1 Peter - 2022

And if you'd like to grab a Bible and turn with me to 1 Peter and chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4, I'm gonna be starting at verse 1, and then Tom's gonna come up. And preach to us. First 1 then.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, Arm yourselves also with the same attitudes, because whoever suffers in the body has finished with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do, living into Bauchery, lost, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in the reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober minds so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins, offer hospitality to 1 another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have perceive to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as 1 who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him, be the glory and the power forever and ever are men. 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. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 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. 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? So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good. Thanks, Rory. My name is Tom Suitman. I'm 1 of the pastors here and a very warm welcome to you this morning and to any still joining us online.

Just to say again what what we've already said in the notices, if you are here, it's great that we've got lots of internationals amongst us and English is not your first language, and you want to read the bible passage in a slightly simpler translation and to have the sermon point for you to follow, then there's a handout just on that welcome table there, as Rory said. So do feel free to go and grab 1 of those. Let's pray it again. Father, we thank you so much for these these wonderful words, and we thank you for this series that we've been going through together. We thank you, lord, that your your living truth prepares us for difficult times.

And we pray that as we think together now about about the Lord Jesus Christ and his sufferings. As we think about the sufferings to which your people are called, we pray that you would help us to understand just how important it is for us spiritually to to know and to understand and to trust in what is said here in your word. So speak to each 1 of us we pray this morning. Our men. Well, in UK, in UK waters.

They they reckon that cold water shock. Cold water shock is a is a big killer. About 60 percent of people who drown apparently drown, and they had no intention of ever going into the water. They've fallen in. They didn't plan to be in there.

And they think that these shock of falling into cold water is what is is is the is the deadly thing. It's hard to know for sure because the cause is nearly always is nearly always drowning. But apparently, when you fall into cold water, a number of things happen. So the blood vessels in your skin just start to close. Your heart rate spikes extremely quickly, your blood pressure spikes, your breathing accelerates and can become 10 times faster than normal in just a matter of seconds.

And all of that leads to the thing which really does cause people to drown, and that is that is panic. They panic when they fall in. And so this is why the RNNI and the coast guard and other organizations have lots of advice if this happens to you, If you end up falling into cold water and experiencing this shock, what do you need to know in order to survive? What do you need to do? And the first thing is quite counterintuitive.

The number 1 thing is, don't try and swim. Don't swim because the chance are what you think is swimming will just be thrashing around, and you'll lose all your energy, and you'll and you'll drown. So it seems strange, doesn't it? Don't swim. But they say, just float.

Just float there if you can until you calm down. Takes 60 to 90 seconds for you to begin to adjust, and then you can think, and then you can make a plan. Now, I know that for most of us, the closest that we're going to get to that kind of cold water shock is is going in the sea on our holidays. That's probably as close as we'll as we'll come to this. But the point is, if it does ever happen, the difference between life and death is gonna be this.

Do we know what we need to know in order to survive? Famously said, isn't it, that the unexpected blow lands the hardest? The unexpected blow lands the hardest because a lack of preparation and a lack of knowledge makes all the difference. To how we cope with very difficult, extraordinary circumstances. And all of that brings us here no matter how prepared you are, falling into cold water or suffering for the name of Christ will never be pleasant.

It's never gonna be a nice experience, but the life or death issue is gonna be this. Do you know what you need to know in order to survive? That's what Peter is doing here in these verses, he wants us to be prepared so that when we are plunged into suffering, so that when we suffer for the name of Christ. We will know not just what to do, but how to survive, and not just how to survive, but even how to rejoice when suffering comes upon And so 3 ways this morning, from this passage in which Peter wants to prepare us for the times when we might be plunged into suffering, for the name of Christ. The first is this, the Lord promises to use suffering, don't be surprised.

The Lord promises to promises suffering, rather, don't be surprised. And you can see he says that in verse 12. Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you. Dear friends do not be surprised at the fire window. That has come on you.

In other words, this fiery trial is already here. It is upon you. But in other translations like the ESV, it says, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes on you. So this is something that is already on them, and it is something that is coming. It's a bit like those hours before a storm, you know, when you can just feel a storm coming outside.

The temperature begins to drop. The pressure begins to drop. You can feel a kind of electric charge in the atmosphere, and there's a sense in which in those moments the storm has both already arrived and not yet come. It's already upon you. You can feel it and yet it's not here in its fullness.

