Speaker: While you're seated, we do wanna do our memory verse.
So if you're thinking, oh, he forgot we didn't, we're gonna do it together.
It's part of actually our passage today.
So first Peter three 15, the blanks are up there.
We've got one more week of blanks.
We took mercy.
And so next week, no blanks, but in your hearts.
Okay, we're gonna do this together.
Ready?
This is how it goes.
Ready.
But in your hearts, honor Christ, the Lord as holy.
Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason, for the hope that is in you.
Yet do it with gentleness and respect.
One Peter three 15.
Let's do it one more time, but in your hearts, honor Christ, the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason, for the hope that is in you.
Yet do it with gentleness and respect.
One Peter three 15.
Awesome, thank you.
Next week we're gonna do it without any blanks.
We are talking about suffering again, and maybe you're sitting out there
going, man, really suffering again.
And yet, here's where I think this is encouraging for us as a church.
The Bible doesn't tell us that this life is going to be easy.
So if you've found that this life has been anything but easy as a Christian, well
then I, I think you're in good standing.
This life is, is not meant to be comfortable.
Remember, Peter is writing to those who are elect.
Exiles meaning those that aren't at home.
And so as those that aren't at home, as we suffer in this world,
we should suffer expecting that we are gonna face opposition.
And it's a great comfort to us to know that the Bible addresses that.
That God doesn't just say, well, uh, your life is a Christian is
gonna be, it's gonna be hunky dory.
It's gonna go great, and nothing's ever gonna be a problem for you.
Because what we would find then is when we look at reality, which is
that we do face opposition and we do suffer, we would say, wait a minute.
What's wrong with where I'm at?
And so in some ways the fact that the Bible does revisit
suffering so often should be a great comfort to us as Christians.
And in fact, this morning we're gonna talk more about suffering
as the world attacks us.
We're gonna talk about the fact that God has a purpose for our
suffering when we are slandered, reviled, accused, whatever it may be.
God has a purpose for that.
He, he's not left us as one author.
Put it this way.
We're not a drift in chaos.
Uh, she goes on and says to me, that's the most fortifying, most stabilizing,
most peace giving thing that I know about anything in the universe.
Every time that things have seemingly fallen apart in my life, I've gone back
to those things that do not change.
Nothing in this universe can change those facts.
He loves me and I am not at the mercy of chance.
The person that wrote those words is Elizabeth Elliot.
If you know anything about her story, she lost not only one husband
being Jim Elliot as the Wani tribe that he was trying to reach with.
The gospel ended up murdering him and his companions there on that beach.
She not only lost him, but she lost another husband late in her life.
This woman knew what it was to suffer, and she concludes in the yet.
Nothing in the universe can ever change those facts.
He, God loves me and I am not at the mercy of chance.
I don't know where you are this morning as you gather with us, but wherever
you are, if you are in Christ, you can say the same thing this morning.
You are not at the mercy of chance.
God has you.
Where you are facing what you're facing, even suffering for a distinct
purpose and the confidence that you can have this morning is the confidence
that suffering is never for nothing.
When you suffer opposition, when you go up against somebody who is
persecuting you for your relationship with Jesus, it's never pointless.
It's always going to be a catalyst for your good and his glory.
Every time you suffer as a believer for good, it's always a catalyst
for your good in God's glory.
Our job, our job, is simply to avail ourselves to what he's
doing in it and through it.
Take your Bibles if you're not already there and open up
to one Peter chapter three.
We're gonna be in verses 13 through 17.
First Peter three, verse 13 and 14 says this.
Now, who is there to harm you if you're zealous for what is good,
but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed.
Have no fear of them nor be troubled.
Peter begins now who is there to harm you If you're zealous for what's
good, the word harm there, it means to afflict you, to cause harm, to
cause suffering to come upon you.
Who's there there to harm you if you are zealous?
Now he's asking this in the future tense.
Who's going to what, what suffering can really befall you If you are
zealous, if you are enthusiastic, if, if you are committed to, if
you are deeply committed to that, which is good, that which is good.
What he means, I believe by that, which is good, is everything that Peter's
been talking about with us all the way from chapter two verse 11, all the way
down through chapter three, verse 12.
We go back and, and you think about what is good being sub submitting ourselves
to governing authorities and suffering well under that, it means looking at the
Master of slave relationship there and submitting even to cruel masters in, in
that context, it looks like, uh, the, the wife submitting herself to her husband
and winning him over, even without a word, it looks like the husband living
with his wife in an understanding manner.
And it even looks like what we talked about last week, not repaying evil
for evil or reviling for reviling.
This is the good that we need to be zealous for.
Peter asks the question, who is going to harm you?
Who's gonna hurt you?
Who's gonna afflict you?
If you're zealous for what is good?
In other words, if you're zealous for your pursuit of Jesus.
'cause remember right in the midst of all of that that I just talked
about, there was that statement that he said, Hey, Christ suffered
for you, leaving you an example.
So you should follow in his steps.
And so Peter saying, if you're following Jesus, and that means
opposition, that means persecution, that means suffering for you.
