Fire Is Coming, Are You Ready?

A house fire leaves more than ashes. It leaves you second guessing everything, turning the car around to make sure the stove is off, living with the quiet fear that it could all ignite again. That’s the doorway Dr. Timothy Mann uses to open 1 Peter 4:12-19, where the apostle Peter names a “fiery trial” headed toward the early church and then gives believers a steady way to respond when the heat is not hypothetical.

We talk about why Peter says not to think it strange, and why Christian suffering and persecution are not a glitch in the Christian life. The message traces the historical pressure building in Rome, including how Christianity moved from being tolerated to facing official opposition, beginning under Nero. Along the way, we clarify an important distinction: not every difficulty is a “fiery trial.” Some hardships are simply life on a broken earth, and some pain comes from our own bad choices, but Peter is addressing suffering that comes because we bear the name of Jesus Christ.

Then we dig into Peter’s two core instructions. First, expect suffering, because God is not surprised and his purposes are not derailed. Second, rejoice in suffering, not because pain is good, but because God gives real privileges in the furnace: fellowship with Christ, a future where suffering is transformed into glory, the ministry of the Holy Spirit resting on believers, and the chance to glorify God when others reproach his name. If you need biblical teaching that strengthens endurance and resets your perspective, this is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s under pressure, and leave a review to help more listeners find Foundations of Truth.

Transcript

Foundations Of Truth Introduction

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You're listening to the Foundations of Truth, the Bible-teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. Our mission is 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 Mann now. First Peter chapter 4.

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Today, 1 Peter chapter 4.

A House Fire And Future Anxiety

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Several years back, Patty and I had the occasion to experience a house fire. And if you've ever experienced the occurrence of a house fire or know someone who has, you know that it can be a traumatic event. There is a sense of loss, obviously. And there's also very possibly the onset of future anxiety about it happening again. I can't tell you how many times we've been several miles or minutes away from the house, and I had to turn around and go back and make sure the stove was off or make sure the iron was unplugged or something along those lines following the occurrence of that house fire. It's real and it's it's difficult and it takes a while to kind of get over.

Nero And The Coming Churchwide Fire

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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. Now, I suppose you can make applications in a number of ways, 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 to do when the fire breaks out. I remember watching those commercials on television, you know, years back, and when I was a kid, they'd talk about that, you know, drop and roll, right? Those kinds of things, or stay low to get out of the house. And that's not exactly what we're talking about. What's going to happen when the fiery trial comes? When the fire breaks out, how do we respond? What should we do? Well,

Reading The Passage On Fiery Trials

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let's read. Verse 12. 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. Now, what are these instructions? What are we to do when the fiery trial comes?

Expect Persecution As Normal Christian Life

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What are we to follow? Well, the very first thing we can do, the Apostle Peter says in verse 12, is we should expect suffering. We should expect it. Persecution is not something, or suffering as a result of persecution, is not something that is alien to the Christian life, particularly not through history. Throughout history, the people of God have suffered truly at the hands of an unbelieving world. Genuine Christians, believers, are different from unbelievers in some ways. That's just the reality of it, because of the change that occurs, because of the faith that the Lord gives us, and that different kind of life ultimately produces a different kind of lifestyle. At least in specific ways. Much of what goes on in the world, and you know this to be true, much of what goes on in the world depends on lies. It depends on pride and pleasure and the desire to get more. Much of what goes on in the world depends on those things. But a biblical Christian, a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, will build his or her life on humility and on truth, on the desire to glorify God, and those are distinct differences. As a matter of fact, this conflict is illustrated throughout the Bible. You go all the way back to Genesis, and you realize that Cain was a religious man. He was a religious man, he wasn't irreligious, he was religious, and yet, what did he do? He hated his brother, and he did what? He killed him. See, the world at large does not persecute religious or spiritual people in the terms that they view that. They don't, but it does persecute people in right standing with God, righteous people in that sense, genuine followers of Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not talking about some kind of righteousness of our own or self-righteousness, because why Cain killed Abel is explained in 1 John chapter 3, verse 12. It says this about that. It says, because his own works were evil, and his brothers' works were righteous. That's why he killed him. That's why he persecuted him. You go to the New Testament. The Pharisees and the Jewish leaders were religious people. And yet, what did they do? They crucified Christ and they persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ, persecuted the church. As a matter of fact, that Jesus warned his disciples in Matthew chapter 10, verse 17. He said, But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils. This is the religious councils. They will scourge you. Check this out. They will scourge you in the town square? No. They will scourge you in the synagogues. In the synagogues. Isn't that interesting? Imagine scourging the very servants of God in the house of God. Satan declared war on God. Now he's a defeated enemy, but he has been attacking God through people ever since. That's one of his approaches. And genuine followers of Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Peter has called them, are strangers and pilgrims in an alien world. This is the world as it is, is not our home. The world as it is now, according to the scriptures, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, is where Satan is the God, little G, and the prince, little P, obviously under the purpose and sovereignty of God, but he has rulership right now, temporarily, and whatever glorifies God will anger the enemy and he will attack. Whatever glorifies God angers the enemy and he will attack. And so, for believers, for genuine believers, suffering and persecution is not a strange thing. It's not. As a matter of fact, the absence of satanic opposition ought to be strange. If you're living for the Lord Jesus, really truly seeking to live for the Lord Jesus, if the church is seeking to do God's will, and there's the absence of satanic opposition across the board, that's kind of peculiar. Maybe it's due to God's supernatural protection. The fact is, whatever glorifies God is going to anger the enemy and he will attack. And Jesus explained to his disciples that they should expect opposition, that they should expect persecution from the world. But along with that, he gave them a very encouraging promise. He said this in John chapter 16, verse 33. He said, In this world you will have tribulation. You're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Overcome the world.

