Good words, good hymns today. I so appreciate the investment of time that our men make in preparation for our liturgy, and this is something God has worked in them, and I just sit and rejoice in God's good works being manifested through his word as these men share the reading of his word before you. We are in 1 Peter chapter number one, working through Peter's first letter, and we're taking our time and trust that it will produce many good things in us. Steve captured the primary things earlier when he gave us a summary of some of the things that we've covered up through verse number five. I want to read verses six through nine, and then we will begin to introduce our thoughts and develop our thought this morning, beginning in verse number six, wherein you gratefully rejoice. Though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold various temptations or testings, but it's done so that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, though your faith be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, you love, in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. A few observations over this portion that we have just read. It is one sentence in the Greek, and that has value for us to be aware of as we read through it, because as we break down this sentence and we look at the phrases and words in this sentence, we need to see all of the parts in the context of the whole, verses six through nine. Peter, like Paul did in Ephesians, begins with a heavy focus on the doctrine of salvation. So I'm going to frame all of our thoughts, introductory thoughts this morning with that in mind, the doctrine of our salvation. Our salvation permanently changed our identity. Once we are saved, we are made strangers in this world, and we are made citizens of a heavenly country. Our salvation did this. Our salvation also reveals to us that we have been chosen by God to be the recipients of salvation. There is nothing coincidental or random about our salvation. Our election to salvation is revealed in time when we are set apart by the Spirit of God as a people who belong to God through our regeneration and belief in the gospel, which declares God's plan for our salvation. Our obedience to the gospel becomes a trait of the elect. Our salvation is not just an event that happens in time. Our salvation becomes a way of life. We continue to hear God's voice through His word. We continue to hearken to that word. We believe, we submit, we obey, we confess. Confess. We are washed. This is how we know that we are God's elect, and this is how the church knows who to welcome as members into the family of God. Our salvation experience has a beginning in our lifetime, but it continues until we leave this world. Our salvation deserves a response, and Peter leads us in a eulogy of praise to God in verses 3, 4, and 5. This is natural for those who are the saved ones. As we grow in the knowledge and understanding of this priceless gift of salvation, we are inspired to praise God and to bless Him by acknowledging His nature and His works. We follow the apostolic form of Peter's eulogy, and we join in with him, and we bless God, and we do this as a normal part of our worship. We gather together every Lord's Day, and we ascribe or acknowledge who God is and what He's done for us in our salvation. We use good words, His words, to praise Him and to thank Him for the gift of His Son, whom He made to be our Lord Jesus Christ. We express our gratitude for our spiritual life, which enables us now to hear His word that instructs us and declares His promises to us. We express our gratitude for our spiritual life because we now have spiritual eyes to see, through faith, the life to come. We are comforted and encouraged to know that the infinite power of God will bring us home and keep us until our salvation is completed. And we also believe that God's power is channeled to us through our faith, as Peter said, knowing that God in His power and wisdom has designed this plan that connects His divine power to our faith. And knowing this truth, we are humbled in our worship as we seek His grace to grow our faith through His word. And to acknowledge these things is a part of our ongoing interaction with God as we worship Him when we are together, worshiping Him through the preaching of God's word. This is God's method for growing our faith so that His power would be more fully experienced in our life. We praise God for His plan to bring us unto the culmination of our salvation when Christ returns. All of this that I have just mentioned is summarized and encapsulized for us in this very next phrase in verse 6, wherein you greatly rejoice. This eulogy that just preceded verses 3, 4, and 5 has come to a conclusion at the end of that sentence. And Peter now says, wherein, looking at this, wherein you greatly rejoice. It's interesting that this phrase not only is a summary of this eulogy that Peter has just given to us, but it transitions us into where he's going, into the realm of the reality that we are going to be tested and we will suffer in this world. And so the main subject of Peter's letter, as we have stated throughout our studies so far, is suffering, which must be considered, and this is Peter's purpose, it must be considered in the light of our salvation. It must be considered in the light of our worship of God. We cannot divorce our suffering from those realities, or we will not deal with suffering well. Like Paul, Peter is persuaded that a correct and well-developed knowledge and understanding of the doctrine of salvation will lead us to bless God and inspire