Let's read 1 Peter 4, verses 12 through the
end of the chapter. 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, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy or blessed are you, for
the Spirit of glory and of God rested upon you. On their part
he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody
in other men's matters. Yet, if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him or her glorify God on this
behalf. Four, the time has come that
judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began
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? Wherefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
cheating of their souls. to him in well-doing as unto
a faithful creator. Now, you notice he's talking
to the beloved. He addressed this whole book
to those that are called strangers in this world. God's people are
strangers in this world. Our Lord said they're not of
this world, even as I'm not of this world. He called them his
elect. They are the saints, they are
believers, they are beloved of God, chosen of God, redeemed
by Christ, regenerated by the Spirit of God. That's who he's
talking to, beloved. And we've been looking at this,
how that all of those who will live godly in Christ Jesus, meaning,
All those who stand up for the cause of Christ and truth will
be persecuted, will be hated. Our Lord said that. There are
no exceptions. Paul wrote it in Philippians
3. He said, It's given unto you, not only to believe, but to suffer. Philippians 2. Given unto you,
not only to believe, but to suffer. And he said, In the same way
that I suffer. Everyone. Paul was in prison
when he wrote that. Why? Not as a murderer. Not as a thief. But for simply
telling the truth. And men hate him. And this is
absolute proof of man's depravity. Absolute proof. Nothing proves
man being dead in sin more than the fact that he hates the truth. The truth. So he said, don't think it strange. He began there in verse 12. Don't
think it strange, beloved. concerning the fiery trial. Don't
be surprised. Don't wonder if people won't
believe what you're telling them, if people will get mad at you
for telling them that. Don't be surprised. Our Lord
in John chapter 16, talking to his disciples and all of his
disciples, he said, when this happens to you, remember I told
you. I told you. Don't think it's
strange. Marvel not, he said, that men hate you. He said, they
hated me. The altogether lovely, merciful,
kind, gracious, tender, Christ-only grace poured from His lips. They
didn't hate Him for good works, they hated Him for what He said.
And they said, they hated me, and the disciples not above His
Master, they're going to hate you. He said, be ready for it.
That's what Peter wrote. Arm yourselves with this mind.
Don't be surprised when it happens. In fact, our Lord one time says,
if it doesn't happen, if men speak well of you, you must not
be speaking out. So he calls it the fiery trial. Now in chapter 1, he begins this
way by saying, though if need be, now you're in heaviness through
manifold temptation, many temptations, that the trial of your faith,
being more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire." It's going to be found under the praise and honor
and glory. It's going to be found under
the praise and honor and glory of our Lord who brought you through
this fiery trial. Not your praise, but His, who
brought you through, who gave you this faith. to those who
have obtained the like precious thing, been given the faith of
God's elect. It's a gift. It's not of yourself.
And the grace that goes with it to endure the persecution. Now, He calls every, there are
manifold temptations, there are many trials. All of God's people
go through various or manifold trials, tribulations. You must, through much tribulation,
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And so all of these trials go
together to make up the fiery trial of your faith, the trial
of your faith. But in the context here, What
he's been talking about for several chapters now is being persecuted
and suffering for the cause of Christ. He said, be ready for
it. And you've already experienced
it. Every believer, every true believer
who really believes the truth has gone out and told others,
gone home and told your family, and you were shocked at the response
you got. It happens every time. Every time. Our Lord said it
will happen. It's a fiery trial. It burns. Fire is meant to do two or three
things. Burn up. Consume. Destroy. Our God is a consuming fire. A fire is meant to refine gold
or silver, burn away, take away the dross, take away everything
that's not necessary, burn up the trash. And that's what is happening
to God's people, being conformed to the image of Christ and the
truth is being refined in our minds and hearts. And it's to
comfort, too. Fire comforts, doesn't it? It
warms. And this fiery trial is all three
things. First thing, and we're talking
about God is consuming fire, we're talking about God's Word.
