Suffer Joyfully in Accordance with God's Will

Introduction

Scripture Introduction

Tonight, we will continue our study in 1 Peter and be in chapter 4, verses 12-19.

To rejoice when we suffer is completely contrary to our self-protective instincts as human beings.

We do not like life to be difficult and hard but only seek to make it as comfortable and easy as possible.

Yet, God constantly tells us that we are to rejoice always, especially when we suffer.

If you have ever struggled and wondered how we can rejoice in our suffering, then this passage tonight is for you, for Peter sought to answer this same struggle and question his readers had as they faced persecution and suffering for Jesus.

So, let us read 1 Peter 4:12-19 to discover the secret of how we can have joy even as we suffer for Jesus...

1 Peter 4:12-19 “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. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 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? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Let’s pray

Sermon Introduction

We cannot go through suffering without wondering what God is doing and without at least being tempted to doubt his wisdom, goodness, and love.

However, it may surprise you to know that our greatest trials of suffering can actually bring about our greatest pleasures and joy.

It really just depends on how we respond to suffering and persecution.

If you think about it, when did you grow the most in your faith? When did you experience the rarest satisfaction and joy in the Lord?

Was it when you experience the greatest earthly comforts or when you went through immense suffering?

I would assume that for most of you, it would be the latter.

As Charles Spurgeon once said, “They who dive into the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.”

But we must understand that Joy is not an immediate feeling of happiness and pleasure, but rather an extended state of well-being.

It is less of an emotion and more of an attitude and mindset.

To rejoice in suffering does not mean we are constantly smiling from ear to ear, but rather we have a settled mindset of the blessings we will experience through suffering.

We have a fixed hope on the glory that awaits us when Christ returns.

But how can we have this attitude when we are ridiculed, mocked, and laughed at for our faith in Christ?

How can we have this joy when we suffer?

Tonight, Peter gives us three reasons why we can rejoice when we suffer according to God will…because we are blessed, we will glorify God, and we can trust God to be faithful to care for our lives.

1. We Can Suffer Joyfully in Accordance with God’s Will Because Are Blessed (vs 12-14)

We Are Beloved By God (vs 12)

We can rejoice in our suffering because we are deeply loved by God.

We are God’s chosen people and he freely chose to set his affection on us from all eternity.

There is no greater blessing to know that in Christ, we are treasured, prized, and greatly valued by the God of the universe, and he showed his love by sending his one and only son to die in our place on the cross!

Even in our suffering, we are blessed because we are God’s beloved children.

This should cause us to rejoice!

Our Faith Will Be Purified (vs 12)

Our suffering is not purposeless, but rather it is according to God’s will.

We should not be surprised when we experience persecution and suffering or think that God has somehow “lost the reigns” because our suffering is according to God’s will and has a purpose.

Suffering is not a sign of God’s absence but rather a sign of his presence.

One of the purposes of our suffering that Peter mentions is that our faith will be tested and purified.

The fiery ordeal he talks about in verse 12 points back to 1 Peter 1:6-7 that Audrey read earlier.

Just as gold is purified and refined through fire, our faith will be purified and made perfect through persecution and suffering so that we can better glorify God with our lives.

Even in our suffering, we are blessed because our faith is being perfected.

This should cause us to rejoice!

Our Joy Will Be Inexpressible (vs 13)

Through sharing in Christ’s suffering.

In facing persecution and suffering for proclaiming and living out the gospel, Peter says that we share in the sufferings of Christ.

Once more, this should not cause us to be surprised but rather to rejoice that we have been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

Sharing in Christ’s sufferings refers to what Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that he might know Christ in the fellowship of his sufferings.

Through suffering with Christ, we grow in a greater experience of what Christ did for us. Through suffering with Christ, we die to ourselves and become more like him.

As Jesus was perfected and learned obedience through suffering, we too will become mature and complete and grow in obedience as we willingly embrace persecution and suffering for Jesus.

Through experiencing his glory when he returns.

Yet, the reason we should rejoice when we suffer for and with Christ is that just as Christ’s suffering led to glory, our suffering will lead to glory.

We can have joy in our suffering because we know that our suffering is only temporary and we will experience the full glory of God when Christ returns!

This joy we will have when Christ returns will be overflowing and inexpressible.

Having this hope of overflowing Joy in the future will give us grace to even have joy now as we suffer for and with Jesus.

“For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory!” (2 Cor. 4:16-17)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us!” (Rom. 8:17).

Even in our suffering we are blessed because we can have joy now Knowing our joy will be inexpressible when Christ returns.

Our Lives Will Be Filled With the Spirit (vs 14)

The last way we are blessed in suffering is that when we are insulted for Jesus’ name, the Holy Spirit rests and resides on us.

This reference points back to Isaiah 11:2 which says the Spirit of Lord will rest on the Messiah.

The Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation and the down payment from God that we will fully experience his glory.

In other words, Peter is saying that when believers are asked by God to endure unjust suffering humbly for Christ’s sake, the glory that has yet to be revealed in its full and final expression at the end of history has already entered into their experience in advance of that day.

Therefore, we can rejoice in suffering because we have been given the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of the future glory we will enjoy at the return of Jesus!

