Through the New Testament 2006
The Fiery Trial
1 Peter
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
For most of us, the idea of persecution or suffering for our faith seems far-fetched. We live in a free society. No one we know has ever been jailed for professing Christ. However, that’s not true for lots of the world. Alam told us a few weeks ago what it meant to become a Christian in Pakistan. Last’s week film (China Crises) illustrated the adversity of being a believer in communist China.
Living free of adversity and persecution has not been the fate for much of Christian history. Unfortunately, it may not remain true forever even in our own land. It certainly wasn’t true for the First Century readers of our next book in our journey through the Bible. We are ready for the sixtieth of the sixty-six books of the Bible. We began this journey four years ago. Six more books and we will have covered the entire Bible library a book at a time.
1 Peter is the second of what is sometimes known as the General Epistles. The books of James through Jude are lumped together in a separate category for a couple of reasons. They were not written by Paul. The other letter-type books were. They are not addressed to a specific locale. Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy and other books were addressed to Christians in a specific city or to a specific Christian leader. These letters, including 1 Peter, were written to Christians in general or at least believers spread over a large area.
Peter, the fisherman turned leader of the disciples, penned the book. The concluding paragraph credits help from Silas (Silvanus, the Latin name in some translations). Early Christian tradition claims that the book was written from Rome (note the symbolic reference to those who in Babylon, 5:13) shortly before Peter was put to death under the brutal persecution of Emperor Nero. That would place it in the mid 60’s of the first century. A reign of terror began in the capital city when Christians were falsely blamed for a major fire in Rome. Historians speculate that Nero himself ordered the burning because he wanted room to build a new palace. He needed an excuse so he said that Christians had started the fire or their unfaithfulness to the Roman gods has brought down judgment upon the city. He argued that if the city wanted the blessings of the gods they would have to take action against the Christian infidels.
The brutality that followed was unbelievable. The Roman historian Tacitus (not a Christian partisan) wrote, “Besides being put to death, [Christians] were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed” (Annales 15.44).
Believers who could scattered far and wide to escape the tyranny. Peter remained in Rome. Perhaps he was arrested early on. He witnessed the fate of his fellow Christians. He knows the fate he is about to face. Tradition says he would be crucified upside down within a year or two of the beginning of the persecution. However, his big concern is for his fellow believers. He knows that the local persecution will likely spread to other places. Perhaps as he awaits his own execution, he puts pen to paper to warn his brothers and sisters in Christ of what’s coming.
Listen to a sampling of this little book. It contains only one hundred-five verses in five short chapters. The message is the same throughout. Get ready, stand firm, always live for Christ no matter what happens. If you are arrested, let it be for faithfulness to Christ and never for actually doing something wrong. If you stand trial, speak the truth. May there always be enough evidence to convict you for being a follower of Jesus. This is how Peter makes that case:
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of 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. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
The key section is perhaps what I read from the fourth chapter: 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial (the KJV renders this “the fiery trial) you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. Throughout the letter, Peter advocates a different way of looking at suffering, even persecution. Bad times can actually produce good. How? In at least four ways:
First, hard times can make us stronger. That’s the appeal Peter makes in the first chapter. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of 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.
An old parable illustrates this truth. A young woman confessed to her mother the hard times she was going through. She was tempted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. Every time one problem was solved, a new one took its place.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She placed three pots of water on the stove. They quickly came to a boil. In one pot of boiling water, she placed carrots; in the second, eggs; in the last, ground coffee. The pots boiled for about twenty minutes before she turned them off.
She ladled the contents from each pan, placing them in separate bowls. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She asked her to feel the carrots. The daughter did. They were soft to the touch. The mother next instructed the daughter to take one of the eggs and break it. It was naturally firm and hard-boiled. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted the familiar flavor of strong coffee.
The mother explained the object lesson. The boiling water was like adversity. Each object faced the same fate, but each reacted differently. The carrot once strong, hard and unrelenting turned soft and weak. The thin outer shell of the fragile egg protected its liquid interior. But the boiling water turned it hard. The ground coffee endured the same water. Rather than being altered, the coffee changed the water. Water had turned to coffee.
