Today, on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Rejoice at the fiery trial? Yes, rejoice. Insofar. As you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice.
and be glad when his glory is revealed. We share. The sufferings of Christ. First, the suffering, then the glory. Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
The reality of suffering is a key theme of 1 Peter, which is written to Christians facing intense persecution under Roman rule. Today, we're returning to 1 Peter 4 to understand why suffering for Christ isn't something to be avoided. but rather something that can strengthen our faith and bring glory to God. Here's Pastor John Monroe with the first part of his message: the fiery trial. All of us find suffering difficult to handle.
Instinctively we feel that we don't deserve the suffering.
Sometimes we compare ourselves with others. who seem to go through life much more easily than we do. We also may compare ourselves with unbelievers who seem to prosper. while we are struggling. As followers of Jesus, Our approach to suffering should be different.
This is one of the themes of First Peter. He's writing to Christians who have been scattered and persecuted for their faith. Our suffering is probably much less than theirs. Peter is reminding us that we should not be surprised when suffering comes into our life. The issue is our response.
Also, Peter is going to remind us of the goal of suffering. I know you'll find this message very helpful. In AD 64. When Rome was set on fire The Roman Emperor Nero Seeking to divert attention from himself and looking for a scapegoat, he blamed the Christians. They were an easy target, and Christians were persecuted and, in fact, hated throughout the then Roman Empire.
We're not surprised because our Lord had taught In John 15, if the world hates you, You know that it has hated me before it hated you. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. That is, we who are followers of Jesus Christ, authentic followers of Jesus Christ, are on a collision course with the world. That being a follower of Jesus Christ does not render us immune from suffering and trials and difficulties. In fact, that suffering.
Is often intensified the closer we are. to her saviour. Yes, all of us experience suffering. Job, the man who was blameless. The man who, it is said, feared God, suffered greatly.
The great Apostle Paul himself was shipwrecked three times. He was stoned. He was imprisoned. He was lashed. He was persecuted.
He was slandered. He certainly Suffered. And most of all, as Peter has presented, in this first letter, our Lord Jesus himself. suffered. And so don't be surprised.
If you experience suffering. Don't panic. If suffering blows into Your life. The reality is when things go well in our life, Uh we tend to become complacent, perhaps even a bit arrogant, self-reliant. self-sufficient and unsympathetic to those who are suffering.
But in the middle of suffering, Isn't it true? Have you experienced this? That in the middle of suffering, we often understand very clearly what life. is really about and to help us understand these truths. We turn to the inspired scripture.
We're looking at the last verses of 1 Peter chapter. Chapter four.
So let me ask you to stand. as we read these together. Here is Peter writing to suffering Christians, to persecuted Christians. Notice what he says: beloved. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice. insofar as you share Christ's sufferings. that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed. Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler. Yet, if anyone suffers as a Christian, Let them not be ashamed, but let them glorify God in that name. For it is time. for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And if the righteous is scarcely saved, What will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator. while doing good. Iman, please be seated. I want for us to think of six truths from this passage.
You say, six. You normally have three.
Well, I didn't preach last week. And uh I'm not preaching next week. I'm not going back to the beach. I've got to go to a conference.
So I thought six.
Some of you are depressed and haven't even begun. Right. Don't you want the scriptures? Here's the first. Lesson for us from this passage, in fact, from verse 12.
Suffering for Christ develops our Christian character. Check out your Bible, open it to 1 Peter chapter 4. We've read the scripture. But here in verse 12, Peter says, Beloved, Do not be surprised at the fiery trial. when it comes upon you to test you.
as though something strange were happening to you. Suffering for Christ develops our Christian character. Suffering Peter says it's a fiery trial. It's a painful trial. Peter is using the imagery of a furnace of fire as symbolic of the trials that God decides.
Yes, God decides. For our testing and our purification and our spiritual growth. Gold is placed in a furnace. Not to ruin it but to refine it.
So, God, from time to time, places his people in a fiery ordeal. for our purification. For our strengthening. for our spiritual growth. Being in the refiner's fire is not comfortable.
But don't be surprised. When God places you In that furnace, When we follow Jesus Christ, we do experience painful and difficult circumstances.
Some of you are in the furnace at the moment. Don't be discouraged. The suffering is not to disprove you. But to approve you. This suffering Is not to punish you, but to mature you, to develop in you the very character and the very Virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These fiery trials. These painful trials develop Christian character. Isn't this what Peter is saying? Again, verse 12? He says, the suffering comes upon you to test.
Yeah. The refiner's fire reveals the genuineness of our faith. If someone puts gold Thinks he's putting gold into the furnace. And it's not gold. The fire reveals the reality of the gold.
It is not gold at all. Swirjun in his own way. Right, suffering. is meant not only to burn out the dross, but to burn in the promises. I like that.
You been there? We say suffering. It burns out the dross in our life, it burns out our pride. Our self-reliance, our materialism, our worldliness. What does suffering do?
