The Remedy for Suffering

We dive into 1 Peter 4 this morning. We continue with our topic of suffering. Our understanding of suffering as American Christians is often different from the type of persecution that many of our brothers and sisters around the world experience. We are fortunate to live in a country where religious freedom is essential, but in many areas around the world that is not the case. I understand that persecution is only one form of human suffering as Christians, but much of the suffering that Peter is talking about in his letter deals with the persecution of these believers. To bring out a more modern-day example of persecution, in 1948 Richard Wurmbrand and his wife Sabina were arrested when communists seized Romania and attempted to take control of the churches. Richard ended up being imprisoned and tortured for 14 years. What I didn’t mention at the beginning was why Wurmbrand was placed in prison. He was encouraging and ministering to oppressed believers in Romania and the Russian soldiers that were occupying his country. After his release, he testified before the U.S. Senate where he showed them 18 scars from torture wounds. Eventually, Richard and Sabina founded The Voice of the Martyrs, which provides relief to families of imprisoned Christians around the world. As we study Peter’s words today, let’s remember that suffering is part of the calling that we have in Christ.

Live for the Will of God:

"so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God." — 1 Peter 4:2

Keep our context in the front of your mind. Remember that Peter is writing to believers that are in exile. Many of them are experiencing sporadic and local persecution. So it would come as no surprise that Peter would write to them and remind them that just like Jesus suffered, these believers need to arm themselves with that same way of thinking.

Let’s recap the suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf. Merely the fact that he left his seat at the right hand of God and came to earth would have been suffering enough, but it didn’t just stop there. He dealt with constant criticism from his people. The religious teachers and leaders were continually questioning and disagreeing with his teaching. Many rejected his message with violence and insults. And of course, we know that ultimately he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, Judas. Then later he was betrayed by the man that he had invested in more than any other, Peter. The Jewish people who were the very people he came to save asked for him to be crucified instead of another criminal who had legitimate charges brought against him. He was brought before the Roman official, Pilate, after experiencing beatings at the hand of authorities. He was then asked to take his cross and walk it up to a hill called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. He was nailed to a wooden cross while some of his loved ones watched him suffer in agony and ultimately suffocate and die.

Peter is telling these believers in exile and those of us in this room to arm ourselves with that way of thinking. What a sobering reality for all of us who are in Christ. I want to stop for a moment though, and make sure you understand that Peter is not belittling the suffering of these believers or the suffering that many of you might be experiencing right now. He is not saying suck it up and move on, but what he is challenging all believers to do is to be prepared when the suffering does come. Every believer who is a follower of Christ will inevitably experience some form of suffering. It might vary in both its frequency and its intensity, but we will experience suffering.

Then we see Peter say something interesting. Is Peter saying that if we suffer, we will no longer sin? This cannot be the case because we know that our sin nature remains even if we are in Christ, but once the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts, we now have the power needed to overcome the effects of sin. Remember, we learned in 1 Peter 3 that the suffering these believers were enduring came as a result of doing good. So what Peter is saying here is that when suffering happens as a result of doing good, you are not sinning. If you choose to do the right thing, then sin will not happen.

I find Peter’s instruction here to be incredibly timely for those of us who are believers in Christ. Much of our suffering I believe is going to come when we choose to do the right thing even though society, social media, friends, and even family will make fun of us, belittle us, and try to force us to change our views and opinions on certain issues. So the question for us becomes are we willing to suffer for Christ by doing the right thing. By not changing our mind on Biblical issues that the rest of the world says are outdated. Are we willing to suffer for doing good and for following the teachings of Jesus even when it might cost us something?

Peter challenges these believers to spend the rest of their days living for the will of God, not for their human passions. Is this what I truly desire? Is this what you truly desire? Do we as a church truly desire to live our lives in a way that the will of God reigns supreme in our hearts and minds? I want that for myself, for you, and for this church.

Surprise People:

"With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you." — 1 Peter 4:4

Peter uses the term Gentile here as a way to describe all of those that are not in Christ. The time has passed for Christians to live like this. Before we were in Christ, these types of behaviors could have characterized us. But now that we are in Christ, we should no longer participate in these types of behaviors. The list that Peter gives here seems pretty intense, but all of these behaviors describe people who lack moral restraint. Once we have the spirit of Christ dwelling in our hearts, we have self-control. It is a fruit of the Spirit that Paul mentions in Galatians 5. We have moral restraint should we choose to use it, but those that are not in Christ while they might have some sense of a moral standard, they do not have the same self-control that describes believers in Christ.

Because they do not have that same type of self-control, they are surprised when we do not join in with their behavior. Now here is where it gets sticky for us. Perhaps you have been in a situation before where everyone in the group is participating in a behavior that seems just fine to them, but you know as a believer in Christ that behavior you should avoid. Perhaps it’s gossip, underage drinking, inappropriate movies or tv shows, sexual immorality, or something else. And I can remember as a high school or college student often feeling like I had done something wrong because I chose not to participate. Often people did malign me as Peter describes here, and it’s not always a fun feeling. Sometimes it came across as if I thought I was better than my friends, but it wasn’t about that. Sometimes we get embarrassed when we do the right thing because we are the only one who does the right thing. And sometimes we think it’s just easier to fit in and do the wrong thing so that we don’t have to be embarrassed about doing the right thing, but that’s not the way to go. Let people malign you, let them say whatever about you. Rest comfortably knowing that when you suffer for doing the right thing, you are modeling the example Jesus gave us when he suffered on the cross for doing the right thing.

