1 Peter: Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus
Notes
Transcript
This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution.
Exegetical Point: Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus
Homiletical Point: Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus
Introduction
Introduction
When you’re young, doing your schoolwork, sometimes it can feel like a waste of time. How many times have you said to your parents:
“Why do I need to learn this?”
“Will I ever use this equation?”
“Who cares what an adjective is?”
When you’re studying for the future, the present topics can feel remote and useless. But here’s the thing, we need to learn first, so that we can put that knowledge into action later.
Your schoolwork might seem impractical and futile, but that’s because you haven’t had the opportunity to put your study to work. We need to prepare for the future so we’re ready to face it.
When I get a flat tyre out on the road, I’m sure glad that my Dad made me change wheels at home. He prepared me for the future.
If you want to run a marathon, it’s no use turning up on the day without any training, you won’t have the endurance to run the race unless you have prepared for it in advance.
As we’ve been talking about suffering these past few months in 1 Peter, you might be feeling like this is a waste of time. For the most part, we don’t endure a lot of suffering either for being a Christian, or just living in the world. For now it’s pretty easy.
The talk of suffering may seem irrelevant to you to because you have not yet had the tangible experience of suffering, especially suffering for Jesus sake.
But that’s not to say that you won’t. You may go through life not having to suffer for Jesus, and that may be God’s grace to you. But Jesus tells us that we should expect suffering, and that may be God’s grace to you - to suffer for his Sake.
But like schoolwork, and endurance for marathons, we need to prepare for that future. We shouldn’t be surprised when the suffering comes, because we have prepared for that day, anticipating it and already knowing how we will respond.
When the day arrives, it is too late to start getting ready.
Noah built the ark in good weather. All seemed fine and dandy to everyone else. But Noah, listening to God, prepared for the day to come. Through listening to what God said responding to it early, he and his family were able to withstand the difficulties and be saved.
For us as Christians, here and now, recipients of Peter’s letter to the early churches, we need to be ready for what may come.
Be ready for what probably will come, if what Jesus said is true (which it is!).
Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus.
Our passage today gives us 5 ways we can endure suffering. And if we can learn these 5 ways, we can be prepared for whatever may come our way before we meet Jesus face to face.
Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus by learning these 5 ways we can endure suffering.
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering v12
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering v12
The first way we can learn to endure suffering is based on what I’ve already been talking about. Be ready for it. Don't be surprised!
That’s what Peter writes to the Church in v12:
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Dear friends, Peter addresses these believers that he loves: Trials and suffering should not catch you unawares. We should not be tricked into thinking that the Christian life is all sunshine and rainbows while we live in a corrupted and sinful world.
Why not be unsurprised? Why should we expect trials and tribulations? Because
a. Jesus tells us it’s coming:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
b. It is a historical pattern. All over the place there are faithful believers who suffer for righteousness:
Abel suffered merely for being faithful - his jealous brother killed him.
Noah...
Job suffered to prove the genuineness of his faith. He didn’t know why he was suffering, he didn’t overhear God & Satan's conversation...
The other prophets - like Jeremiah.
Jesus
The apostles
The early martyrs
Christians around the world in recent history
Pastor being jailed this week for holding church in Canada...
Suffering and trials of the righteous have been patterned throughout history. Don’t be surprised when they come to us. It is not out of the ordinary.
Peter says that these trials, the “fiery ordeal” is a test. We’ve mentioned this before, one of the silver linings of suffering it that it tests the genuineness of your faith.
Faith isn’t something that pay to God to get salvation, it in itself is a gift that comes from God, but there are a great many people who have a false faith, who say they have faith because it is convenient, or because they like the idea of the Gospel rewards. But there are many who’s faith has no foundation, and when the storms of trials and tribulations bears down on them, they find that they are unwilling to stand and endure for Jesus.
Their faith is choked out by the difficulties and seductions of worldly life.
But, for those who have true faith, they will be able to withstand those trials, and endure them. Their foundation is shown to be legit.
So, if you claim to have faith in Jesus, you should not be surprised when the trials come to test your faith.
The trials are like an “audit” of your faith. If you walk around claiming to be a Child of God, it’s unsurprising when the trial come to test if that is true. You can take great comfort in enduring the trials knowing that it is proving the genuiness of your faith.
So, Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus, by learning:
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering
2. Rejoice in Suffering v13-14
2. Rejoice in Suffering v13-14
Why rejoice?
