Intro:

Snail Joke:

Have you heard the one about a man who heard a scratching noise on his front door? He opened the door, looked down and saw a snail. He picked up the snail and threw him across the street and into the woods. Three months later he again heard the scratching noise on the front door. He opened the door, looked down and there was the snail again. The snail looked up and said “What was that all about?”

“What was that all about”

As I go through a trial, small or large, my normal response is “what is going on” and “why”.

More scars than skin on my back, foot run over by lawnmower, broke my leg 3 times, have a bad knee, spent 20 days camping on a deserted island rationing food and water (there was no drinkable water on the island), faced fire, bullied, picked on, mocked for my faith, at one stage my parents though I was literally being brainwashed in my faith, when I told one friend I was going to a bible study he had a image in his head that we sat around in a circle in a room full of candles chanting. And some of you already know my testimony on what I faced from brothers and sisters in Christ. That was my greatest trial because for me it was so unexpected. But I am not unique, we could go around this room sharing the trials we have all faced.

But more often than not when the trial is on the down swing or over my reaction is “what was that all about”? It’s often not until later that God gives me an inkling, a small glimpse of one of the many reasons that trial occurred. But the question begs to be asked, “is there a reason why the Body of Christ faces these things?” Trials and Persecution. Trials are temptations and unexpected troubles that come from an unexpected external source thrust upon us. Persecution is a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs (dictionary.com).

Just what should our thought process be as we face trials and persecution. How should we react; what should we think; what should we feel? How can we know “What was that all about?” Well, God tells us in 1 Peter chapter 1. Let’s read it through and then take a closer look.

1 Peter 1

A Living Hope, and a Sure Salvation

1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

7so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

9obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,

11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

16because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

20For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

21who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

23for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

24For,
         "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
         AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
         THE GRASS WITHERS,
         AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
    25BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER "
         And this is the word which was preached to you.

A. Remember the context

Believers facing increasing trials and persecution.

There are three themes in 1 Peter, which all relate and interact with the other:

Suffering, grace and glory

Summary of below article

Rashin who is from Iran, her father was executed for converting to Christianity 18 years ago and now her brother is in jail and it looks as if he might be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer.

“A month (or so) ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.”

Rashin herself is a Christian living in London married to another believer but is very worried about her brother. You see the law aims at someone leaving the Islamic faith but her brother was raised a Christian by their father. He never belonged to it in the first place.

But the President of Iran even though he didn't initiate the law mandating the death penalty for apostates, he has been lobbying for it. It is an effective form of playing populist politics. The Iranian economy is doing very badly, and the country is in a mess: The President may be calculating that he can gain support, and deflect attention from Iran's problems, by persecuting apostates.

The good news is the new law is not yet in force in Iran: it requires another vote in parliament, and then the signature of the Ayatollah. But that could happen within a matter of weeks. "Or," says Rashin, "it could conceivably be allowed to drop, were there a powerful enough international outcry".

B. Look ahead…. vs. 1-7, 13

As believers we have good reason to be looking ahead. We have been chosen to obey and be sprinkled; to be in obedience to God and be sprinkled by his blood. To be sprinkled by his blood carries the implication of purification. We are being sanctified, we are in process, we are being made holy, we are being made more Christ like, and we are growing.

In our salvation we have much to look forward to…

We have a Living Hope. A hope that is breathing, active, carries vital power, brings real life to be enjoyed and touches the soul.

Our inheritance is Imperishable. It can not be corrupted, it can not decay, it lasts forever, it is immortal

Our inheritance also is Undefiled. It is unsoiled, it is not dirty, it is not unclean it is not deformed or debased and its force and vigour is not impaired.

It also Will not fade away. It is perennial, unfading

Our inheritance is Reserved. Watched, kept, preserved, held fast, it carries the sense of being perpetually maintained.

And we are Protected by God through our faith for salvation.

Protected: to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.

We are protected from the enemy and from ourselves.

