Can You Find Glory In Your Suffering?

Your world can feel louder, harsher, and more hostile by the week, and that pressure has a way of shrinking your hope. We go to the opening of 1 Peter because Peter writes to believers who feel like strangers in their own culture, and he insists their suffering is not the end of their story. The headline is simple but steadying: God’s glory is the believer’s story.

We unpack what “glory” means in Scripture and why human glory never lasts, no matter how impressive it looks for a moment. Then we walk through the way Peter ties our salvation to the full work of God: the Father’s choosing love, the Spirit’s sanctifying work that draws and sets us apart, and the Son’s blood that makes obedience and forgiveness possible. We also hold together what the Bible holds together: God’s sovereign grace and our real responsibility to hear the gospel, repent, and believe.

From there, Peter lifts our eyes to a living hope and an eternal inheritance that cannot spoil, stain, or fade. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’ll make it to the end, you’ll hear why genuine believers are “kept by the power of God” and why trials are not pointless pain but refining fire that prepares faith for praise when Jesus is revealed. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review to help more listeners find Foundations of Truth.

Transcript

Foundations Of Truth Introduction

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You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the Bible-teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word. Rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life. Today on Foundations of Truth, Dr. Timothy Mann continues this series Open a Hostile World with a message from the opening chapter of 1 Peter. Writing to believers who were living as strangers in a difficult and increasingly hostile culture, Peter reminded them that their suffering was not the end of their story. Their inheritance was secure, their salvation was certain, and even their trials were being used by God for a glorious purpose. Our message today is God's glory is the believer's story. Part one. Now let's join Dr. Timothy Mann.

Peter’s Words To Scattered Believers

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The Bible says Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims or the strangers of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethynia. So to the pilgrims of those places, to the pilgrims, elect or chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what and of what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not in not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven things which angels desire to look into. All right, let's stop there.

The Problem With Human Glory

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Let me get your brain working here for a minute. Not that it's not working already. This will send it down a track that I just kind of want to bring some perspective. Let me ask you a few questions. How many of you know for a fact who the first American was to ever amass a fortune of one billion dollars? Well, what about the what about the youngest gold medalist in Olympic history? All right, let me ask you this question. Do you know who won the Academy Award? The Oscar for Best Actor in 2002. What about what about even who has won that award the most times? Then everyone should remember the most valuable player of the World Series in 2010. What, you don't? Well, all of this, all of this and other similar achievements to I've been presenting to you, are a lot like the line of a poem from Thomas Gray, which says, The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, and all that beauty, all that wealth air gave awaits alike the inevitable hour. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. See, man's glory simply does not last. But God's glory is eternal, and he has designed to share that with his people. That's what this message, this passage of scripture is really all about this morning. That God's glory is the believer's story. God's glory is the believer's story.