It seems like that type of thing is going on here. We saw that in verse 4, didn't we? That because we no longer live in sin, those neighbors who we used to join in with, well, they heap abuse on us now. They do that now because we won't join in anymore with that reckless wild living. The storm has arrived now, and yet on the horizon, there seems to be more when it comes upon you.

Maybe he's talking here about, you know, a full on state persecution. Persecution organized by the government to single out and destroy Christians, very much like what they would experience under under emperor, under under Nero. The storm is here. You feel it now and it's coming. And if you look at verse 4 again that we that we had read, the word surprised, which is used of those neighbors, is the same as the word Peter uses in verse 12.

And so he says, look, when those old neighbors when you don't join in anymore with that old way of life, they are shocked by that. They're surprised. It's a spook to them. They look at you, and you're not doing what you used to do, and you're not joining in with them, and they are surprised by that. And Peter takes that same word And he says, are you Christians when it comes to suffering?

Don't you be like that? Don't you be shocked, don't you be spooked, Don't you be surprised? And so this is where the cold water illustration doesn't doesn't work in every way, Because that situation is only an if. If it happens, here's what you need to know. But suffering for Jesus is both a will and a when.

It's not an if it's a will and a when. To Timothy 3, Paul says all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In John 15, Jesus said to the disciples, if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. So that is the first bit of preparation that Peter gives us. If Jesus Christ was insulted for saving the world, then the people like us who take his name should not be surprised when it happens to us.

That's the first thing. The Lord promises suffering, don't be surprised. Secondly, the Lord uses suffering, trust in his will. The Lord uses suffering, trust in his will. And that's in verse 12 and then in verse 19 at the end.

Verse 12, dear friends do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as those something strange were happening to you. And then at the end, so then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator. First 12, it has come on you to test you. How do you feel about that? It has come on you to test you.

You may remember in lockdown. I can't remember which 1 it was, but there was there was an idea that students in England and Wales should have their a levels graded by by a computer. Do you remember that that plan? And and the idea was that instead of using the teachers predicted grades and what they had already got throughout the year and then kind of predicted a grade from that. They decided that it would be better to use a computer algorithm in order to work out work out the grades, and I think it was 1 of the quickest u turns ever.

You know, they they realized very quickly that that was not going to be very popular. With quite a lot of people. And, you know, for good reason, I mean, in those extraordinary circumstances, surely, it is the case that a teacher who knows the kids and hopefully cares about the kids and has been exposed to their work all year long, is in the best position to to predict a grade for them, rather than rather than an algorithm. Well, look, how many people are there in the church of Jesus Christ all over the world, there are millions. And if God is just a computer testing and grading them all with an algorithm then we're not going to feel great about being tested in verse 12, are we?

If that's what we think he is, an impersonal algorithm testing us, We aren't gonna feel great, but of course nowhere does Peter say that. He says that God is the personal father of our lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope. He says that we have a sovereign, personal, intimate, loving God who is behind everything, even the test that he sends, and that makes the difference, doesn't it? You see, 1 way of viewing this is to say, the Lord has sent them upon you to test you, and to say, well, that doesn't fit with my view of God. The God that I have would never do something like that, he'd never test us in that way, But you see faith reads it differently.

Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you. Faith says at least Well, I'm glad someone knows why it's happening. At least I know now that when I get insulted for Christ, At least I know it's not meaningless. At least I know that someone my sovereign God is in control. At least I know that this loving intimate 1 behind everything is in my corner, at least I know that.

You see faith reads it that way around. But still, in what way does suffering test us, in what sense? You might remember, this is I don't know how long ago now, but when we were in chapter 1, and Peter says that the various trials we face purify our faith. Do you remember that? He uses the illustration of gold in a furnace.

You know, gold goes through the furnace. As part of a refining process. So when you expose it to great heat, the impurities come out, you can skim off the impurities and you are left with a purer more more wonderful thing. Suffering is like that. It can remove our impurities, weaness off the world, and and refine our faith in Christ.

But there's something else that sufferings do, and I think it's what Peter is focusing on here in in this part of the the letter. I'm sure most of us at some time will have will have seen this. If you put the next slide up, please, will have seen a piece of this. This is this is Iron Paira. A lump of iron pyrite.

But it's common you know what it's common nickname is? False Gold. Yeah. It's Falls Gold. And, you know, when you're when you're a kid and you get hold of this in a shop, so exciting, isn't it?

