281-Vibrant Hope in Adversity#
281-Vibrant Hope in Adversity
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Little Prince of Heaven)
The topic we are sharing is called "Vibrant Hope in Adversity."
1 Peter 1:3-7
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father! Thank You and praise You! Thank You for preparing such a wonderful time, allowing us to gather here once again, renewing us through Your words, so that we can see You with us in any environment. You will give brothers and sisters the strength to overcome their circumstances, renewing our strength, continuously watering us through Your words, so that everyone can receive. Thank You and praise You! In the name of Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen!
1 and 2 Peter are letters about hope. Peter wants to tell us: in any environment, you are a person of hope. So where is our hope? If you place your hope on the earth, it is uncertain, but our hope is in heaven, looking up to our Lord Jesus Christ's Father. Why does Peter say here "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Because Jesus looks up to our Heavenly Father this way, and you can look up to Him like Jesus does, in any environment.
Looking further, He has caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead according to His great mercy. This is where our vibrant hope lies; the leaders of other religions have all died, but the Jesus we believe in has risen from the dead. The resurrected Lord Jesus gives us vibrant hope.
Vibrant hope does not refer to an ethereal expectation; even people in the world have expectations, expecting a good life, expecting to be healthy, and expecting harmonious families. There are many expectations, but their expectations are unfounded; although they wish for these outcomes, they are not guaranteed, and they have no certainty.
Do we have certainty? Where does hope come from? It comes from the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. We have a beautiful hope for the future, not an ethereal one, but one that is firmly grounded. All who believe in Jesus Christ should have this certainty, that is, Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have died and risen again.
One day in the future, we will be like Him; this is where our hope lies. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the clear evidence of our vibrant hope. In this world, although we will encounter tribulations, these are all temporary; what God gives us is glory and honor, which lasts forever, to expand our vessels so that we can receive greater blessings.
Many times we say, "Lord! Please put all good things upon me." This is our expectation, but sometimes things go contrary to our wishes. Every Christian experiences suffering, and this is a fact. Some say, "Under grace, why do I still have this suffering, persecution, and illness?" Many people are confused and do not understand why these things happen.
In fact, the occurrence of these things is allowed by God, but they are not given by God; there is a difference between the two. God allows them because they do not cause fatal harm to us; rather, these things will benefit us, enabling us to receive greater blessings. Amen!
The first point to share is that in Christ, we are reborn people.
A particularly important thing mentioned earlier is that He has caused us to be born again through the resurrection from the dead, giving us vibrant hope. You may have heard some people say that although you are saved, you may not yet be reborn. Brothers and sisters, are you sure you are reborn? Some say, "It's hard to say; being reborn depends on behavior."
The world looks at your actions and cannot see whether you are reborn. Does the Bible say that only good behavior counts as being reborn? No, it says that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and He has reborn us according to His great mercy, according to God's mercy, not according to your behavior. God's mercy has caused you to be reborn, giving you vibrant hope. All of this is done by Jesus; your behavior has nothing to do with your rebirth. Amen!
Some people say that only reborn people have vibrant hope. In the Bible, there was a time when some people were saved but not yet reborn; this is a fact, during the overlapping period of John the Baptist's and Jesus' ministries, which is recorded in the first half of the Book of Acts. For example, Paul asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Paul asked them, "Then what were you baptized into?" They said, "Into John's baptism." The apostles told them that was a baptism of repentance, and they should accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Were you baptized into John's baptism? No, it was into Jesus Christ's. So when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you were already saved and reborn because it was God who changed your life. When we were not reborn and saved, we were outside of Christ, without hope.
Ephesians 2:12-13,
12 Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
This is a very important verse; "at that time" refers to when you had not yet believed in Jesus, not that you were saved but not yet reborn. There is no verse in the Bible that says that. "At that time, you were separate from Christ" because you did not believe, so you were an outsider to the covenants, whether it was the covenant of the Jewish law or the new covenant of grace; it had nothing to do with you because you were an outsider. But now it is different; when we did not believe in Jesus, we were all outsiders, without hope, and our hope might never be realized. Now you who were once far away from God are now in Christ Jesus. How did you get into Christ Jesus? By your good behavior? No, it is by your faith in Jesus who shed His blood on the cross for your sins that you are in Christ Jesus.
