Paul put it this way, thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ and manifests

through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. He will always cause us to triumph.

And welcome to Grace to you with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. To help explain why God

allows trials. The evangelist, DL Moody, once gave this illustration, he said, when projected pictures

are to be viewed by an audience, the projectionist darkens the room so that the pictures may be more

fully seen. So God sometimes darkens our place on earth, and then before our souls, he makes to pass

the splendors and glories of the better land. Well, certainly the sufferings that we experience on

earth make us long for our heavenly home. But trials also strengthen us to serve God and minister to

His people, and today on Grace to you, John MacArthur will help you see that even when you're

persecuted for your Christian faith, you can find the path that leads through suffering to triumph.

That's the title of John's study, and with today's lesson here is John.

First Peter 318-22. Now we've been learning that the time of our Lord's greatest suffering

was also the time of great triumph. And the lesson for us here is plain.

Don't despair in the times of difficulty. Don't despair in the times of persecution. Don't despair in

the times of unjust treatment. Don't despair in the times of rejection. It could be the time of your

greatest triumph. That's what Peter wants his readers to understand. He's writing to persecuted,

rejected believers who are being treated unjustly, unfairly, and with great hostility. And he

wants to encourage them by reminding them that the time of our Lord's unjust treatment when he

was crucified was also the time of his great triumph. And we need to look at our own difficulty as a

time of triumph also. Look with me again at our text in verses 18-22. For Christ also died for sins,

once for all, the just, for the unjust. In order that He might bring us to God, having been put

to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit, in which also He went and made proclamation

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