Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning, I want to start off with a couple questions.

Why would God allow persecution, pain, and suffering in the world?

You know the argument from non-believers:

If God is a good God why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?

If God is all powerful why doesn’t he put an end to all suffering in the world?

We are left in a place of trying to explain why God does what he does, why He allows the things to happen He allows.

We are in a sense left trying to justify God and His works through pain and suffering.

Theodicies - attempts to justify God and His ways.

Dr. Welty’s theodicy is “the pain and suffering in God’s world play a necessary role in bringing about greater goods that could not be brought about except for the presence of pain and suffering.

The world would be worse off without pain and suffering, and so God is justified in pursuing good by these means.”

As we spend one more week in verses 21-23 this morning I want us to think about why God would have allowed, planned, and even foreordained Jesus’ suffering, and why He calls Christian’s to faithful suffering.

If we remember that;

The world would be worse off had it not been for Jesus’ suffering and,

The God accomplished a much greater good through Jesus’ suffering would he not be doing the same through the suffering of followers of Christ?

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Peter begins this section with the Christian’s call to suffer.

Remember this call comes in the context of Peter commanding Servants to be subject to your masters.

Or as we considered, employees be subject to your employer’s.

Whether they are good and gentle or unjust.

Whichever the case we are called to be submissive to them.

In light of that call in the days of the early church and the church today it is understood that we are going to work in a fallen world under fallen leadership and is with this understanding that we can expect to be in situations in which godly suffering will occur.

Therefore, Peter begins verse 21 with an,

I. Exhortation to Suffer.

A. The Personal Call to Suffer

For to this you have been called.

Notice who he Peter is giving this exhortation.

You.

Peter was writing to the sojourners and exiles of the dispersion, but His Word has been inspired and kept by the Spirit in order that you, I , and the Church today received the same exhortation.

For to this…you have been called.....

What is the this in verse 21? Look back at 19-20

2:19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

20 For what Credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, suffering because we sin does not count.

Suffering because we disobey God’s word is not a gracious thing in the sight of God.

Suffering because of sin, is recieved our just reward, not suffering unjustly.

Now when we do good and suffer for it this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

So what does it mean that we are called suffer?

This word called means,

to urgently invite someone to accept responsibilities for a particular task, implying a new relationship to the one who does the calling—‘to call, to call to a task.’

In other word’s as we have been invited, or called to salvation, to our new relationship to Christ we are invited to suffer as he suffers to endure unjust suffering as he endured unjust suffering.

Pastor David explains it this way, “The call of God for your life is to endure unjust suffering.

This is not to the exclusion of joy and satisfaction even in this temporal life, but it is a primary expectation for what God commonly has for those who are in Christ – endure unjust suffering well.”

Listen to how Paul explains his desire to know Christ and share in his sufferings.

Philippians 3

Do you hear Paul explaining how he counted everything as loss.

How he suffered for the sake of Christ.

That he may know Him and share his sufferings, becoming like him in death, that by any means possible attain the resurrection of from the dead.

Paul understood what it meant to be called to suffer for Christ sake, according to the will of God.

Here is our question of application for this exhortation.

How are we answering Peter’s invitation to suffer with Christ?

How are we responding to the call to share in his sufferings?

Are we doing good and enduring suffering for it?

B. The Encouragement in Suffering

because Christ also suffered for you.

Are you seeing this personal call followed by a personal reason we suffer.

We don’t just suffer because we like pain.

We don’t just suffer because we like to endure hardship.

We don’t suffer because we enjoy persecution.

We don’t suffer because we find pleasure in personal rejection.

We suffer because Jesus Christ also suffered for you....

The Sinless Son of God suffered for you.

The Second Person of the Godhead suffered for you.

The Suffering Servant Suffered for you.

The Son of Man Suffered for you.

The Savior of the world Suffered for you.

Do you and I truly understand what Jesus did for us?

The Messiah who truly had no reason to suffer other than our salvation.

The One who could honestly say he was sinless, a good person, who had not sinned and fell short of the glory of God.

The One who did not deserve the wage of death.

The One who demonstrated His own love for us in that He died for us who had sinned and deserved death by dyeing a death that we deserved.

How then should we respond in light of the suffering of Christ.

Paul told the Philippians,

Philippians

The King of Kings and Lord of Lord was willing to empty himself, put off His kingly privileges and put on the form of a servant and be born in the likeness of man so that he might suffer for you and me and all who would believe!

We must put on a coat of mail and be enveloped in the whole panoply of God.

We must have, as our great controlling principle, the mind of Christ, that, as He endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, we also may endure it and not be weary or faint in our minds.

We shall best bear our own sufferings when we find fellowship with Christ in them.

Remember what Jesus said regarding his suffering and the expectation of suffering His followers should have.

John 18:

Jesus suffered because of the world’s hatred for him.

His followers suffer because of the world’s hatred for them.

Jesus was persecuted because they did not know the Father.

His followers will be persecuted because they do not know the Son.

Think for a moment about Peter’s call to suffer.

John

Peter recieved a very personal call from Christ to suffer…Jesus told him,

You will stretch out your hands.

You will be dressed by another.

You will be carried off by another.

You will go where you do not want to go.

Do you remember Peter’s response?

What about John?

Jesus, told him don’t worry about John…(Buck’s translation).

How many of us sometimes question our call to suffer by saying what about ........?

Here in Peter’s letter he makes the general call personal, but the application of that call will look different in each one of our lives.

We have considered the Exhortation to suffer, not let’s look at Christ’s,

II.