1 Peter 4:12-19: Trusting Through Suffering

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1 Peter 4:12-19: Trusting Through Suffering

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Good morning, if you would please open your Bibles to First Peter, Chapter four.

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We're going to be reading verses 12 through 19 this morning. First Peter, Chapter four, verses 12 through 19 here now, the inspired word of God.

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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 in so far as you share

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Christ's sufferings, that you also may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because of the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

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But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a

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Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name, for it is time for the judgment to begin at the household of God.

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And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

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And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will, entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

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Let's pray. Father in heaven, we read these words and we hear what you have to say to us.

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I pray, Father God, that as this message is preached, you would work upon minds and hearts and that your name would be glorified, that we would understand your will for suffering in our lives at times when we don't expect it or are surprised by it.

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So Father, I pray that you would get me out of the way and your word would go forth now in power and in spirit and in truth.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray. Please be seated. Well, based on the passage

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I just read and the whole first epistle of Peter, it would seem that God is telling us that suffering is part and parcel with being a

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Christian. It comes with the package and we shouldn't be surprised when it does.

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Actually, we should expect suffering and then rejoice in it. Isn't that what you wanted to hear this morning?

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Rejoice in your suffering. That's always the hard part. Does God really expect us to rejoice when we're suffering?

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In the five total chapters of this letter, Peter uses the word suffering 16 times.

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And here he tells us, don't be surprised. But here's what surprises me.

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That we, in our sinful, and I'll be kind, less than obedient condition, are more surprised with suffering than we are with blessing.

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Shouldn't it be the other way around? The typical human asks, why do bad things happen to good people?

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Rabbi Kushner wrote a book on the topic. He titled it, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

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And it seems that this resonated with lots of people because it sold over 4 million copies.

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Most people have a hard time with suffering. But shouldn't we be surprised by blessing, knowing that blessing is not what we deserve?

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We warrant suffering based on how we actually behave. So many people think suffering is a mistake and blessing is the expectation.

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But I'm concerned that blessing has turned into an entitlement for some.

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Along with Rabbi Kushner, God wrote a book too. It's called the Bible.

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And the subtitle is this. Why Good Things Happen to Bad People. The Bible has outsold every book ever published for the past 100 or so years.

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And it would be the number one bestseller every week on the New York Times list, if they actually put it. It's the largest selling book of all time.

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Now, if we just read it, it's really important that we have to have an accurate biblical perspective on the issue of suffering for many reasons.

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But I'm going to give you just two right now. First, the suffering that Christians endure while seeking to live godly lives for Christ might cause us to question the goodness of God and pose a temptation to bail out, to walk away from the faith and say,

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God isn't good. He wouldn't let me suffer if he was good. In fact, many have left the faith because they were taught that suffering is never, ever, ever from God.

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God only wants to bless you with health and gifts and wealth and prosperity. But they're confusing

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God's blessing with God's spoiling us. There's a difference. God's intent to us is always good.

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Always good. So maybe if he will suffering for us, just possibly could be suffering might be a blessing.

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And maybe that's why he tells you to rejoice. People can respond in various ways towards suffering.

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Some might say, God's forsaken me. He doesn't love me. Or they may say, it doesn't pay to obey.

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I've lived for Jesus and look what it's gotten me. Or they might say, if this is what it means when

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I'm told that God loves me, then I'll switch religions and find a God who's a little bit more compassionate than this one.

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Now, if you view suffering in this way, it can result in bitterness and unbelief. You may start to question, can

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I trust God? Is he really all powerful? Is he really all loving? Why would he allow this?

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So first, suffering can cause us to question God's goodness. Second, though, we need to look carefully at suffering because how it may serve to enhance or even deepen our relationship with God.

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The wrong view of suffering threatens to undermine our faith in God. But the right view of suffering has the potential to deepen our intimacy with him.

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John Piper says it like this. I've never heard anyone say the really deep lessons of life have come through times of ease and comfort.

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But I have heard strong saints say every significant advance

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I have ever made in grasping the depths of God's love and growing deep with him have come through suffering.

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Peter doesn't give specifics in this passage as to the nature and the extent of the suffering we're going to experience.

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But he does identify the reason, Christ. Verse 13, the fiery trial is called sharing

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Christ's sufferings. Verse 14, it's called being insulted for the name of Christ.

