Sunday, October 20, 2024 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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You are full of mercy and grace. Lord, we come before your throne today, as we do every day, as unprofitable servants and as hungry beggars.

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We confess, Father, that we have sought nourishment for our own souls by feeding on the husks of the world, rather than feasting at your table.

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We too often run to eat from the slop of Satan. Lord, we pray that you would forgive us and that you would increase our appetite for your word.

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Lord Jesus, we come to you this day asking that you would fill us and satisfy us.

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You are the bread of life come down from heaven. You are the living water that quenches the thirst of our souls.

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We pray for the Holy Spirit to be our teacher this morning, to guide us into all truth.

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May we know your grace and enjoy your peace. To the praise of our great

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God and Father, in the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, I'm grateful this morning for the opportunity to preach.

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I was looking back, and it's been over four and a half years since I preached here at Sunnyside.

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For a variety of reasons, I've been asked, and then things have happened, I've gotten sick, and other things have happened, have come up, that I've not been able to preach.

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So I'm glad for the opportunity to do that today. I was reminded of what happened with John Calvin when he was put out of Geneva, Switzerland for a while over a controversy sort of of his own making.

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And so he spent some time, about three and a half years, in Strasbourg and ministered to a

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French -speaking congregation there. And it was really, in the end, a good thing for Calvin. He served under a man by the name of Martin Busser, which was good for Calvin to learn to be not just a theologian, but a pastor.

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And he learned how to do that from Busser's influence. So that when he came back to Geneva three and a half years later, he was much better equipped to lead the congregation.

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And on that Sunday when he stood in the pulpit to preach, he took up at the place in the Psalms where he had left off three and a half years earlier.

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So to that end, we're going to take up where I left off in 1

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Peter. All right? So if you have your Bible, I would encourage you to take your

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Bible in hand. Turn to 1 Peter 4. And the passage for the sermon this morning is 1

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Peter 4, verses 12 through 19. And I would ask, if you're able, if you would stand with me as we read

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God's Word together this morning. And I'm reading from the

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English Standard Version. 1

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Peter 4, starting in verse 12. 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.

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But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you also may rejoice and be glad when

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His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the

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Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

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Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify

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God in that name. For it is time for 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?

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Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

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You may be seated. According to—I'm not sure where to put my

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Bible here. I've got too much stuff in the way. According to Open Doors and their

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World Watch List 2024, which is an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.

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According to their most recent list, more than 365 million

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Christians worldwide suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

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Of that 365 million, 317 million, which if you do the math, that's 87%, 317 million face very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination.

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So when you break that down, that means that 1 in 7 Christians globally are persecuted.

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In Africa, it's 1 in 5. In Asia, it's 2 in 5.

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In the past year, Open Doors reports 14 ,766 churches and Christian properties were attacked, which is an increase of 700%.

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In the last year, 4 ,125 Christians were detained and 4 ,998

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Christians were murdered. Not surprisingly, the most dangerous place in the world for Christians is

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North Korea, where simply being discovered as a follower of Christ is effectively a death sentence.

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In Algeria, in Northern Africa, there were, not that long ago, 47

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Protestant churches. Today, only four remain open, and those that remain open are under intense pressure.

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In China, at least 10 ,000 churches, mostly house churches, were closed in 2023.

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And even official government -allowed churches are coming under greater pressure as they are now required to display signs that say this,

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Love the Communist Party, Love the country, Love the religion.

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It's no accident the order that those things are listed. The deadliest place of all to be a follower of Jesus is in Nigeria, where 82 % of all the murders of Christians in the last year occurred.

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On average, 13 Christians a day died in Nigeria for their faith in Christ.

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Those are pretty sobering statistics. In an opinion piece in the

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New York Times on August 25th of this year, the writer,

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David French, ran an article that had this headline,

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The Christian Persecution Narrative Rings Hollow. Now, his focus is on what's taking place in this country.

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He would certainly have a hard time making that case to Christians in Nigeria, but I don't think he even makes a good case in this country.

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In the article, he says this, While injustice is real, the

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Christian persecution narrative is fundamentally false. To which

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I say, that's baloney. Yes, injustice is real.

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And so is the narrative of Christian persecution even in this country.

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Just ask Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Colorado.

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For 12 years, for 12 years, an LGBTQ activist has harassed

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Phillips for his Christian convictions and his commitment to act upon them. In 2012, the

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Supreme Court of the United States ruled 7 -2 in favor of Phillips and strongly condemned the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for its, quote, clear and impermissible hostility, end quote, toward his faith.

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That ruling did not stop the activists or the state of Colorado from bringing further cases. One after another, he was hauled into court.

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Finally, in early October of this year, the Colorado Supreme Court threw out the latest discrimination case on procedural grounds, effectively bringing the string of frivolous charges to an end.

