First Peter 1:6-9

1:6

“in this” is feminine in Greek and refers to the feminine word “time” at the end of 1:5

“rejoice” because the appearing (rapture) of our Lord is coming.

- It is proper to look forward to Christ return as in 2 Tim. 4:8 “long for his appearing.”

“rejoice” means “extreme joy, expressed externally for the triumph

- this is not a command to rejoice but the result of the reality of understanding what the scriptures have just said.

- It is not a continuous laughing nor is it a denial of reality

- 1:8 indicates that the future joy is inexpressible now which means we can not fully understand or experience the joy of the future

“little while” is “oligon” and means “little, small, few”

- time today is a “little” while compared to eternity

- also, life goes in seasons so times of sufferings will end and pass away here

“you may have” are hypothetical not an affirmation that every day is bad.

- This indicates that not all our days are bad

- Not all days are filled with trials

- Suffering is not normal part of the life God ordained.

- Suffering was not ordained by God at creation before the fall

- Remember any suffering you do encounter is allowed by God, not caused directly by God. There are other forces (evil, Satan, sin nature, men’s will) that cause suffering.

“trials” is “periasmos” and includes:

- trials from forces that want to destroy us

- test from God as he proves us faithful in order to promote us

- temptation that comes from our own sin nature

- the believer has three enemies: the world, the flesh (sin nature) and the devil

“all kinds” describes the wide variety of trials described above with the word “periasmos”

1:7

Explains why these trials are allowed to come

“proved” is “dokimazw”

- testing something or someone to see if they qualify with the intention of approving them if possible.

- The word was used to test medical school graduates for their Doctors degree

Faith that is working is to the glory of God. The trials are not for God’s glory.

Gold mine. . . . .sends samples for testing. . . . .report returns saying the gold is good!

- now what is more valuable? The gold samples or the report that the gold mine is good? The approved report makes the whole mine valuable.

- Our faith is the good report that what we have is genuine and there is more where that came from.

Refining gold. . . . The refining process purifies the gold.

- Isaiah 48:9-11

- Jeremiah 9:7

- Zechariah 13:9

- Malachi 3:2-5

- James 1:2-5

“Praise, Glory, Honor” refers to us receiving praise, glory and honor from Jesus

- Matthew 24:45

- Matthew 25:21

- Matthew 25:34

1:8

“love him”

- not seen but known through the word by the Spirit

- To love baseball you must know and understand the game otherwise it is boring.

- To love art you must have some knowledge and artistic character otherwise it does not communicate with the observer.

1:9

“receiving” is a word used for obtaining a prize or reward in the Greek

- 2 Cor. 5:10

- Eph. 6:8

- Heb. 11:13

- 1 Peter 5:4