The question becomes who's gonna hurt you?
There are some that believe that this is a general statement there
that Peter's making, uh, just a, a nod to, well, you know what, if you
pursue what's good, if you're a good person, people aren't gonna hurt you.
I don't buy it.
I think when you look at the context of everything that I just talked
about, let's answer Peter's question.
Who could harm me if I'm zealous for what's good?
Well, the Gentiles could harm us, not us, because we are all,
most of us in the room, Gentiles.
The governor's authorities, they, they could hurt us.
They could imprison us.
They could kill us.
Okay.
Yeah.
So Gentiles Governors the cruel masters.
They, they could hurt us.
They could physically hurt us.
They could hurt us in other ways.
Um, unbelieving spouses.
They could hurt us.
They could hurt us, for sure, especially emotional hurt there.
And then there's just the world at large that, that's kind of a blanket category.
They, they could do some harm to us too.
So we could answer Peter pretty evidently here and be like, well, Peter, there's,
there's plenty of people that could hurt us, which is why we have to do a
little bit more digging to understand.
What did he refer to when he said, who's there to harm you?
What did he mean by this harm?
Peter doesn't imply anywhere that we should expect a life free from suffering.
In fact, the opposite.
We're gonna get there when he's gonna say, beloved, don't be surprised at the
fire of trial when it comes upon you.
Is there something strange happen?
Is happening to you?
This is what it means to follow Jesus.
And so Peter's not suggesting that we should live a life free from suffering.
In fact, one commentator said this suffering stalks the Christian.
How's that for a nice, warm thought this morning?
It's true though.
Suffering stalks the believers.
We seek to follow Christ in a christless world.
We will face opposition to our faith.
Instead.
I think what Peter's doing here is he's trying to stimulate the thinking
of his audience, as he so often does, to get out from under the sun
to what's beyond it, so to speak.
If I can go to the book of Ecclesiastes with us, Peter's trying to get us
to think about not this life, but the life to come, and that's why
Peter puts this in the future tense.
He says, who will harm you?
Not who has harmed you?
Well then we can run through that laundry list.
Peter's saying, no.
Who will harm you?
Who can ultimately do any harm to you?
And what he's trying to get us to do is remember what's coming for us.
He's been here, right?
First Peter, chapter one, verses four and five.
I quoted it last week.
Here it is again, an inheritance, right?
We've been born again to a living hope.
To an inheritance.
And what's that inheritance like?
Well, it is imperishable.
It is Undefiled.
And it is unfading.
And where is it?
It's kept in heaven for you who are being guarded by God's power through
faith for that salvation ready to be revealed in the last times.
So who can touch your inheritance?
Nobody.
Nobody can.
So who's there to harm that?
Well, well, no one or what Paul says in Romans 8 31.
If God is for us, then what?
Yeah, but with a little bit more gusto, let's do it.
Huh?
If God is for us, then what?
Who can be against, who can be against us?
That's Peter's question here.
Who's there to harm you?
If you're zealous for what is good?
Remember what Jesus said?
You're like, which part?
This part?
He said, don't fear those that can only what?
Kill the body.
We hear that in the church and we're like, well, yeah, I've, I've heard that before.
Right?
We're not supposed to kill those that can fear those.
That can only kill the body.
And it sounds so spiritual, but think about that for just a second,
how radical that statement is.
Think about some of the deaths that Christians have died for their faith.
You think of the Marian martyrs that were burned at the stake,
refusing to recant their their faith.
You think of the disciples and some of the torturous deaths that they
died for their faith in Jesus Christ.
And Jesus says, don't be afraid of those that can just kill the body.
Why?
Because what is death?
It's a doorway into our presence with Jesus.
It's a doorway into that inheritance, this undefiled, that's imperishable, that's
unfading, that's kept in heaven for us.
And so Jesus, and, and then Peter likewise here, is trying to get us to
say, Hey, look, church, who is there to harm you ultimately if suffering
comes and, and yes, it's going to come.
But if suffering comes, what harm can they really do to you?
If your faith, your confidence, your hope, your certainty is secure in Christ.
In fact, he goes on and he says, on the contrary, even if you should suffer for
righteousness sake, he says, you're gonna be blessed when he says, but he's not
suggesting well, but even if you do as though like, well, most likely you won't.
But even if you do, no, he's saying even when you do, you
could think of it that way.
On the contrary, on the other hand, when you suffer for righteousness
sake, you don't need to be afraid.
It's not gonna harm you.
It's gonna lead to your blessing.
You're gonna be happy for that is what the word means.
Jesus, in Matthew chapter five said something very similar.
He said, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.
That's what Peter's talking about here.
When we suffer for righteousness sake, Jesus says, blessed, happy are those who
are persecuted for righteousness sake.
Why?
Well, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of
evil against you, falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad.
Why?
For your reward is great in heaven.
So even there in the Sermon on the Mount, what's Jesus doing?
He's saying you're gonna be blessed if you suffer for your faith.