us to walk worthy as we face the trials and the testings of our life. And Peter, like Paul, calls us to worship God because our worship provides for us an opportunity every week to reset our life as we come into the presence of God, preparing to offer our praises for who he is and what he has done and continues to do for us. Our contemplation of salvation and worship is the reset button every week. What an amazing design that God has created for us. It is wherein these things, that just verses 3, 4, and 5, which are amazing, wherein you greatly rejoice, is a statement of fact. It's a fact. As we worship God for who he is and what he has done for us by saving us, we will be led to rejoice. We're in. You rejoice. That's a fact. How could it be otherwise? If we understand the salvation that has been given to us and we enter into worshiping God for that salvation, how can we come out of that not rejoicing? Wherein you greatly rejoice. The contemplation of the blessed God will produce at some level in all of us a stirring of our emotions. That's what's happening here in verse 6 in this phrase. We're in. You greatly rejoice. So from the doctrine of salvation, we are moved to worship, and from our worship, we experience the joy that is needed to face the trials of our life when we head out from this place in the rest of the week. We're in. The doctrine of our salvation and the worship of God, we come forth rejoicing. That's a fact in Peter's mind. This is not to be an exceptional or an unusual response by just some, but a normal response by all of God's elect people. Ought to be, because I know that in my life, in your life, it's not always so. That we can gather, we can go through the liturgy, we can feel different emotions during that journey of singing and praying and hearing of the word of God, but there's something very unusual about Peter's choice of this word, greatly rejoicing. We're in. You greatly rejoice. It's interesting that Peter uses the same Greek word three times in this sentence that we're looking at here in verses 6 through 9. Joy, he uses it one time. That's the noun feminine form, and it refers, as you know, to a disposition or a mindset. Joy is to be a disposition of our life, a mindset, the way we think. We ought to be a people who have joy. Twice, he gives us the word rejoice, and this is the verb form of the same Greek word, and this refers to an audible, visible response. In verse 8, you see the word joy show up here with joy, unspeakable and full of glory. The definition of joy is somewhat difficult to nail down, but basically, there's a few key elements to it. The Greek word contains two primary ideas. One is the idea of being calm, especially in difficulties, showing composure. It's interesting how Paul uses this same word and idea in Philippians. Look at Philippians chapter 4 quickly. Don't want to let this portion go by without noting it this morning. Look at Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. Paul uses the same word here that Peter uses when he says in verse 4, chapter 4, rejoice in the Lord always. So that pretty much means to the church of Philippi, a Macedonian church living under Roman wars at that time and suffering a lot of death and loss of everything, they were struggling to rejoice in those trials. But here, as Paul has worked through this letter, he comes to the end of it by restating how he began, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. So he is double emphasis here. And then he says, in light of that statement, let or you need to make sure you allow this rejoicing to be manifested. Let your moderation and some different translations, gentleness, I think, but the primary idea contained here is composure. Composure. The world needs to see your composure when you're going through trials. And one of the keys to your composure is the very spirit and attitude of your nature of rejoicing. When you're rejoicing, your composure in trials will be much more solid, consistent, and people will see it and recognize it. And that's the purpose. And so when Peter, in chapter 1 and verse 8, uses this word joy here back to 1 Peter, it speaks of calm, having composure in the middle of difficulties. Joy is not robbed and taken from you. This word joy also includes another idea, and that is the idea of contentment or satisfaction. You're at peace with your conditions. Life may not be going all that well for you and there may be a lot of difficulties in your life, but you are content and satisfied with where God has you. That's what joy is. So biblical joy involves these two elements of calmness and trial and contentment with God. You remember in Paul giving us the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5, in verse 22, he tells us the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and then he goes into six other segments of that one fruit. It's when I think of this, I often envision an orange, you know, with all those segments, but one fruit. That's what the Spirit is. This is single-minded it is the Spirit's fruit, but there are different segments to this fruit that he works out in our life through different circumstances and through various kinds of instructions that are given to us. It is his mission to grow these in us. And joy is right up the top of this list next to love. Love, joy, and again it's that noun feminine gender. In fact, all nine segments are noun feminine gender. So they're referring to the dispositions that ought to manage the way we think. So this is the Spirit's fruit. Joy is the Spirit's fruit or the fruitfulness of his work in us. We never