Christian Suffering. Part 1.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we are going to be continuing on in our study of First Peter. This morning we will be in 1 Peter 3:8-17. Peter is closing his section on obedience to human authority. In closing this section, Peter is beginning a lengthy section on how Christians are to suffer well. And it is good to remember who Peter wrote this letter to. Remember, Peter wrote this letter to the first century church made up of Jews and Gentiles who were beginning to face oppression for their faith. In a few short years, the oppression would turn to heavy persecution. This would begin a cycle of horrific persecution. This was a tribulation unlike any that had come before. And according to the perfect plan of God, on the cusp of this tribulation, Peter writes to the church to give them marching orders.

With this in mind, I would ask that you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Reading of the Passage:

1 Peter 3:8–17 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

11  let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.

12  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we commit this time to you. We ask that it would be honoring to you. May we worship you well today. Please open our hearts and minds to learn and obey you. Give us ears to hear Your Word today. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Need:

While it is unjust and evil for someone to suffer for obeying God, we know that sadly, the reality is it is common to suffer for righteousness. Countless Christians have been martyred for merely obeying God. This means Christians must be ready to face various trials in this fallen world.

Text Idea:

Peter is telling the first century church that when they face persecution and unjust treatment, they will be blessed by God. And Peter then gives them marching orders on how to suffer well.

Sermon Idea:

When we face various trials and sufferings in this life, we can be encouraged and instructed by this passage, remembering to always honor Christ as holy.

Interrogative:

What should the Christian attitude be toward persecution or suffering? The answer is found in obeying God's commands, believing God’s promise, and responding to suffering as Christians.

Transition:

So, let’s take a look at that first point. How should Christians handle suffering? First, by Obeying God’s Commands.

Obeying God’s Commands.

1 Peter 3:8–9“8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

Explanation:

Remember, Peter is closing His section on obeying earthly authority. We are to obey God in all things and obey human authority where we can. But Peter has made it clear that this will sometimes lead to difficulty and even persecution. So what does he tell the church to do? First, have unity of mind.

1. Unity of Mind.

It is a common command in the New Testament that God desires the church to be unified. God often warns in His Word that there will be false teachers that come in and sow division. This must be avoided. Christians are to be united. And Peter is calling these early Christians to prize unity. They are to be united in their faith. Christ is Lord, and this is unifying. They are not to bicker and be divisive, but to seek unity. They are to be united in the truth.

Second, Peter calls them to have sympathy.

2. Sympathy.

Now sympathy is to know what others are feeling. It is to be understanding. When a Christian slave is beaten for obeying Christ, this command would mean that even the free and wealthy Christians weep with the slave and care for them. They are to be loving and sympathetic towards the suffering of their brothers and sisters.

This is summed up in Romans 12:15 “15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” A Christian is to laugh with those who have joy and to weep with those who are suffering. And this is not mere show. A deeply loving community knows that when one person is suffering, it breaks everyone’s heart. When a family member is sick or dying, we all weep together because we are united in Christ. When someone in the church is having a child, or getting married, the Christian is not jealous but laughs and sings for joy that God would bless their brother and sister in Christ.

And this leads directly into command number three. Brotherly love.

3. Brotherly Love.

Peter is reminding the early Christians that they are truly family. We are all united in Christ. We are adopted into the family of God. And that means that we have a familial bond. God is our Father. Christians are brothers and sisters. And we ought to live as such.

And this was likely so comforting to this early church. Many of these converts had likely been disowned by their families. Jews who converted were shunned from their own Jewish families. Romans who converted likely experienced a similar loss. These people likely lost almost all family relationship for the sake of Christ. And this reminds us of Christ’s words in Matthew 19:29 “29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”

These Christians may have lost physical family, but they had gained a hundredfold in the family of Christ.

And this leads to command number four.

4. A Tender Heart.

In a volatile age like the first century, the family of the church is vital. It is always vital, but when life is hard, it is all the more important. These Christians were suffering. And they needed each other deeply. So Peter commands them to have tender hearts toward one another especially. They are to be kind and loving. They are to care for one another.

