Handling the Heat, Part 1

Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. We're going to talk about how to handle the heat. Now maybe you don't have any heat in your life. Well, we're going to pray that you get some. And we're going to pray that tonight's lesson will become a reality to you as we understand what Peter said to those who suffered great persecution. Now, while you're turning, I want to read to you from Psalm 34 about a man who exper the faithfulness of God. The psalmist said this in Psalm:, I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Verse number six: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Verse number seventeen. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. The psalmist was experiencing God's faithfulness. And I want you to note that he experienced it amidst his fears, amidst his anxiety, amidst his troubles, and amidst his afflictions.

And the reason he experienced it during those times is because that's when we need it the most. And you will note that when you read Psalm 34, you don't read the psalmist with a downtrodden spirit. Oh, the Lord delivered me. It was a tough affliction, but God was there. No, it's quite the contrary. There's a sense of intensity and a sense of excitement about what God did. He delivered me from all my fears. He rescues me from all of my tribulation. He is the one who saves those who are crushed in spirit.

He delivers them from all of their difficulties. And the psalm would speak with great excitement. He 's not angry. He 's not depressed. Instead, there's a certain peace and seren about his life. Because in the midst of adversity, You can experience seren. Amidst all kinds of problems, you can experience God's peace and His presence. Because God is faithful. And so Peter is going to help us understand the faithfulness of God when it comes to tribulations and adversity in our lives. One more verse, the writer of Hebrews said this, a very familiar verse, Hebrews 4.

1, Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need. Interesting. It's a promise that's given to us when we are in great need that we are to with confidence approach the throne of grace. And the writer of Hebrews says that when we approach the throne of grace during our time of need, God doesn't promise to deliver us from our enemy. He doesn't promise to ch our circumstances. He doesn't promise freedom from pain.

Instead, he promises mercy and grace. Why do we approach the throne of grace with boldness? Because it's there we find mercy and grace in our time of need. You see, God would do you a great disservice if every time you went to Him in prayer about your problems and about your circumstances, that He immediately changed them for you. Instead, he wants you to be able to experience his grace and mercy amidst all of that. He wants you to know that amidst all of those pains that you experience, God will give you his peace.

And that you'll experience his presence because he is a faithful God who watches over his children and loves them. Having said that, I want to look with you at 1 Peter chapter 4. We want to recognize, two points tonight, the priority of adversity. And then we want to be able to respond to the pain of adversity. Recognize, first of all, the priority of advers, and then learn how to respond to the pain in adversity.

Simple outline, right? Very hard to apply. Listen to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians 12, verse number 7, Paul says this: And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, For this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, to keep me from exalting myself. Paul says, I've experienced these revelations of God. I've been caught up to the third heaven.

I've seen things that I can't even speak about. But to keep me humble, I was given this thorn in the flesh to buffet me. So that I won't become proud and arrogant, that I won't exalt myself. He says, verse 8. Concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults.

And distresses, with perse, with difficulties. For Christ 's sake, for when I am weak, then I am str. Paul says, I would like to have this messenger of Satan removed. Now, we don't know what that is, and that's a good thing because. If we knew what Paul's problem was, and we would be comparing ourselves to him and say, Well, his problem is not as bad as my problem is. So it's a good thing he doesn't tell us. But what he does explain to us is that he went to God three times. He asked God for it to be removed.

And God says, You know what? It's not going to be removed. Because my grace is sufficient for you. In fact, during your time of weakness, I'm going to show myself strong through you. And Paul began to realize that. It said, Therefore, he would rather learn to be content amidst his distresses, amidst his difficulties, amidst his persecutions, for the sake of Christ, knowing that when he is weak, That's when he is absolutely the strongest because of the power of God. See, Paul recognized the priority of adversity.

Most of us don't. You see, God wants us to experience His p and His pres. He does not want to eliminate our pain or our problem in order that he might effectuate his plans and his purposes. That is recognizing the priority in adversity. Let me give it to you again.

God wants us to experience His power and His pres. So he does not eliminate our pain and our problem in order that he might effectuate his plans and his purposes. You see, God has a plan. He wants to work in you so that He might work through you. Well, if He removed all your problems, if He took away all of your negative circumstances, if He made your life easy and comfortable, You would never experi his power and his presence. He wants you to know him and know how he works. And Paul was one who experienced all kinds of difficulties.