Listen to this, listen to this scripture. Psalm 50 says, Out
of Zion, the perfection of beauty, that's the church, God hath shined. Our God shall come and shall
not keep silence. A fire shall devour before Him. Malachi 3 says, Who shall abide
the day of His coming? He's like a refiner's fire. The Word of Christ came and just
burned up like a fire proceeding out of His mouth, burned up all
false religion, burned up everyone's false refuges, burned up all
the dross, especially in His people, to
see that He is all in it all. Jeremiah 23 says, Is not my word
like a fire? Fire. This fiery trial. And the Word of God comes, and
when you hear it, man, it destroys your past religion. It destroys
all your works. It destroys everything you thought
you knew about God, about yourself, about man. It destroys it all.
It begins to refine your understanding of who God is and what you are
and who Christ is and what salvation is, and it comforts you. This
is the fire. And all these trials are sent
to point us to Christ Himself. And this fiery trial of persecution,
it happens to every single believer. Young David, let me give you
an example. Young David, sixteen years old perhaps, He came out
and there was Goliath defying the armies of Israel, remember?
And everybody else was shrinking back. All his brethren, his seven
brothers were there fighting. They weren't fighting, they were
scared. And this giant was defying the armies of Israel, defying
God and Israel, God's people. David, young David, who sat out
on that hillside, a man after God's own heart, communion with
the Lord. who knew the Lord, who knew the
truth, came out. And what did he say? Is there
not a cause? And he looked around, and nobody
said, I'll fight him alone. And he did. And you know that
David, that's such a type of Christ, him crucified. Christ
that defeated our great adversary, Satan. But that's not my story.
But David, came out against the force, he said, if need be, I'll
stand alone. And that giant, he went out and
faced him, and as it were, faced all the Philistines alone. Like Martin Luther, here I stand. And David said, and from then
on, from that day forward, he was a hated man. His brothers
started hating him. Didn't they? As soon as they
came out there, his older brother says, well, I know your pride. I know what you're doing. His
brothers didn't like him. Well, David says, what have I
done? Somebody's got to defy this fellow.
Somebody's got to speak out. Didn't they? And David said,
I'm ready to die for my youth up. And it wasn't until he was
70 years old until God gave him rest from all his enemies. Not
a more lovely man on the earth than David, but everybody wanted
him dead. Why? For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. In verse 17 it says, the time
has come, judgment must begin at the house of God. This is
where it begins, where God begins to win on His threshing floor,
where God begins to separate the chaff from the wheat. Our
Lord said the tares will grow up with the wheat. He said there
must be heresies among you, there must be false brethren among
the true. That's what our Lord said. This
just happened. Goats among the sheep, sheep among the goats.
And this is the fiery trial that separates them. Our Lord used
this illustration about the solar, the fourth solar. He said some
of it sprang up and quickly at a stony ground, but when the
sun came out, it burned it up. And our Lord said this is persecution
for the Word's sake. That when persecution arises
for the truth's sake, they're gone, they're out of here. Only
because there was no root in them. No root of the matter in
them. He really didn't believe this.
What you believe, or who you believe, rather, you will die
for. And you will. You will forsake everyone and
everything for him. You will. You will. There's no
exception to that. And verse 13, it says, all, rejoice,
all are partakers of Christ's suffering. Now, we all hang our
heads in here. We all come far short of this,
far short. Peter knows this, doesn't he?
You reckon Peter knows our frame when he wrote this? Oh, he denied the Lord, and he
never got over that. He never got over that. Just
like Saul, Paul never got over having Stephen stoned, so he
never got over that. So he knows, he knows. Peter
knows what it is to deny the Lord. And another, you know,
it was after that he denied him again, didn't he? Remember, John,
when he was sitting with the Gentiles and Paul came in, James
and the Jews came in, remember that? And he got up and went
over and sat with the Jews. Didn't want to be seen with these
bunch of sinners. And Paul rebuked him to his face.
