How To Face Fiery Trials | 1 Peter 4:12-19 | Pastor John Miller

going to read all of the text verse 12 down to verse 19 of first peter chapter 4. peter starts with beloved thinking not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing has happened unto you but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of christ's sufferings then when his glory shall be revealed you may be glad with exceeding joy so if or since you be reproached for the name of christ happy or blessed are you for the spirit of glory and of god rest upon you on their part he has evil spoken that but on your part he is glorified but let none of you verse 15 suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evil doer or as a busybody in other man's matters yet if any man or person suffer as a christian let him or her not be ashamed but let them glorify god on this behalf for the time has come the judgment must begin the house of god and the first begin at us what shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of god and if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly or the sinner appear wherefore let them that suffer there's our theme according to the will of god commit the keeping of their souls to him that is god in well-doing as unto a faithful creator someone once said that god has only one son without sin but none without sorrow jesus christ is the only one who ever lived on earth and never sinned he is the sinless son of god but he also had sorrow he was the son of man and he came to suffer for our sins on the cross but he had no sin but he had sorrow he had suffering he had anguish of heart so we as god's people following god's son will also experience in this fallen world the results of having sorrow having sadness and suffering in the context peter is writing to saints that are suffering persecution and we don't know the form that it took but we know it was hostile world that was opposing them because of their faith in jesus christ he describes it in verse 12 as a fiery trial which was to try them so this was not some light thing this was a very severe fierce trial that they were facing in their faith so he instructs them how to respond from verse 12 to verse 19 in the midst of their suffering and so in this text i want to pull out four principles that we need to understand and four attitudes we need to have when we're dealing with fiery trials and the hardships or sufferings or opposition and persecution in this slide now this is a real note taking message it's just kind of one two three four right from the text and there's some sub points that are very important so the points will appear on the side screens but i want you to focus with me on the bible and on the text as i share these four things we need to remember to get through these sufferings that we face number one we need to expect it write that down verse 12. if we're going to be able to go through the fiery trials we need to expect that it's part and parcel of the christian life look at verse 12 it's marvelous peter says beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing has happened unto you now often when we're facing opposition or trials or testings or hardships one of the first things we do is we think it's strange we wonder why would god let this happen right don't we do that why did god let me get cancer why did god let my kid go astray why did god allow me to lose my job why did this happen to me you know one thing about the why questions knowing why does not ever relieve the problem if i break my arm and go to the doctor and he shows he shows me why my arm broke that doesn't help me i want to know it can be fixed i want to know i'm going to be better i want to know what you're going to do for me a matter of fact i've never broke a bone praise god but if i broke a bone i'd want him to put me out for about a month one month while they reset it i don't like pain i i'm kind of anti-pain type guy but we don't know why god allows what he allows but we know that god loves us look at verse 12 beloved i've circled that word i've underlined that word i've rested in that word i've stood on that word for many years it's a reminder to these suffering saints that god loves them don't you ever ever ever question the love of god when storms come when a fiery trial comes when hardships come never question the love of god love god's love is the foundation for your life and you can be sure that no matter what comes into your life that it is filtered through the love of god god would never allow anything to come into your life but what it would fulfill his divine purpose is loving purpose and plan for your life so remember god loves you and then secondly think it not strange thinking not strange now the word strange we get our word foreigner from it or alien so we use the word stranger or alien or foreigner so what he's saying is thinking that foreign or strange or alien that you as a christian a child of god would have to endure sorrow or suffering it's part and parcel of the christian life in other words don't be surprised don't think it's foreign and one of the reasons why we shouldn't think it's strange is because we live in a fallen world it's important for you to understand biblically that the world fell when adam and eve sinned in the garden of eden i believe in a literal adam and eve first man first woman created by god and god gave them you know ability to eat fruit in the garden but he gave that one tree the forbidden fruit and that one tree is where they went and ate and it brought sin and death and a curse upon not only the human race but upon all of the world and so we still live in this unredeemed world and unredeemed bodies and so we are subject to disease to infections to plagues to sicknesses to disasters and all those things that happen in this fallen world so don't think it's strange that you as a child of god would encounter these things but they are also called trials there in verse 12. it is a trial to try you so it