God Can Help You Through the Fiery Trial You Are Facing!

Dennis Edwards

A Study in 1 Peter 4 & 5

1 Peter 4:12 "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fire trial which is to try you, as if some strange thing happened unto you."

The trials we have with our own children and personal family or those we work with closely or our neighbours, or fellow students, are indeed "fiery trials." Why do we call them fiery? It is because they affect us so much emotionally. A death of a child or young adult, a young family member coming out as trans or gay, or becoming atheist and speaking vociferously against the things of God and or our faith, a cantankerous neighbour or workmate or employer, ridicule at school because one’s faith; these types of situations can very easily cause us emotional upheaval and bring us discouragement. However, Apostle Peter tells us to "rejoice" and not let our trials bring us down or cause us to lose our equilibrium. He says,  

1 Peter 4:13 "But rejoice, in as much as you are partakers of Christ's suffering; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 

Apostle Peter is talking specifically about when we are attacked for our faith and others are speaking evil of us. It hurts most when it comes from those who are closest to us. Peter is saying we shouldn't let it get us discouraged, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. Rejoice! Be glad with exceeding joy! Fight for joy. Fight to be happy. We shouldn't let negative emotions overwhelm us. When we are experiencing these trials as a result of our faith for standing for the cause of truth and love, we are participating in Jesus’ suffering. As such, we should rejoice. 

1 Peter 4:14 "If you are reproached (which means criticized) for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you: on their part (those that are criticizing you) He (God) is (being) evil spoken of, but on your part He (God) is (being) glorified."

When people are criticizing us for our Godly belief system, they are really criticizing God.  Therefore, we should be happy, rejoice, and be glad!

1 Peter 4:16 "Yet if any suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."

When we are faced with these fiery trials or emotional battles as a result of being attacked by our loved ones, or workmates, or fellow students for our beliefs, we should use the weapon of praise and thanksgiving. We, also, may need to reflect on whether we are really being attacked for our faith, or could it be for mistakes and, or sins we have committed. We may need to confess, or apologize and make things right with those involved, before we can go on to improve our relationship with them.

1 Peter 4:19 "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Both Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul tell us that suffering for Jesus is part of our job as His Ambassadors. Since God is ultimately in control, we should trust that He will work whatever we are going through for His glory. He is a faithful and just Creator who loves us and those around us. He has promised that His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him. Not one of them that chooses to follow Jesus shall God allow to fall out of His hand. Our part is to hold onto our loved ones and friends spiritually through prayer, good communication, and love. We may also need to change any of our old belief systems or behaviours that may need changing. The truth is, that it is possible to build better relationships with our loved ones, workmates, and or friends, through God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that lives and works in us and them. For God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.

1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

Walking humbly before God and others, especially those of our own family, and our workmates or schoolmates, helps greatly to build better relationships and have good communication. Humility is part of the formular for victory.

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”

We can cast all our anxieties and fears and problems up to the bosom of God through prayer and thanksgiving knowing God is bigger than our problem and will bring the solution and the victory in His time.

1 Peter 5:9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith.”

Apostle Peter’s formular for victory is to humble ourselves before God showing our utter dependence on Him, and then to resist the devil. Apostle James uses the same formular when he describes how to draw closer to God. He says, 

James 4:6b, 7 & 10 “God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.”

Humility brings us closer to God and then, with God’s help we can resist the devil.

1 John 4:4b “For greater is he (Jesus) that is in you, than he (the devil) that is in the world.”

1 John 3:8b “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

The devil has already been defeated on the cross. We need not believe his lies nor submit to them, but rather resist them in Jesus’ name.

The devil is the one who is attacking us through the words and reproaches of our family members, workmates or school friends. If we resist him through the power of the Holy Spirit by quoting God’s Word, by praying out loud, or by vocally praising; he will flee. We need to fight the good fight of faith. A passive war will not win. The enemy is trying to devour us and destroy our faith through these verbal and emotional attacks from those closest to us. Do not submit to them. Be a vigilant soldier and fight with the spiritual weapons at your disposal!

When Jesus walked the earth, the Devil used the words of Apostle Peter to attack Jesus. Peter had rebuked Jesus for saying that he must go up to Jerusalem “and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed.” Matthew 16:21. Peter said,

“Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Matthew 16:22. “But he (Jesus) turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savours not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matthew 16:23.

Jesus called Peter, Satan, because Apostle Peter was being used by Satan to spread falsehood and was speaking contrary to God’s will. From that experience of being used by Satan, Peter understood how words and reproaches from a friend or loved one can be a strong attack from the enemy. Hurtful words can cause us to be discouraged emotionally. It is often those that are closest to us that injure us the most. We read in the Psalm of David:

Psalm 55:12-14 “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.”