All this aims us to a salvation to be revealed in the last time

1. to uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up

a. disclose, make bare

2. to make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown

2 Timothy 4: 17-18:

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Listen to verses 6 and 7 of 1 Peter from the Amplified Bible:

6[You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations,

7So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.

What happens to Gold when it is put to the fire? Is there less gold? Does it become a different substance? No. The impurities are removed.

We too are being tested by fire, purified:

Tested:

I found a couple greek words that are translated “tested” in the New Testament.

This is NOT Peirazo - pi-rad'-zo

to try, make trial of, test:

to try or test one's faith, virtue, character, by enticement to sin, to solicit to sin, to tempt

It IS:

Dokimazo - dok-im-ad'-zo

1. to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals

2. to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy

(man)….by impious or wicked conduct test God's justice and patience, and challenge him, as it were to give proof of his perfections.

In other words, we are NOT being tested in order to REVEAL the impurities but to REMOVE the impurities.

1. You know what others only dreamed about vs. 8-12

Believe it or not we are experiencing what others have only dreamed about! We KNOW Christ!

Heb 10:39 (Contemporary English Version)

39We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved.

(Ray Boltz struggle…tested by fire?)

C. …and not behind v. 14

14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

Ephesians 4:22

22that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

Romans 6:12

12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

Romans 13:14

14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

2 Timothy 2:22

22Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

1 John 2:17

17The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

In our trials and persecution let us not look behind to what was, to what will pass away, to what will not last, but let us look ahead to what we have been chosen to is being guaranteed for us..

D. Because vs. 15-21

15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

16because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

20For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

21who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The answer to the question “what was that all about” is our purification and God’s glory!

7so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

We are turned to lean on Him while being purfied so we shine the brighter reflecting His glory giving him praise and honor.

E. as a result vs. 22-23 (if time allows)

22Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

Fervently: “stretch out the hand”

(lets be about loving the brethren)

23for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

(All else but God’s word is perishable)

24For,
         "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
         AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
         THE GRASS WITHERS,
         AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
    25BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER "
         And this is the word which was preached to you.

Let’s place our energy and efforts where it really matters not in the perishable but the imperisable, lets build the body up, physically, emotionally, spiritual as well as numerically in love stretching out our hand.

Charles Dickens, the other of the classic story “A Christmas Carol” once said “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else.”

As our faith is being tested (purified), which will bring praise and glory and honor to God, look ahead to a secured salvation and not behind to the former lusts because we should be holy as He is holy and as a result love one another (stretching out the hand of love) from the heart.

"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/3179465/Hanged-for-being-a-Christian-in-Iran.html

Hanged for being a Christian in Iran

Eighteen years ago, Rashin Soodmand's father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity. Now her brother is in a Mashad jail, and expects to be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer. Alasdair Palmer reports.

Last Updated: 8:55PM BST 11 Oct 2008

Hossein Soodmand (left), Rashin's father, was the last man to be executed in Iran for apostasy. Her brother Mashad is now in death row awaiting the same fate

A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.

Imposing the death penalty for changing religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs.

And yet few politicians or clerics in Iran see any contradiction between a law mandating the death penalty for changing religion and Iran's constitution. There has been no public protest in Iran against it.

David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, stands out as one of the few politicians from any Western country who has put on record his opposition to making apostasy a crime punishable by death. The protest from the EU has been distinctly muted; meanwhile, Germany, Iran's largest foreign trading partner, has just increased its business deals with Iran by more than half. Characteristically, the United Nations has said nothing.

It is a sign of how little interest there is in Iran's intention to launch a campaign of religious persecution that its parliamentary vote has still not been reported in the mainstream media.

For one woman living in London, however, the Iranian parliamentary vote cannot be brushed aside. Rashin Soodmand is a 29-year-old Iranian Christian. Her father, Hossein Soodmand, was the last man to be executed in Iran for apostasy, the "crime" of abandoning one's religion. He had converted from Islam to Christianity in 1960, when he was 13 years old. Thirty years later, he was hanged by the Iranian authorities for that decision.