How many early Christians came to worship with physical and emotional injuries. They are not to be hard hearted toward this. They are to care for the broken and hurting. They are to have a soft heart. A hard hearted Christian is an oxymoron.

And so is a proud Christian. This flows into command number five. Have a humble mind.

5. A Humble Mind.

Christians cannot be proud. We are saved by grace alone. We did nothing to earn it or merit it. We actively confess that there is nothing good in us. Our salvation is in Christ. So Peter commands them to have humility. But not just a general humility. He specifically commands the church to have a humble mind.

He is warning against pride of thought. In simplicity, I will put it this way. “Do not think you know everything. Do not believe yourself to be smarter than God.” This is some good advice. A humble mind comes to God’s Word for wisdom. A humble mind does not believe you have all the answers. Be humble enough to listen to God’s commands.

But Peter saves the most difficult command for last. Command Number six. Bless those who hate you.

6. Bless Those Who Hate You.

Peter says this in verse 9, “9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

The Christians are not to repay the evil they are given. When they are cursed at, they are not to curse back. I heard a pastor relaying a story one time of a similar situation. The church this pastor is shepherding is really having a great impact. And one of the consequences of this, is that it is making a lot of people mad. His congregation began to tell him how people would yell various expletives at them simply for being part of this church. Well, they asked their pastor what to do and how to respond? Since it was Christmas time he gave this council. He said, “smile, wave, and say Merry Christmas or God bless you!” He then told them whenever that happened, they should immediately say a prayer asking God to bless whoever shouted at them.

This is exactly what Peter is saying here. When someone curses you or reviles you, bless them. Yell back, “God bless you” or “Have a nice day” and mean it. Then stop and pray for them. Ask God to bless them. Ask God to give them a great day. Ask God to give them joy and happiness. Ask God to help them be successful at work that day. Ask God to bring them to Christ. Bless them, do not repay their crude remarks back.

Argumentation:

When facing challenges and suffering, this is the Christian response. We do these six things. We have unity of mind, brotherly love, a tender heart, a humble mind, and we repay curses with blessing.

And beloved, we still need this. This was not just a command for the first century church. We need to obey these commands. Things are not nearly as bad for us as they were for the first century church, but we still face suffering and oppression.

So what do we do? We obey God’s commands. We are Christians after all. This means we believe in doing what God says. We ought to do these six things. But I just want to focus on the first and last ones for a moment.

We as a church ought to have unity of mind. But here I must clarify. There is a type of unity today that is evil and is of the devil. Unity that sacrifices truth is evil and wicked. To set aside the truth of Scripture for the sake unity is to abandon Christ. It is evil and wicked. But sadly much of the church has been pushing this form of unity. When Peter commands unity here, he means unity in Christ. This unity is founded on the Word of God. Anyone who comes in and says, “We should really set aside what God said for the sake of unity” is simply echoing the lie of satan in the garden. “Hath God really said?”

As a church, our commitment must remain founded on the Word of God. This is our standard. We believe the Bible. God has spoken and we remain unified on this. This is the Word of God, our guide and standard of truth. We are united on this. Now we may have differences. We have disagreements. But being centered on the Word means that when we have disagreements we go back to God’s Word for answers. When disagreements arise, we must always say, “What does Scripture say?” This is true unity. We go back to the Book.

But I also want to highlight the sixth command. When someone treats us in an evil way or curses us or reviles us, we bless them. I want you notice something. This command presupposes that we will have enemies. Many Christians sadly believe that everyone will like us. This is not true. Those who hate God will hate the people of God.

So I want to give a warning. An effective church in a wicked culture will be hated by that culture. Well, we live in a wicked culture. This means, if we are faithful to God, then we will be reviled and hated. If we are faithful to God, those who hate God will curse us and revile us. And we must not curse them back. Instead, we bless them. We recognize that we will have enemies. People will actively seek to destroy us and stop this church from proclaiming the gospel. Expect that. But when that happens, we will chuckle, smile, and ask God to rain down blessing on those picketing in our parking lot.

Transition:

But, we need to keep moving. How should Christians handle suffering? First, by Obeying God’s Commands. Second, by Believing God’s Promise.

