Joyful When Treated Unfairly (1 Peter 4:12-19)

Introduction

There is an old parable that I have heard about a farmer who seems to not be concerned with life and its happenings. It goes like this:

A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

This man was living in a world of uncertainty. He was unsure if what happened was good or bad. He was always searching for the meaning even if he was saying that only time could tell if the incident was good or bad.

While there is truth to this, truth that we ma not know the good or bad of a situation in this life, but it is also a bad way to live.

One person has said that the moral of this story is to live life in moderation, keeping as even a temperament as possible, taking all things in stride, whether they originally appear to be ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Life is much more comfortable and comforting if we merely accept what we’re given and make the best of our life circumstances. Rather than always having to pass judgement on things and declare them as good or bad, it would be better to just sit back and say, “It will be interesting to see what happens.”

Again, this is an interesting take on this but is this the best way to view what happens in life?

I think not. Yes, having an even temperament is a good thing to have through all things, but if you do not know there is a purpose for what is happening, how can you have this temperament?

That is what we will see in the text we will look at today. We see in 1 Peter 4:12-19 that Peter is saying that we can have joy and this even temperament in life because we know what the events in life do and that they have purpose.

Any suffering we face here, as long as that suffering is for the Lord, is purposeful and something we should boast in and rejoice in.

Also, if we receive suffering because we did something stupid or we were acting out or poking our noses where we should not, then we received this as a judgment to turn away from that activity.

Let us look at the text 1 Pet. 4:12-19

1 Peter 4:12–19 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

The first thing we see in this text that shows us why things happen is:

Suffering is Normal (v. 12)

Right from the beginning Peter makes it clear that suffering is normal and not to catch us by surprise.

When the trial comes upon us we should not see it as strange. It should not be something that drives us away from the Lord.

All believers have been warned that trials and tribulations will come to us.

Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 3:12

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Christ told the disciples that the world will hate them because it hated Him first. We are His followers and as such, we will be hated and despised by the world.

This is the sufferings that Peter was talking about.

This hatred is like that of today. People mock and ridicule us for being Christians. We are made fun of and called names and snubbed.

Yet, we should not be surprised or even offended that we are. We should just look at them and say “Thank you for seeing that I am different than the rest of the world.”

What we should not be is surprised by this attack.

We should not be like the Three Amigos were when they realized their trip to Mexico was real and they were really being shot at.

They were called to go down and fix a situation. They arrive and run off a few of El Guapos men and the town loves them.

They thought it was a skit and a performance like they had been doing in Hollywood.

They face El Guapo himself and more of his men. They go through their skit and call them names and start running around in a circle firing their guns in the air like before.

El Guapo laughs and says he likes them and to only kill one.

Lucky Day is shot and falls off his horse. He gets up and goes up to the man who shot him and checks his gun to discover he had real bullets.

They then realize those men planned to kill them and they start crying and approach them and are told El Guapo only kills men. So he tells them to leave.

They run away scared and leave the town. Of course later they come back and save them but here they run.

This is how we are not supposed to be. We are to expect and know suffering is coming since we are Christians. We are little Christs. We are Christ followers. And as such we are to rejoice in these sufferings because when we do we are

We have Intimate Fellowship with Christ (v. 13)

As partakers of suffering we are partaking of the suffering of Christ.

We are being despised and ridiculed as He was. We are being shunned and rebuked by people.

They hate us and want us to go away and let them live how they want to live. They are being exposed by the light and it makes them uncomfortable.

Jesus said as much in John 3:20

John 3:20 ESV

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Paul said in Eph. 5:13

Ephesians 5:13 ESV

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,

People do not like that and they will revile and attack us for doing it. They had Christ nailed to a cross for doing it and we will receive like hatred.

That is a reason for rejoicing and joy when we are treated unfairly.

But, when we have entrusted ourselves to the will of God we can rejoice and know that no matter what comes it will all have a purpose even if it is bad. We can know that the unfair treatment will ultimately be for the good and we do not need to be as the farmer was with the horse and not know whether good or bad will come of it, we know good will come of all that happens to us.

We know this because of what the end of the verse says. We can rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.

This is when we see Him in glory. When we stand before Him and we stood firm and rejoiced when we were scorned and ridiculed. We will not shrink in shame at Him because we have stood with Him and shared His sufferings with joy. We had intimate fellowship with our savior.

We will have:

No Shame but Blessing(vv. 14-16)

In these verses we see that by being insulted for the name of Christ is a blessing. It is because when faced with trials and standing strong we have the Spirit of God resting upon us.

This is powers, conditions, which come upon someone or under whose influence someone is.

We have all received the Spirit at belief if you are saved. But the Spirit can give us more strength and power if necessary.

As Paul said in 2 Cor. 12:9

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

When we stand firm for the Lord and receive insults because 2 Cor. 12:10

2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In being insulted and us not wavering because of them we have the Spirit of power of the Lord resting on us. We are influenced by His power and not that of the world.

This is what drove Christ to continue. His submission to the Father’s will and the power of the Spirit in Him. We have this same Spirit and we can face tremendous hardship and insults because of this.

Yet, only if the hardship and insult is from the outside ridiculing us as faithful followers of Christ.