Because you think you might be able to trick someone, you know, from a distance. Look at this piece of gold. But then when you grow up, you realize that just with a few simple tests and just by looking at it, you can work out whether it's the real thing or not. And yet, it doesn't get that nickname for nothing. Right?

It's not called that for nothing. There is a sense when you look at it from far away that it can look like the real thing. It can shine like and sparkle like an appeal like gold. But when you get up close and when you test it, you see the difference. And suffering for Christ is going to be a bit like that.

It will show the difference. It's 1 of the tests that will show the difference between fool's gold and real gold. 1 writer says those whose Christianity is not real vanish from the ranks at the approach of danger. Those whose Christianity is not real vanish from the ranks, not in normal times, but at the approach of danger. It's 1 of the things that finds out whether it's real or whether it's not.

And I think that's how verse 7 15 fits in. You can knock off the fool's gold now. Thanks. Verse 17 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 in the old testament, when you read the prophets, that was the pattern that God would judge and that his judgment would begin with his own household, with his own people, and then it would go out to the world. Now, if you were here last week You remember that we were we were seeing that when Jesus Christ died upon a cross, he said it is finished. He was finished with suffering for our sin because in that moment, he had satisfied the wrath of God that was due to come to us for our sin. He paid the price in full, that suffering is finished, and we know that for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is now no condemnation to fear. And so this judgment in verse 17, and this is key to get This judgment is not a punishment upon the church.

It's not God punishing the church because Christ has borne our punishment, He's taken it. We are his bride. It's been finished. So then what is this judgment on the House of God? Well, I think it seems to be the same thing as verse 12.

In other words, the fiery trials of verse 12 and the judgment on God's house in verse 17 are the same thing. So when you think judgment, think less punishment here, and more like Suffering for Jesus is both a judgment and a test, a trial and a judgment. In that, it will show what is real and what is not. That's how he's using the word here. We've said this before, I think, that COVID, although it's not It's not suffering for Jesus in in this same way.

Has had that effect, hasn't it? It's helped churches to see and to ask the question, what what are we built on? What were we built on? Were we ready for tough times? Did we understand what God says about suffering in his word?

And in that way, it was like a test and a judgment, not in a punishing sense, but in the sense that it shows up, where is the root? Where is the foundation? What is real? What is not? What are we trusting in?

That's 1 way that God uses suffering in the church, both to refine and to show what is real. And so Christians here can rejoice. Because what that means is that when we are in salt for the name of Christ, and we turn to him and trust in him and commit ourselves to him in difficult times it is 1 of the proofs of saving faith. It's 1 of the signs that the reality is there with us, that we're not gonna walk from the lord we're gonna commit ourselves to him as Jesus did in his suffering. But of course, in verse 17, he says that believers, unbelievers don't have that same confidence.

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? Now, he's not saying there that if you're a Christian, it's really hard for God to save you. Here's a really hard thing for him to do and the only reason you've been saved is just by the skin of your teeth. You only just made it.

It's hard for the righteous to be saved. What he's saying here is that the road to glory is full of trials, and therefore, it is hard for the righteous to be saved because they walk a suffering path. But if The loving God cleanses his church this way. Well, what is gonna happen to those who refuse to obey the gospel of Christ. What is gonna happen to those who cause the suffering, who give out the insults, Peter says their judgment will be severe.

And so the Lord promises suffering. We aren't to be surprised. The Lord uses suffering both to refine and to find out. And so we must trust in his will. Thirdly, and lastly, the lord is with you in suffering.

Rejoice in Him. Have a look at verse 13, but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. And that is a breathtaking sentence. It's a breathtaking sentence.

The spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you think back to those years in the wilderness, when God's people were in the desert and when they had the tabernacle and when later they built the temple. In all of those places, there was this glorious bright cloud. It's like a visible brightness, and that was to show that God was present with his people. It's sometimes called the shekinah.

Glory cloud, like a visible, glorious sign that God is present with his people. And here Peter is saying, you Christians When you suffer for the name of Jesus, that same brightness which rested on Christ and upon the temple rests on you. Think about that as school. And at work, and in the places where we're at, where often it feels like to be named as a Christian is a mark of shame. But Peter says, you praise God that you bear that name.

That is the name of the king of kings and the lord of lords, and his spirit of glory rests upon you in a special sense as you suffer for him on the road to glory. Praise God that you bear that name. And therefore, with all of this he says, I'm telling you this, not just so that you might survive, but so that you can rejoice. Now, as I said at the beginning, we do remember that falling into cold water and actually being insulted for Christ is never going to feel pleasant. But we've got to see that rejoicing here is is so much more than just an emotion This kind of rejoicing is more like a state of mind, which flows from the from the truth.

