Father, Lord, what a reminder that ultimately our
lives are lived before an audience of one.
Or there could be 300 in here or
none.
But Lord, ultimately, You are always and ever
before us.
Or Lord, we're ultimately before You.
Lord, You see everything.
And Father, I want to be pleasing to
You right now, Lord.
Lord, I want to honor You with what
I'm seeking to bring out of Your Word.
Lord, I want this to be an encouragement
to the saints.
I want it to be a challenge to
them and exhortation to them.
Lord, I want it to be a help
and encouragement to the three seated before me
and those on the live stream.
But Lord, ultimately, I want to honor You.
Lord, I want to leave this building today
having been pleasing in Your sight.
Lord, that's my desire.
And so Lord, I pray, Father, You would
help me to say what I need to
say from this text.
And so Lord, would You put a guard
over the door of my lips?
Lord, would You be with the door of
my lips?
And Father, I just pray that You'd give
me some of Your Holy Spirit.
Lord, give me more.
You've already given us Your Spirit.
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy
Spirit.
But Lord, I'm asking for a quickening from
You that You would be with my mind.
That You'd help me to proclaim Your Word.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Okay, turn to 1 Peter 4.
I want to speak on how we should
suffer as a Christian or the Christian in
suffering.
And the text that we're going to look
at was referred to in that psalm, How
Firm a Foundation.
That phrase there, fiery trials, Peter uses that
here in chapter 4.
And as you're turning to 1 Peter, I'm
just going to read a quick verse from
2 Peter.
Listen to what Peter says here.
He says, now the second letter that I'm
writing to you, so this is 1 Peter,
2 Peter, and then he says this, the
reason behind these two letters.
In both of them, I'm stirring up your
sincere mind by way of reminder.
So Peter is giving reminders.
The Lord Jesus taught on many of the
exact and specific things that Peter now deals
with.
The Apostle Paul had already taught on some
of these very specific things.
And so Peter in a way, it's like
the person who's got this real crowded desk
and they've got all these sticky note reminders,
and some of them have just been buried.
And Peter, I believe in view of a
certain suffering that's about to take place, he's
taking some of those sticky notes that are
buried and he's sticking them right on your
monitor.
And he's saying I want this to be
before you right now.
So why did he write these two letters?
Stirring up what?
The mind.
So much of the Christian life and how
we go through suffering is that we're thinking
correctly about the situation that we're in.
The Bible deals with how do you think?
How do you process in your mind what
you are going through?
So let's read 1 Peter 4, verses 12
to 19.
Now, I'm thinking here, what I want to
do as I read this is I want
to briefly comment and define some of these
words.
Because we're not going to have time to
go look at everything.
You could preach five sermons from these verses.
You could preach six sermons from these verses.
And I want to just briefly comment after
I might read a word or a phrase,
I'm just going to give you an idea
of what I think Peter's referring to and
what he's trying to bring to our minds.
So, verse 12.
First word.
Beloved.
Let's stop there just for a second.
If you remember, Tim did a sermon on
those who are greatly beloved.
What does it mean to be beloved?
To be beloved means those loved by God,
people whom God has His sights set on.
So Peter says those people who God has
His sights set on.
That's the type of people he's speaking to
here.
God has His eyes set on these individuals.
Beloved, those whom God has His sights set
on, do not be surprised at the fiery
trial.
At the refining trial.
When it...
notice he says not be surprised at the
fiery.
He doesn't say don't be surprised at fiery
trials.
He says at the fiery trial when it.
So Peter might be referring to a specific
trial that's going to come to these believers
in his day.
Don't be surprised when it comes upon you
and here a purpose of a trial is
to test you.
To test your genuineness of your faith.
Don't be surprised as though something strange or
unusual were happening to you.
So the believer, as you're being tested, this
isn't strange.
It's not strange that you're having a fiery,
purifying trial come upon you.
But rather, what should we do?
Rather than view it strange, he says we
should rejoice.
We should not be depressed.
But we should rejoice insofar or to the
extent as you share Christ's sufferings.
So that is we are suffering on behalf
of the same cause which Christ patiently endured.
We're suffering on that exact same cause.
We're sharing in Christ's sufferings.
That you may.
So rejoice that something will happen.
That you may also rejoice and be glad
when His glory is revealed.
So Peter's thinking you're rejoicing right now in
this present trial.
And it's ultimately leading to you rejoicing at
the coming of Christ and at glory.
And that day when all mourning and trials
are going to pass away, you'll be glad
when His glory is revealed.
So the Christian in suffering is looking to
their final salvation.
To see Christ face to face.
To have direct communion with Him.
Peter goes on.
If you are insulted for the name of
Christ, not insulted for being a fool, but
for the name of Christ, you are blessed.
You're happy.
Why?
Why should I be blessed?
Because the Spirit of glory and of God
rest upon you.
Wait, what?
I'm going to be happy because the Spirit
of glory and of God rest upon you?
Meaning, Peter means, you're suffering for being like
Christ.
And you're like Christ because the Holy Spirit's
presence and power is upon your life and
helping you.
What believer would not want that?
And that happens in the middle of a
trial.
God draws near.
But, in contrast to those who are suffering
for righteousness' sake, Peter says don't let any
of you suffer as a murderer or a
thief or an evildoer.
That term, evildoer, covers all types of sin.
And look at the next thing he says.
Let none of you suffer as a what?
A meddler?
