No Guts, No Glory

If you have your Bibles, please open to 1 Pet 3:18

As you do so, I have one announcement

Our next youth event is coming up!

Friday August 27th, sky-zone

Kids need to be there by 6:40. $14 per student

$3 for socks if they don’t have them

If you have any questions, you can talk to Sarah or me about it after YG

Tonight we continue our series through 1 Peter that we are calling Elect Exiles....

Hopefully by now you know what this title means, so

who would like to describe what it means to be elect?

and who can help me describe what it means to be an exile?

This has been the main idea of 1 Peter - in this world, Christians should expect to face many trials

1 Peter 3:18–4:6 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

Let’s pray

Tonight’s Scripture is difficult text to understand to say the least.

Martin Luther commented on these verses saying,

“A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for certain just what Peter means.”

These verses have been a subject of debate for years among Christinas. And while there is a place for such discussion, tonight is not that place. So I’m for the sake of our good, I am not going to focus on what is unclear in this text, but instead focus on what is clear in tonight’s text. So let me tell you what I believe the big idea of tonight’s Scripture.

Those who suffer for righteousness sake will be glorified.

This is so important for us to recognize, because the Christian life is a life of suffering. And one might wonder, why would anyone chose to follow Jesus if it means that their life will be filled with more sorrows than if they chose not to follow Jesus.

But the answer becomes clear when we recognize what Peter will teach us tonight. That those who suffer for righteousness sake will be glorified.

The title of tonight’s sermon is “No Guts, No Glory”

This phrase is used for those who wish to succeed in a number of areas in life

sports

school

career

If you wish to succeed, you will need to have guts… means that you need to be brave - because there are going to be some trials along way.

Take sports for example… if you want to play a sport, you better expect to get injured along the way. So you’ll need to be prepared to get hurt if you want win the game.

But if you are not brave, you can be sure of this, there will be no glory… that is to say, there is no reward for those who don’t strive towards their goal.

If you don’t take a risk, you can be sure that there will be no reward.

This doesn’t just apply to life in general, but it also applies to the Christian life. If we don’t have guts (if we are brave enough to endure suffering in the Christian life) we can be sure that we will not be glorified with Christ.

This because the Christian life is full of many trials. For weeks now, we have been talking about suffering for righteousness sake. Specifically suffering that will come by submitting to those in authority who might mistreat us. And last week we closed with this verse,

1 Peter 3:17 ESV

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

So if you are wondering why you should follow Jesus if it will lead to suffering, well take it from Peter, it is better to suffer for doing good than it is to suffer for doing evil.

1. Suffering is unavoidable for both the good and the evil.

if you are evil, you will suffer…

Paul similarly talks about submitting to those in authority

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

If you do what is evil, you will be punished by those who are in authority. And not only will you suffer at the hand of those in authority, but those who are evil will also suffer for all eternity because they will face the eternal wrath of God.

But, if you do what is right, you can also be sure that you will suffer. This has been the point throughout 1 Peter.

This isn’t just what Peter says, nor is it just my observation… this is what the writer of Ecclesiastes observes;

Ecclesiastes 9:2 ESV

2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.

Suffering is unavoidable for both the good and the evil. But we tend to do whatever we can to avoid suffering as best as we can. And this makes sense, who among us enjoys suffering?

So naturally, we as people take the path of least resistance… And what seems easiest in the moment is to abandon the faith and just fall in line with the rest of the world. But this is not the way that we have learned from Christ.

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

It might be easier to go on the wide way, but you should know that in the end of that path will lead to your destruction. So when Peter says,

1 Peter 3:17 ESV

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

we recognize that the suffering that we experience today is hard. But in the end we will be be glorified with Christ and we will receive eternal life.

Tonight’s text shows us how suffering for doing good is better that suffering for doing evil.

Peter says it this way,

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)

18 For Christ also suffered…

For… connects v 18 to what was said previously.

Why is it better to suffer for doing good?

1 Peter 3:18–20 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

2. Jesus’ apparent defeat lead to his eternal victory.

Apparent defeat - at the cross it seemed like sin overtook Jesus. But we know better, for on the third day Jesus was resurrected from the grave! While Jesus was put to death in the flesh, he was made alive in the spirit.

And Jesus’ suffering was actually the means by which he defeated sin and brought us near to God.

And when he was raised from the grave, Peter says that Jesus proclaimed his victory to the Spirits who did not formerly obey… these spirits mentioned here are likely the fallen angels that disobeyed God in the days of Noah.

So, since the days of Noah, that’s early in the book of Genesis way at the beginning of the Bible, it looked like Satan had won by corrupting the world with sin and death. But Peter here shows, that Jesus suffered once for sin could be dealt with. But this time sin would be dealt with not through a flood, but instead it would be dealt with through the cross.

So why is it better to suffer for doing good? Because Jesus has demonstrated that those who suffer for righteousness will be vindicated! This is what Peter goes on to say,

1 Peter 3:21–22 ESV

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Peter is comparing a believers baptism to that which happened when Noah was saved through the flood.