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Phillips would say that it has not been easy for him or for his family, but he would also say that he's glad for what the

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Lord has done in him and through him in the course of all of that.

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One of the inevitabilities that every true Christian has to face and will face sooner or later is suffering as a result of his or her faith in Jesus Christ.

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It's that kind of suffering that Peter tackles here in 1

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Peter 4, really in the whole letter of 1 Peter. That is the repeated theme.

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In every chapter of 1 Peter, he talks about suffering, suffering as a

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Christian, suffering for your faith, suffering for doing what is good. Peter here isn't talking about suffering in general that comes from living in a fallen world, the suffering that comes because of difficult people at work, of dealing with our own sinfulness, of dealing with the effects of the fall on our physical bodies.

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All of that suffering is real and true, but that's not the kind of suffering that Peter focuses on here.

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It is suffering because of your faith in Christ.

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It is suffering as a Christian. As we look at this passage, there are two things

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I want us to think about. First of all, we need to learn to accept the reality of suffering for our faith.

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We need to learn to accept the reality of suffering for our faith. And then secondly, we must learn how to respond to the reality of that suffering for our faith.

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I love how Peter begins his very first word. Beloved, beloved.

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Peter wants his readers to know that they are loved, that he loves them, that he cares about them, that he is mindful of what they're going through, that they're not forgotten, and they're not forsaken.

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And as great as that is, that Peter reminds them that he loves them and cares about them, what he really wants them to know is that they are beloved of God.

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That regardless of where they are and what's going on, Peter may or may not be nearby, but that's incidental.

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He wants them to know God is with them, that they are not forgotten nor forsaken by their heavenly

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Father. And so I want you to take that word as well.

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You are beloved by God. Whatever you may be walking through in the moment,

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God sees, God knows, God cares, and he will not leave you or forsake you.

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Regardless of the situation and particularly so, if the suffering you are encountering, if the persecution you are under is because of your faith in Christ, know that you are not alone.

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So, beloved, we need to learn to accept the reality of suffering.

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I will be the first to admit to you that this is a topic that I wish

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I had more first -hand experience in. The fact that I don't,

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I have some, but not what I ought to, is because, like many

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Christians, I find it easy at times to disguise my faith, to hide it, to come across as a nice person, a good moral individual, but not to put

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Christ at the forefront. I remember back in the day when it was common for churches to publish church directories, you know, those things where you come in and you have a formal sitting and they have a professional photographer and they take your picture, and I can remember churches we were at where they did all of that.

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And you get the proofs back, and you're looking at the proofs, and to give the yay or nay on which one you want to go in the directory and all that sort of thing, and also so they can try and sell you pictures to buy for your family.

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I remember getting some back and looking at them and going, something seems a little weird here, and you look at it closely and you find they've gone into the picture and with some sort of crazy marker they've colored out the glare on your glasses, you know, they've touched up the picture to make it appear better than what it is.

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Well, we've advanced far beyond that now. Your phone does that automatically for you, or you can, you know, you've seen those commercials for Google Pixel or something, you know, where they take a picture and then they edit it and show the dog jumping 50 feet in the air or some well -overweight guy that's dunking a basketball or changing the whole background of the picture to be something other than what the picture actually is.

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So that you never know, what is the real picture here? What's the real picture here?

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Sadly, sadly many Christians offer a touched up version of their faith so as to make themselves appear more acceptable to the people around them and sometimes that's true, that's true even of whole churches and denominations, that they offer touched up versions of the gospel that promise blessings but make no mention of the cost of discipleship or of persecution or of suffering.

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Peter here gives us an untouched, an unvarnished picture of the

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Christian life as he describes for us the reality of suffering as a follower of Jesus.

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As followers of Christ, we need to learn to accept the reality of suffering. We ought not to disguise our

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Christianity but our faith in Christ needs to be put on clear display and whatever happens to us doesn't really matter.

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Paul in prison to the Philippians said that there are those who because of my imprisonment have been more emboldened to preach the gospel and then there are others who have taken advantage of it to twist things around to make life more difficult for me but what was

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Paul's response? It doesn't really matter about me. What matters is that the gospel is preached.

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Brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter in the end the suffering you and I may go through as followers of Christ.

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What is important? That Christ is put on display. That he is proclaimed as Lord.

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When suffering comes as a result of your faith, your Christianity being on display, we need to see it as a fiery ordeal.

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Yes, but a fiery ordeal that tests and purifies.

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Peter said as much early in the letter back in chapter one,

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Peter says this, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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In this you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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I love the words of Matthew Henry on that passage.