The Holy Spirit will also give us the power and the strength to endure persecution and suffering as we await Jesus’ return.

This should cause us to rejoice!

2. We Can Suffer Joyfully in Accordance With God’s Will Because It Will Glorify God (vs 15-16)

Peter has said throughout his letter that if we suffer for doing good we will be blessed.

He once more tells us in verses 15-16 that suffering for doing good, for the name of Christ receives a blessing, but suffering for doing evil is no credit whatsoever.

Peter lists four accusations that people in his day would be accused of or found guilty of in court.

The term “Christian” is parallel to the legal charges of “murderer” and “thief.” And Peter says that if believers are guilty of being “Christians” they should not be ashamed but continue to glorify God in the way they live their lives.

Are you living your life in such a way that you would be guilty of being a Christian before a court of law?

The suffering that glorifies God is when we continue to maintain ethical conduct and not retaliate in response to others when we face persecution.

Sam Storms adds:

“If one rejoices in suffering for Christ’s sake, one shows that God is gloriously more valuable than the approval of men or the comfort and safety they might provide. If one blesses persecutors instead of retaliating, one shows that God is more than sufficient to satisfy one’s longings. The most effective way to demonstrate that God is the preeminent treasure of one’s heart is to relentlessly rejoice in him when all other sources of satisfaction are stripped away.”

What about you, if your friends, family, phone, clothes, video games, computer, car, food, were taken away…would you continue to rejoice in God?

Would you be able to say like Job, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord?

The greatest joy we can have and experience is glorifying God with our lives, for this is what we were made to do.

When we are most satisfied with God, he is most glorified in us.

Our joy is directly connected with God’s glory.

Therefore, we must seek to glorify God and suffer as a Christian and not an evildoer, knowing if we do this, our joy will be made full.

3. We Can Suffer Joyfully in Accordance With God’s Will Because He is Our Faithful Creator (vs 17-19).

He will Be Faithful to Save Us (vs 17-18)

In verses 17-18, Peter gives us another reason why we need to rejoice in our suffering and seek to suffer righteously…because judgement is coming.

Peter says that judgement begins with believers, but this judgement should be understood as God’s discipline to refine and strengthen our faith…not a judgement for our sin.

He then makes an argument from the lesser to the greater…if believers will be disciplined and refined through suffering in this life…how much more will those who reject Christ be judged by the Lord?

To back up his point, he quotes Proverbs 11:31 in verse 18.

Peter’s point in quoting this verse is that as God’s children, we must enter through the narrow gate and face opposition and suffering on our path to glory. God’s way of bringing us into our final inheritance is through hard and painful discipline.

Yet, if sin is so hated in God’s sight that even his children are made to suffer discipline to purify their souls, what must be the fate of those who disobey the gospel?

Let this verse be a warning to anyone here tonight who has not submitted themselves to the Lord and trusted in Jesus for their salvation.

God makes clear that those who do not obey the gospel and reject Christ will face a horrendous judgement for eternity in hell.

However, we who have trusted in Christ can rejoice in our suffering because as we learned earlier in verse 12, it is for our good to refine our faith.

God will be faithful to save us from eternal judgement because Christ has already taken our wrath upon himself on the cross.

We Can Trust Him Because He is in Faithful (vs 19)

Peter calls God our faithful creator in verse 19.

This shows that God is the creator and sustainer of all things. (Dan. 4:34-35).

There is nothing that surprises him or that he is not in control over.

This verse also shows that God will be faithful to care for us, strengthen us, and sustain us during times of persecution and suffering.

God will not ask us to do anything that he will not also provide the grace for us to endure and accomplish.

This is what Paul meant in 1 Cor. 10:13 where he said God is faithful in temptation and will always provide a way of escape.

In light of these truths, we must entrust our lives to God just as Jesus did on the cross when he said… “father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

We must not revile in return but continue to seek to do good when we suffer, knowing God is the faithful judge and he will deal with our oppressors in the final judgement.

Therefore, because God is in control, because he is good, and because he is faithful to help us in our trials, we can trust in him and rejoice in our suffering.

Response

Tonight, we have been given three reasons why we can rejoice in suffering according to God’s will…because we are blessed, because this brings glory to God, and because God, being our good and faithful creator, will take care of us.

Therefore, based on these three reasons, I think there are three key ways we can respond to God’s word tonight:

1. We must trust God in our suffering.

We must not think God has lost control when we suffer.

Even though his ways may seem strange to us, we must continue to trust in him, knowing he is working all things for our good and his glory.

2. We must continue to do good as we suffer.

We should never use our suffering and persecution as an excuse to sin or fall into temptation.

We must never use our trials as an excuse to revile and pour out vengeance upon others.

Instead, we must continue to seek to glorify God with our lives even if that means enduring abuse at the hands of our persecutors.

We must remember that God will have vengeance in the end and entrust ourselves to him.

3. We must rejoice when we suffer.

We must remember the resurrection hope of eternal life we have in Christ that awaits us in the age to come.

We must keep our minds fixed on our eternal hope and the inexpressible joy we will experience when Christ returns.

It is only then, that we will have the strength to rejoice in our suffering in such a way that God’s name is made famous and his majesty is revealed in our lives.