Why Your Support Keeps Teaching Going

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Thank you for listening to Foundations of Truth. Our program is made possible through faithful listeners like you who believe biblical truth should be proclaimed clearly, compassionately, and without apology. Your prayers encourage this ministry, and your financial partnership helps bring sound biblical teaching to thousands of listeners through radio, podcasts, and digital outreach. If the Lord has used this ministry in your life, would you prayerfully consider supporting this work? You can give a gift securely online at foundationsoftruth.net. Now let's return to today's message. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

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And it was through his death on the cross of Calvary, plus his resurrection, that he overcame sin and the world.

Fire As Refining Not Random

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Now, let me say something about this idea of fire. He said, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. Now that image of fire is often applied to testing. It's often applied to persecution, even in modern language. I mean, how many of you have ever said or ever heard somebody say, Boy, she's really going through the fire right now? He's really going through the fire. What is that talking about? Well, that's a typical statement that describes someone experiencing personal difficulties or hardship or suffering, some kind of problem that's very difficult. And in the Old Testament, fire was a symbol of the holiness of God and of the presence of God. And the fire on the altar in the Old Testament consumed the sacrifice. But specifically, what the Apostle Peter sees here in this image of fire is a refining process rather than just simply divine judgment. It's a refining process. It's important for us to remember this morning and to note that not all of the difficulties of life are necessarily fiery trials. They're not. I mean, there are some difficulties that are simply just a part of human life. And almost everybody experiences them. That's why this place is called earth and not heaven, right? We live on earth, not in heaven. Unfortunately, however, there are some difficulties, let's just be honest, that we bring on ourselves as a result of our disobedience, as a result of our bad decisions, as a result of even our sin. The apostle Peter mentions those over in 1 Peter 2, verse 18 through 20, 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 13 through 17. But now the fiery trial that he mentions here in chapter 4, verse 12, comes specifically because we are faithful to God, because we stand up for what is right. It's actually because we bear the name of Christ. That's what he's talking about here. Because we actually bear the name of Jesus Christ. This word, look at this in verse 12. Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. Happened to you. That word's important, happened. It literally means to go together. That's what the word happened means. To go together. In other words, what's he saying here? He's saying persecution or opposition and trials or this fiery trial do not just happen. As if, in the sense of being an accident. What's he saying is they're a part of God's plan. They're a part of God's purpose and he's in control. They're part of Romans 8 28, literally. And they work out for good if we let God have his way. So when the fire breaks out, for standing up for Jesus, for doing the right thing, for carrying the name of Christ, what should I do? Well, number one, I should expect it. I should expect stuff suffering. It's not strange, it's not odd. It didn't just happen by accident. These things go together in the course of God's

