Let us turn again to God's Word
in the chapter that we read in 1 Peter chapter 4 and directing
you again to the portion that we were considering this morning
in 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 12 to 19. I'm not going to read
the whole passage again but remind you that really we're taking
for our text the words that we find in verse 12 Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you
as though some strange thing happened unto you. We started
then to consider the truth of what Peter refers to as the fiery
trial which is the lot of believers, earlier we thought of the Christian
and something of his his sufferings, his reproaches as the Lord Jesus
himself said in the world you shall have tribulation but be
of good cheer I have overcome the world And as says the Lord,
so also says the Apostle, we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God. But as there is the suffering,
at the same time there is also the rejoicing the Lord Jesus
Christ through his sufferings as vanquished sin and Satan has
overcome the world. And so this morning we concluded
by saying something with regards to the rejoicings of those who
know what it is to be found in the midst of that fiery trial,
as we have it here in verse 13. But rejoice inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. But now, as we come again to
the same portion of Holy Scripture tonight, I want us to consider
how God, by the fiery trial, is in a sense judging his people
in this day of grace. As we see at the end of the portion,
verse 17, the time has come that judgment must begin at the house
of God. And if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear? How God, in a sense, is judging
his people by his dealings with them, the fiery trial that they
have to endure in the day of grace. And yet what a contrast
when we think of the unbeliever because the unbeliever is one
whose judgment awaits or there will be a day we read in verse 5 of him who
shall give account or those who shall give account to him that
is ready to judge the quick and the dead. Verse 7 he says the
end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer. Remember what we're told concerning
the ministry of Paul at Athens in Acts chapter 17. How he points
out there that The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a
guarantee that God has appointed a day of judgment. Acts 17.31, he says, God hath
appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness
by the man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. There
is a connection between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and
that judgment that is yet to come, that judgment that awaits
the ungodly. But how different it is for the
people of God. As we're told here at verse 17,
the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. the house of God. What is the
house of God? That's the church. It's the church in this day,
this day of grace. Peter, rather Paul, speaks of
the house of God which is the church. The church of the living
God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. And even Peter
here in the epistle speaks of believers being built up an holy
nation. He speaks of believers as those
who are living stones in God's building back in chapter 2. to
whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men
but chosen of God and precious ye also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect precious, and either believeth on him shall
not be confounded." Well, this is that house of God then that
is being spoken of in verse 17. The time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And this judgment is part of
that fiery trial. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some
strange thing happened unto you. We remarked this morning on the
double use of this word strange. Think it not strange as though
some strange thing happened. The word has the idea of something
unusual, unexpected, surprising. No, this is the light of the
people of God. In this day of grace, the Lord
deals with His people by the way of trial, of trouble, of
chastenings, of correctings. The fiery trial, which is to
try you. Well, first of all tonight I
want us to consider just what this judgment is that's associated
with the trial. This judgment that is spoken
of here in verse 17, the time has come. That judgment must
begin at the house of God. And first of all a negative.
To be clear we must understand what this judgment is not. what this judgment is not, and
it is not a judicial judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ has already
borne that judicial punishment of all the sins of his people,
and we need to be clear in that. The Lord Jesus Christ has borne
the penalty that was due to every sin ever committed by any of
those whose trust is in Him. Look at the language that we
have previously in chapter 2 and verse 24, "...who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree." The Lord Jesus
has borne that judicial punishment. Again, the language of chapter
3 and verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust to bring us to God. He has once suffered
and there can be no more suffering for sins in that sense. He has
paid the ransom price that was demanded by that Holy Lord of
God that the sinner has transgressed and we think of the language
of Toplady in that lovely hymn 227 if thou hast my discharge
procured and freely in my room endured the whole of wrath divine
payment God cannot twice demand First at my bleeding shortest
hand, and then again at mine. God cannot demand it. Why? Because
God is a just God. And it would be most unjust if
God was requiring a second payment of that dreadful penalty. The
judgments then that we're considering in that fiery trial that comes
upon his people is not a judicial punishment of their sins. Well
that's what it's not. What is it? What is the positive
answer to the question? Well, the punishment is a correction,
a corrective. It's God's chastenings. And doesn't the context, the
whole context here, indicate that very truth? Look at what he says, Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that
when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding
joy. If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. It's the fiery trial. And what is the fiery trial?
It's the trying of faith. It's the testing of faith. It's
the proving of the reality of that faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is not a spurious faith. It is not something that they
have imagined. But it's that that is truly the
gift of God. It's that faith that has come
by the operation of God in their souls. And we were looking this
morning at the verses that we have in the opening chapter.