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And in verse 16, it's called suffering as a Christian. So please notice this is about suffering for being a

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Christian, not for being a jerk. You don't get to play the fool and then blame it on Christ.

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Oh, look what's happening to me. Must be because I'm a Christian. This suffering is due to the fact that believers are actually living godly lives, not compromising and openly identifying with Jesus.

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Peter's telling us that persecution is going to become severe simply because of how believers are living in Christ and being open about their allegiance to him in every aspect of their lives.

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We are living in a time that is openly hostile to our worldview. We can no longer say it's coming.

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We have to say that it's here. And I want you to hear this message and be prepared to suffer.

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People firebomb pregnancy centers that protect the unborn and get away with it. They arrest at gunpoint people who are standing up for life and verbalizing that to women walking into murder mills.

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And then they fund these murder mills with taxpayer money, even offering to pay your travel expenses.

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They want to administer sex -altering drugs to your children without your knowledge if they so much as comment about their sexuality.

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Again, all publicly funded. They train corporate employees to tone down their whiteness.

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They'll fire you for not taking a vaccine or for not issuing abortion -inducing drugs. They'll fire you if you don't change the way you speak and the way society has spoken for the last 3 ,000 years using customary pronouns.

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They'll fire you if you don't admit that men can be women and women can be men, but don't ask them what a man or a woman is because they don't know.

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And you can't just agree to disagree. You have to affirm all these positions.

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You'll be shut down if you don't participate in a wedding service that violates your conscience. I could go on and on and on.

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All this is to say is that if we live like Jesus is Lord, don't be surprised by suffering.

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Let's look at how 1 Peter 4 can help us. First, don't be surprised. The first thing

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Peter tells us is that we shouldn't be surprised by suffering. Here's how we put it in verse 12.

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Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening.

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So before we get into why we should expect suffering and what exactly it is, don't gloss over the first word of that sentence.

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Remember a few months back, we went through the book of Jude a short while ago. We saw that Jude borrowed some of Peter's language regarding angels and false teachers.

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Now, I don't know if he borrowed the word beloved from Peter, but Jude did use it.

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And when he did, he couched it in his opening address like this. Jude, a servant of Christ Jesus and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the

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Father and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

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When Peter uses this term beloved, it carries with it the same association of being called, kept, and loved by Jesus.

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It's not a mistake that he uses this word. We need to remember our calling.

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We're called by God. Can you think of any greater calling in this world than to be called by God Almighty, to be in his employ, to further his kingdom?

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Anything better than that calling? We need to remember who we're being kept for.

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We're being kept for Jesus Christ. Can you think of anyone better to be kept for than our

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Savior, God in the flesh? We need to remember who's keeping us. We are kept by God.

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Is there anyone more secure you can put your hands into than God Almighty? I know you might want

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Steven Seagal or Sylvester Stallone or one of those guys who do those movies. You're not more secure than you ever would be in God's hands.

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If you're going to respond properly to suffering, maybe even grow from it and rejoice in it, and deepen your relationship with Christ, you have to have a biblical view of who you are and who

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God is. Because Peter says that suffering is the normal life for a

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Christian. It is standard fare for the believer. It is to be expected. Why?

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Why does God ordain my life in such a way that I have to endure the insults and abuse of unbelievers?

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Peter's answer, to test us. Don't be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you.

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Jesus says, in this world, you will have trouble, right? Everybody likes to hold on to the promises of God. That's a promise.

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No one likes to hold on to that one, but everyone gets it. Everyone, everyone will have trouble in this world.

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Suffering for Christ in some form or degree is essential to the formation of Christian character.

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A faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted. And even more importantly, hear what

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Tom Schreiner says. I love this. Suffering is not a sign of God's absence, but of his purifying presence.

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If you're suffering for being a Christian, it's not because God's left you. It's because God loves you.

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He's with you in the suffering to help you, to shape you, to mold you, to get you to look like Jesus.

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In suffering, God is not farther from us in those situations. He's farther to us in those situations.

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Maybe we're going to thaw out some of the frozen chosen this morning and talk about God's love for his people.

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But remember, when you suffer or you hear of another person suffering for Christ, it's important that you not react with repulsive surprise.