is something that god designs something that god purposes something that god organizes in order for your good and for his glory so don't think it's strange and then notice another key word in verse 12 it's the word happened this didn't just happen unto you it actually was planned and designed by god the word happened there literally means to throw together so it has the idea that it didn't it didn't just happen haphazardly that god purposed it god designed it and god planned it one of the things that comforts me when things go crazy in my life is to realize god is in control you ever feel like your life's out of control and it's so assuring to know that god is in control when the world looks out of control when my life seems out of control i know that god sits on the throne amen and he orders all things so the first thing that we do is we don't question we don't think it's strange but it says there that we don't freak out we don't think it's strange d edmond hebert said he who enlists under the banner of the crucified christ need not be surprised if conflict and hardship and suffering follow here's what jesus said he said in this world you shall have tribulation you know the verse right you ever seen these little kind of little pieces of bread little plastic holder container piece of bread with little promise cards in it and you pull out the promise card and has a promise for the day i've never pulled one of those cards out and seen a promise and said you shall have tribulation if i did i'd throw it away start all over try another one it's kind of like a little promise from god you're going to have tribulation i don't know why those aren't in promise boxes i've never seen that because we don't like that idea in the world we shall have tribulation a lot of popular preaching going on today on tv that if you're a king's kid it's your best life now everything will be wonderful and everything will go smooth and everything will be happy yes we're blessed yes god's in control but there's times when we walk seemingly in darkness and we don't see god we don't feel god although in the dark he's never at a distance don't forget that he's always with us guiding us and directing us so don't think it strange that you should suffer expect it here's the second thing you need to remember that you should exalt christ in your suffering whatever you're going through whatever difficulty whatever hardship it should always be an opportunity to glorify god that's the reason we're in this world and god allows us to suffer notice verse 13 and 14. peter excuse me says but rejoice now it's an intended contrast don't think it's strange negative don't do that but rejoice so what we're not supposed to do is in verse 12 what we're supposed to do is in verse 13 we are to rejoice in as much as you are partakers of christ's suffering then when his glory shall be revealed you'll be glad with exceeding joy since you be reproached for the name of christ happy or blessed are you spirit of glory and of god rest upon you on their parties evil spoken up but on your part he is glorified so what we have here is peter showing us what not to do and then what to do don't panic but praise and by the way this rejoice in verse 13 is an imperative in the present tense it's a command that we are to continually ungoingly habitually rejoice in the lord you say well wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute preacher how am i supposed to do that that's hard when life gets difficult and trials come my way i usually sulk and complain and tell god i'm not going to go to church today i'm not going to sing songs today i'm not going to give to you today because you're not blessing my life many times we equate god's blessings on life being smooth and life is not always smooth sailing so we're to rejoice even when we're going through suffering peter in acts chapter 5 along with silas or along with the other disciples excuse me he was beaten and punished for preaching christ it says in acts 5 41 they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his name so peter knew what it was to rejoice even in persecution acts 16 one of my favorite stories in the book of acts paul and silas were in philippi they were whipped they were beaten they were arrested they were thrown into prison and put in stocks that would be considered bad right how are you doing paul not too good we just got arrested how you doing paul not too good we just got beat up how you doing paul not too good i'm in stocks how you doing paul not too good it's midnight i should be sleeping right now but you know what they did they sang songs and i think they were praise songs they began to praise the lord in the midst of their darkness could you sing in those circumstances would you lift your heart in praise can you imagine paul turning the silence and saying let's sing right now you want to slap the dude right no way i'm going to say but paul knew that the circumstances were under god's control and as they sang and as they worshipped god sent an earthquake the jail was opened the the philippian jailer came in and said what must i do to be saved you know luke includes a little thing in that narrative that's interesting he says that they sang praises the prisoners heard them what a testimony they were when we sing in difficult circumstances people are listening people are watching we're a testimony for christ we glorify god on his behalf and the philippian jailer's result came in and said sirs what must i do to be saved had the passage said they sulked and they complained and they griped i don't to think the philippian jailer would have gotten converted so we need to shine in the midst of even that darkness by rejoicing write down matthew 5 verse 12 jesus said rejoice and be exceedingly glad why for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you in the book of james chapter 1 and verse 2 james says my brethren counted all the joy when you fall into different trials and testings knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience so we're to rejoice now it's so difficult to do that peter elaborates on that and he gives us four reasons to rejoice i want you to note them in the text firstly we rejoice because our suffering for christ means a deeper fellowship with christ when we suffer in the will of god when we suffer for christ's name's sake then it brings us into a deeper fellowship with him look at verse 13 in as much as you are partakers notice that of christ's suffering so you have a colonia partnership partakers of christ's sufferings so it doesn't mean you're suffering for your salvation it means that you're suffering because of your identification with christ so what a blessing it drives us deeper into fellowship this is what paul was praying for in philippians 3 10 when he said i want to know him and the fellowship of his what sufferings i want to be made conformitable unto his death i want to attain to the resurrection of christ so he wanted a deeper more intimate full experience of christ and fellowship with him secondly we rejoice in our suffering because our suffering now for christ means glory when christ comes again look at it in verse 13 he said that when his glory shall be revealed this is a future coming of christ you may be glad with what exceeding joy i like the fact that in this passage on suffering you have a reference to glad with exceeding joy so right now weeping may endure for the night but what comes in the morning joy right right now we see through a glass dimly but then face to face when our hearts will rejoice right now there may be tears but when we get to heaven he'll wipe every tear from our eyes right now there may be death but then there'll be no death no dying right now there may be sorrow but right then there'll be joy for the former things are passed away so we need to be heavenly minded we need to be focused on eternity when the outlook is bad try the upload keep your focus on jesus christ and realize that when he comes that if i suffer now i shall reign then if i bear the cross then i will also one day wear the crown what a glorious thing that shall be and then verse 13 he says his glory shall be revealed and we will be glad with exceeding joy suffering now makes us long for glory in romans 8 verse 18 paul says for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with what the glory that shall future tense again be revealed but here's the third reason why we should rejoice in our suffering and our persecution our suffering brings to us the ministry of the holy spirit that's one of my favorite points of this passage our suffering now brings to us the ministry the comfort the work of the holy spirit look at verse 14. he says if you be reproached for the name of christ you're going to suffer reproach for christ happy or blessed are you why because it's then that the spirit of glory and of god rest upon you the spirit of glory and of god is the holy spirit john bunyan many of you are familiar wrote the spiritual allegory pilgrim's progress from a prison in bedford england he made this statement i'll never forget he said in times of affliction we most commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of god i think that's so true c.s lewis that god shouts to us in our pain you want to hear god's voice it's during that time of suffering when god speaks so loud and clear it's hard sometimes when we're prospering to hear god speak but when we're suffering it draws us near and the holy spirit comes as the comforter remember jesus promised the what comforter the greek word is parakletos it means one who comes alongside to help us and strengthen us you know there's two things god can do when you're going through suffering he can either take away the suffering and the sorrow or he can give you strength to go through it and many times god uses the latter he gives us strength he doesn't take it away we still live in a fallen world but he gives us strength to endure it or strength to bear it because the holy spirit comes to us and comforts us and strengthens us in acts 7 when stephen was being stoned that's pretty radical persecution throwing rocks at stephen he's going to be stoned to death for preaching christ his face shone like an angel and he was glowing with the presence of the holy spirit and power upon his life the psalmist says in 125 as mountains surround jerusalem so the lord surrounds his people in psalm 23 and verse 4 we all know the passage yea though i walk through the valley of shadow of death literally in the hebrew it's a valley of deepest darkness child of light walking in darkness it happens not sin but sorrow child of god afflicted in this world yes it's not uncommon it's not foreign or strained don't think it's strange but though we're in the dark god is never at a distance that should be it's not that's not original that's not mine but you ought to write that down may be in the dark but god's never at a distance but i don't see him he's there but i don't feel him he's there we don't live by sight we live we don't live by feeling we live by faith amen so we know that he's promised i will never what leave you i will never no ever forsake you so even in the deep dark valleys of life thou art with me your rod and your staff they comfort me how assuring that is and here's the fourth reason to rejoice in our suffering our suffering enables us to glorify god notice verse 14 he says on their part he has evil spoken of now their part is the unbelievers persecuting the believers the saints but on your part that's the beloved the believers he is what glorified that's what we want we want christ to be exalted or glorified when we go through sufferings and hard times a devotional writer by the name of j.r miller said a photographer carries his picture into darkened room that it may bring out its features he says the light of the sun would mar the impression on the sensitized place there are features of spiritual beauty which cannot