Born For Glory Through God’s Mercy

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In this first section of his letter, the Apostle Peter, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shared four wonderful discoveries that he had made about the glory of God as it relates to believers. Let's look at those. First of all, the very first thing we notice as it relates to the glory of God in connection with believers in verses two through four is that believers are born for glory. Believers are born for glory. That's what we see in verses two through four. Now, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers, according to what the apostle Peter is writing here, believers have been begotten again. That's the term he uses, or born again to a living hope. Born again to a living hope. And that hope includes the glory of God. Now, what do we mean by the glory of God? That's a good question. What do we mean by the glory of God? The glory of God means the sum total of all that God is and all that God does. That's what the glory of God is. The sum total of all that God is and all that God does. Glory is not a separate attribute or a separate characteristic of God, such as his holiness or his wisdom or his mercy. Everything that God is, and everything that God does is characterized by glory. That's who God is. It's characterized by glory. He is glorious in wisdom and power, and so that everything he thinks and everything he does is marked by glory. Everything. He reveals his glory in creation. He reveals his glory in his dealings with the people of Israel in God's word in the Old Testament. He reveals his glory, and especially, especially in his plan of salvation for lost sinners. He reveals his glory. Now, when I was born the first time, and when you were born the first time, we were not born for glory. We really weren't. Because the Bible says, and the Apostle Peter mentions it down in verse 24, he's quoting from Isaiah chapter 40, verse 6, he says, All flesh is like grass. It is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flowers of the grass. The glory of man is like the flowers of the grass. What does that mean? That means it's withered. It withers and it disappears, it goes away. Whatever feeble glory that man has, it will eventually fade and it will disappear. But the glory of the Lord, the glory of God is eternal. Now the works of man that are done for the glory of God will last and be rewarded. But the selfish human achievements of sinners will one day vanish and be seen no more. One reason that we had encyclopedias, we don't have them anymore, really, one reason we had encyclopedias and now we have Wikipedia on the internet is so that we can learn about famous people who have long been forgotten. When we think about the idea that believers are born for glory, the Apostle Peter here gives two descriptions, he gave two descriptions that help us better understand this wonderful truth about God's glory. In verses two and three, he says, in thinking about how a believer is born for glory, in verses two and three, he says, elect or chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again, or were born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He gives a couple of descriptions here. The first thing we see is a Christian's birth described for us by the Apostle Peter. Understand, this miracle all began with God. We were chosen by the Father, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Now, this took place in the deep councils of eternity, and we knew nothing about it whatsoever until it was revealed to us in the Word of God. This election is not based on anything we had done. Why? Because we weren't even on the scene. You and I weren't even here. Nor is it based on anything that God saw that we would be or that we would do. The Bible testifies over and over that God's election is based wholly on His grace and His love. Holy and completely. And we cannot explain it. I'll be the first to have humility and acknowledge that we cannot explain it, but we can rejoice in it. We can rejoice in that reality. Now, foreknowledge, that's an interesting term. It's always bound, this choosing is always bound up with foreknowledge in accordance with, in complete harmony with. And foreknowledge just does not suggest that God merely knew ahead of time that we would believe and therefore it chose us. That would raise the question who or what made us decide for Christ. And that would take our salvation completely out of God's hands and would make me sovereign. And you sovereign. In the Bible, I would encourage you to do a good word study on this. In the Bible, to foreknow means literally to set one's love on a person or persons in a personal way. Much like Adam knew Eve in that sense. Or it's used in this way in Amos chapter 3, verse 2, where the Lord says, You, now listen, think about this. He says, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Did God not know all the other families of the earth? Of course not. But when he uses this term, speaking of the people of Israel, he says, You only have I known. In other words, you only have I set my love upon in a personal way of all the families of the earth. You only have I known. Other verses that use know in this special sense is Psalm 1.6. The Bible says, For the Lord knows the way of the righteous. That talks about in a personal way of setting his love upon the righteous. Not just he's aware of or he has knowledge of. But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Matthew chapter 7, verse 23. This is interesting. Jesus is speaking there to those who come before him and says, Didn't we do all these great religious works in your name? And so forth and so on. And look what he says. He says, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. John 10, verse 14, he said, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. John 10, 27, he said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. And they follow me. First Corinthians 8, verse 3 says, But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. So this foreknowledge, this not only involves obviously the characteristic of God's omniscience, yes, but that's a surface understanding of that word. It has to do with setting personal love upon one or other persons. We don't want to go to seed just on that because this plan of salvation includes more than the Father's electing love. It also includes the work of the Spirit in convicting and drawing the sinner, convicting and drawing you and bringing you to faith in Christ. It says very clearly, not only elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, but look, in sanctification of the Spirit, in the setting apart of the Spirit. The best commentary on this is found in God's word. Not anything that I could say. The best commentary is found on this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 13 through 14, which says, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which he called you by our gospel. For, now here's key, it ties everything in with 1 Peter, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, not only that, the Son, did you see what he said? He said, not only the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Also, the Son of God had to die on the cross for our sins, or there could be no salvation. Right here in this verse, in verse 2, the Bible says, We have been chosen by the Father, we have been purchased by the Son, and we have been set apart by the Spirit. And it takes all three if there is to be a true experience of salvation. It takes all three. Let me personalize it for you. As far as God the Father is concerned, I was saved when he chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world. As far as the Son is concerned, I was saved when he died for me on the cross. And as far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved one night in September in 1982 when I heard the gospel and received Christ. That's what took place. And then it all came together, but it took all three persons of the Godhead to bring me to salvation. And if we separate these ministries, if we try to dissect and separate these ministries, what happens is we either deny divine sovereignty or human responsibility. And to do either of those would lead to heresy. Would lead to false teaching.

