Sermon Transcript:

We have probably all heard the phrase “No pain, no gain”. It became popular in the 1980’s during the exercise craze but the idea that one must endure physical, mental, or emotional discomfort and strain in order to achieve greatness is not new. Some variation of the phrase appears in literature going back as far as the Greek playwright Sophicles in the 5th century B.C. 

We understand that in the world great rewards often follow great sacrifices and there is a price to every victory. The Bible tells us that there is a similar pattern with spiritual realities although with an important twist. 

The twist is that in the world we must work and make sacrifices to get the reward, but in salvation we receive the reward based on the sacrifice of another. Jesus came from heaven to suffer the penalty of sin for the salvation of all who come to him in faith. There is no salvation without suffering. To be saved, we must receive by faith the suffering of Jesus Christ who gave up the glory of heaven and died on the cross in our place. A great sacrifice has been made for the salvation of every sinner.

Everyone who comes to Jesus by faith is united to his suffering and death. Jesus was punished to pay the price for our sins. His suffering is credited to our account. He also enters into our suffering to redeem it. All who suffer with Christ will also be raised with him. In our union to Jesus through faith we receive all that is his. It means that we are in him and he is in us.

That means that when we suffer for our faith we are suffering with Christ, whose spirit is within us.It is not that our suffering is the same as what Jesus suffered. Our suffering adds nothing to Christ’s merit and contributes nothing to our atonement. Our sins are not paid for in our suffering, only the suffering of Jesus could do that. He alone is the perfect savior and his work is all-sufficient to save those who believe in him.

But when we suffer for Jesus we are entering into his suffering as witnesses. We are witnesses that he has made atonement, which means he has removed the separation between us and God. Jesus is perfectly God and perfectly human so it is in him that God and humanity are perfectly reconciled. When we encounter difficulty because of our connection to Jesus it shows that our confidence is not in the things of the world or the opinions of others. It shows that he is our greatest treasure and that his grace is enough for us. When we suffer for Christ we testify that we have saving faith, that we are united to Jesus, that we are a child of God.

We have been working our way through 1 Peter. Peter is writing to believers who are encountering opposition and difficulties because of their faith. In our passage today he finishes up his explanation of Christian suffering. The main idea is…

Believers in Jesus can rejoice in suffering because of the glory to come.

Sometimes in worldly things the sacrifice doesn’t pay off. We suffer through the diet and exercise but don’t lose weight. We put in the grueling hours at work and don’t get a raise. We scrimp and save for years and still cannot afford the car or house or whatever. Well it doesn’t work that way with Jesus. He will never disappoint us. Every ounce of sacrifice in his name will be rewarded. Peter begins, 

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

The first thing Peter says is don’t be surprised when you encounter difficulties as a believer. Expect it. I have met a lot of disillusioned people who are confused because some false teacher has told them that it is never God’s will for them to suffer. They think if they are suffering something is wrong. The Bible teaches the exact opposite. The saints of God are not being punished in suffering, but we are being perfected in suffering. Friends, it is the repeated and clear teaching of the Bible that God’s people will suffer and God intends it for our good.

In fact, it is impossible to live your whole life as a believer and not suffer in some way. Not everyone is going to be a martyr or endure formal persecution but we will all suffer ridicule. We will all experience the difficulty of doing what is true and right rather than lying or cheating. Every one of us will encounter various tests of our faith and if we are faithful those will result in some discomfort. They will also, however, result in us being brought closer to God.

The Bible and our own experience teaches us that affliction purifies us and brings believers closer to God. It is better that we should encounter temporary difficulties so that we run to Jesus for protection than we never encounter difficulties and are lost to suffer for eternity. 

As most of you know, I live near the river. When the weather is good in the middle of the day the boaters tend to wander aimlessly, entertaining themselves and relaxing out on their decks. In fair weather they are comfortable and at home on the water but that changes fast when the wind and waves kick up. When the sky turns dark the toys and distractions are quickly put away, the loose ends are tied down and those boats make a straight line for the safety of the harbor. 

Our Father knows how to keep us focused on the safety of the harbor. We sometimes think the trials will destroy us and yet those trials are the very thing God uses to keep us safely clinging to Jesus. So it should not surprise us when the trials come. If we are not true believers, they will expose us and if we are, they will shape us to be more like Jesus. 

There is nothing more loving that God could do than to transform us from sinners who hate God into children that bear the resemblance of the father. To bear the image of God is to bear the image of Christ, who is the perfect revelation of God. Since our goal is to be like Jesus, why would we expect to avoid hardship? Isaiah says Jesus was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” 

In John 15:18–20 Jesus says,

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. … 

If you want to be like Jesus you will have trouble but it will be worth it. In John 16:33 Jesus says,

33 … In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Peter says to expect trials and to be prepared for them. That is why he is writing this letter. It isn’t automatic. We must be built up in the truth, recognize the devices of the enemy and have the promises of God clear in our minds. That means that we are not surprised by the trials because we know what God is doing through them. It means we recognize that whatever we are facing, his sovereign hand is in it. It means we are preparing to trust him and be faithful whatever may come.