It's a mind that is settled by the truth. If we separate emotion from understanding this will sound very weird to us, but it's just not the bible way. You have a look at something like Acts 5 41, And this is, you know, Peter Peter was part of this. The apostles had just been flogged, they'd just been persecuted, They'd been thrown out, and it says the apostles left the Sanhedron rejoicing, but it never leaves it there, is it? It doesn't just leave it in the emotion.

They left the San Agent rejoicing. It fills it with content and truth to show you why that was possible. Regising because they've been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name. And verse 14 here, if you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed. Why?

Doesn't leave it there. For the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. So important to get that. When Peter says, but rejoice, He doesn't mean magic up an emotion that just does not fit with the reality of what you're going through. He says, let the truth inform your suffering.

Prepare with the truth. No passages like this, preach it to yourself. Think less emotion and more like a kind of shalom a wholeness, a peace that you can have even in the face of trials. Now we're gonna come to that in just a moment. We're gonna come to that in just a moment as part of our applications, but I just want you to see that there as the third way in which Peter prepares us.

The Lord promises suffering, don't be surprised. The Lord uses suffering trust in his will the Lord is with you in suffering, rejoice in His name. Those are the 3 things he says. And so by way of application, there are 3 there are 3 things that we can say from this passage kind of geared towards 3 different groups of people, I think, and they may overlap a bit. The first is this, what to do if you are surprised by all of this.

What to do if you are surprised by all of this? And I suppose that that is exactly how some of these Christians may have felt. Maybe when their suffering came upon them, they were beginning to feel disillusioned. Maybe they had thought that to believe in Christ and to be born again was to be entering a life of prosperity and maybe some of them, maybe even felt betrayed by this gospel. But Peter says to them, no, This is not unusual.

Don't be surprised to follow Jesus is to take up that cross. And some of us will need that reminder. It's if I was to say to you, that believing in Jesus is going to mean health, wealth, and riches from here to glory. I think all of would say, I hope all of you would say, stand up, that's wrong. You know, we're leave I'm leaving.

Most of us know instinctively that is wrong. And yet it is easy to believe under the surface that the sign of God's blessing upon our lives is exactly that. You think about how we just use the word blessing sometimes in our in our prayers and in our language. Thank you lord that you've blessed me with a new job. Thank you lord that you've blessed me with a brand new car, with a bigger house, or whatever it is.

And of course, you know, should we be grateful for things like that, a hundred percent? Do we want to be policing each other's prayers? Definitely not. But you see the thing, if if if the word blessing is only ever used about material gain. If that's the only way we use the word blessing, what does that say?

Now, I'm not suggesting that we say, Lord, my, you know, my neighbors despise me. I thank you for this blessing because there is just something slightly strange in our culture about using language like that. But you see you see the point that the way that we use, even the word like blessing, can show up what we're expecting from God and what we're expecting from life. In this letter, you cannot get around it. Peter expects that suffering for Jesus will be part of life.

If we do it well, it's a blessing. But if we don't expect it, we won't prepare for it. And if we don't prepare for it, we won't survive And so while you're prepared, are you surprised? Secondly, what to do if you're going through this? What to do if you're surprised by this?

Secondly, what to do if you're going through this? And I think none of this is to say that we can't ask questions. About suffering for Jesus. We're we are bound to have them when we go through this. If God is sovereign, why does it have to be this this way, you know, or some of you I know, you know, my my kids are my kids have only just got into primary school.

And there's already a chance that they might be sidelined for the family faith. Across the world, Land can be taken, and churches can be destroyed, and families can be broken up, and lives can be ended for this name. Anybody who takes the bible seriously and lives with their eyes open is going to ask question like that. But the thing is, we mustn't leave it there. We mustn't just ask the question.

We must then say, okay, what have I learned in 1 Peter that can help me? What have I learned in church which can inform me and aid me as I go through this. Well, loads of things, really. I've learned that God is sovereign from start to finish. I've learned that God loves me and is merciful to me.

I've learned that when I'm insulted for the name of Jesus, there's a sense in which his glory cloud rests upon me. I've learned that I'm finished with my sin. I've learned that my savior walks with me and there's a sense in which he's participating in my sufferings. I've learned that suffering could purify me, and I've learned that my faith refined by fire more precious than gold is 1 day gonna result in praise glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. And when he is, I'll be so glad that I didn't give up on him.