Oh, he speaks of that salvation. In verse 5, in verse 6, he says,
wherein ye greatly rejoice, so now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and
honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. the fiery trial it's God coming
and dealing with his people and testing them just as he did with
Abraham who was the father of the faithful how Abraham's faith
was tried we were referring this morning to the language there
in Hebrews 11 17 And how did God test his faith? It was in the matter of the son
of promise, Isaac, whom he was told he must take and sacrifice
upon the Mount Moriah. It was a testing of his faith,
and he believed God. He believed that God would provide
himself a sacrifice. And as I said this morning, it
was in a sense in which he received his son Isaac again from the
dead, and Isaac a type of the Lord Jesus. And so the Lord says
to the Jews in his own day, concerning Abram of whom they made such
a boast, your father Abram saw my day and saw it and was glad.
It was Abram's faith that was being tried. And this is always
the lot of those who have saving faith. That faith must be proved
and proved in the fires. unto you which is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His sake," Paul says to the Philippians. And so, here in
the context, look at what the Apostle says, verse 16. If any
man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him
glorify God on this behalf, for the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God." Notice the time is come, he says. It's the present time. That time has come, it's the
day of grace, behold now is the accepted time. Behold, now is
the day of salvation. This is how the Lord deals with
his people. When we come to the end of the
New Testament Scriptures and the book of the Revelation, you
remember how, having been granted that remarkable revelation of
the glorified Christ in the opening chapter, John is immediately
instructed to send the letters to the seven churches in chapters
2 and 3. And, of course, those opening
chapters, those first three chapters, I suppose, are in many ways the
easiest part of the book. After that we come into the most
profound of revelations. But everything is quite clear
and straightforward there. But what is the message that
comes to the churches? Well, look at the language that
we have there. Revelation 3.19, God says, or Christ says, as
many as I love, I rebuke and chase them. as many as I love. And here in the text we read
of those who are the Beloved. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing
happened unto you. Again in the Revelation there
in chapter 2 and verse 33 the Lord says, And all the churches,
all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins
and the hearts. All the churches shall know it. That is the mark of the church.
It is where the Lord has his fire, his furnace as it were,
in Jerusalem. God's judgment for his people
then is now in the day of grace. But why? Why is it being referred
to as a judgment? In the text, verse 12, we read
of the fiery trial, which is to try you. But then here, at
verse 17, it is the judgment. that must
begin at the house of God. Why is it called a judgment?
Well, simply because when the trial comes there is nothing
at all haphazard in God's dealings. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? asks Abraham. God always does
that that is right. The psalmist says in the 119th
Psalm, Thou art good and thou doest good. And in all God's
ways, in all God's dealings, there's nothing that's not equitable
and right and proper. We can so easily, and we do,
we misjudge God. But I like the language that
we find there in Isaiah 27 and verse 8. The Prophet says, "...he stayeth
his wrath wind in the day of his east wind." Think of that, "...he stayeth
his wrath wind in the day of his east wind." Those things
that God sends to us, you see, they are all carefully weighed.
Again, the language of the Prophet Isaiah 26, 7, Thou most upright
dost weigh the path of the just. Who are the just that are being
spoken of there? That's the justified sinner.
Or that's the child of God, who is a priest with God. that one
who is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And how does God deal
with him? Well, God is an upright God,
the most upright of gods, and he always weighs the part of
his people. Remember the language that we
have in the New Testament there in 1 Corinthians 10, There hath
no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man but
God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that you are able but shall with the temptation make a way of
escape that she may be able to bear it and so the fiery trial
can rightly be referred to as God's judgment it's God dealing
with his people and dealing with them in ways that are equitable
right, proper, correct although at times we we misjudge and we
kick against God and we think the way is hard and difficult
for us or let us not forget that the one that we have dealings
with is ever always a just God He is the most upright God but then in the second place
we might ask the question why? God appoints these judgments.
