Are You Wasting Your Trials?

Fire has a way of stripping life down to what’s real. As Dr. Timothy Mann completes the Hope In A Hostile World series, we land in 1 Peter 5 with a clear question: how do we glorify God when the trial is not theoretical, not convenient, and not short?

We talk through two grounded commands that shape everything that follows: walk in humility and stay watchful. Peter doesn’t let us explain our struggles away with vague spirituality. He names a real enemy, the devil, the adversary and accuser, and then gives practical direction for spiritual warfare that stays biblical instead of sensational. We learn why we must respect Satan’s danger without blaming him for every headache and flat tire, how to recognize his counterfeits by testing everything against God’s Word, and what it actually looks like to resist him steadfast in the faith through Scripture, prayer, and the armor of God.

Then the tone lifts as Peter closes with hope. Christian suffering is “for a while,” but it is never wasted. God is the God of all grace, and He uses hardship to mend what’s torn, establish what’s shaky, strengthen what’s weak, and settle believers on a firmer foundation. If you’re facing a fiery trial, this message aims to put steel in your spine and peace in your heart.

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Transcript

Series Setup And Scripture Focus

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Today on Foundations of Truth, Dr. Timothy Mann completes our series, Open a Hostile World with the second part of the message, How to Glorify God in the Fire. For 1 Peter chapter 5. Here now is Dr. Timothy

Humility And The Call To Watch

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Mann.

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And so when the fiery trial comes, if we're going to glorify God, the instruction from the Word of God and the Apostle Peter is to be humble, walk in humility. But not only that, he also tells us that we need to be watchful. Watchful. Verses 8 and 9. One reason that we have cares is because we have an enemy. Now, if you're a Christian in here this morning, a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, you did not know you have an enemy. I'm here to announce it to you, give you the good news today that you have an enemy. All right, that ought to make you feel good. And as the serpent, Satan deceives. He deceives. But as the lion, Satan devours. According to what Peter said. The word Satan, he's called the devil here, but the word Satan, as we know him by, means adversary. The word devil here means the accuser, the slanderer. That's what he does. Now, the recipients of this letter in this biblical time period, this biblical culture, they had already received the attacks and experienced the attacks of the slanderer. We looked at that in chapter 4. And now what's going to happen is they're going to meet the lion in their fiery trial. Unfortunately, some of them literally did. They're going to meet the lion in their fiery trial. And Peter gives them some very practical instructions right here in this short amount of words that he has written to help them experience some victory over the adversary. They're important for him, them, and they're important for us today. How am I going to do that? If I'm going to be watchful and giving God glory in the midst of this fiery trial, how am I going to be, if I'm going to be watchful and deal with this enemy, what

Respect A Dangerous Spiritual Enemy

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do I need to do? Well, number one, you need to respect him because he is dangerous. Respect him. He's dangerous. Now, I have no mechanical ability to speak of. I admire people who can engineer things and repair things beyond my own elementary experience. I can do a few things. The thing that really interests me and amazes me is electricity. Guys who can who can wire and from the ground up and do all kinds of these things like that. And I'm grateful that we have now have a facilities director who can do all of those things and doesn't have any problem with that. And sometimes I just I had the privilege of having Keith help me to do some things, and he was going to be uh changing out some light fixtures that was pretty significant. I said, I need to go turn off the breakers. He said, No, you don't need to do that. I'm like, he's crazy. I've seen what this stuff can do, you know. He said, No, just make this, make sure the switch is off. Uh, you don't have to go turn off the breakers, just make sure the switch is off. And I want to say, how in the world do you do that? He mentioned to me at one point, he said, all you have to do is just have respect for it, and then you can handle it. You just know what it's about. And he said, he's he's he's felt it before, been knocked off a ladder, and various things. Listen, I want you to know Satan is a dangerous enemy. He's a dangerous enemy. He's a serpent who can bite when we least expect it. He's a destroyer. The Bible calls him Abadon, Apollyon, and Revelation. They both mean destruction. He's an accuser. He has great power and he has great intelligence, and he has a host of demons who assist him in his attacks against God's people. We don't talk about that much in our kind of church, it seems like. We're afraid of those kinds of things. We don't want to discuss much of the unseen realm. But the fact is, he's a formidable enemy, and we must never joke about him. We must never ignore him. We must never underestimate his ability. The apostle says, be sober. That means we have to have our minds under control when it comes to conflict with Satan. However, having said that, I want to kind of do the other side of the coin right now and say this. Part of that soberness includes not blaming everything on the devil. Some people see a demon behind every bush and they blame Satan for their headaches and their flat tires and their high taxes and you know all of those things that come along. And while it is absolutely true that Satan can inflict sickness and pain under the sovereignty of God, we have no biblical authority for casting out the demon of headaches or the demon of backaches or anything along those lines. We don't. While I have great respect for the wiles and the powers of the devil, I still feel that we must get our information from the Bible and not from our own personal experiences or what somebody else says on television or a book you read. Get it from God's Word. So respect him. Okay?

