1 Peter 4:12-19
Good morning, Church! My name is Trent Houck, and I am one of the Staff Elders at Faith Community Bible Church. We are working our way through a series entitled, “Hope for Weary Exiles.” This morning, we embark on our 14th sermon on 1 Peter. We will be finishing up this book in just a few weeks before moving through a new series.
Last week, Chad Kettler explained 1 Peter 4:7-11. One of the things he said was, we are being formed into the image of Christ to the glory of God, or into some other image. We are becoming those things that we behold. Our hearts begin to reflect whatever it is that we worship. To become like Christ is to look to Christ. And, one of the things that gets us to look to Christ, and away from lesser things, is suffering. C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Lest we exclude ourselves from suffering, suffering could be simply defined as pain experienced over time. Or, it's "...having what you don't want or wanting what you don't have." To some extent, all of us are suffering. And, to some extent every human being, Christian or otherwise, suffers. We're all in this together. We are either currently suffering, or at some point, we will suffer to some extent. [I want you to know that I want to tread very carefully on this subject.]
So, let me ask you: Are you ready to die? Maybe we picture church as a super happy, suffering-free sort of place, full of smiles, and "How are yous?" where the answer is always, "Good." One theologian said, "The main reason I come to Church is to get ready to die." Eccessliastes says that it's better to go to a funeral than a party.
One of the main reasons that I want to preach this morning is to be ready to die, and to prepare you to die. And, I don't just mean physical death. I mean all kinds of death. Being ready to die really means being ready to suffer. Suffering is just a thousand little deaths. It's precisely what Christ calls us to when he commands us to take up our cross and die daily. So, are you ready to die?
So, here are the death readiness, pastoral questions we have to answer:
Why do we suffer?
Why is it God’s will that we suffer?
How are we responding to God in our suffering?
What is Christ forming in us through suffering?
How do I entrust my soul to God in suffering?
Note: This sermon will not be the philosophical and intellectual answer to these questions, but it will re-introduce you to the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the answer to all these questions. His Person and Work are the goal of our suffering.
With these things in mind, I want us to read our passage and then I'll pray. This is God’s very Word.
1 Peter 4:12-19
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Pastoral Prayer
Let’s pray together.
Father, we come before you as weary exiles, and yet, as beloved sons and daughters of a faithful Creator [1 Peter 4:19]. Thank you that all the promises of first Peter are available to us through Christ: thank you for causing us to be born again [1 Peter 1:3], for ransoming us by the precious blood of Christ [1 Peter 1:18-19], for ensuring the good news was preached to us [1 Peter 1:25], for making us a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for your own possession [1 Peter 2:9], for giving us singleness and marriage and friendship [1 Peter 3:1-7], government [1 Peter 2:13-17], and meaningful work [1 Peter 2:18-24] all for the sake of making much of Jesus. Father, hallowed by your name.
Jesus, thank you for being the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls [1 Peter 2:25]. Thank you that the loss or gain of any of these things is known to you. Thank you for suffering unjust treatment [1 Peter 3:18], giving your life over to death on the cross [1 Peter 3:18], for victoriously proclaiming to the spirits in prison your triumph over death [1 Peter 3:19] so that just as Noah sailed through the waters of God’s judgment [1 Peter 3:20], we might sail through baptism into a clear conscience [1 Peter 3:21], and to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places [1 Peter 3:22]. To Christ “…belong glory and dominion forever and ever. [1 Peter 4:11]. We exalt you this morning. Thank you for teaching us to pray.
Holy Spirit, we pray that you would cause all these glorious truths to become real to our hearts this morning. Your word says that when we suffer for the name of Christ that we are blessed, “…because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon [us]” [1 Peter 4:14]. Holy Spirit, we invite you to use your word now to specifically impress upon us the sense and meaning of this text. We desire to taste and see that you are good. And, so open our hearts and souls to these glorious truths.
I pray for those who are suffering because of their own foolishness this morning. Bring about Godly repentance as your word is preached. Illuminate the foolish aspects of our hearts. Correct our vision.