In fact, if you just go over one chapter in 2 Corinthians 11, it says in verse number 24. Five times I received from the Jews 3 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have Been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers Dangers among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Paul says that it amidst all of those things. And when we read that, we think that most of us would crumble under the pressure of all that. But Paul never did because he knew that God was doing something in him because God wanted to do something through him. We need to understand that. Understanding that, we can better understand 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 12 to 17. But turn back with me to one other verse, and that's in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 7. Paul says, But we have this treasure in earthen.

Vessels, or we have this treasure in clay pots. In other words, there is something valuable in us. Now, what is the treasure? Well, if you read Matthew 13:3. Excuse me, Matthew 13, 44, and 45, you realize that the treasure is the gospel. If you read Colossians chapter 2, verse number 3, you realize that the treasure is Christ Himself who is in you. If you read Hebrews 11, 26, you realize that it was Moses who would forsake the treasures of Egypt. Because he would rather have the greater riches of Christ in glory.

So the treasures then are what God has for us in glory. All that to say is the treasure is God, His gospel, and what awaits us in glory. That's the treasure. And Paul says, We have this treasure in earthen vessels. That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. That somehow God is going to do something fabulous in and through our lives. That everybody will see the power of God. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Now, listen to this. Paul says, we experience conflicts, but we Not, we will not be defeated.

Paul says that we have afflictions. That abound in every way. The word afflictions, the, is a word that speaks of being hemmed in in such a way that you feel like you are surrounded enough to be crushed. And Paul says, We've got these afflictions coming from every which way, and yet we will not be defeated. And then he says, We are perplexed, but not despairing. He says, We experience conflict, but will not be defeated. We experience confusion, but will not be discouraged. He says, we're perplexed.

There are some things we don't understand. There are some things we don't really grasp or get a hold of. Sometimes we feel like we're trapped and there's no way out and yet although we don't understand it, although we are confused, we will not be discouraged. So he says, number one, although we face conflict, we will not be defeated.

And although we face confusion, we will not be discouraged. And thirdly, he says, although we face criticism, we will not be deterred.

He says this. He says, We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We're persecuted. That is, the yok is a word that means to be pursued for the purpose of being harmed. Paul says, people are pursuing us to persecute us. They are pursuing us to destroy us, to kill us, and yet we will not be. Deterred. Why? Because we're never forsaken. We're not forsaken. Because our God is one who never leaves us nor forsakes us. And then he says this: str down, but not destroyed. We are cast down, but we will not be destroyed.

Cast down, but we will not be destroyed. Kata bal'o is a word that means to be knocked off of your feet. And we are constantly being knocked out, our feet are being knocked out from under us, and we are falling down, but we will not be destroyed. Why is that? Paul goes on to say these words. He says, Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to the death for Jesus' sake, the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

There's a reason for all this. There's a reason for the conflict. There's a reason for being cast down. There's a reason for the confusion. There's a reason for the criticism. There So that the testimony of Jesus Christ will be seen in our lives. And Paul knew that. That's where we need to be. We need to understand that. God doesn't want to eliminate the pain. He wants to effectuate his purposes and plans. So he wants us to experience his presence and his power in our lives. And that comes through adversity.

It comes through persecution. It comes through hardship. It comes through difficulty. Remember over in Mark chapter 6, verse 45. And immediately Christ made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bes. While he himself was sending the multitude away, and after bidding them farewell, he departed to the mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone in the land. And seeing them straining at the oars, For the wind was against them, and about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking in the sea, and he intended to pass by them.

But when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost. Now, think about that for a moment. Christ says, I want you to get into the sea.

I want you to go over to Bes. And I 'll join you a little bit later on. So Christ goes up into the mountain to pray. Now, if you've been to the Sea of Galilee, you know about how big the Sea of Galilee is. You can see there's mountains all around the Sea of Galilee. And so Christ ascends one of those mountains to pray. And then next thing you know, it's evening. And there's this storm that comes up. And these men became fearful for their lives. And it says that Christ saw them straining at the oars, that they were doing all they could to keep their boat afloat.

And so Christ now decides to come to them and he walks on the water. But he intended to pass them by. Why? Because when they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. What is this? Some kind of Hollywood movie? They think he's a ghost? What is that? Explain that to me. You see, the problem was that they never expected Jesus to show up. And so, when they saw this one coming to them, they couldn't believe it was Jesus. So, it had to be somebody else. They're just like us. We never expect Jesus to show up.