I'll be so glad that I walked with him and I committed myself to him. I'll be overjoyed In other words, when we go through the mill for Jesus, asking the questions is fine, but we mustn't leave it there. We must get familiar with the word of God so that we can stand and so that we can grow and so that we can rejoice in Christ even in our difficulties. And look, if you are going through that and it just feels, you know, impossible, that's what the church is for The church is so that you can come to other brothers and sisters and say, I'm going through this. Can you pray that I'd appreciate these realities more.

That's not just a theoretical suggestion, but someday someone might like to do that. That's real counsel from the word of God. If you're going through this, seek out the people of God to help you pray. Don't stay with the question. Work towards an answer.

So that you can stand and so that you can rejoice. Third application, last 1. What to do, If you want to take this seriously, but struggle to see it in your own life, and don't really know what to do. And The reason I put that 1 in is because whenever I have to preach on suffering for Jesus, that's mostly how I feel. Apart from the odd bit of tension sometimes in some of my relationships, and the odd strange look when you mentioned Jesus or the church or perhaps an occasional what can only be described as minor inconvenience for following Christ.

I I'm pretty sheltered. I can't remember I was thinking about this week, I can't remember the last time I was insulted for the name of Christ. I know there are different ways of thinking about what that would mean, but on a flat level, I can't remember the last time when I was insulted for the name of Christ. And if you feel like that as well, I don't think the application is right. You you go and find yourself some suffering.

Okay? You go and suffer. Because if I do that, I'm going to end up suffering for the wrong reasons. Verse 15, if you suffer It should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler. Amazing that he puts murderer and meddler in the same sentence, isn't it?

There is no joy in being punished for something that you deserve. And so if I start acting like a busy body, and trying to challenge my neighbors all the time in every area of my life, in their lives. Or if I stand up for the right things in a pompous way, and they tell me to sling my hook. I haven't been insulted for the name of Jesus. I've been insulted because I'm a pain in the neck.

Yeah? That's not righteous suffering. And so the application here is not go find some. Because if you make yourself unpopular for the wrong reasons, don't expect a blessing. But with that said, How do how do we think about why this doesn't happen to me, to others as much as it might?

I think there's only really 2 options. Either I'm very bold with the claims of Christ and always looking and taking opportunities. It's just that my neighbors are very tolerant and very good natured and they really don't mind me going on about it, or I'm not taking the claims of Jesus on my life. As seriously as I could. You know, we what is a we've seen in this let what is a crypt what is the church?

We are a group of people who own the name of Christ. We are a people who have been born again we have been transferred from darkness to light from the kingdom of satan to the kingdom of a God who makes claims on every area of our lives and therefore our very existence is an affront to the world. The surprising thing should not be that we suffer for the name but that we don't. And so I find that to be a challenge. But then what do I do?

What should I do? And what should you do if you're like me? Well, not go and find some suffering. I think the application almost for everyone is the same. Verse 19, those who suffer according to God's will, should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.

Okay? Well, that's what I need that's what I need to do. That's what I need to do. I don't need to go and search for suffering. I need to feel the challenge of this passage I need to repent of my lukewarmness where I need to.

I need to prepare myself and I need to commit myself to God and I need to, by his help, keep doing good, and leave the rest to the lord. So what to do if you're surprised by this? What to do if you're going through this, and what to do if you want to take this seriously, but struggle to see it in your own life and don't really know what to do. Let's pray that God would help us whoever we are to learn these lessons. Just a minute or 2.

Which category might you be in? Of those 3 and take this opportunity to commit yourselves to the lord. And to ask for his help to keep doing good. Father, we know that to bear the name of Jesus Christ is a great privilege and we can be overjoyed that we have that name written across our lives. And yet we see here that suffering for the name is not an if, but it is a when and it is a will.

And we pray that you would help us when suffering comes. If we're going through it now, not just to ask questions about it, but to really try to plumb the depths of your word so that we can understand more of what you do for us in suffering, more of what your purpose is, we can understand an intimacy and a fellowship with you in our suffering, and we can be overjoyed that 1 day you will be revealed, and that we will see you. Help us lord whichever of those categories we fall into or if it's another 1 entirely, to commit ourselves to you, our faithful creator, and to continue to do good. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Oh, man.