Trial by Fire
1 Peter: Chosen • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 Peter 4:12-19 “12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”
Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you
Even though Peter’s audience has suffered somewhat, there were worse things ahead
Peter is writing from Rome
Emperor Nero—
It is believed that Peter wrote this epistle right around the time of the great fire of Rome
There is some dispute by historians over who exactly was at fault for this fire, or how the fire started.
It’s pretty common to lay the blame for the fire at Nero’s feet.
He was a visionary and had big ideas about how the city of Rome could be improved and strengthened.
Rome at this time had close to one million inhabitants and was comprised mostly of poorly constructed slums
And Nero really wanted a better-looking city
So it’s commonly believed that he started the fire in order to have an excuse to rebuild the city
But however it started, the result was that nearly 70% of the city was completely or partially destroyed
Hundreds of lives were lost and many more people lost their homes and their livelihoods
And Nero, to improve his standing with the citizens of Rome deflected the blame for the fire onto a group that was already under suspicion by Rome—The Christians
And this opened the door for state-sanctioned persecution of the Christians
Would pull Christians from prison, impale them on a stake, smear them with tar and light them on fire
And it’s around this time that Peter was writing his epistle.
And doubtless, as he thought about Christians in the wider Roman empire, he thought, “This is the kind of persecution that they are going to face…literally a trial by fire”
And while he has specifically talked about suffering on a number of occasions before in this letter
Now, he addresses something very specific. And I think that he uses this word “fiery” very intentionally
This is suffering of the most intense kind. Suffering to the point of death
Remember your identity—Beloved
He addresses them as “beloved”
Which is appropriate because he’s talking about some hard things
Suffering of the most intense kind
We all doubt God’s love for us at times when we are going through trials
We wonder, “God, do you really love me?”
It’s that age old question, “Can God really love someone and yet allow that person to go through such hard trials”
Well, the answer is, “Yes!” He does love you very much
We see Peter’s pastoral heart here
He uses a very intimate term with his listeners: “Beloved”
You could also say “Dear”.
It’s like a husband talking to his wife
Which is appropriate, isn’t it
This isn’t just Peter’s message to people whom he loves very much,
This is Christ’s message to His bride, the church.
Beloved, remember first of all your identity.
God is love. He loves the world that He created, and everything that is in it
But He reserved a special kind of love for you, the Bride of Christ, the Church
But, as you rest in His love for you...
Expect Fiery trials!
Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you
This is a good reminder for us, isn’t it? Don’t be surprised WHEN
I know that a lot of this feels like we are going over ground that we have covered before…and we are
But real and fiery persecution, if it came upon us tomorrow, would feel like a surprise to us, wouldn’t it
I know that we at least acknowledge in our heads that this kind of persecution could happen…sometime
But we don’t really expect it to happen and we hope that it won’t, at least not in our life time
But meanwhile, around the world, millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing this kind of fiery persecution
I did some research on statistics of the persecution of Christians in the world today
I found that it is very hard to nail down exact numbers, especially when it comes to how many Christians die in the course of a year for their faith
One thing that seems pretty clear to most researchers is that the persecution of Christians is rising significantly around the world.
Over 300 MILLION Christians around the world live in countries where their likelihood of being persecuted, beaten, arrested, or even killed is very high or extreme.
As Open Doors emphasizes “That’s one in 8 worldwide,
1 in 12 in Latin America,
1 in 6 in Africa,
2 out of 5 in Asia
That means, if there are 100 of us here in this room, 40 of us would be facing a high probability of dying for our faith
That’s significant!
We don’t know what that would be like
But recently we had the COVID pandemic
For us in the American church, I believe that the COVID pandemic was a gentle wake-up call
I say gentle because no one, at least in our country was executed for their COVID response, that I know of
yet, we were forced to feel uncomfortable and we were forced to consider how we were going to respond to what we felt were unjust and unreasonable demands by our government
And maybe you could say that we felt a bit surprised. We didn’t feel prepared for this sort of thing. It came on so suddenly.
That’s what a surprise is, right? It’s something that you weren’t prepared for
But here we are being exhorted to NOT be surprised
That means we start preparing for it now
And that’s not a foreign concept to us. We prepare for other things that we don’t know if or when they will happen
We buy car insurance in case we have an accident
We make a will for the day when we die
And right now, we can be preparing for this eventuality
By asking the LORD to help us be faithful
Faithful in the little things
To honor Christ, set Him apart, as holy in our hearts (3:15)
So that when the BIG trial comes, we have already been practicing being faithful
In the midst of trials and suffering, don’t lose your joy
1 Peter 4:13 “13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
Wow, this is a hard one for me. Choose joy
I know my tendency to despise trials. To forget that indeed I am loved, as we talked about just a bit ago
And to feel like, “God, where are you? Why don’t you do something?”
It’s so easy for me to equate God’s faithfulness with my own comfort
In other words, the better I am doing, or the more that things seem right with the world, the more faithful God must be
I feel like my joy seems to disappear so quickly when life is tough
And what am I going to do when I am facing a fiery trial?
And this reminder that Peter gives here is something that I probably need more than just about anyone
But I think we need to be reminded of this more than ever today
Because there is teaching that we are hearing, even right here in our community that says, whether saying it outright, or giving the impression
That says, “If you are a Christian, and you are being blessed by God, you are going to see it in
material blessings
Physical blessing, health
And that you can claim these blessings and speak them into your life
And there is part of me that wants to believe this. Or maybe, as uncomfortable as it is for me to say, there IS part of me that believes this
Because when things get tough, then I start to wonder about the goodness of God
I start to forget that there WILL be suffering, and...