Which are you?" the mother asked her daughter." When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? Do you become soft and weakened by the trials? Do you look the same on the outside but turn hard and defensive on the inside? Or does adversity release your flavor, affecting the very source of the difficulty. Carrots, eggs, and coffee have no choice. You do! (Adapted/Author unknown)
Secondly, hard times also make us more and more Christ like. This may well be the strongest appeal of the book. “Don’t be surprised,” Peter argues, “You follow Jesus. He faced suffering and adversity. What makes you think you won’t face the same fate he faced.” Jesus taught the same thing. He called would-be disciples to take up their cross, deny themselves and follow. He warned his men that in this world they would face persecution. If we don’t, we are the exception not the rule. We shouldn’t be surprised.
Christian writer John Piper related this principle to the current news in a helpful way in a recent column in World Magazine. I want to read an excerpt. Piper was commenting on the Islamic demonstrations over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad. He argued that these demonstrations provided a vivid depiction of the difference between Muhammad and Jesus, and what it means to follow each. Not all Muslims approve the violence and bloodshed. We need to keep that in mind. But a deep lesson remains, Piper insists. It is this: Muhammad demanded honor. Jesus endured insult. This produces two completely different reactions to mockery. Piper goes on to say:
“If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was His saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God. …When it actually happened it was worse than expected. "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. . . . And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ’Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him" (Matthew 27:28-29). His response to all this was patient endurance. This was the work he came to do. "Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).
…That’s the most basic difference between Christ and Muhammad and between a Muslim and a follower of Christ. For Christ, enduring the mockery of the cross was the essence of his mission. … The caricature and mockery of Christ has continued to this day. …How should his followers respond? On the one hand, we are grieved and angered. On the other hand, we identify with Christ, embrace his suffering, rejoice in our afflictions, and say with the apostle Paul that vengeance belongs to the Lord, let us love our enemies and win them with the gospel. If Christ did his work by being insulted, we must do ours likewise.
When Muhammad was portrayed in 12 cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the uproar among Muslims was intense and sometimes violent: They burned flags, torched embassies, and stoned at least one Christian church. The cartoonists went into hiding in fear for their lives, like Salman Rushdie before them. What does this mean?
It means that a religion with no insulted Savior will not endure insults to win the scoffers. It means that Islam is destined to bear the impossible load of upholding the honor of one who did not die and rise again to make that possible. It means that Jesus Christ is still the only hope of peace with God and peace with man. And it means that his followers must be willing to "share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death" (Philippians 3:10). (Being mocked: It’s the essence of Christ’s work, not Muhammad’s by John Piper Copyright © 2006 WORLD Magazine, February 18, 2006, Vol. 21, No. 7)
1 Peter agrees. We take adversity, even persecution in stride because we are followers of Jesus. He left us an example to follow. We walk in his steps. That makes all the difference in the world.
Third, suffering can produce good in another way. It provides an opportunity to make our case for Christ. How we respond and what we say when unjustly criticized provides a powerful opportunity to explain the difference Christ has made in our lives.
This presumes we do not deserve the criticism. Peter makes this clear. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (4:15-16) “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (3:14-17)
In hard times, we are to stand up and speak up. What we say and how we do it can lift up Christ and make him known.
Finally, suffering confirms that this world is not our home. Hard times remind us how much we have to look forward to in the world to come. That’s part of the danger of having it so easy. We lose our eagerness for what’s to come in eternity. Listen to Peter’s opening words: “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:3-5).
The parting benediction of the book offers a fitting conclusion, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” (5:10-11)
We can all pray that we or our children never have to face the kind of fiery trial of which Peter writes. But if we do, we shouldn’t be surprised. And we should never allow hard times to make us anything other than even more confident, consistent follower of Christ. He suffered for us. How can we do anything less for him?
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