He said, you've denied the truth. So, it has happened, we still
do it, and he knows our praying, but this is why this is written,
to encourage us, to encourage us. Paul wrote to young Timothy,
he said, be not ashamed of the gospel. Timothy believed the
gospel, but he was a shy, he was a timid fellow, and he's
probably like us, he thought, I can't speak, and I clam up,
and I mumble and fumble, I try to go for words, and I feel like
such a poor... He said, don't go out there. Who made man's mouth? Tell them.
Be not ashamed. And he said, don't be ashamed
of me. If you believe this is the gospel,
you'll say it. There is no other. If you believe
I'm God's preacher, you'll tell people. There's a preacher. There's
a man sitting in this room right now who was in false religion,
and he stood up before those people and said, and pointed
at his old false preacher and said, this man's not telling
you the truth. He said, there's a fellow up here at Central that's
telling the truth. He said, that's where I'm going. And he came
and he's been here ever since. And everybody in that congregation
said when he left, they said he's crazy, he's lost his mind,
he's a fool. He's a fool for Christ's sake,
he said. A fool for the truth's sake. You won't be ashamed of And you'll
esteem that preacher, you'll esteem the gospel highly. You'll
esteem the preacher of the gospel highly. You won't be ashamed.
You'll stand up for him and the gospel. You'll support him and
the gospel. You'll be so thankful for him
and the gospel. And Paul said that. Paul said,
Don't be ashamed of me. How could you be ashamed of the
Apostle Paul? Well, we are. We're shameful creatures. Verse
13 says, As much as you takers of Christ suffer, when his glory
shall be revealed, you will be glad with exceeding joy. If you
be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you. The Spirit
of glory, the Holy Spirit of God rests upon you. Look quickly
at 1 Thessalonians 1. How do you know the elect of
God? Well, he tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1. In no uncertain term. 1 Thessalonians 1. How do you
know God's true people? How do you know his elect? God
has an elect people. And they're distinguished from
the non-elect, from the people of the world. He has his sheep. They're distinguished from goats
by this. Several things here. All right? 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4. your election of God for our
gospel. Remember, Paul said there's another
gospel, another Jesus. A Jesus that wants to be Jesus
and can't do anything unless you let him. That's another Jesus.
That's a pitiful, helpless, failure, a God that cannot save, that's
a God you probably had before. When the truth cracked, Paul
said, I thought I knew God, but when the true God came, he slew
me and put me in the dirt, and I realized I didn't know God,
didn't know Jesus Christ, didn't know the truth, thought I knew
the Bible, I didn't know anything. I was dead, and now I'm alive. The life I now live, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me. Our gospel, okay, read on, unto you in word, not in word
only, that is doctrine, but in power, life-giving, mind-changing,
repentance-giving, faith-giving, life-giving power. And in the
Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit who takes the things of Christ, Christ
said when he comes he'll convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
all concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And in much assurance,
there won't be any doubt in your mind about salvation, about God,
about man, about salvation. No doubt whatsoever. You'll have
full assurance. Not yourself. And in the truth. Read on. You know what manner
of man we were among you. They knew Paul was not a fake,
a phony, a corrupt man out in it for money. They knew that.