need to wonder this morning. You never need to wonder tomorrow and the days lying ahead. You never need to wonder what is the Spirit doing? What is he doing? He's doing this, bearing, developing his fruit in your life. And joy is an essential part of the Christian's life in this world. We know that he will use God's word to establish the truth concerning joy, and then he uses the truth of his word to help grow his fruit as he brings us through the trials of life. We know that's the way he works. We don't have to wonder about it. And Peter believes that those who are growing in their knowledge and understanding of their salvation ought to be devoted to the worship of God, and they will have joy as they face the trials of life. And so he's equipping the strangers who are scattered all over the Roman Empire going through suffering right now. He's equipping them how to face trials, how to face trials of life. Know and understand your salvation. That's critical to having joy in your life and worship God who is the giver of your salvation that enables your joy to function in your life. I don't want to suggest that our joy cannot be disturbed, because it can, but it's easy to trace back and discover why joy is not ruling our disposition in our life at certain times. Joy is diminished when we forget or lose sight of our salvation. It is no longer central in our thinking. We no longer wake up amazed that he has saved a worm such as I. And we are no longer engaged in the worship of God as we ought to be. Because of that salvation, understanding and view has diminished. Our worship then declines, and when we come out the other side of that, joy is missing. So it's not like it just happens. There's a reason why joy grows and develops, and there's a reason why it declines. And so the Holy Spirit cultivates joy as we contemplate our salvation and the God of our salvation. Worship, as Peter has outlined at force in this eulogy, this eulogy of praise in verses 3, 4, and 5, is, as we must see and understand, the pointed means to experience the sweet work of the Spirit. And joy, according to Peter, will flow out through the seams of our life, and others will see and hear our joy. How do we know that's what he's saying? Because he uses the verb form rejoice, and that's what it means. You may have gone in with joy to worship, but you come out rejoicing. Something is happening. In fact, the worship of the God of our salvation is intended to cause us to celebrate. When Peter says, wherein you greatly rejoice, that word, that phrase, that Greek expression here that translated this way for us is that we are leaping for joy. This is a whole other level. We are led to exalt, as contained in this expression here, greatly, we are led to exalt God with a shout of triumph for his great victory. We come out of worship with great expectation and understanding of what our God has done for us, the victory that has been won through our Lord Jesus Christ. Worship, salvation, and joy, these cannot be separated. And so when your joy is not where it ought to be, and your rejoicing is not to where you think it should be, just go back. Go back in your mind, re-evaluate the salvation that God has given to you. Rethink through how you are praising this God who has achieved this great gift for you through the sacrifice of his own Son, and all the benefits attach. That helps to muster up, as it were, this mindset and cause us to rejoice. The Psalms are filled with this. We can't look at a bunch of them, but I want you to look at at least two. One is in Psalm chapter 27. We'll hurry through these, but they need to be noted. Psalm 27, and I'll just read verses 1 through 6. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? What's around the next corner? What's the next event? Whom shall I fear? What shall I fear? The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Even when the wicked, mine enemies and my foes, came up against me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up, above mine enemies round about me. Therefore, listen to this, will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. You can't separate these things. They're tied together. Maybe one of the most profound passages is Psalms 107 on this particular thing. And here the psalmist is perplexed. And he's wondering, how is it that men do not praise God for what he deserves to be praised for? How is that possible? After he's done such amazing things in our redemption and rescuing us from disaster in our salvation. And so he opens with the principle, the main idea that will flow through this whole psalm. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good and his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, for he has redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. Then he gives us these little vignettes, this little scenes, conditions that people often find themselves in and how God over and over again, the first scene goes from verses three through seven. And then he says in verse eight, oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men. He goes through another scene in verse 15, he concludes, oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men. He goes through another scene, oh, that men would praise the Lord in verse 21 for his goodness, for his mercy, for his wonderful works to the children of men. Goes through another scene, And ends up in verse 31, Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. And then he makes a statement. Let them, let all of them that have been redeemed by God, let them exalt him also in the congregation of his people. Let