Peter says that these people who malign you one day give an account to God. We all will give an account to God for all of our actions in this life. The difference is that—for those who are in Christ—after we are held accountable for our actions, God will know that we rested on Christ’s sacrifice for us even though we made poor decisions and even disobeyed God. Ultimately we knew that Jesus’s sacrifice covers all of our sins, and we will be with Jesus forever.

The Gospel Changes How We Live:

"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." — 1 Peter 4:6

This is another interesting verse and one that has been interpreted in several different ways. Is Peter saying that the Gospel has been taken to those who are dead? If this is the case, it would seem to be leaving the door open for those that do not respond to the Gospel in their life to have another opportunity to hear. While this sounds good on paper, the problem with this line of thinking is that it undercuts the urgency of the Gospel that we hear Jesus talking about over and over again. If we believe that it is possible or was possible in Peter’s day for the Gospel to be preached to dead people, then what is the urgency for getting the Gospel out to as many people as possible now?

What I think Peter is saying here is that the gospel was preached to those who were once alive but are now dead. I don’t think he means the Gospel is going to dead people and being preached to them.

Some of these believers in Christ might have been judged in the flesh and even died for their faith, but they are now living in the spirit with God. This is true for us as well. No matter what we endure on this earth even if we lose our life for following after Jesus, we gain. Paul tells us this in Philippians when he says to live is Christ, but to die is gain. It’s a reminder to me to keep a loose grip on this life because it is not my true home.

Peter was telling these believers that the end was near. Peter thought Jesus was coming back soon; Paul thought Jesus was coming back soon, many of the early church fathers thought Jesus was coming back soon. My grandparents thought Jesus was coming back soon; my parents believe Jesus will come back soon, let’s be real with each other and confess that none of us knows when Jesus is coming back.

It’s because we don’t know precisely when Jesus will return that we live our lives as if he could return at any moment. So we live with self-controlled and sober-mindedness as we approach God in prayer. I’ll confess to you that I don’t pray in light of Christ’s return enough. I know that Jesus is returning, but I allow myself to get caught up in the needs of the day without reflecting much on Jesus’s return. This verse is a reminder to me that Jesus is returning, and that I should keep that thought fresh in my mind throughout the day.

If we are living in the last days as Peter predicted, then we need to love one another earnestly. Love, always. We need to show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Have you ever been hospitable to someone before because you knew it was the right thing to do, but you complained about having to do it? Hospitality can be costly, burdensome, inconvenient. It often forces us to go above and beyond even when we don’t have the time or energy to do so, but Peter is challenging these believers in exile to spend the days that they have left being hospitable to others.

• Remember, at the beginning of the summer, I challenged everyone to identify one intentional way they could reach out to one person in their four networks? I would guess that for many of us, this was a practice of being hospitable with our neighbors, coworkers, and family members? It required us to open our home or our lives to other people. Our 4 the City emphasis is an outreach emphasis, but I’d challenge you to do the same with our brothers and sisters in this room. Who in this room have you invited over to your house for dinner? I’m not talking about the people that you already know well, but the one who you only speak to when you see them on Sundays. Have you been hospitable to those people? Are we breaking bread with our fellow believers in this room?

Use Your Gift:

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace." — 1 Peter 4:10

Every believer in this room has been equipped with a gift. Did you know that? God has uniquely designed you as a believer in Christ to use your giftedness for his church and for his kingdom. But the purpose of that gift is for serving one another. And the reason that those gifts are used to serve others is that Jesus served you and me with the gifts that his heavenly father gave him.

When you use the gift that God has given you, you are a good steward of God’s grace that is in your life. But when you choose to keep that gift to yourself and not use it for his church or his kingdom than you are not a good steward.

I saw the new Lion King movie last week while I was at the beach with my family. I thought it was well done. Some of the lines in the film changed, and there is one line that I’m pretty sure was not in the original, but I liked it. Mufasa is having this dialogue with Simba shortly after Simba gets in trouble for going to the elephant graveyard. And Mufasa says this, “While others look for what he can take, a true king gives back.” Isn’t that true of Jesus? Many leaders look for what they can take or what they can receive, but a true leader gives back. Serves and loves others. Now let me take it one step further with the gifts that we see in the church. Are you simply receiving the gifts of other people? Are you only taking the gifts that the church has to offer? Or are you using the giftedness that God has given you to strengthen his church and his kingdom? Perhaps you are here today, and you don’t even know what your gift is? We have an assessment that you can take that will show you areas in which God has gifted you? I’d encourage you to write down on the tab that you are interested in learning more about our spiritual giftedness, and we will contact you. I’d love for you to begin using the gift that God has equipped you with to bring glory to his church. A church that is at full strength is a church that is both receiving and giving entirely of the gifts that God has given the individuals. Let’s be a church that is at full strength.