Believing God’s Promise.

1 Peter 3:10–12“10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.””

Explanation:

I love Peter’s writing style. It is so encouraging. He is preparing these first century Christians for horrific suffering. And in love, he reminds them of the promises of God. He specifically brings them back to the Psalms. He is quoting here from Psalm 34. And he is calling them to remember God’s promises. It is not a good thing to suffer. We should desire a good life, a peaceful life. And this passage from the Psalms is just good wisdom. It is so practical and hopeful. Remember these five promises from God.

1. A Good Life Comes From Guarding Your Tongue.

Do you desire to love life and see good days? What should you do? Guard your tongue. Do not say evil things. Do not lie. Speak the truth. Be honest. Be righteous in your words. This is a path to truly loving life.

2. A Good Life Comes From Hating Evil and Doing Good.

Do you desire to love life and see good days? Put away evil. Stop disobeying God. Hate the evil in your heart. Learn to hate what is evil and love what is good. This is a path to seeing good days.

3. A Good Life Comes From Pursuing Peace.

Do you desire to love life and see good days? Actively pursue peace. Do not be troublesome. Seek peace. Be someone who is easy to get along with.

C.S. Lewis captures this so well in the Chronicles of Narnia. “...they walked with a swing and let their arms and shoulders go free, and chatted and laughed. One was whistling. You could see that they were ready to be friends with anyone who was friendly and didn’t give a fig for anyone who wasn’t. Shasta thought he had never seen anything so lovely in his life.” C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy.

Be someone who is ready to be friends with anyone who is friendly. And don’t give a fig if someone yells obscenities at you for being a Christian. Instead, bless them.

These first three are just great pieces of advice. Especially for times of turmoil. Our culture is burning down faster than a straw hat on a summer day. Do you want to see better days? Speak no lies, hate evil and love good, and be people of peace. These do not mean that life will always be sunshine and roses. No, suffering will still come. These are not tricks to never have to suffer. These are promises on how to build better days and better life. Teach your children to do these things. Teach your grand-kids and great grand-kids to do these things and better days will come. Speak no lies, love what is good, and be people of peace. Whistle and walk with a swing in your step.

And this quote ends with two more amazing promises to comfort our hearts.

4. God’s Eyes and Ears Are Toward the Righteous.

God’s eyes are on the righteous. His ears are open to their prayers. This is poetic language of the blessing of God. God blesses the righteous. What a comfort it is to remember that God hears the prayers of His people. God blesses the righteous.

But number 5.

5. God Is Against the Wicked.

The wicked may prosper for a time, but God opposes them. Their doom is sure. Those who hate God will face His judgement. And Hebrews 10:31 reminds us “31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

When we are discourages, remember, God’s face of judgement is against the wicked.

We remember these promises. God is faithful. When we are suffering, we remember that God has promised that He is for us and is against the wicked. When we look around us and see the judgement of God on our wicked culture, we take comfort in remembering what God has promised.

Transition:

But as I have labored to point out, these promises are not promises that we will never suffer. No, we know that we will suffer. And this brings us to Peter’s third section.

How should Christians handle suffering? First, by Obeying God’s Commands. Second, by Believing God’s Promise. Third, by responding to suffering as Christians.

Responding to Suffering as Christians.

1 Peter 3:13–17“13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Explanation:

Peter’s basic point is this; when suffering comes, Christians ought to act like Christians. And he opens with what may be a confusing statement. “13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”

Now the first century Christians may have been tempted to answer Peter saying, “Who is there to harm us? Lots of people! Especially Nero!” But Peter is making this point. One should not have to suffer for righteousness.

One Should Not Have to Suffer For Righteousness.

This may seem obvious, but it is true. It is evil when wicked men oppress Christians for obeying God. In a just society, we ought to be rewarded for obeying God. This is the Bible’s main point in dealing with the civil government. Remember, Paul and Peter say that civil rulers are to reward good and punish evil. This means that civil rulers ought to reward obeying God. They are supposed to act as servants of God.

