Well, last week we looked at the first 11 verses of chapter 4 in 1 Peter, and we looked at the six characteristics of the unbeliever. So they are given over to sensuality, they are given over to passions, to drunkenness, to orgies, to drinking parties, and to lawless idolatry. And then Peter contrasted the life of the unbeliever, or the Gentiles, he said, with the life of the believer. And we said the believer is to be self-controlled and sober-minded, hospitable, love one another earnestly, and then use the God-given gifts that you have to serve others. Well, the next section of verses that we're going to look at today is 1 Peter 4, verses 12 through 19. And it's going to deal specifically with trials and suffering, which really point back to verse 4, which we looked back at last week. It said, with respect to this, they are not surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. So the idea was the believer, some who had come to Christ later in life as adults, or being maligned, being ridiculed by former friends who did not understand their new way of life and their newfound faith in Christ. Some of you can certainly relate to that as well. Well, that's what he transitions with today. We'll start with verse 12, but let me just ask with a show of hands, how many of y'all have had trials in your life as a Christian? I'm not going to ask how many are currently facing trials, but no doubt many hands would go up or perhaps all. How many of you will face trials in your life? All right. So we're all on the same page. We all have a lot to learn about it, right? All right. Let's look. Beginning in verse 12 of 1 Peter 4. 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, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name, 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? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good." I'm going to look at this under three headings. First of all, we're going to look at the characteristic of trial, the one characteristic that Peter uses to describe trials. Secondly, we'll look at the purpose of trials. And then thirdly, we're going to look at our response to it. But Peter starts this section of verses by saying, beloved. Other translations would render it dear friends. So he's very pastoral and caring and loving in this epistle that he's writing to the church. He cares deeply for them, and he's also concerned about the many trials that they're going to face in the Christian life. You know, he writes, as we've talked about before, in the last several weeks, he talks a lot about trials. Many of the ones that he's writing to are new Christians. And so the Jewish Christians were used to persecution, right? But the Gentile Christians were not as accustomed to it, and really, in many ways, struggled with it, the historical records would show, and had a hard time dealing with the persecution that came from them becoming Christians. John Calvin comments, when he, that's Peter, exhorts the faithful to patience, he sometimes speaks generally of troubles common to man's life, but here, meaning in this section of verses, he speaks of wrongs done to the faithful for the name of Christ. So it's not just trials in general, it's specifically trials that we endure because we're Christians. So let's look first of all at verse 12. He uses one adjective to describe trials. What is that? Now, when you look at the term, the Greek word fiery, it actually comes and refers to the process of burning. We can take this literally as some of the passages do that speak to fiery and burning in Revelation, but here Peter's using it more figuratively. Now, what do you think of when you think of a fire or you think of something burning? What comes to mind? Consumption. Consumption. That's good. Heat. Smoke. Destruction. Flame. What was that? Pain. Absolutely. Something you don't want. Okay. If you've set the fire. Warmth. Danger, somebody said? Okay. So let's take some of those things, and I'm gonna extrapolate a bit on this, okay? So if you think about fire, it can be painful to us, right? If we touch it, we teach our kids, don't touch the stove, don't touch the fire, it can burn you, it can be hot, right, and painful. But in the same way that it's hot, We can become, follow me on this for just a second, we can become hot-tempered or angry when we have trials, right? We can become angry at the Lord at times. We can become hot-tempered with those that are closest to us, which is usually our spouse. sometimes our kids, when we have trials that come before us. Now, fire is not only hot, but it can make us uncomfortable. And there's a difference between you starting a fire in the fireplace and actually seeing a fire burning in the distance. Okay? When do you have more fear? When there's a fire in the fireplace that you've started or when you see one in the distance? You see one in the distance, right? Because you didn't start that one. And we think when we start one in the fireplace, we kind of have control over that. But when you see one burning in the distance, you have no idea how it began, or what kind of impact it's going to have, or how it's going to spread, or how much acreage it's going to cover, or who's going to be hurt. So we, at times, can have fear over those kinds of wildfires, so to speak. Well, in the same way, we can have fear when we encounter fiery trials. We didn't set them necessarily, but we know who did allow them to be set, right? We know as Christians that God ordains our fiery trials. And so we might be uncomfortable with them at times. but we have to trust in Him who has ordained them. He's really not, Peter's really not interested in describing the trial itself other than to say, hey, it's fiery. But he's more interested in conveying through these verses the purpose of the trials, which we know the purpose of trials is to test the genuineness of our faith, right? That's really what trials are about. Matthew Henry writes, and I put this on the handout. I think this is important to keep in mind when we're going through