be produced in life and the glare of human joy and prosperity god brings out in many a soul its loveliest qualities when the curtain is drawn and the light of human joy has been shut out that's one of the most profound deepest truths in scripture the greatest joy is the fruit of sorrow the greatest joys of the fruit of sorrow and the sense of god's presence and comfort that i had never known if i had not passed through that deep dark valley that the lord was with me let me give you number three write this down whenever you're facing a fiery trial examine your life examine your life you know there's a danger that we get too introspective when we suffer and it's good to look at your life but be careful that you don't do too much introspection notice verse he said let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evil doer or as a busybody and other man's matter so they were being persecuted for christ's sake but he said just make sure look at your life examine your life that you're not suffering because of sin or some deliberate disobedience now you may say well i'm not a murderer but jesus said if you actually have hatred in your heart toward somebody you've murdered them maybe you murdered somebody on the freeway here today you say well i'm not a i'm not a thief i didn't steal anything well maybe you've stole someone's reputation by saying something that was untrue about them and then he gives us a general term evil doer and then he says a busybody isn't it interesting in the list with murderers and evil doers busybodies and other man's matters so if you're a gossip or a busy body or you've been doing things you shouldn't and you get persecuted you can't say oh praise the lord persecuted for righteousness sake no no no no shame on you you're persecuted for stupidity sake you can't be glorifying god in that situation but you need to ask yourself some questions write them down you need to say am i suffering because of my sin verse 15. is it my sin that has brought my suffering on me if so then repent and get right with god secondly ask am i ashamed of christ or do i glorify christ in my suffering verse 16 let him glorify god on his behalf the word glorify god is in the present tense so it means habitual action and it's in the imperative again so it's a command that we continually ungoingly glorify god and then ask yourself this third question am i concerned for the lost when i suffer verse 17 and 18. this is interesting to me he says the time has come the judgment must begin at the house of god now this judgment and context is not talking about final judgment for sin jesus paid that on the cross for believers but he's talking about a present chastening of the lord and that god allows us to go through the fires so that he can purify us when you're in a fiery trial god's wanting to purify the dross the sin the selfishness in your life to make you more like christ so it starts at the house of god with believers and if it first begin with us as christians what shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of god the answer is certainly they will experience god's judgment and if they're righteous scarcely be saved now don't let that statement confuse you what does it mean the righteous are scarcely saved it means literally that christians are saved but they pass through hardship suffering and difficulty it's not saying god's kind of ringing his hands hoping oh i hope i can save them hope i can save them hope they make it it's saying that you are saved but you're saved through suffering you're saved through sorrow you're saved through hardship when you get saved god doesn't put you in a bubble to protect you from disease and afflictions and hardships of life we all suffer because we live in a fallen world we're in sinful sinful fallen bodies or unredeemed bodies that is but it's saying that we pass through sorrow scarcely or with hardship literally where shall then the ungodly and the sinner appear the end of verse 17 the end of verse 18 are two rhetorical questions that expect an answer they will be punished they will be judged so if god's allowing suffering and the believers house and life what can we expect for the unbelievers the wrath and the judgment of god so we need to expect suffering as well as rejoice in suffering and then thirdly examine our lives as we suffer that we know god is in control let me give you the fourth and last principle and this is my favorite this is why i love this portion of scripture and i wanted to share it with you this morning verse 19. wherefore now the fact that it starts with a wherefore indicates that it is a summary directive it is a summary of verses 12 to 18. everything he said from verse 12 to 18 is summarized wrapped up tied in a bow in verse 19. therefore wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of god notice that statement suffering according to god's will commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator here's my last point when you go through sorrow when you go through suffering when you go through trouble when you go through persecution that's what you do you commit yourself to god you entrust yourself to god i love that statement commit yourself to god i've almost titled my sermon have yourself committed i thought that'd be a great title to say lord i'm yours lord have your way i have learned that this is the most important principle in the life of a christian when you suffer commit yourself to god i'm in your hands you're in control you know what you're doing we're going to trust you we don't see we don't know but we're going to trust you we know you love us we know it's not strange we know we can glorify you we know that you can give us the holy spirit to comfort us and to help us through this time so he starts with the wherefore summarizes this now notice these directives point out that number one write this down our suffering can be in harmony with god's loving purpose and will in verse 19 he says suffer according to the