Can You Rejoice While Everything Burns?

Fire changes what it touches, and Peter says believers should not be shocked when a “fiery trial” touches the church. We open 1 Peter 4:12-19 and trace how persecution shifted from occasional personal pressure to official hostility, then ask the practical question every Christian eventually faces: when following Jesus starts to cost you something, how do you respond without losing your joy or your witness?

We walk through four instructions that are both direct and deeply hopeful: expect it, rejoice in it, examine your life, and commit yourself to God. Along the way, we talk about what it means to partake in Christ’s sufferings without becoming bitter, and why Peter connects suffering with future glory. We also linger on a stunning promise many believers forget, that the “Spirit of glory” rests on those reproached for the name of Christ, giving real strength in real pressure.

The middle of the message challenges us to get honest. Some pain is the result of sin, gossip, or meddling, not persecution, and the heat of trials can become a refining light. Peter’s warnings raise hard questions about shame, integrity, and whether we truly care about people who do not obey the gospel. Even when we are wronged, we are called to pray, refuse revenge, and let suffering become a loving witness.

We close with Peter’s command to “commit” your soul to God as a faithful Creator, like making a deposit for safekeeping, and keep doing good while you trust him with the outcome. If this strengthened you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find clear, uncompromising biblical teaching.

Transcript

Intro And Series Setup

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The foundation of truth. The Bible of Dr. Timothy. Our truth to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word. Rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life. Today on Foundations of Truth, the Biblical Teaching Ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann, we return to our series Hope in a Hostile World. Let's join Dr. Timothy

The Coming Fiery Trial

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Mann now. 1 Peter chapter 4.

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Today, 1 Peter chapter 4. And in this section of 1 Peter that we're going to be looking at, Peter explained about a special kind of what he called a fiery trial that was about to overtake the church at the time in which he was writing. This fire that was about to come. It would not be the occasional personal suffering or personal persecution that would come from those around them individually. But actually, what's going to come at this point in time as he's writing is the official fire, the official persecution from those above them. In fact, Christianity had been tolerated by Rome up to this point because it was considered a sect, if you will, of Judaism. You know, just kind of a splinter group, a sect of Judaism. And the Jews were permitted to worship freely. But that attitude would change. And what would happen would be the fires of persecution would be ignited first by Nero and then all the emperors that followed. And the passage of Scripture we're going to look at in verse 12 down through verse 19, the Apostle Peter, through the Holy Spirit, gave believers, those readers then and us today, specifically four instructions to follow in light of the coming fiery trial. The fiery trial. But he specifically addresses this to difficult days that were going to come to the church as a whole. So let's read, beginning in verse 12, and we're going to go down through verse 19, and we're going to talk about what to do when the fire breaks out. What's going to happen when the fiery trial comes? When the fire breaks out, how do we respond? What should we do? Well, let's read. Verse 12.

Reading 1 Peter 4:12-19

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Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you may partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody, a meddler, in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, and verse 18 he quotes Proverbs eleven, Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful creator.

Rejoice And Share Christ’s Sufferings

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And so our suffering means glory in the future. We can rejoice in that. Not only am I identifying with Christ in fellowship, there's something coming as a result of this. Not only that, though, verse 14 says that our suffering brings to us the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You see that for it says, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. If you're reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. He's the Spirit of glory, and he has a special ministry to those who ultimately suffer for the glory of Jesus Christ. This verse can be translated this way: For the presence of the glory, even the Spirit rests on you. This kind of reference is to the glory of God that dwelt in the tabernacle and in the temple in the Old Testament. If you're a Bible student and you've read the book of Acts, chapter 6 and chapter 7, when that early deacon Stephen was stoned, right? The Bible says he saw Jesus in heaven standing, and he himself experienced God's glory, and the Bible says that his face shone as he were an angel, even in that moment. This is joy unspeakable and full of glory that the apostle Peter writes about. In other words, suffering Christians, those who are persecuted because they bear the name of Jesus unashamedly, they don't have to wait to heaven to experience his glory. Through the Holy Spirit, you can have his glory now. That explains how martyrs could actually sing praises to God while they're bound in the midst of blazing fires. It explains how persecuted Christians, and by the way, there are many in today's world. We don't have a grip on that here in these United States. There are many in today's world. How they can go to prison and go to death camps even without complaining or resisting to their captors. That's how that's done. The ministry of the Holy Spirit, suffering. Our suffering also enables us to glorify his name. Verse 14. On their part he is blaspheme, but on your part, he is glorified. When we suffer because of his name, see you can tell your unsaved friends that you're a Baptist. You can tell your unsaved friends that you're a Presbyterian. You can tell them that you're a Methodist, or you can even say, hey, I'm an agnostic, and there will be absolutely no opposition whatsoever. But when you tell them that you are a follower of Jesus, when you get that specific, and you begin to say, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, you bring Christ's name really into the conversation, and things start to happen. Things begin to change. Our authority is not in some religious name. Our authority is not in the name of some kind of a denomination or a theological persuasion. Our authority is in the name of Jesus. That's where it's found. And Satan hates that name. He hates it. And every time we're reproached for the name of Christ, we have the opportunity to bring glory to his name. That's a blessing. The world may speak against his name and so blaspheme on their part, but we will so speak and live that his name will be honored and God will be pleased. See, the name Christian, by the way, is only found three times in the entire Bible. Three times. The name was originally given by the enemies of the church as a term of reproach. It was not a nice word, it was derogatory. But in time, it became an honored name. And of course, in today's world, the word Christian to most people means all kinds of things across the board. Some people see it as the opposite of pagan, but uh the truth is the word biblically carries the idea of a Christ one, a belonging to Christ, a follower of Jesus, a little Christ. It's certainly a privilege to bear the name and to suffer for his namesake.