Wait, wait.
Murderer?
Meddler.
Two M-words there.
Far extremes, you could say.
Don't suffer as a meddler, a busybody in
other people's affairs?
Meaning, you could get involved in someone else's
affairs and they start hating you for it.
And you might want to say I'm suffering
for righteousness' sake.
But no, you were wrong to be meddling
in that business which was not yours.
You're not being persecuted for righteousness' sake.
You're overstepping your bounds.
Peter goes on.
Yet, the word but is the idea there,
but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed.
Don't be embarrassed.
What disformities the trial might bring in your
life.
Or something the world might mock.
Don't be ashamed, Peter says.
But, in contrast to feeling ashamed, what should
you do?
You should glorify God.
You should be praising the Lord.
And then he says this phrase, in that
name, praising the Lord, and the Holman Christian
renders it in a way that really captures
the idea, in that name, for bearing the
name of Christ.
I shouldn't be embarrassed.
I should be praising God that I even
have the privilege of bearing the name of
Christian, which he just mentioned earlier.
If anyone suffers as a Christian, some versions
put that in quotes.
We're called Christians.
That's the name.
The name of a Christ follower.
And then he says, bearing the name of
Christian, so we shouldn't be ashamed as we
suffer as a believer.
And then he mentions this phrase.
For it is time for judgment to begin
at the household of God.
And if it begins with us.
Now, let's just think for a moment that
word judgment.
Diego had a text in his Sunday school
hour that had the word judgment there.
It had it four times.
That word judgment in 1 Corinthians 11 is
not referring to the final judgment.
It was referring to this trial, this suffering,
this punishment that was going to come upon
them for wrongly taking the Lord's Supper.
And so I believe that when he says
here, for it's time for judgment, he's just
talking about the fiery trial that he was
mentioning in v.
12.
Not an eternal judgment.
It's time for this fiery trial to come
and that's going to judge and determine your
true character.
That's the idea.
It's going to judge your character.
It's going to prove what's true of you.
It's about time for this to begin at
the household of God.
And if the fiery trial, the judgment, begins
with us, the Christians, some might then be
wondering what will be the outcome for those
who do not obey the Gospel of God?
What's going to be the outcome of those
who fall away?
What's going to be the outcome of those
who are lost?
And then, Peter, he restates the same point
by quoting Proverbs 11.31. And he changes
some of Proverbs 11.31. He says, and
if the righteous, that's the Christian, is scarcely
saved, what will become of the ungodly and
the sinner?
And Proverbs 11 says if the righteous is
repaid on earth.
If the righteous is repaid on earth.
Some versions render it if the righteous not
is scarcely saved, but is saved with much
difficulty.
The idea here is not that there's few
Christians that are going to be saved.
The idea here is Christians are saved with
much difficulty.
It's hard.
Jesus said the way is hard that leads
to life.
It says in Acts 27, what difficulty, that's
the word scarcely, the boat arrived.
It was hard to get the boat to
the island.
It was difficult.
So if the righteous with much difficulty in
this life suffers, what will become of the
ungodly and the sinner?
That's the question he just asked.
What will be the outcome of those who
do not obey the Gospel?
And the simple point there is this.
If God allows those who He loves and
has His eyes set on to suffer as
much as we do in this life, the
lost people should look at our sufferings as
a Christian and realize, wow, what I have
coming as a lost person, the fires of
hell, they're going to be so much more
severe when what these Christians whom God loves
are going through in the present life.
They're going to have it coming in a
very, very fierce way.
And then, he's got the last verse here,
verse 19.
I'm doing this running commentary.
Verse 19, Therefore, because the path to heaven
is difficult, and the damnation of those who
reject Christ is terrifying, and future glory is
incredible, let those who suffer according to God's
will, meaning it's God's will that you're suffering,
or it means you want to suffer in
a way that honors God and you are
fulfilling His will in the midst of your
suffering.
And then he says, suffer according to God's
will.
Entrust their souls.
That's what we do in the midst of
a trial.
We entrust our soul to a faithful Creator.
Faithful meaning God keeps His Word or meaning,
why does he say Creator there?
Faithful meaning God keeps His Word.
Creator meaning who created you?
God did.
I mean, you're God's creation and He's allowing
you to be refined by going through a
trial.
He's going to take care of you.
And what do we do in the midst
of a trial?
He says, you do good.
While doing good, you're trusting the Lord who's
faithful.
You're trusting Him with the fiery trial and
you're seeking to do good.
So, sorry if that was a little on
there, but I wanted to just kind of
define some of these things in the passage
because we're not going to get to all
of it.
But Peter in a way is showing us
how a Christian should suffer.
He's given us some do-nots and some
things to do.
And one other passage I want to read
at the start of 1 Peter.
He says this in v.
4.
He mentions this inheritance that's coming that's kept
in heaven.
And then he says in v.
5, who by God's power were being guarded
through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time.
And then he says in this, the salvation
that's going to be revealed.
That's being kept in heaven.
You rejoice.
You rejoice in what's to come.
You're looking to your future joy.
Though for a little while, so in God's
economy of time, we're just here a little
while.
The suffering's for a little bit.
If necessary, so suffering is necessary, you have
been grieved.
So we rejoice in trials, and yet we're
grieved in trials by various trials.
What a way Peter puts it.
Various trials.
Why is this happening?