Jesus had warned his disciples that a man’s foes would be those of his own household. Matthew 10:36. Like God tested Abraham to see if he would put his family above God, He tests us also, to see if we are going to put Him first, or put the feelings and desires of our family or friends first. Jesus said,

“He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37-38

Abraham passed the test and put God first. God therefore said unto him, “now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” Genesis 22:12b. If we put God first, He will bless us.

1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

God has promised to comfort those that suffer for his sake. He has promised He will not give us more than we are able to bear. Apostle Peter is assuring us that God will use the suffering He allows in our lives to make us stronger, mature soldiers for Jesus. Peter may be remembering the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

We can’t get around it. God wants us to rejoice and be exceeding glad in the face of the reproaches we suffer for His sake. If we have the right perspective and understand what’s happening, we can guard our emotional responses and rise above them through praise and the joy of the Lord. The devil wants to sadden and weaken us through the attacks we receive from those closest to us. But God’s word says,

Nehemiah 8:10 “Sorrow not, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice…., and again I say, rejoice.”  

John 16:33 “Be of good cheer.” 

Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and of good courage.” 

Colossians 2:7 “Abounding therein with thanksgiving.”    

James1:2 “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (or trials).”        

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will fill your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord.”    

Psalm 5:11 “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.”   

Psalm 32:11 “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”  

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

1 Peter 1:8-9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you over flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice evermore!”

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"Immortal Till His Work Was Done" - JOHN PATON (1824–1907)

 January 28, 2019

Article by 

John Piper

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

When John and Margaret Paton landed on the New Hebrides island of Aniwa in November 1866, they saw the destitution of the islanders. The native people were cannibals and occasionally ate the flesh of their defeated foes. They practiced infanticide and widow sacrifice, killing the widows of deceased men so they could serve their husbands in the next world. “Their whole worship was one of slavish fear,” Paton wrote. “So far as ever I could learn, they had no idea of a God of mercy or grace” (Autobiography, 72).

In the next fifteen years, the Patons saw the entire island of Aniwa turn to Christ. Years later, Paton would write, “I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by the grace of God Aniwa now worships at the Savior’s feet” (Autobiography, 312). When he was 73 years old and traveling around the world trumpeting the cause of missions in the South Seas, he was still ministering to his beloved Aniwan people and “published the New Testament in the Aniwan Language” in 1897 (Apostle to the New Hebrides, 238). Even to his death, he was translating hymns and catechisms and creating a dictionary for his people even when he couldn’t be with them anymore.

The sacrifices and the legacy of the missionaries to the New Hebrides are stunning, and John Paton stands out as one of the great ones. In telling his story, we will focus on one of the most inspiring aspects of his character: his courage.

Cannibals and Criticism

Paton had courage to overcome the criticism he received from respected elders for going to the New Hebrides. A certain Mr. Dickson exploded, “The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!” But to this Paton responded:

Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. (Autobiography, 56)

This is the kind of in-your-face spiritual moxie that would mark Paton’s whole life. It’s a big part of what makes his story so invigorating.

Dreadful Loss

Paton originally arrived in the New Hebrides on November 5, 1858, when his first wife, Mary, was pregnant. The baby was born February 12, 1859. “Our island-exile thrilled with joy! But the greatest of sorrows was treading hard upon the heels of that great joy!” (Autobiography, 79). Mary had repeated attacks of ague, fever, pneumonia, and diarrhea with delirium for two weeks.

Then in a moment, altogether unexpectedly, she died on March third. To crown my sorrows, and complete my loneliness, the dear baby-boy, whom we had named after her father, Peter Robert Robson, was taken from me after one week’s sickness, on the 20th of March. Let those who have ever passed through any similar darkness as of midnight feel for me; as for all others, it would be more than vain to try to paint my sorrows! (Autobiography, 79)

He dug the two graves with his own hands and buried them by the house he had built.

Stunned by that dreadful loss, in entering upon this field of labor to which the Lord had Himself so evidently led me, my reason seemed for a time almost to give way. The ever-merciful Lord sustained me. . . . But for Jesus, and the fellowship he vouchsafed to me there, I must have gone mad and died beside the lonely grave! (Autobiography, 80)

The courage to risk the loss was remarkable. But the courage to experience the loss and press on alone was supernatural.

Mortal Enemies

The most common demand for courage was the almost constant threat to Paton’s life from the hostilities of the natives. This is what makes his Autobiography read like a thriller. In his first four years in the New Hebrides, when he was all alone, he moved from one savage crisis to the next. One wonders how his mind kept from snapping, as he never knew when his house would be surrounded with angry natives or whether he would be ambushed along the way.