Today, Rashin's brother, Ramtin, is also held in a prison cell in Mashad, Iran's holiest city. He was arrested on August 21. He has not been charged but he is a Christian. And Rashin fears that, just as her father was the last man to be executed for apostasy in Iran, her brother may become one of the first to be killed under Iran's new law.

Not surprisingly, Rashin is desperately worried. "I am terribly anxious about him," she explains. "Even though my brother is not an apostate, because he has never been a Muslim – my father raised us all as Christians – I don't think he is safe. They assume that if you are Iranian, you must be Muslim."

Her brother's situation has ominous echoes of her father's fate. Rashin was 14 when her father was arrested. "He was held in prison for one month," she remembers. "Then the religious police released him without explanation and without apology. We were overjoyed. We thought his ordeal was over."

But six months later, the police came back and took her father away again. This time, they offered him a choice: he could denounce his Christian faith, and the church in which he was a pastor – or he would be killed. "Of course, my father refused to give up his faith," Rashid recalls proudly. "He could not renounce his God. His belief in Christ was his life – it was his deepest conviction." So two weeks later, Hossein Soodmand was taken by guards to the prison gallows and hanged.

Life for Rashin, her siblings and her mother became extremely difficult. Some Muslims are extremely hostile to people of any other religion, never mind to those who they consider apostates: Ayatollah Khomeini declared that "non-Muslims are impure", insisting that for Muslims to wash the clothes of non-Muslims, or to eat food with non-Muslims, or even to use utensils touched by non-Muslims, would spoil their purity.

The family was supported with financial and other help from a Christian church based in Iran. That support became even more critical as Rashin's mother began to lose her sight. Rashin herself was eventually able to leave Iran. She now lives in London, married to a fellow Christian from Iran who successfully applied for asylum in Germany.

It took years for Rashin to understand how her father could have been legally executed simply for becoming a Christian. In 1990, there was no parliamentary law mandating the death for apostates. What, then, was the legal basis for Hossein Soodmand's execution?

"After the revolution of 1979, Iran's rulers wanted to turn Iran into an Islamic state, and to abolish the secular laws of the Shah," explains Alexa Papadouris of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organisation that specialises in freedom of religion. "So the clerics instituted a mandate for judges presiding over criminal cases: if the existing penal code did not include legislation on whether a certain kind of behaviour is an offence, then the judges should refer to traditional Islamic jurisprudence." In other words: sharia law.

"That automatically created problems" says Mr Papadouris, "because Islamic jurisprudence is not codified law: it is a series of formulations developed across generations by scholars and clerics. Depending on the Islamic school or historical era, these formulations can differ and even contradict each other."

On one subject, however, sharia law is unequivocal: men who change their religion from Islam must be punished with death. So when the judge heard the case of Rashid's father, he could refer to sharia and reach a straightforward decision: the death penalty. There was no procedure for appeal.

Nevertheless, in the 18 years since Hossein Soodmand's execution, there have been no judicially sanctioned killings of apostates in Iran, although there have been many reports of disappearances and even murders. "As the number of converts from Islam grows," notes Ms Papadouris, "apostasy has again become a serious concern for the Iranian government." In addition to 10,000 Christian converts living in Iran, there are several hundred thousand Baha'is who are deemed apostates.

There is another factor: President Ahmadinejad. "The President didn't initiate the law mandating the death penalty for apostates," says Papadouris, "but he has been lobbying for it. It is an effective form of playing populist politics. The Iranian economy is doing very badly, and the country is in a mess: Ahmadinejad may be calculating that he can gain support, and deflect attention from Iran's problems, by persecuting apostates."

The new law is not yet in force in Iran: it requires another vote in parliament, and then the signature of the Ayatollah. But that could happen within a matter of weeks. "Or," says Papadouris, "it could conceivably be allowed to drop, were there a powerful enough international outcry".

Time may be running out for Rashin's brother. She believes that the new law will be applied in an arbitrary fashion, with individuals selected for death being chosen to frighten others into submission. That is why she fears for her brother. "We just don't know what will happen to him. We only know that if they want to kill him, they will."

1 Peter Chp 1