Polycarp And Bearing Jesus’ Name

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As I was studying this message this past week, I was I came across and was reminded of an account of one of the great early martyrs of the faith and church fathers, Polycarp, who was the pastor or bishop of Smyrna in the middle of the second century. What happened was this it was an interesting situation. He was arrested for his faith, and he was threatened to death if he did not recant. And he said, Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has never did me any injury. How can I blaspheme the name of my king and my savior? The Roman officer said to him, I respect your age, eighty-six years old. Simply say this away with the atheists, and you will be set free. Now, of course, by the atheists, he meant the Christians who would not acknowledge that Caesar was Lord. The old man, eighty-six year old, Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, he pointed to the crowd of the Roman pagans surrounding him and said, Away with the atheists. And he was burned at the stake. And his martyrdom brought glory to the name of Jesus. Glory. Suffering. Suffering for Jesus' sake specifically means that we can rejoice in that. So when that fiery trial comes, because of the fact that you are an unashamed Christian, expect it, rejoice in it.

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Thank you

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for joining us today for Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. The message you're hearing today is possible because listeners like you believe in the importance of faithful, uncompromising biblical teaching. At Foundations of Truth, our desire is to help people know what God's Word says, understand what it means, and apply its truth to the realities of everyday life. If you'd like to help us continue this work, we invite you to prayerfully consider supporting this ministry with a financial gift. Your generosity helps us bring the clear teaching of scripture to more listeners and encourages believers to stand firm upon the truth of God's word. You can give securely today at foundationsoftruth.net. That's foundationsoftruth.net. And thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your faithful partnership with Foundations of Truth. Now let's return to today's message with Dr. Timothy Mann. This

Examine Your Life Under Pressure

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is very important.

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Number three, examine your life. Examine your life. That's what verse 15 through 18 is all about. It's interesting because when the in the furnace of persecution, in the furnace of hard times and suffering, as a result of being a Christian, we often have more light when the fire is burning. We have more light by which we can examine our lives and our ministries, the things that we do to serve the Lord. And the fiery trial is a refining process by which God removes things that we don't need, sanctifies us. Now the fact is, one day a fiery judgment is going to overtake the whole world according to the word of God. I believe that literally to be the case. 2 Peter talks about that. By the way, once we finish 1 Peter, we're just going to keep going in 2 Peter. We're going to wrap it up and bookend it all together. We'll see that, where we see this fiery judgment that's going to overtake the whole world. Meanwhile, the Bible says God's judgment begins at the house of God. Verse 17. Now, what ought that do for us? That truth ought to motivate us to be obedient, to be God's people. Now there are several questions we should ask ourselves as we examine our own lives when fiery trials come. Number one is this why am I suffering? That's a good question. Verse 15, why am I suffering? Now we noted that not all suffering is a fiery trial from the Lord. If a professed Christian gets into trouble, breaks the law, or even, the apostle says, becomes a meddler, a busybody in other people's lives, the word of God says he ought to suffer. She ought to suffer. The fact is that the fact that we're Christians is not a guarantee that we're going to escape the normal consequences of our misdeeds, of our actions. We may not be guilty of murder, like it says here, though anger can be the same as murder, but what about stealing? What about meddling? What about being a busybody? Gossip. When Abraham and David and Peter and other Bible greats disobeyed God, what happened? They suffered for it. They experienced the consequences. And so who are we that we should escape? Let's be sure. Let's be sure. Let's be sure that we're suffering because we're Christians. Not because we're meddlers or don't have integrity or are filled with hate toward other people. A good question to ask is, why am I suffering? As we examine our lives. Another good question is, am I ashamed or am I glorifying Christ? Am I ashamed or am I glorifying Christ? Verse 16. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. The Father is not ashamed to be called our God. Our Lord on the cross despised shame for us, so surely, surely we can bear reproach for him and not be ashamed. Not be ashamed is negative, glorify God is positive. It takes both for be a balanced witness. Here's how this works. If we seek to glorify God, if we seek to glorify Christ, then we will not be ashamed of the name of Jesus. It won't happen. Another question to ask ourselves not only am I ashamed or am I glorifying God, am I seeking, am I seeking to reach lost people? Am