This has nothing to do with your behavior; it is by His blood that you have been brought near. Is this not the certainty of our rebirth and salvation? Yes, so our rebirth is God's mercy, unrelated to human behavior or the size of faith; it is what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross that makes us reborn. Some say that without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is no rebirth. In fact, this is not the case; you accepted Jesus, not John's baptism, do you understand?
Let’s look at another verse to deepen our impression, 1 Peter 1:23, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."
The imperishable seed refers to the gospel. When the gospel is given to you and you believe it, the seed is sown into you, so you are born again through the living and enduring word of God. To be reborn, in the original Greek, means to receive God's life outside of the original human life; anyone who accepts Jesus Christ is a reborn and saved person. After accepting Christ's life, we have vibrant hope inside us, and the greatest hope for believers is that God has reserved a rich inheritance for us in heaven. Amen! The moment you accept Jesus, the heavenly inheritance is yours; you can receive it while living in this world, and at the same time, you can use worldly matters to leave a permanent inheritance for yourself in heaven.
The second point to share is that there is an inheritance reserved for us in heaven.
Verse 4 says that we can obtain an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
Brothers and sisters, the hope of Christians is not only on earth but also in heaven, so we do not live just for what to eat or drink; we also have a permanent inheritance reserved in heaven. It is not just to be saved by believing in Jesus, but to live out a rich life like Jesus in this world, living to overcome. No matter what environment we encounter, we should have vibrant hope, whether it is patience, persecution, or blessing others, we leave a beautiful inheritance in heaven.
Verse 5 says that you who are protected by the power of God through faith will obtain the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Does this salvation refer to being saved? Actually, it refers to rewards. If you fall into a trap, you have two choices: to struggle to solve the problem by yourself or to rely on Jesus to overcome. When you rely on Jesus to overcome, God will also reward you. The process of overcoming by relying on Jesus is the process of God's salvation.
For example, if you accidentally fall into a river, and Jesus pulls you out, is that not God's salvation? We need to have a broader perspective on salvation and deliverance. In the past, we always thought that salvation and deliverance referred only to being saved from death to eternal life, from unbelief to belief; it is not just that. Jesus' salvation includes the salvation of your life and His deliverance when you encounter difficulties in your life.
These are two aspects. Let’s look at you who are protected by the power of God through faith. Faith is our prerequisite, indicating our faith is the prerequisite for being protected by God. The moment you believe in Jesus, God will certainly protect you. Protect you for what? The following says that you will obtain the salvation prepared and revealed in the last time. Is it the last time now? Then what does the salvation revealed in the last time refer to? It is God's grace. If it is the kind of salvation under the law of Moses, good behavior saves you; if you dare to betray God, you will be cursed; that is under the law. So brothers and sisters, protection does not mean you will not encounter bad environments, persecution, or tribulations. But God's principle is that I will protect you; protection means I will surround you with a fence for protection, but it does not mean you will not encounter difficulties.
Many Christians have this prejudice, saying, "Under grace, I should not encounter even a little bit of tribulation, I should not encounter even a little bit of persecution." In fact, this idea is wrong; Jesus never promised us, "After you believe in me, you will not encounter even a little bit of persecution or tribulation..." There is no such promise.
What Jesus promised us is: I have overcome the world; you can pray to me, seek me, and I will give you the strength to overcome. Is this not God's promise? So you who are protected by God's power through faith, believe; the fear is not in the difficulties you encounter, but in not having a solution. Do people in the world also encounter tribulations? When they have no way to solve them, they will fall into sorrow, not knowing what to do. But we are different; no matter how great the difficulty we encounter, believe that God can protect you and help you solve it. If you can believe this, you are a person of hope.
We are not people without hope; God's protection does not mean you will not encounter trials or tests. The Bible has three terms: trials, temptations, and tests. What is the difference? Which one comes from God? Trials and tests come from God? Temptations come from Satan? Brothers and sisters, look closely; the records that come from God are in the Garden of Eden. Did God say at the beginning, "Adam, listen, all things are under your control, but I will also give you a little disease to test you"? Did that happen? No, these things appeared only after he left the Garden of Eden.