So that the tested genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that perishes, though it
is tested by fire, may be found to
result in the praise and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The idea is at final salvation.
So Peter starts the letter saying some of
these very similar ideas.
He's thinking about final salvation.
He's thinking about Christ coming back.
He's thinking about us needing to be refined
in order that we might keep enduring in
this race that we're in.
So, you can think about it like this.
Peter in a way is like a teacher
in this passage, and he's telling the class
this.
He's saying, class, an intense and difficult trial
is coming.
Here's how you need to answer and respond
to the test.
Don't be surprised.
It's not going to be strange that you're
going to face this test.
Don't be depressed, but rejoice.
Rejoice in what?
He says, rejoice that you're sharing in Christ's
sufferings here.
This is only going to lead you to
share in fellowship with Him at final salvation.
Then the teacher, he changes gears.
And he says, don't suffer because of cheating.
He warns them.
There's a way you can suffer that's wrong.
And don't be ashamed of those who mock
you in the midst of your suffering.
That would be wrong.
Don't respond like that.
And then he turns and he says something
else.
He says it's time for the test to
begin.
And professing Christians, it will begin with you.
And then, he says right there in v.
17, he says what the outcome is going
to be.
What will the outcome be?
He doesn't directly answer the question, but it's
implied.
What's the outcome going to be?
It's going to be difficult for the Christian.
Scarcely saved.
With much difficulty, that ship to heaven is
going to reach its shore.
It's not going to be a breeze.
There's going to be all sorts of things
trying to get us to shipwreck.
And then he says what the outcome is
of the lost.
It's implied.
They're going to have far worse suffering in
hell.
If God lets us, whom are beloved, have
a fiery trial, what's going to happen to
the lost?
And then the teacher, he reminds the class,
he says because of this difficulty, don't be
overwhelmed.
You have a faithful Creator who made you
and trust your soul to Him and go
and do good.
So, I guess that's kind of my introduction.
Now, I want to ask this question.
He says, do not be surprised at the
fiery trial when it...
Now, we can't necessarily know for certain what
Peter's referring to, but what might Peter be
referring to?
And he's saying this as a reminder, meaning
someone else in the past already reminded them
of something that was going to happen.
Let's turn briefly to Luke 21.
Luke 21.
There's some verbiage there very similar.
It's Christ had warned already.
Christ had already warned that there before the
destruction of Jerusalem, that Christians there are going
to suffer great persecution.
I mean, it's going to be a fiery
trial that's going to come upon them.
And so, some commentators would say Peter's referring
to that specific trial that's about to come
for the believers.
Whether that's right or not, I think it's
helpful for us to look at some of
these things that those Christians went through.
Because they'll help us even think more and
more what a fiery trial is.
So Luke 21, verse 11, he just talked
about great earthquakes, famines, pestilence, terrors and great
signs from heaven.
Verse 12, but before all of this, they
will lay their hands on you, they will
persecute you, and they will deliver you up
to the synagogues and prisons, and you will
be brought before kings and governors for My
namesake.
Remember, we're bearing the name of a Christian.
Verse 13, this will be your opportunity to
bear witness.
You want to talk about doing good while
you're suffering?
Bear witness.
Settle it then in your minds.
So again, Jesus Himself is thinking about how
do you think?
Not to meditate before how to answer, for
I will give you a mouth and wisdom
which none of your adversaries will be able
to withstand or contradict.
You want to talk about the Holy Spirit?
The Spirit of God coming upon a person
in the midst of a trial and being
near to them?
Those people were experiencing that reality right there
in v.
15.
Verse 16, you will be delivered up even
by parents.
So some of people's parents are going to
take them and turn them into the government
and have them killed.
And brothers and relatives and friends, and some
of them they will put to death.
Verse 17, you will be hated by all
for My namesake, but not a hair of
your head will perish.
He obviously doesn't mean that literally.
Verse 19, by your endurance, you will gain
your lives.
And then he goes on in v.
34, but watch yourselves lest your hearts be
weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares
of this life, and that day come upon
you suddenly like a trap.
Meaning you get surprised by it.
For it will come upon all who dwell
on the face of the earth, but stay
awake at all times praying that you may
have strength to escape all these things that
are going to take place and to stand
before the Son of Man.
So some would say that this is what
Peter, what fiery trial Peter is referring to
was going to happen when he wrote this
letter in the near future.
Whether they're right or not, that's a pretty
fiery trial.
That would refine you greatly.
That would test you greatly to have your
own parents deliver you up to have you
killed.
And he says there, you'll be hated by
all for My name's sake, and he says
in v.
19, by your endurance, you will gain your
lives.
That's the same idea Peter says.
The righteous is scarcely going to be saved.
It's with difficulty that they're going to endure
and get that ship to Canaan's coast.
It's not going to be easy the way
it's hard that leads to life, Jesus says.
And Jesus didn't want us to have it
come upon us suddenly like a trap.
And Peter doesn't want us to have trials
come upon us suddenly like a trap.
Think about that command there.
Do not be surprised.
That's what not to do when it comes
to trials.
Don't be surprised that God allows His Beloved
to suffer.
Suffering is not strange.
It's not an unusual thing for believers.
There's false prophets right now who are saying
things like, well, Christians are God's people.
There's no way any of them are going
to get the coronavirus.
You don't have any verse that teaches that.
The prosperity Gospel says we're going to not
have to suffer like the lost world.
The Bible doesn't say that.