Partnering Through Prayer And Giving

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Before we return to today's teaching, we want to thank those of you who help make foundations of truth possible through your prayers and faithful financial support. Our purpose is simple: to proclaim the unchanging truth of God's word clearly and faithfully in a world that desperately needs to hear it. When you give, you help us continue bringing biblical teaching like today's message to listeners who need the hope, assurance, and transforming truth of the gospel. If God is using this ministry to encourage or strengthen you, would you prayerfully consider standing with us? You can give securely online anytime at foundationsoftruth.net. That's foundationsoftruth.net. Your generosity helps us continue proclaiming God's truth and pointing people to the living hope found only in Jesus Christ. Now let's return to today's

Living Hope And An Unfading Inheritance

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message. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

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Now the Apostle Peter does not deny man's responsibility and God's plan to save sinners because 1 Peter verses 23 through 25, he emphasizes the fact that the gospel was preached to these people and that they heard it and believed. Not only that, Peter's own example at Pentecost is ample proof that we do not just leave it all to God and never urge lost sinners to come to Christ, because Peter preached the most gospel-driven repentance and faith-saturated messages recorded in all of God's word and called upon them to believe, and called upon them to repent. And 3,000 were saved. And so the same God who ordains the end, which is our salvation, also ordains the means to the end, which is the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God. And repentance and faith. And so we see here a Christian's birth described. And it all points to what? The glory of God. Not me. Not you. I can't take any credit for it. I don't even like to use the term anymore and talk about when I got saved. No, friend, it's when the Lord saved me. It's when the Lord saved me by his grace. Yes, I repented and I believed, but that was his work in my heart and my life. So as we think about how a believer is born for glory, not only does Peter provide for us in rich terminology in verses two and three that uh see a Christian's birth described, but we also see a Christian's hope described. Do you see that? Verses three and four. He he says it very clearly. To begin with, I want to tell you, it is a living hope because it's grounded on the living word of God. That's why it's a living hope. And it was made possible by the living Son of God who rose from the dead. See, a living hope is one that has life in it. And therefore it can give life to us. And because it has life, it grows and becomes greater and more beautiful as time goes on. I don't know about you, but I've discovered that time destroys most hopes. Time destroys most hopes. They fade and then they die in the sense of dreams and those kinds of things. But the passing of time only makes a Christian's hope all that more glorious. Why? Because as Brother David says, every once in a while I ask him, How are you doing? He says, I'm one day closer. That's right. The passing of time only makes a Christian's hope that much more glorious. And the apostle Peter called this hope an inheritance. Did you see that in verse 4? He says, to an inheritance. And as children of the king, if you were in this place this morning, you're genuinely saved by God's grace, as children of the king, we share in the inheritance and glory. We share in that. We're included in Christ's last will and testament, and we'll share in that glory with him. Now, I want you to notice, notice the description of this inheritance, for it's unlike any other earthly inheritance. For one thing, it is incorruptible. That's what he says. That means nothing, nothing, nothing can ruin it. It's incorruptible. He also says it's undefiled. That means it cannot be stained and it cannot be cheapened in any way. None whatsoever. It'll never grow old. Why? Because it's eternal. It'll never wear out, nor can it disappoint us in any way. This living hope. And in 1 Peter verse 5 and in verse 9, he called this inheritance salvation. Salvation. If you are saved, if you are indeed saved, you are already saved through faith in Christ. But the completion of that salvation awaits the return of the Savior when Jesus comes. And then I'm glad to tell you, we shall have new bodies and we'll enter into a new environment, which is called the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. And in 1 Peter 1, verse 7, Peter called this hope the appearing of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul calls it the blessed hope, the appearing of Jesus Christ. What a thrilling reality to know that now I have been born for glory. You have been born for glory. And when we were born again by the Spirit of God, we exchanged the passing glory of man for the eternal glory of God. So the first thing that the Apostle Peter encourages us with is that believers were born for glory. Christians are born for glory.