None of God's true preachers are in it for the money. They're
not false. They're true men. They do what they do and say
what they say for the glory of God. You know it's so. You know
it's so. And verse 6, and you became followers of us and of
the Lord, having received the word in much affliction. There it is. And you began to
believe. See, the whole world believes,
the religious world believes pretty much the same thing. And
there's no offense in what men are saying. God loves you and
Jesus died for you. And being a good Christian is
not an offense to anybody. But when you stand up for who
God really is, when you put man in the dirt where he belongs,
as a worthless, hopeless, damned, and doomed, dying sinner that
God shouldn't save at all, he's not worth saving. And you tell
man that everything he's ever done doesn't account for anything
before God, only what Jesus Christ did. That Christ had to come
here and live 33 years to fulfill God's law perfectly, in every
jot and tittle, and man doesn't even know the law. People think
they do, they don't know the law. Or they wouldn't try to
keep it for that reason. And that Christ had to go to
Calvary's tree, and God lay on Him the sin of all God's people,
and the only thing that would spare, the only thing that would
acquit, the only thing that would justify, the only thing that
would save a sinner was the blood, the death of the Holy Son of
God. One thing. Nothing else has any
part whatsoever in it. Is that what you believe? And you tell me in that, especially
religious people, and I say, I don't like that. And that nobody
would come unless God called him. Nobody would come unless
God chose him. Nobody would choose him at all,
but he did the choosing. He did the calling. He did the
bringing. He did the saving. He did it
all. Tell me in that, and I say, I
don't like that. Oh, but God's people who were
dead in trespasses, who'd be quickened and called by His grace,
they love it, because they know. I was once blind, and now I see. I was dead, now I'm alive. I
was deaf, now I hear. And I wouldn't have come unless
He called me, lest it be His name. And so we'd go home, and
who are we bragging on? Who are we telling people? Huh? Not our church, not our preacher,
not our decision, not our work, nothing. We're bragging on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him that glory, glory, and
the glory of glory in the Lord. And that's all we're doing. Isn't
it? And we go tell people that. And
people that are not interested in His glory. People who really
are not interested in His glory, but rather in themselves. I don't like that. I don't like
it. Daniel 3. Go to Daniel 3. The fiery trial. The fiery trial. All of God's people go through
it. The fiery furnace of affliction
because of the truth. Daniel chapter 9. Because this
is going to burn away the dross. This is going to separate the
chaff from the wheat. It really is. Daniel, I'm sorry,
Daniel 3. Daniel chapter 3. The fiery trial. Paul wrote in Hebrews 11 of all,
of many believers. Right? Hebrews 11 is the hall
of faith. And he said on down in Hebrews
11, he said, many quenched the violence of fire. In other words,
they were literally burned to death for the truth. When did
this start? You know the history, some history
of the martyrs, how that many were burned at the stake, literally
tied their bodies to a stake and they burned them to death.
When did this start? It started in Babylon at the
time of Nebuchadnezzar. It started right here. Three
Hebrew children, Hananiah, Mashiach, and Azariah. Most commonly known
as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Three Hebrew children. Alright,
this Nebuchadnezzar who represents the God of this world. Nebuchadnezzar
who represents Satan. Nebuchadnezzar set up this golden
image of himself. Gold, mind you. And the God of
this world, and this was in Babylon, and everybody was in captivity.
In Babylon, they were all in captivity. And Nebuchadnezzar
said to everyone, look at verse 5, when you hear the sound of
the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds
of music, fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar
the king has set up. Does that sound familiar? That
sounds like a modern Pentecostal religious meeting right there.
Why does he have all these instruments of music? Huh? Why does he bring
up every instrument of music? You can't look at religion today.
Did you read the article about contemporary worship this morning?
You can't look at religion today without seeing all these instruments
and all that. Why? Entertainment. Bring people
in. Start playing the music and you'll
bring them in. That's the way you get people
to hear. No, it's not. The Spirit of God brings His
people in. That's the denial of the Spirit of God. That's
the denial of the power of God, that we have to use these gimmicks
and tricks to bring people to hear from God. Can't God speak
for Himself? Sure He can. He does. He said
in Isaiah 43, Bring my sons from the north and from the south.
Bring them. I'm sorry, I don't want to shout at these people.
Martin Luther said, if we do not stand up for that one thing
which the world is attacking at that time, we're not standing
for the truth. Let's have a big musical. Bring
them in, and everybody bow to gold. Isn't He the God of this
world? Isn't His cheap ploy? Isn't the
love of money the root of all evil? What's religion all about?
What's it about? Look at it. Money. Gold, silver, and Nebuchadnezzar, everybody
bowing. Boy, they did. All but three. All but three fellows. Lord, let me be one of the three.
