Preached Sunday, September 15, 2013 from 1 Peter 4:14-19
Theme: We’re to look at our times of suffering for Christ, not a matter of ‘sacrificing’ ourselves, but rather of ‘entrusting’ ourselves to His keeping.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
I began our study of 1 Peter a few months ago by telling you why had I felt led to it. I said that I felt that we are living in times when the cultural environment around us is changing dramatically and rather quickly; and that we who are followers of Jesus are going to be increasingly called upon to take a stand for Him in ways that we haven’t been called upon to do before. 1 Peter is a New Testament letter that teaches us how to that stand faithfully in difficult times. And since we began this study, I don’t think a week has gone by that I haven’t felt my convictions about the times further confirmed.
Just the other day—as several of us were preparing for our Wednesday evening study—we were asked to pray for the relative of someone in our church family. He is a believer who was also a leader in a very familiar community organization. But as the values of our culture have changed in recent months, the values of that organization have also changed—and have come to be diametrically opposed to this leader’s Christian faith. After having spoken out about it, he soon felt the pressure to either compromise his faith or resign his long-held position. And so, a little over a week ago—with a broken heart—he resigned his position. He was deeply discouraged; and we were asked to lift him up in prayer. And this came on the heels of some other such cases in the news just the week before.
None of this, of course, is really new. Our brothers and sisters in Christ in far-away places of the world have been suffering for their faith for a long time—and often in far worse ways than we’re being called upon to suffer here. But it’s definitely new to us in our culture—and it seems to be increasing in cultures around the world that were formerly called “Christian”. It used to be that we could take it for granted that our religious liberties and freedoms of conscience would be respected and protected. But things are changing fast; and we can’t take such things for granted any longer.
I say that, dear brothers and sisters, to say that we are living in serious times; and we need what this New Testament letter is teaching us. I suspect that we who sincerely seek to follow Jesus Christ are going to need it even more in the months to come.
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But I hope we won’t allow ourself to become fearful because of all that. Yes; it’s a time to be serious about our faith, and to be brave in our commitment to our Lord. But it’s also a time to be joyful and expectant. These are exciting times in which to be a follower of Jesus; and it could be that the Lord will allow us to see great advances for the gospel!
As we saw in last week’s study, one of the most important things we can do to serve our Lord in these trying times is to make sure that we have the right attitude while in them. In 1 Peter 4:12-13, Peter wrote;
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy (vv. 12-13).
In those words, we’re called upon to rejoice when we suffer for our faith in Jesus Christ. We’re told to rejoice during our brief trials now; so that we will rejoice even more on the glorious day when Jesus returns. And just as Peter taught us about our attitude in those two verses, he goes on to teach more about our attitude in the verses that follow:
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (vv. 14-19).
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It seems to me that the theme that runs through verses 14-19 is ‘entrustment’. In those times when we are called upon to suffer for our Lord Jesus in some way, we tend to think of it as a matter of making some kind of ‘sacrifice’ for Him. It’s as if we’re ‘giving up’ something and counting it as forever lost to us. But it seems to me that the apostle Peter is calling us to think of it, not so much as a sacrifice, but rather as an entrustment—as if we’re handing our very selves over to the Lord Jesus in faith, and trusting Him to hold if for us in His safe keeping until the future day of glory at Jesus’ return.
If you think about it, that’s something that the Lord Jesus Himself has already taught us. He once told His disciples;
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).
Our life, our treasure, and our joy aren’t forever ‘lost’ in suffering for Jesus. He Himself preserves those things for us, and holds them in His own safe-keeping when we entrust them to Him. The apostle Paul took this promise from the Lord Jesus very seriously. As he sat in a prison cell—just before he laid down his own life for Jesus—he wrote these words to his dearly beloved fellow-worker Timothy;
For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day (2 Timothy 1:12).
And that’s what I believe the apostle Peter—writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—is saying to us in this morning’s passage. He’s seeking to teach us to look at those times of sufferings for Christ, not a matter of ‘sacrificing’ ourselves; but rather as a matter of ‘entrusting’ ourselves to the Lord Jesus’ safe-keeping.
He is able to keep what we commit to Him until that Day.
