Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00003B
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00:01 And welcome back.
00:02 Dr. Shepherd, before you answer that question 00:04 of rejoicing while suffering, 00:06 tell us a little more of these three outcomes, 00:09 living hope, inheritance and salvation. 00:11 All right. So we had-- 00:12 we discovered that Peter talks about the new birth experience. 00:15 That's why we are praising God 00:17 because of this new birth experience. 00:19 And he says, there are these three outcomes 00:21 that experience has, a living hope, and inheritance 00:26 that doesn't fade away, and salvation. 00:29 Now, if you notice, it's there in verse 5. 00:33 It's where he says, "For a salvation ready 00:35 to be revealed in the last time." 00:38 So here's the question, is salvation present now 00:41 or is it something in the future? 00:44 Well, it says here, "Revealed in the last time." 00:47 Yeah. It seems to be future. 00:50 Now is it--that kind of concerns some people. 00:52 They're still like, "Oh, wait a minute, 00:54 don't we have security nominee, 00:55 don't we have assurance of salvation in Christ now?" 00:58 Well, remember, Peter has just said 01:01 that you have been born again, right? 01:03 So, he's talking about-- he has talked 01:05 in those first few verses about this covenant with God, 01:07 you're His covenant people, you're in His household, 01:09 of course, you have assurance of salvation. 01:12 So why in the world does he talk about salvation being so future? 01:16 So, whenever he talks almost without feel, 01:19 whenever he talks about salvation, 01:21 it's the future salvation, all right. 01:24 One of the reasons that He does 01:26 this is because of their current situation. 01:30 Their situation of suffering that they are going through. 01:33 And when you say the salvation is coming, 01:37 that's the rescue. 01:39 The word "salvation" means to heal, 01:42 it also means rescue. 01:44 And so the rescue is on its way, the rescue is coming. 01:48 And God is preserving this for you in the future. 01:51 Because your present now is, you know, all shaken up. 01:57 And so they need this kind of future orientation 02:01 to their life, hope, inheritance and salvation. 02:04 It's really amazing, I mean, like I said, 02:07 when I started to study in this book, 02:09 it just really blows your way how he interlinks these ideas. 02:14 And the first way I thought this book was-- 02:18 these books was by following theological themes. 02:22 And I would follow the theme of God, 02:24 all the way through the book. 02:25 And I'd follow the theme of Jesus, 02:27 all the way through the book. 02:28 And I'd follow the theme of salvation, 02:29 all the way through the book. 02:31 I put it in charts, I'm a big chart maker guy. 02:32 And I would put in charts and everything 02:34 and I was just like, wow, this is so amazing. 02:37 And all of this, you know, theology 02:38 that is brought to bear upon the problems 02:41 these people have in everyday life. 02:43 I'm afraid that too often in our daily life, 02:46 we separate our life from theology. 02:48 We separate it from what the scriptures talk about. 02:51 We--we kind of do theology on the weekend, you know. 02:55 Let's go to church. 02:57 We will see Jesus there, you know, we'll pray. 02:59 And then the rest of our life 03:00 we're working very hard, you know, doing everything else. 03:03 No, it's supposed to be, everyday all linked together. 03:07 All right, so we better, we better press on here. 03:11 Verse 6, he says, "In this you rejoice, 03:15 " now this-- in this is probably 03:20 all the stuff he's been taking about already. 03:22 All of these words, all of these ideas, 03:25 of the covenant, of the inheritance, 03:27 of the new birth, of the salvation. 03:29 In this-- in that realm, okay. 03:33 "In this you rejoice though now for a little while, 03:40 if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." 03:46 Now, other than the inkling 03:47 that you had in the first verse that you were a stranger. 03:53 I remember there are some people that wanted to say, 03:54 "I used to phony--you know, not really a metaphor." 03:57 Other than that you don't have 04:00 a sense up to this point in the book 04:03 that there is any kind of problem. 04:05 It's all good news. 04:06 It all sounds really, wow, 04:08 and this sounds really good, you know. 04:10 But then he comes and he brings this issue of suffering. 04:17 He says, "In this you rejoice, 04:19 though now for a little while, if necessary, 04:21 you have been grieved by various trials." 