Look at it. Verse 15, they heard that Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego wasn't bowing, and now Nebuchadnezzar
got furious. The God of this world is furious
that he's a roaring lion. He hates the truth, and he hates
God's people. It doesn't matter, folks. Brother Stephen, let God be for
us. Now, if he can make me an epicanesis,
I will give you one more chance. You'd be ready now. Verse 15,
you can hear the sound of the cornet, the flute, and the harp,
and the saxophone. Don't you love gospel music?
I can hear them now saying, there ain't no gospel in that music.
Sounds like rock and roll to me. I can't hear the message
for that mess. It doesn't sound like, I don't
hear any gospel of the blood of Christ and the righteousness
of Christ. All I hear is bluegrass, about my money. There ain't no gospel in that. He said, you come, you worship
the image, and look at verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
all three of them with one voice, one mind, united together, weren't
they? Because they had one Lord, one
faith, they answered together and said to the king, we don't
have to stop and think about this. We don't have to be careful about
this. We don't even have to consider it. Brethren, if Christ really reigns
and rules in your heart, you ought to stop and think about
it. This is wrong. This is all wrong,
and we're not going to take any part in it. Though the whole
world get together and agree on this, let God be true and
every man a liar. And look at verse 17. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace."
Nebuchadnezzar said, We're going to throw you in the furnace. They said, Our God will deliver
us out of thy hand, O King. But if not, if he doesn't, it
will be all right. Be it known unto thee, O King,
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up. We won't do it. We won't do it. You know what happened? You know
what happened. It says that Nebuchadnezzar got his most mighty men, his mightiest men to grab hold
of these three poor little fellas. Our archenemy. Martin Luther
is the one that wrote that psalm. Though this world with devils
filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God
hath willed his truth to triumph through us. I was afraid I'd get stuck here
on this chapter, but it's a good place. And lo and behold, people,
when they were throwing those three fellas in the furnace,
the flames destroyed those men that threw them up. And your
enemies will be destroyed, you'll see. And they threw them in the
furnace with the clothes on, their hats on, their shoes on.
They threw them in the fiery, he says, the burning, fiery furnace. Keep saying the burning, fiery
furnace, the burning, fiery furnace, the burning, fiery furnace. They
threw them in there wearing all their clothes and all that. And
Nebuchadnezzar was watching this, a big old pit, a big open pit,
and he was watching this. He saw those men destroying,
and he jumped up off of his throne. He said, didn't we throw three
men in there? They said, yes, King. He said,
I said, four. He said, one of them looks like
the Son of God. I think that's right then and
there when the Lord opened that blind king's eyes. And they brought Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego out of that fiery furnace, and it says there wasn't
a hair of their head singed. Didn't our Lord say, the hairs
of your head are numbered. Not a hair falls to the ground.
Not a bird falls to the ground. This is the... And this is the truth. Stand
for it. There is no other truth. Though
the whole world get together, you can't join with them. Can't do it. Why? God's glory's at stake. His Word's
at stake. Your salvation's at stake. Your
salvation's at stake. If the promises of God are not
certain, if the blood of Christ doesn't save, There's no hope in ourselves.
Back to 1 Peter 4. Let me hurry. Back to 1 Peter 4. Now, you know, oh my, it's so
much more to say, but look at verse 17. At the time the time has come,
a judgment must begin at the house of God. Judgment must begin
at the house of God. Look at verse 14, I've got to
show this, I've got to say this. He says, on their part he's evil
spoken of, and on your part he's glorified. This is the whole
difference between God's true people and people of the world,
and religion. And to a true child of God, it's
very obvious. Maybe not to the world, but to
a true child of God, what men are saying in the name of God
and religion is so evil, so evil. Let me give you an example. And all false religions will
agree on this. Men say this. This is what they
say. It's on a church bulletin board right now. It says, Try
Jesus. That's the most evil thing I
can think of. Listen to me now. Listen to me very carefully. I have an only begotten daughter.