And that blessing, that happiness, that joy that you have,
isn't necessarily earthbound.
It's heaven bound because you know where you're going, who's there to harm you
if you're zealous for what is good.
Instead, if you suffer for righteousness sake, and that's an
important qualifier there, right?
For righteousness sake, if somebody's opposing you because
you are following Jesus, he says, you're, you're gonna be blessed.
And so don't be afraid.
He says, have no fear of them nor be troubled.
Don't be gripped by a, a terror.
Don't be gripped by an anxiety about what if somebody comes at me?
What if I'm, I'm persecuted for my faith.
Don't be afraid of them.
Don't be troubled.
See church, Peter didn't want us unaware of the challenges that
lay in front of us as Christians.
Peter didn't want to paint this picture of following Jesus that
causes us when we suffer to say, wait a minute, what in the world?
Who, who?
Why didn't anybody tell me about this?
But on the other hand, Peter also didn't want us paralyzed
with fear over the suffering that will encounter as believers.
And so he writes and says this, he says, look, if your Christianity
is gonna cost you something, no, it's not gonna cost you Christ.
And that's the greatest hope that we have in that we rejoice and we find
a great deal of hope and security.
And so again, we're thinking about suffering suffering's always for
our good and the glory of God.
One of the reasons it's for our good is it's a great sign
of your security in Christ.
It's a great affirmation that you are doing things right.
Point number one this week is this.
Welcome suffering while secure in Christ.
Welcome, suffering while secure in Christ.
I've said it before.
Let me just hit a few verses here to show us that the Bible doesn't
hide the fact that as Christians, we should expect to suffer.
Romans eight 16 and 17.
Paul says The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
And if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
Notice this provided we suffer with him in order that we may
also be glorified with him.
To be a child of God, to be a co-heir with Christ is gonna involve
suffering, uh, before we get there.
In other words, Jesus said this in Matthew 10 38 and 39.
He says, whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life, for my sake will find it.
It.
Notice the suffering that's implied there and what discipleship looks like.
What is the cross?
We've made it an an instrument of, of beauty through
wearing it around our necks.
But what is the cross?
The cross is an instrument of torture.
It's an instrument of suffering.
So Jesus is telling his followers, Hey, you wanna follow me?
Okay.
Be ready to take up your cross and come after me.
You wanna follow me?
Okay?
Be ready to understand that it's not about life here.
It's gonna be about life there.
Jesus.
Also in John 1520 told his disciples this in the upper room, as he's getting
ready to go to the cross, as he's getting ready to go and leave them, he says this,
remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they persecuted Jesus, they'll persecute us.
And then one more, Paul says this to Timothy.
He says, anyone.
Who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Anyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ, Jesus will suffer for that faith.
I'd love to stand up here this morning and preach a message to you
all about how to avoid suffering and how to live a comfortable life as
a believer, as a follower of Jesus.
And yet the problem is I don't find that to be what the clear testimony
of scripture tells us to expect.
Your neighbor may mock your, your faith may curse you for
sharing Christ with them.
Your boss may threaten your job because a coworker complains to them, uh,
about how much you talk about Jesus.
Your spouse may despise your faith.
Your kids may reject your faith.
Your government may one day persecute your faith.
These are things as Christians that we have to not only
be ready for but to expect.
See Peter's not writing to comfort these Christian exiles with the thought that
the suffering they had already experienced was all they were gonna ever experience.
On the contrary, who was writing to prepare them for the suffering that
was going to come, that the, the greater suffering that was gonna come
and the comfort that he was offering them was a reminder that they were
going to be no matter what, secure in Christ who was there to harm you.
If you're zealous for what's good.
When we are zealous for the Lord, when we are zealous about following Jesus,
those are the times that when we face opposition, we will find it greatly
comforting to us because it's gonna be a sign that we're doing things
right, that we are following Jesus.
And, and that's the caveat here.
We, we have to be zealous for what is good if, if we're not.
Running hard after Christ.
If we're not zealous for what's good, what we're gonna find is we're gonna be
much more prone to, to avoid suffering.
We're gonna be much more tempted to compromise.
We're gonna be much more apt to, to deny the opportunity to share with
someone about Christ than we are to step into that because we're gonna be
afraid 'cause we're not gonna feel good about where we're at with the Lord.
Your security in Christ fluctuates from your point of view.
Let me say that.
From a God's eye view, it never will.
Your salvation is taken care of, accomplished at the cross.
We don't add a single thing to that.
It's done is what Jesus said, but your tangible experience of your relationship
with the Father, your relationship with God, your relationship with
Christ, that can fluctuate given how you are doing it, pursuing the Lord.
When you are in the word, when you are in prayer, when you are around the other
believers, when you're confessing and battling sin, when you're not harboring
bitterness and anger and things, you're gonna find that you are confident
and you're standing with the Lord.
You're on fire.
You're like, bring it.
Let's go.
Whatever opposition is out there, I'm ready for it.
But if you are on the other hand, starving the spirit within you.
