For Hard Times
Faith Under Fire
1 Peter 4:12-19
Vance Havner
“Faith that fizzles before the finish was
faulty from the first.”
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Background
• “We are saved by grace through faith alone,
but saving faith never stays alone. Saving
faith perseveres to the end. Perseverance of
the saints is not so much a requirement as it
is a promise. With Paul we can say, “…I know
whom I have believed, and I am convinced
that he is able to guard until that Day what
has been entrusted to me” (2 Tim 1:12).
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Do Not Be Surprised!
v12-13
• An advance warning of suffering helps
the readers to be prepared for suffering,
so that their faith is not threatened
when difficulties arise.
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Do Not Be Surprised!
v12-13
• The words “think it not strange,” are
literally “stop thinking it a thing alien”
to you. These Christians were thinking
that the suffering which they were
enduring was a thing foreign or alien to
their Christian lives, as if Christianity
provided an immunity from suffering. 5
Do Not Be Surprised!
v12-13
• Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you.
• John 15:18 “If the world hate you, you know that it hated
me before it hated you.”
• John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
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Do Not Be Surprised!
v12-13
• But rejoice that you participate
(koinōneite, from koinōneō, “to share”;
related nouns are koinōnia,
“communion, fellowship, close
relationship,”. Suffering for Christ’s sake
should cause rejoicing because through
suffering Christians further identify with
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Christ.
Do Not Be Surprised!
v12-13
•
Sharing in the sufferings of Christ results in
(a) joy with Christ, (b) fellowship with Him, (c)
being glorified with Him, and (d) reigning with
Him. The New Testament is clear that those
who take part in the suffering of Christ also
will take part in His glory, when it is revealed.
Peter presented this truth as a cause for future
hope and present rejoicing while enduring
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persecution.
Do Not Be Discouraged.
v14
• Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we also
have such a large cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us lay aside every
weight and the sin that so easily
ensnares us. Let us run with endurance
the race that lies before us,
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Do Not Be Discouraged.
v14
• Hebrews 12:2 “keeping our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our
faith, who for the joy that lay before Him
endured a cross and despised the
shame and has sat down at the right
hand of God’s throne.
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Do Not Be Discouraged.
v14
• The Thundering Legion
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Suffer For Right; Not For
Wrong. v15-16
• At no time in a Christians life, regardless
of circumstance, should we ever resort
to vengeance, much less lawlessness.
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Suffer For The Will Of
God In Your Life. v17-19
• The judgment that begins with God’s
people purifies those who truly belong
to God, and that purification comes
through suffering, making believers
morally fit for their inheritance.
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