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Otherwise, your fleshly instinct, your fleshly response may be to shake an angry fist at God and scream out,

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God, where were you when my faithful Christian friend lost his job because he didn't cover up his employee's lives?

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Where were you when my friend got fired for not taking the vaccine? Don't you care?

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Where were you when, fill in the blank. Proverbs 17 .3

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says this. The crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, and the

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Lord tests the hearts. So what comes out of your heart when you're tested, when you suffer, reveals what we believe about God and his

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Lordship and his love for us. What comes out of your heart when you're tested? Proverbs 27 .21

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tells us, the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

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What do you praise when you're in the midst of suffering? Will you praise God like Job did?

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Will you praise God in the midst of the test? Now, I'm not talking about having a cold, triumphant,

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I can handle anything attitude. We should and can weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn and exercise righteous anger at those who persecute

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Christians. But don't let suffering, no matter how intense or prolonged it may be, throw you into confusion or doubt or uncertainty about the goodness and love of God.

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He is love. You, if you're a Christian, are his beloved. You are called, kept for by Jesus Christ.

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And it's right here where we have the benefit of having good theology, right, of God's absolute and comprehensive sovereignty over all things.

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We know these events have not caught God off by surprise.

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In fact, this is why we read Daniel 1 this morning. Daniel was an Israelite, a man of nobility, kingly lineage.

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Verse 3, the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the

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Israelites from the royal family, from nobility. And that was actually prophesied to King Hezekiah after he showed the

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Babylonians all the treasure that he had in the temple. Remember when the Babylonians came and he said, oh, look at everything I have, showing, look,

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I'm, you know, I'm someone. And 2 Kings 20 says, and some of your own sons, this is to Hezekiah, some of your own sons who will come from you, whom you will father shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

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Daniel was one of those sons. He was one of the sons of Hezekiah, deported to Babylon.

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So Daniel knew riches, he knew nobility, he knew comfort, and he came from a royal line.

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However, now there would be no chance of a physical lineage to perpetuate his line as he was made a eunuch.

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He was put in the king's courts. Now he's going to have to suffer under what that king wants for him.

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The king ordered that he and the others be taught the Chaldean way, you know, the literature and the language of the

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Chaldeans, and be given the same food the king ate and the wine that he drank. Sounds good, right?

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No, it sounds like government subsidies. And Daniel wasn't having anything to do with it.

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They were conditioning him using the Chaldean catechism. Pastor Chris reminds us every week the world is catechizing you daily.

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Don't fall victim to that. Go back to God's word. But what's wrong with eating the king's food and drinking the best wine from the king?

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It's wrong because it comes with a price. The king wanted Daniel dependent on him and his provision, but Daniel remained to be dependent on God and God's provision.

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See, anything from the government is quid pro quo. I'll give you this if you give me that.

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Everything the government gives you comes with a string attached. The only thing that doesn't come with a string attached is eternal life.

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Jesus died in your place. He brings you to him freely. But Daniel persisted in the loyalty to the

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God of his fathers, resolving chapter 1 verse 8. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank.

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Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself and eat vegetables. Listen, you know a kid's serious when he chooses vegetables over meat.

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You give me a plate of broccoli or a steak, what do you think I'm eating? That's resolve.

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Daniel knew that accepting the king's offer would turn into the king expecting his loyalty in return.

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You know, maybe Daniel read the Proverbs. Proverbs 23 verses 1 through 7.

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When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you're given to appetite.

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Do not desire his delicacies for they are deceptive food. Do not toil to acquire wealth.

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Be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it's gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven.

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Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy and do not desire his delicacies for he is like one who is inwardly calculated.

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Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. The government's heart is not with you.

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The kingdom, the king of the kingdom's heart is for you. Daniel's heart was resolved to obey

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God regardless of what happened. What happened to him already, castration and deportation, and what would eventually happen to him later.

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And we know Daniel would be tested again, but he passed the test. He wouldn't bow down and pray to King Darius and then would be thrown in the lion's den because of it.

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But again, God rescued him. Look around at the culture. Is your heart resolved to remain steadfastly loyal to God, to your savior, the one who called you, loves you, and is keeping you for Jesus Christ?

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So first, when suffering happens, don't be surprised. You are his beloved and the testing results in the shaping of your soul.

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Next, look at verse 13. Rejoice in your suffering. It's one thing for Peter to tell us not to be surprised at suffering, but it's another thing altogether to insist that we rejoice in it.

