Peculiar People 9: Suffering as a Christian

Intro

Good morning, would you please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter 4:12-19.

Alexamenos Graffito

In 1857 a major historical discovery was made.

The oldest known image of Jesus was unearthed in the city of Rome.

The image was dated to around the year 200 Ad.

But this image wasn’t the kind of image that you might picture when you think of early Christian art.

In fact we know for certain that this image of Jesus wasn’t made by a Christian.

The image is known as the Alexamenos Graffito,

and was a work of graffiti that was scratched into the plaster of a wall within the house of the Roman Emperor Caligula.

The graffiti depicts a man raising his hands in worship to another man on a cross.

A man on a cross who had an unusual characteristic.

Written underneath the image was an inscription that read, “Alexamenos worships his God.”

But the reason we know that this image was not made by a Christian,

was that the man on the cross had the head of a donkey.

The oldest known image that we have of Jesus,

was made in mockery of Christ and those who worship him.

We are continuing our series through the book of 1 Peter, called Peculiar People,

and learning how we as Christians,

are different from the world,

in who we are, in how we live, and in what we hope for.

As I said last week, “One of the most peculiar, most weird things about Christians throughout history has been their willingness to suffer for the sake of Christ.”

Mockery, opposition, persecution, and suffering are things we should expect as Christians.

But as our passage tells us this morning, they are not only things that we should expect,

but they are things that the peculiar people of Christ should rejoice in.

Which takes me to our passage this morning.

1 Peter 4:12-19

1 Peter 4:12–19 ESV

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.

Exposition

Do Not Be Surprised (v.12)

Our passage begins with the Apostle Peter telling believers to expect suffering and trials as Christians in v. 12.

1 Peter 4:12 ESV

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.

As I said last week, “We ought not be surprised when we face opposition, persecution or suffering, nor should we be surprised by the severity of it.”

Since we live as a peculiar people, different from the world in who we are, how we live, and in what we hope for,

we should expect to be opposed by those who oppose the things of God.

Even two thousand years ago there was graffiti mocking Christ and those who belong to him.

Opposition, persecution, and suffering are not things we should be surprised by,

but we ought to expect them.

This is why the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12 that,

2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)

“All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Refined by Fire

But suffering as Christians is not only the result of living in a world that is in opposition to Christ.

Rather, in his sovereignty God uses suffering in order to refine his people.

Peter here in v. 12 of our passage calls persecution a “fiery trial,” by which we are “tested”.

With these words Peter is calling to mind the refining aspect of suffering.

Just as he does in 1 Peter 1:6-7 where he says that the trials his readers are facing are given,

1 Peter 1:7 (ESV)

“so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Throughout the scriptures we see the recurring image of precious medals being refined by fire.

Actually it is amazing how often this theme shows up in the scriptures.

But this image is always connected to a spiritual reality of hearts being tested and refined.

A clear example is Proverbs 17:3, where the sage writes

Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the Lord tests hearts.

The Sacramental Vision

Now let me just take a moment to point something out here.

Often times when the scriptures point to physical things or processes as examples;

like gold being refined by fire,

or as we saw a couple of weeks ago,

a plant growing from a dead and buried seed being compared to the resurrected body, .

We tend to think that the authors of the bible are just grabbing these objects and processes that exist in nature by happenstance,

and are using them as examples because they are familiar to us.

But God is sovereign over his creation just as he is sovereign over his word.

Just as God has intentionally worded the scriptures in a particular way,

he has intentionally set up his creation in a particular way.

He ordained every natural process;

like the amazing way that metal can be melted and refined by fire.

And he has set his creation up in such a way, so that these objects and processes teach us something about spiritual reality.

As the Psalmist says, Psalm 19:1-2

Psalm 19:1–2 (ESV)

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

And the good, God ordained process of precious metals being refined in a fire,

teaches us about our own good, God ordained process of being refined and tested through fire.

Meant for The Crucible

Just like, “The crucible is [meant] for silver, and the furnace is [meant] for gold,”

trials are meant for God’s people.

God ordains and allows his people to go through the crucible of opposition, persecution, and suffering,

that we might be refined through it.

As God tells his people in Isaiah 48:10

Isaiah 48:10 (ESV)

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

So we ought not to be surprised by it when the trial comes,

because, “the Lord tests hearts.”

Rejoice in Suffering (vv. 13-16)

But this is not something for us to fear.

Look at what v. 13 of our passage says; instead of fear, Peter tells believers:

1 Peter 4:13 (ESV)

“But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings,”

How Can We Rejoice?

But how can we rejoice in suffering?

I mean it’s one thing to say it, but its another thing entirely to put it into practice.

Remember Peter is originally speaking to Christians in first century Asia Minor,

who are in the midst of opposition, persecution and suffering.

This isn’t something that might happen to them, they are experiencing it first hand.

But Peter also knows what it is to suffer.

He knew what it was like to be arrested, thrown in prison, bound in chains.