If you're not in the word of God, if you're not praying, if you're not
around other believers, if you're harboring unrepentant, unconfessed
sin, if you're bitter and angry over the plight that you're facing, you
are not gonna feel very confident about where you're at with the Lord.
And when suffering comes up, you're gonna do everything you can to run from it.
And so that's why this caveat, being zealous for what is
good is so important to us.
We have to be running hard after Jesus.
And if you're running ha hard after Jesus and you encounter suffering,
what you will find is it is gonna be so confirming for you, it's gonna be that
sign that you are secure in Christ.
When I was a younger man, I, I used to ride rollercoasters and I was the,
the rollercoaster rider that I wanted.
The harness clicked as far down as possible.
Right, but sometimes you, you couldn't quite get it down as far as you want and
they hit go and you're taking off and you, you don't have fun on that ride.
There's a little bit too much.
Some of you are daredevils, you like the gap.
You like to come up off the seat a little bit on the dip.
I'm not that guy.
I want the, the lap bar all the way down.
I want the shoulder harness all the way down.
I'm gonna click it all the way.
And my problem is saying, are they gonna be able to get me outta this
thing when I get back to the the bay?
Listen, y'all, some of us need to, to take the lap bar of life, if I can
put it that way, and click it a few more clicks in our relationship with
the Lord so that you feel a little bit more secure when you encounter the
opposition that is inevitably gonna come on that rollercoaster, that hill
is gonna happen, that drop is gonna be there, and, and the, the firmness,
the tightness of that lap bar is gonna dictate how you experience that drop.
For us as, as Christians, we may need to double down on our,
our intake of the word of God.
For that extra click, we, we may need to increase our, our prayer time or
double down on our prayer time, or even start to say, I need to start praying.
Click.
Maybe.
It's looking like, man, as a Christian, I need to get accountability into
my life to help me battle this sin.
Click.
Or maybe as a, a believer in saying, I, I've got sin that
I've gotta confess and repent of.
Click, click, Steve.
We're zealous for what is good.
If, if we're taking care of our walk with Christ, then Christ is gonna take care
of us when the opposition comes our way, and we're gonna find that we are secure
through that, that we're not worried about it, that we know he's got us.
The more zealously you pursue Christ.
It's a a paradox, right?
The more zealously we pursue Christ, the more we should
expect to suffer for Christ.
And yet at the same time, the more secure we'll feel in Christ.
Suffering for Jesus shouldn't terrify us.
Like Peter said, it should comfort us.
It should comfort us that we're doing it right, that we're on the right track.
And the other thing it should do for us, it should.
Cause us to be looking for and ready for those opportunities.
'cause remember what I said, suffering that comes our way.
It's a catalyst for your good and also for what?
For the glory of God.
And so we should be looking for and ready for it should not only comfort
us, but it should also cause us to say, okay, if I'm going through something,
then that means God wants to use my life to testify to his goodness, his
kindness, and what he's doing here.
And that's where Peter goes next.
See, God's gonna use our suffering.
Sometimes he's gonna use your suffering to maybe refine you.
And, and this is the suffering that he can use as discipline in your life.
This is what Hebrews 12 talks about.
The, the father disciplines his son as an, in, in, in the, our, our God will
discipline us for our good just as a, an earthly father disciplines his son,
but he's also at times gonna use that suffering in our life to produce a
steadfastness in us, uh, a character in us that's gonna result in eternal rewards.
And, and Paul talks about that in Second Corinthians chapter four, that eternal
weight of glory, that this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us.
But then the other thing that suffering is gonna do, and this is
what we're talking about right here, is suffering, is going to cause those
that watch us suffer to look at us and say, what is wrong with you?
What do you have that I don't have?
And that's the testimony that we're after.
Look at verse 15.
He says this, but in your hearts, okay?
Don't be afraid.
Don't be troubled, he said, but instead in your hearts
honor Christ, the Lord is holy.
Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason, for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.
He starts out here, but this time it is adversive.
He is meaning the contrast here.
Don't be afraid.
Instead, but rather in your hearts honor Christ, the Lord is holy in your hearts.
Why?
In my heart?
Well, because this is telling me that, that if I'm gonna weather it externally,
I first need to be prepared internally.
Man, I gotta make sure that I've got the, the proper revere.
I've got the proper honor of the Lord.
I'm fearing God in my heart so that I'll be ready to suffer well on the outside.
So in your hearts honor Christ, the Lord is holy.
Literally, it's sanctify Christ the Lord.
This is not meaning that we are making him more holy.
This does not mean that we are honoring him more than, than he
already is honored or giving him more holiness than he already has.
Now rather what it's about is, is us revering him, us fearing him.
In fact, this is a quote again from in these verses that Peter is grabbing back
from the, the Old Testament again, back from the Tugen of Isaiah chapter eight.
So Isaiah chapter eight, verses 12 and 13 says this, do not fear what they fear.
Now lemme stop there for a second.
'cause the context is important to us understanding this.
In Isaiah chapter eight, Isaiah's writing to the southern kingdom
there and he's saying, look, I know the nations are all around you.