I pray for those who are suffering from chronic pain and terminal illnesses this morning that you would encourage their hearts and uphold their faith. Prepare all of us to face the living Christ, who is compassionate and gracious and utterly just.
I pray for those who are suffering through singleness, marriage, parenting, and relational stress this morning that you would show us how to suffer as Christians.
I pray for those who are suffering loss and grief that you would impress upon them the beauty and glory of rejoicing even while grieving. Deepen each of our souls this morning. Soften our hearts.
We pray for our Elders, ministry leaders, and servants, who are suffering the trials and fires of ministry in a broken world: Cause us to entrust ourselves to a faithful Creator while doing good.
We pray for those who are faithfully modeling suffering to us. Help us to comfort them and encourage them as we follow their example.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
Main Point:
Main Point: Christians are rescued to suffer, through suffering, and beyond suffering because suffering forms and magnifies Christ in us.
Christians are saved to suffer because joyful, Christian suffering magnifies God. Suffering is the only way to become a person of substance, to become more like Christ. On the other hand, fleeting, worldly, vaporous pleasures leave us floating down the river toward the city of destruction. Suffering strengthens your grip on the rugged Cross as it loosens your grip on the pleasures of this world.
So, this sermon is really an invitation to joyfully stand in the place of Simon the Cyrene, who carried Jesus' rugged, splintered cross with him. To enjoy fellowship on the Road toward Golgotha, not because there is anything left to do to save us, but because God loves the story of redemption so much that he has been re-enacting it through the church for 2,000 years by the power of the Holy Spirit. And, he means for the Gospel to touch every tribe and tongue and nation. The cross is where justice and mercy meet. So then, suffering is the location of God's blessing.
Jesus taught his disciples the secret of true happiness when he said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." In other words, the happiest person is the one who has lost everything, except Christ. Jim Elliot once wrote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." To be clear, Christian suffering is not discomfort as a result of doing something foolish. It's not the cat scratching you for foolishly stroking it backwards. It's not getting bit because you pulled the dog's tail, or dying because you opened the lion's cage. Christian suffering is daily death by cross-bearing. It's daily selling and saying goodbye to all that you have and cherish instead of hoarding it in the garage.
True Christian suffering is being in pain with Jesus or better, being in Jesus' pain. It's sharing in Christ's sufferings.
Main Question/Tension:
Peter is careful to remind us that we can suffer a lot because of our own foolishness. Because we live in a world broken by sin, we can suffer from any and all directions. Proverbs 19:3 says, “When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.” Humans can plan to avoid suffering by ignoring the presence of God, only to find Him waiting at the door in their suffering the consequences of their own sin.
1 Peter 4:12-19 asks us to reflect on this question: Is our suffering distinctively Christian? Are we suffering for the name of Christ? Is it for the glory of God? Or, are we surprised by our suffering? Are we suffering for some other name, even our own?
1 Peter on the whole argues that 'elect exiles' suffer. He writes in 1 Peter 1, "In this[suffering] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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 praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” [1 Peter 1:3-7]. Christians, as 'elect exiles,' are the happiest-sad people. They are consummate sad celebrants. They are the best at lamenting. They are always saying goodbye after just arriving.
In Peter’s mind, suffering for Christ is better understood as suffering with Christ. It is intrinsically relational. It is always further up and further in with Christ. And, this is good news, suffering never works backwards. God always achieves his appointed end.
Exegetical Introduction
Before we re-examine the text closely, we need to remember that Peter was pretty ‘anti-suffering’ when he first met Jesus. The Gospel of Mark records that Jesus was teaching on the specifics of his suffering, "...And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him." [Pretty bold move, Peter!] But turning and seeing his disciples, he[Jesus] rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man’” [Mark 8:31-33]. I wonder how Peter shook this one off. He walked into the room thinking that he was going to get Jesus in check, and it ends up that he's playing Satan's game.
Unknowingly, Peter held a Satanic view of suffering. He thought that suffering was antithetical to the Messiah’s purpose, when in fact it was intrinsic to his purpose.