So you see, in a just society, we should not be persecuted for obeying God. But sadly, we know that we do not live in a righteous society. We do not have leaders who obey God. And neither did the first century Christians. So Peter continues with hope.

Those Who Suffer For Righteousness Are Blessed.

Even if we should suffer for obeying God, we know that God blesses us. God is pleased when we obey Him above all else. When we choose to disobey those in authority over us in order to obey God, God is honored. And He blesses us. And let me just say, I would rather have God bless me and the culture curse me than have the culture bless me but God curse me. It is better to be hated by men and loved by God than to be loved by men and hated by God. When we suffer for righteousness, we are blessed by God. And this is worth it.

But what do we do? How do we as Christians respond when wicked rulers oppress us? First, Peter says to honor Christ the Lord as Holy.

1. Honor Christ the Lord as Holy.

In our hearts, we are to honor Christ first. Practically, this means that the Christian cannot disobey Christ in order to obey Caesar. If we honor Christ the Lord as Holy, it means we must obey Him. “But they will hate us!” Let them. “But they will mock us!” Bless them. “But they will abuse us!” Let them. “But they will call us hateful, racist, bigots!” Honor Christ.

Our culture hates Christ. But we are to honor Him. Christ is King. He is our Lord. Come what may, we will be united in this confession: Christ is Lord. No matter who is offended, no matter who hates us, no matter what relationships we lose, we die on this hill. We will honor Christ. I submit to no authority over Christ. He is my King.

But this will lead to people asking questions. So Peter gives the second point of suffering like a Christian.

2. Be Prepared to Answer for Your Hope.

Peter says this, “15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;”

Many Christians in the first century were marched to the gallows for how they answered interrogation. This was a real concern for the Christians of this day. How will you answer when you are questioned regarding Christ? Peter is encouraging them to be ready. And be ready in two ways. First, Be prepared when the Roman Centurion demands to know why you won’t bow down to Caesar. Remember, Peter is addressing persecution. Be ready to answer. But they were not just questioned by those wielding the sword. Second, be prepared when your neighbors ask you how you can still smile even after losing everything. “How is it you Christians joyfully sing Psalms while being whipped?”

But it is still relevant in our day. We too must be ready. And this does not mean that we have to have every answer for every objection. But it does mean we should be ready to defend our faith in Christ. We should be ready to answer when people ask us why we won’t go along with sin. We should be ready to answer people who ask us how we maintain hope.

When we suffer, we are to have an answer. But Peter warns the Christians to be gentle and respectful.

3. Be Gentle and Respectful.

It would have been so easy return cursing and swearing for more cursing and swearing. But when suffering persecution, the Christian is to be gentle and respectful of authority.

Think of Paul in Acts 23. Paul is brought before the Jewish council and says he is innocent and of good conscience. They high priest has him struck on the mouth and Paul pronounced a curse on him. But when he finds out it was the high priest, Paul says this. “5 And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

Now I want to be clear, there is a place for harsh words. The prophets, the Apostles, and even Jesus use incredibly harsh and hard language in rebuking various people including kings, rulers, pagans, fellow believers, false teachers, false Christians, and more. There is a place for a strong worded and harsh rebuke. But this is not free licence to say or do whatever we want. We are still to be gentle and respectful when giving an answer for the hope we have.

So if I am brought before the president for obeying Christ, and he demands why I would disobey the state in order to obey Christ, I should probably not call him a “lying dog faced pony soldier.” I should probably just call him sir.

But I want to emphasize something. This one phrase has been used as a bat to beat fellow Christians with. Inevitably, when a Christian says something true, like “those who reject Christ will spend eternity in hell,” someone stands up and says, “that’s not gentle or respectful!” In our day we have an entire group of evangelicalism that operates as the “tone police.” And their self appointed job is to beat anyone who has what they deem to be an offensive tone with sticks. I believe it was Voddie Baucham who coined the term “11th commandment.” He said, “in the church today the 11th commandment is ‘be nice’ and it overrides all the other commandments.”