The Bible actually points to the lost world
having their ultimate suffering in hell.
When we're free of that, our suffering is
in this life.
We're not going to have it in the
life to come.
So don't be...
Think about this.
God allows us to suffer.
God who has infinite wisdom, who has the
ability to stop you from going through the
trial you're in, chooses not to stop you
because He has a greater purpose involved in
your sanctification in the midst of the trial
that's testing the genuineness of your faith.
He could stop it.
His eyes of love are set on you
and He does not stop it.
You can see why some Christians might be
surprised.
They read a verse on the love of
God, and then they read a verse about
we're going to suffer and through much tribulation
we're going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
And someone might say, well, God's contradicting Himself.
He's not.
We need the suffering.
It's required that we go and suffer.
It's been granted not only that we believe,
but we also suffer.
So God could prevent it.
He does not.
We should expect trials are going to become.
Think of this.
Surprise is a tactic of the enemy.
You just look at world history.
What happened at Pearl Harbor?
It was a surprise attack.
And America was caught off guard.
They were not expecting all of those planes.
And Peter is saying you don't want to
be surprised at trials.
You just want to expect trials.
You want to expect that there's going to
be bombers that are going to fly over
and drop bombs, and your life isn't just
going to be one of peace and a
field of nice roses.
There's going to be trials.
There's going to be suffering.
And they're not strange, he says.
The word strange, the idea is they're not
hard to understand.
That's what that word means.
It's not hard to understand.
But sometimes for us, it is hard to
understand.
We're tempted to say, why?
Why, Lord?
Well, Peter's already given us a reason.
This is going to refine you.
This is going to test the genuineness of
your faith.
They're not strange.
So should we live in fear of a
surprise?
No.
We shouldn't live in a fear of a
surprise because Peter's letting us know it's no
longer a surprise.
You shouldn't be surprised.
So you don't live in fear of a
surprise because whatever comes is no longer a
surprise.
It's not an expected guest.
At some point, the guest of suffering, whether
in a minor degree or a major degree,
it's going to come and it's going to
knock on all of our doors.
And we're going to have to open that
door and not be aghast, not be surprised,
not look at this and say, well, that's
really strange.
Who invited this guest over to my house?
Or to open that door and realize this
is from my Heavenly Father who loves me.
And I'm going to rejoice in this trial
knowing ultimately there's a day I'm going to
rejoice with final salvation and there will be
no more tears, no more suffering.
So don't let the anticipation of a fiery
trial paralyze you.
That's not Peter's point.
So, if we want to be purified, we
should want trials.
Now, the second thing, he says, don't be
surprised.
And then in a way, he says, don't
be depressed.
Where do I get that?
Verse 13, but rejoice.
We're saying it in the other way, don't
be depressed.
Don't be cast down and depressed when you
suffer.
Rejoice.
Rejoice at what?
At being worthy to suffer on behalf of
the same cause Christ suffered.
Rejoice to the extent that you share Christ's
sufferings.
That in the future, you may also rejoice
and be glad when His glory is revealed.
So one of the evidences you're a Christian
is you rejoice.
Those who say they're Christians and they cannot
find at all any ability to thank God
for the trial.
They have no thankfulness, no joy of trusting
the Lord.
That just shows a heart of unbelief.
So Peter here, he says rejoice that you
get to share in any aspect of Christ's
sufferings, which were far greater.
You know, our heads suffered the worst.
Us as other members of His body, we
suffer far less significant trials than that wrath
of almighty God that Christ bore on that
cross.
Paul says in Philippians 4, rejoice in the
Lord always.
Again, I say rejoice.
So we're to rejoice when we face a
trial.
We're to have joy at the fact that
this is actually purifying me and making me
more like Christ.
At the fact that this is actually a
foretaste of the future joy that's going to
come.
Rejoice at the fact that He even says
a little later, because the Spirit of glory
and of God rests upon you.
Imagine the joy of those believers who had
to stand before the rulers in Luke 21
and they did not prepare beforehand what to
say.
And in that moment, God came upon them
and gave them what to say.
I mean, who wouldn't want to be experiencing
that?
The nearness and help of God in that
trial.
I would want that.
Even if you're suffering, you leave that and
it's like the Lord helped us.
And you say, like they did in Acts
4.31 I believe it is, they left
after they were beaten, they left the council
rejoicing that they were found worthy to suffer
for the name of Christ.
They viewed their trial of suffering as something
that God found them worthy to endure the
trial and to not shame Him in the
midst of that trial.
And they praised Him for that.
That should be how we view it.
So, we shouldn't be depressed.
And then He says right there in verse
13, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's
sufferings that you may also rejoice and be
glad when His glory is revealed.
If you read 1 Peter, if you read
2 Peter, you find this idea, it keeps
coming up about His glory being revealed, about
subsequent glories, about the day of eternity.
Peter is so often bringing the future into
the mind of the Christian.
He's wanting the Christian to be thinking about
the future.
And we obviously see that in Paul's life.
Paul was the type of man who said
to depart and be with Christ is far
better.
I mean, Paul was so much thinking about
the future, it's kind of like waiting for
his flight to leave and he's just wondering
when's my ticket going to be scheduled so
I can go and depart and be with
Christ.
It's like he's looking, I'm quarantined on earth
here.
I want to get out of this fallen
world and I want to get to those
perfections.
He says this in chapter 1.