Trials As A Witness To The Lost

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I seeking to win if that would be a good word to use the lost? I want you to note in verse 17 and 18. Note the words here that the apostle Peter used to describe the lost. Them that obey not the gospel, who do not obey the gospel of God. He calls them the ungodly in verse 18, and the sinner. The argument of the verse is clear. I think it's we can figure this out. It's this if God sends a fiery trial to his own children, and they are scarcely saved, or another translation puts it, saved with difficulty, then what's going to happen to lost sinners when God's fiery judgment falls? That's the argument here. That's the thought. And so when a believer suffers, when you as a genuine follower of Jesus suffer, you experience glory. You know that there's a greater glory coming in the future. But the sinner or the ungodly who causes the suffering is only filling up the measure of God's wrath more and more, according to Matthew chapter 23. And here's the facts. Instead of being concerned only about ourselves, we need to be concerned about the folks around us. Our present fiery trial is nothing compared to the flaming trial, flaming fire that's going to punish the lost when Jesus returns in judgment. This idea is expressed in this proverb that he's quoting. It's there. By the way, that phrase scarcely saved, that literally means saved with difficulty. That does not suggest that God is too weak to save us, that he barely pulls it off in some way. That's not what that's talking about. The idea, the reference is probably to something similar, like in Genesis 19, where God sought to rescue Lot from Sodom before the city was destroyed. And here's the fact God was able, and he was going to save Lot, but Lot was unwilling. Lot was unwilling. What did he do? He lingered, he argued with the angels, he finally had to literally be taken by the hand and dragged out of the city. That's what had to happen. And so Lot was saved, quote unquote, as by fire, and everything he lived for went up in smoke. Literally. And times of persecution, times of opposition, are an opportunity for a loving witness to those who persecute us. You think about Paul and Silas in prison. And they were thrown into prison. And at midnight they were singing praises and glorifying God and all of that, and an earthquake took place. Listen, it was not the earthquake that brought the Philippian jailer to Christ. That was not it. As a matter of fact, what the earthquake did was that it frightened him so bad into uh almost committing suicide. He took out a knife and would have killed himself because he was going to have to face the fact that the prisoners had escaped. The earthquake was not what brought him to faith. It was Paul's loving concern for him that God used to bring him to faith in Christ. Yes, it's important to talk about judgment. But what folks need is to see God's love, they need to hear the gospel. That's in light of judgment, yes, but judgment alone is not going to do it. And because as Christians, as believers, and this is so hard for us, but because we want to seek revenge on those who hurt us, but we do not seek revenge to those who've hurt us. Instead, we're to pray for them and seek to lead them to faith in Christ if they are indeed unbelievers. So examine your life. Ask those questions why am I suffering? Am I ashamed or am I glorifying? Do I really care about unsaved people? Finally, here's the instruction when the fiery trial comes. What