But here is the truth, the gospel is not nice. The gospel is that all men are dead in their sins and enemies of God. Unless they repent of their sins and trust in Christ they will spend eternity in hell. This is the message Jesus proclaimed. It is not a nice or tolerant message. You see, Peter is commanding us to be respectful. But he is not commanding us to be liked.

And this passage has been so twisted for years. We think being gentle and respectful means “saying things that people will like.” No! Jesus never broke a single command. He was the living embodiment of perfection. He was love incarnate. And they hated Him. They hated Him so much they crucified Him.

So what are we to do? We are to care more about what God thinks than man thinks. We are to honor Christ as Holy. This means we are to fear God, not man. If you are placed in the position of giving an answer for why you trust in Christ, focus on this: Was God happy with what I said and how I said it. It does not matter if people are happy with what you said or how you said it. Was God happy with you? Did you speak the truth and did you please God with how you did it? That is the test.

But Peter continues.

4. Have a Clear Conscience.

I cannot stress this enough. One of the most important things in warfare is mobility. You do not want to be weighed down. If you are weighed down, you cannot fight or defend with any effectiveness. This is true physically and spiritually. We are in the midst of spiritual battle. It is obvious to anyone looking at our culture that spiritual battle lines have been drawn. And in this fight, we must have a clear conscience. When asked for a reason for the hope we have, we must honor Christ, be respectful, and have a good conscience.

Beloved, we know that we are sinners. But we also know that our sins have been forgiven. If your faith is in Christ, you are washed clean. You are no longer in your sins. You debt has been paid by Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus. So put off your old sinful ways and walk in righteousness. Lay aside the sins that so easily ensnare you. Put away lying, gossip, lust, worry, pride, and shame. Walk no longer in these things. Live lives shaped by Christ. Obey His commands. Obey Him in your marriage, parenting, grand-parenting, in your work, in your thoughts. Put away sin and walk as those who are forgiven.

And when the questions start flying, know you have been forgiven. You cannot fight with a dirty conscience. If you are ensnared in sin, you cannot properly defend Christ or your faith in Christ. But the good news is, Christ forgives sin. You can be free. Your conscience can be completely clean and clear before God. You can walk with the weight of sin completely off your shoulders. You can go into the real spiritual war we are in unburdened. You can be forgiven.

The church will never be effective in defending Christ or in taking spiritual ground while we are burdened with guilt. In Christ, all guild is removed. But it begins at home. It starts here. We must confess our sins and we must taste the forgiveness that Christ offers. We must know that we have been forgiven. This is why we begin our services with corporate confession of sin. We begin by acknowledging that we have sinned. We begin by confessing our sin and our overwhelming knowledge that Christ forgives us.

One of my goals as a pastor is to shepherd the church to be effective for the Kingdom of our Lord. And this looks like regular confession of sin and forgiveness. We have to be people who know the depth of our sin, but who also know that through faith in Christ, we are completely forgiven.

And when we are people who honor Christ, who are respectful even when we have curses hurled at us, and who know our consciences are clear, it heaps hot coals on the heads of our accusers.

This Puts the Persecutors to Shame.

Peter says this, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

When Christians are brought before the chopping block and we honor Christ, we keep our cool, and we know we are forgiven; this puts our accusers to shame. Paul quotes from Proverbs in Romans 12:20–21“20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

When we suffer like a Christian, it is a scalding pain to those persecuting us. Because we stand in the favor and blessing of God. And this is how Peter closes.

It is Better to Suffer for Good Than For Evil.

You see, those who suffer for doing good have the blessing of God on them. God smiles on those who refuse to bow the knee to evil. God shines His face on those who love Him over their own comfort or reputation.

Conclusion:

You see, those who are persecuted, hated, reviled, cursed, spat upon, and suffer for the sake of Christ are blessed.

Visualization:

And this is so important for us to know and to take to heart. You see, we may not be in the same boat as the first century church. We have not been driven from homes and families. We have not been marched to prisons for our faith, yet. But this life is still filled with suffering. And we need to know how to suffer well.

Reiteration:

So how do Christians suffer well?

We obey God’s commands.

We believe God’s Promise.

We Respond to Suffering as Christians.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

Isaiah 8:13“13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Matthew 5:10“10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”