them for his wonderful works. And praise him in the assembly of the elders. So here's the exhortation to give your witness to, your testimony to what God has done and is doing in your life. One of the reasons we have a time of testimony when our outside gatherings or we have cookouts or we're hanging out together as a body, we ask anyone to have a testimony. This is what we're looking for is, tell us about the wonderful works that God is doing in your life. There's no doubt he is. If you're his elect, he's doing wonderful works in your life. Share them, tell them. Let us rejoice with you of what God is doing in your life. New Testament also ties these things together. Look at First Thessalonians, another Macedonian church in chapter one, First Thessalonians. Like the church at Philippi was going through a lot of trials. First Thessalonians chapter one, Paul writes, knowing brethren beloved your election of God. And for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake, how they reacted, Paul and his work team that traveled with him were exposed to a lot of hardships. And they were able to observe how Paul and his fellow laborers responded to those situations. And he says, and you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost to this end that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. So they came into faith under the threat of punishment and death, confiscation of goods, but they did not let that keep them from embracing the gospel when it came to them. And not only that, they not only did it, they did it with joy. They did it with joy. There was a calm contentment and satisfaction with God that they heard in that gospel and they embraced it for themselves. Go back to 1 Peter, one statement that he makes here later on in his letter in chapter number four, which Peter will continue to reinforce these truths that we're looking at now throughout this letter. But here in chapter four, verses 12 and 13, he tells us that we should rejoice. Listen, verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange concerning those fiery trials which he opened his letter with considering. Don't think it strange concerning those fiery trials which are to try you as though some strange things happened unto you, but rejoice. Rejoice in fiery trials in as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you shall be glad also with exceeding joy. And so here, Peter tells us that we are to rejoice. Why? Because we are entering into a mysterious deeper experience with Christ than we've ever gone before. We, like Christ, will receive this special anointing and blessing. As Paul said, I desire, I long to know Christ better than know the fellowship of his sufferings more fully. What an odd desire to have. That's what Peter is talking about here. And Peter says, when we enter into those, let us be glad. Same basic word, joy with exceeding joy. And again, our joy goes to another level when he says exceeding joy is the shout of a victor over the enemy and the trials that he has encountered in his sufferings. Just as Christ, there was a great shout of victory when Christ died and conquered death and rose again from the dead. We as believers, we enter into trials with confidence and hope there will be a shout of victory. There is nothing that we need to fear. Whatever the trial may be, whatever area of our life, the scriptures make clear that trials and testings and sufferings, they are not meant to be viewed as a bad thing. And Peter's putting it into this context as he begins this letter and develops it. You don't have the wrong attitude about trials. You need to have the right attitude. It's a good thing. It's a good thing because of what it can produce in your life and how it can change you and shape you to become a better man and a better woman in your faith. How it can purge out of you all of the dross, all of the scum that is attached to every virtue we have has scum of our own nature attached to it. Only trials burns that stuff out of it. So we can rejoice in trial. James said in chapter one in his letter, count it all joy when you fall into diverse trials. Okay, there's that same concept again. Why can you say that, James? Because we know we're persuaded and have confidence in God by the revelation of his word and our study of his word. We know that God is working his grace into your life. He's doing good things in you, developing patience and other virtues. And Jesus said it in the Sermon on the Mount, that the beginning of his kingdom on the earth, right? The Beatitudes, and it closes with one of the most difficult ones of all. You're gonna suffer, but that's okay. It's a part of your calling. It's a part of your mission in this world. And so this is included as kingdom living. And again, Jesus even says, be exceeding, exceeding glad to exalt God in the trials that you're going through. Let's go back to our text here in 1 Peter as we bring our thoughts toward closure this morning. 