Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Will you please open your Bible and turn with me to ?
This morning we are going to be studying together.
Before we dive in, let’s read this passage together.
If you don’t have a Bible, you can follow along by looking at the screens in front.
Read .
Pray.
Constant reminders can be annoying or they can be helpful.
We’ve experienced the annoying reminders, that friend who over-communicates a deadline so that you will not forget.
You get annoyed and say to yourself, “Does this person think I’m a child?”
The annoying reminder from a doctor’s office about your upcoming appoint, that never comes at the right time - always when you are busy.
Or the reminder that your dog needs shots or your oil needs changing.
So soon!?
I feel like we did this last week!
But constant reminders can also be helpful.
We’re prone to forget.
We forget about that appointment or deadline and so we need those constant reminders.
Reminders are not just helpful because we’re forgetful though, they’re also helpful because we’re reluctant.
Because of the sin that still remains, we can resist doing what we know needs to be done so we’ll procrastinate, ignore, and avoid.
Isn’t it sad?
We’ll resist the minor inconveniences of a doctor’s appoint, can you imagine what we’d do if we were faced with suffering?
As we have studied this letter from Peter, a theme has come up often: the theme of suffering.
Throughout this letter we have been challenged and encouraged to face and endure suffering and trials.
In every chapter this theme has come up.
Over and over again we have been reminded that disciples of Jesus who live in a world that opposes him will inevitably suffer.
We will suffer because of the fallen world we live in and we will suffer because of the evil that surrounds us.
Do you know what happens when we suffer?
We shrink back.
We give up.
Human nature has an aversion to everything that is difficult.
We avoid everything that is hard, and we especially avoid suffering.
People love Jesus when he makes their lives easier.
People follow Christ as long as his demands are easy.
But when suffering knocks on our doors, we turn and run.
We hide.
Which is why we need these constant reminders in 1 Peter.
As we read our verses you may have thought to yourself, “Suffering again?”
Of course!
Because in order to be faithful, we need to be constantly reminded of God’s purposes in our suffering.
This morning, we have yet another reminder.
The people that Peter was writing, people who were facing pain and persecution for the faith in Jesus, needed another reminder of God’s purposes in suffering so that they would be faithful.
What does Peter tell us here, at the end of chapter 4? We are told:
Entrust your soul to your faithful God so that you may rejoice as he purifies you through suffering.
The aim of this passage is to help you entrust your soul to your faithful Creator as you suffer according to his will.
The goal of these verses is to keep you from doubting God and running away from him when you are faced with trials and suffering.
What God wants you to know is that the pathway to faithfulness while suffering is not to throw your hands up and doubt God, but to entrust your soul to him, your faithful and sovereign Creator.
When you do, when you entrust your soul to him, you will rejoice in suffering.
So this passage is for everyone of us today.
It is teaching us about suffering.
Suffering Happens According to God’s Will and Works to Purify His People
I know that this is a massive statement.
“Suffering happens according to God’s will?”
If you don’t feel the weight of that statement, you may not be hearing me.
Suffering happens according to God’s will - yes.
This could not be more plain in our passage.
Look at verse 19
In this massively weighty verse, one thing is clear: suffering happens according to God’s will.
There are many questions that come up when we hear this that I cannot answer.
How is God at work through the suffering that happens through Satan?
Or evil people?
Some of these answers we are unable to know, but one thing is clear, all of your suffering happens according to the will of God.
This is true of you, just as it was true of Jesus.
It was in obedience to his Father’s will that Jesus faced his own crucifixion.
As he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane:
The prophet Isaiah, prophesying about the coming Savior that would suffer for the sins of his people said:
The salvation that was purchased for you and for me by our Savior as he suffered on the cross for our sins, happened according to God’s will.
Above all of the schemes of the enemy and of evil men, it was God’s will at work.
And the same is true of your suffering.
And while there is a lot that may be unanswered by this truth, this means one thing: there is no suffering you encounter that does not come through the mind and heart of your heavenly Father.
Every suffering you face only happens according to God’s will.
Everything that comes to you only comes by passing through your loving Father’s heart.
All of your suffering was first considered by your all-knowing Father, who knows exactly what you need, to the degree that you need it, and for the time that is good for you.
Suffering happens according to God’s will.
But why?
Why does God ordain suffering in the lives of his people?
Our passage tells us (1) to test us and (2) to refine us.
God wills suffering in our lives to test us:
Trials are tests, they are tests of faith, as James says:
This test of faith is not a test with an expected failure.
No, this is a test that expects a positive result.
You are being tested in trial because God wants to prove to you and to others that your faith is real, that you are not holding onto a superficial, meaningless, and unsustainable faith.
Who doesn’t have faith when you get everything your flesh desires!??
But genuine faith lasts through the tests of trials.
Why does God will suffering for you?
So that your faith will be proven and so that your faith will be refined.
Trials also refine our faith, look at verse 17
Here we are told that judgment begins with us.
But what kind of judgment is this??
For God’s people, this is the judgment of purification.
We know that this is not the judgment of ultimate condemnation because verse 18 says that the righteous are saved, but God works - through suffering - to purify us from sin.
God chisels off sin that lives deep in us through suffering.
If you are suffering today, know that your suffering is only happening by the will of God.
This means that there are limits to your suffering.
He is a loving and good heavenly Father, you will not suffer one second beyond what is absolutely good for you.
Not one thing has come into your life that is not intended to prove your faith and refine your soul.
Suffering Happens According to God’s Will and Works to Purify His People.
So how should we respond to suffering?
Do Not Be Surprised By Suffering But Rejoice In It
You might think that knowing our suffering happens according to God’s will would make a person angry, depressed, or bitter.
Of course, that has happened to some.
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