Well, I’ve already mentioned one reason: because it reveals that your faith is real and authentic. But Peter gives us another reason to rejoice in verse 13:
But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
So as we suffer like Christ suffered, we’re in some sense participating in the Suffering that Jesus endured. Not that we are atoning for the sins of the world, but that we are experiencing the same thing that he experienced.
Like two soldiers who shared a battle, they will have endured the same trial and experienced the same trauma, so they are united together in a special way that others cannot understand until they have experienced the same thing.
We participate in the sufferings of Christ, we are in some sense embedded in him, we have a special union with him that is cemented by our experience of suffering.
And that, experience of suffering gives us a special longing for the triumphant revelation of Christ’s glory.
Like Prisoners of War, suffering in the enemies clutches, we long for the day that God will fully and finally overthrow the enemy and display his full power and might in glory!
That means than even now, knowing that Jesus has secured victory, we can rejoice in the midst of our sufferings, because they are the dark before the dawn, it is the bitterness that will make the sweetness all the sweeter.
How much nicer is the warmth of your bed under the blankets if you’ve had to get up in the middle of the night and walk around in the cold?
We can rejoice in the difficulty, because like Christ who suffered before us, we will join him in the coming Day of Victory. One comentator says:
1 Peter Rejoice that You Are United to Christ
If we are united to Christ, we become more like him. Our life path resembles his more and more. Our suffering recapitulates his suffering. So our suffering shows that we belong to him now and will share in his coming victory. So we will “be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” If we share in his suffering, we will share in his victory over death and enjoy God’s reward in heaven.
But there’s even more reason to rejoice! If we’re insulted for Jesus then we’re blessed! It says so in v14:
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Suffering insults because of Jesus is a sign that we belong to Jesus and have the Holy Spirit! It is a blessing to have that assurance that we are Gods and his Spirit is resting on us! When the enemies of God are recognising that you belong to him, and attacking you for it, then you can say “Yes, I belong to God, my faith is evident!”.
Their insults to us are like a word from God saying “You are my beloved Child”. It is a blessing to be islulted for Christ’s sake.
So, Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus, by learning:
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering
2. To rejoice in suffering
and...
3. Suffer for the right reasons v15-16
3. Suffer for the right reasons v15-16
Peter again reminds his readers that you can’t just say “I’m having a rough time, therefore I’m suffering for Jesus” especially if you brought it on yourself!
Look at v15-16:
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
If you are suffering the consequences of your actions, like breaking Godly laws and getting punished for it, you’re not mimicking Jesus. You’re not joining in the same thing that he did.
He suffered although he was innocent of all crimes. HE was perfect and morally pure. He was righteous and holy to the very core, and yet he suffered as though he was a sinner and a criminal.
He was the innocent sufferer, and so it is offensive to be a guilty person, suffering the consequences of our own actions, and yet claim to be suffering like Jesus. It doesn’t match!
And, Peter says, its not just criminal suffering - Peter says we shouldn’t suffer for for meddling either. If your friends or family are giving you a hard time because you stick your nose in where it doesn't belong or try to “fix” people and problems all the time, you’re not suffering like Jesus. You’re getting the consequences of your actions.
This is not saying we shouldn’t help others in their troubles, or intervene as our position and relationship allows, but if you’re a busy-body and trying to worm your way into places you have no need to be, then you will be rejected and ostracised by your own hand, not because you happen to be a Christian.
But, if you do suffer as a Christian, you have no need to be ashamed! We’re not here to win the affections of the world - we’re here to win their souls!
You don’t need to be embarrassed when the world tells you you’re doing the wrong thing, because it means that you’re on the right track. Its a sign post that you are headed the right direction.
Sometimes when you’re out and about looking for a town or street that you’ve never been to before, you will follow the directions, but you can second guess yourself...
...am I going the right direction?
…did I miss the turn off?
…maybe I misremembered where it is.
But then, you see the sign at the side of the road that tells you, you’re going the right way.
When we get on the wrong side of the world, and suffer for it, it tells us that we’re going the right way. It reminds us that God with us and we can praise him for it!
We’re not here to curry favour with the world. As nice as it has been these past centuries to have Christianity as a well-loved and central part of society, this is not what we’re aiming for. We’re not aiming to be well loved by the world and by governments and to have political lobbying power - we’re here to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our mouths and our lives!
We’re here to declare Christ’s victory of sin and death! And as always, people do not like to hear that their kingdom is doomed, that their lives are being wasted.
