Our passage from the Word of God this morning comes from the epistle of 1 Peter. If you turn there with me in your Bibles, if you are unfamiliar where 1 Peter 4 is found, it's found in your few Bibles on page 1296. 1 Peter 4. We'd like to consider verses 12 to 19 in particular this morning, but I will read the entire chapter, chapter 4 of 1 Peter. 1 Peter 4. This is God's inspired, holy, infallible, and inerrant word for us. 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, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. 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. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 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. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. And now the passage we'll be considering this morning. 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 as 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 barely scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their lives to a faithful creator while doing good. It's the end of our reading from this passage this morning, but please feel free to keep your Bibles out so that you can refer back to our passage. Dear congregation, I think it's a fairly safe assumption that very few of you enjoy or rejoice in or look forward to going to your family dentist. In fact, unless you are a dentist by profession, you stay clear of the dentist's office if you can help it at all, because, let's be honest, it can be a bit intimidating, can't it? One nervous dental patient once came into the office and told the receptionist that he was there to make an appointment with the dentist. And very apologetically, the receptionist said, I'm sorry, sir, but the dentist is out right now, but... And the edgy patient interrupted. Thank you, he says. Tell me when he'll be out the next time. You see, he'd become accustomed to planning his trips to the dentist's office around the absence of the dentist, not when he was there. It can be a painful experience, can't it? But what might be even more painful is the thought of sending your little girl, your little daughter, to the dentist for the very first time for her first tooth pull. I'm sure there are at least a few of you in the audience today who have had experience with this. And like a good parent, you try to prepare your child as best you can for this very first tooth pull. You assure her that there won't be very much pain involved. And like good parents, you try to safeguard her from any anxiety or any worry about the upcoming surgery. You promise her endless hours of cartoons and Jell-O and pudding and ice cream if she's a good girl for the dentist. It's going to be okay. You promise her. But after the surgery, your little daughter is absolutely miserable and she limps into the waiting room. She's white as a sheet and she is experiencing for the very first time in her life a kind of pain that she has never known before. And she is upset with you because this pain, this surgery, all the discomfort that came along with it was not what she was expecting. She wasn't prepared for this kind of pain. She was surprised by her suffering. She wasn't expecting this. My brothers and sisters in Christ, have you ever been surprised? Have you ever been shocked, maybe, when suffering or trial, extreme difficulty has entered into your life? I think we all have at some point or another. And perhaps the reason that we are shocked or surprised at suffering is because we haven't thought as carefully about what the Bible teaches about the matter of suffering as believers. The theme of suffering is actually central to the overall book of 1 Peter. The Apostle Peter brings it up in chapter 1, verse 6, where he reminds his Christian audience that they have been grieved by various kinds of trials to test the genuineness of their faith. Peter brings up the matter of suffering once again in chapter 3, verse 13, and carries it into our passage that we will be considering this morning. But if there's any central teaching or central message from our passage that the Lord would have us hear and consider this morning, it's this, and we can't miss it. The Lord is teaching us this morning that God's people, You and I, as those who belong to God through Jesus Christ, we participate in the very sufferings of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in order to share in his glory. As believers, we share in the very sufferings of Christ in order that we might also share in his glory. And so what we want to notice this morning is that suffering should not surprise us. Rather, we should expect it. In fact, suffering should be very familiar to us who belong to Jesus Christ. But sufferings of all kinds are extremely difficult. And our passage this morning is also going to deal with and discuss and provide an answer for the fear and the anxiety and the doubt that creeps in during periods of extreme suffering. Before we look more closely at that, though, there may be a question running through your mind right about now. And the question is, what exactly counts as suffering after all? You may say, you know, I have some physical pain, maybe a bad back. It's difficult. It hurts. It is trying for my patients, but is it suffering? My children are not following the Lord. My grandchildren have turned away from Him, you may say. And it grieves my soul, grieves my heart to see that. The economy is very hard. Jobs are very hard to come by. I'm struggling to provide for my family. But are these difficult things suffering as Christians? It's an important question to at least consider. Well, I think there are at least two elements of suffering