What I want to say is that trials and temptations do not come from God, but God allows them to happen. I am now sharing the first two through temptations; we know that temptations are the devil's schemes to trap you, but God protects us so that we can overcome him, ultimately turning bad things into good things.
However, the first two are slightly different; the first two use another word, which in the original language means examination. Brothers and sisters, God allows examinations to happen for what purpose? Whether it is a trial or a test, if you fail, there is no harm, but if you pass, there will be a reward. Do you understand? Especially if you have children, do you think the exams set by teachers are to make things difficult for students? If you think this way, then your heart needs to be renewed.
May I ask, who benefits from the exam? The student benefits. What if they fail? This is the problem we need to solve. In this world, when we fail the exam, we will face a lot of condemnation and pressure. Many people do not educate their children; if the child does poorly on the exam, they will be scolded, and in the end, the child gets scared and starts changing their scores, clearly scoring sixty but changing it to eighty or ninety. Why do they do this? Because they cannot bear the contemptuous looks of others; they cannot bear the condemnation inside.
This situation itself is not a big deal; our faith life will actually experience many trials or tests. God once tested Abraham, which actually means examination. God said to Abraham, "Offer your son." The Old Testament has this, but will God still use this method in the New Testament? No, so do not say to others, "God wants you to offer your child; can you do it?" Asking this way will obviously discourage their faith because God will not do this anymore.
In the New Testament, God does not use this method, but He will allow some things to happen; you can see it as a life exam. In the faith life, we will face many multiple-choice questions, experiencing one exam after another. What should we do after failing? I now ask you a question: What will you do if your child fails the exam? Will you beat them to death? Or will you say, "From now on, you are no longer my child"? Would you do that? You would say to them, "It's okay; just do well next time." If the parent does not give the correct guidance, there will be condemnation in their heart, and from then on, they will fear exams.
Just like today, we will be very afraid: "Lord! I did not please You this time; I did not do Your will; I feel like You do not want me anymore." How many children feel this way after doing poorly on an exam? In fact, it is the wrong guidance given by the outside world. I want to use this example to tell everyone: you are a person of hope; God allowed this to happen; if you did not pass the exam, there will be no loss; you discovered your shortcomings and continue to rely on God in this deficiency; you can overcome it next time.
You often face similar situations in life; that is actually your exam. Some things you must overcome, and after overcoming, God will reward you. If you cannot overcome, do not condemn yourself. Do not say it is over; just like a child who scores fifty-nine and fails, they say, "It's over; I do not want to live anymore; I do not deserve to live in this world..."
If your child fails the exam and says such things, would you be surprised? Our Heavenly Father is the same! In the face of some trials, when you do not pass, when you fall or become weak in some environments, do not self-condemn, and do not doubt that the Heavenly Father no longer loves you. You are a person of hope; when you encounter these setbacks and failures, you should say: "Oh, I have so many shortcomings; I will bring these shortcomings before the Heavenly Father: Lord! Give me strength to overcome my current environment. Amen!" God is very willing to give you strength; if you overcome it next time, God will say: "You have overcome; I will also give you a reward." It is just like that.
In the Old Testament, if Abraham had not offered Isaac, would God have killed Abraham? No, it was just a failure; God might come back in a few years, but Abraham passed the exam at once. After that, you see how the angel said: "Abraham, Abraham, you fear me." That means there is a reward, Amen! After Abraham passed the exam, there was a long list of blessings that followed, which is the reward. Just like you now, after passing the exam, a long list of certificates, scholarships, and various benefits come.
The heavenly inheritance that God has prepared for us is also like this; He allows some environments to happen, and if you overcome them with Jesus' power, God has rewards for you; if you cannot overcome, it is okay; God will not kill you. When you do not pass, do not be discouraged or condemned; you discover your weaknesses and continue to pray to God; you can overcome it again. Amen!
The scripture says you will obtain the salvation that God has prepared for you; in the original language, it means you will certainly be able to enter or reach, which proves that you are currently in the process of obtaining. In your life, there will be countless environments and problems that arise; as long as you overcome them through Jesus, you will enter into God's rewards. We are in a continuous process of relying on Jesus; it is not enough to rely on Him just once. We continuously rely on Him to overcome all problems in life, and we are also continuously entering into His rewards and inheritance.