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But this is exactly what he says in this verse. Rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings, that you also may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

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Their ability to rejoice in the midst of suffering is related to their awareness that they're united with Christ.

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They are one with him. The word translated share or partake is the same

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Greek word for fellowship, koinonia. And that's in the Septuagint. So it becomes a cause for rejoicing insomuch as they are fellowshipping with truth.

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They are fellowshipping with righteousness. They are fellowshipping with Christ and distancing themselves from the world and the worldly values that it celebrates.

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They are sharing in the suffering Jesus experienced when an unbelieving world vented its hatred toward the truth.

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Be careful, because if you claim exemption from suffering, you may potentially be renouncing your union with Christ.

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Oh, suffering's not for me. Oh, it's for your savior and you're sharing in his sufferings. Watch what happens in Acts 5 .41,

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where the apostles were beaten for having been born witness to Christ. They left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.

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Suffering for Christ is a cause for joy because they stood for what he stood for successfully.

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In fact, they stood for what Jesus said so successfully it made evil people mad enough to try to hurt them.

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This kind of suffering is the evidence of genuine dependence on God and a true love for Christ.

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He is Lord, nothing else is. When you experience greater joy in suffering with him and for being persecuted for his namesake than you do for being honored by men and praised according to their standards of judgment, you know it's real.

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This is why we rejoice, because we're being tested and found resolved.

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Jesus told his disciples, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

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Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. So they persecuted the prophets that were before you.

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Great is your reward in heaven for being persecuted. Rejoice and be glad.

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This is counterintuitive to everything the world tells you and everything the world wants to feed you.

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But it is completely consistent and instinctual in the economy of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God values truth and righteousness.

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And when it happens, we are not to retaliate like an unbeliever would. We are not to sulk like a child.

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We're not to lick our wounds in self -pity. We are not simply to just grin and bear it either.

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Neither are we to pretend that the pain feels good. Primarily, we are not to retaliate in kind.

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In fact, we shouldn't even resent it. Rather, we are to rejoice and be glad that our hearts have been changed and inclined towards righteousness, not away from it.

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See, the minds and hearts of the people in the world have been given over to God, to the lust of their flesh and the debasement of their own souls.

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Yours has not. Rejoice and keep on rejoicing. Rejoice when you're slandered for your faith.

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When you're preaching down in Port Jefferson or in front of Planned Parenthood and somebody insults you,

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Peter would say, don't repay evil for evil or insult for insult. Rather, give over to blessing.

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Bless them. Rejoice when you're ignored at the office party because you don't think abortion is women's health care.

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Rejoice when you're passed over at work for someone less competent because you don't think a man can become a woman.

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Rejoice when you're cut off from the in crowd because your presence makes them uncomfortable. Oh, he's one of those

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Jesus guys. Rejoice over that. So don't be surprised rejoicing it.

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Now know that when you suffer, you're blessed. We've been exhorted by the apostle not to be surprised when we suffer and to rejoice in it.

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Now he goes even further and tells us again that when we suffer, we are in fact blessed.

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Really? Am I blessed when I'm suffering? Again, this is counterintuitive.

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But verse 14 says, if you're insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

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Notice that he said the word insulted and not physically harmed. This is about being insulted.

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That would happen later to Peter. He would be physically harmed and he would want us to be prepared for that as well, right?

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Peter died a martyr's death. A lot of the early church did. We have the Fox's Book of Martyrs. Death is not outside our purview.

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It could happen. However, Peter here uses the term insulted. Words. The words of others to insult us.

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Words can have a devastating, even debilitating effect on people. Have you ever heard someone over -talking about you?

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Somebody maybe you're not so close with and they start saying mean, disparaging things about you.

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Or worse, someone who you know and love starts talking about you behind your back.

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Or someone tells you about what someone else said about you. Words can hurt. They can be deep.

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This is another reason why Peter reminds us and begins us with the term beloved. When someone says you are so blank, remember what

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God says. You need to be reminded that you are called beloved and kept by God and for God.

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Peter says that when you're insulted, you're blessed. You may be insulted by human beings, but Peter says you're blessed by God.

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You were chosen by God, given to Jesus as his bride, and kept by the Holy Spirit for that day.

