1 Peter 4 Part 4: Rejoice in Fiery Ordeals
1 Peter 4 Part 4: Rejoice in Fiery Ordeals
1 Peter 4:12-14 Rejoice in sharing in the suffering of our Lord; be blessed if you are reviled.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
1 Peter 4:12-14 NASB1995
Peter tells his beloved church that they should rejoice if they share in the sufferings of Christ and to not be surprised at a fiery ordeal. If we are reviled for the name of Christ, then we are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on us. Pretty much all of the epistle of 1 Peter is an attempt to prepare believers for testing, suffering and persecution. He is telling us how to behave and to leave no doubt that Christians and what they believe are different and eternal.
I really struggled to find a good picture to go along with this passage, so I settled on a peaceful scene of an open Bible in front of colorful stained glass. There are many ways that we can suffer in this life. I’m going to divide the discussion into two general categories: Personal and Persecuted.
Personal
Fiery ordeals for the typical human being can range from various illnesses to loss of finances to the death of dear family members and friends. In looking at my family background, cancer has occurred among various family members on both sides (Mom and Dad) and led to deaths in several instances.
On my Dad’s side, he died of Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the ripe old age of 94 caused by treatments for granulomatosis (a form of soft-tissue arthritis) but he also suffered from thyroid cancer many years previously and we almost lost him when I was a toddler. My three half-siblings from his first marriage all died of cancer, including a half-sister who died of bone cancer at the age of 15, not long after I was born. My Dad’s mother died of colon cancer and his father died of stomach cancer. My Dad’s sister died suffering from aplastic anemia, a form of blood cancer.
On my Mom’s side, her father died of lung cancer (not found until he passed away ), my Mom had breast cancer (she survived it and died of a stroke), and various aunts and uncles and cousins have or had run-ins with the big “C”. There were also heart problems on my Mom’s side of the family. So in the lottery of illnesses in life, cancer is probably lurking out there somewhere for me, so I do all of the proper screenings at the recommended intervals and watch closely for symptoms. Steve has to watch out for heart problems from his family history and perhaps dementia, but cancer has been rare. And then there are wild card diseases, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; I also have my life-long battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which could end up being the thing that kills me.
I’m a big chicken when it comes to hearing about the ravages of treatments for cancer (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy), but if we believe that God is with us in our suffering, then I would have to rely on Him to get me through the worst if that happens. Interestingly, there were no family struggles financially either for my family or Steve’s family and we are both abundantly blessed, but things can change. Looking at our lives, we have also had friends and family members die in accidents, commit suicide, and die of strange things like exposure (my alcoholic cousin).
The Lord’s suffering on the cross prepares believers for these fiery ordeals, although we can never guarantee our reactions to bad news even if we believe, but we must look to Him to be our solace and help. Prayer is our fortress against the enemy, who uses personal ordeals to try and draw us away from God.
Persecuted
I have to be honest with our readers - how strong would I be if faced with serious and perhaps fatal persecution for being a Christian? I’m not talking about nasty comments on social media or even the pressures that certain advocacy groups put on Christians to conform to cultural norms. I’m not even talking about losing a job or having to move because I am a Christian, or perhaps even going to jail rather than rescind my beliefs in Biblical truths.
I’m talking about true martyrdom. Brave Christian martyrs throughout history have given their lives for God, rather than denying Him. We all have heard stories about the apostolic martyrs, St. Stephen, Polycarp, St. Lawrence, Perpetua and Felicity, Veronica, Joan of Arc, and many of the martyrs on both sides during the Reformation and the religious wars in Europe and Great Britain. But there are many more modern-day martyrs, as the persecution of Christianity is now at higher numbers in many places in the world than throughout its entire history. Although this will make this devotional rather long, I want to include the text from two martyr stories from Voice of the Martyrs. One story is about the savage response to Christianity by Chinese communists in the last century; the second is about Taliban insurgents (now in charge again in Afghanistan) and their brutal response to Christians helping others in a remote part of that country only 13 years ago. The embedded links go to additional resources at Voice of the Martyrs. Here is the first, about John and Betty Stam:
Betty Stam held the baby in her arms, singing softly to this infant child, all too aware that this was their last night together. Her husband, John, tied to a bedpost, could not sleep either. Only two weeks ago they had arrived at their mission station with three month-old Helen Priscilla, full of hope, eager for ministry. But on this winter night, their quiet lullabies were parting sorrows, for tomorrow they would die.
Betty Scott, daughter of Presbyterian missionaries to China, graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 1931. She had already accepted the call of God to service with the China Inland Mission. The bond she felt with John Stam, whom she had met at a prayer meeting for China, and their mutual decision to serve Christ in the middle of a dangerous civil
war, could not—did not—hold her back. When she was assigned to a mission station in the interior, she left for China. She wrote, “When we consecrate ourselves to God, we think we are making a great sacrifice, and doing lots for Him, when really we are only letting go some little bitsy trinkets we have been grabbing; and when our hands are empty,
He fills them with His treasures.”Stam, meanwhile, finished his training at Moody in 1932. He gave the graduating class address that year, urging, “Dare we advance at God’s command in face of the impossible?” In the fall he sailed for Shanghai, expecting an assignment too dangerous for a family. He arrived to discover that the Communists were gaining ground, missionaries were on the move, and his beloved Betty, to his great surprise, was in Shanghai, recuperating
from illness. They were soon married, and in September 1934 their daughter Helen Priscilla was born. The young family moved to Anhui Province near the town of Ching-te. The local leader assured their safety.It was a surprise to everyone when the town magistrate appeared at the missionaries’ door only three months later to warn them of the approach of Communist troops, but it was too late. Before the Stam family could get out, the troops got in. John was taken first, bound and pleading for the safety of his wife and child. Soon the troops returned for them. That night in jail, the baby cried. When guards threatened to kill her, an older Chinese man, also a prisoner, intervened. Guards asked if he were so bold as to die for the foreign baby; he assented. The man was hacked to death on the spot.