Let’s look at a verse, Acts 20:32, "Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."
Today, we are set apart by Jesus Christ; we are in Jesus Christ, while unbelievers are outside of Christ; is there a distinction? So we are now sanctified people. Paul says here, "Now I commit you to God and His what? Grace and favor, which can be interchanged in the New Testament."
God's grace can build us up, allowing us to receive the inheritance God has for us. Brothers and sisters, this is about victory. Our main text says, "But now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials." What kind of trials? Various and diverse trials, which means some bad environments suddenly come upon us, and we say, "Oh, I did not expect this; how could such things happen?"
Temporary distress proves that this situation is not a good thing for us, and we will be temporarily distressed, but please remember it is temporary. The environment you encounter is all temporary; it is not permanent; what is permanent is that you will enter into God's rewards; what is permanent is that you will receive God's inheritance. Therefore, all trials that come are definitely not the end.
Many people may not understand the meaning here; they believe that tribulations, sufferings, and persecutions do not come from God; they believe this, but they also acknowledge that this is allowed by God, so they say, "This is still given to me by God." These two are completely different, and many people do not understand why God allows these things to happen. Today I will explain why God allows some things to happen.
I will give a simple example and then explain it through the Bible. Do we have free will? Generally, when do we encounter these tribulations and problems? Most of the time, it is because we are doing things according to our own ideas. I have previously talked about Luke 15; a hundred sheep were doing well, but suddenly one was lost. May I ask, was that trial or environment set up by the shepherd? No, how did it happen? If you follow the big group, will you encounter that situation? No.
But that one sheep went missing. I have mentioned before that perhaps this sheep suddenly saw a pile of grass nearby and thought, "Oh! This grass looks so good; if I eat it, I will definitely look better." The ninety-nine did not notice, and even the shepherd did not notice; could the shepherd not know? The shepherd is taller than the sheep! As a result, this sheep thought it was good and started eating, and when it turned around, it could not find the flock anymore.
May I ask, at this moment, is it lonely and helpless in the wilderness? Is there danger? Is this something the shepherd set up for it? No, how did it come about? God's word is, "Follow me," but we say, "No, I think this is good." As a result, it encountered some tribulations; do you understand? In this process, did God protect the sheep? Did the shepherd go back to find it and protect it? This is what I want to share with you today.
Many times we do not understand why this happens; in fact, it is because we have many of our own ideas. We are here listening to the word to renew our ideas and synchronize with God or to continuously remove our own ideas. When we truly one day willingly say to the Heavenly Father, "Whatever You say, I will do," you see how Jesus did it?
"Whatever You command me," the Heavenly Father allows it, so you see Jesus; can He overcome all environments? Many times we feel sorrowful and discouraged because we have too many of our own ideas, and those ideas do not align with God's ideas. When some tribulations come, what should we do? Adjust our ideas and come back to God again; that is enough. So God allows these things to happen for our benefit; you can use another word to describe it, called discipline.
Let’s look at a verse, Hebrews 12:10-11,
11 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 12 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Brothers and sisters, if you do not understand what discipline is, read this passage and you will understand. Discipline is beneficial to you, right? Those accidents that cause people to lose limbs, are they from God? No, God's discipline for us is beneficial to us, and this discipline includes God allowing some environments to happen.
But here it says that only the Father of spirits disciplines us for our benefit, and then shares in His holiness, which means to let us live differently from the world; this is His purpose in training us. The purpose of discipline is to remove all those bad habits from the past. What exactly is discipline?
In the original language, it refers to training; you can also understand it as God training us, training us with His words. Is the training process comfortable? Today I will explain this through some secular matters. For example, you have a child who is particularly disobedient; no matter what you say, they do not listen. One day you make up your mind to send them to the army; may I ask, do you know they are going there to enjoy or to suffer? To suffer. Are you sending them there because you hate them? No, what is the reason? Precisely because you love them, because after going there, many of their flaws can be removed.