That is why I hate the lie of prosperity theology. I hate it because it comes right out of the pit of hell. It steals joy and robs people of the growth God intends in trials. It is a hateful lie that takes advantage of vulnerable people, convincing them that if they are poor or sick there is something wrong with them or they don’t have enough faith.

It is often the case that it is the one who suffers and not the one who has prosperity that is most blessed. Only one whose hope lies beyond the boundary of this world can suffer with peace and with the confidence that their reward is secure. Many of these prosperity teachers are just con-men but there are others who have been deceived. Their error is claiming promises that will be fulfilled in the coming kingdom for today. This isn’t new.

Many of the Pharisees rejected Jesus because they were focused only on the promises that come at the end of the age. They had no category for a suffering messiah. They were looking for victory without the sacrifice. They were looking for salvation without suffering. Messiah was supposed to overthrow godless Romans, not be crucified by them. 

Saving faith means that we are not only looking for the things God can give us, but that our desire is for God himself. It means we are willing to be ridiculed and thought fools if it means we get to be with him. It means we don’t expect to receive our rewards in this world, but when we are finally delivered from the presence of anything that would keep us from him.

Peter refers to the challenges we face as trials. That is important. A trial is something that results in a verdict or a measurement. Trials have to do with making a final determination about something. A trial means that something that was previously unknown is now known. Is the defendant guilty or innocent? Who is the better team? Who is fastest, strongest, whatever. The trial proves it out.

Peter calls the struggles we will face trials because they are tests of faith. They prove the genuineness of the faith of those who endure them. That is why he says, 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

When we suffer faithfully with Christ, it proves our faith is genuine and if our faith is genuine, we will share in the glory of the revelation of Jesus. Think about what that day will be like when Jesus returns. That will be the most cataclysmic event in the history of the world. How horrible will that moment be for all who have persisted in unbelief, mocking believers, and blaspheming the Lord when they see him coming in the clouds like lightning to judge in righteousness.

Oh but what joy for those who have trusted in him for their salvation to see him coming. What rejoicing it will be to finally see our lord face to face knowing we have nothing to fear. Because Jesus suffered, the Day of the Lord will be a day of rejoicing for every believer. The old hymn captures it well and it brings tears to my eyes whenever I sing “And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.

Peter says if we share in Christ’s sufferings we will also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 

We will be glad. One will not suffer for a faith they do not have or for a savior they don’t love. An ancient preacher once said that the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. The sufferings of a child of God bring them closer to God while suffering brings pretenders to curse him.

Satan brings difficulty trying to destroy us. He intends to show our faith is not real, but God intends these same trials to prove our faith is genuine and to bring glory to himself. We see this over and over in the Bible. Joseph’s brothers intend evil when they sell him into slavery, but God intends it for good and uses it to bring deliverance for his people. Paul suffered from a thorn in his flesh that he called the messenger of Satan, but then rejoiced that by God’s grace it caused him to glorify the Lord even more.

The clearest example is that Satan entered into Judas to betray Jesus, and God worked that betrayal to bring salvation to sinners and redemption to the world. We live in a fallen world. Probably the hardest question any believer in God has to deal with is the question of suffering. There are lots of philosophical and theological attempts to answer that question but the answer God gives is the cross. The cross proves that God can and will defeat suffering. In the death of Christ God enters into the suffering of his people and turns it to everlasting joy.

The cross proves that God will punish evil. It proves that he will remove the curse of sin and redeem this world, restoring it to the perfect glory he intends for it. If you are a believer, you can face every trial standing on this truth. Whatever happens God is in control and he loves you. Romans 8:28 says,

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

All things truly means all things. Disease, poverty, injustice, and pain are not outside of his control. The devil intends these things to destroy and discourage us but God works through them to bring us closer to him and to eternal joy. 

This is the lesson of Job. God uses the very things Satan tries to use to destroy Job to prove Job’s faith and bring him closer to God. In the end Satan’s mouth is stopped, God is glorified, and Job gets something better than anything he lost. He comes face to face with the Lord, his faith is vindicated, and knows he is loved. Think of how many other believers have been protected in faith because of God’s work in the life of Job!

The trials in our lives are actually a means of grace for God. In the same way that a surgeon inflicts pain not to punish, but to heal, so too does God use these trials for our own good. These trials wean us off our satisfaction with the world. They prove that we prefer peace with God to prosperity and peace with the world. They prove that we are more satisfied with our souls feasting upon the bread of life than with a full belly. They show that pleasing God is more satisfying to us than the admiration of men.

When we are united to Christ by faith and our hearts are transformed with love for God we know that is not of our doing but is the work of God in us and so he receives the glory. We can rejoice in suffering because in them God is glorified and it is ultimately his love that is proven true.

