Finding Joy and Hope in Life's Trials

there is no more important and no more subtle test of our profession of the Christian faith in the Christian life than just this one the way we react to the trials and the troubles and the tribulations of our lives in this world there is no test which is more Fogo more delicate more sensitive than this particular test [00:06:30]

it is in particular the way to differentiate between the Christian faith and the various counts the claim that we can make for this message is for this way of life is it is that it is a life that never fails us never lets us down now that cannot be said of any false teaching whether it's a false religion or a false philosophy [00:07:11]

now there are people who sometimes think that they've become Christians because they've had some feeling they've had some experience in a meeting and it was marvelous it was wonderful so much so that they made us think for a while that we'd never been Christians at all they' had some astonishing experience yes but we've seen the same people a short time afterwards when something has gone wrong or when there have been difficulties and trials and they've renounced it all [00:10:16]

the Christians say the Apostle doesn't merely resign in a negative Spirit to his tribulations and you know this is a tremendously important thing today Christianity is not stoicism that's stoicism stoicism puts up with things Bears it just manages not to give in with an tremendous effort of the will and of Courage gets on and goes through that stoicism bearing it putting up with it not failing not breaking down that isn't the Christians reaction [00:15:12]

not only so but we glory in Tribulation the same word that we had at the end of verse two where translated here rejoice in Hope of the glory of God which I told you meant we boast in it we exalt in it we glory in it and this is the Christians reaction this is his response to these tribulations he boasts and exalts and glories in these things [00:16:27]

we glory on account of them because of them that's the meaning of the word in here not in spite of not in the midst of of but on account of because of we Glory because of our tribulations now then the vital question before us is how do we interpret this well perhaps the best thing to do again is to consider this kind of teaching as we find it also elsewhere in the New Testament [00:17:49]

tribulations are very good for us in that they help us to know ourselves better than we knew ourselves before we are always overestimating ourselves we always think things are better with us than they are that's why we always need to be exalted to self-examination we are all on good terms with ourselves and we balance things up very cleverly and it is only sometimes when a trial or a tribulation comes that we are unable to see where we are [00:29:40]

tribulation worketh patience ah but he doesn't stop there and patiency says experience now unfortunately this isn't a very good translation here in a sense it's right but it doesn't really bring out the better meaning experience here means proof trial approved if you like it means this experience as the result of an experiment the experience that is the consequence of a trial or an experiment [00:31:54]

the very fact that God is trying us ought to be to us a proof in and of itself that we are God's children that's the whole argument of Hebrews 12 isn't it so that you see the Christian in a sense ought to rejoice when he's tried there is nothing more terrible for the Christian than never to have any trials Woe Is unto you said Christ when all men speak well of you [00:35:15]

how do you purify Gold by putting it in a furnace isn't it it's the fire that burns away the Ally all that is impure and that mixture all that is burnt away so you put this mess of metal there in The Crucible and everything that is dross is burnt away and you're left with nothing but the pure gold that's what tribulations and trials do to us they test us they prove us they get rid of everything in us except that which is true [00:38:46]

Christian hope is both the parent and the child of patience did you get that Christian hope is both the parent and the child of Hope at one and the same time like this we start you see with the hope there's the parent and it's because we've got that hope that we are able to be patient in the endurance of the tribulations so the hope is the parent of the patience [00:44:22]

we started with this hope because of justification by faith we did indeed Rejoice or glory in Hope of the glory of God ah we say we see it then these things come and they seem to be leading all away from it but they don't they bring us back to it and they not only bring us back to it they make us much more certain of it than we were at the beginning having gone through all this we are much more certain that we belong to God [00:42:24]