It burns in. These great Christian virtues of humility, of trust, of godliness, of hope. Thomas Watson says: when God lays men upon their backs, then they look up to heaven. Yeah, we've been on your back. Literally, figuratively.
Isn't it true then? We look up. to God. The reality is that most of us grow More through adversity rather than prosperity. And so from time to time Our God.
of purposes we know nothing about. puts us in a fiery Trial. to test us. You're being tested for your faith. Perhaps you're having difficulties at work because You have taken a stand.
As a Christian. Because of honesty, you refuse to lie. You refuse to compromise. You take your stand for Christ, and it's difficult. Perhaps you're in a family where you're the only follower of Jesus Christ and it's very difficult.
Your siblings, your parents. others around you. ridicule you and mark you. because of your stand for Christ. Perhaps you're a student.
Your fellow students are giving you a hard time because You refuse to party like them. Have you ever experienced that? What did we do? In these tests, we're to stand fast, we are to endure. James writes, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know.
that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, produces endurance. That's what Paul says in verses 3 and 4 of Romans 5. He says that suffering produces. Endurance. You know that even in life, apart from the spiritual faith.
You're trying to achieve something. And it's difficult. It's hard. If you continue If you endure, you're going to succeed. It's very easy to give up when suffering comes, isn't it?
To feel self-pity. No, says Paul, suffering produces endurance. And endurance produces character. What's going to produce character? having no difficulties in life.
Never knowing what it is to endure, never knowing a difficulty, never knowing a disappointment, never knowing some humiliation. No. Says Paul. Suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character.
And what does character produce, says Paul? Hope. Hope. One of the words of Peter. a letter of hope.
That we have hope because we are followers of Jesus Christ. Here's the first lesson: then: suffering. for Christ develops. our Christian character. Secondly, Suffering for Christ.
identifies us with Christ in His sufferings. This may be difficult for us to grasp. But this is what Peter is saying in verse 13: suffering for Christ identifies us with Christ in his suffering. Verse 13, but rejoice. Rejoice in trials.
Rejoice in the fiery trial? Yes, rejoice. Insofar as you share Christ's sufferings. that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. We share The sufferings of Christ.
Now that Christ suffered is a repeated theme. In uh 1 Peter, which we've seen, for example. Verse 21 of chapter 2, Peter writes, Christ also suffered for you. You were called to suffer. Don't be surprised, because Christ also suffered for you.
Chapter 3. There For Christ also suffered once. For sins. Chapter 4, verse 1. Christ suffered In the flesh.
There it is, here in our text, verse 13. We share in the very sufferings of Christ.
Now we don't share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ. We don't atone for our own sins. That's impossible. We can't discharge the debt of sin which is accumulated against only God. That is dealt with by our Lord Jesus Christ through his death, his burial, and resurrection.
But we share Christ's sufferings when we do that which is right, when we're faithful to the will of God in our life. When we experience these sufferings, we are, in fact, Peter says, sharing. In the sufferings of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? That takes suffering to a very high level, doesn't it?
Yes, we expect trials. We expect spiritual attacks. And yes, the closer we are to Christ often, the more suffering there may be. But when we suffer for Christ, Peter is saying, we can rejoice in this because we are in fact sharing in the very sufferings of Christ. Here is Paul.
Saul is the envos on the road to Damascus.
Some of us have stood on the Golan Heights and looked towards Damascus, about 45 miles away, and wondered what it was, as here's Saul. Persecuting the church, trying to kill Christians, put them in prison. And so he's on his way to Damascus, and the Lord Jesus reveals himself to him. You remember what Luke records in Acts chapter 7? Jesus speaks and says, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
In what way was Paul persecuting Jesus? He was persecuting the people. of God. He was persecuting the Church of God. And in that way, then, these Christians then, as it is true now, they were experiencing the very sufferings of Christ.
Richard Baxter says Christ leads us through no darker rooms. than he went through before. Suffering. Understand this, brother, sister. Christ knows, he sympathizes, he's gone there.
No one suffered like our Saviour. He suffered for us. And as we suffer, we're identifying with the suffering of Christ. And we who follow him realize that as we follow Jesus Christ, we don't always follow him on the mountaintop. There is the valley, there are difficulties, there are, as Richard Baxter are saying, there are dark rooms.
Times when we feel isolated, times when it's difficult. And as Peter says here in verse 13, that suffering leads to glory. How is it that we can rejoice and be glad in the middle of suffering? One reason is. We share in the sufferings of Christ because we know that the sufferings of Christ led to.
Glory. and our sufferings. not only serve as an instrument of our sanctification. But they serve as an instrument of our glorification, as it were, which makes it all the more sweeter because we know. That the coming glory is going to be revealed.
Peter said this in chapter one. That we suffer, yes, but there is coming glory at the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the principle throughout Scripture is this. As we see supremely illustrated in our Lord Jesus Christ, first the suffering. Then The glory.
