In The Fire! Series

More than that, rejoice, because the fire brings greater joy in the future. Your suffering only leads to an overflowing joy when Jesus comes again. Look at verse 13 again.

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed (ESV).

One day, Jesus will reveal all His glory; on that day, you won’t be able to contain the joy! You will be “overjoyed!” The Apostle Paul put it this way in Romans 8. He said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Two seconds into eternity, you’ll be so overwhelmed with joy that the pain will have seemed like the tickling of a feather.

When they took Perpetua, one of the early Christian martyrs into the arena to be killed by wild beasts, she cried out, “This is my day of coronation.” (James S. Stewart, “The Rending of the Veil,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 57; www.PreachingToday.com)

And she was absolutely right! The future is bright for the believer no matter what happens today! So rejoice, because the fire only brings fellowship with Christ. Rejoice, because the fire only brings greater joy in the future.

Then rejoice, because the fire brings the ministry of the Holy Spirit today. God’s Spirit rests upon you when you suffer. Your pain gives us a taste of God’s glory today.

1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (ESV).

Insults don’t bring shame. No! They bring God’s Spirit of glory.

This reminds me of the Shekinah Glory of God that rested on the tabernacle in Old Testament days (Exodus 40:34). At night, it was a blazing pillar of fire that hovered over that special tent where God chose to meet with His people. And that fire was a comfort to the people of God back then. Even better than a nightlight for a young child, that blazing fire drove away all fear for the people of God. After all, what enemy would dare to attack them with such a demonstration of God’s power right there?

In the same way, when you go through the fire, God’s fire rests upon you and takes away the fear. It’s what Stephen, the first Christian martyr, experienced when he was being stoned for his faith. Acts 7 says, “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God” (Acts 7:55). The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you when you go through the fire.

Randy Alcorn talks about what happened to his friend, Ethel Herr in his book, If God is Good. She had had a double mastectomy. Then two months later, doctors discovered that the cancer had spread. One of Herr’s friends in shock asked her, “And how do you feel about God now?”

Herr says, “As I sought to explain what has happened in my spirit, it all became clearer to me. God has been preparing me for this moment. He has undergirded me in ways I've never known before. He has made himself increasingly real and precious to me. He has given to me joy such as I've never known before – and I've no need to work at it, it just comes, even amidst the tears. He has taught me that… he will lead me on whatever journey he chooses and will never leave me for a moment of that journey… God is good no matter what the diagnosis or the prognosis or the fearfulness of the uncertainty of having neither” (Randy Alcorn, If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil, Multnomah, 2009, p. 399; www.PreachingToday.com).