that we need to recognize from God's Word and from our passage today. Now, first of all, the Apostle Peter is comforting Christians who are enduring intense struggle and persecution at the hands of unbelievers because they are witnessing to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They are bearing the name of Christ and their unbelieving neighbors oppose the Christ they serve. And we're going to look just a bit later about how we can expect this kind of suffering as Christians, even in our world, our day and time. Suffering for bearing the name of Christ. But we also need to notice another element of Christian suffering. And that is this, that anywhere and in any way you endure the painful effects of sin in this world. It's a form of suffering because it was on account of sin, it was on account of evil that Christ suffered and died. And we're going to notice in just a while that as believers, we are taken up into the very sufferings of Christ because we are united to Him by faith in everything that He's done for us. So that wherever you battle Satan and his allies, wherever you encounter evil and death and tragedy in your lives, those painful experiences, you suffer as a Christian for Christ. But now the question comes to us once again. How should we press on? How should we keep going in the midst of suffering and persecution in order that we might participate not only in Christ's sufferings, but ultimately in His glory. Well, first of all, with joy. Now, I realize I noticed in your bulletins this morning that the printer wasn't cooperating and cut off some of the notes I see in some of the bulletins. Is that right? Yeah. So, I will give you those points so that you can fill those in. First of all, how do we press on? First of all, with joy, not surprise in suffering. With joy, not surprise in suffering. And we're going to be looking at verses 12 to 13. Secondly, considering that we share glory with glory, but not shame in suffering. Glory, not shame in suffering. Verses 14 to 16. And then finally, we press on under persecution and suffering in obedience, but not bitterness in suffering. Obedience, but not bitterness in suffering. We'll be looking at verses 17 to 19. Well, in our passage, particularly verses 12 to 13, the Lord has come to His church to comfort them. He calls them His beloved children. And He comes to them affectionately to lay out the first lesson for them as suffering Christians. And He says to them, first of all, you should not be surprised by your suffering. As though something odd, as though something strange were occurring in your life. It's God's will, he says, that you should suffer. Peter writes to the Christians, a fiery trial is coming to test you. And there are more extreme trials on the way. But, one of the very first comforting messages that he provides is this, that there is a point. There's a purpose to the suffering that the Christians are enduring. And Peter teaches them here, as he did in chapter 1, verse 6 and 7, That just as gold, just as precious metal is cleansed and purified through intense fire, so their faith is tested, is purified through suffering. But that biblical message regarding the purpose and the point of suffering, the reality that we should not be surprised by these trying times, that message is rejected by many in our world who try desperately to suppress the reality of suffering in our lives. And sadly, that kind of thinking has even crept into the church. Health and wealth preachers often try to minimize the reality of suffering in the Christian life. They teach that suffering is simply the result of weak faith. It's the result of poor economic choices or lack of prayer. Some go so far as to suggest that suffering in the Christian life is just an illusion. It's not real. And God will rescue us as Christians from this world before any real trial, any real tribulation actually takes place. But that, of course, is not the biblical teaching on the matter of suffering, is it? Rather, the Lord teaches that we ought not be surprised by suffering, but in suffering we are taught to meditate on the cross of Jesus Christ and rejoice insofar as we share in the sufferings of Christ himself. We want to look at what that means. What does it mean to suffer with Christ, for Christ? How do we share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ? That idea is often misunderstood. What it does not mean is that we ought to receive joy from the persecution itself, as if we are to become hardened men and women who get our jollies, get our joy and our happiness by enduring pain, by standing up with courage and strength to stand tall in hard times and to prove to everyone else that we are self-made men and women. That is not what it means to take joy in suffering. Persecution, suffering, are occasions for rejoicing for one principal reason. Because we participate with. We are bonded together with Christ by faith in everything that He has accomplished for us. For example, we are united together with Christ. We are linked together with Him in justification and sanctification so that right now God truly declares us holy. We are linked together with Christ. We are bonded together with Him in glory, Ephesians tells us, so that right now we reign with Him by faith above all powers of evil and above Satan himself. And brothers and sisters, because we are united to Christ in everything that He has done for us, then we are certainly united, bonded together with Him in His sufferings and in His death. Every time you suffer for the sake of Christ, you bear within you the dying of Christ so that the resurrection power and resurrection life of Christ may be revealed in you. And so you see, it becomes a joy, a privilege, a cause for rejoicing to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings as His people. In fact, our Scripture tells us that your sufferings are like Christ's because having been made righteous by Him, you now suffer as His righteous children with Him. Your sufferings witness to the sufferings of Christ. And your lives are to be even patterned after Christ's in a very real way. But we need to also notice, very importantly, that Christ's sufferings are very unique. 