Christian Life and Its Sufferings (10)

0:00We praise the Lord for thy great plan, that we might well in place may be. Thou with Him as we filled with thee, Thou in the sun as fresh might be. Welcome to Life Study of the Bible with Witnessly, a program brought to you by Living Stream Ministry. Witnessly, a servant of the Lord for over seven decades on five continents, culminated his ministry with a 21-year book-by-book exposition of the entire Bible, which he called a Life Study. This Life Study is the basis of our program today, which includes short portions of the spoken messages given by Witnessly. Now, let's join today's Life Study.

1:02As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have received as part of our full salvation and escape from the eternal tradition that awaits the disobedient and rebellious. But many believers mistakenly take this to mean that Christians face no manner of judgment at all, from the righteous and holy God. Well, regardless of how popular such a thought might be, the Bible does just not support it. Take, for example, Peter's word in his first epistle in chapter four. In verse 12, he says, Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you coming to you for a trial is strange. Then in verse 17, he adds, for it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God. These verses make very clear that our righteous and loving father does judge discipline and purify his children while never putting our eternal destiny in jeopardy. Francis Ball is with us today. As we fellowship these matters,

2:04sobering words aren't they, Francis, and a sobering topic? Yes, I would say this is much more sobering than many people like to believe. They may have some kind of concept that once you're forgiven, there is nothing more to answer for. But I think we'll see a different story here in Peter's epistle. There is, I think, very to mention it to be outset, Francis. If you study even the history of Christian teaching over the centuries, it's, I think, it's also important to realize that I would say in the past few decades, teachings on this subject have tended to become a little more comfortable and comforting. And what we really are attempting to do today is, really did faithfully in all of the years of his ministry. And that is come back to the pure word and really let the Lord shine with the pure and unfiltered truth, so to speak. And we come to this matter of God's dispensational judgment, his dispensational discipline of his people. And it's a topic that we have to face. It's very much

3:05in the New Testament. It's part of the New Testament period in which we live, isn't it? I believe this is one of the main factors of the ministry that we got from Brother Witness Lee to show us that this matter of forgiveness of sins is once for all and thus save us eternally by our regeneration, but that there are factors in our living and our life that need a further judgment. And so therefore, the believer is saved for eternity as far as life is concerned. But as far as his purity is concerned, there's much dross needs to be dealt with. And I think that's what Peter is dealing with and is official. Let's look at these verses again. I will take 12 and 13 this time. Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you coming to you for a trial is strange as if it were a strange thing happening to you. But in as much as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice so that also at the revelation of his glory,

4:09you may rejoice exultingly. Francis believers suffer in this age. There's no question about it. We may like to think that we're going to be delivered from any suffering, any hardship, any trial. But the Bible just doesn't support that. And even we look at the lives of the apostles who the Holy Spirit used to bring us the Word of God. Their lives don't reflect this either, do they? That's right. Because even the writer of this epistle together with Paul have a lot to say about the matter of sufferings. But the sufferings are not just for our sin. Right. The sufferings that we will see here are really for our perfecting, our purifying. That is a key point in when we want to underscore in today's program. Let's join witness Lee with the first portion, Francis. These are word fairy. The Greek means the burning of a furnace that purifies the metal,

5:09purifies the gold and silver. This indicates the Lord is using the persecution trials as a kind of furnace in a positive sense with a positive purpose to purify our life. We are the gold and well the silver yet we still may have some dress. We need the purification. Don't think this kind of thing is strange. As a dear Christian, if the real man is persecution, she'd be coming to us, trial should be coming to us, poverty should be coming to us. You see, we shouldn't think this is strange. No, this is not strange. It's all to get not foreign to us. It is common. We have been appointed. This is our destiny in this age, but not internal. God never destined us to suffer

6:19in the coming age, but surely God has destined us to suffer in this age because we believe in Christ because we love Christ because we live Christ because we testify Christ because we bear the testimony of Christ and we witness Him in this age. Surely this age is lying under the hand of the evil one. So the entire world will rise up against us. Eventually, these can suffer in the eyes of a God, the sufferings of Christ. Francis, the Bible tells us that the whole world lies in the evil one. So surely, if we have the

7:20kind of life he just described here, we believe in Christ, we love Christ, we live Christ, we testify of Christ, we bear witness to Christ. If this is the characteristic of our living in this world that lies in the evil one, it isn't strange. Is it that the world would rise up against us? That's right. And that's the reason Peter is saying, don't consider this fiery trial as a strange thing. And I'm afraid many people who are believers in Christ and begin to suffer some kind of persecution are very hesitant to believe that the Lord still loves them or really that they get saved. So we have to see here that this is not a strange thing happening to us, but it's the same reaction that the Lord Jesus had when he was here on earth. And we are his members now, we are his partakers, we are his witnesses. And so we have to expect the same kind of reaction from an evil world that the Lord Jesus himself took. So I'm thankful, Chris, that we