That night Stam was ordered to write to mission leaders, demanding a $20,000 US ransom. He concluded the note, fully aware that ransoms were never paid: “The Lord bless and guide you. As for us may God be glorified, whether by life or by death.”
The next day soldiers marched the Stams to the nearby town of Miaosheo, where they were placed in the office of the local postmaster, who asked where they were going. By this time Stam must have known the soldiers’ intentions, for he replied, “I don’t know where they are
going, but we are going to Heaven.”The next morning, the Stams were led to their execution. A local Christian doctor approached the soldiers to plead mercy for the missionaries. He was threatened, and John then pleaded for the doctor. The Communist leader had heard enough. He ordered John to kneel, and with the flash of a sword decapitated the young missionary. Betty fell on
her husband’s body, and the sword fell again.What then happened to baby Helen? A Chinese evangelist, Dr. Lo, found her wrapped in a sleeping bag, with a change of clothes and money pinned to her diaper. Betty, during her sleepless last night, had done her best to comfort and care for the child she knew she was leaving behind. Lo concealed the child in a rice basket and eventually brought Helen to
her grandparents, still serving in China. Helen became a teacher and raised a family in the eastern United States. She chose a private life: no interviews or public statements.
The second story is about Cheryl Beckett and nine other martyrs who died for Christ in Afghanistan in what is known as the Badhakhshan massacre in 2010 (you can go to the link to read more about the other nine who died):
Cheryl Beckett was excited about the opportunity to accompany a medical team on a service trip to remote Afghan villages. During her nearly six years of living there, she had traveled to several places outside Kabul, but this new trip was to an area she had never visited before. It was also an area featured in one of her favorite stories by Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King.” She knew in her heart that it would be a memorable, life-changing experience, albeit one that might also hold some danger. Certainly, the thirty-two year-old humanitarian aid worker never could have foreseen that it would be her last adventure on Earth and the beginning of her eternal adventure in Heaven.
To some degree, living in Afghanistan always held the prospect of danger, yet Beckett had felt a calling from the Lord to serve there, leading community development projects. Mainly, she taught villagers how to provide food for themselves through nutritional gardening, and she also worked in women’s clinics, teaching mothers and children how to keep themselves healthy. Whenever the opportunity arose, she shared about her faith in Jesus. This new trip with International Assistance Missions would take her to the province of Nuristan, meaning “Land of Light.” Through providing basic dental, eye, and prenatal care to villages in the area, Beckett and her teammates would be bringing the Light of Life to the Afghan people. Besides that, Beckett hoped to entertain any children she met there by making balloon animals for them. For her, it was an experience worth the risk of physical danger. As she once said to a friend, “I want to walk in faith in this place. We are not promised safety … but I know that there will also be beauty and fruit due to walking in obedience to God.”
Beckett and her teammates traveled far into northern Afghanistan mainly by foot, at times having to cross very rough terrain involving high mountains and rain-flooded rivers. Day after day they ministered to villagers they met, many of whom suffered physically from their medical issues. They spoke to the people and comforted them, demonstrating
Jesus’ love with their kindness and service. After three weeks, the team packed up to head back to Kabul. As they were hiking through the mountains, they were suddenly surrounded by a group of armed Taliban insurgents who marched them into the woods and shot them to death one by one as they stood in a line. The Taliban’s accusation against the aid team was that they were spies trying to spread Christianity.Jesus once said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The ten martyrs embodied this mandate to the point of death. They had all left successful businesses or family and friends in their home countries to serve as humanitarian aid workers for Christ. Each of the members contributed
needed services and unique skills which caused the entire team to work efficiently as a single unit. They served others as well as one another.
I really want readers to sit and contemplate these stories or read other martyr stories like this one at VOM. Could you make these sacrifices in your life, knowing that you are risking your life to help others in a place where you are not welcome? I am uncomfortable and disturbed about how I am thinking right now about sacrifice, because I like my comfort and I don’t like that I am thinking that way. I’m getting old, have some physical ailments and don’t relish the idea of sacrifice. But we are called to serve in many ways and God is not through with us yet, so I need to prepare for sacrificial service and even look for those opportunities. We were told one time by someone at our church who had just met us that he had a vision of us becoming missionaries. I was stunned, to say the least. I have a lot of soul searching to do, beyond just writing devotionals, going to church, doing intercessory prayer and researching my Bible journal. Pray for us to do what is right and take up our cross.
My next devotional examines 1 Peter 4:15-19, Judgment Within the Household of God. This will finish chapter four of 1 Peter.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to bear up under personal ordeals and to find a way to take up my cross to its fullest and follow you. My reluctance is shameful to me and I don’t want to be a lukewarm Christian. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org