But from that child's perspective, how do they feel? Is it not comfortable? This is called discipline. Have you noticed that after entering the military, you cannot say who you are; you must obey orders. You must do as you are told; you must wake up at a certain time, sleep at a certain time, and do everything according to the commands of the military. Is this not training? Is the training process comfortable? It is very uncomfortable.
You can also understand this as the trials that God gives us. You put your child in military training, allowing their instructors to discipline them strictly with words and various methods; they must obey. You do not allow this to happen because you hate your child; it is precisely because you love your child. After two years, you will find that the previously careless child now wakes up early, makes their bed neatly, and can even cook and serve water. How do you feel inside? Do you feel it was worth it?
Brothers and sisters, God trains us with His words, and what is the fruit we bear in the end? The peaceful fruit of righteousness is what those who have been trained bear. So we should not think that after believing in Jesus, life will be the same as before, doing whatever we want and still expecting God's blessings; such people will mostly suffer a lot. God allows them to suffer for the purpose of letting them receive greater blessings.
If you have never been trained and are thrown onto the battlefield, is that not equivalent to sending you to your death? But after you have been trained, you can defeat the enemy. Today, we continuously refine ourselves or correct ourselves with God's words, with the purpose of enabling us to bear the blessings God gives us.
Today, many Christians always hope that God will eliminate the devil. God indeed has this ability. Many people say, "Lord! Why don't You just kill the devil? If You kill him, the world will be at peace! If You kill him, there will be no sin in the world!" In fact, even without the devil, sin is still within you; the devil merely stirs up the sin inside you. Do you understand?
The key is not whether the devil exists, but whether your heart is synchronized with God and whether you believe in God's words!
If you always hold onto God's words and always believe, how can the devil deceive you? His existence is no longer important. So God allows this to make us rely on Him. Many people always push their sins onto the devil; in fact, it is our hearts. If we do not have that idea in our hearts, the devil cannot tempt us. Many people want to live by their own ideas; betraying God is only a matter of time. Therefore, God allows some things to happen because after those things, it is beneficial to us, removing all the excess from us.
Today, let me tell you about Moses. How do you think Moses' life was in the later stages? Let’s read Numbers 12:3, "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth."
A humble and gentle character; what happened before this verse? Moses' own sister and brother betrayed him, inciting others to get rid of Moses. If your relatives want to get rid of you and betray you, can you still remain unaffected and bless them? Some say, "It is difficult, too difficult."
What does this indicate? We have not been trained or have not experienced those environments. Why could Moses live to this extent? Why was he so humble? Was he like this at first? When Moses was young, he would kill someone if he disagreed with them. He saw a Hebrew and an Egyptian fighting, and he went up and killed the Egyptian without distinguishing right from wrong. Today we say his temper was too violent, but after living in the wilderness for forty years, did he not go through an environment? Did God also allow this environment? Do we think Moses had a good time during those forty years?
It was very difficult. However, after going through those forty years, what change occurred in Moses' life? His character was developed. After that, did Moses have any discord? "If you dare to betray me, I will kill you." Did he kill anyone? He faced people who wanted to kill him, yet Moses could pray for them, "Lord! Do not kill them." His heart had already changed; it was those forty years that changed Moses' life.
Many times we always hope that God will take away this environment; in fact, God wants to change your heart first, change your ideas, for the purpose of letting you receive greater blessings.
Let’s look at a verse, Proverbs 17:3, "The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts."
If this verse were explained by someone under the law, they would say, "Be careful; God will use various environments to refine you. God will use painful diseases, disasters, and accidents to refine you. If you do not obey, God will make you lose limbs." Does God use this method to refine you? As mentioned earlier, the crucible is for refining silver; why put silver in the crucible? What is the purpose?
It is to increase its purity. The silver has other impurities; the purpose of putting it in the crucible is to remove the impurities, not to burn the silver away. The furnace is for refining gold, and gold must go through fire. After going through the fire, gold becomes purer; the purpose of refining is not to destroy the gold but to remove the impurities from the gold.
The Lord tests the hearts; should this be similar to the first two? God today tests our minds; the purpose is not to make us lose limbs but to remove everything excess, wrong, and obstructive that prevents you from entering God's destiny or receiving God's blessings. Hallelujah!
