5)
Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6)
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7)
That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
8)
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory:
9)
Receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls.
10) Of
which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11) Searching
what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow.
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he
prospect of enjoying “unspeakable joy” might seem unfathomable. However, at
this very moment we are being prepared to handle the full revelation of the joy
of the Lord. By experiencing “bursts,” we are gradually coming to understand
the perpetual state that God wishes for us.
Lest
it be misunderstood, we can and are to revel in the unspeakable joy of the Lord
at all times. Often, we only seem to experience bursts because of our manner of
thinking. Nevertheless, even now, we have been given and can enjoy the ability
to praise the Lord with unsurpassed and unfathomable joy. Once we learn to
accept and rest in the fact that this is indeed His will for us and not just a
chance occurrence or a “one shot deal,” we will recognize our privilege of
praise in Him—and prove ourselves formidable foes to the devil.
The
fact that we have been given the ability to praise the Lord with unspeakable
joy should motivate us to want to bring others to salvation. In a day when one
can never be sure that he or his loved ones will make it safely through the
day, in a day when worries and stresses are at an all-time high and many cannot
get a decent night’s sleep, our having unadulterated peace and joy should mean
something to us. So why is it so hard to see the urgent need to reach out to
others? The answer is simple: if one’s life is built upon himself
and what he wants to do, it will be nigh unto impossible to recognize suffering
in others.
Common
in the world and too common in the church is an emphasis on people who are
hurting. Yes, people are hurting and they need help, but the help that they
need is contained in neither money, counseling,
rehabilitation or anything else. The help that they need can be
summarized in one word: Jesus. He is the only way to be happy, joyful, peaceful and have rest in this wicked world. But how can we
tell anyone of His benefits if we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy them? It is
hard to believe that we are so unwilling to help others that, not only are we
somewhat reluctant to tell them what we have, some of us have yet to accept it
for ourselves. And yes, this is a form of neglect as powerful as leaving a
dying man on the street.
Get
the imagery? In point of fact, this exactly what we are doing: leaving a sinner
(dead and dying man) in the “street” (outside the Ark of Safety). We are
willing to leave him in the hands of the chief scavenger and predator—Satan.
How
does one know when he is selfish? When he is either unwilling
or reluctant to put aside his personal plans, desires or feelings to help
someone else. We are not only selfish with our means, our time and ourselves
but perhaps worst of all, we are selfish with our God.
Since one of the ways faith is gained is by hearing of the goodness of the
Lord, if we are reluctant to ever tell another of his goodness, what happens to
their faith? Yes, all must learn to trust God for themselves and as one moves “from faith to faith” he is strengthened. However,
scripture also tells us that we are to be “helpers one of another.”
We
make our mistake in selling the Lord short. We are constantly told and shown
what the Lord will and can do. However, we often become so enslaved to our own
minds that we become unable to see the big picture. No matter what our minds
would have us believe, the scope of the Lord is not limited as is that of man.
His concern extends far beyond what we think He could be concerned with or
involved in.
Everything
in our lives is important to the Lord because we are the only tools available
to Him by which He can win souls. That is why,
contrary to how we would like things to be, our conduct is crucial. If we are
not careful, others (by watching our lives) can be moved to place salvation the
last thing on their list!
Unspeakable
joy is a fact of life for those who have been redeemed. Joy was bestowed on us
with the advent of the Holy Ghost. Though the manifestation of joy in the
individual life is a function of acceptance, the reality of joy is not. How can
that which frees us from sin and eternal damnation bring anything but joy! The
worst example of holiness is lived by those who act unhappy being saved.
There
is unspeakable joy to be had in the fact that not only are
we saved, but kept by God. There is unspeakable joy to be had in the fact that
we know that the Lord has us hedged in—that is, He as fort about us, protecting
us from the things that assail the unsaved. There is unspeakable joy in knowing
that we need not allow anyone else’s lack of commitment to affect our
commitment. There is unspeakable joy to be had in knowing no matter how bad the
situation, God is still God. He never
changes, has never changed and will never change.
We
are now being required to be in the place where nothing will be able to affect
our joy or our determination to be saved. Any temptations we face should have
nothing to do with our determination to be saved. Undoubtedly, we would all
enjoy a “hothouse atmosphere” in which to work out our salvation. The perfect
conditions would make us and keep us quite comfortable and happy. However, the
question is: could those conditions either make or keep us? The answer is no,
for we live in an imperfect world rather than a perfect one. Life is composed
of ups and downs, hills and valleys.
The
Lord has made the joy that He gives supernatural and therefore, resistant.
Because it is based upon His strength and not ours, it can withstand the weapons
of the enemy. In, that we are tested by the “fires” of temptations and adversity,
the Lord gives us ample opportunity to see that though these things come,
the accompanying fire need never be feared. In likening us to gold, we are
to recognize the spiritual application of its smelting properties. Though
high temperatures are necessary to purify it (that is, to bring the impure
elements to the surface to be skimmed away), the fire never consumes or destroys
the gold. In like manner, we will never be destroyed by the fires that erupt
in our lives. For this alone, our joy should be unspeakable.