Commit Yourself To God

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do I do? Commit yourself to God. Commit yourself to God. Verse 19. When we are suffering in the will of God, we can commit ourselves into the care of God. Absolutely. Everything else that we do as a Christian really depends on this. The word, by the way, it says commit. Uh that's a banking term. It's a banking term. It literally means to deposit for safekeeping. Now, of course, once you deposit your life into God's bank, you're always going to receive eternal dividends on your investment. That's going to happen. I remember back when the in 2008 and all that recession stuff hit, and you know, I don't know if we're in it or out of it. I don't have any idea what's taking place. But I remember when the when the banking deal just kind of melted down and the TARP money went into all that, and you know, you begin to hear, you begin to see advertisements on television about uh uh the financial stability and ability of certain banks, you know, saying we're good, we're safe, don't worry about it, keep your money with us. And of course, those that financial unsteadiness, they wanted to give assurances to those of us who had money in their banks that it's gonna all be okay. Uh listen, when you deposit your life with God, you have nothing to fear. He's able to keep you, and he will keep you. Absolutely. And this commitment, where it says in verse 19, therefore let us who suffer according to the will of God commit, deposit, commit. That's not a single action, but it's a constant attitude. The tense in which that is written in the original language, it says, by constantly committing. That's the force of the admonition here, constantly committing. How do we do this? Look what it says: in doing good. You commit yourself, you commit your soul to him in doing good by means of well-doing. What does that mean? That means is we return good for evil. As we do good, even though we suffer for it, what we're doing is we're committing ourselves to God so that he can care for us. This commitment involves every area, every hour of our lives. And if we really have hope, if we really believe that Jesus is coming again, then we will obey his word, we'll lay up treasures in heaven, we'll lay up treasures in glory. See, here's the difference. Unsaved people, the world, unsaved people have a present that is controlled by their past. We have a present that is controlled by the future. That's that's a distinguishing difference. A present that's controlled by the future. And in our very serving, in our very living for God, what we're doing is we're committing ourselves to God and we're making investments in that future. All the time. There's a striking illustration of that. Here's a good way to kind of pull this together. There's a striking illustration of that in the Bible, as a matter of fact, in Jeremiah chapter 32. The prophet Jeremiah, he had been telling the people that one day, one day, their situation's going to change and they would be restored to their land. But while he's preaching that and telling the people that, at that time, the Babylonian army occupied the land and was actually about to take Jerusalem. Go to sack Jerusalem. And what happened? Jeremiah had a cousin, and his name was Hanamel. He gave Jeremiah the opportunity to purchase the family property that was actually now occupied by the enemy's army. That doesn't make good sense to me. That doesn't seem like a good sense. Deal. I'm going to buy land that my enemies occupy. But you know what the Bible says? The Bible says that the prophet put his money where his mouth was. He'd been preaching. We're going to be restored to the land. Our situation's going to change. And you know what he did? He actually did it. He bought the land. He paid the money. He purchased the land. And no doubt he became the laughing stalk of everybody around there in Jerusalem. But what happened was God honored his faith because Jeremiah lived according to the word that he preached. He did it. He says, Commit yourself to the faithful creator. Why did Peter refer to God as a faithful creator instead of a faithful judge or a faithful Savior? Here's why. Because the creator meets the needs of his people. It's the creator who provides food and clothing to persecuted Christians, who protects them in times of danger. When the early church was persecuted, they met together for prayer and they addressed the Lord as this. Here's the quote, Acts chapter 4, as God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. They prayed to the creator. The creator. Our heavenly Father is the Lord of heaven and earth. And with that kind of Father, we have no need to worry. He is the faithful creator, and his faithfulness will not fail. Now, before God pours out his wrath on this evil world, and he's going to, before God pours his wrath out on this evil world, a fiery trial is going to come to God's church. It's going to come. The purpose of it is going to be to unite and to purify it, that it might be a strong witness to the lost. And there's absolutely nothing for us to fear if we are suffering in the will of God. That's the key. Why? Because our faithful creator will victoriously see us through. What to do when the fire breaks out? Expect

Key Takeaways And Final Questions

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it. Rejoice in suffering. Examine your life. Ask those important questions. And above all else, commit yourself to God. That's the question that you need to ask as we walk away this morning. Have I committed my life to God? Am I committed myself into God's hands? If not, verse 18. It's scary. If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? That's not good. Have you committed yourself into God's hands? Trusted Jesus truthfully and fully and completely. His grace, his mercy, repented of your sins, became his follower.

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Thank you for listening to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. If you'd like to hear this message again and to receive additional biblical resources and to support this ministry, visit us online. Foundationsoftruth.net. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever. Foundations of Truth with Dr. Timothy Mann is supported in part by Cat Care Clinic, located in Ormond Beach, and serving families with thoughtful and compassionate veterinary care for cats. We're grateful for their partnership in helping carry biblical truth farther. We're thankful for AMN Plumbing, a local ministry partner serving the Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Fort Orange, New Smyrna Beach, and surrounding areas with Defendable Plumbing Service. Their support helps make Foundations of Truth available to more listeners each week. Foundations of Truth with Dr. Timothy Mann is supported in part by Luther Rice College and Seminary, equipping men and women for ministry through biblically faithful theological education. As a leader in online learning, we are grateful for their partnership in helping carry biblical truth farther.