As one commentary says about this issue,

While Christians should expect to be insulted or mocked by virtue of their testimony and lifestyle, these insults must stem from their association with Jesus Christ, not their own idiosyncrasies or abrasive nature (Paul A. Himes).

(Paul A. Himes, 1 Peter, ed. Douglas Mangum, Elizabeth Vince, and Abigail Salinger, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).

Simply, we are not to be troublemakers in what we do for Christ.

If we go and witness and share Christ with someone and they ask us to leave them alone, we need to leave them alone. We do not need to become a burden and grief to them and annoy them.

If we get arrested for being public nuisances and because we have been trespassing, then we are suffering for our own stupidity.

For example:

A Christian may knock on the door of a new neighbor, welcome them to the neighborhood, give them a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and then invite them to church and try to share the gospel with them; if the Christian is mocked and insulted as a result of that, then such a Christian is blessed. If, on the other hand, the same Christian refuses to leave the neighbor’s porch, walks on their grass, and attempts to witness in an obnoxious manner and refuses to take no for an answer, such a Christian will be reviled for being a jerk rather than for being a Christian. Such a Christian can hardly expect the King to be pleased with his ambassador.

(Paul A. Himes, 1 Peter, ed. Douglas Mangum, Elizabeth Vince, and Abigail Salinger, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).)

Nor should we be busybodies, or meddlers. If we are meddling into things that are none of our business and we get insulted, that is our own fault too and not pleasing to Jesus.

These are the gossips who will not listen to things that are good to hear and spread but will perk up and get every sordid detail from someones life not to cure or help but to expose and spread.

Many will do this under the guise of prayer. They will say things have you heard about so-and-so rather than saying I know of a person who needs prayer because of things happening in their life. We do not need to say names unless the person specifically asks.

But if we are suffering for the name of Jesus then we are suffering correctly.

The term Christian was a slanderous name in the time of this writing. They were ridiculed and mocked for it.

See Acts 11:26

Acts 11:26 ESV

and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 26:28

Acts 26:28 ESV

And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

Yet, it is fitting because in its simplest meaning it means “those who follow Christ” (Peter A. Himes, Lexham 1 Peter).

So if you are ridiculed as a believer as a Christian, if you are being insulted and provoked and condemned because you are a Christian, rejoice when life treats you unfairly. That is something to glory in and celebrate.

It is an honor to be condemned as that. Like Peter an John when they were beat for their faith they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to be beat for the name of Christ (Acts 5:40-41).

They knew it was good and joyous to be beaten for such. They knew this because they knew

Suffering is only Temporary (vv. 17-19)

What we must know is that we only suffer in time not eternity as unbelievers will. Our suffering is only brief and in the here and now.

Judgment comes to us, discipline and testing as we looked at last week, which refines us and purifies us for the proper mission. If this judgment that seems so bitter and harsh to us now is this bad, what do we think will be the judgment to those who are not believers or have not been obedient and stood faithfully?

This is part of this text here. Those who do not obey the gospel of God are those who don’t stand firm and faithfully but weaken. They will receive much more than we have received in our insults and hardships.

Look at Eze. 9:6

Ezekiel 9:6 ESV

Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.

Amos 3:1-2

Amos 3:1–2 (ESV)

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

God will strongly punish those who are His if they falter and behave wrongly.

He will do so much more to those who are not His because they mock Him and ridicule His own.

He will exact vengeance on them and they will hate Him for eternity and curse Him for eternity. They will not change in their eternal abode.

This should drive us to stand strong and remain faithful and take all the mockings and ridicule they can throw at us.

We should seek to take Christ crucified and raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins to as many as possible.

We as believers will all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ one day as Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:10

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

If we have faltered and failed to do right by the Lord we will not receive rewards and I believe we will feel shame at this judgment for what we did not do.

If we who are His will stand at that judgment what worse will the unbeliever stand at?

The Great White Throne Judgment of Rev. 20:11-15. All those who stand there will be cast into the lake of fire and consumed.

We will be allowed in Heaven and glory but them to eternal misery.

So let us suffer. Let us have insults and hardships. But let us bear them all Joyful When Treated Unfairly because we have entrusted our souls to God’s will. When we have done this we will be able to endure it all because we will know that all things are working for a purpose and plan.

We are tested and tried and insulted to build our character and intimacy with the Lord. Everything happens for that good. Let us not be like the farmer from the beginning who did not know whether something was good or bad. We know all is for good because it drives us into a closer intimacy with the Lord.

Conclusion

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.

We all know this saying and it is a fact. Words may cause grief for a minute but they do not hurt you, at least if you are committed to God and His ways.

We will be insulted and ridiculed but that is okay. Jesus suffered far worse and when we are insulted and suffering for Him we are sharing His sufferings with Him.

We have ultimate intimacy with Him and we can fully embrace that little childhood saying. We are God’s children and our Father is greater than all. We can trust Him to guide and protect us but even if we suffer and are persecuted we are not to bow or give in but trust Him through the fire just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did.

God is for us not against us and because of that we can stand firm and take anything that comes. Jesus did for us. We can stand for what He stood for. We can be mocked and made fun of who cares?

Let them mock and ridicule we can make it through because of the Lord.

If you run and are afraid you too can return like the Three Amigos did and win the battle.

You can Christian because you have the Spirit of the Lord with you and He can carry you through anything.