In the midst of trials, especially when you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings, rejoice!
Why do you rejoice?
Because you are sharing something with Christ—His sufferings.
This word in verse 13 translated “to share”, or “to participate”, is the same Greek root word that is often translated “fellowship”. κοινωνέω (koinōneō)
You rejoice because this suffering is something that is meant to deepen your fellowship with Christ.
the things that deepen the bond between people are share experiences
And here is an experience that you share with Christ!
And we think, “Man, couldn’t there be a better way? I’d rather have my fellowship with Christ deepened while life is going well!”
But as we read Scripture, we hear the longing of the writers, like apostle Paul, who say, “I want ALL of Christ. I want to share everything that He has for me
Phil. 3:10-14 “10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, (yes, absolutely! I want to share in His resurrection!) and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,(oh, no. Really? I’m not so sure about that!) 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
But you know this. It’s in suffering that if you let it do what it is meant to do, that you learn to know Him in a way which would be impossible in a life of ease
You rejoice because of a future hope of glory
…when His glory is revealed
The Holy Spirit rests on you
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you
If you are suffering for the name of Christ, it is an indication that the Holy Spirit is resting upon you
And, if He is resting on you, He will also aid you in the time of trouble
Allow suffering to reveal what is in your heart
In other words, if you find yourself suffering, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal to you whether or not the suffering which you are facing has been brought on by your own actions
vs. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler
As I look around this church, I doubt that any of us are in the practice of stealing. We probably aren’t theives
And I don’t think that any of us have killed someone (although I have been guilty of hating which is the same as murder)
But he also says, don’t suffer as a meddler
An interesting word
It means, “a busybody”, one who pries or snoops in other people’s business
In the Christian world, it could refer to one who tries to impose their Christian beliefs on someone who is not ready to receive it
On the way to church on Sunday, you might see your neighbor out spraying his field
And on Monday you stop by his house and say, “Hey man, I noticed that you were out spraying yesterday. Don’t you know that’s a sin and that you ought to keep the LORD’s day holy?”
What do you think is going to be his response to you?
Get out of my house! Who do you think you are coming over here and trying to tell me what to do
And the next time he sprays, he waits until a windy day and lets his spray drift across into your field and you lose some crops
And you go away thinking, “My, my. This is a cross I have to bare. Lord, help me through this trial”
Umm, actually, maybe you should have refrained from meddling.
Maybe you should have prayed for divine wisdom in approaching your neighbor.
Maybe you should have gone to him with a listening ear
Maybe there were other things going on in his life that made him get out there on Sunday morning and spray his field
This is just an encouragement and a reminder for the people of God to not be meddlers.
Don’t turn people against you and invite their abuse because you were unwise in your actions.
Rather, Accept the purifying work of suffering
1 Peter 4:17 “17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Peter is quoting or, perhaps paraphrasing
Prov. 11:31 “31 If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!”
I believe that we are being reminded of here is that God judges fairly
God disciplines His children, but he will punish the wicked…those who do not respond to his grace
God will use suffering as a way of disciplining or correcting His children
He uses it to purify us, as we have noted a number of times before
But for the wicked, their end is even more terrible.
This is a reminder that God is a righteous and completely just and fair judge
so, be careful that you are not meddling in the affairs of others, trying to get them to change
Now, of course we still witness, we are still image bearers of God, but let’s pray for wisdom in how we interact with those who may not know Him
In the midst of suffering, remember to glorify God
1 Peter 4:16 “16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
If you find yourself suffering for the name of Christ, do not be ashamed
This word ashamed means
Publicly disgraced
Humiliated
Embarrassed
dishonored
Rejected
This is a tool of the enemy—to inflict shame or humiliation on you because of the name of Jesus
Whether it is verbal abuse from co-workers or family, or in a public way
He wants you to feel shame, because shame is a powerful motivator
But the encouragement here is to be aware that the enemy is going to try to use shame to get you to abandon your faith
Be aware of that! be ready for that! And don’t be ashamed
Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel
Don’t be ashamed of the name of Jesus
Rather, actively glorify God during the persecution
Decide, even before the trial comes that God will receive glory in your life no matter what is happening
Whether it is by your words or your attitude, your life, resolve that God receives the glory
Listen to Apostle Paul’s attitude about suffering
2 Cor. 4:8-10 “8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
Does it sound like Paul is living a life of health, and wealth and “blessing” as we often think about blessing?
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
We suffer to the extent that we aren’t sure if we are going to be physically alive the next moment or the next day!
But that’s a reality, or should be a reality for all of us!
We do not have assurance of our next breath
So, we live with this knowledge of imminent death
and the world says, “How morbid! Stop thinking about death! Live a little!”
But, no! It’s with this knowledge and this realization that the life of Jesus is manifested in us
Manifested: Shown. Revealed.
HIS life is revealed in us. That is, others are seeing that Jesus is living through me. It points to Jesus. He gets the glory
2 Cor. 4:16-18 “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
(This is the life of Jesus)
It is His work that renews or transforms your inner man
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Peter says, that no matter what you face on this earth, in comparison to the weight of glory that is waiting for us,
This affliction is 1. Light, and 2. Momentary
Wow, what a reminder! A challenging reminder
Because suffering can be so intense and feel like it’s not going to end
But really, in comparison with the amazing glory that awaits us,
it is light and momentary
So, church, let’s be faithful in whatever God asks us to bear
Whatever fiery trial He ordains for us, let’s start preparing for it now by being faithful in the small things