Life Is Not Always Fair Series

INTRODUCTION SLIDE #2

 Over the past few weeks as we have been studying the book of 1 Peter, we have looked at how we are to conduct ourselves among and with various people.

 Now, if we follow Peter’s instructions, everything in life will be smooth sailing for us, right?

 If you do what is right, if you spend your time doing what is right, your life will be problem free, won’t it?

 How may times in your life have you gotten into trouble while you were doing something good, or trying to help another person?

 How many times have you suffered for doing the right thing in life? You know what I am talking about, you are doing what God has called you to only to face people making fun of you, or people who would try to get other people to persecute you.

 I know for students, living for Jesus, trying to do good it life can be difficult. There are always people who try to make fun of people who do good, or they make fun of the boy or girl who wants to abstain from sexual activity until they are married.

 In the workplace, when you try to do good, it is sometimes met with resistance and trouble from other people.

 We look around us and see good people dying at the hands of the wicked and we see the wicked seemingly prospering.

 Life is not always fair.

 It is tempting to think that if we do what God calls us to do with our lives that we will not have problems, but it does not always work out that way because life is not always fair.

 What do we do when life does not treat us as it should? How did Jesus deal with what happened to Him?

 Turn with me to 1 Peter 3:13-22 as we read God’s Word together.

 We are going to see that life is not always fair.

SERMON

Life is not always fair because: SLIDE #3

I. DOING WHAT IS RIGHT CAN CAUSE US TO SUFFER. 13

 SLIDE # 4.Verse 13 asks us “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

 This leads to the subject of the rest of chapter three which is, suffering while doing good can open other areas of service for us as it did for Jesus.

 CLICK #4. To be zealous for what is good means to love doing good with the same passionate intensity with which the most fanatical patriot who loves his country has.

 The word “good” deals with a lifestyle of doing good, not just occasionally doing good. It is a lifestyle that loves to do the morally good thing even if the person we are direction our good works toward has been hostile to us.

 Have you been around people who seemed to get joy out of doing the right thing? That person who finds the wallet stuffed full of money and wants no reward for returning it to the owner, money in tact?

 Can you think of times in your life where you suffered for doing the right thing? Maybe you lost a friend with whom you would not follow down the wrong path they wanted to take you. Maybe you lost a boyfriend, girlfriend or fiancé?

 Maybe it was a job issue, the company is pressuring you to do something immoral and you refuse to do it, only to pay the price of loosing your job or knowing you will never get the opportunity to advance.

 When we are persecuted for doing what is right, what do we do? We are doing what God calls us to do, but we seem to be paying a steep price for it, what do we do?

 You would think God would not allow bad things to happen to us as we are following His will for our life; it does not seem fair does it. The one who is living for themselves is seemingly getting along fine, and then here I am, being persecuted for doing good.

Since life is not always fair: SLIDE #5

II. HOW ARE WE TO RESPOND TO UNJUST SUFFERING? 14-17

When we suffer for doing good, how do we handle it? How do we respond? Here are five responses we are to have that will help us to deal with the injustice.

SLIDE #6

1. Do not give up, God is still blessing you! (14,17)

 Verse 14 tells us that at times we will suffer for doing good, it should be a rare occurrence, but it will happen.

 The original readers of this letter were facing persecution like nothing we deal with today. It would seem that if you are being persecuted that God is not with you. Verse 14 reminds us that if we are suffering for doing good, we are still being blessed by God. The word “blessed” in this verse is the same word Jesus used in the beatitudes. It means to be spiritually prosperous.