Recognize The Devil’s Counterfeits

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Secondly, you need to recognize him. Recognize him. Why? Because he's a great pretender. He's not only dangerous, he's a great pretender. We see that in talk to us from John chapter 8 and 2 Corinthians chapter 11. There's a reason it says be vigilant. Be vigilant or be watchful, be on guard. Always on guard. Why? Let me tell you the devil's strategy. His strategy is always to counterfeit whatever God does. That's what he does. He's the great pretender. He counterfeits whatever God does. According to the parable of the wheat and the tares, wherever God plants a true Christian, you know what the devil does? He seeks to plant a counterfeit one. According to the parable of the wheat and the tares. And he would absolutely deceive us were it not for the word of God and the spirit of God. That's what keeps us grounded. That's what enables us to have some sense about us because the better we know God's word, the keener our spiritual senses are to know when Satan is at work. And we have to be able to try the spirits, as it says in 1 John 4, and know whether they're true or false. How do we do that? We do it according to the Word of God. Against the Word of God. So if we're going to recognize Him, we have to. He's a great pretender.

Resist With Scripture And Community

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But not only do we respect Him and recognize Him, we have to resist Him. Resist Him. That's what it says here. Verse 9. Resist Him. That means we have to take our stand, but you can't just take your stand in and of yourself. You can't take your stand on the basis of anything other than the Word of God. You have to take your stand on the Word of God and refuse to be moved from the Word of God. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 13. And I just want to publicly say this taking a stand on the Word of God is not easy always. It's not always convenient. It's not always popular about any number of issues. Whether it's a personal situation, whether it's a cultural circumstance. I watched a program last night of one of our other pastors in the community who is of a different, kind of a different theological bent or denominational flavor, maybe than we would be. I don't necessarily always listen to other pastors in the area, but I have to say I was encouraged last night by what this brother said. Grace and humility, not in any sort of way of anger or hatefulness. He took a stand on the word of God related to a large cultural issue. And I intend this week to write him a letter and say, I appreciate your stand, brother. I'm for you. I'm praying for you. And you've got a friend here, if you ever need one. I'm behind you. We have to take our stand on the word of God and not be moved based on God's word. The Bible instructs us in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 13. It instructs us to stand, withstand, and then stand again. And unless we stand, we cannot withstand. There's no way. And our weapons are the word of God and prayer. And our protection is in the armor that God has provided. We resist him. Look what it says in verse 9. Resist him steadfast in the faith. We resist him in the faith. That is to say, our faith in God, our faith in his truth. Just as David took his stand against Goliath and trusted in the name of Yahweh, then we also have to take our stand against Satan in the victorious name of Jesus Christ and His Word. Now let me give you a word of caution here. I think from my own mental times and days gone by. I said something on a Wednesday night not too long ago about that the enemy can even influence our dreams at night sometimes. Does he know our thoughts? No, he can't read your mind. But don't forget, don't forget, Satan is a creative being in eternity past. And so he's been around for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, and there's not one thing under the sun that he has not seen as it relates to the children of this earth. He knows the ways of man. He's not omniscient, he's not omnipresent, but he knows the ways of man. And he can observe your life, and he can piece together the apparent will of God for your life and your family. And he can construct a strategy, a crafty scheme. That's why it says that we have to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand against the wiles or the crafty strategies of the devil, of Satan. And so he's a liar. He's the father of all lies. Jesus said that. And that's why we have to take on the helmet of salvation to guard our mind and guard our heart, because he can influence your thoughts. He can bring thoughts into your mind that are against the will of God. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians that we have to take every thought captive, casting down vain imaginations and pulling down strongholds. We have to do these things. The battle is won or lost in the mind. So a word of caution here is never discuss things with Satan or his associates. Don't get into a conversation spiritually speaking in that way. Because who made that mistake out the gate? Eve. And we all in this room know the sad consequences of what happened there, right? We know how that turned out. Also, never try to fight Satan in your own way. We have to resist the way Jesus did, which was how? The Word of God. The Word of God. So never, and also never get the idea. We do this. Never get the idea that you're the only one going through these battles. I'm the only one that's ever been through this. Pastor, you don't know what I'm dealing with. I maybe don't know, but maybe I've experienced something like it. Even if I've not experienced something like it, the Word of God says right here, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. You're not the only one dealing with stuff. You're not the only one that has this issue. You're not the only one that has this struggle. You're not the only one that is dealing with this trial and this problem. So what does that mean? That means we have to pray for each other. We have to encourage each other in the Lord. We don't talk about each other. We don't criticize each other. We don't put each other down. We pray for each other and we encourage one another. And we have to remember that our own spiritual victories are going to help somebody else just as their victories will help us. We got to be in this thing together. I'll tell you, had Peter, I can't imagine as Peter was writing this letter on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, some of the thoughts that might have been coming back to his mind. He's speaking out of personal experience. Had he obeyed just these three instructions that night as it were that he's giving as it relates to the devil, had he obeyed those instructions that night that Jesus was arrested, you know what would have not happened? He wouldn't have gone to sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. He wouldn't have attacked Malchus, and he wouldn't have denied the Lord. He didn't take the Lord's warning seriously. We don't either. In fact, as a matter of fact, instead of taking the Lord's warning seriously, what did Peter do? Peter argued with him. He argued with the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't recognize when the adversary had inflated his ego with pride. For men, that's tough sometimes. We don't see that often. Ladies do too, sometimes, but uh he didn't recognize that Satan had inflated his ego with pride. He told him he didn't have to watch him pray. He incited him to use the sword. He just had to play on his natural flesh. That's all it took. Had Peter listened to the Lord and resisted the enemy, he would have escaped all of those failures. But both Peter and James give the same formula for success. And it's this submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. He will flee. But here's the ticket. Here's the catch. Before we can stand before Satan, we must bow before God. Peter resisted the Lord. And what did he end up doing? He ended up submitting to Satan. So if we're going to glorify God in the midst of difficult circumstances that come, that can only happen, first of all, by being humble, and secondly by being watchful.