I know you've got Arum that's threatening you.
I know you've got Assyria on the rise, and, and they're gonna threaten you
and you're gonna be afraid of them.
Isaiah's saying, don't fear what the nation's fear.
Don't fear what the nations don't fear.
Don't fear other men nor being dread of them.
But verse 13, the Lord of hosts him.
You shall honor as holy.
Let him be your fear and let him be your dread.
Do you see the, the parallels here between this in our verse in verse 15.
In your hearts honor, Christ is holy, but the Lord of hosts
him, you shall honor as holy.
And so Peter is making an e equation here between Jesus and
Yahweh, between Jesus and God.
He's saying just as you honor God, he's saying to these suffering
saints in the, the, the dispersion that he's writing to here, you
also need to honor Christ that way.
And he's saying that to us as well.
We need to, in our hearts, honor Christ, the Lord as holy.
We need to be ready internally if we're gonna weather it externally.
We need to be ready internally if we're gonna be useful to the Lord externally.
He goes on and talks about that usefulness.
He says this, we need to honor him in, in our hearts as as holy,
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason, for the hope that's in you.
Always being prepared.
Back in high school, I was in a musical, seven brides for seven
Brothers, so only time I've ever worn, worn makeup in my life.
Yeah, only time I'll ever, while I'm still alive wear makeup.
But in this musical, I was a suitor.
So if you know the musical, I was a bad guy.
Guess what?
I'm the bad guy.
What?
Um, sorry.
Something that my kids get and none of you do.
I don't even know where that came from.
I was a bad guy.
I was a bad guy that was wearing makeup.
Bad guys.
A, a guy wearing makeup is always gonna be a bad guy.
Okay, we'll just put it that way.
I was a bad guy wearing makeup and I was not a big role in the
musical, and so I had a, a side role.
I was kinda off to the side and, and I had to make, if you've ever been in
a, in a play, the characters on the side because they're part of the scene.
They have to, to make conversation, but not audibly.
It's the most awkward thing I've ever done in my entire life.
I felt so outta place, but my best friend at the time, he was one of
the brothers, he had a starring role and he was obnoxious about it.
He was obnoxious about protecting his voice to the point that I
was like trying to cough on him.
Just like I wasn't even sick, but I was just like, I'm gonna get you sick.
The reason he was that was because he was thinking to himself, I have to be ready.
My role didn't matter if I got a little tickle in my throat, whatever.
'cause I was just really part of the chorus.
I wasn't doing any solos or anything else like that.
He had speaking roles, he had solos, so he had to care for his voice because
what happens in musical theater, if the star has a a problem with their
voice, the understudy steps in the star gets taken out hopefully to be able
to rest and recover and then come back into and be useful to the cast again.
Church, there are no understudies for you as Christians, and in fact, rather
than sideline you in suffering, God will often give you center stage in suffering.
Because he wants your hope to shine through.
He wants what we're talking about in verse 15 to happen, and so he wants
you ready no matter what you're going through, to step to center stage, and
give a defense to anyone who asks for a reason, for the hope within you.
Now.
Make a defense is the word apia in the Greek.
It's where we get our English word apologetics.
So a lot of times we'll look at this verse and be like, well, this is
the apologetics verse, but notice what we are making a defense of and
what we're not making a defense of.
Peter doesn't say, always be ready to make a defense for
young earth creationism here.
He doesn't say, always be prepared to make a defense for the global flood.
He doesn't say, always be prepared to make a defense for the the fine tuned nature
of the universe, or for the ontological argument for the existence of God.
He doesn't say that.
He says, always be prepared to make a offense to anyone who asks you
why you're so hopeful as you suffer.
That's what we need to be ready for.
It's not that those other things don't matter, they do, but not
in this context, in this context.
Your evangelistic impact on a lost world as you suffer is going to be you remaining
hopeful to the point that they're gonna ask you to testify to that hope.
That's what that word means.
The reason it's Lagos in the Greek, it's the same as in the beginning was
the word, and the word was with God.
Hey, always be ready to give a word.
Give a message, give an account, give a testimony for the hope that's within you.
This is a hope that Peter's talked about multiple times already in
the letter one Peter one, three.
Blessed to be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's caused
us to be born again to a living hope.
To a living Hope one.
Peter one 13, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So here's how it works.
The Christian suffers for his or her faith.
The world doesn't understand and asks for a reason for the hope
that you have as you suffer.
And now you as a Christian have an opportunity to give testimony to bear
witness to your confidence in Jesus.
That's why your suffering is always a catalyst for your good and the glory of
God, because your suffering is always gonna be a platform for the glory of God.
Only God can take our suffering as we suffer for what is good and turn
it into a platform for his glory.
Only God can redeem your suffering that way.
Our second point this week, along those lines is this, let your suffering
spotlight your hope in Christ.
Let your suffering spotlight your hope in Christ.
As long as you are pursuing him zealous for what is good, as long as
you are doing that, the Lord can use anything in your life including the
suffering that you experience for your faith as a platform for His glory.