1 Peter chapter one, looking back to what he's just developed in his eulogy of praise in verses three, four, and five. That's what it is, it's a eulogy. And he looks upon that eulogy and he says, wherein you greatly rejoice. And then he'll deal with the sorrow. Though now for a season, if necessary, you will go through trials and tests. But what he is telling us here is that we are to find our joy in the knowledge of the God of our salvation. And that should permeate our mind and our disposition every day of our life. There is no trial in life that can be more significant than that. Can you compare a trial to the redemption of your soul and the gift of his son to be sacrificed for you? Is any trial greater than that? And so when that is understood, known and understood, like Paul, Peter believes, your doctrine of salvation is critical to how you will choose to live life and how you will deal with life when life gets difficult. This is how and where in our, this eulogy, this is how and where the spirit cultivates the disposition of joy, strengthens it, grows it, that will cause us to express rejoicing. You know, there's an area of my life that I find joy. I have confidence in God. I really do. I believe in his word. I don't doubt anything. Let life throw at me what it will. I know God is in it and he will carry me through. However, I realize there's more to that than just that confidence and calm and contentment with God. There is something else that God wants to pour through my seams of my own being. And that's an exaltation. That's a rejoicing. That's something that is heard and seen by those around me and it's not a show. It's not to put on some kind of super image of a super saint. It's the result of being in the presence of God. It's the result of worshiping him. It's the result of knowing he has saved me. It's the result of having confidence. He's going to keep me to the end. He's going to use my weak faith and through a channel, his power to carry me unto eternal life. That should cause us to rejoice. And so I think it's appropriate to say that everything that we have studied here up to this point is moving toward this climax wherein you greatly rejoice. This is what carries us through the week that's ahead of us. You don't know what the next hours or few days are filled with, but you do know this, they're filled with tests. Sometimes we underestimate these things. We look at life and look for those big moments to occur. You know, those big traumas, big trials. And we overlook the little tests going on all day long. Little tests that are there to refine our faith and to make us the people that truly bring glory and honor to our God. So I think it's appropriate for us this morning to consider this as something that we need to reevaluate. I appreciate Joe's Sunday school lesson about prayer stirred up a lot of thought. Yeah, a lot of thought we don't have answers for. But it's a big subject. And we felt the momentum there as we worked through that with Brother Joe, there needs to be more quiet time. Whatever else we think, there needs to be more quiet time in the closet with God. We need that. And so here as well, we need to be a people who think about the doctrine of our salvation. Our salvation is, if we're not careful, it can become a theological thing to us and not an experiential thing with us. We need to be guarded that our salvation stirs us. It stirs us. It makes us to want to rejoice. It makes us to want to go to God and bless his name. And so we need to, as we work through our week, we need to keep these things in mind. They can escape your mind in two hours from now. And tomorrow morning you can get up and never give a thought to these things if you're not careful. Just like prayer is a discipline, so is having our mindset on the right things a discipline. But this mind be in you. Paul said in Philippians chapter two, and then Philippians chapter four, he says, think on these things. So the mind is meant to be disciplined to consider right things. And one of the things that we need to consider more fully and more often is our salvation and what God did to accomplish it for you and how it ought to stir you to worship and to rejoicing. I remember in reading through Nehemiah, the great statement in chapter eight, when the people of God are celebrating a great return and recovery from carelessness in their life, there's a revival taking place, God's words being read and the people are smitten by the truth. And the problem was it brought such a weight of guilt upon them that there was a fear in Nehemiah that they were going to lose the joy of their salvation and deliverance that God had brought for them. And so he goes to them, says, don't stop, stop your weeping, it's time to stop weeping. It's time to rejoice. The joy of the Lord is your strength. It is what will carry you through whatever we will encounter as God's people. Nehemiah said, it is the joy of the Lord which will be your strength. And that's how we need to see it. It is a powerful tool for the shaping of our disposition and the way that we are enabled to deal with life and the trials that are going to come. They are coming tomorrow, today, test will be there. Mark my word, they will be there. And we need to be a people to face those tests and be victorious and through our victory to exalt and sing songs of triumph to God. But we can't do that unless we are contemplating our salvation and our salvation is leading us into worship. That's where our joy finds its momentum and strength to rejoice. May that be the spirit that God creates in us. Father, we thank you for this morning and the opportunity to dwell on these thoughts. I pray that you will, by thy spirit, Lord, work them into our mind and help us to understand, help us to be resolved and devoted to working these things out, applying them under the ministry of your spirit and word this coming week that we would be a people who truly show to the world around us, as Paul said, become examples to others of what God has done in our life when we have joy, regardless of the circumstances that we have to encounter. We ask these things, Father, that your name would be glorified and Christ would be exalted in our midst in whose name we pray, amen.