04:23 Here's two opposites in the Christian life, 04:25 rejoicing and trials. 04:29 Another oxymoron, two things 04:31 that don't seem to fit together. 04:33 I remember very well, 04:35 years ago, we were missionaries in Brazil. 04:38 And we've been in Brazil for about a month 04:42 I think it was. 04:44 And it was time for me to go get a car. 04:46 So I went to a town, ironically called named Americano. 04:52 And indeed it had been founded 04:54 by people from the United States. 04:56 And my friends, my Brazilian friends 04:58 took me to look at a car and we went to this guy, 05:00 he was a used car dealer, you know, near the station. 05:03 Finally got in there, 05:04 we were driving around Americano, you know. 05:07 I decided--nah, this isn't the car I wanted, 05:10 you know, I don't think I'll take this car. 05:12 So they said, "Okay, turn around." 05:13 So it was a four lane road, you know, 05:16 two lanes going down a hill, two lanes going up. 05:19 So I pulled into the center divider 05:21 and I looked to my right just like you know, 05:23 they drive on the right hand side, 05:25 just like as we do in the U.S. 05:26 I looked to my right and there were cars coming up, 05:27 so I waited for the cars to come up and go pass me. 05:29 And I pulled out into one of the lanes. 05:33 And when I pulled out here was this horn blaring at me 05:38 and I looked to my left up the hill 05:41 and here's a car coming down the hill 05:43 the wrong way on the lane right towards me, 05:48 smashed into the car. 05:50 I mean it's like I can close my eyes today 05:52 and I can see the window in front of me 05:55 was there one second and then 05:57 it just was a thousand pieces and just fell down. 06:01 The car was pushed-- Just head on? 06:04 Smashed right into the driver's door. 06:07 Hurt my leg, I ended up with seven stitches 06:09 on the top of my head. 06:12 Ah, it was so terrible. 06:13 I remember saying-- I was just-- 06:16 I remember what I said, 06:18 "Oh, why did this have to happen?" 06:21 Thus began five months of trouble. 06:24 Aah, the problems of whose fault it was 06:27 and insurance and who was-- 06:29 the car had no insurance on it then. 06:31 So, I ended up having to buy the car 06:33 which I never drove again. 06:35 You know, it was totaled 06:36 and then on and on and on and on. 06:38 So you purchased the totaled vehicle? 06:40 Yes, I purchased the totaled vehicle. 06:42 And then after that you had-- 06:43 That I drove for about 20 minutes, you know. 06:46 And I remember going into-- 06:48 talk to the treasurer of the college. 06:52 And he tried to console me, they would loan me money 06:56 and, you know, and everything 06:57 I could pay back over time. 06:59 He said, "Don't worry, it will be all right. 07:01 Don't worry, it will be all right." 07:03 I remember walking out of his office saying, 07:06 my brethren English is hard to beat. 07:08 It's hard to be thankful when you have this trouble. 07:12 So I'm afraid I wasn't following Peter very well. 07:16 It's like this trouble came on me 07:18 but I now look back on that experience. 07:22 And what happened was because of this experience 07:25 I had to rely on the Brazilians 07:27 completely to help me, solve all this kinds of problems 07:32 and it bonded me to those people. 07:35 It bonded me in a way to those people 07:37 that I would not have done quickly 07:41 or in the same way if I had not had that accident. 07:43 Now, the accident wasn't good but God was able to take 07:48 a terrible thing and work out of it, 07:50 something that was good for my life. 07:52 So Peter says, in this--remember, 07:54 it's this experience of new birth and new life. 07:57 "In this you achieve to rejoice, 07:59 though now for a little while, 08:00 if necessary, you have been grieved 08:03 by various trials and experiences." 08:07 You know, thinking about your story here, 08:10 it seems that the Bible is true where it says, 08:12 "That all things were together for good to them that love God." 08:16 Yes. 08:18 And God had a purpose for that accident in your life 08:21 and just as Jesus was talking to His heart, 08:24 God was talking to your heart, says well, 08:25 let me tell you what you need to think. 08:28 I'll have to say that it took some time. 08:31 When you go through trouble in experiences like this, 08:35 typically, there's quite a fog. 08:37 There's quite a-- it's hard to recognize. 