He knew what it was like to wait in chains to be killed, as he was once arrested under the order of Herod Agrippa,

who had just killed James the brother of John.

Though Peter would escape from that imprisonment, tradition tells us that Peter would eventually be crucified in Rome under Nero.

This is a man acquainted with suffering, writing to people acquainted with suffering.

Peter’s encouragement to rejoice

isn’t just the power of positive thinking, this is real, and it’s true.

So how can we who belong to Christ - rejoice in suffering?

1. Because We Share in Christ’s Sufferings

First of all we can rejoice in suffering as Christians,

because when we suffer for Christ - we share in his sufferings as v. 13 tells us. 1 Peter 4:13

1 Peter 4:13 (ESV)

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings,

I made mention of this a few weeks ago, but it’s even more relevant here.

When those who belong to Christ endure things like he endured, they become more like him.

This is just like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:10

where he describes suffering for Christ, as “sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

Suffering for Christ makes us more like him.

This flies in the face of those who promote what has come to be called the “prosperity gospel’.

This is the belief that those who are faithful to Christ will experience health, wealth and happiness in this life.

This is a belief that is promoted by some of the most well known speakers and televangelists over the last few decades.

But as we made clear a couple weeks ago, our hope as Christians is not in receiving rewards in this life,

that is what unbelievers put their hope in.

Our hope as Christians, is not in this life.

Our vision extends beyond this earthly life,

beyond death, and into the promised glory of eternity.

The prosperity gospel is a false gospel,

one that says that “the People of Jesus should never expect to live like him.”

But here in our passage we see that it is an honour to live like him,

to share in his sufferings,

because sharing in his sufferings makes us more like him.

Suffering for Christ refines us, it matures us that we might grow to be more like our saviour,

just like Paul writes in Romans 5:3-5 where he says that,

Romans 5:3–5 (ESV)

we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

suffering though it weakens the body, strengthens the soul,

if we endure it for the sake of Christ.

That is the first reason to rejoice in our suffering that Peter gives us in our passage, that we might be more like him.

2. Because it’s a Sign You Belong to Him

The second reason we can rejoice in our sufferings is given to us in v. 14, where the scripture says:

1 Peter 4:14 ESV

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

What Peter is saying here is this; that we are blessed if we suffer for the sake of Christ,

because it is a sign that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit -

and therefore it is a sign that we belong to Christ.

Ephesians 1:13-14 says that,

Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV)

“When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, [you] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit indwelling us is the seal guaranteeing the salvation that we wait for at the resurrection.

But Peter says here in v. 14 of our passage, that being insulted for the name of Christ is a sign that the Holy Spirit rests upon us.

Those who are not saved, who have not received the Holy Spirit,

are not compelled by the spirit to be different from the world,

in who they are, how they live, and in what they hope for.

So since they do not live for Christ by the power of the Spirit,

they are not opposed by the world for the sake of Christ.

But for those of us who have received salvation by faith,

who have the Holy Spirit resting upon us - dwelling in us,

will be fundamentally different from the world.

So those who oppose the things of the God will oppose us

for who we are, how we live, and for what we hope for

This is why we can rejoice in our sufferings; because our sufferings are a sign

that we belong to Jesus,

that we live in obedience to him,

and that we hope for the glory that is to be revealed.

Suffering for the Right Reason (vv. 15-16)

Not For Wickedness

But we need to be sure that the reason for our suffering is righteousness and not our own wickedness.

As v. 15 says,

1 Peter 4:15 ESV

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

This is a warning that Peter has woven throughout this letter,

that we make sure that when others speak evil against us, it better be a slander.

• For a statement to be slanderous, it must be false.

Do not give unbelievers any legitimate reason to speak evil of you.

If you suffer because you have done evil according the law of God,

you cannot say that you’re being persecuted because you are a Christian.

If we suffer, let it be for the sake of righteousness, and not a result of our wickedness.

But we need to be clear about the difference between the two.

Just because the world calls something good does not make it good,

in the same way just because the world calls something bad does not make it bad either.

Though our unbelieving culture has for the most part rejected Christian morality,

that does not mean that they don’t hold to some type of moral law.

And the world’s moral law changes like the tides.

This is why we need to be well versed in what the Bible, the whole of the scriptures,

teach us about what is right and what is wrong.

So that when we, or other Christians are accused of wrongdoing, we can ask ourselves:

Is this accusation according to the commands of God,

or is it according to the demands of the culture?

We need to be able to tell the difference,

So that we can know for certain if we suffer, that it is for righteousness sake,

giving us confidence to suffer honourably,

though the world might dishonour us.

Suffering as a Christian

Peter talks about this confidence in v. 16 of our passage:

1 Peter 4:16 ESV

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Now theres some important nuance in this passage,

that we could miss if we don’t consider what it meant to it’s original audience.

In the 1st century the word “Christian” was a new term,

and it didn’t originate within the church.

It was actually a derogatory term meant to mock the disciples of Christ.