You want all the glory now, don't you? You want all the sunshine now. No, first the darkness, then the sunsh then the sunshine. First the suffering, then the glory. And meantime, this suffering purifies us.
and prepares us for that coming glory which will be revealed. when Christ returns. Second principle then, suffering for Christ identifies us with Christ and his suffering. Third, as we see in verses 14 and 15. Suffering for Christ.
is a blessing. When you're suffering God is blessing you. Verse 14. If you're insulted for the name of Christ, You're to grow into a little corner and cry and feel very sorry for yourself. Yeah.
If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed. God is blessing you. Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief. or an evildoer or as a Medler.
When we're suffering for the name of Christ, We're blessed. You're insulted. For the name of Christ. God Is blessing you in a special way. People are cursing you, God is.
Blessing you. You're taking a stand for Christ. And it's difficult. The spirit of glory and the spirit of God. is upon you.
You are being Blessed, the Shekinah of glory in the Old Testament was a visible sign of the presence of God. And so when we suffer, the blessing of God is on us. You remember when Peter, when Stephen Rather, was being martyred? He saw the glory of the Lord as the Lord Jesus stood. to receive him.
And Peter is saying. but in a very special way. You experience the presence and blessing of God when we suffer. Isn't that the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount? Rejoice.
When people revile you. Be glad when you're persecuted. Your reward is going to be great in heaven. Don't panic, don't be surprised. Don't retreat.
Rather no. But in the providence of God, God is using you for His glory. And he is blessing you. When you make that stand for Christ, And you understand something. of what it means to be identified with Christ.
In his Suffering.
Now, says Peter, in case there's any ambiguity about this in verse 14, we've got to evaluate the suffering. It's possible to suffer for the wrong reason. Don't suffer as a murderer. Or a thief? You say, Well, no murderers or thieves here.
Well, remember the Lord said. If you've got hatred against your brother, it's murder. No thieves. They'll pay your taxes, do you fill in your tax form on this flight? You steal your employer's time.
Sufferer is a murderer or a thief or is an evildoer. Or a meddler. What's a meddler, a busy buddy?
Sometimes they're well-intentioned, but they they cause a lot of problems, don't they? You're a meddler at work. You got a meddler in the home, a meddler in the church. No, we're not to be meddlers, we're not to be busy bodies. We're not to be rebels.
Scripture tells us that we're to be model citizens. that we're to live peaceful and quiet lives, Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 2. And just because we may do something in the name of Christ doesn't mean that we are necessarily suffering for the cause of Christ.
Sometimes Christians attack criticism and insults. Because of their foolish statements, because of their harshness. Because of their lack of compassion. And todo. They feel they're taking a stand for Christ.
They are a discredit to the gospel. They're overzealous, as it were, in their behavior.
Now, be wise. Don't cause problems because you're overzealous or because you're a fanatic. Remember. That you're to display Christ at all times. Third, here it is: then, suffering is a blessing.
Number four. Verse 16, suffering for Christ. glorifies Good. When we suffer as a Christian, God has been glorified. Here are these first-century Christians scattered and persecuted because they're Christians, and they're given this name, Christian, originally probably a nickname, as we read in Acts chapter 11, but a wonderful name.
Someone asked you What do you believe? Who who are you? To me the best answer is I'm a Christian. First and foremost, we are Christians. Our allegiance is to Christ.
Our lives are surrendered to Christ. We are Christ-centered in our lives. We are Christ-centered in the church. Christians, isn't that wonderful term? We see that.
When people are baptized, they're stating their allegiance to Christ, that they have received Christ as their Savior, that He's our only hope, He's the only way of salvation. We are Christians. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. and the beginning of a message titled The Fiery Trial. Today's lesson reminds us that trials aren't accidents.
They're appointments with God for our spiritual growth. And to help you continue developing this biblical big picture and look ahead to the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ. John has written a timely resource called For the Time is Near. This booklet provides a biblical introduction to the book of Revelation, covering key themes like God's prophetic calendar, the return of Jesus Christ, and the spiritual battle we face every day. The goal is to help you read and better understand Scripture so you can better grasp the big picture of God's redemptive plans and purposes.
So request your free copy of this enlightening booklet to day by going online to the verdict. org. This ministry exists because of the faithful financial support of listeners like you. Your contributions help us continue broadcasting these messages of hope to people who desperately need to hear them. In a world filled with uncertainty and suffering, The truth of God's word provides the anchor we all need.
When you support the verdict, you're not just giving to a radio program. You're investing in gospel outreach to so many individuals who are facing their own fiery trials. Your gift of $30, $75, or whatever amount God leads you to give makes a tangible difference in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. You can donate online at theverdict.org. And if you're in the Charlotte area, we'd love to welcome you to Sunday worship at Calvary Church, where John serves as senior pastor.
or join us remotely through our live stream online. For more details, visit theverdict.org.
Now Here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? I know you've suffered. You may be going through a very painful experience right at this moment. Perhaps you've been struggling and are confused and weary. Take heart.
Allowed Peter's words to encourage you. and to help you remember that God is at work.
So don't be surprised by your suffering. Don't doubt the goodness of God. Don't be better. We follow our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, who is described as the man of sorrows. Reflect on God's goodness on your life.
And what the suffering is producing Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