Back in Matthew chapter five, sermon on the Mount Again, Jesus is preaching and he
says this, you are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it
under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may
see your good works and give glory to your father who's in heaven.
The scene here is not of you just walking through, as you know, a field of
daisies and whatever, and just looking all lights to a bunch of other lights
around there and people going, well, your light is particularly beautiful.
Why don't you tell me about your light here?
Now, when we understand this in the context of the rest of scripture,
where does light stand out the best?
In the midst of darkness.
So Jesus is saying, church, you're the light.
In a dark world and in this world, you are going to suffer.
And yet, as you suffer, let your light be shined, be seen even more brightly.
Let your suffering spotlight your hope in Christ.
In college, I, I, uh, I went with some friends to a hockey game.
In Dallas Stars versus the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the time.
And, and I wore my stars gear and I even brought the replica 1999
Dallas Stars Stanley Cup championship banner with me to the game.
It was overkill for a home game.
The problem was, it was a road game.
I was in Anaheim, and so I was that guy and I stood out like a, a sore thumb.
When we suffer in the face of persecution, the way that we handle
it should stand out like that.
Uh,
people should look at us and say, what are you doing?
This isn't what people do.
This isn't how people respond.
Here's the thing, y'all.
If someone's gonna ask you for a reason, for the hope that you
have, they have to see the hope.
They have to see the hope
is your hope in your future with Christ.
So evident to a watching world that they're gonna ask you, or
are you hiding it under the basket of despair and depression and
anger and frustration and hurt?
If the world gangs up on us and we retreat under an esque storm cloud
of shame and depression, what message are we sending to the lost around us?
If God gives you the privilege to suffer for him, for your faith, make it count.
Don't waste it.
Here's some possible ways that you might shine that hope in conversations, for
example, with unbelievers about the circumstances that you're going through.
You have an opportunity to testify, to give a reason in those
conversations and the way that you respond to those who attack you.
Maybe it's somebody at work.
That's coming after you for your faith or your neighbor who's coming after you for
your faith or your wife who's coming after you for your faith or your father-in-law
who's coming after you for your faith.
You have an opportunity in the way that you respond to them to
show the hope that you have, that no one can ultimately harm you.
Or maybe it's gonna be in the, the perseverance and endurance that
you have in the face of attacks.
You don't break, and people are gonna look at you and say, why aren't
you a puddle of despair right now?
And you can say, well, I, I understand the question I should
be, but here's why I'm not.
Another way for you to, to show your hope is to make sure that your faith is
still on display, just as it always was.
Not in a showy way, but in a consistent way.
Remember Daniel, after the king had signed the order, this is right on the,
the, the doorstep of the lion's den.
The king had signed the order and it says in Daniel that when Daniel knew
that the king had signed the decree.
He went up into his room as he had done before.
He opened the windows as he had done before, and he worshiped
the Lord as he had done before.
What a testimony to somebody who was like, my hope is greater than here.
My hope is greater than right now.
Again, Romans eight 18 passages like this, I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Two Corinthians chapter four, this light momentary affliction
is preparing an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Do we believe that?
Do we believe that
if we really do, it should be evident when we suffer at the hands of others?
Some of the most powerful gospel presentations take place as we suffer.
Well for Christ.
There's a story from a long.
Time ago, during the early stages of the development of the church and
the expansion of the church, and it's represented here in this painting,
the 40 martyrs of Sebass, the 40 martyrs of Sebas were, uh, martyred
under the reign of Emperor SIUs, who was fearing that the Christians in
his army might be disloyal to him.
So he ordered that all of them in this one particular region
recant their faith or face death.
And so these 40 men who were 40 believers in this Roman army decided we're,
we're not going to recant our faith.
We're not gonna deny our Lord and Savior.
And so they were forced to strip all the way, and they were marched out onto
a frozen lake in dead of winter, and they were left there and stranded there.
And they were, they were told I, if you repent, if you recant, you can come back.
And around the perimeter of the lake, they lit fires and they had warm baths
and they had blankets as a temptation to get these men to abandon their faith
in Christ and, and to walk off the lake.
39 of them stayed true.
One man broke and he ran for the perimeter of the, the, the lake.
But what happened is this, as he ran to the perimeter of the lake,
you may be wondering why is it 40 martyrs and not 39 martyrs?
As he ran towards the perimeter of the lake, there was a Roman soldier
who was watching the whole thing take place, and that Roman soldier put his
weapons down, took off his robe, took off the rest of his clothing, and went
out and joined the other martyrs on the ice and said, I'm a Christian.
As he went out there.
That's the way that the gospel can be preached powerfully through our suffering.
Let me encourage you, I, I, I opened it with a quote from her.
If you have never studied or, or learned about the story of
Jim Elliot and Elizabeth Elliot, man, that is worth your time.
I told you Jim was her husband who was killed.
He was murdered by this tribe that was unreached.
They were trying to get the gospel to them.
And him and his companions were murdered by that tribe.
You know what Elizabeth did?