This conflict came to a head as Peter denied Jesus three times as Jesus was suffering. Mark records after the third denial, “…Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ And he broke down and wept” [Mark 14:72]. Even more explicitly Luke records, “…while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered… And he went out and wept bitterly” [Luke 22:61]. Peter, as our instructor today on suffering, knew firsthand what it meant to get it wrong.
Jesus, of course, forgives him. He asks Peter three times in the Gospel of John, "Do you love me?" And, he reminds him three times of his job: "Feed my sheep." Peter, after getting fired, gets his job back, and he gets a second chance. And, a third chance. And, a fourth chance. Each time, he grows closer and closer to Jesus.
We are taking so much time to set this up because it has been about three decades since Peter’s failure and his reinstatement. We come to find out that God builds his church on the grounds of suffering and repentance, not peak performance.And, so we turn back to our main point:
Main Point
Main Point: Christians are rescued to suffer, through suffering, and beyond suffering because suffering forms and magnifies Christ in us.
Outline:
1 Peter 4:12-19: Christians are Saved to Suffer.
1. Present Suffering Increases Joy (1 Peter 4:12-13)
2. Shameless Suffering Magnifies God (1 Peter 4:14-16)
3. Household Suffering Reminds Us of Time (1 Peter 4:17-18).
4. Faithful Suffering Shows Christ (1 Peter 4:19)
5. All Suffering Will End.
Present Suffering Increases Joy (1 Peter 4:12-13)
First, Peter exhorts us that there is a connection between suffering and joy. Christian’s suffering and our joy in God are equal. Like congruent angles, they are parallel. Peter writes,
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Peter begins with a reminder of the Christian’s relational position before God. “Beloved.” This word conjures up Peter’s introduction. He is speaking to “…elect exiles…” who were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God “…for obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2). It speaks of God’s divine choosing and security in God. “Beloved.” ‘Beloved’ means that the eternal, immeasurable, unquantifiable love of God for himself as Father, Son, and Spirit explodes onto the spiritual tastebuds of the human soul.
You and I have never been loved like this, except in God. We’ve never seen love like this, except in the Trinity. This is your identity. This is indicative, not imperative. Christians are beloved.
Peter then issues a negative command to the ‘Beloved’, “Do not be surprised…” and then a positive command “But rejoice…”. Why does Peter have to say this? Well, suffering is surprising. It's the spinning rainbow wheel of death that loses your project. It's the plumbing pipes rupturing. It's the ants infesting. It's the plane flight cancellation. Suffering is surprising.
Yet, we are called not to be surprised, or caught off guard by suffering and fiery trials, but we are called on the contrary, to rejoice because as we share in Christ’s sufferings, we are being prepared to share in Christ’s glory. In other words, the act of rejoicing, or the ongoing experience of being with Christ in prayer through suffering, is the main way to be unsurprised by it. If you are consistently, persistently preparing for eternity, suffering won't surprise you.
And yet, it is surprising, isn't it? It always catches us off guard, because we are Christians on the way, and we are not yet, what we will be. Peter is saying: "Beloved. Beloved. Beloved" as one who was surprised by suffering. Peter looks more like Jesus now, and he's reminding us not to be surprised, not as a spiritual superhero, but as a fellow pilgrim.
God has so ordained both the sufferings of Christ and his resulting glory so that when we suffer, God plans for us to share in the glory of Christ as well. This is precisely what Paul is describing in Colossians 1:24-29,
24 Now[present, now] I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
You see this? Paul is saying that Christ suffers within him. In the same way, Peter is saying that as we share in the sufferings of Christ, our sense of assurance grows that we will be glorified with Christ. In fact, joyful suffering is glorifying to God.
Peter argues that if we rejoice now in our sufferings, we will also rejoice when Christ is revealed because of our sufferings. We will one day be able to fully thank God for the sufferings we endure. When God reveals the glory of Christ at his second coming, those who have suffered with him in joy will also rejoice on that day. In other words, the joy that Christians experience in this life is an eschatological joy that increases as we suffer. Suffering for Christ, or suffering fiery trials, insults, reproach, or loss for Christ is an opportunity to prepare for eternal joy and gratitude.
