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Sunday 13 January 2002 - Need for fire

(Summary of sermon by Rev Erlo Stegen)

1 Pet 4:12 - 13

Peter here addresses them as beloved. Those that are loved of God and loved of those that love God. They also love one another. God's love never fails, because His love covers a multitude of sins. One so to say swims in God's love. God's love is amazing. The love of people however comes to an end, because people uncover sins and dig them up. This doesn't mean that we should close an eye to sin, but that we should forget it once it has been brought to the blood of Jesus Christ.

Then we read that we should not be surprised by the fiery trial that will come upon us. We read in Mt 5:11 that those that are persecuted and insulted for the Gospel's sake are blessed. In 1 Cor 3:12 - 13 we see that all of our works will be tried by fire. There is God's fire and Satan's fire. God even allows Satan's fire to try us that we might become strong in Him.

Gold only gets purified by fire. The purifier knows when the gold is pure - when he can clearly see his own reflection in the gold. So too, our faith needs to be purified to reflect Christ's image clearly.

When a giraffe gives birth, the calf falls about 10 ft to the ground on its back, because its mother is so tall. The calf then turns around and lies on its feet. Then the mother gives the calf a kick that it flies through the air. This procedure is repeated a few times until the calf learns to stand up quickly and firmly on its own feet. Why does the mother do this? Because of her love for the calf. She knows of all the predators of the wild that would love to have baby giraffe meat as pudding, so to say. When the predator comes, the baby giraffe should be able to get up quickly and flee with the rest of the group. There's no time to waste then. And so too, God wants to make us strong through our trials.

How will people see that there is faith in this world, unless they see it in your life under trial? How will you praise God for His deliverance from the trial, when you are afraid of the trial? Just think how God was glorified at the trial of Israel at the Red Sea and their deliverance. Just read the praises of Miriam and the others because of God's working!

But with most of the Israelites God was not well-pleased and they perished in the wilderness. Instead of trusting God and learning through their trials, they complained and groaned.

Remember Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace. God's Son descended from heaven to be with them in the trial. When you suffer for Christ's and the Gospel's sake, Christ is with you, but do not suffer because of sin, stealing or lying. And we read that even their clothes did not have the smell of fire. What smell is found in your life under trial? Do you murmur and complain, revealing that the fire does have power over you? Rather let Christ's sweet fruits of the Spirit flow out of your life like sweet honey.