I think I already read that verse, but
the way he says it, he says you're
to set your hope fully.
What is it?
1.13?
Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
Be sober-minded.
Set your hope fully on the grace that
will be brought to you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ.
I mean, there's different takes on that verse,
but I would say he keeps bringing up
this revelation.
He's just meaning the revealing of Christ.
There's a day when Christ is going to
be revealed from heaven and it's all going
to be over and Christians are to think
about that day.
They are to look forward to that day.
The writer of Hebrews 9, he describes Christians
are those who are eagerly awaiting the return
of the Lord.
Christ will come back to save those who
are eagerly awaiting Him.
One description of a Christian is someone who's
eagerly awaiting the Lord.
That's what Hebrews 9.28 says.
The Christian is someone eagerly awaiting the Lord.
Peter describes Christians as sojourners and exiles.
See, we're not at home.
We're awaiting our flight and we're stuck somewhere.
This future hope that shows that the Christian's
desire is they just want Christ.
We want to know Christ more.
We want to be with Christ.
That's the desire of the Christian.
Paul says to Titus something similar.
We're waiting for our blessed hope.
The appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior.
The Bible constantly says Christians are in the
period of waiting.
We're waiting.
We're waiting for Christ to come.
And this was written a long time ago.
And we're still in this period of waiting.
And we get to taste some of that
joy as we suffer and rejoice in the
midst of our sufferings that we might rejoice
when His glory is revealed.
When that day comes, we're going to have
the greatest amount of joy and we're going
to have no more suffering.
Paul says we'll always be with the Lord.
That's what the Christian wants.
He says in 2 Corinthians 4, this light,
momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal
weight of glory beyond all comparison.
So the present fellowship you have with Christ
in His sufferings now is only leading you
to future fellowship in Paradise in which there
will be no more mourning.
Peter says in 2 Peter that we are
waiting according to His promises.
We're waiting for a new heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 7, for the Lamb in the midst
of the throne will be their Shepherd, and
He will guide them to the springs of
living water, and God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes.
So Peter wants this future appearing of Christ
to be in our minds as we go
into suffering.
He wants you thinking about it as you
go into the suffering.
Because then you conclude with Paul this is
just a slight, momentary affliction.
Or as Peter started his letter, if necessary,
to suffer for a little while.
Oh, I'm in the suffering for so long.
According to the Lord, it's a little while.
This is such a heavy suffering.
Light suffering.
And this is people who had their parents
or had their parents take them, turn them
over to the government to be killed.
We're not experiencing that.
Obviously, again, the point of me even bringing
this message right now is not for people
to think, wow, we're really facing a fiery
trial with the coronavirus.
That's not the idea.
We shouldn't be surprised at calamities and trials
like we're facing.
But this is no sense some degree of
a fiery trial.
We're not having Christians being killed.
We're not having massive suffering for the sake
of righteousness right now as a church.
That's not what we're facing.
And so, if we can't even run with
the footmen of what we're facing right now,
how are we going to run with the
horses?
The greater trial, the faster trial when it
comes.
Whatever that might be, whatever that might look
like.
So, Peter, he says, do not be surprised.
It's not strange.
You shouldn't be depressed.
You should rejoice now and ultimately look to
the future when you will rejoice then.
And I already hit on this, but in
verse 14, it's an incredible thought.
If you're insulted for the name of Christ,
so for being a Christian, you are blessed,
you're happy.
And then he gives the reason.
Why am I happy?
Because the Spirit of glory and of God
rest upon you.
If I am insulted for the name of
Christ, that indicates Christ has actually been helping
me to even respond in a righteous way
to be in the place to even be
insulted to begin with.
And that's something to thank the Lord.
That Lord, You helped me to respond correctly
that I would even be insulted and found
worthy to suffer for Your name.
And then he says here, the Spirit of
power or of glory and of God rest
upon you.
I think that's the idea you see in
Luke 21.
There's a sense that the Holy Spirit is
upon that person.
There is a greater assurance in the midst
of the fire and the trial because God
is near them.
God is upon them.
God is helping them in the midst of
that trial.
And that's one of the reasons so many
Christians when they come out of the season
of trials, they kind of want to go
back because they want that nearness from the
Spirit of power and of glory that was
resting upon them.
And so there's this sense that you're rejoicing
in the midst of a trial because you
have God's help and you're actually having His
power to respond in a Christian way as
you suffer.
And so, Peter says you should rejoice in
that.
That's something to thank God for that He
is helping you in that in such a
marvelous way.
So what believer would not feel it a
great blessing to have such power and assurance
upon them?
We should desire that.
And then I already mentioned this a little
bit, verse 16, he says if anyone suffers
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.
So Peter says don't be ashamed.
Don't be ashamed.
I was trying to think, why would someone
be ashamed?
Here's one example that came up last night.
You've got a Christian person who is standing
firm in their faith.
And because of that, a lost spouse decides
to divorce them.
And they don't compromise on their stand for
Christ.
They could feel a little ashamed about what's
going on in their life and they could
be a divorced person.
They could feel shame and embarrassed.
And Peter is saying don't be ashamed.
You should rather be thankful that you've honored
the Lord even though you're suffering because of
it, you should be able to rejoice and
thank the Lord.
There's nothing embarrassing about something happening because you
stood for Christ.
You should rather praise the Lord that you've
not compromised.
And then he says you shouldn't be ashamed.
You should do what?