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He says, Though they may be sharp and fiery, yet they are designed not only to, they are designed only to try not to ruin them, to try their sincerity, strength, patience, and trust in God.

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What is God doing in our suffering for Christ? He is refining you.

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He is refining you. I'm reminded of a song that Steve Green sang years ago.

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Steve Green is probably a foreign name to a lot of folks in here, but if you're over 50, you may know the name

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Steve Green. His song, The Refiner's Fire.

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I love that song. He says, The refiner's fire has now become my soul desire,

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S -O -U -L, my soul desire, purged and cleansed and purified, that the

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Lord be glorified. He is consuming my soul, refining me, making me whole.

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No matter what I may lose, I choose the refiner's fire.

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Dear Christians, may we choose the refiner's fire. May we count it a blessing, a joy to suffer in the name of Christ.

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That's what the apostles did. You read in Acts chapter 4 when they'd been hauled into the

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Sanhedrin and at the end of it all, after they had been talked to sternly and eventually even scourged, when they departed, they rejoiced that they had been counted worthy of being able to suffer for the name of Christ.

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May that be true for us. May we not be afraid, but may we submit to that suffering as God's refining fire in our lives.

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We need to see that suffering as a fiery ordeal that tests and purifies and we need to see it as an extension of the suffering of Christ himself.

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But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

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Paul wrote to the Colossians in Colossians chapter 1 and made this comment about his own suffering.

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Colossians 1 24 says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh

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I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church, of which

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I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints.

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To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is

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Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

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For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

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Paul said, My suffering is in some mysterious way a filling up of the sufferings of Christ's own affliction.

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That seems a little odd to say until you read of what happened with Paul in Acts chapter 9.

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In Acts chapter 9 you have the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later called

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Paul, and it begins with this,

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But Saul, still breathing threats or breathing murderous threats, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the

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Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

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This was on the heels of his consenting to the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.

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And so they give him what he wants. And verse 3, Now as he went on his way, he approached

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Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,

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Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

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And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

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I thought Paul was breathing out murderous threats and seeking to bring men and women who were members of the way to his justice.

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True. But what does Jesus say? Saul, you're persecuting me.

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How can that be? Well, whatever is done to his body, the church, is done to Christ.

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Richard Wurmbrand, he was a familiar name to many of you, founded

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Voice of the Martyrs, said this, he said, in no century, and he's referring to the 20th century when he said this, in no century have so many

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Christians and other innocents been repressed as much as ours. We see pictures of Jesus being whipped and crucified, but his suffering belongs to our day as well as to the first century.

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He suffers in all who suffer. When we face suffering and persecution because we are

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Christians, we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ. And as difficult as that may be, particularly in the moment, may we learn to rejoice and be glad that we have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

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Once we learn to accept the reality of suffering, then we need to be ready to respond rightly to the reality of that suffering.

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Peter says, again going back to 1 Peter, get back to where I was,

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Peter says, Beloved, do not be surprised. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you.

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That's maybe the first and perhaps the most difficult part of it.

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Don't be surprised when it comes. Most of us are surprised when it comes.

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We're caught off guard by that suffering. It was true then, otherwise

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Peter wouldn't have written it. It's still true today. Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith, and as a way of encouraging

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Timothy to stand firm in the faith, he said, Timothy, remember this.

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All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. The Apostle John, 1

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John 3, verse 13, said this,

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Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. Jesus himself said in John 15, bear with me while I read several verses here,

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John 15, starting in verse 18, Jesus says this to his disciples,

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If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

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Why should we not be surprised if they hated Jesus?

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It shouldn't shock us that as followers of Christ that we too would be hated.

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Verse 19, If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

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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.

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If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

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If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

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Whoever hates me, hates my father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin.

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But now that they have seen and hated both me and my father, but the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled.

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They hated me without a cause. But here's encouragement from Christ.

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But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness about me and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.

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Jesus goes on then in chapter 17 to pray for his disciples and by extension prays for us.

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In verse 14, John 17, as Jesus prays for his disciples, he says,

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I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

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I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

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They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth.

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Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world and for their sake

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I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in the truth.

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Let us not be surprised when suffering comes. Scripture makes it clear that as followers of Christ, we will be persecuted.

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If they hated Jesus, we shouldn't be surprised when the followers of Jesus are hated as well.

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So don't be surprised when persecution and suffering come because of your proclamation that Jesus is

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Lord. Peter also tells us as we learn to respond to the reality of suffering, don't be surprised by it.

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At the same time, keep on rejoicing in it. Keep on rejoicing.

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But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings. Rejoice. Why should we rejoice?

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It seems a little counterintuitive. God is working.

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God is working on you. God is working through you.

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God is always working for His glory. He is at work conforming you more and more to the likeness of His Son.

