TOPIC:"A Burst of Praise In the Midst of Pain"
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:I Peter 1:1-8
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:3, NIV)
In a personal letter written to Glenn Black, District Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church, thirteen days before his death, Dr. Paul S. Rees, suffering from a collapsed vertebra, told him that the Lord had given him "peace in the midst of pain." Then Dr. Rees added: "At the same time, He has kept alive the fire that burns for the communication of His Holy Word." Then Mr. Black adds this personal comment: "What a declaration and passion after 73 years of preaching." Imagine, peace and passion still existing even in the midst of pain.
That is precisely what Peter is advocating here in one of the most beautiful sections in all of the Bible. Following the designation of the sender in verse 1 and the description of the saints in verse 2, we have a portion of about seven verses that deal with the doxology about God. The KJV renders the words of our text in verse 3 this way: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," while Kenneth Wuest in his expanded translation of the New Testament has it: "Let the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be eulogized."
Now we usually eulogize someone at a funeral. But here Peter tells those of us in the faith to extol and praise the living God, and get this, we are to do it in the midst of all of our troubles and all of our sufferings. That is never an easy thing to do, but it can be done. Let us look together at what is involved in this matter of giving God praise in the midst of pain.
I.
Consider, to begin with, that we can praise God the Father for the SUPREME HOPE He PROMISES at the end of our troubles. Listen to Peter's words in verses 3 and 4: "In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in Heaven for you." The KJV renders verse 5 this way: "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." This inheritance is only for the Christian and it is eternal life and all that is promised with it.
From verse 4 we find Peter uses four words to describe the permanence of the Christian's future inheritance that they may cherish beyond all of their suffering. It is INCORRUPTIBLE which means it is imperishable, indestructible, and cannot be destroyed. It is UNDEFILED which means its beauty can never be spoiled or stained by sin. It is UNFADED which means the splendor . . .