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Look at this morning’s passage with me; and see that we can entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus . . .
1. KNOWING THAT WE’RE BLESSED IN SUFFERING REPROACH FOR HIM (v. 14).
In verse 14, Peter writes, “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” And in the translation of the Bible I’m using, that verse goes on to say, “On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”
Consider what Peter is saying. There are times when we suffer reproach for the fact that we are associated with Jesus Christ and—as it were—bear His name as “Christians”. Just as the unbelieving world hated Him, it also hates those who are associated with Him. We get called names just as He was. We are spoken against as evil-doers just as they spoke against Him. We are treated unjustly just as they did to Him. And it certainly doesn’t feel very ‘blessed’ when it happens.
But Peter actually says that—apart from whatever we may feel about it—we are blessed when we faithfully suffer for Jesus! The word “blessed” basically means “happy”. What a happy situation is yours when you suffer for Jesus Christ in this fallen world! You should jump for joy! Your reward is truly great! You are rich in heavenly blessings! Our Lord Jesus used this same word in the Beatitudes when He said;
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).
Do you realize, dear brothers and sisters, that if we are spoken against or mistreated on this earth because of the fact that we belong to Jesus and faithfully speak a word for Him—whatever else it may be that we lose of this earth in the process—we will have gained a rich eternal reward that will never be lost to us? I’ve learned to think of suffering for Christ in the light of that. I don’t know what those rich heavenly treasures involve; but I want them! And now, whenever someone insults me for my faith, I’m almost tempted to say, “Oh; thank you! Thank you very much! You have just made me rich beyond imagination!”
As He spoke of those times in which we are insulted for righteousness sake, do you notice how Jesus said that we’re in good company with the prophets of old? I wonder if it’s not because the Holy Spirit comes upon us at such times and uses us as His instruments to communicate truth in this world. Jesus once said;
“You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:18-20).
That’s a promise from Jesus that we can trust! Many of our suffering brothers and sisters have testified that it is so! What an honor it is to be God’s Spirit-empowered ambassadors in times of suffering! Even Jesus Himself puts His hand on us and empowers us at such times! He taught us elsewhere that those times of trial will come;
‘But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist” (Luke 21:13-15).
“If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you,” Peter said; “for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” We should entrust ourselves to Him gladly; knowing that we are truly blessed in suffering reproach for Him!
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Another way we can entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus at such times is by . . .
2. GLORIFYING GOD THAT WE ARE IDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO HIM (vv. 15-16).
Now; Peter begins by offering a warning that we really need to pay attention to. He says that times of suffering may come;”But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters” (v. 15).
If you look that list over, you see that it goes from what we typically think of as the most serious of crimes to crimes that we typically don’t consider so serious. You and I might be tempted to look that list over and think, “Well; I’m certainly no murderer. And I’m no thief. And as far as being an ‘evildoer’; I’m certainly not as bad as some other folks I can name.” But then we read about being “a busybody in other people’s matters”; and we realize that we’re all guilty. The fact is, we have ‘murdered’ others with our words; and we have taken what didn’t belong to us; and we have often been evildoers; and, of course, we have meddled in the affairs of others.
Peter is saying that, if we “suffer”, we’re to make sure it isn’t for one of those reasons. If we suffer for such things, there’s no credit in it for us. We get what we deserve. We go a long way in our testimony for our Lord in this fallen world by making sure that, whenever we’re spoken of as evil, it’s not because we truly have behaved in an evil way!
But Peter then goes on to say, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” And here, we have one of the only three times in the whole New Testament that the word “Christian” appears. The first time is in Acts 11:26; where we’re told, “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” By whom? Not by the believers themselves. That was what the surrounding culture called them—”little Christ-like ones”. The second time it appears is when the apostle Paul—bound in chains—gave his testimony to King Agrippa. He was doing exactly what Jesus promised—giving his testimony before kings and governors. After he spoke, Paul asked the king, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:27-28).
Can you see? The word “Christian” wasn’t a compliment. It was a put-down—a term of derision. But Peter said that if anyone suffers “as a Christian”, he shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Rather, he should glorify God in it. The apostle Paul—again in chains and in a prison—wrote to Timothy and said;
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel . . .” (2 Timothy 1:8-10).
