1 Peter 4:12-19, Suffering Joyfully as a Christian

Introduction

As we turn our attention to worship through the preaching of God’s Word I invite you to open your Bible with me to 1 Peter 4. We’re nearing the end of our study in this wonderful letter written by the apostle Peter. Counting this morning, just three more weeks. We’re finishing up 1 Peter 4 this morning. Then we’ll have two weeks in 1 Peter 5. As always, I want us to first read the passage before us this morning. Then, we will pray and ask the LORD to bless our time in His Word together this morning. So, please follow along now as I read 1 Peter 4:12-19.

READ 1 PETER 4:12-19

[Matthew 4:4 Responsive Reading - “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”]

PRAY

One of many things that I’ve learned over the years as a parent is that you have to get comfortable repeating yourself a lot. I’m certain that I am not the only one who feels that way or has discovered that reality. Day after day, you find yourself oftentimes saying the same thing over and over again. “Turn the light off. Close that door you just opened. Stop playing with that.” On and on the list goes. Jamie and I have occasionally joked that we should just record ourselves saying these things and just play them at certain intervals.

As we dive into our passage this morning we find ourselves once again considering the topic of suffering. Perhaps you’re tempted to think, “here we go again with this same topic!” It seems like Peter is just a broken record belaboring the same topic over and over again. You might wonder “why won’t he just move on already?!” There’s a lot we could say to that. But suffice it to say that I have found more and more over the course of my life how true it is that we need constant reminders about certain realities in life.

In moments where I am tempted to be frustrated as a parent having to repeat myself to my children, the LORD regularly humbles me and reminds me how much I need to be reminded of the same things over and over again as well. So it is with the Christian life. This topic of suffering for Christ was probably near and dear to Peter’s heart and mind as he thought about his audience here because he himself had his own share of struggles with enduring suffering. He had learned some vital lessons about suffering for Christ with endurance and joy.

He knew what it was like to cower in the face of fear and fail to suffer well. You remember after Jesus was arrested and taken to a sham of trial in the middle of the night. Peter followed the scene closely and at one point was questioned about being a close associate of Jesus. A rugged fisherman who had just wielded a sword to try and protect Jesus cowered in the face of a servant girl who said, “hey you look familiar! Like one of those guys who followed Jesus!” When the moment came for him to follow Jesus, he blinked and denied Christ.

By God’s grace, Peter was restored and didn’t make that mistake again. In fact, church history reliably tells us that Peter was eventually martyred for His faith in Christ. Peter had learned his lesson in the school of Christ’s suffering and endured. He counted it a joy and privilege to share in the sufferings of Christ. As one who had learned from his own failure, he wants us to learn from him as well. It is far better to suffer and bear the reproach of others for following Christ, than to turn back and go the way of the world.

One of many things made abundantly clear throughout the NT, really the Scriptures as a whole, is that the people of God will suffer this side of eternity. Jesus was very clear that all who follow Him and desire to live for Him will be persecuted just as He was. We should not be surprised when it happens. Neither should it cause us to wallow in discouragement or turn away from the faith altogether. Rather, suffering for our faith in Christ ought to be reason to rejoice and persevere, entrusting ourselves to the LORD all the more.

MAIN POINT––Expect suffering and rejoice in your union with Christ, entrusting yourself to your faithful Creator.

Expect Suffering and Rejoice

The first thing we must note together in the text is the expectation of suffering for your faith in Christ. If you are a Christian, you should expect to suffer to some degree for it. That’s what Peter plainly says here. Look again at verse 12––“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you.” Don’t be surprised. It’s going to happen. Accept it. More than accept it, expect it. Expect to suffer for the name of Christ.

This is a tough one for us here in the west for many reasons. Too often we reduce suffering for Christ to the extremes we hear of in other parts of the world. We hear of churches that gather in secret in closed countries. We hear of Christians being imprisoned or put to death in some parts of the world. Then, when we hear of those things we are tempted to minimize what we might experience here in our part of the world.