So, are you willing to be refined by God? Because after we are refined, our lives will change. One of Jesus' disciples was named John. What kind of disciple was John in his old age? He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, a symbol of love. In his old age, he did not talk about anything else; he just said, "Little children, love one another, for God is love." Did he not speak these words the most in his old age?
Have you ever thought about what he was like when he was young? When he was young, his name was "Son of Thunder," and he was not much different from Moses. Once, when Jesus took the disciples to Samaria to preach the gospel, and the whole city of Samaria did not accept Jesus, two disciples said, "Lord, do You want me to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them all?" Moses only killed one, and these two wanted to kill an entire city; did they not have a particularly fiery temper?
This is the kind of person he was, but later he was changed by Jesus' words, ultimately becoming such a humble person. So generally, such people must go through some tribulations; do you understand? Without going through tribulations, such people cannot change. Did John go through such tribulations? Yes, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, a place of hard labor. At such an old age, he still had to do hard labor; during that process, was he in tribulation? His character was changed, and then he saw the prophecies in the Book of Revelation. Brothers and sisters, we should not say, "Lord! Do not let me encounter tribulations; do not let me encounter these things." These are not scary; what is scary is that our impurities are not removed, making it difficult for us to receive God's greater blessings.
The third point to share is that even in tribulations, our rewards will not be taken away.
1 Peter 1:7 says, "so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Earlier, we mentioned that gold must be put in fire; here it is mentioned again that your faith must be tested, and it is more precious than gold tested by fire. This proves that these two are actually similar. When we are here, in a very good environment, we say we have faith; may I ask, can this faith be seen now? Look around; who does not have faith? Everyone has it.
When sitting here, faith is particularly strong: I believe Jesus can do all things; I believe Jesus can hear my prayers today. Is this how we all believe now? But when can your faith be tested? When you truly encounter illness, when your child is sick, your true faith is revealed at that moment. At that time, you say, "It's over; why does the Lord not hear my prayer?" Please remember: God's promises to you will never change; do not say, "God does not hear my prayer."
Today, too many Christians always say, "Oh! God does not hear my prayer." This is a wrong conclusion; God hears your prayer! It is just that during this trial, you find no effect; it does not matter; continue to pray to God and draw from Him! When faith is tested, fire reveals it; when the environment comes, the true part of faith is manifested.
So do not always worry about whether you have faith; you only need to focus on the words of Jesus Christ. Continuously train yourself with God's words, just like after every gathering, we bless each other. This is training; do not think that this has no effect in daily life. When you truly encounter tribulations, those habits formed in daily life will unconsciously manifest.
I have previously shared similar stories. For example, those who are in the army, they start by holding empty guns and practicing; they keep doing this. We think, what is the use? In their professional terms, it is called muscle memory, which is subconscious. They practice continuously, and when they encounter any situation, they hold the gun in that posture. Crawling has a crawling posture, standing has a standing posture, and holding the gun has the same posture; in their subconscious, they do not need to think; the first reaction is that posture. This is called muscle memory; it is trained like this, and when they truly encounter problems, they can naturally assume that posture without thinking. Amen!
If we do not bless others regularly and have never blessed ourselves, when we truly encounter tribulations, we still will not know how to do it. This is when faith is tested. If your faith has been tested and you have developed this habit, when tribulations come, you will unconsciously pray for yourself and for others. When you see someone has a problem, the first thought is to pray for you because you have developed this habit.
So regular training is extremely important. When you truly develop this habit, you will find that your faith has been tested; at the revelation of Jesus Christ, you will receive praise, glory, and honor. How do these rewards come? It is simple; you have developed the habit of blessing others and yourself; when you encounter environments, you also overcome them in the name of the Lord Jesus. Unknowingly, you will find that even the little things in life have become your rewards, the praise of the Lord Jesus for you, and your honor.
So the purpose of gold being refined by fire is to remove the dross, making it purer and more precious. Similarly, our faith becomes more precious after being tested; since faith becomes more precious after being tested by fire, then the fire of testing itself is also precious; it has the effect of refining faith. Whether Christians are joyful does not depend on whether your environment is favorable or adverse, but on the Lord Jesus Christ who has died, resurrected, and ascended to the highest heaven.