We see in Acts 11:26 that it was “in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

Until then Christians were just considered a sect of Judaism,

and they didn’t refer to themselves as Christians,

but preferred to call themselves “disciples” or “followers of the way.”

But the unbelieving world would eventually refer to them as “Χριστιανός” (Christian)

This term carried with it a sense of strangeness, of weirdness, of peculiarity.

They were people who worshipped a man who died on a cross after all, and believed he rose from the dead.

In Acts 26 King Agrippa II used the word in this sort of way when Paul, in chains, shared his testimony before the king.

It says in Acts 26:28:

Acts 26:28 (ESV)

“And Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’”

You could picture Agrippa laughing here.

But Paul’s response to this was beautiful.

Paul replies in Acts 26:29

Acts 26:29 (ESV)

“Whether short or long, I would [hope] to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Paul is standing there arrested and in chains, in custody for promoting strange beliefs, with many seeking to have him killed.

At that moment; to the world, he was the very picture of what the word Christian had come to mean.

He was weird, he was peculiar.

But he owned it, because compared to the world he was different in who he was, in how he lived, and in what he hoped for.

it was true.

So the disciples came to adopt the name Christian with gladness.

This is why Peter here in v. 16 says,

1 Peter 4:16 (ESV)

“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

Though the world will call us all sorts of shameful things,

we need not be ashamed, but we can rejoice that God has allowed us to share in his sufferings,

because we are his peculiar people.

Judgment (vv.17-18)

Peter goes on to say in vv. 17-18 of our passage:

1 Peter 4:17–18 (ESV)

“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?’”

Throughout the writings of the old testament prophets, God demonstrates that his judgment comes first upon his own people.

And just as we saw suffering as a refining fire in the lives of individual Christians earlier on in our passage,

in these verses suffering is a refining fire within the congregation of believers, the church, the household of God.

Suffering is often an agent of cleansing in the church.

When there’s no benefit to be gained in this world by associating with Christ and his people,

then you see who truly have faith, and who have been in the church for something else.

Then you see who are the sheep in the flock, and who are the goats.

There is a sense in this passage that though the judgment begins in the house of God, it doesn’t stay there.

Peter may be talking about judgment among the people of God, before he carries it out on the rest of the world.

Application

But for our sake this morning I want to focus on what this passage means to those who call themselves Christians, and those who come to our church.

Let me ask you this, “Have you repented of your sin, and believed in Jesus Christ for your salvation?”

Because it’s not going to church that saves you,

it’s not being among God’s people, or being from a Christian family that saves you.

Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation?

If you haven’t, I want to invite you to repent and believe in Jesus Christ for your complete salvation.

But don’t run into faith in Christ hastily, count the cost before you call out to him.

Jesus says in Luke 14:27 that, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

Remember the cross was an instrument of torturous death.

Is being a disciple of Jesus worth it to you to endure that?

Jesus goes on to say in Luke 14:33 “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Is being a disciple worth it to you to forfeit all you have; friends, family, wealth, belongings?

Salvation is worth all these things and more,

but is it worth it to you?

Count the cost.

For those of you who have put your faith in Christ let me ask you a question,

If we were to be tested by the fires of persecution, would you remain faithful?

Would you pass the test?

God tests hearts. And he judges among his people.

If we call ourselves Christians - then we were made for persecution,

just like gold and silver were made for the crucible and the furnace.

When you enter the crucible of suffering, will you be like refined Gold?

Or will you trickle away like dross?

If you aren’t sure, if you don’t have that confidence,

let me encourage you to take time and effort to grow closer in your walk in the Lord.

Talk to me, talk to one of the pastors,

or a godly brother or sister in Christ, we would love to help you along the path of discipleship,

to help you grow in your walk with the Lord,

and in the confidence of faith.

Conclusion

Entrust Your Soul (v. 19)

Peter closes the chapter here in v 19:

1 Peter 4:19 (ESV)

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Something my kids have enjoyed is working through catechism questions at dinner time.

When we remember to, we use The New City Catechism with our kids

which is loosely based off of the Heidelberg Catechism.

The first question of the Catechism is this:

“What is our only hope in life and in death?”

The answer is: “That we are not our own, but we belong to God.”

This is our only hope in life and in death.

This is true regardless if we suffer for Christ or not.

But it is no doubt an important truth to meditate on when we experience opposition, persecution and suffering,

and when we go through the other trials that are common to us in this life.

We can entrust our souls to the faithful creator.

In life, in death, in peace, and in the midst of opposition, persecution, and suffering,

We can entrust our souls to the sovereign God who made us,

who placed us intentionally in the time and place and circumstance in which we live,

and who uses even our suffering to make us more and more like him.

God’s people can meet the crucible of opposition, persecution and suffering.

More than that we can rejoice in suffering as Christians.

Because it’s a sign that we belong to Christ,

because it’s how God refines his people,

and because if we are his people, we were made for it.