Why God has ordained the fiery trial? Well, God is the one who
has a good and a gracious end in view. In all His dealings,
He knows the end from the beginning. And He says to the children of
Israel in the days of Jeremiah, I know the thoughts that I think
towards you. thoughts of peace and not of
evil to give you an expected end. And what is the situation
in which God gives that prophetic word through his servant Jeremiah? Well, remember the days of Jeremiah,
what terrible days, in Judah, the kingdom overrun. The Babylonians have laid siege
to Jerusalem. Jerusalem has fallen, the temple
has been razed to the ground. The people have been removed
into exile. And they're going to languish
there in Babylon for some 70 years. And Jeremiah, as God's
mouthpiece has told them quite straight, that's the period. The days of our years, three
score years and ten, that's the allotted span for man. And they're
going to be there 70 years in exile. But God says, I know the
thoughts that I think towards you. Thoughts of peace and not
of evil. God has a good end in view, an
expected end. And so here at the end of the
chapter, verse 19, we read, Therefore let them that suffer according
to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him
in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. Or we're to commit ourselves and everything
that concerns us into the hands of this God look how he continues
in chapter 5 verse 6 humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God that he may exalt you in due time casting all your
care upon him for he careth for you Oh friends, this is the God
that we have to do with. This is the God that we have
to have dealings with. He knows what He's about. What then of these words at verse
18? If the righteous scarcely be
saved. Is it suggesting there's a possibility
that the righteous, that's again the justified man, that man who
is accounted righteous, in the Lord Jesus Christ, that man of
whom the Apostle speaks in Philippians chapter 3, to be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. If the righteous scarcely be
saved, is there a suggestion here that he might be lost that
there's no certainty of salvation. He might be a Christian all his
life and yet at the end his faith altogether failing. I like the
comments of the Puritan Richard Sibbes. He says concerning these
words, this is not a word of doubt but of difficulty. Not a word of doubt. There's
no doubt about the salvation of the righteous and justified
sinner. His salvation is secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. No
doubt at all. But it indicates difficulty.
Scarcely saved. Saved by the skin of his teeth,
as it were. Nonetheless saved. always saved. Why? Because of the character
of the God with whom he has dealings. Again, the language of the Prophet,
there in Isaiah 26, verse 8, Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to
thy name and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I
desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will
I seek thee early. For when thy judgments are in
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. You see what God is about, you
see, when his judgments are in the earth. Or when he's dealing
with us, when he's putting us into that fiery furnace. When thy judgments are in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for them. We are to wait upon this God
in the midst of all of the fiery trial. That's the lesson that's
being taught. It's God. Believers have to learn
what it is to walk in the way of faith. We are to walk by faith. We walk by faith, not by sight,
says the Apostle Paul. Or remember the language that
we have time and again in Scripture, initially there in the little
book of the Prophet Habakkuk, Habakkuk 2.4. The just shall
live by faith, it says. And again, the just, it's the
righteous man. It's a justified sinner. That
person who is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. That
righteousness reckoned to his account, imputed to him. How does he live? He lives by
faith. And you know those words of Habakkuk 2.4, they are repeated
some three times in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul In Romans 1.17,
Galatians 3.11, and Hebrews 10.38. There we have that threefold
cord in the New Testament. That threefold cord that cannot
be quickly broken. The just shall live by faith. How are we to live that life
of faith? The psalmist says, commit thy way unto the Lord.
or the marginal reading tells us what the Hebrew is more literally,
roll thy way upon the Lord, roll thy way upon the Lord, trust
also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. It is the trying
of faith. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing
happened unto you do you have faith? you say to me well I hope
I have faith maybe you think sometimes you can come in with
that man in the gospel Lord I believe help they're my non-believers and it's good to come in with
that man it's the most comforting scripture when we're feeling
our own belief and yet we trust that we have a real faith but
how God will draw that faith out and how does God do it? He does it in the midst of the
trial if you have faith, real faith that faith will be much
tried at times these are things that God has joined together
And remember what God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
It's a trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Why is it that God appoints these
judgments then? Because he will draw forth that
faith that he has put in the souls of his people but as believers
must walk in the way of faith so also we see that believers
must walk in the way of holiness they are to be a people who are
separated from the ways of the world they are a holy people
Again look at the language right at the end of the chapter. Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful
Creator. How do we commit our way unto
the Lord? How do we commit our souls unto
the Lord? It says in well-doing. all God is a holy God and God
will have his people to be a holy people and we have that language back
in chapter 1 verse 15 as he which hath called you is holy so be
ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written be ye holy
for I am holy all this is God's great purpose here in the midst
of all the trying of faith he will make his people a holy people. And it's not just the language
of Peter is it? We made some reference this morning
to the fact that James in his epistle is saying very similar
things concerning temptations and trials There in the opening
chapter, verse 2, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall
into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your
faith worketh patience, endurance. But let patience have her perfect
work, that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. What is he saying here? We can
never attain that state of sinless perfection. He is speaking of
that maturity. let patience have her perfect
work that ye may be mature and tire wanting nothing real Christians
that's what the Lord is making his people what is a real Christian? a real Christian surely is a
holy man is a good man and the steps of a good man are all ordered
of the Lord God will have his people walk
in the ways of holiness. They will have to live the gospel,
or they will have to walk out the gospel in their daily lives. And it's costly. The trials and
troubles will increase as they seek to walk in that narrow way
that leads to life. He that departeth from evil,
we are told, maketh himself a prize. Well, he will be reproached by
the world. But if you be reproached, verse
14, for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. All his life he's preyed upon,
but what does God do? God keeps him. And God preserves
him. He's kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last
day, as we're told back in chapter 1 at verse 5. And again here,
look at the language in this 19th verse. Let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls
through him in well-doing as unto the faithful Creator. Oh, notice how God is spoken
of here as that one who keeps the souls of his people, who
preserves them in the midst of all his judgments, who preserves
them in the midst of all the fiery trial. He is spoken of
as a faithful creator. You ever think about that? Creation.
