honor, and glory from Him. That's amazing—and that's what Scripture says.

Loving One You Have Never Seen

Verse 8: "Whom having not seen you love"—the Greek agape, a love fully committed and devoted—"though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." If you're a follower of Jesus, you've been saved from the power of sin and from its penalty, but there's coming a day when you'll be saved from the very presence of sin, no longer in a fallen, broken world.

Peter was an eyewitness, but Thomas doubted. When the disciples told him Jesus had risen, he said, "Unless I see the nail prints in His hands and touch His side, I will not believe." The next week Jesus appeared and said, "Thomas, reach here." Thomas fell down and said, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus replied, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Peter is now talking about us—we've never seen the risen Lord, people may think us nuts, yet all evidence points to His resurrection: more than 500 eyewitnesses who went to torturous deaths insisting, "We saw the risen Lord."

A Salvation Angels and Prophets Long to See

Verses 10-12 are one of Peter's wonderful run-on sentences: "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you... the things which now have been reported to you... by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into."

Christians are promised a salvation so great that prophets and angels long for it. For a thousand years prophets foretold this great salvation, excited about it and searching it out. And now, if you're a follower of Jesus, you are a recipient of it—a salvation that has angels in heaven marveling. They look at us, at how much we fail, and they say, "Really? God, You're going to give them an inheritance for eternity and bestow on them glory, grace, praise, and honor?" Peter is straining to express how awesome this salvation is, but it breaks the backs of words. Words cannot do it justice.

Therefore, Gird Up Your Mind and Be Holy

Verse 13: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober." The newer translations say, "with minds that are alert and fully sober"—minds fully engaged. Because you've been promised a salvation no one can adequately describe—Paul in 2 Corinthians spoke of a man caught up to heaven who saw and heard things he couldn't put into words, and the prophets' visions of God's glory give us strange images of eyes and wings and beasts because they simply couldn't capture it—therefore "rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Rest your hope completely on Him—not on a political candidate, an earthly ideology, or some utopia. You've already received undeserved grace if you follow Jesus; He'll give you more grace when He comes. "As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts... but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"

Here Peter reveals the fifth point: purified faith produces holiness. Why won't God just take me out of the trial? Because faith purified by suffering for His name produces a life completely separated and consecrated to Him—and that's what holiness is. God said, "Be holy, for I am holy," and He is the one who enables us to be consecrated to Him by grace, not by our own works. Nothing but the blood of Jesus, His death on the cross, made it possible for us to be forgiven, made holy, and preserved through trials for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last days—but not here in this life.

Choose Whom You Will Believe

Those who preach, "Come to Jesus and you won't suffer; everything will be wonderful," teach against the words of Jesus. So choose—Jesus, or those who promise no suffering, contrary to the Bible, to all experience of following Jesus, and to all church history. I'm going to align with Jesus.

Our hope for heaven makes joy in trials possible. God allows trials to prove our faith and produce holiness. As we stand steadfast and trust Him through them—He preserving us—we will be rewarded with praise, honor, and glory in eternity, and a salvation we cannot even begin to describe.

Today, February 14, 2016, Christians in America still receive a social benefit for following Jesus. That's going away. There may come a day when, because you follow Jesus, people revile and persecute you—some of you have already experienced it. Don't think it strange. Jesus said this is what it is to follow Me, but great is the reward in heaven for those persecuted for righteousness' sake. And He said, "Let not your heart be troubled... In My Father's house are many dwelling places... I go to prepare a place for you... that where I am, there you may be also." When Thomas said, "We don't know how to get there," Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for Your word, and I pray that we would take this into our hearts and minds and think about it this week—that You would use Your word to transform our understanding of the present difficulty we might be facing, and keep us ever mindful that this life is not heaven and that You have a great salvation prepared for us. Help us to follow You faithfully and to rest our hope in You, steadfast and cemented with You.

If you find yourself hopeless this morning, without that hope of eternity and salvation in Christ, and you want the salvation He came to give—Jesus came 2,000 years ago; God became a man to lay down His life, to take care of the penalty, punishment, and power of sin. He died in your place to give you pardoning grace and a future and a hope greater than any political hope of our day. If you want the pardoning forgiveness of God, would you simply pray with me:

Dear Jesus, I recognize that I'm a failure, but I know You died for my failures and rose from the dead, proving Your power over sin. Would You come into my life, give me Your grace and forgiveness, give me a hope for eternity, and help me to follow You faithfully? In Jesus' name, amen.