And I think she's altogether lovely. And if there's ten eligible bachelors
out there, and I know men, ain't one of them worth marrying her.
What if I said, all you fellas, try her out. Just try her out. And if you
don't like her, but something else better, it's okay, send
her back. I won't be mad. Are you kidding
me? And we're talking about the Holy
Son of God, whom God says, let every knee bow. Try Jesus. Brethren, it's blasphemy of the
worst sort. No one who knows the God of the
Bible, no one who knows the true Christ, no one who esteems His
glory high, no one could possibly say that about Him. He's not
a bar of soap or a brand of detergent that men try out and if they
don't like it, go to something better. On your part, He's glorified. What we say about Him is, We're
the ones being tried here. We're the ones being on trial
here. We're the ones that need to be accepted. We're the ones.
It's totally up to Him. It's not what we would do with
Jesus. That's what Pilate said when
God gave Him up to be crucified. That's what Pilate said. What
will you do with Jesus? What did they do? Kill Him. God's not saying that again.
God's not telling everybody again, try Him. God had commanded all men everywhere
to repent. That at the name of Jesus, you
hit your knees. And you open up your mouth and
you say, He's Lord. And He can do with me as He pleases.
That's Christ's Scripture. I'm not splitting hairs here.
I'm glorifying Jesus Christ. And I'm saying that religion
is evil. Evil. Imagine that, the thought
of that, of sending your daughter or your son and say, try him
out. And there's worse things they're
saying, not much. Buddy, I've got to say something,
don't you? You've got to say something.
You can't tolerate that. Somebody that you love can't
do that. He said, the time has come. We'll
see who really loves Him. Verse 18, if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Now, what
that means, that doesn't mean you're barely saved, that God's
people are barely saved, or that they're saved by the skin of
their teeth. Or, you know, it's going to be hard for you to be
saved, but you might make it. That's not what that's saying. I'm talking about this fiery
trial. This fiery trial, that it took the blood, the fiery death
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Oh, what it took to purge
our sins. and us, and the fiery trials
that every believer goes through. Has to. Troubles, tribulation,
has to. There has to be a warfare. It's
just not an option. This is going to happen. They'll
go through a warfare. They're going to go through struggles.
This is going to be a lifetime of trials. It's going to be heaviness
through manifold temptations at the trial of your faith, tried
with fire. It's going to be found. If God
did it, it's going to be found. And you go through so much, so
much, and all of God's people do. And over here sits a fellow
that doesn't go through any of that. Here's a fellow in religion,
you know, he doesn't have it, nobody hates him. Here's a fellow
who's, he hasn't had any trouble, he had the health and wealth
gospel, he has no problem with all that. He ain't saved. No.
No, no, no, no, no. Not God's people. go through
flowery beds of ease, but they sail through bloody seas. All
of them go through this furnace. All of them. And so he's saying,
if all of God's people go through this, and go through all these
things, such hardships, such troubles, such persecution, all
that, where does that leave these people? It's very clear. So, in verse 19, You who do suffer
according to the will of God, according to the degree that
He causes you to suffer with all will. Commit the keeping
of your souls to Him in well-doing. You see, this will give us courage.
This will give us strength. This will give us bravery. Like
Chad, Jack, and Meshach, and Abednego. If He does, wherever
the Lord is pleased to Whatever He's pleased to do to us, it's
the Lord. It'll be all right. It's going
to be all right. We're going to get through this. But we cannot deny the
truth. We can't do it. He's a faithful
Creator. Why do you call Him the faithful
Creator? Because Isaiah 53 says this,
let's see, Isaiah 43. It says, This people have I formed They've been born again. These
are people I've made up for my glory. Vessels of mercy for my
glory. I'm their creator. I've made
them into my sons and my daughters. And I'm going to watch over them. I'm going to take care of them.
May the Lord bless them. Questioner's name? In this, in this speaker, it's
supposed to raise the tone, right? Turn it on. Well, I'll hear something right
after this. Thank you. Thank you. you.