Kept For Glory By God’s Power

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Not only that, verse 5. It says, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Not only are you born for glory, believers are kept for glory. Kept for glory. Not only is the glory being reserved for us, but we are being kept for glory. That means this reservation will never be confused or never canceled. That's not going to happen to us when we arrive in heaven, because our future home and our inheritance is already guaranteed and reserved. You might say, well, but suppose we don't make it. A timid and doubting believer might ask. Suppose we don't make it. But we will. We will. Why? Because genuine believers, the Bible says, are being kept by the power of God. That's what it said right here. Kept by the power of God. Now that word, kept, I can relate to that word because it's a military word. It means guarded or shielded. And the tense of the verb that we see here kept, it reveals that we're constantly being guarded by God, assuring us that we will arrive safely into his presence. Arrive safely into heaven. That same word is used in the New Testament in other ways to describe the soldiers who were guarding Damascus when Paul made his escape, and there's some other places throughout the Bible. I hope you settle the issue this morning and know. Today, that you are not kept by your own power, but you're kept by the power of God. Settle that issue. Our faith in Christ and His grace toward us has so united us with Him that His power now guards and guides us. His power does that. We're not kept by our own strength, but we are kept by His faithfulness. By His faithfulness. Now the question is, how long will He guard us? How long will He guard us? Well, Peter says until Jesus Christ returns. And then we'll then we will share in the full revelation of his great salvation. Now it's encouraging to know that we are being guarded for glory. But do you understand that according to Romans chapter 8, verse 30, that we've already been glorified? That's what he says. Romans 8 30. We're already glorified. You say, well, what's the problem then? Well, all that awaits, all that awaits is the public revelation of this glory. And that's coming someday. Do you understand that if any genuine believer were lost, it would rob God of his glory? And God is so certain, he assures us so absolutely that we will be in his presence, that we will be in heaven with him for all eternity, that he's already given us his glory as the assurance. He says that clearly. Seems like the longer I live, you can probably identify with this, the longer I live, the assurance of heaven is a great help to us today. It really is, especially when you see the world going the way it is. And as James M. Gray expressed it in one of his songs, he said, Who can mind the journey when the road leads home? It does. And if suffering today means glory tomorrow, then suffering becomes a blessing to us. Now the problem though is the unsaved, those who are not genuine followers of Jesus Christ, the unsaved have their glory now. And it will be followed by eternal suffering away from the glory of God. In light of this, I would encourage you all to jot down 2 Corinthians 4 verses 7 through 18. I don't have time to expand on that today. That's a great passage, though. You ought to read it and rejoice in it. 2 Corinthians 4 verses 7 through 18. If you belong to God, having been saved by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ, then you are being kept for glory. You've been born for glory, you're being kept for glory.

Trials That Prepare Faith For Praise

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But in verses 6 through 7, what the Apostle Peter teaches us through the Holy Spirit is that believers are being prepared for glory. Prepared for glory. Now he says in verse 6 and 7, in this you greatly rejoice. Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Let the genuine of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We must keep in mind that all that God plans and all that God performs here is preparation for what He has store for us in eternity. He's preparing us for the life and the service that is yet to

Final Encouragement To Stand Firm

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come.

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Thank you for joining us today for Foundations of Truth. If you'd like to hear this message again or to get further biblical resources, you can find us online at foundationsoftruth.net. Be sure to join us again tomorrow as Dr. Mann continues this message. God's glory is the believer's story from 1 Peter chapter 1. Until then, may you stand firmly on God's word. Rejoice in the living hope of Jesus Christ. And remember that for those who belong to Him, glory, not suffering, has the final word.