She went back to that tribe with the gospel and she took the gospel in and
she saw that tribe, many of them at least, including the man who killed her
husband, converted to faith in Jesus.
Always be prepared to be ready to, to make a defense to anyone who asked you
for a reason, for the hope that's in you.
Are you allowing your suffering to spotlight your hope in Christ?
Are you allowing your life to preach the gospel?
In the way that you suffer for him.
Listen, y'all, if, if we simply respond to the world's attacks the way that the
world does, if we respond in vitriol, if we respond in depression and despair, what
are we offering them that they would want?
We need to respond to the attacks of the world in such a way that
causes them to say, what do you what Do you know that I don't know.
What do you have that I don't have?
I want it.
As you suffer, especially in front of others, be thinking about why you're
still able to hold onto that hope in the midst of the pain and the sorrow.
Be ready, right?
I mean, that's, that's this other part of that.
You have to actually be ready to give an answer for it, and so know the hope.
Hold onto the hope.
I would say even be praying that people will ask you for a reason,
for the hope as you suffer.
Suffering.
Spotlight your hope in Christ that that hope, as we think about it, we often so
mu, so readily think of eternity that hope is I, I'm gonna go be with Jesus.
And yes, that's a huge part of that hope.
But there's another part of the hope that we find in verses 16 and 17 in our
text, and it's one that we probably don't think of too often, but I think it's
one that we should, verses 16 and 17.
Peter continues, he says, have no fear of them.
Nor be troubled earlier on.
And then in verse 15 he says, do this with gentleness and respect.
I'll come back to that in just a second here.
And then he says, having a good conscience so that when you're slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame for it is better
to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will then for doing evil.
And so Peter says, we need to suffer a certain way.
This is the way that's gonna cause people to ask us for a
reason, for the hope within us.
If we suffer, he says with a, a good conscience with respect and gentleness.
And what he's saying here is, if we do this, then there's a
vindication that's coming for us.
That's what he's talking about in the text.
Those that attack you, those that slander you, those that are hostile towards you.
He says here, they will be put to shame.
It's a word that means they will be humiliated.
When?
When is this gonna take place?
Are they gonna be put to shame here and now?
Will they be shown to be wrong on earth?
Maybe.
But it seems likely that Peter had in mind what Paul had in mind here
in Second Thessalonians chapter one verses six through eight, where Paul
says this, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction.
Those who afflict you.
And to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.
When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, inflaming
fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do
not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
And so what's.
Being pictured here by Paul and also by Peter back in our text is
this future day when those that have slandered us and mocked us, and abused
us and heard us because of our faith in Jesus are going to be exposed and
humiliated as they're called to account before Jesus for their evil behavior.
And so Peter says, it's better than to suffer for doing good if that should
be God's will than for doing evil.
If that should be God's will.
In other words, if that's his desire, God's not gonna put everyone through
the same level or type of of suffering.
God's gonna have a will for some people to suffer more than others.
And you say, well, why?
And I say, well, I don't know.
That's above my pay grade.
But God's gonna put different people in different positions and, and simply
saying here, if you find yourself in a position where you are suffering
for your faith, man, it's better for you to suffer for doing good.
Than it is for you to compromise and pursue evil, just to avoid the suffering.
Why is it better?
Well, because the suffering that you endure for the good is temporary.
But as he's talking about here, the, the shame, the humiliation that's
going to be present in those that have mocked or slander or, or attacked
you, that is not gonna be temporary.
That's gonna be eternal.
In these last two verses of our passage, Peter wants to remind us
that we can suffer in confidence.
In other words, knowing that God is still in control,
God has not called us to get revenge.
God has not called us to see that justice is is received.
Now.
God has not called us to pursue vindication necessarily here and now.
Rather, what God is saying is he's sovereign and he's calling us to trust
that in this life and in the suffering that we're going through right now, we
can have a hope that in the future life that we have in eternity, that he's gonna
bring us there and he's gonna see to the vindication that we so long for when we're
with him in his presence on that day.
Our final point this morning is this endure suffering while waiting
for vindication, endure suffering while waiting for vindication.
Now, there is a contingency to this, and that contingency is found
actually back at the end of verse 15.
In the beginning of verse 16, I, I glossed over it, but now I wanna come back to it.
He says this, make a defense.
And then he says, yet, do it with gentleness and respect.
Having a good conscience with gentleness and respect.
The word respect is actually the word fear in the Greek.
And Peter never uses the word fear except for in relation to our fear of God.
And so Peter is saying, you need to be ready to make a defense, and you need
to make a defense in the fear of the Lord and maintaining a good conscience.
In other words, as you suffer for what is good, don't suffer for what is good
in such a way that you are harming your testimony of, of faith in Jesus.
Don't suffer for what is good in such a way that you're lashing out.
You're retaliating because you want your vindication Now.
Instead, suffer for what is good with gentleness and respect
and having a good conscience.
Ooh, which again, goes back to our, our passage.
Who is there to harm you?
If you're zealous for what is good, be zealous for what is good.
If you wanna look forward to your future vindication, you have to ask, am I living
a life worthy of that future vindication?
