The Suffering Saints

Peter’s Audience:

had endured trials

knew someone who had endured great trials

I Peter 4:12: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:”

The enemy of our contentment in troubled times is our comparison of peaceful times.

CS Lewis: “Pain would be no probe unless side by side with our daily experience of this painful world, we had received what we think of good assurance that ultimate reality is righteous and loving.”

Here, Peter exalts pain as a way in which we may manifest the glory of Christ.

I Peter 4:13: “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

partakers- koinoneo- Philippians 3:10: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”

share his glory

Acts 14:22: “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

II Corinthians 4:17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

a timely reminder

ultimate trials

timeless truths and trades

I Peter 4:19: “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

The Proper Spirit of the Christian

Humility:

of the shepherds

to submit to the sheep

to submit to the Word of God

of the younger to the elder

of God’s people to each other

to be clothed with- engkombo-omai- to engirdle oneself; for labor; an apron; a badge of servitude

under the hand of God

WHAT CAN’T GOD’ S HAND DO?

“GRACE AND PRIDE ARE ETERNAL ENEMIES. PRIDE DEMANDS THAT GOD BLESS ME IN LIGHT OF WHAT I THNK I DESERVE. GRACE DEALS WITH ME ON THE BASIS OF WHAT IS IN GOD, NOT ON THE BASIS OF ANYTHING IN ME.

The Proper Effort of the Christian

Did you ever think that the most arrogant and prideful thing that you can do is to carry your own worries and to care for the things He promised to provide?

Matthew 6:31-34: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

To cast with both hands:

the hand of prayer- to tell God what your burden is

the hand of faith- to trust God’s power to do it

ILL. Spurgeon- furniture mover with a load on his back

Two Problems with Burdens:

you are weighted down with your own problems

Hebrews 12:1-2: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Matthew 11:28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

you cannot help anyone else with their load

Galatians 6:1-2: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

ILL. UNFORGIVEN SIN

The Proper Enemy of the Christian

Satan walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

The word here is peripeteo and formed the basis of the idea of peripatetic teaching. It was the idea of a teacher who would walk from town-to-town teaching or one who would teach as he walked. Aristotle may say to his followers, “Hey, let’s take a walk!”

This was the pattern of Jesus.

Matthew 4:18: “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.”

Matthew 14:25: “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.”

Who are you talking with?

I Peter 5:9: “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

We RESIST but SUBMITTING to God.