Hebrews 11 illustrates,
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Acts 5:41-42 details that the early disciples “…left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ is Jesus.” Paul writes in Philippians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Present suffering increases present and future joy in Christ. It magnifies Christ in us.
Pastoral Application: If we have not suffered much, we are liable to be afraid of suffering. Here is the good news: We can imagine a world without God, but we cannot live in one. We learn to suffer by the practice of rejoicing in God now. We practice consistent church membership now, so that when the fiery trial comes, we know how to persevere in faith and hearing God Word. We practice consistent prayer lives now so that when the fiery trial comes we know how to rejoice in God. We seek to enjoy God to the absolute fullest now so that when we face suffering, we know how to magnify God on that day.
That leads to our second point.
Shameless Suffering Magnifies God (1 Peter 4:14-16)
Second, Peter argues that this kind of shameless suffering magnifies God. Not only can Christian expect present and future glory because of their suffering with Christ, but they can expect a glorious, God-centered Spirit to come and uniquely apply the benefits of God’s grace to them in the moment of suffering. In other words, Christians should expect never to be alone when they suffer for Christ. Peter writes,
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
Here we get a bit more specific.
The fiery trial listed in verse 12 is specifically bearing insults for the name of Christ. That is, being isolated and slandered for being a Christian. Peter writes that when people insult you, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. We may quickly dismiss ‘bearing insults’ as a minimal kind of suffering. We have sung, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Anyone who has suffered verbal or emotional abuse will tell you that there are significant physiological and psychological effects to suffering verbal attacks. In fact, that song is sung precisely because words hurt. It's a verbal and musical backlash. A taunt. Words are powerful in defensive or offensive modes.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” James 3:6 says, “…the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” Biblical authors know that if you really want to mess someone up, you don’t physically assault them, you just use words. So, when words are used as implements for abuse, they can seriously hurt and damage us. This is real suffering.
Peter writes, "If people try to kill you with words because of Christ, you're blessed. The Spirit of God and of glory rests on you." He doesn't say just be happy and ignore them in your own power. He says, "the Spirit of God and of glory will be there." Think for a moment: If someone says to you, “you’re a murderer.” It hurts to be falsely accused. If someone says, “You’re evil,” it hurts to be the subject of suspicion. If someone says, “You’re a kleptomaniac,” you might laugh it off, but be hurt by the sarcasm. If you hear “You’re a gossip,” you might question your God-centered transparency. If you hear, “You’re a liar, and a manipulator," it might cause you to question reality.
In fact, the early Christians were probably being blamed for murder, evil, thievery, and meddling. In fact, Satan is particularly good at picking up the broken fragments of our words, jokes, and sarcasm, and stringing it together into a cocktail of late night accusations mixed with insomnia. This makes us want to hide, cover our hearts, and form callouses in our lives so that no one knows us. It makes us want to hide in shame. This is spiritual warfare.
Yet, Peter writes, the Spirit of God is with us. The Spirit of glory rests upon us. We are children of God. And, all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8).
Martin Luther, who was no novice in spiritual warfare, and interpersonal conflict, helps us to understand what we should do and say if Satan accuses us. Luther says,
“When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.”[6]
[7] Peter argues that Christians are called to glorify God bearing the name “Christian.” This is the undoing of shame, even in the face of Satanic attack: Christ is for me, Christ is in me, Christ is all around me. I am seated with Christ in the heavenly places. He is not ashamed of me. So, there's no shame in suffering, even when we fail.
Peter writes,
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
That leads to our third point. Why are we not to be ashamed of our suffering? Because it's almost over.
Household Suffering Reminds Us What Time It is (1 Peter 4:17-18)
Third, Peter describes the time and location of our suffering. Christians suffer not because God has somehow lost control of the world. Romans 8 teaches us that God subjected the world to futility. God is sovereign over our suffering. He is sovereign over chaos. He is sovereign over wars, famines, and futility. So, what time is it? Where are we, anyway? Peter writes,
17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
This section is both a warning and an encouragement. The encouragement is that God starts at his own house. Therefore, Christian suffering is an invitation to a deeper room in the house. Notice the connection. Judgment begins with us, but it's opposite is not perfect performance. Rather, it's those who do not obey the gospel of God.