You should let Him glorify God in that
name or for the fact that you're bearing
the name of Christian.
You should be praising the Lord that you
even have the privilege to bear the name
of Christian.
You're wearing a badge of honor as a
believer that the world can mock you all
day long.
It will not take away the honor that
you will have before the Lord when the
glory of Jesus Christ is revealed.
The world cannot take away the honor that
matters most.
They can't steal it.
They can't take it away.
Like they said in Acts, we're worthy to
suffer.
We're worthy.
John Brown says this, it is not becoming
that Christ should lead through rugged, thorny ways
and we pass about to get away through
flowery meadows.
It is a sweet, joyful thing to be
a sharer with Christ in anything.
I mean, just sharing anything with Jesus Christ.
To share and bear His name is incredible.
The privilege to be worthy to share His
sufferings, that's amazing.
He says it's a sweet and joyful thing
to be a sharer with Christ in anything,
all enjoyments wherein He is not are bitter
to the soul.
Meaning anything I enjoy that He's not part
of it, it's bitter to the soul who
loves Him.
And all sufferings with Christ are sweet.
The worst things of Christ's suffering for Him
are more truly delightful than the best things
of the world.
So you could say the worst aspect of
being a Christian is I've got to suffer.
One, you don't want to say it's the
worst aspect.
It might be the hardest.
But that's better than anything that the world
has to offer to be able to share
even in that small detail.
Christ's afflictions are sweeter than the world's pleasures.
Christ's reproaches are more glorious than the world's
honors.
And His riches are better than the world's
treasures.
Love delights in likeness and communion, not only
in things otherwise pleasant, but in the hardest
and the harshest things which have not in
them anything desirable, but only that likeness of
Christ.
So the thought is very sweet to a
heart possessed with this love.
So the thought of suffering is sweet to
the heart that possesses a love to be
more like Christ, to know Him more.
So Peter, he says don't suffer for sin.
Verse 15, let none of you suffer as
a murderer.
Did Peter actually think Christians were going to
go around killing people?
I mean, a murderer?
A thief?
Or an evildoer?
I mean, an evildoer is a very broad
term.
I think Peter's idea is just don't suffer
for any type of sin.
Whatever it might be.
But it's interesting how Peter adds on to
not suffer as a meddler.
You know, here you've got all these trials
going on and stuff is happening.
And you meddle.
You're a busybody.
You're getting involved in something.
Kind of like the proverb that talks about
two people arguing and you get involved and
it's like trying to grab a dog by
the ear and it turns and it bites
you.
And you might run away and say, well,
man, I'm being persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Peter says, no, you're being persecuted for being
a busybody and that's not for the sake
of Christ.
I mean, in some way, Peter is saying,
Christians, as you're suffering, you're walking here with
the Lord, you're not so much worried about
what all is going on with all these
other people and meddling and being a busybody
and getting involved in their matters in such
a way...
Think of this, some people suffer in their
relationships, right?
They suffer because of hurt that happened in
a relationship and they might feel like, well,
I was trying to give the person truth.
Well, they might have been actually meddling in
something they shouldn't have been and you're suffering
because you were actually being a meddler.
So I don't know, I didn't have a
whole lot of other thoughts on that, suffering
for being a meddler.
But take that to heart.
We are in an age where it is
very easy to be a busybody and go
house to house on the Internet and be
absolutely distracted and get involved in things that
we've got no business being involved in.
And I guess that brings an example up.
When my wife was single, there was some
argument going on on Facebook and she got
involved in it and she kind of got
kicked back.
And she was trying to give them some
truth.
The fact was she was meddling in something
and it wasn't really for righteousness' sake, she
should have stayed out of it.
And she didn't.
Because she didn't have to put a stamp
on the envelope and send it for three
days.
It takes three seconds to type it and
hit enter.
And my wife doesn't do that anymore.
More than I know of.
Say again?
Yeah, self-induced suffering.
That's not something to glory in.
You can think about on the job.
My boss has eight hours for me to
work, and if I'm meddling with certain things
that I think are honoring to God, but
I'm not honoring my boss's eight hours of
work, I'm being involved in the business at
work in a way that I'm actually meddling
with the boss's time that he's paying me
for.
And if I get fired for that, it's
not because I was righteous, it's because I
was being a meddler.
I was being a busybody at work not
focusing on the task at hand.
So, Peter, he's giving all of these things.
Don't be surprised.
Don't be depressed.
Think of future glory.
Think of the Spirit of glory resting upon
you as you're suffering and rejoice.
Don't cheat on the test.
Don't suffer as a meddler.
Yet, if anyone suffers as a Christian, don't
be ashamed, but praise God that you bear
the name of Christian and that you get
to take part in being a Christian.
And then he says in v.
17, he gives the word for.
For, do all these things, think this way,
for it's time.
And some would say he's saying it's time
for that fiery trial.
That trial, it's coming.
It's time.
You need to have your mind prepared for
action.
That fiery trial, it is coming.
It's time for judgment.
And as you saw in Diego's lesson in
1 Corinthians 11, you can have the word
judgment, but the word judgment does not just
refer to final judgment.
If he's talking about a final judgment here,
for one, it doesn't make a lot of
sense in the context for it's time for
judgment.
I mean, right now, judgment was going to
happen.
And then when he alludes to the proverb,
all the proverb says is it quotes Proverbs
11, if the righteous suffers, if the righteous
is repaid on earth.