It’s a ‘holy calling’ to suffer shame for the testimony of our Lord! It’s a high honor! We should glorify God whenever we are given the great privilege of being identified with the King of kings—even if it means shame, for a brief time, in the eyes of this fallen world! Rest assured—there will be no shame at all in bearing that name when He returns in glory!
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Now; another way we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus when suffering for the sake of His name is by . . .
3. RECOGNIZING THAT JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH THOSE WHO ARE HIS (vv. 17-18).
You see; ever since the Lord Jesus came and walked on this earth, and died on the cross, and rose from the dead, and ascended again to the Father, we are living in the closing period of God’s redemptive history. Nothing remains except for the Lord Jesus to return as the Judge of all mankind. Those who reject our Lord and rebel against Him will be judged on that day. But surprisingly, God allows what we might call ‘a prelude’ to that great judgment to fall upon His own people.
Peter writes; “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God . . .” (v. 17). And we should understand this rightly. This is not a judgment for sin. That judgment has already been administered on our behalf upon our Lord on the cross. When you and I suffer this ‘prelude’ to God’s judgment as believers, it’s not for punishment. Rather, it’s for our discipline and refinement—to rid us of the remnants of the sinfulness of the old life and make us more like Jesus. As Peter wrote at the beginning of this letter, it’s
. . . that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7).
But we who belong to Jesus do, in that sense, suffer the beginnings of the judgment that God will administer to the ungodly. We suffer it often at the hands of those that God will judge much more severely later! As Peter goes on to say—even quoting from Proverbs 11:31;
and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
God our Father lovingly disciplines His children—certainly because He loves them and wants to correct them—but also as a clear warning to the unbelieving world that He does indeed judge sin! When Peter speaks of those “who do not obey”, he uses a form of the word that means that they ‘do not obey as a continual habit’. Perhaps some will see that God does indeed judge sin and will repent. But for those who will not, judgment is declared to be certain!
I doubt you could find a better commentary on this verse than what the apostle Paul once wrote to the Thessalonian believers. They too were suffering persecution; and he told them,
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed (2 Thessalonians 1:3-10).
So; yet another way we can entrust ourselves to the Lord in a time of suffering is by remembering that judgment begins with those who are His! We can embrace those times of suffering for Him as evidence that we truly belong to Him . . . and that future judgment is certain.
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And Peter mentions one more way we can entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus—perhaps in what we could say is a summarization of the others . . .
4. HANDING OUR SOULS OVER TO HIM BY BEHAVING LIKE HIM (v. 19).
Peter says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator” (v. 19). Our Father in heaven is our Creator. He made us for Himself and has the rights over us. But because He is a ‘faithful’ Creator, we don’t ever have to fear what it may be that He calls us to do. He loves us; and He will not fail to vindicate us in the end. So; as Peter says, we can fully commit our souls to Him in “doing good”.
And what does that “good-doing” look like? If you were to look back to 1 Peter 2:21-23, you’d find God has already set before us the perfect example of how we are to do good in our sufferings for Christ;
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously . . . (1 Peter 2:21-23).
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So; suffering for Jesus is not really a matter of ‘sacrifice’. It’s not a matter of giving up something that is forever lost to us. Those who give their lives for Jesus—whether in the everyday kind of ways, or in the ultimate way of death—do not lose their lives at all. They will have simply entrusted their lives to Jesus for safe-keeping. They will gain it back forever. As Paul said in Colossians 3:3-4, if “your life is hidden with Christ in God”, when Christ appears, “then you also will appear with Him in glory”. Oh how much we need to remember that in these trying days—and keep the right attitude in our times of suffering!
I can’t end without sharing with you one more thing that the Lord Jesus Himself said about this whole matter of ‘entrustment’ in our suffering. In the Book of Revelation, He commanded that these words be written and sent to the church in the ancient Asian city of Smyrna. It was a church that was suffering terrible persecution for Him at the hands of the unbelieving Jewish community. And He told them, in words that I believe are also meant to be an encouragement to His suffering followers today;
“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:9-10).