Or, we sometimes recognize suffering for faith in Christ when it happens in our broader culture. We might think about the so-called culture wars. You think of citizens who have businesses like photography or cake making who refuse to sell their services to same-sex weddings. We think of those who stand outside of abortion clinics praying that get heckled or assaulted. We see conservative actors or athletes face the wrath of cancel culture and lose the spotlight.

All of those things are certainly a form of suffering for faith in Christ. That is true. But you should also know that you are going to face suffering for your faith in Christ even here in a place like this. Right here in small town rural communities like Fosston. No, you probably won’t be physically assaulted for sharing the gospel. We’re most likely not going to have to start meeting in secret in order to protect ourselves from oppressive local authorities.

It will look different. More subtle even. But if you are faithfully committed to Christ and following Him in every sphere of your life you will face consequences for doing so. You might find that those who were once close to you for many years start distancing themselves as you hold firm to clear biblical teachings about following Jesus. You might receive the cold shoulder from others. You might find yourself the victim of small town gossip, slander, and rumor mill that wants to shame you for what you see as vital to your growth and faithfulness as a Christian.

If you are a Christian the question is not what will you do “if” you experience suffering for following Christ. The question is what will you do “when” you experience suffering for following Christ. It will happen. Expect it. In fact, it is fair to say that if you have never experienced this kind of suffering it is probably time to examine yourself and see if you’re walking the proper way and actually following Jesus. No one should ever suppose they have found a better way of living than Jesus. If you are really following Him you will share in His suffering.

Following Jesus will set you apart from the world around you. Even right here in our own community. If you follow Jesus, you will suffer for doing so. And when it happens, know that it is never meaningless. There is a purpose behind all of it for your joy in Christ and for His glory. Peter gives us a purpose for such suffering right here in this first verse, don’t miss it. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

The purpose of such suffering, loved ones, is to test you. What does Peter mean by that? What is this testing? Notice Peter’s word choices here. He speaks of the fiery trials and says they are to test you. Some have supposed that the wording of fiery trials is an indication of how severe the suffering is. That it is particularly harsh, violent and brutal even. But we’ve noted before that that’s unlikely given the timeframe this was written and some other indicators he gives to describe the kind of suffering.

For instance verse 14 speaks of being insulted. The suffering they were experiencing was more of a social kind––being ostracized, excluded, and alienated. Being mocked, maligned, and reviled. Peter is not using this language as a metaphor to describe the severity of suffering. He is picking up familiar OT language that alludes to the purpose of the suffering. Consider just one example among many. Psalm 66:10 says, “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” The purpose of suffering, the nature of this testing, is that you would be refined. Made purer.

The imagery is one of precious metal––like gold or silver––being refined by fire to burn off any remaining impurities. In other words, God is doing the refining. Your suffering, whatever it is, is His instrument––the refiner’s fire. You, as a Christian, are the object––the precious material––that God is refining. Progressively over the course of your life removing impurities and indwelling sin that remains, that you would be made more pure and holy––more fit for heaven––for His glory and your ultimate joy in Him above all else.

We know this instinctively, or at least, we should. We each know that when the LORD saved us we were not zapped immediately into perfect holiness and Christlike maturity. We still stumble in many ways. There are sins that cling close and die hard. And God loves His children too much to leave us that way. He wants His children to grow more and more like Him. To be the spitting image of our good Father so that the world would know more of who He is in all of His infinite glory as they see His character increasingly displayed in us. So, he refines and sanctifies us.

Loved ones, when you experience suffering and persecution for doing good, how will you respond? Will you persevere? Will you respond in the face of such suffering in a way that brings more glory to God? In a way that demonstrates your total commitment to Him? In a way that demonstrates your ultimate joy is found in Him and not in the things or people of this world? Or will you wallow in doubt and self-pity and seek worldly comfort and affirmation at the expense of finding such joy in Christ and Christ alone?

Peter wastes no time at all showing us what the proper response to this kind of suffering ought to be. We shouldn’t be surprised. We should expect this suffering if we are truly following Jesus in every way laid out for us in His Word. Instead of being surprised or caught off guard we are to rejoice! Look at verse 13––“But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” What a countercultural way of responding to suffering, especially the kind that comes as we are insulted or reviled for following Jesus!