will of god now if you have the liberty to line in your bible or underline or mark or make a note or make it in a side note notice that you can suffer and be in god's will there's some that would try to tell you that if you're suffering you're out of god's remember job's comforter showed up dude it didn't say dude i just throw that in there fella joe come on fess up the night you're in you're in the hospital you're sick you're laying flat on your back and your friends show them okay what'd you do sins in your life come on fess up let's have a confession here thank you very much false comforters are you all you can be smack dab to use a figure of speech in the center of god's will and suffer experience pain and loss don't you ever get the idea that because you're god's child you're not going to suffer but you can honor god you can glorify god you can magnify god you can experience god's presence you can be rejoicing in your hope of heaven all those things come into play here peter was told by the lord himself when you're converted peter after you fall turn around and strengthen your brothers and that's what he's doing in these words he's trying to strengthen us so i love this statement whenever i hear the prosperity health and wealth positive confession preachers i take note of this suffering according to the will of god then what do we do not only do we suffer according to the will of god but we actually could commit ourselves to him so our suffering can be in god's will a little quick point i want you to see verse 14 we suffer from the name of christ in verse 16 we suffer as a christian and then in verse 19 we suffer in the will of god but what we are to do this is the main thrust of verse 19 commit yourself to god now that word commit is a banking term it means to deposit with god what your soul the word soul means everything your mind your emotions your will your whole life submit it to god committed to god it's continually entrusting yourself to god's protective care it means to deposit for safe keeping look at first peter 5 7 in your bible peter says casting all your care upon him for he what he cares for you is that a great verse casting all your care committing all of your care entrusting your whole life to god commit your marriage to god commit your finances to god commit your health to god commit your occupation your business to god commit your grandchildren to god you'll take care of your great grandchildren to god he'll take care of them what a blessed it is to be able to entrust all things to god now you keep doing what is right thirdly notice that verse 19 in well-doing that little statement their in well doing verse 19 literally means keep doing what is right many times when we suffer we go okay that's it i give up i'm not going to pray i'm not going to read my bible not going to witness i'm not going to serve the lord anymore i throw in the towel no keep doing what is right and then fourthly in verse 19 remember god is faithful as unto a faithful creator now i've preached this verse many times for many years but i discovered this week it's the only place in the bible this phrase appears the only place in the bible you find this phrase and especially clearly in the new testament faithful creator together for a title for god is this one verse faithful creator not only did he create me but he's faithful i love that combination of titles faithful creator so who am i entrusting myself to who am i giving my life to a faithful creator he created you he can sustain you he can keep you he can protect you he can watch over you now if you get a chance check out the new living translation of verse 19. it reads like this so if you are suffering in a manner that pleases god keep on doing what is right trust your life to god who created you for he will never fail you i love that one of the things that i'm so thankful for is i look over my life as i look over my marriage i look over my children i now look in the faces of my precious grandchildren god is faithful as i look over this congregation as god has allowed me to pastor being under shepherd and feed his sheep god is faithful god has watched over and guided and provided and led me all these years god is so good i'm sure you have the same testimony god has never forsaken you god has never left you god has watched over you so when things go wrong and you suffer and you're walking in darkness trust your faithful creator write down ii timothy chapter 1 verse 12. paul said for i reckon that the sufferings of this world are not only worthy to be compared but he says i know whom i have believed and i know whom i am persuaded that he is able to do what keep what i have entrusted to him until that day god is faithful and he will keep what i have committed write down ii thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 3 where paul says but the lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil and then write down jude 24 where he says unto him that is able to what keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy so let me summarize again what we've covered when you're suffering when you're in a fiery trial number one expect it it's part and parcel of the christian life don't think it's strange number two exalt christ in it exalt christ in the middle of your suffering and number three evaluate your life am i suffering because of sin and disobedience do i need to repent and get right with god am i concerned about the lost and the witness that i have and then number four entrust yourself to a faithful creator he's your creator he's your redeemer he is your father in heaven someone put it in a beautiful hymn when through fiery trials our pathway shall lie my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply the flame shall not hurt thee i only design thy dross to consume and your gold to refine let's pray

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Length: 35min 58sec (2158 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021