Romans 8:35 says of believers,

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

The love of Christ transforms the attacks of the enemy into blessings for the future. Romans 8:37–39 says,

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We do not need to be afraid of anything in the world. Our peace comes from knowing that our salvation does not depend upon our strength in clinging to Christ, but his strength in holding onto us. We are able to persevere because we know he will never let go. We know that he loves us and knows what we need. Our trials may be lasting, but they are not everlasting. They have a purpose.

That is why James 1:2–4 says,

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Paul connects these truths like this in Romans 5:1–5,

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Faithful suffering is the outworking of salvation by grace through faith. It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God. But we need to be careful that we make a distinction between suffering for Christ and suffering as a fool. If you run your head into a brick wall that is going to produce pain but that is the pain of a fool not the suffering of a saint. 

The devil is a master imitator and the false sense of righteousness that comes from identifying as a victim of oppression when it is our own sinful choices that are to blame is a cheap imitation of godly suffering. Don’t pretend you are making some great spiritual sacrifice if you are paying the price for your own foolishness or sin. Peter says,

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 

Being a believer doesn’t give us an excuse to not do our jobs or to be belligerent. It certainly doesn’t give us an excuse for the things Peter lists. That includes being a meddler, stirring up trouble and sticking our noses where they don’t belong. Don’t confuse being disliked or abused as a believer with being disliked or abused because you are obnoxious. Don’t confuse suffering for the gospel and suffering for your own theories and opinions.

To join in the suffering of Jesus is to suffer because of our association with him or his gospel. It is to rejoice in the reproach of Christ. To suffer for sin or foolishness is not commendable. Peter says,

16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

To suffer as a Christian is to suffer as a witness to the glory of God. That is why persecution of the church always has the opposite result the persecutors expect. It is a bit like when a chemist drops a bit of potassium in water. Normally water extinguishes fire but if you put certain metals like sodium or potassium in water they will burst into flames. When the church is persecuted, rather than quenching its testimony, the light of the gospel burns even brighter and hotter.

Peter has told us that trials should not be a surprise. In fact, we should rejoice in them because we recognize that through them God is working in us and they glorify God by testifying to our faith. He then makes clear that it is not the suffering itself, but our union with Christ in suffering that glorifies God. 

Then in verse 17 he gives an observation that reminds us how much better it is to suffer as a believer than to live as a sinner. He says,

17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 

We know from the rest of the letter that judgment does not lead to the destruction of the godly but to their purification. Peter is telling us that the judgment of the old has already begun with the dawning of the new age. He is saying that if even those who are the beloved of God, chosen for salvation are purified and judged through suffering then consider how much worse it will be for those who reject the gospel. 

Peter refers to them as those who disobey the gospel. Throughout the letter Peter connects disobedience with those who will be judged and condemned and obedience with those who are saved. Then in verse 18 he says,

18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 

The word translated “scarcely" by the ESV is the Greek word μόλις. That word can mean either “scarcely” or “with difficulty” depending on the context. I think the context here favors the idea that the righteous are saved with difficulty, which is how the NASB translated it.

Peter isn’t saying that the righteous are barely saved, as if they just missed going to hell. Jesus saves completely. The difficulty believers encounter are the sufferings they must endure in their perseverance unto salvation. We are not saved apart from difficulties, we are saved with difficulties. 

So if even God’s children must endure difficulties then the judgment on the ungodly is horrible because there is no redeeming purpose in their difficulties. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. All this should lead us to two responses. 

First, we should have a sense of urgency about sharing the gospel. We need to tell people that they will stand before God in judgment for their sins and if they are judged based on the life they have lived, they will be found guilty and condemned to an eternity of suffering. They need to know that God sent his son as a perfect substitute to die in the place of all who will come to him in faith. Tell them that they must repent and believe, not to get an easy life, but to get an eternal life.

Second, we should be at peace. We can trust God. Nothing that happens to us can ultimately hurt us. The poison of the world is the medicine of God when we suffer faithfully. I heard a story about a preacher who asked his congregation to share their favorite verses. Many shouted out the ones you would expect to hear like John 3:16 or Philippians 4:13. Then an old man in the back said, “it came to pass”. The preacher, confused, said “is that it” and the old man replied that he takes great comfort in knowing that it didn’t come to stay, it came to pass.

Although I cannot support that man’s method of interpretation, he understood an important truth. We can trust God. The trials will not last and the suffering will be followed by blessings beyond our imagination. Peter says,

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

This is the summary of the whole thing. God is sovereign over all things including the difficulties we face. We do not need to worry, he’s got us. We can trust our souls to him because he is faithful. Our focus must be on being faithful in whatever moment we find ourselves. Trust God and do good. That is what it comes down to. We are to follow Jesus, who Peter said back in Chapter 2, “when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

I would like to finish this morning with the words of the apostle Paul, who was no stranger to suffering, that he shared with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18,

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.