1 Peter 1.21, for example, reminds us that Christ did suffer as an example to us. In fact, it says we are called to suffer because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you might follow in his steps. But we need to remember that Jesus is not simply an example for how we are to endure suffering. Christ is not simply a moral coach. He's the sovereign Savior of our souls. Christ's suffering is one of a kind for us because He actually bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we would die to sin and live to righteousness. Only His suffering actually atoned for sin. And that's something your suffering and mine could never do. could it? But because Christ suffered and died to bring us to God, to unite us to himself, that's another reason why we can rejoice in our sufferings rather than be surprised in our suffering. Because Christ suffered perfectly in our place, he brought us to God so that suffering is no longer a threat to us. It's no longer a threat. It's a testimony of what Christ has already accomplished in and for us by His own suffering on the cross. It's a promise also of what He will do for us. And that joyful promise, according to our passage, is that your suffering for Christ right now as a Christian prepares you for even a greater joy that will take place, that you will enjoy when you see Christ face to face, when His glory is revealed, as our passage says. Verse 13 literally calls you to rejoice right now that you share in Christ's sufferings so that one day you may be overjoyed, exceedingly joyful when His glory is revealed. The participle used in the original language expresses the idea that we should be exalting Jubilating, skipping, and bubbling over with delight in suffering even because of the greater glory that we are going to inherit because of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul expressed. Even while chained in a Roman prison, he could say, I rejoice in the Lord always. And I will even say it again, rejoice in suffering. And we can join Paul in rejoicing in our sufferings now. But nothing compares to the even greater joy and glory that is still to come, which Christ has already accomplished for us through His own unique suffering. What a beautiful promise that allows us to be joyful rather than surprised in suffering. But this passage goes on in verses 14 to 16 to describe another way that we can press on, keep going, when persecution and suffering touch our lives. And the passage calls us, God calls us in His Word, to suffer as Christians unashamed, all the while praising and rejoicing in the glory of God. But now you may say, suffering is hard. It doesn't feel, it doesn't seem glorious or blessed at all. When my co-workers joke or sneer at me because I run my business honestly and with integrity, I feel ashamed sometimes, you might say. When I refuse to use the dirty language that my friends use on the playground, and when I don't run off with them and engage in their worldly, immature behavior, sometimes I feel embarrassed. When I stand up for my Lord's Day commitments and I try to explain it to my boss, he just doesn't understand. And he ridicules me in front of everybody else. That hurts. It doesn't feel blessed. It doesn't feel glorious to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ. And yet, that's exactly what our passage calls us to recognize that we aren't to be ashamed. Suffering does not seem, nor does it feel glorious or blessed, But look at what our passage says in verse 14. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. There's a beautiful, tremendous contrast here that we need to take notice of because it provides such great hope and strength in the midst of suffering. the reality is that you may seem to be treated very ingloriously. You may seem to be disgraced for the sake of Christ. Suffering, as I said, doesn't feel glorious. Doesn't feel blessed. But the contrast is this. The truth of the matter is this. That God's very Spirit, the Spirit who is glorious and majestic and powerful, rests on you in suffering. The very Spirit of Christ Himself. In your suffering, brothers and sisters in the Lord, you experience the intimate power and presence of God, not His absence. And so again, the beautiful contrast is this. While great insults may be heaped on you to shame you and to disgrace and malign you, far more abundantly than that shame The Spirit of the glory of God bestows the glory of God on you. The very glory connected with Christ is yours by the blessing of the Holy Spirit in suffering so that you don't need to be ashamed. You don't need to be ashamed. But notice, however, that the passage says there's a big difference between suffering as a Christian for Christ and suffering as a thief. Suffering as a meddler, as an evildoer, it's only when we suffer as Christians for the sake of Christ that we will truly suffer and truly be blessed as a result. And so you see, as our passage goes on to describe, to bear the name Christian is an immense privilege. It's an honor, a blessing. Our passage says, if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. It's