We don’t naturally think this way. In our flesh, we care too much about what people think of us. We want to be liked. We want to be included. We want to be respected. We want to be sought after. But God wants His children to care more about what He thinks of and sees in us. He wants us to live with all satisfying joy in Him, not in the things of this world or the opinions and imaginations of other people. He wants us to be like Him. To love what He loves and hate what He hates. He is to be the greatest and highest treasure of our lives.

What is it that Peter sets before us to help us see this reality and respond to it with rejoicing? Our union with Christ. We love to think and talk about our union with Christ in the more enjoyable parts. Our new life with Him. The glory that we will share with Him in eternity when He comes again. But Peter is highlighting first our union with Christ as we share in His sufferings. Just as Jesus experienced, the pathway to glory passes first through suffering. Taking up our cross and denying ourselves. This is what Peter saw in and learned from Jesus.

I’ve noted this before and it bears repeating as we see it in the text here. The suffering is not the source of our joy. We don’t long for a dose of suffering for suffering’s sake. We rejoice in suffering because we know what it is working in us and because of what it reveals about us––namely our union with Christ. When you suffer for following Jesus you can rejoice because it reminds you that you are in Christ. You are a Christian. And if you are united to Him in His suffering you will one day experience that great union with Him when His glory is revealed.

This is what we saw time and time again with the Church in our study of Acts. When the apostles were seized and brought before the Sanhedrin for teaching and speaking about Jesus they were beaten and warned to stop. As a result, did they leave gloomy, downcast, and discouraged while they limped away sore, battered, and bruised? No! Acts 5:41 says, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Suffering disgrace for Jesus, that’s the key. Peter makes that clear in all that he says next in verse 14 through 16. He gives us some contrasting reasons one might suffer and clarifies what kind of suffering is good and worthy of rejoicing. Verse 14––“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” Love ones, when you are insulted for following Jesus, it is not a sign of God’s displeasure. Rather, it is a sign of God’s favor. It is a sign that you are under God’s blessing and His Spirit rests on you.

The same Spirit that was on Jesus during His earthly life and ministry. The same Spirit sent down at Pentecost upon the believers in the early Church. The same Spirit that rested upon them––indwelt them; enabled them to endure such suffering and reproach. That same Spirit and glory rests upon you even now in this present moment as you endure insults, mockery, isolation, and a whole host of other forms of suffering for following Jesus. That kind of suffering is good and worthy of rejoicing.

“But…” verse 15, “let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.” Life in this fallen world this side of eternity comes for a variety of reasons. Sometimes good––following Jesus as we’ve been considering. But our sin also brings a kind of suffering of its own. That kind of suffering is not an occasion or reason for rejoicing. Peter offers two clear sins––murder and stealing. If you kill someone or steal something, you deserve a certain kind of justice.

Just a quick side-note, Jesus likens our hatred of others to murder. Who among us is not guilty of that kind of murder at some point in our life? If you suffer for being downright hateful to someone––maybe its hardened bitterness and jealousy because they have what you don’t have; maybe it’s loneliness and isolation because nobody wants to be around you and your miserable disposition––then it is a suffering you have earned and you should let it lead you to repentance.

But Peter doesn’t leave it to just the extreme sins. Lest we be tempted to think we’re good because we haven’t killed anyone or stolen anything he also mentions more broad and “tame” sins like being an evildoer or a meddler. Being an evildoer is broader than being a criminal of sorts. It is to be someone who does wrong of any kind. A “wrongdoer” if you will. Which will encompass all of us at times. Then there’s being a meddler––a busybody; an interferer; a gossiper.

Such behavior causes disunity and disorder and is no occasion for rejoicing. To suffer for those things is an occasion to be ashamed and by God’s grace walk the hard road of repentance–– confessing your sin and asking forgiveness for it from God and from those whom you have sinned against in those ways. Maybe some of us this morning are finding ourselves in that exact place right now. Maybe you’ve been caught up in any number of sins like what is described here and you’re suffering the broken fellowship that results from it. The solution is repentance.