trials. Though they be sharp and fiery, yet they are designed only to try, not to ruin them, to try their sincerity, strength, patience, and trust in God. In other words, God is not ruining you through trials. He's testing you. He's trying you. He is making you more holy. There's a correlation here with 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, which we covered several weeks ago. Who's got those verses to share? In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith, a greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. So gold is moldable by fire in the same ways we are moldable through fiery trials. God preserves us. He grows us through trials and testing. But, you know, deep down, we want to be comfortable, right? We don't want these trials. We prefer just to not have any trials. How many of y'all said, I just want a week where I'm just, things are okay? We've all said that, right? But the Lord may not want that. The Lord will continue to send fiery trials that we may grow in Him. And I don't know what your trials are, but I know you've got them. It may be a hard medical diagnosis. It may be a hard relationship, perhaps even with a spouse, with a parent, with a child, maybe financial difficulty. It may be, as Peter is talking about specifically in these verses, persecution because you are a Christian. Maybe people at work are making fun of you. Maybe people in your family, extended family, are making fun of you. We know that God has ordained them, that our faith might be tested and proved genuine. We've looked at the fieriness of the trials, we've looked at the purpose, but what about our response? Verse 13 says, to rejoice, and then goes on to say, insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. Now, another word for rejoice is to celebrate. So, some of y'all, if you really think about this, are kind of backing up like, wait a minute, I mean, we're supposed to rejoice and celebrate when trials come our way? Why? Why are we to do that? Testimony to others around us of how we handle the trials. Did you say testimony to others around us of how we handle the trials? Absolutely. Makes us more aware of God's help. Yeah. His comfort. Part of the path to following Jesus. Right. And as much as we think we suffer, we have no idea what suffering is like compared to what he suffered for you. and for me. Specifically, in this verse, he's talking about, Peter's talking about how when we suffer for the name of Christ, we suffer and we share in Christ's sufferings. Simon Kistemacher explains, Christ identifies with His people. That's with you and me. He identifies with us. When we suffer for His cause, He suffers. When we teach and preach the gospel, when we witness for Jesus, when we encounter affliction for His sake, we are participating in the sufferings of Christ. Paul writes about the apostles being arrested and free. This is a great passage in Acts 15, or excuse me, Acts 5. He's got Acts 5, 41 and 42. No one does, and I'll read it. All right. Then they left. This is talking about the apostles after they were freed from prison. They left the presence of the council rejoicing that they had counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Isn't that a great passage? They were arrested for preaching. They were freed, and what did they do? They kept preaching, right? And they also counted it worthy to suffer dishonor for him. How about us? When we come through the trials and are freed from the fiery trials, as it were, do we keep on living the Christian life? Or are we just worn out from it all? No, we keep on knowing that it's Christ who has suffered far more than we have. And it's the Holy Spirit who keeps urging us, right, to live the Christian life in a way that's pleasing to Him. We're to follow the example of Christ. We're to also follow the example of these apostles. What does it mean when Peter says in verse 13, he writes, when His glory is revealed? What does that mean right there? when His glory is revealed. When will Jesus' glory be revealed ultimately? Yeah, when he comes back at the second coming of Christ, the return of Christ, Matthew writes of this, when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne, Matthew 25, 31. It kind of reminds me of a great hymn that Charles Wesley penned, it says, Rejoice, the Lord is King, your Lord and King adore. Rejoice, give thanks, and sing, and triumph evermore. Lift up your heart, lift up your voice. Rejoice again, I say, rejoice." This is our hope, knowing that Christ will come again. So in other words, we can rejoice in trials, we can celebrate trials, though it seems like an oxymoron, knowing that the Lord is testing our faith through them, and that He has suffered for us, and that He will come again. That's our hope. Well, in verse 14, Peter says that you are blessed if you are insulted because of Christ, specifically because the Spirit of glory in God rests on you. So let's look at this a little bit further. It's the second time that Peter says in this particular epistle of 1 Peter that he says that you are blessed. And both times are in the context of suffering. Simon Kistemacher comments, if the harsh reality, I meant to bring a coin in here for purposes, but my magic, a coin, if the harsh reality of verbal abuse is the one side of the proverbial coin, the reward of heavenly bliss is on the other side. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains the term blessed with these words. Who's got Matthew 5.12? Oh, here's a coin. Thanks, Susan. All right, so we got verbal abuse on the one side means you are suffering scorn for the sake of Christ. You're being persecuted. People are mocking you. They're making fun of you for being a Christian. On the other side is heavenly bliss, knowing that your eternal reward is coming, knowing that this is not our home, knowing that our trials are, we could say, making us fit for heaven as we grow in holiness. Thank you for that. All right, so who's got Matthew 5, 12? Yeah. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. There you go. So the suffering Christian knows that the Holy Spirit is helping us and that God the Father will never leave us. even during trials. Well, Peter then moves on to discuss suffering from two different aspects. He talks about the guilty party in verse 15, and he talks about the innocent party in verse 16. We could word it that way. The guilty party, he says in verse 15, are the murderer, the thief, the evildoer, and the meddler. And he says that the believer should not be suffering from these particular sins. Now it's interesting to me that Peter puts the characteristic of meddling in with stealing and murdering and doing evil. Anybody surprised by that? Ken's not. Oh, that's true. Okay. So when you think about meddling, what do you think about? You can meddle to cause conflict between people. Did you hear what she said about you type of stuff? So that's kind of Mary Paul's witness in ways. Interfere with. Yeah, that's a good day. Anybody else when you think about meddling? You know, meddling is those things, and it is interfering with the lives of others. It's being given to gossip and slander, and it certainly is disrupting peace and purity. Is it not? It's disrupting peace and purity in the community, in the community of believers, in the church. This is what meddling does. Peter says, don't do this. This is just like murdering or stealing or doing evil. don't meddle. However, he says in verse 16, if you do suffer for being a Christian, don't be ashamed for that, but rather glorify God. John Calvin says, after having forbidden the Christians to do any hurt or harm, that's what he did in verse 15, less for their evil deeds like the unbelieving, they should become hateful to the world. He now bids them to give thanks to God if they suffered persecutions for the name of Christ. Well, Peter then concludes by saying, he's talking about the judgment to come. And he says that judgment begins with the household of God. And then he asks seemingly a rhetorical question when he says, what will be the outcome for those who don't obey the Lord? What's going to be the outcome for them? Yes, no doubt it's going to be hell, but it begins with us. Judgment day will occur, and God will be quick to testify against the wicked. Who has Malachi 3.5? This really describes us well. Yeah, Debbie. And I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless. against those who cross the side of sojourner and do not fear me, says the Lord. Yeah, you know, this is an interesting comparison because he's talking about our sufferings as Christians and then he's talking about the judgment. Well, the reason he's doing that, Matthew Henry says, the sufferings of good people, Christians we could say in this life, are demonstrations of the unspeakable torments that are coming upon the disobedient and disbelieving. And so we'll say in the context of these verses, the fiery trials that you have in this life, maybe you're having them now, certainly you will have them, pales in comparison both pointing backward to what Christ has endured for you and suffered for you, and it also pales in comparison to the everlasting and eternal torment of the unbeliever. Well, verse 18 then goes on to say that the righteous is scarcely saved. In other words, Matthew 7, 14 says, for the gate is narrow, the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. The Christian life is not easy. In fact, actually life is easier for the unbeliever. Wouldn't you say that to be the case? You know, the unbeliever can live in this world and not have a problem with it. They don't struggle knowingly with sin. They're not conscious of the fact that what they're doing is an offense to God. So they don't have this putting off and putting on struggle like we as Christians have. And so we're going to... We're gonna be hit with it. We're gonna be hit with trials. This is not our eternal home, and we're gonna struggle with temptations, but also with trials throughout this life. Peter says, though, this, and this is what we're to do continually, but certainly as we approach trials. Verse 19, if you're suffering, then you need to entrust your souls to God while doing good. I love the word entrust. If you look at it, it actually means, as Wikipedia would say, to put something into someone's care or protection. So whose care are we under as Christians? It's not a trick question. That's right. We're under the care of our Lord Jesus, right? And so as we go through trials, but even as we go through times that are relatively easy, we're to continually entrust our souls, in fact, our very life to the Lord Jesus, knowing that he has saved us, knowing that he suffered more than we ever will in this life, knowing that you are bought and redeemed with a price, and that what he has begun for you in your life, he will continue it until the day of completion. That's our hope. Dave, can you close us in prayer today? Lord God, many times in public during the Bible hour, we've heard this message over and over and over. Lord, when will we get it? As we look back over our own lives, we understand the times we've grown most are the times that we've heard. And we follow the triumphs that the church has gone through that the church has grown most. When's the best music been written? When's the greatest revival occurred? All that Jesus laid before us, he said we will walk through the valley. And when we're down there, Heavenly Father, you will never leave us nor forsake us. There's a purpose. There's a reason. But by the grace of God, we would understand, Heavenly Father, we look to you so much more. When we're hurt, when we're broken, we will walk through the trials. May others see Christ Jesus in us through all things that we've lost. So the world will never stop us in some place. May we glorify Jesus' name, particularly this suffering season as we come to resurrection. Sunday, he was broken, nailed to the tree, and I think I suffered, my Savior. Thank you, Lord, today. In that name, give us, above every other name we pray, the precious, precious name of Jesus.