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Let the words that men call you be drowned out by the words of the Almighty who created you and loves you.

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Listen to Psalm 29. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

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The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars and all in his temple cry glory.

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And it's the voice of the Lord that says you are called, you are beloved, and you are kept for Jesus Christ.

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This powerful, majestic, cedar -breaking voice of the Lord says you are my beloved.

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And you're worried about Betsy at work calling you a bad name. If your name is

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Betsy, I don't mean to. But if the pressure from Betsy is just too much, you wish to avoid the insults and persecution of the world, here's my plan for you.

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Imitate the world's standards. Don't criticize its values. Laugh at its coarse humor.

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Be quiet about the gospel. Stand down. Smile and keep silent when God's name is mocked and reviled.

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And be ashamed of Jesus Christ. And hey, you won't be insulted by Betsy anymore. In addition to being blessed,

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Peter suggests that there's an aspect of the Spirit's presence available to us that would fit the circumstance you're in and goes beyond what we would normally experience.

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Verse 14 goes on to say you are blessed. Why? Because the Spirit of glory rests upon you.

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Think about this. The Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation. The Spirit that rested on Jesus at his baptism.

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The Spirit that filled 120 in the upper room with tongues of fire over their heads. The Spirit that raised

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Jesus from the dead rests on you and in you. Let that sink in.

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The Spirit rests on you and in you. Know that you're blessed by God.

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There is a supernatural empowering presence of the Holy Spirit that comes in our time of need so we can respond humbly and faithfully to the suffering that comes along with being a

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Christian. And what's the purpose of the Spirit's distinctive abiding presence when we suffer?

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To help us endure. To keep us from turning from Christ and continue facing him.

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This is why almost every week I pray that we would be as faithful to God as he is to us.

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He is so much more committed to us than we are to him. God has promised us his

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Holy Spirit precisely so that what you may not be capable of now, you will be empowered to do then.

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When you're in this situation, God's Spirit will help you. The Spirit of glory of the resurrected

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Savior will fill you and abide with you and rest upon you and sustain you.

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Let the insults that man throws at you serve as a test of your faith and willingness to bless and not curse in the face of insults.

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Let your words, let your soft answer turn away wrath. Begin to practice this now so that when something more serious comes, you will glorify

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God in the midst of it. Remember, you will never die for something you've never lived for in the first place.

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We need to be living for Christ daily, dying to self daily, rejecting the world's standards daily.

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If Paul were here to chime in, he would echo Peter's promise and point to his own experience of this truth.

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You remember what Paul said when he sat in the prison in Rome facing constant death threats from Nero?

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He was exhausted at the end of his life and having been abandoned by his friends, yet he writes this. At my first defense, no one came to stand by me.

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They all deserted me. May it not be charged against them. Paul's a better man than me.

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But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me, the message might be fully proclaimed and all the

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Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. I think he was reading

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Daniel, much like prophet Daniel who was thrown in the lion's den and saved from the lion's mouth.

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Paul says the same thing. I was rescued from the lion's mouth. Paul's testimony is a reminder to us that when there is intense suffering, abandonment by all the people who think you're friends, when there's intense suffering on earth, we can expect to receive great strength and support from heaven.

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The Holy Spirit will pull you through it. But again, make sure your suffering is for the name of Christ and not for your own sins, which we'll see in a moment.

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Not all suffering qualifies us for God's blessing or the preserving power of the Spirit because Peter also says in verse 15, let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

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You might have heard somebody say, you know, I was passed over for that promotion at work. I guess I'm just destined to suffer for Jesus.

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Possibly, but you may have been passed over that because you're lazy or arrogant.

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Your lack of success at your job may have nothing to do with your Christian faith or rather with the fact that you're consistently late to work, less efficient than your co -workers or simply obnoxious.

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There's a big difference between being anointed and being annoying. If you hold to the doctrines of grace, you better be the most graceful person on the planet.

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You bear the name of Christ. You should be the best employee they have. They should know that.

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We do our work with excellence. We're playing to an audience of one. So don't be surprised.

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Rejoice, know that you're best blessed, but be a blessing, not a burden. Look at verse 16.

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The world may think that suffering for Christ is dumb, disgraceful, pointless, but not the

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Christian. Verse 16. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify

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God in that name. When you glorify God in suffering for Christ's sake, you show that he is more valuable to you than all the pleasures and approval of man.