Peter continues again with the positive side of the contrast in verse 16–– “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” In the early church the term Christian was ascribed to them by outsiders who wanted to insult them and cause them to feel shame. The term literally means “followers of Christ” and it was intended as an insult. But Christians have a funny way of taking such insults and, by God’s grace, wearing them as a badge of honor. A source of great pride rather than shame.

That’s the idea here. They might want to insult you––“You Christian! You Puritan!” And you can gladly say, “well yes I do love Jesus and follow Him, He died for me after all.” “Yes, I do love the pure Word of God and desire to display that purity in my own life, by God’s grace.” Such insults cause you to rejoice, not be ashamed. Your response of rejoicing and demeanor of joy brings glory to God. Meaning, you demonstrate to others that God is glorious. He is your highest treasure and greatest love in all of life. “I’m glad to bear my Father’s name!”

Trust Your Faithful Creator

Peter has commanded us to expect suffering and rejoice in it because of our union with Christ. He now grounds it here in verses 17 and 18 with a further statement about why believers suffer. Then in verse 19 he draws a conclusion, or makes application, for how we endure suffering while rejoicing in it. That’s what we’ll unpack briefly and then we’ll be done. First, the reason for our suffering. Then a further application, or “so what” that naturally follows our expectant, joyful response to suffering for the sake of Jesus.

Look at verse 17–– “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.” Stop right there? What is Peter saying? The Household of God is NT language for the Church––the people of God. In the Old Testament it was in reference to the temple of God––God’s dwelling place. But the NT authors apply that to the Church, the people of God in whom the Spirit of God now dwells. So, Peter is speaking here of judgment on Christians. How can that be? It seems confusing at first as to what Peter could possibly be saying.

When we think of judgment we think of judgment of condemnation. Which we know there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So we know that Peter is not speaking of a judgment of condemnation. Very much in line with what he has already said earlier in regards to fiery trials that test, or refine us, Peter is speaking here of a judgment of purification. And he’s not just making that up himself. He’s picking up OT language once again. He probably has in mind a couple of passages in particular––Ezekiel 9 and Malachi 3.

In both of those passages the judgment is one of purification and cleansing of the people of God. The loving discipline of a good Father who loves His children and desires that they be more like Him and less like the world that is in rebellion against Him. That’s the kind of judgment Peter is referring to in the life of the believer. The loving, purifying, cleansing judgment of God on those whom He loves. And his point becomes all the more clear with what follows.

Continuing in verse 17, “...and if it [judgment] begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” In other words, if even the redeemed people of God need this kind of purifying judgment, how much worse will it be for those who do not believe the gospel? Those who are not His people will experience judgment that is far more sever for all eternity in comparison to the light momentary purifying affliction every Christian endures this side of eternity.

He then supports that idea citing Proverbs 11:31 in verse 18:

1Pet. 4:18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Don’t get hung up on the word scarcely. He’s not saying that we are barely saved. The word means “with difficulty.” We are saved “with difficulty,” i.e. through and in the midst of suffering. The Christian life is not one of ease and simplicity that is care free and trouble free. It will cost you something to follow Jesus. It may cost you comfort. It may cost you your reputation. It may cost you family and friends. It will be difficult to follow Jesus. But how much more difficult will it be eternally for those who do not obey the gospel and follow Jesus?

“Therefore [or so then; in light of this reality; the “so what”] let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Loved ones, when you suffer for Christ––when you bear insults; when you receive the cold shoulder of passive aggressiveness; when you are maligned, isolated, slandered, or gossiped about––don’t give up and throw in the towel. Don’t wallow in self-pity and despair. Instead, rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ. Continue to trust the LORD, your faithful Creator. Continue to do good.

Conclusion

This is hard work, right? Suffering in this way is not natural to us in our own strength. And to be honest, that’s the point. It’s not natural, it’s supernatural. It is done in the strength that God supplies by His grace and the power of His Spirit at work in us. All to the praise of His glory and not our own. Your suffering is less about you and more about Him. That He would receive the glory that is rightfully due Him as He refines you to be more like Him and as He demonstrates His power in your weakness. So, loved ones…

Expect suffering and rejoice in your union with Christ, entrusting yourself to your faithful Creator.