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Thank you for listening today to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. If you'd like to make a financial gift today, you can give a gift online at foundationsoftruth.net. That's foundationsoftruth.net. Now let's return to today's message how to glorify God in the

Be Hopeful Through Grace And Glory

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fire. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

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Thirdly, by being hopeful. Verses 10 through 14. Be hopeful. Now Peter closes on a positive note. I like that. He closes on a positive note. I'm trying not to be negative as much anymore. I'm not viewing things as, you know, the glass half empty. It's still half full, right? And I want to see that. Not just some kind of blind optimism. I want to have a positive mindset that God really absolutely knows what he is doing and he is in control. Because he does. And he is. The truth of God's word, what the Bible testifies to us, is that no matter how difficult the fiery trial may become, a Christian, a genuine follower of Jesus, always has hope. If you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, you don't have any hope. Other than something maybe you can muster up in this life what other people. That's a hope-so kind of thing, you know? And it's it's based on faulty premises, and it's not going to work out. In the end of the day, it's just not going to work out. Because you don't have a confident hope in God. That only comes through Jesus Christ. The Christian can. And Peter closes his letter by giving us several reasons that we can have for this hopeful attitude, even in the midst of fiery trials. One is this we have God's grace. That's the most important. We have God's grace. He tells us very clearly in this text, in verse 10, but may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you've suffered a while, perfect, establish, and strengthen you, and settle you. This God of all grace, our salvation is because of his grace. I hope you've settled that issue. He called us before we called on him. Don't ever get confused about that. Because that's what the Bible teaches. And as a result, now what? We've tasted the Lord that he is gracious, and we don't have to be afraid of anything that he purposes for us. We don't have to be afraid for that. His grace is manifold, Peter said in chapter 4, verse 10. It's manifold. That means it meets every situation of life. And as we submit to him, he gives us the grace that we need. As we submit to him, he gives us that grace. In fact, Peter just said here, he's the God of all grace. All grace. What does that mean? That means he has grace for every time of need. Every single time of need. James chapter 4, verse 6 says he gives more grace. And in verse 12 of this letter, chapter 5, verse 12, this is the true grace of God in which you stand. We have to stand in that grace. The main reason we have to be hopeful is that we have God's grace. Not only that, we know we are going to glory. We know we're going to glory. Did you see that? Verse 10. May the God of all grace who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. There is this wonderful inheritance into which we were born when we were born again by the Spirit of God. Whatever begins with God's grace will always lead to God's glory. Whatever begins with his grace leads to his glory. And if we depend on God's grace when we suffer, when we have that fiery trial, then that suffering is going to result in glory. The road may be difficult. I'm not going to tell you it's a six-lane highway paved. It might be, but you're going to have worse construction than you see on I-4 right now, okay? Sometimes. There's going to be an uneven pavement. There's going to be all kinds of barrels around, trucks entering and out in and out of the highway. The road may be difficult. But it leads to glory, and that's really all that counts. Another reason that we can be hopeful as we kind of move toward the end of this passage here is our present suffering, what he says, is only for a little while. It's just for a while. After you have suffered how long? A while. What does that mean? That means our various trials are only for a season. But the results are eternal. The results are eternal. We know that our trials, here's another reason to be hopeful. Our trials build Christian character. He says, after you've suffered a while, he will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. That word make you perfect or perfect you means to come to equip you, to adjust you, to fit you together, to make you complete. I need to be equipped. I need to be adjusted sometimes. Sometimes we need an attitude adjustment. Sometimes, some y'all do, by the way, I need to tell you that. Sometimes we need an attitude adjustment. Sometimes we need a perspective adjustment. We need to be fit together right, according to the way God wants us to be fit together. And he does that. He perfects