a privilege, but it's an immense, immense challenge as well. You may know that in its earliest use, the label Christian was given to believers not to show respect, but rather to ridicule them. In fact, the word Christian occurs only three times in the New Testament. And it's only here in our passage in 1 Peter 4 where it's used by someone other than an opponent of the Christian faith. For example, in Acts 26, we hear of Herod Agrippa asking Paul, Do you think, Paul, that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian? Well, he's not using the word to show respect for Paul. He's ridiculing Paul. So then why does Peter use this name Christian, this badge, this marker Christian, which has so many connotations of ridicule? Why does he use this word Christian for believers and then go on to say, don't be ashamed as you bear that name? The name was regarded as a shameful one. So what is Peter telling the believers? What is he teaching us? Well, he's teaching that as bearers of Christ's name, as those who share in His sufferings, we can expect to be insulted and suffer innocently as Christ did. Because our identity is bound up in Christ as believers, we can expect persecution and possibly even death for the true faith that we profess that's represented in the hated name Christian. But the Lord calls us not to be ashamed. Though all manner of shame is heaped on you to shame you and to shame the Gospel and to shame our Lord Jesus Christ, He says you don't need to be ashamed because you are blessed and the glory of God is bestowed upon you in suffering. Many of you know that during World War II, the Jews were branded with the yellow Star of David as a symbol of hatred, as a symbol of scorn. And the badge that they wore said something about their identity. But after the Holocaust, and because of what the Jewish people suffered, that star took on a symbol, a meaning of nationalism and pride. No more shame is attached to that symbol. Well, in a similar way, brothers and sisters, don't be ashamed to wear the badge Christian. Don't be reluctant to be so bound up and connected to Jesus Christ that it is His name by which people mock and scorn you. Rather, in all circumstances, praise Him. Give Him glory for the opportunity, for the blessed privilege to belong to Christ. To share in His glory even in the midst of suffering. Don't be ashamed to bear that name. Give glory to God even in the midst of trial and suffering. But finally, notice that God calls you and I to endure suffering for Christ's sake with obedience, rather than bitterness, rather than anger when things go against us. But we need to take notice here that Peter's call to the church to obey in the midst of suffering, to remain faithful in the presence of this present evil age, that call comes with a unique warning for the household of God. And he says in this passage that the period of God's judgment has arrived. The very end of the world, of the age, is near. And he says it's God's house, God's family, His church, His congregation that's first in line for the cleansing process. Notice what our passage says. It's time for judgment to begin at the household of God. It's the congregation of God where the lightning of God's judgment strikes first. But wait a minute. What kind of judgment is this? What kind of judgment is the Apostle speaking of here? Well, it's important that we notice that in this context, it's not punitive judgment. It's not punishment that the Apostle is speaking of. Because remember the words of Romans 8. For those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. No condemnation at all. If you are in Christ by faith, there is no fear of punishment. Christ has taken our punishment, and yet this warning is real. And it calls each and every one of us to examine ourselves, to look deeply within us, to know with biblical certainty that we are children of God in the midst of this present evil age. We're called to heed the warning that though God's judgment does come to us first, it comes not to punish, but rather to cleanse, to purify, to prepare us for glory. And that's why in chapter 1, 6-7, Peter says this judgment or this cleansing judgment comes so that your faith, which is of greater worth than gold, which perishes though refined by fire, may prove genuine and may result in the praise and the glory and the honor of God when Jesus is revealed. What a sweet comfort. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, what a sweet comfort that God does not execute His judgment of condemnation upon us. Instead, He marks us with His Spirit. He brands us as His own children with Christ's name so that when we do suffer, we suffer only for God's cause and only for His name. We must keep this in mind as we suffer as Christians in this present evil age. But notice what else the Apostle says about suffering in this life. He says that we need to realize that our suffering now, as believers, is only a foretaste. Just a small sample of the judgment of the world that is coming. And he emphasizes that fact by asking two rhetorical questions. In verse 17, he asks, basically, if believers, if you and I suffer right now the way we do, what will happen to the ungodly and the unbeliever on the last day? And again, in verse 18, he asks something similar. If a righteous person is scarcely or barely rescued, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear on the last day? If even the people of God, the church, need to be cleansed and purified from our sins, how much more the ungodly who refuse to heed God's Word and obey the Gospel? And the verdict is their judgment will be even greater by