Hebrews 12 illustrates this idea:
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons…11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
In other words, it's good news that we are enduring discipline because it's being administered by our loving head of the home.
Peter draws our attention to something universally true about God: he is good. He is fair. He is just. He refers here to the Proverbs 11:31. God starts his judgment at his own household. God has integrity. And, the point is that God moves out from his own household onto the entire global scene. While judgment begins with God’s house, it does not stop there. This means that while God deals with us as a Father disciplining his children in his own household, he will most certainly deal with those who rebel, reject, and stand as his enemies outside of his household.
Remember C.S. Lewis? Pain is God's megaphone. God loved his enemies so much that he sent his own Son so that whoever might believe in him would have eternal life. God took his own bitter judgment in his own Son on the Cross. Hell, sin, and separation from God are rejections of a God who opens his heart wide to the sinner and sufferer. His judgment and his mercy meet at the cross.
Illustration: I grew up in Southern California, where we experienced several earthquakes. All earthquakes have an epicenter, and their energy radiates out until it dissipates. The closer you are to the epicenter, the more dangerous the earthquake is for you. However, in this passage, Peter is arguing counter-intuitively that the closer you are to the epicenter of God’s judgment, the safer you are. This cosmic earthquake of God’s judgment is more like a mid-ocean tectonic plate shifting to produce a swelling tsunami. As this earthquake radiates from the center, the more dangerous and lethal it becomes.
Brothers and sisters, Peter is saying that when God decided to enact his judgment, he began with his own household. And, he began by crucifying his eldest and only Son, the Son, whom he loved. He elected to place him on the cross so that the door to the innermost chambers of God's heart might be flung wide to a broken and suffering humanity. A humanity that is sick with sin and runs from love.
God is so kind, merciful and gracious that every raindrop that falls, and every breath that we take is from Him. It's his personal invitation to know God. If we persist in resisting God's judgment against us, the bad news that we are sinners, or in the rejection of his gospel, the good news that Jesus stood in our place, we will one day be forever separated from access to his gifts. This rhetorical question begs you to come to Jesus: if you fail to come to Jesus, what will become of you? This Peter leaves us to the imagination. Suffering is meant to bring us closer to the heart of God, and to the heart of his household.
This leads us to our final points. Will our suffering ever end?
All Suffering Will End (1 Peter 4:19)
Finally, Peter concludes his argument with an exhortation to secure trust in God. Peter writes,
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Effectively, Peter writes, “Keep going!” “Keep taking faithful steps toward the celestial city!” “Keep moving forward in Christ and toward Christ!”
The most beautiful display of God-centered trust is found in Jesus. After being unjustly tried, scourged, mocked, beaten, and hung on a cross, Jesus, suffering the full weight of the wrath of God for sin, approaching death, cried out with complete trust in God. Jesus was ready to die. To die for us. Luke 23 records,
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.”
Jesus, reciting and meditating on Psalm 22, heard all the accusations and Satanic curses that apply to us as sinners. He bore the searing physical pain of the cross, the loss of all his friends, and the very presence and blessing of God the Father was removed. At this moment Jesus says to God the Father: “I trust you.” Jesus, as the Son, calls out to God, the Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” While Peter was still weeping over his betrayal, Jesus was “…entrusting [his] soul to a faithful Creator.” While Peter was avoiding all kinds of suffering, and falling asleep in prayer, Jesus was suffering for sin, death, and in direct opposition to the devil. While Peter was falling into every toil and snare, Jesus walked headlong into the dragon's lair and defanged the beast. He put our enemies to open shame.
Friends, Jesus beat death by dying. He dignified suffering by suffering. He put death to death by death. Upon seeing the death of Christ, a cowering demon might say, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s[God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”[8]
Do you see the meaning of your suffering? A thousand Christians gather to be sent out to suffer for Christ because God is magnified by his story being retold in your life. "Entrusting yourself to a faithful Creator" means to expect that God will make death work backward, not our suffering. God created out of nothing, and he can recreate out of nothing! God will personally undo all our losses and make them gains. Even if people kill you, we're going to get back up again anyway.