us, he completes us. By the way, in my research this week, preparing for this message, as I did a little word study on this word here, uh in Matthew chapter 4, verse 21, the very same word is translated for mending nets. Mending nets. Peter used a word that was common to his language. He knew about mending nets. He said, God is basically here's what's happening. God is mending my net. Isn't that good? He wants to mend your net. Because he has a purpose for it. And that's to be fishers of men. And to catch men and women and boys and girls for Jesus Christ. That's worth the price of admission today, right there. For me it was. It really is. God has several tools which He's going to use to equip you in life and service. And I don't like saying this, but suffering is one of them. Fiery trials is one of them. The Word of God is another tool. He uses fellowship and the ministry of other believers as another tool. Our Savior in heaven is perfecting his children right now so that they will do his will and his work while still on this earth. He's doing that through the present, sanctifying ministry of the Holy Spirit and His Word. And Peter uses three words here to describe the kind of character that God wants us to have. First of all, he says establish. You've gone establish. That means to fix firmly, to set fast. We need to be not be unsteady in our stand for Christ. Our hearts need to be established. That's accomplished by God's truth. If you're a believer who is established, you're not going to be moved by persecution. You're not going to be moved by fiery trials. You're not going to be led away by false doctrine. He says strengthen. Strengthen. That means just that. I wish I had some other way to say it. It doesn't. It means just that. Strengthen. What does that mean? That means God's strength gives us what we need to meet the demands of life. He does that. And what good is it to stand on a firm foundation if we don't have the power to act? He gives us the power to act. We just don't always appropriate that. Then he says, settle. Settle. That means to lay a foundation. It's used this way in Hebrews 1.10. Also in Matthew, the house founded on the rock withstood the storm. A believer, a Christian who settled in God's will, is going to continue in the faith rooted and grounded. You're not going to be tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine. Here's what happens when an unbeliever goes through suffering. When an unbeliever goes through suffering, he loses his hope. But when a believer, genuine believer, suffers and keeps his mind focused on God and on God's word, that suffering only increases your hope. Why? Well, it's kind of like the Apostle Paul wrote in chapter 5 of the book of Romans. He said, not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know, here it is, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. See, God builds character and brightens hope. When I as a believer, when you as a believer really trust him and you depend on his grace. And the result is that God is going to receive glory forever. It's interesting that the Apostle Peter closes his letter with a benediction of peace. He opened the letter with a greeting of peace in verse 2. And so the entire letters about 1 Peter. The entire letter points to God's peace from beginning to end. Based on hope. God's peace based on hope. What a wonderful way to end a letter that announced hey, there's a fiery trial coming. You can have peace. And down through the centuries, the church has certainly experienced some fiery trials, and yet Satan has not been able to destroy it. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Himself said, Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That's why. And it's going to get worse, and we must be prepared. But I want to say to you, whatever may come, whether it's to the church at large, culturally or socially, or in your own personal life, when that personal trial comes, Peter is saying to each one of us, Be hopeful. Why? Because the glory is soon to come. Be hopeful because of that reason.

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Thank you for listening today to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr.

Book Resource And Ministry Partners

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Timothy Mann. If you'd like to listen to today's program again or share it with others, or find more biblical resources, or give a financial gift, you can do so at FoundationsOftTruth.net.

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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 Noble, and Books a Million, and pretty much anywhere you buy books. Just search Saved, 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 Luther Rice 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, Fort Orange, New Smyrna Beach, and surrounding areas with dependable plumbing service. Their support helps make Foundations of Truth available to more listeners each week. 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.