The Strength to Victoriously Suffer

Introduction: One day, during the Reformation, while Martin Luther was in the midst of challenging the Catholic church, the Pope decided he would try to silence Martin Luther by buying back his loyalty with a large sum of gold. So he sent a cardinal to negotiate with Luther.

After meeting with Martin Luther, the cardinal soon found out that Luther could not be bought. Surprised he said, "What do you think the Pope cares for the opinions of a German . . . [farmer]? The Pope's little finger is stronger than all Germany. Do you expect your princes to take up arms to defend you - you, a wretched worm like you? I tell you no. And where will you be then?"

Luther replied, "Where I am now. In the hands of Almighty God."

Although Luther had his issues, he did understand that, as a Christian, he was set apart as an ambassador to a hostile, foreign land, and so he refused to cave on his positions. He represented a greater king than any pope could ever hope to be - the king, Jesus Christ.

Peter emphasizes this same truth in this epistle. Believers are ambassadors to a hostile, foreign land. In his day, Peter could see the signs of the rising persecution of believers. About three years after he wrote this letter, Peter himself would be executed under the direction of the very king he called believers to submit to in 1 Peter 2. But instead of instructing believers to double down on their rights and resist oppression, he encouraged believers to submit to their oppressors as a display of love for their enemies, and in so doing, win them to Christ. Yes, Peter writes, it is true that in Christ, all believers are liberated from oppression (the oppression of sin), and being liberated from sin, they are now free to love their enemies.

Like Martin Luther, Peter explains that a believer's submission to the government or a wife's submission to her unbelieving husband or a slave's submission to his master is anything but an act of weakness. Instead, it is the strength to demonstrate the grace of God to an unbelieving and hostile world.

As U.S. citizens, we might at first find this admonition troubling. What happens, we might ask, when I lay down my rights and submit to my oppressors and my oppressor turns around and oppresses me for doing right? Well, Peter answers, the reason for your submission is to win them to Christ. You should submit to those in authority over you so that they might observe your righteous behavior and ask, "Why are you submitting to me? Don't you know that I am the one mistreating you? Don't you realize that you have no hope of ever being free?"

These questions present the believer with an unbelievable opportunity. The believer now has the chance to defend the hope they have in Christ. In other words, our submission to those in authority over us, especially oppressive authorities, gives us the platform to boldly and respectfully defend our hope in Christ to win them for God's glory.

That's the plan for representing Christ in a hostile, foreign land, but what happens when things do not go according to that plan? "What happens," you might ask, "when those oppressive authorities slander my name and continue to persecute me? What do I do when I suffer, not for doing evil, but for doing good?"

Thankfully for us, Peter addresses this concern. From what we know about Peter, he is a realist. Peter knew that evildoers typically do not respond well when confronted with the hope of the gospel. Through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, he encourages us to suffer well in the following two ways: he gives us two examples of victorious suffering and gives us instructions on how to prepare ourselves to suffer victoriously.

I. Examples of Victorious Suffering (3:18-22)

Read 1 Peter 3:18-22

A. Jesus' Example

Here in 1 Peter 3:18, we see one of the most concise summaries of the gospel in the Bible. Peter cuts straight down to the heart of the gospel, which is that Jesus Christ suffered at the hands of unjust men to bring us to God. Jesus, who was perfectly righteous, suffered in the place of the unrighteous.

Even Pilate himself said in Luke 23:4, "I find no fault in this man." Not only was there no fault to be found in Him, but one of the very reasons Jesus was put on trial in the first place was because He went everywhere doing good. Matthew 9:35 says, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." He went everywhere, healing every one of everything. Now that is a humanitarian, that is a do-gooder. There was no way he deserved to suffer! It is because He did good that the Jewish religious leaders sought to kill him. We see this in John 5:16 after Jesus healed the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda that the Jews "sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day." They sought to slay Him because He was doing good.

Jesus suffered, not for doing evil, but for doing good. Over the past ten years that I have been in ministry, there are many whom I have counseled that have made the statement, "What is happening to me isn't fair! I shouldn't be suffering in this way! If God loved me, he would not allow this to happen." Maybe you have voiced this very same thought. But often you and I forget that God has not called us to anything that He has not endured Himself. We get bogged down by our injustices and forget to raise our gaze to Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Jesus is truly God, but He is also truly a man. As a man, He knows our every suffering, including unjust suffering.

It is at this point what we might all ask, "How does that help me?" If I go to a friend about an ordeal I am suffering through, and the counsel he gives is, "Don't worry! I've gone through that too," I usually don't find that very helpful. However, what is valuable is if that friend tells me how he made it through his trial and gives me something practical to pursue.