Now He sits at the right hand of God; in fact, no one can take away your joy, just as no one can pull Christ down from the glorious throne. The key is if your focus is on this environment, you will lose joy. Today I tell you, your faith being tested by fire is to constantly focus on God, using His words to train ourselves.
Let’s look at a verse, Romans 5:1-5,
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope; 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
This passage is very important; you already know the first half; you have been justified by faith; today we are at peace with God; you all know this. But you should also believe the latter part, that through Jesus, we are standing in His grace. How can there be these things in grace? Is there suffering in grace?
This is something many people do not understand; how can there be suffering in grace? The scripture says we are standing in grace and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. In your process of hope, you encounter suffering, but in the process of suffering, are you affected? You find that when you truly understand God's grace, suffering exists, but you can be blind to it; you are not affected by it. This is the true power of grace.
If you say you understand grace and receive grace, but once you encounter suffering, you immediately complain, condemn yourself, and condemn others, you actually have not lived out God's grace. When you truly understand grace, even if there is suffering, you can still rejoice because you know these things do not matter to you; you can overcome them.
The latter part says that suffering produces endurance. Here, many people have a misconception, thinking that there is a mountain, and they can command it to move in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is what we like to see the most, and it is what many people expect. But here it says that suffering produces endurance, which proves that this suffering has not been removed, but ultimately you still overcome it; this means that the situation is still there, but you are no longer affected by it. In the end, you still overcome it, but not immediately; it is through endurance that you overcome. This is God's other way of solving problems.
The latter part says that endurance produces character. There is a person who can give us a good interpretation of this matter, and that is Joseph. He was sold into a foreign land by his own brothers and became a slave, and was later falsely accused and imprisoned. May I ask, did he not hope for God to save him at any time? Did he not hope for God to take him out of this suffering? He hoped, but did God intervene? It seems that God did not intervene to save him; He just let him endure in that environment. So you say, did the environment change us? All he could do was say, "Lord! Give me the strength to endure it and overcome it."
So Joseph continuously endured in that environment, from being sold to rising to the position of prime minister of Egypt, which took about fifteen years. Is this process one of endurance? Have you noticed that during this process, his character was developed? Do you understand? A person in their thirties becoming a prime minister of a superpower requires ability. If there is no endurance, how can ability be produced? So suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character.
Today many people say, "This person is very experienced; it seems they know everything." In fact, it is because they have experienced more suffering or have had some character developed because they have gone through more things. Endurance produces character; character produces hope. The reason he could endure is that he knew he had hope; he knew his God would help him. Even if the environment did not change, he knew God still loved him and had not abandoned him; in the end, his hope did not change.
The latter part says that hope does not put us to shame. Today, if you pray to God for something, if God immediately fulfills it for you, you thank God; if God does not immediately fulfill it, you still thank God, carrying a joyful heart to hope for the result to come. Some things may take a long time; for example, today we plant seeds and say, "Lord! Let me see the most abundant results." Can we see it tomorrow? No, how do we endure? James tells us to endure like a farmer waiting for the harvest, waiting for the seeds to grow and bear fruit. We should pray for something with this heart; in the process, we should have a heart of endurance, and in the end, you will find you have hope; your hope is in God, and you will never be put to shame.
So brothers and sisters, in Jesus Christ, we are people of hope; you can pray to God about everything, and God will never abandon you; He will accomplish the best things for you. If you are willing to live this way, it is because you understand God's love. The latter part says that the Holy Spirit has poured God's love into our hearts; now you know how those fruits mentioned above are produced, right? It is because he understood God's grace in grace and also understood God's love.
Because you love someone, you can endure them, and in the end, you find they have changed, and you are very happy. In this matter, as a preacher, you should see more. Some Christians are initially very disobedient and go against the pastor, but the pastor prays for them and endures them, and in the end, this person's life changes. One day they suddenly understand: I finally understand why my pastor did that.
Is it not the same in families? As parents, we know it is not easy, but when we were children, we did not think our parents were anything. One day when we become parents ourselves, we find that children are like this; we endure them and then guide them. Sometimes we will discipline them, and the purpose is because we love them, to remove the excess from them, hoping they will have a better life; our God is the same. So brothers and sisters, in any environment, we must learn to have hope in God; even in tribulations, our hope is not dead but a living hope.