At the flood, God poured his wrath out upon the world. The waters represent the wrath of God poured out on sinners. But Noah was spared from God’s wrath through the ark.

So too, baptism is a picture of God’s salvation. For we are plunged into the water - this water is a symbol of God’s wrath against sin - but we don’t stay in the water like those who died in the flood, but instead we come up out of the water much like Christ rose from the grave after he took upon himself the wrath of God.

This is why we get baptized - when we are baptized, we are identifying with Jesus’ death and resurrection and proclaiming to the world that we have been made alive with Christ!

Let me pause here for a moment - if you are a you are a Christian, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for the so that you can be forgiven, then you should also get baptized. So if you haven’t gotten baptized, I’d encourage you to talk with your parents about it, and then come talk to me or any of the other pastors here at the church about getting baptized.

Let’s return to the text and look at v 22

Peter tells us that Jesus has…

1 Peter 3:22 ESV

22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Notice that word subjected here… it’s the same word that Peter used when he told us to submit to those in authority over us?

1 Peter 2:13 ESV

13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

That is to say, every authority and every power, be it demonic, or even the authorities of human institutions are all subject to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords… that is to say, if a king rules over people, well we need to rightly recognize that Jesus rules over the kings that rule over the people… which means all authority belongs to him. So when we submit to those in authority, we should recognize that do so as unto the Lord, for every authority receives it’s power from God. And God sets up kings, and tears them down according to what he knows to be good and right. (doesn’t mean that the kings are necessarily good)

Exodus 9:16 ESV

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Rightly recognize that God is in control of every king and every authority. And when you suffer, recognize that your suffering is all a part of God’s plan for you. This is why Peter said,

1 Peter 3:17 ESV

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Your suffering for righteousness sake is a part of the will of God. And why does God allow the righteous to suffer? Peter explains,

1 Peter 4:1–2 ESV

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

Peter says that suffering causes us to cease from doing sin and suffering gives us the power to live according to the will of God.

Not that we will ever stop sinning all together in this life;

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul describes his ongoing fight with the passions of the flesh… so too we will always need to fight against our flesh in this life.

But as we continue to follow Jesus, and as we continue to suffer, God changes us from one degree to the next.

3. Suffering sanctifies God’s people and prepares them for glory.

Sanctification is the lifelong process by wich God transforms his people to be made into the image of his Son.

Another way of saying this is to say that suffering makes us holy.

Peter continues to describe this sanctification.

1 Peter 4:3 ESV

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

This is what we use to do… before were saved, they lived like the rest of the world… that is like the gentiles… and we did what we thought was best. They lived for the pleasures of this life in the flesh… But Peter tells us that time to live in sin has past for those who have been saved… for those who have been baptized have died to themselves along with the passions of the flesh. Paul says the same thing in Romans 6

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

One way that we suffer in this life is by killing the passions of our flesh… and when we turn away from sin by the grace that God supplies, we are made more and more like Jesus.

But the suffering doesn’t stop with killing the passions of the flesh. Peter continues;

1 Peter 4:3–5 ESV

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Peter is saying that those in the world will hate us when we don’t participate in the sin that they love.

So when we don’t give approval to what is wicked, we should expect to be hated.

Christian’s will suffer for doing what is right and pleasing to God. But Peter then reminds us that those who gratify the passions of the flesh will also suffer when they are judged by God.

So the Christian will suffer

killing the desires of the flesh

Being maligned by those who hate righteousness

But the suffering doesn’t stop there. Peter tell sus

1 Peter 4:6 ESV

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

Peter here is talking about Christins who have heard and received the gospel, but have since died.

Every person will die… as we said at the beginning of the sermon, both the good and the evil will suffer. So Christians will be judged in the flesh the way all people are judged. What this means is you will die. And I will die. Just as the Apostle Peter and all the other saints have died… Just as Jesus died in the flesh. But death does not have the last word… for just as Jesus was put to death in the body and made alive in the Spirit as we saw in Ch3.18 so too will we be made alive in the spirit when after we face our final trial at death.

So let’s return to where we begin

1 Peter 3:17 ESV

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Why is it better to suffer for doing good than it is to suffer for doing evil.

If we suffer for doing evil, we can be sure that our suffering will suffer for all eternity.

If we try to avoid suffering in this life by living according to the passions of the flesh - you can be sure that you will face God’s eternal wrath in hell.

If you got to pick your punishment, between having to clean your room… or being grounded for ten years what would you choose? I would pick up my room…

So too, if you had to choose a life of suffering for Christ, or to face the eternal wrath of God what would you choose?

It’s no wonder Peter said that it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

But if we do suffer for doing good, we ought to recognize that we will be glorified with Christ.

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

May the Lord give us strength to endure all of our trials. And as he prunes us through our trials, may it be so that we would produce much fruit for our good and his glory.