And it is here that Peter directs our thoughts to the practical. Jesus suffered injustice to bring us to God. Jesus' wrongful suffering and death serve as an illustration of how the most extreme forms of suffering and injustice can result in the greatest victory. The most horrifying injustice of all time gave way to the greatest triumph of salvation. The example of Jesus' suffering is immensely encouraging to the suffering believer, especially when we realize the connection to us. Just as Jesus' suffering brought hope to all, our suffering points to and puts that same hope on display. Believers submit to and love their oppressors, hoping that they would have the opportunity to bring them to God through Christ. Our mission is the same as Jesus': to bring hopeless sinners to God.

We desperately want to introduce people to God, don't we? That's our mission. However, the example of Jesus' suffering does not end there. In addition to dying on the cross to bring us to God, Jesus' death on the cross gave Him the victory over his enemies.

Read 1 Peter 3:18-20

Before I explain what I feel is the best representation of this passage, it would be good to understand that there are several possible interpretations. We do not have time to consider all of them, but I want to draw attention to the fact that many Biblical scholars have struggled over this portion of Scripture, and there is more than one possible viewpoint. I will present what I believe is the best one because it takes into account the most Scriptural evidence.

Verse 19 tells us that Jesus was physically dead. He was "put to death in the flesh," yet, He was "quickened by the Spirit." What an incredible truth! Peter is giving us a glimpse into what happened the moment Jesus' gave His life on the cross. The moment Jesus committed Himself into His Father's hands, His flesh died, but His spirit was alive.

Some Bible teachers believe that Peter is referring to Jesus' physical resurrection here. Jesus died in the flesh, but later, His flesh was made alive by the Holy Spirit. However, grammatically that interpretation does not seem to fit. In the Greek text, there is no definite article before the word πνεύματι, which is the construction typically used in the New Testament to differentiate between the Holy Spirit and other spirits. On top of that, Peter seems to be contrasting the flesh and spirit of Jesus. A better translation of Peter's intended meaning would be "Christ . . . was put to death in the flesh but made alive in spirit." So, while Jesus' body was in the tomb, His spirit was made alive.

Now, if Jesus' spirit was made alive, was there a point at which his spirit was dead? Did Jesus experience spiritual death? I believe that this truth is perhaps one of the most sobering realities of the cross. We understand that spiritual death is separation from God, and as Jesus endured the suffering of the cross when He, who knew no sin, was made to be sin for us, we know that God forsook him, and He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

But at that moment, when Jesus' flesh failed, the mission was accomplished, sin's debt was paid, and He was made alive in spirit; reunited in never-again-to-be-broken fellowship with the Father.

Peter's point is this: Jesus' body went to the tomb while His spirit went and "preached unto the spirits in prison." But to what spirits is he preaching? I believe Peter is referring to demonic spirits that have been imprisoned since the days of Noah. Jesus went and preached to the demons who were disobedient during the 120 year period Noah was building the ark. I believe this is the case for three reasons. 1). if this was a reference to human spirits, why would Peter then use the word soul in verse 20 to refer to people? He uses the word πνεύμασι in verse 19 but ψυχαί in verse 20. Interestingly, the word πνεῦμα is never used to refer to men in the New Testament unless a qualifier accompanies it. 2). Peter explicitly tells us in verse 22 that Jesus' victory included the subjection of angels, authorities, and powers. Peter wants us to know this and so qualifies it at the end of this sentence.

But why would Jesus go and preach to imprisoned demons? Again, there are varying points of view on this passage. I am not taking a 100% dogmatic stance here, but here is what I believe happened. Let's turn to Genesis 6:1-8.

Read Genesis 6:1-8

I believe that what is being described here is a period of wickedness and idolatry that was so evil God had no choice but to wipe it out. A day when the sons of God lusted for the daughters of men and took for themselves whomever they chose. In the Old Testament, the term "sons of God" refers to angelic beings - beings that were created by the direct act of God. Now all life is created by the direct act of God, but what we mean is that angels were created without procreation. They were uniquely handcrafted by God. These sons of God disobeyed (so they were demons) by going unto the daughters of men, and they bare children. We know that angels do no procreate from Matthew 22:30, which says, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." So, what is likely going on here is some kind of idolatrous, demon-centered worship. Men, once again, seduced by Satan's influence, invited demonic beings into their bodies and their bedrooms in the hopes of some kind of supernatural experience. This behavior is not surprising since many ancient, pagan religions included perverse practices. Baal worship, for example, included temple prostitutes as a part of their worship. Now the children they had together were men; they were not some kind of half-man, half-angel. But the result was that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Something spiritual was going on here that produced extremely violent and perverted men. I believe what is being described here is an attempt by Satan to so corrupt the human race that redemption would be impossible. Man could not crush the serpent's head if all men were on his team. As a result, God wiped out these wicked men in the flood and imprisoned these perverted demons.

Jude 6 confirms that the result of these actions was that these corrupt angels, who left their habitation, are reserved in chains (prison) as they await coming judgment. Peter also confirms again in 2 Peter 2:4 that God had already cast down certain demons in chains (prison), reserved for judgment.