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He is at work convicting hearts and minds through the testimony of the

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Word that you provide. God is at work.

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Keep on rejoicing because of what God is producing in you through all of that.

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Thirdly, as we think about how to respond, remember that you are blessed.

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Again, that seems a little counterintuitive. It's not the thing that you would expect to think.

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But Peter says, this really is a good thing and God is blessing you in it and through it.

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You are blessed when you are reviled for doing what is good, for upholding

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Christ as Lord and Savior. I learned a new word a while back.

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Flossy posse neopilification. Flossy posse neopilification.

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I can't even say it. It's one of the longest English words. It's 29 letters long and it has 14 vowels in it.

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You know what it means? It means to estimate something as worthless.

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To estimate something as worthless. That's the reaction of the world often to your declaration of your love for Christ, of your faith in Him, of the power of the gospel.

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They say, flossy posse neopilification. That ain't nothing. Peter says, when you are reviled for your faith, realize that you are blessed.

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Why? Because, Peter says, the glory of God rests upon you.

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I'm reminded of what Luke tells us in Acts chapter 6 at the end of the chapter after Stephen has given his testimony as he has stood up to the reviling that he received from the hands of the

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Jews and says that his face shone like that of an angel.

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I don't know if that's meant to be taken literally or figuratively or whatever, but in that you see

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God's glory rested upon Stephen. When we trust in the

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Lord, the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to the glory of God.

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Real quickly, just to end, Peter says, in the midst of all this, maintain your purity.

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Let your suffering be not because of doing something evil, but for doing what is right and good.

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And trust that God will do what is right in the end.

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You may die, but what does Paul say about that? To be absent from the body is to be present with the

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Lord. Jesus said, what is the worst that someone can do to you as a follower of mine?

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They could kill you, but then what?

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They can't touch you after that. As a follower of Jesus, In the midst of all this,

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And trust your soul. Peter says, to a faithful creator while doing good.

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make the words of Psalm 27, your prayer.

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The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

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The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

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Skip down to verse 11. So teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

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Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence.

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I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the

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Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the

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Lord. Learning to accept suffering as a

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Christian and learning to respond to suffering as a Christian is not easy.

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And Peter certainly doesn't look at it through rose -colored glasses. He gives us a very real picture of what it means to be a follower of Christ.

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Remember, not long after Peter writes this, who comes to power in Rome?

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Nero. And the suffering of Christians under the hand of Nero is legendary.

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And he was just the first then in a string of Roman emperors to bring periods of intense persecution to Christians.

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Peter doesn't try to pretend that this is not a big deal. It is a big deal.

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It's not easy. And we have brothers and sisters all over the world who are dealing with that suffering even now.

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And who knows what could happen here? Peter ends by saying, these are sobering words, it is time for judgment to begin where?

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With the household of God. It is interesting that many times when

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God brought judgment, He began with His own people and then it extended to other nations.

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But God always preserved the faithful. It was always a remnant that survived.

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Know that whenever suffering comes as a follower of Christ, God will go with you and be with you.

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We can face the fire now because in Christ we won't have to face the fire later.

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But what about those who aren't saved? That is the most sobering part of this whole passage.

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Peter says, if it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

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The difficulty here with the saving of the righteous is not that God has some difficulty with it.

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The difficulty comes on our part of remaining faithful. But what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

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For the Christian, for the Christian, because of Jesus, because of the gospel, this life's trials and hardship are the worst you're gonna face.

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Paul calls it light and momentary affliction that are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory. But for the unbeliever, well, remember

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Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus. When it was all said and done, the rich man enjoyed all his good stuff in the little sliver of time that we call now.

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And for eternity, he's lost. I urge you this morning,

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I look out and I see here most everyone that I know is a follower of Christ.

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And I hope that this message has hopefully encouraged you to stand firm in the faith and to not be afraid to suffer as a

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Christian. But I have no illusions that there isn't someone here who is part of the other category, the ungodly and the sinner.

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And apart from Christ, you're on your own. You may enjoy the pleasures of sin for a moment, but for eternity, you will suffer.

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God is just, God is just. Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might come to God.

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I pray that you come to Jesus. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you.

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Thank you for your faithfulness and goodness. Thank you for this message that Peter has given to us, help us to take it to heart, help us not to be afraid, help us to stand firm in the faith.

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Thank you, Father, for this body of believers. Help us to encourage one another and build one another up in the faith. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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At this time, I invite you to stand for our song of interdiction. This is a wonderful hymn.

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For some of you out there, this might be your favorite hymn. Page 43, great is thy faithfulness.

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♪ Great is thy faithfulness, O God my

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Father ♪ ♪ There is no shadow of turning with thee ♪ ♪

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Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not ♪ ♪

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As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be ♪ ♪