08:40 And if people come to you at that time and say, 08:42 "It will be okay. It will be okay." 08:44 You feel like punching them in the nose maybe, you know. 08:47 That's probably not what people need to hear 08:49 at the time when they are suffering, 08:51 they need to hear--sometimes you just need to be hugged, 08:55 then you be prayed with, prayed for and people to-- 09:00 to lift them up and care for them. 09:03 But the question that some people have is, 09:08 you know, is there really any limit to the suffering 09:12 that I won't go through? 09:14 Does God limit it in some way? 09:17 It's interesting in our passage here, 09:18 there are three limits to suffering 09:21 that Peter mentioned. 09:22 Three limits and they're found here in verse, 09:28 starting in verse 6. 09:30 "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, 09:33 " that's the first limit. 09:34 "If necessary, " that's the second limit. 09:37 "You have been grieved by various trials, 09:40 so that the tested genuineness of your faith, 09:42 more precious than gold that perishes 09:44 though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise 09:47 and glory and honor at the revelation 09:49 of Jesus Christ" and that's the third limit, 09:51 there is that the outcome. 09:53 Okay. 09:54 So let's think about those for a little bit. 09:56 Peter says, "It's for a little while." 10:02 How long is a little while? 10:04 Now, that's a good question and when it comes to suffering, 10:07 a little while is a very long time. 10:09 Yes, it does. It seems like a very long time. 10:12 And I think what can help us to get a handle 10:15 on this idea of suffering being for a little while. 10:18 It's like children in-- you know, 10:21 when you're traveling in the car. 10:23 And you get in the car and your children say, 10:27 "Are we there yet? When are we gonna get there?" 10:30 And the tried and true response 10:32 of all parents is, "in a little while." 10:37 You can't say to the child 3-years-old, 10:39 "Ah, it'll be 45 minutes." 10:42 They don't know what 45 minutes is, 10:44 you know, so what do you say? 10:46 In a little while, just little while." 10:48 Now, the real comfort for the child 10:52 is that their parents have said this. 10:54 Their parent is in charge and knows what things you want- 10:56 And they trusted their parents? Yeah. 10:58 They trust the parent, "Oh, it just been 11:00 whether they can play their game again, you know. 11:02 That's just a little while, you know. 11:04 So our heavenly parent has said to us, 11:07 "It's just a little while." 11:09 And just like we trusted our parents 11:11 when we were little tiny, now we need to trust God. 11:14 The suffering will be for just a little while. 11:17 Then it also says, "If it must be-- 11:20 " we don't have time to unpack this a great deal. 11:23 But, God says things are going to happen, 11:28 if it's necessary, these things are going to happen. 11:30 He's like forewarned us. 11:32 It's not all the bed of roses that you're going to go through. 11:34 There're some experiences 11:36 that are gonna come along, if necessary. 11:39 But the outcome he says is a tried 11:42 and true character development. 11:46 It's tested by fire 11:47 but it comes out like gold, you know. 11:50 Gets rid of all the draws 11:51 and leads you in a wonderful place. 11:53 So there's a temporal limitation, 11:57 just a little while. 11:58 There's a theological limitation that which is necessary. 12:03 There's experiential limitation, that's character development. 12:07 So God is limiting the suffering 12:09 and He says when all of this takes place, 12:14 He's going to bring about this wonderful salvation 12:17 of your soul, okay, that's going to help you in the end. 12:21 Now, I wonder if there are people 12:23 in our listening audience that are going-- 12:26 I'm sure there are people who have gone through 12:28 terrible suffering in their life. 12:29 And may be right now, you're experiencing something 12:32 in your life that is crushing. 12:36 Recognize, recognize that God is with you 12:39 through this experience. 12:41 He is not going to leave you alone. 12:43 He says it's for a little while. 12:45 And He is going to bring you through 12:48 to a better experience, something better. 12:51 I know it's a fog now, but the future, 12:54 the future is much brighter. 12:55 You see, our past is settled, our future is sure, 13:00 so we can face the sufferings of the present. 13:04 And Dr. Shepherd, I want to thank you for your thoughts. 13:07 And also I want to thank our listening audience 13:10 for joining us in this very fascinating interesting 13:13 Bible study of the Books of Peter. 13:15 And I look forward also 13:16 to the incorruptible treasure that God has for me. |
Revised 2014-12-17