Finally, let’s look at a verse; you can meditate on this verse to see how Habakkuk could remain unaffected in any environment. Let’s read together, Habakkuk 3:17-19,
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls; 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
Brothers and sisters, this is a song. Although no one has made it into a song yet, we can hum it when we have nothing to do. Though the fig tree should not blossom, what is described in verse seventeen? Is it a scene in tribulation? It has gotten so bad that there is nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nothing at all. But there is a turning point.
In verse eighteen, it says, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; who is his joy? The Lord!" So brothers and sisters, even if your environment is terrible, you still have Jesus! You should rejoice because you still have Jesus; He can turn everything around. Hallelujah!
If the opposite is true, if you have the whole world but do not have Jesus, you still have nothing. As long as you have Jesus, you will not lose everything else; God will give you more. So the Lord is also your strength; He will make your feet like the deer's, very light and steady on high places. God can change all of this. Hallelujah! So do not despair or lose heart just because you are in tribulation or pain; our Lord is your strength and your eternal hope. Amen!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father! We thank and praise You! Thank You for renewing us today through such words, letting us know that even in tribulation, we have vibrant hope because our faith has been tested, and we obtain something more precious than perishable gold. Lord! You allow me to overcome my environment time and again to give me strength to receive greater rewards from You; please expand my vessel so that I can contain more of Your blessings. I am willing to be a channel of Your blessings to convey Your blessings.
Lord! Let me look up to You in any environment; I do not look at my circumstances but solely look up to You to help me. You are my strength; give me the faith of Habakkuk so that I can still take God as my joy in tribulation because You are my saving God; You will not abandon me in tribulation; this is just a process; ultimately, my destination is to receive Your great blessings. Thank and praise You!
As a new week begins, I thank You for being with me; I believe You are my strength; You are my help; You will make my feet like the deer's; You will make me tread on high places. Thank and praise You! All glory be to You, in the name of Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen!
Each of us offers a prayer to the Lord for the words we received today. If you are also facing tribulations now, do not lose heart; He is your strength. Today He is also your help; you can pray to Him to draw strength and overcome any environment you encounter.
Begin to receive the Holy Communion:
In the name of Lord Jesus, I set apart this bread; from this moment on, it is no longer ordinary bread but the body of my Lord Jesus Christ, given for me. Lord! You gave Your body so that I can have support in illness; through Your body, I receive healing. I know You are my hope. Thank and praise You!
As each of us receives the Holy Communion, we can reflect before the Lord; at this moment, what can Jesus do for you? If you have illness in your body, you can receive healing through this Holy Communion right now; what you have is vibrant hope. Hallelujah! Let each of us open our mouths and pray before the Lord.
In the name of Lord Jesus, you must believe that God has heard your prayers and is willing to accomplish it for you. At any time, you are a person of hope; even if illness is upon you, at this moment, you must believe that by the stripes of Jesus, I have already received healing because His body has been given to me, allowing me to receive healing at this moment. I receive this promise. Hallelujah! Thank and praise You!
In the name of Lord Jesus, I set apart this cup; from this moment on, it is no longer ordinary wine but the precious blood of Lord Jesus Christ, shed for me. Jesus, You shed Your precious blood so that all my sins are forgiven. Therefore, today I believe I am justified by faith; I am a person who can stand in grace; I have vibrant hope because I can receive Your blessings in the covenants. Each person comes before the Lord to pray...
In the name of Lord Jesus, bless our brothers and sisters. As the new week begins, you must believe that you carry the blessings of Jesus Christ; you are a person of hope. Your hope is in heaven, not like the uncertain hope of the world; your hope is because God has made promises to you. So you must believe that no matter where you go in the new week, He is with you; He is your strength, your help, and your ever-present support in tribulation. In the name of Lord Jesus, I bless you and your family to be free from all diseases. The new week is a week full of blessings, a week full of God's power. God will bless all that your hands do, and you will also be a blessing to others. Hallelujah! Thank and praise the Lord! In the name of Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!