Peter, instead of saying repaid on earth, says
scarcely saved.
Well, how are we repaid on earth?
We suffer on earth.
That's what we get.
We take part in suffering.
You're not being repaid with money.
We're being repaid with suffering for bearing the
name of a Christian.
And so Peter, he rewards it when he
puts it here.
He's kind of alluding to it.
And he says scarcely saved.
Scarcely meaning with difficulty.
With difficulty, this trial that's going to come
upon them, it's going to be a difficult
one to get through.
That's why I don't want you surprised.
I don't want you depressed.
I want you rejoicing.
I want you looking to the future glory
in the midst of the trial.
I don't want you sinning in how you
respond.
And don't be ashamed as the world mocks
you as you go through this.
But praise the Lord that you bear the
name of Christian.
For it's time for this fiery trial to
begin at the household of God.
And it begins with us.
Why does he say it begins with us?
He's alluding to Ezekiel 9.
It talks there about suffering and it says
it's going to begin in the sanctuary.
It's going to begin with the elders in
the Old Testament sanctuary.
I think that's just the idea.
It's just alluding to that.
And it's the idea that who suffers mainly
in this life?
It's the Christians.
I mean, there are lost people.
They don't really face much suffering.
But the Christian, we've been promised through much
tribulation, we're going to enter the heaven.
So, our suffering is now.
The wicked suffering is in hell for all
of eternity.
Will the wicked suffer in this life?
Yes.
But they've got a day coming where their
suffering is going to be nothing like we
face in this life.
It's going to be absolutely different.
So, this judgment, this trial by fire, it's
going to test the genuineness of our faith.
It's going to settle the question of where
we're at.
And it's going to test the value of
our profession.
And it's going to be difficult.
It's going to be hard.
The gate is narrow.
Trials are to prove who's saved.
And those who are proven to be saved,
trials are to improve.
So they prove and they improve.
That's what happens.
Luke 13, it says, some in a time
of testing, they fall away.
There are people who receive the Word with
joy, but a fiery trial comes, they fall
away.
They no longer obey the Gospel.
Now, who's writing this letter here?
Peter.
A man who in a time of trial
was ashamed to bear the name of Christian.
Peter at that point was not saying, if
anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not
be ashamed, but let him glorify God that
he bears the name of Christian.
Peter was kind of saying, I don't know
who that man is.
I don't bear the name of Christian.
So whatever Peter's talking about here, I don't
think Peter's forgot his past experience in his
lacking compassion to Christians in the midst of
suffering.
But what did Peter do?
He failed and he went and wept bitterly.
And he arose and he strengthened his brothers.
He didn't drop out of the class.
He kept on going no matter how hard
the course was.
And that's what the Christian's got to do.
Those who endure to the end will ultimately
be saved.
And that's the idea that Peter's talking about.
Through trials, you've got to endure.
Judgments are coming upon you and they're testing
you and trying you.
And it's going to prove the tested genuineness
of your faith.
And then we get near the end here.
People obviously in all of this would say,
what about the lost?
What's going to happen to them?
And so he says that two times.
What will be the outcome of those who
do not obey?
And then what will become of the ungodly
and the sinner?
Because he's basically saying the same idea in
two verses.
He's just saying it and then he alludes
to a proverb which states what he's trying
to get across.
That proverb, Proverbs 11.31 in the ESV,
it says, how much more?
It talks about the righteous being repaid on
earth and it says for the wicked, how
much more?
What's going to happen to the lost?
Our suffering is so minor compared to how
much more their suffering is going to be
in eternity in hell.
I mean, Jesus, He taught that there's weeping,
there's gnashing of teeth, the worm never dies,
there's no sleep day or night.
Hell is terrifying.
So, believers, you suffer.
Don't worry about the wicked.
They've got a day coming.
What you want to worry about is trusting
the Lord and rejoicing in the midst of
your trial because Peter says, rejoice to the
extent you share in Christ's sufferings in verse
13, that you may also rejoice and be
glad when His glory is revealed.
You want to be rejoicing now.
You want to be one of those who's
a rejoicer because that's the true Christian.
And the true Christian has a greater day
of joy coming and that's where we're looking
to.
As Peter says later on, to the day
of eternity.
The Christian is looking to that day.
So, verse 19, Therefore, let those who suffer
according to God's will.
Know that we suffer.
And we want to thank Him for that.
Let those who suffer according to God's will.
And what do you do in the midst
of suffering?
You entrust your souls to a faithful Creator
while doing good.
God is faithful.
He's not left you in the midst of
the suffering.
And God is your Creator.
You're His property more than your own.
He can take care of you.
Creating you is more difficult than taking care
of you, right?
I mean, what's more difficult?
Taking care of you or creating you?
And Peter says He's created you.
So He can take care of you.
I mean, He did the harder part.
He can take care of you.
And He deems to take care of us
by actually putting us through refining trials that
we shouldn't be surprised at, that are ultimately
leading us to the ultimate sharing in His
glory in that final day.
And in the midst of our trials, we're
to do good.
As we trust the Lord, we're to do
good to our enemies.
We're to do good to those who hate
us.
What did those people in Luke 21 do
when their family turned them over to the
government and had them killed?
What did the church do?
I don't know.
They did good.
Somehow they sought to do good to the
family members who had their brothers and sisters
in Christ killed.
What did that look like?
I have no idea.
But they did something good.