One of the most remarkable things about Paton’s dealing with danger is the gutsy forthrightness with which he spoke to his assailants. He often rebuked them to their faces and scolded them for their bad behavior even as they held the axe over his head.

One morning at daybreak I found my house surrounded by armed men, and a chief intimated that they had assembled to take my life. Seeing that I was entirely in their hands, I knelt down and gave myself away body and soul to the Lord Jesus, for what seemed the last time on earth. Rising, I went out to them, and began calmly talking about their unkind treatment of me and contrasting it with all my conduct towards them. . . . At last some of the Chiefs, who had attended the Worship, rose and said, “Our conduct has been bad; but now we will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you.” (Autobiography, 115)

As his courage increased and his deliverances were multiplied, he would make it his aim to keep warring factions separated, and he would throw himself between them and argue for peace. “Going amongst them every day, I did my utmost to stop hostilities, setting the evils of war before them, and pleading with the leading men to renounce it” (Autobiography, 139).

The list could go on as to how Paton displayed courage through his decades on the mission field. But we turn to the question, Where did this courage come from? The answer Paton would want us to give is that it came from God. But he would also want us to see what precious means God used and, if possible, apply them to ourselves and our situations.

God of Sovereign Goodness

Just months after arriving on the field, Paton wrote over his wife’s and child’s grave: “Feeling immovably assured that my God and Father was too wise and loving to err in anything that he does or permits, I looked up to the Lord for help, and struggled on in His work” (Autobiography, 85).

Over and over this faith sustained him in the most threatening and frightening situations. As he was trying to escape from Tanna, another island of the New Hebrides, at the end of four years of dangers, he and his native friend Abraham were surrounded by raging natives who kept urging each other to strike the first blow.

My heart rose up to the Lord Jesus; I saw Him watching all the scene. My peace came back to me like a wave from God. I realized that I was immortal till my Master’s work with me was done. The assurance came to me, as if a voice out of Heaven had spoken, that not a musket would be fired to wound us, not a club prevail to strike us, not a spear leave the hand in which it was held vibrating to be thrown, not an arrow leave the bow, or a killing stone the fingers, without the permission of Jesus Christ, whose is all power in Heaven and on Earth. He rules all Nature, animate and inanimate, and restrains even the Savage of the South Seas. (Autobiography, 207)

After getting away with his life and losing everything that he had on earth (“my little earthly All”), instead of despairing or pouting or being paralyzed with self-pity, he moved forward expecting to see God’s good purpose in time — which he saw in the ministry that opened to him, first of missions mobilization and then of work on Aniwa.

Prayer That Claims God’s Promises

The prayer that made all the difference was the kind that submitted to God’s sovereign wisdom. How do you claim the promises of God for protection when your wife was equally faithful but, rather than being protected, died? How do you bank on God’s care when the Gordons, missionaries on another island, were equally trusting in God’s care and were martyred? Paton had learned the answer to this question from listening to his mother pray, even before he learned the theology that supports it.

When the potato crop failed in Scotland, Mrs. Paton said to her children, “O my children, love your Heavenly Father, tell Him in faith and prayer all your needs, and He will supply your wants so far as it shall be for your good and His glory” (Autobiography, 22). This is what Paton trusted God for in claiming the promises: God would supply all his needs insofar as this would be for Paton’s good and for God’s glory.

His courage, when he was surrounded by armed natives, came through a kind of praying that claimed the promises under the overarching submission to God’s wisdom as to what would work most for God’s glory and his good.

I . . . assured them that I was not afraid to die, for at death my Savior would take me to be with Himself in Heaven, and to be far happier than I had ever been on Earth. I then lifted up my hands and eyes to the Heavens, and prayed aloud for Jesus . . . either to protect me or to take me home to Glory as He saw to be for the best. (Autobiography, 164)

That was how he prayed again and again: “Protect me or . . . take me home to Glory as you see to be for the best.” He knew that Jesus had promised suffering and martyrdom to some of his servants (Luke 11:49; 21:12–18). So the promises he claimed were both: either protect me, or take me home in a way that will glorify you and do good for others.

A Friend Who Will Not Fail

Where did the joy of John Paton most deeply repose? The answer, it seems, is that it rested most deeply in the experience of personal communion with Jesus Christ mediated through the promise, “Behold, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

The power this promise had to make Christ real to Paton in hours of crisis was unlike any other Scripture or prayer: “Without that abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Savior, nothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably” (Autobiography, 117).

One of the most powerful paragraphs in his Autobiography describes his experience of hiding in a tree, at the mercy of an unreliable chief, as hundreds of angry natives hunted him for his life. What he experienced there was the deepest source of Paton’s joy and courage.

I climbed into the tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior’s spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. (Autobiography, 200)

Paton leaves us with a question: “If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/immortal-till-his-work-was-done

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy.

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