8:21can be partners with Christ in this matter. Yeah, we're going to see, I think as the program continues, Francis, that this is a real portion of glory. And this is an honor to be able to share these kinds of sufferings with him. He even told the disciples, the world hates me. It will hate you also. So we shouldn't have a higher expectation. I know there's a strong current in the church today among believers to engage in the politics of the world and really try to achieve a kind of a success in the world in an acknowledgement and a recognition in the world in a positive way. But it just seems difficult to find justification for that in the pages of the New Testament, doesn't it? That's right. I think we really need this light from the word of God to realize that it's not a matter of being saved and eternally saved and falling from grace. And these kind of wrong understandings that come into among Christian teachers. But we are saved

9:22eternally by our regeneration. That's the matter of life. But the matter of purity can only be worked out by the Lord taking us through the same kind of sufferings that he went through of opposition from the enemy and from the world. This is a good example that Peter gives us in his epistle here. This word fiery trial, this word fiery really refers to the purifying furnace that was used to purify the precious metals, the gold and the silver. Of course, we know the silver represents the redemption of Christ. Gold is the nature of God. But as these elements are present now in us, as we're believers, we got these as a kind of a free gift at our regeneration. Yet we have to be honest to confess there's a lot of dross. There's a lot of residue of the old that is there that requires some burning away, doesn't it? Yes, that's quite a good illustration or figure speech that Peter uses here about the fiery ordeal being a matter of purifying the

10:23dross that's left in us. I think we all would have to confess that even though we got regenerated from a sinful life or even from a moral upright life, we still need regeneration of life. But that doesn't solve all our problems. There's still the matter of living that needs the dealing of these fiery ordeals. Francis, let's go on. Verse 14 is quite wonderful in what we're going to talk about in this next section. If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Here's what in the sleep for our next section. Verse 14, if you are reproached in the name of Christ, we suffer in the name of Christ. If you are reproached, this is kind of, if we're speaking, this is a kind of a persecution in the name of Christ, you are blessed. Don't think you are cursed. You are blessed.

11:27If people appreciate you, you are cursed. You have to have your mind changed. Verse 15, consider persecution always a blessing. As long as you go with the Lord, Satan, the evil one, will never let you go. Hallelujah. Rejoice. Rejoice. This is a blessing. Not a blessing. If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed because why you are blessed? What is a blessing? A good car? Prosperity? No, because the spirit of glory. And of God, rise upon you. The more you are persecuted, the more you are blessed with the spirit of glory, rising upon you. Isn't this wonderful? The spirit of Christ is in us, and the spirit of

12:38glory, rise upon us. Hallelujah. The spirit of Christ is in us to reveal all what Christ is to us for our enjoyment. That is the spirit of Christ. Now, the spirit of glory, resting upon us to do what? To glorify God. The more we suffer, the more glory we have, the more we are persecuted, the more glory comes out upon us. So this is the blessing. The blessing is not anything material, but just the spirit of glory, resting on you. Francis the Apostle Paul says that we need to have our minds renewed in Christ. I can't think of

13:41another area where we need more of this renewing than what we're talking about right now, to reinterpret or re-understand what really is the blessing and what is the curse. It's not according to our natural understanding, is it? I should say not. This is a big mistake has been made among a lot of Christians that discourages them because these things do happen to them. And Peter has already told us not to be surprised. And when we are persecuted by unbelievers or by directly by Satan himself, we should count that as a glory. We are participating in Christ. All his blessings come to us because he is now the spirit in our spirit. But the persecutions of Christ also come to us. So a real partaker with Christ. We're a partner of Christ. The sufferings of Christ are on us. And that means also that the glory of Christ is upon us. So I really thank the Lord for this kind of revelation, Chris. I'm afraid that many Christians, even as I was also,

14:45was feeling that any kind of persecution I have must because of my stupidity or my unfaithfulness. But this is not the case. This kind of persecution comes on those who are participating in Christ's sufferings. That is a revolutionary, different view from what we typically hold. And we think that, well, maybe I'm suffering or I'm experiencing this persecution because God is trying to correct me. I think we'll see later on in the program. There may be an element of that. Certainly the Lord does correct us and sometimes he uses these outward things to correct us. But it's more than that. This matter of being purified and glorified. This certainly goes deeper than just a correction or behavioral adjustment. The spirit of Christ is within us, as he said, leading us to experience and enjoy Christ. But the spirit of his glory is upon us especially when we're being persecuted. This is really how we are glorified, isn't it? Yes, this is marvelous. And it goes give an entirely different view of what we would naturally think. Because we think when we become Christians,

15:47now we have to improve our behavior. Now we have to be better. But he's not trying to make us better. He is making us him the very same as he is. So we go through the same sufferings that Christ went through. No shortcuts to being glorified as it turns out. Okay, we read this at the beginning of the program. I'd like to come back to it. It's verse 17 for it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God. And that is Peter's writing, obviously, in 1 Peter chapter 4. But as we'll hear in this portion ahead, Peter was not unique in teaching that Christians have a portion in God's judgment and in sufferings. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 said this, verse 31, but if we discern ourselves, we would not be judged. But being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined that we may not be condemned with the world. That's two believers. That's two us. We need to judge ourselves. We need to be disciplined if we want to avoid or miss