However, the question remains: why would Jesus go and preach to them? The word used for "preached" here is the word ἐκήρυξεν. ἐκήρυξεν means to herald or announce. So, Jesus was not preaching a gospel message to these demons. Instead, he was announcing to some of his oldest enemies, "Hey, I know you are down here in prison, so you might not have heard., but after all this time, I have won the ultimate victory. Your and Satan's deception brought death to this world, but now, by my death, I have brought life. The victory is mine, and your fate is eternally sealed. I'll see you again on judgment day!" Colossians 2:15 puts it this way, "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

Again, Peter's point is that even amid His greatest suffering, Jesus won His greatest triumph. Not only was Jesus victorious over sin and death, but He was also victorious over some of the most heinous villains in history. None of which would have been accomplished without His willingness to suffer - the just gave Himself for the unjust.

Transition: "Now that is all well and good," you might say, "but Jesus was God! Of course, his suffering accomplished the highest good! But how am I supposed to measure up to the standard of Jesus' example?" I think Peter knew you would ask that question. So he doesn't just leave it there with Jesus' example of suffering, but he goes on to give us the example of a man - just like you and me.

B. Noah's Example

Read 1 Peter 3:20-22

For the sake of time this evening, I would like to summarize five meaningful ways that Noah is an example of the suffering believer.

Just like us, Noah and his family were a minority in a hostile, violent, unbelieving world, and yet Noah endured.

Just like us, Noah boldly preached to those around him, even though they mocked him year after year, and so through rejection, Noah endured.

Just like us, Noah saw the coming judgment on a wicked world. Knowing the end, he endured temporary affliction.

Just like us, Noah lived in a time of God's patience, waiting for the wicked to repent. Hoping to bring sinners to God through his faithful witness, Noah endured.

Just like us, Noah safely passed through judgment because he was secure in the promises of God. To the very end, Noah endured.

Now it is here that I would like to hit the pause button on our summary for just a moment to clarify something significant. It says in our text that "baptism doth also now save us." Is Peter saying that the ceremonial act of baptism saves? No! We must consider Peter's words in context. He says that baptism is a figure (symbol) that corresponds to our salvation. Noah was saved by passing through the flood (judgment) in the ark, just like we are saved by passing through judgment (death) in Christ - the new and better ark. The symbol of baptism originates with the account of Noah. Noah passed through the flood, the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, and we symbolically pass through baptism as a representation of passing from slavery to freedom and from death to life.

Just as Jesus endured, and just as Noah endured, you must endure your suffering in this world. Knowing that in the end, you will pass through the judgment of death, and find yourself safely in Christ who has already won the battle, is seated at the right hand of God, and has subjected all things unto Himself.

Transition: Now, all of that encouragement has led us up to this point: the practical application. Now that we know what victorious suffering looks like, how can we prepare to suffer victoriously?

II. Preparations for Victorious Suffering (4:1-6)

A. Arm Yourself With Jesus' Attitude

Read 1 Peter 4:1-2

Jesus came to die, knowing that His death would secure the greatest victory, and the primary weapon Peter calls believers to take up is this same attitude. Christians can live their lives as ambassadors to a hostile, unbelieving world without fear because they know that their death will secure the greatest victory - total freedom from sin and complete fellowship with Jesus Christ!

So arm yourself with the mind of Christ. Peter is not describing a new idea, Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Jesus' disciples knew what that meant; if you are going to follow me, you must be willing to die in your flesh.

Transition: Which brings us to Peter's second application: armed with the attitude of Christ, you must also lay aside your former lifestyle.

B. Lay Aside Your Former Lifestyle

Read 1 Peter 4:3-4

You have lived enough of your life, Peter says, according to the desires of the ungodly: in "lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries."

What all of these behaviors have in common is that they emphasize the idea of being out of control. "Enough of that!" Peter says. It is time to lay those things aside and live according to God's will, even when the ungodly think it strange and slander your name. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Transition: Which brings us to our final point: preach the gospel.

C. Preach the Gospel

Read 1 Peter 4:5-6

Like Noah, we preach the gospel today because we know judgment is coming. We preach the gospel to bring people to God so that they will be alive to God in the spirit, even though they may die in the flesh.

Conclusion: As an ambassador to a hostile, unbelieving world, Martin Luther knew the best place to stand - in the hands of the Almighty God! Likewise, we are called to lift our eyes from present problems and trials and embrace an eternal perspective. It is better to suffer for doing good because it opens up the opportunity to defend the hope we have in Christ. Amid trials and possible persecution, with the examples of Jesus and Noah, let us arm ourselves with their same attitude, lay aside our former lifestyle, and faithfully preach the gospel of good news, even to those who consider themselves our enemies. By doing so, we will demonstrate the grace of God.

I do not know your situation tonight. It could be that practicing your faith has alienated you at work, caused you to be demeaned at your school, or made your home life difficult. Do not lose heart; in Christ, your victory is secure.

Faithfully endure to the end.