Joy in tests

1 Corinthians 12: 1 to 10, Romans 5: 1 to 5 1 Peter 1: 6 to 9

Peter was writing to the scattered believers, he reminds them of what God has done for them and they should rejoice in that.
1. TRIALS COME TO TEST US - verse 7
Trials, tests or temptation, it depends on the context as to whether it is positive or negative.
a) God sends tests to reveal what is in our hearts so our faith may prove genuine - see if it will pass the test. We all have tests in exams. Some have false faith, see the parable of the sower. Some do not stay the test. It is an acid test - nitric acid put on gold will show if it is genuine (real gold is not hurt by acid). God hallmarks true believers. Trials can bring out the worst in us (on the Titanic men put on women's clothes). God intends trials to produce fruit in our lives. God wants us to show our faith to the watching world, how we respond to trials. So what is inside us will show on the outside. When hardship comes do we lean more on God or do we rebel? The same event brings out vastly different responses in us. We don't like hurting or emotional pain or disappointment but God uses it to make our faith shine.
b) God sends trials in order to purify our faith - verse 7. Gold needs refining by fire so the dross can be skimmed off and the pure gold left. God wants to burn off what is inappropriate behaviour and actions in our lives so the image of Christ can be clearly seen in us. We lose what is bad for us in the heat. God works out his purposes in us. We may lose financially but gain spiritually. We may lose health but gain inner strength. To make a good knife you need to apply heat in the right way. He does not want to break us but make us the sort of person to bring him glory. Faith holds onto God as he holds onto us.
2. TRIALS ARE EASIER BORN BY KEEPING OUR LOVE - verse 8
a) You have not seen him. Christianity is not a religion; it's a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The world doesn't understand this because the world doesn't know Jesus. Most of Peter's readers had not met anyone who had met Jesus. Peter acknowledges this but says all the same they love him and are full of joy because the Lord may be hidden from us but love knows no distance.
b) You believe without seeing. The world says seeing is believing! Most people who saw Jesus did not believe in him, the presence did not make people believe. We don't believe with our senses but with the eye of faith.
c) We believe because we know Jesus. We must know a person before we can love him or her properly. 1 John 5:1 and Romans 5:5 tell us this. Everyone who believes in Jesus loves him. To know him we must be born into his family. We are able to love him because of his work in our hearts. Our faith lays hold of him. He loves is and we love him in return. Love to Jesus Christ is the heart of the Christian faith.
d) We love Jesus because we know him. Love for Jesus Christ in response to his love for us is the central motivation for the Christian life. We look to the Saviour with love. Our love can grow cold even though we may appear godly. We can leave our first love as the Ephesians did in Revelations. How do we maintain love for our unseen saviour? One way is to spend time alone with him. Another is to obey him. John 15:10 and 1 John 5:3 tell us this. We do what pleases God and what he commands. It can be very emotional when we are first converted but love can grow cold. If we keep God's commands we show we love him. If you are disobeying God, you do not love him as you should.
3. TRIALS CANNOT TAKE AWAY TRUE JOY
a) Joy does not depend on circumstances. Peter knows the people he is writing to are having a hard time in the midst of an immoral, violent world. Joy comes from a person.
b) Joy comes from Christ. You are happier with the one you love in hard times than without the one you love in good times. The most tested Christians have the most trials in life. If we separate ourselves from Christ, we lose the source of our joy.
c) The joy is unspeakable. We know joy at the birth of a child, the return from war of a son. There is something about Christian joy quite mysterious to those who have not experienced it. 2 Corinthians 2:6. It's more than a natural cheerfulness or actual laughter. It lives with hardship.
d) This joy is 'glorious' a joy rooted in God himself and the certain hope of everlasting life in the world of joy, that it cannot be destroyed by the griefs of this life. It gives hope and satisfies us in all circumstances. This glorious joy steadies Christians in the darkest of time. The true Christian is the happiest of people because they look forward to Heaven and feels God is his father and he cares for him. If God cares for us who can be against us? He will never fail us or let us down. How sad so many who could experience this joy do not and never will. It can be found only through faith in Christ. There is no other way onto the joyful road to to God's city. Our love may not be all it should be but we should seek to serve him and love him.