16:52the condemnation upon the world. Right. Strong words, Francis. Very strong. All right, here's one to sleep for our last portion today. Verse 17, because it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God. The word judgment proves that in Peter's sight, all our persecutions, sufferings are a kind of judgment. But this kind of judgment is not the judgment for condemnation. This is a kind of a dispensational discipline to purify our life. Don't think just correct us. Sometimes it is a correction. But mostly it is to purify us from any kind of dress. We are pieces of gold, but maybe we still have quite a amount of dress,

17:56which need to be purified away. No teaching, no fellowship can work out this kind of purification, but the burning furnace. And what is burning furnace? That is God's disciplinary judgment. This thought is not only in Peter's writing. It is also in the apostle Paul's writing. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, whom we, the believers, the Christians, the lovers of Christ, are judged by the Lord. We are disciplined that we may not be condemned with the world. And the condemnation to the world is for eternal perdition. But the judgment we are serving today is not for eternal perdition, but dispensational discipline. This is the Holy Word teaching.

19:06Take the pure word from the Holy Word of God, which tells us clearly God under His government. In order to carry out His universal administration, He has different kinds of judgment. At the Lord's coming back, the Lord will be commissioned to judge the living countries. Then at the end of millennium, the Lord will be commissioned to judge all persons on the white throne. That is to judge the living and to judge the dead. That judgment is called the judgment for eternal perdition. Where the sift ones will never have any share in that conjecture. Don't be afraid of that. We have been saved. We have been passed over. God has passed us for that eternal perdition,

20:09through Christ being all passed over them. But don't think we have passed through that. Then we have no problem. Don't think that way. Now we are just like the tune of Israel. They passed through the pass over, right? They got redeemed by the land. And they enjoyed heaven and man. And they enjoyed the living world out of the rock. And they have seen so many miracles. God did for them. But out of two men, only two persons, not just by God to die. All the rights including Moses, Mary, Aaron, right? Oh, and their God's judgment. That didn't mean they were under God's curse? No, no. They were under God's word, despensational judgment. It's not for eternal perdition.

21:19Francis, when I was listening to this, getting ready for the program, I decided I went back and read in Deuteronomy where Moses is told by the Lord that he would not be going into the good land. With the children of Israel, here he'd been with them all those years, led them through so many experiences, so many miracles. It really had experienced the redemption of God, the redemption of Christ is the Passover lamb, all these miracles. And yet due to his own failure, the Lord was going to discipline him at the very end of his life and not allow him to enter into the good land with the children of Israel. Yet Moses reappears in the gospel when the Lord takes Peter up on the mound of transfiguration. So that certainly doesn't mean that God was through with Moses, does it? I think this gives us a good picture of this matter of discipline. I think we need to see this more and more clearly, Chris, because so many people are misled by this kind of false hope or a fear that's not necessary, because they are afraid the things happening to them is because God is judging them. The judgment for our sins and the judgment that would be eternal punishment resulting in,

22:24that is not what's being talked about here, but it's judgment that begins with the house of God, or I would say with the household of God, God's family, so that he does judge his people, but that's not in order that we would be eternally lost in our end of tradition. No, but we are being judged to be purified and to be more and more just what God wants on this earth, a people who are living the same kind of life the Lord Jesus lived on earth. And so this judgment is for that purpose, but with this judgment comes a glory. The Spirit of Christ is in us to be expressed, and the Spirit of glory is upon us for this judgment brings in a marvelous result that will result in a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Francis, I just like to close today by restating, reiterating so that there's no confusion whatsoever. The judgment for our sins, the judgment for an eternity,

23:27apart from God, that judgment has been born and can only have been born by the Lord Jesus himself. And that settles that question once for all eternity. We are free of the guilt and condemnation of our sins by virtue of the judgment that he bore for us. Yet, the Lord still requires an expression, and as Paul says, that confirms what Peter is saying, that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ. And this confirmation, this glorification requires sometimes the fiery furnace to touch even the ones that God loves so much and paid the price for. There's a lot here, isn't there, Francis? There is a lot here, and I hope that this message will become more and more clear in the coming programs. Yeah, in fact, what we've decided to do is come back to this point. He mentioned very briefly here at the end that God has several kinds of judgment. These life-study messages that we're touching now in 1 Peter developed this matter of the different kinds of judgment, the dispensational

24:28aspects of God's judgment. We want to devote more time to this same topic tomorrow. So if we've peaked your interest at all with the program today, we certainly hope you'll come back tomorrow. We'll try to develop this even more thoroughly. And obviously, the best resource is if you can get the printed life-study messages yourself and then sit down with your Bible and go through the verses and get into the notes in the life-study and the messages. There's so much here that challenges some of the common thought, some of the comforting thought that has passed around today. Well, if you would like to get the printed messages, we hope you'll contact us our toll-free number 1-888 life-study. That's 8-888-543-3788. And try to be with us tomorrow the rest of the week and for the balance of these programs on this very important life study of 1st and 2nd Peter. For Francis Ball, I'm Chris Wilde. Thank you very much for listening today.

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