The doctrine of creation. As it's said before us in Holy
Scripture, the doctrine of special creation and the manner in which
God creates, we know that God can do all things. Everything
could have been created in an instance. In one moment of time,
God could have caught every part of creation into being, but God
didn't work like that. there was a certain order. God acted day by day. He created over a period of six
days. And we have the record of the
six days of creation and then we come to the seventh day and
God rests from all the work that He has created, all that He has
made and he looks upon that work and it is all very good and God
rests and sanctifies that day all what comfort there is in
creation and when we contrast that with the theories of men
that man who sets himself up who thinks he's God That's the
history of the entrance of sin as we have it there in the third
chapter of Genesis. What does the serpent, the instrument
of Satan, say to Eve? You shall be as gods. Man thinks
he's a god. And man doesn't like the biblical
account of creation because if there's a god who has made all
things out of nothing, then he must be accountable to that God.
So let's discount the very idea of God. So what does man do?
He comes up with his own theory. The theory of evolution. And
what is it? It's cruel. And it's erroneous. Why? Because it is all built
on chance. There's nothing of design anywhere
in it. But you see the comfort of the
scriptures and the truth of God's word We are to commit the keeping
of our souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. Oh,
He's a Creator God. He's a God who sustains His creation. We live in a world now where
there's a new religion. It's called Global Warming. And
this new religion, you know, it has its Virgin Mary, this
young Scandinavian woman. Greta Thornburg or something
like that. She's like the Virgin Mary to
them. It's absolutely ridiculous. Doesn't Peter at the end of his
second epistle speak of the elements melting with a fervent heat?
There will be a final day. The end of this old creation,
the Day of Judgment will come and then there'll be new heavens
and a new earth and it speaks quite clearly there at the end
of 2nd Peter of fervent heat. Now I'm not saying that The end time is now. I'm not
suggesting that for a moment. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
I would certainly say this, that we should daily be living our
lives in the light of the promise of the Lord's coming. We should
be looking and watching and waiting for His appearing. I certainly
believe that. But we know that if God is pleased
to preserve this creation, He will preserve it. Now, one has
to be careful. I know that man is a wicked,
sinful creature. The man has been told to subdue
the earth and to use what God has given him in creation, but
man abuses his position, there's no disputing that. But you see
with this new religion there's no God of scripture, there's
no real God. It's all the figment of the imaginations
of men. O thank God that we are to commit
the keeping of our souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful
Creator, casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you. Even when He appoints the fiery
trial and those judgments, He's ever always that faithful Creator,
preserving His creatures. And then finally this evening,
when When is this judgment of which we're speaking? Well, it's
now, it's in the present. That's clearly what's being said
in verse 17, the time is come. The time is come, the judgment
must begin at the house of God. Remember what we have back in
chapter 1 and verse 6, it's now. and I said the force of that
word now, just now, this moment. But that judgment, that fiery
trial, it's for a season, a little while, a few days. But now is
the time, it's in the day of grace. And what does he say here
in verse 17? It must begin at the house of
God. And then he goes on and says,
it first begins at us. It's whom the Lord loveth. Oh,
these are the ones who he points to the fiery trial, whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. What son is he, whom the Father
chasteneth not? Oh, it's a sign of sonship, as
well as a mark of true faith. The chastenings, the fiery trials,
it's those that God loves, beloved. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened unto you. Oh, remember the language of the Apostle Paul when he writes
to the church at Rome concerning the sufferings of this present
time. He says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us. Why, when that final day, that
great day of judgment comes, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one to whom all judgment has been committed what will
he say to those sheep whom he puts on his right hand he'll
say come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world and to the goats he'll
send them away into that place that he has appointed for them
or the end of all things is at hand Be ye therefore sober, and
watch unto prayer. And above all things, have fervent
charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude
of sins. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to bless His truth to us. Amen.