Lesson 103 · Unit 15 · His Heart for the Nations
When Faith Costs
When the fiery trial comes, do not be astonished.
Open
There are several Bible apps on your phone: a dozen translations a tap away, night mode, bookmarks. In a church-history class, though, your teacher described another kind of Bible. In ages and places where faith had to be paid for, a hand-copied Gospel of Mark was taken apart into loose pages, one page kept by each household, and only fitted back together to read when they met. Lose any one page, and nobody slept for grief.
The same book. Some skim past it; some guard it with their lives. And the greatest price you have paid for your faith, if you count honestly, is probably a colleague in the break room saying with a smile, "What century is this, and you still believe that?"
Loose pages and a smirk are separated by a great deal of space and time. Yet when Peter wrote, he put them inside one sentence: when the fiery trial comes upon you, do not be astonished.
Scripture
Peter writes to churches already in the fire; Jesus keeps the last beatitude for the persecuted. (1 Peter 4:12-16; Matthew 5:10-12, WEB)
12Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.
13But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy.
14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters.
16But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter.
10Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
See
Do not be astonished
The people Peter wrote this letter to are the same "foreigners" of the last lesson (1 Pet 1:1) — early believers scattered through Asia Minor. Their neighbors slandered them, their relatives kept their distance, and some began to wonder: have we taken a wrong turn? Peter's answer runs the other way. The fiery trial is not an anomaly; it is ordinary — "don't be astonished" (4:12). Jesus had already placed this beatitude last of the eight and pointed at history: "that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt 5:10-12). From Stephen onward, in every age and on every continent, the church has been a company that sings while it suffers. The cost is not a fault in the road. It was written on the signpost from the start (2 Tim 3:12).
Discern: suffering for righteousness, not paying for recklessness
But Peter immediately adds a line that is easy to skip: "let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men's matters" (4:15). Not every kind of suffering counts. Paying the bill for your own rashness, rudeness or overreach is not carrying a cross, and provoking people is not courage. When Jesus sent the disciples out, the prescription had two halves: "be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matt 10:16). Paul was let down a wall in a basket and got away (Acts 9:25), and also stood and made his defense when it was time to stand. Peter and John, facing a ban, were gentle and did not retreat: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves" (Acts 4:19). There is a time to avoid and a time to stand. The question of discernment is only one: is this suffering because of righteousness, or because of me?
A small cost, and chains far away
For most people reading this book the cost is not chains but something else: a joke, being left out at a dinner, an opportunity that goes past. Do not inflate it into martyrdom, and do not make light of it either — Peter promises that those "insulted for the name of Christ" are blessed, "because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" (4:14). That same Spirit rests on members of the body who are in bonds at this very moment. Scripture ties a line between the two ends: "Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them" (Heb 13:3). Intercession does not require knowing the details; it only requires remembering often: ask for endurance, for wisdom, that they would stand firm, and that those who persecute would meet Christ — as Saul once did.
Deeper
The fiery trial (1 Pet 4:12)
the cost is not a fault in the road; it is normal on the road of the cross. "Don't be astonished."
Partakers of Christ's sufferings (1 Pet 4:13)
the weight of the suffering is not in the suffering but in the word "with Christ": the destination is joy when his glory is revealed.
Discernment (1 Pet 4:15)
persecution for righteousness is not the same as paying for recklessness; ask first, is this because of righteousness or because of me?
Wise and harmless (Matt 10:16)
a time to avoid (Acts 9:25) and a time to stand (Acts 4:19): wisdom and courage travel together.
Remember (Heb 13:3)
intercede for members of the body under persecution, with the bond of being "as bound with them."
Story
In 1813 the American Adoniram Judson and his wife arrived in Burma, set on translating the Bible into Burmese. Six years of preaching passed before the first person was baptized. War broke out, and he was thrown into a death prison as a suspected foreign spy, in irons, held for more than a year and a half. His wife, Ann, sewed the half-finished New Testament manuscript into a hard pillow and contrived to get it in to him. The guards thought the thing was shabby and tossed it aside — and so the translation survived. Not long after his release, Ann died of illness. Someone asked him what the prospects for that land were. He answered, "As bright as the promises of God." In 1834 the whole Burmese Bible was finished. He buried two wives and several children in that soil. The Bible rescued out of that pillow is still open today in churches among the peoples of Burma.
(Historical; see Courtney Anderson, To the Golden Shore, 1956, and other biographies of Judson. Details condensed.)
Respond
Reflect — alone, or talk it through together
1In 1 Pet 4:12-16, which kinds of suffering fall inside the promise? Which one is excluded? Why is "don't be astonished" itself a comfort?
2"Wise as serpents and harmless as doves" — in your situation, what does each of those look like?
3What has your faith cost you? Which group of unnamed suffering members of the body are you willing to start watching over?
Saved on this device only — visible to no one but you.
Pray together
God who makes the Spirit of glory rest on those who are insulted: thank you for saying "do not be astonished" first, so that we are not thrown when a cost comes. Give me discernment — not to pay for my own recklessness, and not to retreat where I ought to stand; give me the serpent's wisdom and the dove's harmlessness. Remember your persecuted church throughout the world: strengthen their hearts, and let them sing even in the fire. And gather my own small cost into your glory. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.
Walk
This week's actionabout 20 min
Begin Milestone 15 — choose one unreached people, or one unbelieving group close at hand (your housing block, your trade, the people from your home province), and pray for them once a day for four straight weeks while you learn their basic situation; invite one companion to keep the four weeks with you. This week, take the first two steps only: write down the name of "this people," fix the time of day you will pray, and send the invitation to that companion.
Mark it when it happens — this week, at your pace.
Spiritual practice
Each day, after the prayer for your adopted people, add a prayer of remembrance (Heb 13:3): ask endurance, wisdom and steadiness for members of the body under persecution whose names you do not know.
Memory verse · 1 Peter 4:14
IfyouareinsultedforthenameofChrist,youareblessed,becausetheSpiritofgloryandofGodrestsonyou.
Walk further
Stephen, the first martyr; Judson's pillow and his Bible; the fourth man in the furnace; a prayer for the persecuted church; and Lesson 16 on faith in suffering.
Milestone 15 · Adopt a People
Choose one unreached people, or one unbelieving group close at hand (your housing block, your trade, the people from your home province), and pray for them once a day for four straight weeks while you learn their basic situation. Invite one companion to keep the four weeks with you.