EASTER
7
May
31-June 2, 2014
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:10
“CHRISTIAN SUFFERING”
1.
Should
come as no surprise.
2.
Is
a blessing!
3.
Isn’t
the same as suffering for sin.
4.
Is
a sign of judgment to come.
5.
Is
a reason to commit ourselves to God’s care.
1 Peter 4:12-19;
5:10 (NIV 1984) “ Dear friends, do not be
surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange
were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings
of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of
the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests
on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be
as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a
Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to
begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome
be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, "If it is hard for the
righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" 19 So then, those who suffer
according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and
continue to do good. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory
in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and
make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
Cut
the Epistles and they bleed. What I mean by that is these epistles or letters
written by the Apostles were written to real people. We don’t know many of the
names or what these people looked like but they are real people that we will
see in heaven some day. Cut the epistles and they bleed with the blood of the
saints who first read them. It’s important for us to remember that truth as we
read them today so we don’t dismiss the impact of what God is saying especially
when it comes to a topic like Christian suffering. Suffering for being a Christian
isn’t something we have had to deal a whole lot with so far. But it appears the
way things are going that we need to be ready for so let’s get ready by
listening to what God had the Apostle Peter write about Christian Suffering.
Truth
number one. It should come as no surprise. “ Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful
trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.”
The ability we have to be surprised that history repeats itself or that something
Jesus said is going to happen happens is well…surprising! Someone who has been
mean to you in the past treats you rudely and we’re surprised. Someone who has
habitually lied lies again and we’re surprised. Jesus said, “If the world hates
me they are going to hate you too.” And we are surprised. It’s not just us. The
first Christians were Jews who were persecuted by their own people who rejected
Jesus as Savior. At the time Peter wrote this Epistle the infamous Nero was
emperor of Rome. When Rome burned he blamed the Christians to take the heat off
of himself. For the next 260 years Christians were widely persecuted in the
Roman Empire. That’s longer than the United States has been a country. Jesus
said this would happen. He said that some who hate and persecute those who hold
to Jesus’ teachings will think they are doing God a favor. At Peter’s time
though the Christians said, “Hey what’s going on here? This is not right. When
you are God’s side all should go well.” Isn’t that how you feel too? Our country
legalizes pot and condones and promotes abortion and gay marriage and sex
outside of marriage and some in our universities and public schools are
labeling Christians who speak up for God’s will the haters who should not be
tolerated. And we are surprised. Why? Jesus told us this would happen.
And we don’t
realize God’s truth that Christian Suffering is a blessing. “But rejoice that you participate in the
sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of
the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests
on you.” When Christians suffer hardship or
insults for following Christ it connects us to Christ who was spit on and
insulted. He rejected temporary earthly glory choosing instead to rejoice in
the glory of heaven. He scorned the temporary shame of the cross for the joy of
having us in heaven forever. When we get
the insults and hardships God is actually helping us. He’s helping us to look
forward and to treasure the Spirit of glory and of God which we need a whole lot
more than the approval and back slaps from God’s enemies. He’s teaching us to
value our eternal glory over the temporary trash of having it easy on earth.
But we need to
remember truth number three. Christian Suffering is not the same as suffering
because of sin. “If you suffer, it should
not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a
meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a
Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”
There are some hardships and trials we face because the world is ruined by sin.
Disease, death, loss of property from natural disasters. Those are the types of
suffering common to everyone. If we sin and we suffer for it that’s not
Christian suffering. If you commit adultery and have to live the rest of your
life with a sexually transmitted disease that is not Christian suffering. If
you murder or steal and must go to prison and are treated as a felon that is
not Christian suffering. If you are mean to your friends or gossip about them
and they are no longer your friends that is not Christian suffering. It’s
interesting to note that one of Peter’s highlighted sins is meddling. That word
has the connotation of a busybody, a troublemaker, one who is always trying to
tell everybody else what to do, to meddle or interfere with someone else’s
family or job to for their own ends. If you do that and people don’t like you
that is not Christian suffering. Christian suffering happens when you do things
the Christian way and are mocked like what happens on some university campuses when
our students can get mocked for their beliefs, even by their teachers Or when
our kids stand up to the peer pressure and are ostracized or if we get picketed
by a pro abortion or gay rights group or you do what is right at work and you
find the door closed to the good ol’ boys club. That’s Christian suffering.
And it is a sign
of the judgment to come. “For it is time
for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what
will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, "If it is hard for the
righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
Christian suffering, hardships, persecutions never seem good. But God does work
them for good. One of those goods is to help refine the visible church. Those
who really want to stay faithful to Christ stand strong, endure and take
suffering. Those who really aren’t of the family of faith compromise, give in
to avoid the suffering. At the time of Peter the fake Christians were weeded
out. The real Christians pulled together. We need that in our country when you
have so many Christian churches. God’s judgment begins with the family of God.
When you see a Christian church compromise its teaching to be politically
correct or for financial gain it is a sign to you from God that that is not a
good or God pleasing church. When you see Christians or a church stick to Bible
teaching when they are mocked ore persecuted for it that is a sign of God’s
judgment too, His judgment of faithfulness. And the ones who are doing the
persecuting won’t get away with anything. Peter reminds us that if God allows
these hardships for the family of God, how bad is it going to be for those who
reject Him and hurt His believers.
So from what God
says Christian suffering is going to happen. The way things are progressing in
our country it looks like those who will stick to all of God’s teachings are
going to be viewed as the bad guys. I suppose I could offer some encouraging
little tidbits like, “Wah, wah. Get over it. Pull on your big girl pants and
deal with it. Welcome to life in the real world.” But since God loves us and knows what we will
face I have something much better. “So
then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to
their faithful Creator and continue to do good. And the God of all grace, who
called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little
while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
Continue to do good and God Himself will restore you. That’s Good News as we
get ready to face Christian Suffering! Amen.
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