So often we can become so incensed over our suffering, that our suffering
becomes a hindrance to the gospel, rather than allowing it to be a,
a platform for the glory of God.
When we lash out with harsh words or, or our tone, or we're passive
aggressive, or we slander, or we revile in return, we're damaging our
testimony and we're compromising our hope that we have, that the wrong that
has been done to us is gonna ultimately be vindicated for us in the future.
Listen, all wrongs are gonna be made, right?
I'm not suggesting that the sin that's committed against you, by you responding
in sin is going to be somehow pardoned.
Every single wrong is gonna be made right, but if you sin in your response
to what somebody has done to you, what confidence should you have that you are
going to be vindicated in the future?
It's like when one of my kids will run inside crying and they're
like, well, my brother kicked me.
And then you just wait.
'cause you know the brother's coming in right after him and
he's gonna have his own story.
The brother comes in and you go, why did you kick him?
And he's like, well, because he shoved me.
You are like, well, congrats.
You're not gonna get vindicated here because now you're both
getting punished for what happened.
Christians.
We gotta be careful for that because if, if we don't retaliate, if we don't
respond in kind, we can have a hope that one day we will be vindicated.
Does that feel shamar to you?
Does that feel almost un-Christian to find comfort in the fact that your
enemies are gonna get theirs someday?
I wrestled with that this week as I was preparing for this sermon.
Am I really supposed to be comforted by that fact that my enemy is
gonna be humiliated someday?
Here's why I think we can find comfort there and look forward to it as we suffer.
The vindication that we're anticipating and looking forward
to is, is not the same vindication that we long for in the fleshly way.
The vindication that we're longing for is not that we're gonna be there
and Jesus is gonna be like, pastor PJ was right and you were wrong.
You owe him an apology.
That's not gonna be what the scene is.
The vindication that's coming that day is not even a vindication of you and me.
It's a vindication of Jesus.
Remember, we're suffering for him.
And so when people slander us, the one that they're
ultimately slandering is Jesus.
And so on that day when they're called to give an account, they're not going
to be ashamed in on behalf of us.
They're gonna be ashamed because they're gonna be a call to account
for what they said about our savior, about how they slandered him,
which also informs the way that we should suffer now.
How we think about the offenses against us.
Now, we need to remember our church ultimately, that when somebody attacks
you for your faith in Christ, the gr most grievous wound is not against us.
It's against our savior.
So we don't think about it in a, in a fleshly way.
And, and yet, here's another thing.
Some of this vindication we're gonna realize when we get there is going
to have taken place at the cross.
Because some of the people that will have slandered us, some of the people
that will have attacked us for our faith, at some point in time, God is
gonna be merciful, merciful to them.
And, and their eyes are gonna be open to, to Jesus Christ as their savior.
And they're gonna get saved.
And so on that day, they're gonna hear, hear, well done,
good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.
And we're not gonna be standing there saying, but, but, but,
but that, that's not fair.
Because that sin is going to have been paid for and vindicated at the cross.
So maybe you think, well then I don't want to pray for them to get saved because
I don't want them to get off that way.
I think that just reveals that we don't fully appreciate
what took place at the cross.
If we had a clear picture of what happened at the cross, the wrath
that Jesus bore against us and against those that have attacked us,
if they come to faith in Jesus, we would never say that's not enough.
Listen, church if, if you want your suffering to count, if you long for
vindication on that day, which again is the vindication of going Jesus, you
were proven true in every man a liar.
If you want that vindication on that day, Peter's calls to suffer
in the fear of God while maintaining that good conscience here and now.
Keep that hope there.
Your job is to, to focus on that future with Jesus.
Endure suffering while waiting for vindication.
As Christians, we never experience an ounce of suffering that wasn't part
of God's perfect plan for our lives.
It's always a part of his plan for our lives In every ounce of suffering that
we go through, if we suffer for Jesus is ultimately for our good and his glory.
Our job as Christians is simply to avail ourselves to what he
wants to do in and through us in that process, let's pray together.
Father God, what a, a hopeful reality it is for us to think about.
It's a lot to, to just continually come back to the subject of suffering.
And yet it's such a, a glorious message that we have in this, in that you
have told us that suffering is gonna happen and you've told us that you
will be with us through it, and you've given us suffering even as a sign that
we are following Christ well, that we are walking faithfully with you.
And you've even given us suffering as a platform for us to testify to
your goodness, as an opportunity for us to share the good news of faith
in Jesus Christ with others so that they might come to faith in him.
And you've given us suffering ultimately, so that we will one day look forward to
being with you and your final victory where you are proven to be all that you
have revealed yourself to be in scripture.
And so, Lord, help us to suffer Lord, with a, a hope that is foreign to
the world and use us as a a bright.
Lampstand in this community, in this area help us as a church to shine
in the midst of the darkness and to cause people to stop and say,
what do you have that I don't have?
Lord, may you use us faithfully as your ambassadors no matter what.
You bring our way.
We pray this all in Jesus' name.
Amen.