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If you do good to the persecutors, bless and not curse instead of retaliating, you show that he,

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God, is sufficient to satisfy your longings. You don't need revenge to satisfy your desire for justice.

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Christ is your comfort. And you don't need worldly possessions to fulfill your peace. Your peace is found in a person, not a possession.

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You know, we read one catechism question here every week, and I started to think, what would be the world's number one catechism question?

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What would be the first question? And this is what I came up with. Here's the world's catechism question number one.

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Who wins in life? He who dies with the most toys wins. Isn't that what the world thinks?

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He who has the most stuff, the most happiness, the, you know, the greatest, biggest YouTube channel, whatever it is.

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Keech's catechism, question one, you all know this, you better answer when I read this. Question one, what is the chief end of man?

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All right, I'll give you a little bit more unison here, but to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

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Praise God, right? That's what we value. That's who we value.

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And here's where we can glean from other catechisms. I love, love the first question from the Heidelberg catechism.

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Question, what is your only comfort in life and death? Answer, that I am not my own, but I belong body and soul in life and death to my faithful savior,

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Jesus. That I am not my own, but I belong body and soul in life and death to my faithful savior,

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Jesus. That's powerful. Life is not about what belongs to you, but who you belong to.

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You were bought with a price. The world just doesn't seem to realize that there could be anything bigger than themselves out there.

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But if you're a Christian, you do rejoice. The greatest way to demonstrate to someone what satisfies your heart is to keep on rejoicing when all other supports for your satisfaction are falling away.

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When you keep rejoicing in God in the midst of your suffering, it shows that God and not other things are your greatest source of joy.

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Peter uses this moment to say something important about both the suffering of Christians within the community of faith and the suffering of those who reject the gospel.

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Look at verses 17 and 18. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.

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And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

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The judgment of God that begins with us is not the wrath of God. Peter's not talking about Christians being judged for their sins and cast into hell.

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The believer is saved from that, praise God, by Jesus Christ already. This judgment that begins with us, the church, is the testing process.

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It's us being pruned and disciplined and refined through testing. Shriner points out, if the godly are saved through the purification of suffering, then the judgment of the ungodly and sinner must be horrific indeed.

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We are to glorify God in this judgment. We know that we have been spared the final eternal judgment of God's wrath through the cross, through the sacrifice of Jesus.

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If we, God's children through faith, are made to suffer discipline to purify our souls, what will be the fate of those who disobey the gospel?

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So first, no surprise, then we rejoice. We're blessed and we glorify God. Finally, when you suffer, entrust your soul to a faithful and sovereign

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God. Any and all suffering for the believer passes through the hands of God first.

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Nothing happens to us that God does not permit or fail to use for our own ultimate good.

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We see this especially at the close of this passage. Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will, entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

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People who try to solve the problem of suffering by saying that suffering is never God's will have to labor and take a long detour around that verse.

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If the fiery trial is the judgment of God that begins with the church, then it is his will that we suffer in some way.

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For our good and for his glory, God's intent is never malicious towards us.

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His intent towards his people is always loving, to purify, not punish.

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We must not dishonor God by thinking that every time we suffer, he's lost control. He must've fell asleep again.

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Our duty is to trust that he is a faithful creator who has our best interest at heart.

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Again, we are his beloved. Purifying suffering is not outside the will of God.

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On the contrary, it is part of God's will for us. And it's even true when

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Satan might be the immediate cause. Think about Job. What does God say to Satan? Have you considered my servant,

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Job? Please don't say that. Satan was the one who was afflicting

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Job by God's permission and by God's providence, right?

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He sustained Job in it. Job remained faithful through suffering.

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He trusted in a faithful creator who would deliver him. After Jesus, Job is the model for how to handle suffering in this world.

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Here, Peter ends this section with a very important and calculated phrase. He tells them to entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

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Peter reminds them that God is faithful. He will preserve them in their salvation to the end.

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Faithful here is more aptly translated as he who always keeps his promises. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you.

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It conveys the idea that we can entrust ourselves to him fully, completely, unreservedly because he is reliable, dependable.

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He always does what he says he will do. And he's not just faithful, he's their faithful creator.

