Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: 1 Peter 4:1-11

Theme: Living for Christ When the Fiery Ordeals Come.

Date: 11/06/2022 File Name: 1_Peter_13 Code: NT21-04

In 1 Peter 4:12-19 the Apostle returns to the subject of suffering for righteousness sake.

Peter’s overriding concern for his readers is to offer council and prepare them for the very real possibility of more intense persecution to come.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that may be coming your way.

Instead of being surprised when persecution arrives on the church’s doorstep, believers are to rejoice that they are sharing in Christ’s sufferings!

Peter knows from his own experience that faith in Christ will produce in the believer’s life, 1) a radical change, 2) a radical challenge, and 3) a radical conflict.

1st, Faith in Jesus results in a radical change.

When Christ enters a sinner’s life by repentance and faith, there is a radical change.

It may not appear physically obvious to friend or neighbor or family, but the change is as radical as radical can be.

You’ve gone from death to life!

It’s why Jesus compares our salvation to being born again!

2nd, Faith in Jesus results in a radical challenge.

Because there has been this radical change in us — which is Christ in us the hope of glory — there is the challenge of relating to a culture and world system that sees us as the enemy.

The love between the Christian and our Christ alienates us from the world.

And the more we love Christ, the more alienated from the world we will become.

Like John Bunyan’s character Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress when we pass through Vanity Fair we advert our eyes from the goods and wares of the world, and the vendors become incensed that we won’t purchase their products.

Our challenge is to communicate to the world why our love for Jesus keeps us from purchasing what the world wants us to buy.

3rd, Faith in Jesus results in a radical conflict.

Precisely because we don’t “buy into” the world’s ways, the world’s philosophies, and the world’s activities, the world will never understand us.

In some cases that lack of understanding will become hostility; in some cases they will kill us.

In John 15:20 Jesus tells the disciples, “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.'

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also ... They will treat you this way because of my name ... “ The world doesn’t like us because we will never put the world first.

You may have a lot of trouble in this world because you won’t put your company first, because you won’t put your race first, because you won’t put your political party first, or even because you won’t put your family first.

You can’t, because you see, there’s a Lord, and his name is Jesus, and he’s your first love and your greatest loyalty.

So there’s a radical conflict which is caused by a radical change, and that radical change presents a radical challenge for us to enter into the world and to testify to what Jesus has done for us.

And when you do, don’t be surprised when there is a radical reaction.

It is that radical reaction that the Apostle refers to in 1 Peter 4:12-19.

The New Testament simply assumes Christians will be mistreated, and maligned, and martyred.

I. CHRISTIANS SHOULD EXPECT FIERY TRIALS

“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.

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

(1 Peter 4:12–14, ESV)

1.

Peter begins by telling his readers not to be staggered or shocked when fiery ordeals come their way

a. and fiery ordeals are coming

2. how we deal with those who hate us is a measure of our Christian faith

a. now, please be aware that Peter is referring to those who hate you because you’re a Christian

b. being persecuted because you’re an obnoxious jerk or the schoolyard bully doesn’t count ... or as Peter says ...

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler,” (1 Peter 4:15, ESV)

3. when the church is maligned, mistreated, and martyred we are sharing in the suffering of the Messiah, and when we do we also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of his glory

A. THE FAITHFUL WILL BE PERSECUTED

ILLUS.

Today there is an escalating hostility toward orthodox Christianity throughout Western culture.

Twenty years ago in 2010, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, speaking before a gathering of priests about the dangers of the secularization of our society, said, "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.

His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."

While the Cardinal’s timing is off (he died of cancer some years ago) his words are prophetic.

He was completely accurate about the growing secularization of American culture, and the growing hostility toward the Confessing Church.

"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

(2 Timothy 3:12, NASB95)

1. throughout its pages, the New Testament assumes the world’s hostility toward God’s people

a. the Apostle assumes it in vs. 12

b.

Jesus talked about it in his Sermon on the Mount

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

(Matthew 5:10–12, NIV84)

2. I read that verse, and I think to myself, “Ya know, I’ve never had a red-hot poker shoved into my eye, so I must not really be living for Jesus.”

a. perhaps the difficulty lies in the word persecution

3. the New Testament refers to any number of ways that believers will be persecuted

a.

The Bible Speaks of Persecution by Physical Cruelty

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.

Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.

18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.”

(Matthew 10:16–18, NIV)

1) in places like China, North Korea, Kenya, India, and virtually any place where Islam is the dominant religion, believers fully understand what Jesus meant when he said, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves ... "

2) as I mentioned this morning, an estimated 100,000 people are killed every year just because they are Christians

a) that means that by the end of this day 400 brothers or sisters in Christ will have been martyred for the faith somewhere in the world

b.

The Bible Speaks of Persecution by Slander

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." (Matthew 5:11, NIV)

1) slander is making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation

ILLUS.

In June 2015 when the Supreme Court made Homosexual marriage legal nation-wide Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, bluntly said that defenders of traditional marriage are irrational bigots.

The last major group holding out against homosexual marriage is the Evangelical Christian community, of who the Southern Baptists are the largest segment of that group.

If you believe in the biblical view of marriage, you’re an irrational bigot according to Justice Kennedy.

2) that’s slandering the Body of Christ — at least a section of it

c.

The Bible Speaks of Persecution by Reproach

1) to reproach someone means to blame them for their actions as the source of what has gone wrong, and shame them for who they are

ILLUS.

In 2017 the Princeton Theological Seminary decided to award the Kupyer Prize to Rev. Timothy Keller.

Princeton Seminary is the second oldest school of divinity in the United States, and one of the most prestigious.

It is associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Tim Keller is a Presbyterian minister and the now retired pastor of Redeemer Church in NYC in downtown Manhattan.

It’s considered one of the most influential churches in America, and Keller is one of the most influential pastors in America.

Keller began the church in 1989 with 50 people.

Today the church’s attendance is 5,000 each week.

He’s a conservative (mostly), gospel-centered preacher.

The Kupyer Prize is the highest honor the Princeton Seminary bestows, and is given for excellence in Presbyterian Theology and Public Life.

The prize includes both an invitation to speak at the seminary and a $10,000 award.

In 2017 the Princeton Theological Seminary decided to award the Kupyer Prize to Rev. Timothy Keller, but just a few weeks later, the invitation was rescinded when liberal students, and faculty members accused the seminary of “ ... honoring and celebrating a man who has championed toxic theology for decades.”

The “toxic theology” Keller is being accused of is his opposition to the ordination of women and homosexuals — which has been the orthodox position of the church for 2,000 years.

Princeton Theological Seminary caved in to the real bigots, and decided to Dis-Honor Tim Keller because of his positions on Biblical Christianity.

2) this is the kind of persecution that is prevalent in America today — the Confessing Church, and Confessing Christians are fast becoming the politically expedient group to reproach in our society

4. whenever you remain faithful to your convictions, persecution in some way, follows