Now, let me close and I want to
mention a quick thought.
So our sister Rachel, some of you saw
that update she sent.
And she mentioned on WhatsApp, she says this,
I'm reading 1 Peter.
When I got to 4.12-19, this
passage, she says this, this is Rachel Sauceda,
I can't help thinking I'm not suffering because
I'm a Christian.
Meaning, she's got cancer.
Her point is, I've got cancer, and it's
not like this is persecution for righteousness' sake.
And the big thing Peter is focusing on
here is persecution for righteousness' sake, persecution for
being a Christian.
That's the specific aspect of suffering he's honing
in on.
It's not that these truths aren't real though
in the midst of cancer.
But she says this, I'm suffering because I
live in a fallen world with cancer, but
the Lord, I know You're sovereign, faithful, it
says faithful here, help me to keep trusting
You no matter what else You bring my
way.
And I was thinking, is our sister making
a correct...
is she drawing the right idea out of
here that Peter is focused on suffering that's
coming for specifically righteous deeds?
And I think overall, she's right about that.
But it made me think of this.
Let me ask this question.
Is there any righteous person who had physical
suffering and it was him being persecuted for
his righteous conduct?
Say again?
Yeah, Job.
To Job's eyes, he just had a physical
ailment.
Boils.
But when you read in the book of
Job, why did Job have that?
He was specifically suffering at the hands of
Satan.
God had allowed that.
And it says in Job 2, the devil
says, stretch out your hand and touch his
bone and his flesh.
He'll curse you to your face.
The Lord said to Satan, behold, he's in
your hand.
Only spare his life.
So Satan went out from the presence of
the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores
from the sole of his foot to the
crown of his head.
So my point to Rachel is what if
because you're a righteous woman, Satan has struck
you with this specific suffering?
Meaning there is a way that you actually
have a physical suffering and it is directly
connected to the fact of your righteousness, even
though there's no person that you see that's
involved with you getting that sickness, there might
be something going on in the satanic realm
that God has allowed.
And Job took a piece of broken pottery
with which to scrape himself while he sat
in the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, do you
still hold fast your integrity?
Curse God and die.
Job said to her, you speak as one
of the foolish women would speak.
Shall we receive good from God and shall
we not receive evil?
In all this, Job did not sin in
his lips.
You think about Job.
He had a fiery trial.
And it was for righteousness' sake.
It's because he was a blameless man.
And the devil wanted to show, Lord, look,
Job's going to deny you.
If you let him suffer, if you let
his body be touched, he's going to deny
you.
And you know what we find Job doing?
He blessed the Lord.
And he wasn't surprised.
He wasn't shocked.
And he had bam, bam, bam, bam.
All these things hit him at once.
And Job didn't actually look at it and
say this is really strange and unusual.
Why is this happening to me?
Job looked at this and he was able
to bless the Lord who gives and takes
away.
So no matter what gets taken away in
this life, we've got to remember, there's a
day coming where you know what's going to
get taken away?
Suffering.
There's going to be no more tears.
There's going to be glory.
There's going to be rest.
We're going to rest from our labors.
Our labors of doing good in the midst
of suffering.
And so, we don't want to be depressed
in trials.
We want to rejoice.
We don't want to be surprised in trials.
We don't want to look at them as
strange and unusual because they're not.
And we want to be thankful we can
bear the name of Christian in the midst
of the trial and honor the Lord Jesus
Christ.
We want to be expecting the power of
the Spirit of God to be upon us
in the midst of the trial and the
Lord helping us in supernatural ways that when
that season dies down, we'll want to be
back in the middle of that season and
not in a season where everything is kind
of normal.
And for those New Testament Christians, whatever trial
was coming their way, Peter says it was
going to begin.
Some type of suffering began.
And if it is indeed alluding and referring
to what happened in Luke 21 and in
Matthew 24 right before the destruction of Jerusalem,
they suffered severely during that time.
And that's not anything like what we're facing
in our day.
It's just not.
And ultimately, the coronavirus is not hitting us.
You could more view the coronavirus as judgment
upon a wicked world and God's trying to
awaken them.
But yeah, we shouldn't be surprised if Christians
get sick in the midst of all of
this because we don't have a promise that
we're not going to get sick.
But we should rejoice in the Lord.
So whether it's being persecuted for righteousness sake,
which dealt with the immediate context, or any
trial you're going through, you want to think
about these things and these truths.
Okay, let's pray.
Father, Lord, thank You that You supernaturally give
us joy to rejoice in the midst of
suffering and fiery trials.
Lord, we thank You that You are in
the business of testing the genuineness of our
faith.
We thank You, Lord, that Lord, not only
should we not be surprised at trials, but
Lord, we're not surprised that professing Christians often
fall away in seasons of trials.
And they go out from us because they
were never of us.
Lord, I pray in the season we're in
right now that You would keep the brethren
rejoicing in You.
Lord, keep us all looking to that day,
awaiting for the revealing, awaiting for the coming
of Christ.
Lord, we do want to see You face
to face.
Lord, we want the veil completely removed.
We want direct, intimate communion with You.
And we're thankful for all the communion and
what we experience in this life right now.
Lord, You're so good to us.
So Lord, be with the saints.
Strengthen them.
Lord, help them help those who are suffering
right now that they would live these things
out.
Lord, we thank You.
You are such a faithful God.
We entrust our souls to You.
Help us to do.