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He's the one who's made them. He's the one who's fathered them. The one who sustains everything they see and don't see, who upholds everything by the power of his hand.

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He has the power to do what he's promised to do. He is the one who says, I will work all things together for good for those who love me.

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God being called creator in this verse is to emphasize his complete and comprehensive sovereignty over their lives and all that they would encounter.

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Think about it. The God who's called everything into existence out of nothing oversees every dimension of their life and ours, especially their suffering for his namesake.

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So Peter starts off by calling them beloved and then he ends off by calling God their faithful creator.

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Remember what John Calvin says. True knowledge consists entirely of two parts, knowledge of God and knowledge of self.

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When you know the mercy and the grace of God, and you also know the depth of the corruption of your own heart and your own sin filled life, you love

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God for saving you, for rescuing you from your own sin and the ramifications that would follow.

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When you know him, you love him. And when you love him, you trust him.

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You trust in the God who is sovereign over all things everywhere. No matter where you find yourself, whether it's on the mountaintop or in the valley, you love him and trust him.

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I have a dear friend who lost his brother several years back and it was his twin brother and it was suicide.

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And he posted the anniversary of that day on Facebook. And I couldn't help but get emotional as I read it.

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I mean, what do you write to somebody on Facebook that could possibly comfort someone still grieving and going through a hurt as deep as this?

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Now I could have said, hey, everything happens for God's glory. That would be true. But I think that would have missed the mark.

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So I posted, brother, I don't know why, but I do know who. When you know the who, the

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God of the scriptures, you know the God of the righteousness and mercy that rules over the realm of mankind. And because you know the who, the sting of the why fades.

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It becomes bearable because the who behind the why is pure. He's good.

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He's loving. He's steadfast. He doesn't change. I know whom

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I have believed in and persuaded. He is able to keep that which

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I've committed unto him against that day. You've committed your life to Christ. You know that he is able.

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And because of that, it is well with my soul because Christ has dominion over all things.

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If we suffer according to God's will, and we also entrust ourselves to a faithful creator, we can rest in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

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And so when the world looks at us during our suffering and is taken aback at our joyful countenance and peace in the midst of the storm, because we know the who behind the why, we leave the why in his hands.

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When you entrust your soul to your creator, you're also trusting in the God who knows suffering himself.

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He, Jesus, being God in the flesh, the scripture says he learned obedience through suffering.

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And he not only suffered with us, he suffered for us. Not for the sin that he brought into the world, but for the sin that we brought into the world.

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He committed no sin. Neither was there deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

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When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

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The sinless son of God voluntarily took on suffering so we could take on his righteousness.

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Are we to be surprised at suffering? Peter says, no, expect it. But what should surprise us is blessing.

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Why are we sinners still being blessed? When you woke up this morning, opened your eyes, you have life.

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Surprise. You slept in a bed with heat and took a shower with hot water. Surprise.

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You got out of your bed, stood on your legs, heard sounds, used your hands and feet with relatively little pain or effort.

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Surprise. You're attending church right now without being persecuted. Surprise. Jesus is still on the throne.

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He's still your savior. And your sins are forgiven forever. Rejoice.

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Don't presume upon the mercy and grace of God and treat salvation like it's an entitlement. Surprise.

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It's not. Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once and he volunteered for it.

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The real question is, why do good things happen to sinful people? The answer, Jesus Christ. If you're not a

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Christian, don't be surprised at suffering. Expect it. Forever.

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Apart from the mercy and grace of God, you will suffer due to your own sinful behavior without end.

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But turn to Christ. Repent of your sin. Place your life in the hands of a faithful creator.

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The who behind the why. The one whose son will love you to death. And then rejoice with us that our suffering here and now will end someday.

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And we'll find ourselves in a place of eternal joy in the presence of this faithful creator.

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Let's pray. Father in heaven, forgive us for the times that we've shaken our fist at you, thinking that suffering was something that slipped past you.

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Lord, we just ask for your help. We recognize and see what's going on in the culture.

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And we asked for your spirit to empower us to live faithfully for Jesus. Lord, for what you've done for us, we owe you everything.

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So Lord, I pray for each person here, Lord God, that your spirit would touch their minds and hearts. Raise them up that they would live a godly life and represent you properly to the people around you.

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May you receive glory, honor, praise, whether we're rejoicing, suffering, in good times, in bad times.