If you sunk all your savings into buying a house, and you loved that house, then one day an engineer came to visit, and he said, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your house is falling apart, it’s a ticking-time-bomb. You way overpaid for it and it will kill you unless you move out.
What are you going to do?
You have so much life and money and emotion invested in buying this house, and somebody has told you it’s a death trap. It’s worth nothing.
You have the choice or either trusting the engineer, and responding to the warning,
or,
you will have to ignore what he said, and choose to believe he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And, if you think he’s wrong, and his warning was just scaremongering, then you have to believe that he is a no-good lying scoundrel.
Same goes for us as Christians! IF people hear the Gospel message, both the warnings and the promised blessings, and they choose to ignore the message, they have to believe that we are no good lying scoundrels, or at the very least: that we are deceived by Christianity.
It’s no wonder then that the world will the call us names, insult us. They will say you’re a menace to society. That we are not conducive to the public good. That we’re corrupting the minds of our children and spreading lies in the community.
It is the natural response to hearing the message that we proclaim.
Many will close their ears to the message. Many will try to shame and insult us. Many will try to prosecute us, and have practising our faith made illegal.
But some, some will hear the message and flee the deathtrap that they have been living in.
They will hear that Judgement is coming.
They will hear that there is great and glorious savour who has lovingly died in their place.
They will hear that there is life, abundant life, on offer in the house that is established on the rock that is Christ.
Many will ridicule us for saying that the storm of judgement is coming, and they should flee to the Ark, the Lord Jesus, for salvation. But some will be saved. Some will be freed from sin and death. Some will join us here to praise God that they bear the name of “Christian” and glory in the Victories of King Jesus.
Some will come and throw themselves at the foot of the cross, thanking him for sacrificing himself to atone for their sins. They will beg God for his mercy and receive the abundant Grace of God in Jesus Christ, the overcommer of Death.
So you, dear friends should suffer because you bear the name of Christian. because you are a herald of Christ’s victory, and ambassador to a dying world, not because you’re you’re getting your just desserts...
So, Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus, by learning:
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering
2. To rejoice in suffering
3. Suffer for the right reasons
and...
4. Judgement is Coming to All v17-18
4. Judgement is Coming to All v17-18
Like we’ve already been thinking about, Christians should be living in such a way that their suffering can’t be a attributed to their own sinful choices. And, as if to drive that home, Peter reminds his hearers that God will be judging their actions, as well as the whole world.
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
This becomes a comfort and a warning to Christians.
On the one hand, we’re warned that God will have us make and account for the way that we’ve acted. We’ll have to have you lives laid bare before the Lord,
But on the other hand it is a comfort to know that those who oppress us will also have to face God.
We’re saved, as through fire, through the eye of the needle, we can’t be careless with this salvation.
So, Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus, by learning:
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering
2. To rejoice in suffering
3. Suffer for the right reasons
4. Be ready for Judgement coming to All
and...
5. Respond with Faithfulness v19
5. Respond with Faithfulness v19
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
“According to God’s will”?
i.e. for righteousness sake, not because of being disobedient to God...
But… there is still a sense that it is God’s will that we suffer as part of his epic grand plan
a. Commit themselves to a Faithful Creator
a. Commit themselves to a Faithful Creator
What does that look like?
Faith, Trust, loyalty, love, submission, obedience,
We trust, even when we fear what is coming. Like passengers in an aeroplane, we don’t know how to fly, but the pilot does. He knows where we’re going, how to get there, and that the turbulence is a light and momentary affliction on the way.
In this “plane” called the Church, God knows where we’re going, how to get there, and that the turbulence of suffering is a light and momentary affliction on the way.
How stupid is it to jump out of a plane during turbulence? The way to the destination is through the turbulence, to jump out is to never get to the destination.
God is faithful, he will carry us to the end through the suffering, so we should entrust ourselves to him knowing that he knows the big picture and we don’t. He has a track record of delivering on big promises, so we can trust him, even when the way looks bleak in the midst of our trials.
b. Continue to do Good
b. Continue to do Good
What does that look like?
To live as beleivers in this world
Recipients and givers of love
Serve one another
bearing good spiritual fruit
Go back to 3:8
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
Recap
Recap
So, Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus, by learning:
1. Be Unsurprised by Suffering
2. To rejoice in suffering
3. Suffer for the right reasons
4. Be ready for Judgement coming to All
5. to Respond with faithfulness