Why Suffering Can Produce Joy

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plan. But secondly, not only should I expect it, I should rejoice in suffering. That's what he says. Verses 13 and 14. Literally, Peter wrote, be constantly rejoicing. And if I counted right, in fact, he mentions joy in one form or another four times in these two verses. He says, Rejoice. Be glad. Blessed are you, or happy are you. There's exceeding joy in verse 13. See, the world absolutely cannot understand how it could be that difficult circumstances can produce exceeding joy that he talks about here. Why is that? Because the world has never experienced the grace of God. They really do not know God's grace. And Peter then here tells us several privileges that really we share that encourage us, that motivate us to go ahead to rejoice in the midst of a fiery trial. The first one is our suffering. Now check this out. Our suffering, verse 13, means fellowship with Jesus. Fellowship in Christ's suffering. It's an honor and a privilege, truly, to suffer with Christ. And it's an honor to be treated the way the world treated him. That's a real honor. The fellowship of his sufferings, according to the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 1 and chapter 3, is a gift from God. The fellowship of his sufferings. Now here's the fact of the matter. So I've never really had to suffer because of being a Christian. Well, not every believer grows to the point where God can trust him or her with that kind of experience. And that's just the facts. So when the privilege does come upon us, we ought to rejoice in that. Why? Because God says, I know, my child, they can handle this. It's time. They're going into a deeper place with me. They're going to be experiencing a new kind of intimacy. I remember Acts chapter 5, verse 41, where it talks about the apostles, and it says, And they departed from the presence of the council after having been abused and beaten and warned and threatened. It says they they departed from the presence of the council with their tails tucked between their legs, going to go hide out somewhere and never uh speak the name of Jesus again. Is that what it said? No, it said they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame because of his name. That's a big difference. How do we respond? Here's the exciting thing. Christ is with us in the furnace of persecution. In that fiery trial. He's with us. When the three Hebrew children were cast into the fiery furnace, they discovered they were not alone. The Lord was with the Apostle Paul all through his trials, and he promises to be with us until the very end of the age, he says. Here's something that we ought to remember, and that's in fact when sinners persecute believers, they're actually persecuting Jesus. That's what he said. Referencing Paul, when Paul was hunting down the church, wanting to see them thrown in prison or even killed, and the Lord Jesus appeared to him on that road to Damascus. And what did Jesus say? He said, Paul or Saul. He didn't say, Why are you persecuting my children? Why are you persecuting my followers? What did he say? Why are you persecuting me? Don't forget that. Why are you persecuting me? And so our suffering means that we're in fellowship with Jesus. Our suffering also means glory in the future. That's what verse 13 is all about. Suffering and glory are the twin truths that are woven into the fabric of Peter's letter here. See, the world believes that the absence of suffering means glory. But the Christians' outlook is totally different. It's different because that means the trial of our faith today is the assurance of glory when Jesus returns. That's how that works. That was the experience of our Lord. That'll be our experience as well when he returns. See, it's not necessary at all for us to understand that God is going to replace suffering with glory. That's not how that works. What he does is he transforms suffering into glory. He changes it in such a way. Jesus uses the illustration of a woman giving birth. That's a good way to think about that. Now, I've never given birth to a baby, so I have a hard time relating it. But I did have a kidney stone that passed one time, and that's pretty rough stuff, I'll have to tell you. That's a bad deal. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. It's bad. But here's the idea as far as having a baby goes, at least what I hear. The same baby that causes her pain ultimately brings joy when that baby's born. That's the reason Jesus uses that illustration. That pain is transformed into joy at the birth of that baby. Now, hopefully you'll still feel that way when here she's two years old, and you'll feel that way when they're 13. And that's the idea. The thorn in the flesh that gave the apostle Paul difficulty also gave him power and glory. That's what he said. The cross, the cross that brought Jesus shame and pain also brought power and glory. It's that transformation. See, mature people understand that life includes some postponed pleasures. See, we pay a price today in order to have some enjoyments in the future. Certain enjoyments in the future. For example, I think of Ryan playing the piano and many of others who have gone through that process. Piano student, Ryan, he might enjoy this, but I don't think I would. The piano student, you might not enjoy practicing scales by the hour through all of that work. But you look forward to the day, once you know that piece, once you have that piece down, you look forward to the day of the pleasure of playing that beautiful music someday. You pay a price today for the payoff in the future. The athlete may not enjoy necessarily exercising and practicing his or her skills. But what's the goal? You look forward to winning that game by doing your best. And Christians, genuine believers, have something far better. And that's that our very sufferings one day will be transformed into glory. And according to the scriptures, we'll be exceedingly glad. We'll have exceeding joy. 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. Do 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 this 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. And we suffer because of his

Book Recommendation And Final Blessing

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name.

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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 Luther Wright's 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. We're thankful for AMN Plumbing, a local ministry partner serving the Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, and surrounding areas with Dependable Plumbing Service. Their support helps make Foundations of Truth available to more listeners each week.

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Before we close today, I want to tell you about a resource that I believe will be a genuine help to you. I've recently published my first book, Saved, Understanding God's Work in Us. In over 30 years of pastoral ministry, one of the questions I've encountered more than almost any other is this: How can I know that I am truly saved? It is a question that deserves a careful, biblical answer. And that is exactly what this book is designed to give. Saved, understanding God's work in us, walks through what the scripture teaches about salvation, what God has done for us, what he is doing in us, and the assurance that every believer can have because of his work. If you want to understand salvation more deeply, stand on firmer ground in your faith, or be better equipped to share the gospel with someone you love, then this book was written for you. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, in Books a Million, and pretty much anywhere you buy books. Just search, save, understanding God's Work in Us by Dr. Timothy Mann. I pray it strengthens your faith. Thanks for being with us today. God bless you.

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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.