So, Christian, remember Jesus. Jesus is a faithful and sympathetic high priest [Hebrews 4], which means that he can simultaneously experience, know, and intercede for all of our sufferings, and our failures, as one who has suffered. Friends, you and I falter in our suffering, but we know a faithful Creator, who will redeem it all.
Suffering Will End.
Brothers and sisters, Christians are called to suffer. And yet, there is great hope because our sufferings are already inhabited by the Lord Jesus through the Spirit. God will never leave us or forsake us because he forsook his own Son in our place. The cross is where God’s judgment began, and if you stand in the epicenter of that earthquake, you will never be turned away. There is no more wrath for sin for those who obey the gospel.
There is, therefore, no surprise in suffering. There is no shame in suffering for Christ. And, there is no ultimate danger in suffering as a Christian, if we suffer according to God's will. Jesus took the danger away. He taught us to say, "Father, I commit my spirit into your hands."
So then, we can entrust ourselves into the arms of our Father with the full knowledge that suffering will end.
And when it does, it will look like this:
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth [the Faithful Creator recreates!], for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Main Point
Main Point: Christians are rescued to suffer, they are rescued through suffering, and they will go beyond suffering because suffering forms and magnifies Christ in us. And, Christ always finishes his work.
Outline:
1 Peter 4:12-19: Christians are Saved to Suffer.
1. Present Suffering Increases Joy (1 Peter 4:12-13)
2. Shameless Suffering Magnifies God (1 Peter 4:14-16)
3. Household Suffering Reminds Us of Time (1 Peter 4:17-18).
4. Faithful Suffering Shows Us Christ (1 Peter 4:19)
5. All Suffering Will End.
Transition to Communion
We are going to transition to our time of celebrating communion.
Communion is a meal that we take to proclaim the death of Christ in faith. It's one of the places we learn to pray, "Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit." We acknowledge and repent of our sins. We acknowledge our sufferings and our weaknesses. And we acknowledge our need for God's rescuing strength through the Spirit to enliven us again. We admit that we need to be drawn nearer to God. We need deeper intimacy. We need more profound spiritual friendship and fellowship to endure our sufferings. Communion means that we are still on this road to glory. And, one day, we will sit at a feast together.
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we get the privilege of celebrating the good news of Christ by receiving communion together as the family of God. We receive the bread and cup from the living Christ himself who is the true host of this spiritual meal. He offers us himself and his saving sacrifice in the gospel which we receive by faith. Communion is a divinely appointed means of sanctifying and strengthening and nourishing grace. We are reminded of the blood of Christ shed for us and the body of Christ given for us. This is a time of worship, remembrance, and real spiritual fellowship with the living Christ and one another. As we eat and drink by faith in Christ and remember his finished work on the cross, our souls are spiritually nourished and strengthened in the gospel and its saving promises that we have believed and still believe today.
EXHORTATION:
This meal is for believers in Christ. If you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have trusted in the finished work of Christ in his death and resurrection to save you, this meal is for you.
This is an opportunity for us as believers to both reflect again on our need for Jesus and celebrate that by faith we have Jesus and the eternal life that he gives. This is a time for us to collectively remember and enjoy the forgiveness purchased for us because there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus our Lord!
If you haven’t received Christ as your Lord and Savior, then receive Christ today by faith. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Join the family of God through faith in Christ. His arms are open wide to needy sinners like you and me.
We’re going to sing this next song and would ask you to stand up and grab the elements of the bread and the cup during the next song (front or back), hold on to those elements (don’t partake yet), and I’ll lead us to eat and drink together after the song.
SONG
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Let’s take the bread together.
PRAY:
Paul goes on to say in verses 25-26, “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Let’s drink the cup together.
So, Church, let's take this glorious meal together and proclaim Christ to one another. During this next song, please come and grab the elements. Then, we will take them together.