We don't expect them to show up. And so we suppose that when something happens, it must be something else. Text goes on to say. For they all saw him and were frightened, but immediately he spoke with them and said to them, Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were greatly astonished. For they had not gained any insight for the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. He gets into the boat, he calms the sea, and they realized that they hadn't learned anything.

They had just seen this great miracle about how Christ would feed some 20,000 people on the hillside with turning fishes and bread and multiplying over and over again. They saw the miracle. They saw the hand of God. They saw the power of God because they experienced the presence of God. And as soon as they got themselves in a fix, they cried out to God. Remove the pain. Remove the situation. And while God saw them straining at the oars, He showed up to them. And real that they had not learned anything from the incident of the loaves.

See, the problem with us is that we go to church on Sunday and we go to church on Wednesday and we read our Bibles throughout the week, and the problem with us is that we don't learn anything about what we read. Our hearts become dull and insensitive to the things of God. And therefore, when it comes to adversity and when it comes to pain, we can't handle it. And so what do we do? How do we handle it? You know, God's silence is not indicative of his absence. Just because you don't hear him doesn't mean he's not there.

Oh, he's always there. He'll never leave you, nor will he ever forsake you. And so we need to recognize the priority of adversity. Let me give it to you one more time.

God wants us to exper His power and His presence. So therefore he doesn't eliminate our p and our problems in order that he might effectuate his plans and his purposes. Say, okay, that sounds good. It's all all iterated. It comes together real nice. But what do I do when the pain is there? That's point number two.

Responding to the pain of adversity. I love what Paul Powell said. He said, God is more concerned about your character than your comfort. There, his goal is not to pamper us physically, but to perfect us spiritually. And that's what God wants to do. He 's more concerned about your character than your comfort. He knows that one day you're going to go home and be with him, everything's going to be hunky-dory when you get to heaven. So right now he's concerned about your character. One day you'll find comfort in heaven.

But right now he wants to build a strong character. Because he has a plan and purpose for your life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4 that the testimony of Jesus will abound in and through our lives, that people will see Jesus. His power, His presence, His grace, His mercy. So, what do we do? Let me read to you the text, then we'll make some comments.

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 exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evild, or a troublesome meddler.

But if any one suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. Let me give you four principles that will help you respond to the pain of advers.

Number one, here it is, you ready? And they're not deep. They're not so hard you can't understand them. They're very simple. In fact, once I get them to you, you, oh, yeah, they're right there in the text. How did I ever miss them? Number one, expect adversity.

Expect it. Beloved, do not be surprised. Why are you surprised? Why weren you ready? How come you didn't expect it? Did you not know it was going to come? How could you not know? What did Jesus say in 2 Timothy 3, verse number 12? All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Isn what the Lord Jesus said to the pen of the Apostle Paul? Sure. 1 John 3:1, Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. Why do you marvel that the world hates you? Why do you not understand that?

Christ says, if they hated me, they're going to hate you. John 15, 16. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. John 16. 33 records these words: These things I have spoken to you: that in me you have peace. In the world you have tribulation. But take courage, I have overcome the world. Folks, one of our problems is we don't expect any adversity, we don't expect any persecution. And here are Peter, as you recall, I mean, here's Peter writing to people who were being destroyed because Nero.

Was again them. They were accused of burning Rome, and therefore they were going to be destroyed. And Peter says to them, Expect difficulties. Now, Peter was the disciple of the Lord Jesus. And he began to understand hardship and persecution. But you know, for the most part, because we don't expect it, when it comes, we can't handle it. We can't respond to it. You see, when God opens a door, it's a great opportunity. But there's always going to be opposition. God opens the door for you at work, gives you a new job.

There's going to be opposition. God opens a door and provides for you a help that you can live the rest of your life with. There'll be opposition. That's just the way it is. In fact, G. Campbell Morgan said: if you have no opposition in the place you serve, you're serving in the wrong place. I like that. I like that. Now, it could be because you're not standing on the right precepts. That could be true as well. But we missed the point. We don't expect there to be any opposition. We think that when we come to Christ, everything is going to be great.

Everything is going to be hunky-dory. There are no more problems. But that's not true. If you don't want problems, don't become a Christian. Remain in your sinful carnal state. But when you give your life to Christ, all hell is against you. So the adversaries will be great.