far. But how is it that you and I will be scarcely saved? Well, we need to notice that scarcely saved doesn't mean barely saved, as if we just squeak by. What the Apostle is teaching here is that salvation comes to us as believers in this present evil age with judgment impending. Salvation comes to us even in the midst of suffering. That the process of sanctification, of becoming holy, is a bumpy road. And John Calvin compares your Christian walk and life to a ship tossed on stormy seas between sharp cliffs and rocks. He says it's hard for the righteous to be saved in that the way to salvation is thorny and it's difficult for God's elect. The course of this world is like sailing between rocks in the middle of the storm And if you reach shore, if you reach port safely, you've escaped a thousand deaths along the way. That's the reality of living the Christian life in this present evil age. But the comfort that is provided for us here, the comfort that allows us not to be angry or bitter when suffering enters our lives, the comfort and assurance that comes to us is that in the midst of the stormy sea, That we are guided by the hand of our faithful Creator. We have no cause to fear that our souls will be shipwrecked. We have no reason to respond with anger or bitterness in the trials of this life as long as we have our God as our pilot, as the captain of our lives. The course of this Christian life is hard. Very hard. It's paved with potholes. It's lined with ditches. And so again, the question comes to us, how do we press on in faith, in obedience, while continuing to do good in the midst of the suffering of this life? How do we remain exceedingly joyful rather than bitter in the sufferings of this life? The answer comes to us in this passage. We endure suffering. We remain joyful in the Lord because our souls have been entrusted to our faithful God. Our souls have been entrusted to our faithful Creator. Because your suffering, brothers and sisters, lies within the permission and the will of our faithful God, you can then know that you can certainly rely on Him for the protection and blessing and provision in the midst of your trial. In faith, you can claim His complete rule over your life. You can trust Him actively to rely on His goodness. And you can look to none other than God Himself as refuge in the storm. That's His wonderful, beautiful promise. And so, I call you, and God's Word calls you to trust Him and His goodness. Because He alone is the one who gives you the power and the strength to live obedient, not bitter or angry lives in the midst of the suffering of this life. He's the one who enables you and empowers you to continue to do good as you entrust yourself to your faithful and loving Creator. And we see that Christ our Lord did the same. 1 Peter 2.23 tells us that when evil men hurled their insults at Him to shame Him, He didn't retaliate. He didn't retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. He didn't respond in bitterness or anger. He entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. And we can do the same by the grace and power of God as we are united to Christ by faith. And obedience, continuing to do good, is the fruit and the outcome of trusting God in the midst of trials and suffering. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, how do you press on in the midst of suffering and persecution? How do you press on when you feel that you have no strength left to give? With great rejoicing. With jubilation. With exaltation. Because you share in the sufferings of Christ Himself and you have the guarantee of future glory. How do you press on? With praise and with worship. Glorifying God, not being ashamed of your sufferings. Because through those trials, you glorify Christ, your Savior. How do you press on in persecution and suffering with obedience rather than bitterness? Because God is preparing you and He is empowering you to stand firm until your final deliverance from suffering when Christ comes again to rescue you from this present evil age when He comes as Savior and Judge. Because you belong to Jesus Christ, because you are His children, you will be delivered from all suffering and you will receive the crown of righteousness and peace that God alone can grant. God in Christ has already triumphed over Satan and sin and death and tragedy and anything that stands in the way of the Gospel. He's already accomplished this. God's strength, God's power has already been manifest in weakness at the cross of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's finished. That's what Jesus cried as He concluded His sufferings. And now your victory is assured while you suffer. Even as you walk through the valley of death's dark shadow. Take hold of that comfort. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, trials and sufferings, difficulties of all kinds enter into our lives and we find ourselves so weak and frail and unable to cope. We thank You for Your provision in Jesus Christ. who after suffering and being tempted was made perfect through that suffering and is now fully capable of drawing us to Yourself even in the midst of our suffering. Because we suffer with Christ, we thank You for the wonderful promise that we even now and one day in the consummate sense will share in the glory of Jesus Christ. That is our hope. That is our confidence. And Lord, as we go out into this week to serve You, as we go out into this week and can be fully expecting suffering of various kinds, may You be our captain and our pilot that You would bring us safely to shore. In all these things we pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.