Joanna Lerud of Steamboat Rock, Iowa, was standing up to leave a restaurant when she hit her head hard on a lamp hanging above the table. As she staggered away, she heard an older gentleman, who was sitting nearby, say, “It will feel better when it stops hurting.” (Joanna Lerud, Steamboat Rock, Iowa, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader; www.PreachingToday.com)
Talk about stating the obvious. Sure it will feel better WHEN it stops hurting, but what about feeling better BEFORE it stops hurting.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we know that life will be great in heaven, but what about enjoying life here on earth even with all its hassles? Sure, the pain will be gone in glory, but what about finding the benefit in pain today? How can we do that? How can we find the blessing in affliction? How can we find the privilege in our problems?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3, where God’s Word tells people who are suffering unfairly how to find blessing in that pain.
1 Peter 3:13-14 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” (NIV)
If we’re going to find the blessing in pain, especially in those times when we are unfairly treated, then God would say to us…
DON’T FEAR PEOPLE.
Don’t be frightened by their threats. Don’t be stirred up by their attempts at intimidation, because no real harm can come to the believer.
The words here in verse 14 are actually a quote from Isaiah, one of the Old Testament prophets. In that context, the armies of Syria and Israel had allied themselves against the little country of Judah. Everyone in that little country was afraid, but God told Isaiah, “Do not fear what they fear” (Isaiah 8:12).
It would be like God saying to us today, “Don’t fear the extremist, militant, Muslim terrorists like everybody else does.” They’re not the real threat, because they can do the believer no real harm. The worst they can do is kill us, but for the believer in Christ that only means an entrance into heaven.
In the early 1940’s, Nikolai Velimirovic, a Serbian bishop, spoke out against Nazism. As a result, he was arrested and taken to the Dachau concentration camp. This is the prayer he prayed even as he faced the brutality of the Nazi government.
“Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have… Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an un-hunted animal does, so have I. Persecuted by enemies, [I have] found the safest sanctuary, having [established] myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.” (Bill White, Paramount, California; www.PreachingToday.com)
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
If we want to enjoy the benefit of pain, then God would say to us, “Don’t fear people.” Instead…
FEAR CHRIST.
Revere Him. Regard Him as the holy Lord in your life.
When Isaiah’s little country was invaded by two enemy nations and everybody else was afraid, God told him, “Do not fear what they fear. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear” (Isaiah 8:12-13).
Well here, Peter uses some of that same terminology. Look at verse 15: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” Literally, “Regard Christ, the Lord, as holy (or special) in your hearts.” You see, Jesus is the only One we are to treat with special respect, not our enemies or anyone else who tries to threaten or intimidate us. If we want to enjoy the benefit of pain, then we must learn to fear Christ in our hearts, not people.
That means, 1st of all, we must treat him with special respect by what we say. We must fear Christ in word. We must show reverence for Christ by what comes out of our mouths.
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (NIV)
Warren Wiersbe says, “When Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives, each crisis becomes an opportunity for witness.” But this is true only if we’re prepared to give an answer when people ask us how we can have so much hope when we’re in so much pain.
Brian Doerksen is a songwriter and worship leader who has written some of the most popular worship songs sung in churches today. His son, Isaiah, suffers from a genetic condition known as “fragile X syndrome,” which is the second leading cause of mental retardation behind downs syndrome. In Brian’s book, Make Love, Make War, he reflects on the day he and his wife first received confirmation of Isaiah's condition. In the midst of his heartache, Brian considered leaving his worship ministry altogether, but God had a different plan. Brian writes:
“[After receiving the test results], I stumbled around our property weeping, confused, heartbroken. At one point I lifted my voice to heaven and handed in my resignation: ‘God, I am through being a worship leader and songwriter…’”
Then Brian writes, “When I was able to be quiet enough to hear, I sensed God holding out his hand and inviting me: ‘Will you trust me? Will you go even with your broken heart – for who will relate to my people who are heartbroken if not those like you who are acquainted with disappointment?’”
Then as Brian reflects on that time of heartbreak in his life, he writes, “I used to think people were most blessed by our great victories. But now I know differently: People are just longing to hear [others] speak of how they have walked through the deepest valleys. The world lifts up the victorious and the successful, but God lifts up the brokenhearted.” (Brian Doerksen, Make Love, Make War, David C. Cook, 2009; www.PreachingToday.com)
When we worship Christ, even with a broken heart, people sit up and take notice. Our suffering really is an opportunity for a powerful witness, especially when we take that opportunity to speak highly of our Lord even in the midst of our pain. If we’re going to find the benefit in pain, then we must fear Christ in word.
But not only that, we must Fear Christ in deed, as well. We must show reverence for Christ not only by what we say, but also by what we do. 1 Peter 3 says, “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord…
1 Peter 3:16 [By] keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (NIV)
We keep a clear conscience only when we obey God’s Word. Conscience is like a window that lets in the light of God’s truth. And as long as we respond to that light and put it into practice, then that window stays clear. But if we persist in disregarding God’s Word, then that window gets dirtier and dirtier, until the light of God’s truth can no longer enter. Then the conscience is no longer clear, and the line between right and wrong gets very fuzzy.
With God’s help, we can keep God’s Word and so keep our consciences clear even in the hard times. We can do what’s right even when we feel like doing what’s wrong. Then even our harshest critics will have to eat their own words.
In his book, Has Christianity Failed You, Ravi Zacharias tells the story of A. N. Wilson, a British author, who only a few years ago was known for his scathing attacks on Christianity… Then, just a couple of years ago (2009), he celebrated Easter as a believer in a church full of believers. He had come to believe in his own heart that the Jesus of the Bible is the only story that makes sense out of life and its challenges. [Wilson said], “My own return to faith has surprised none more than myself… My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known – not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in light of the resurrection story…” (Ravi Zacharias, Has Christianity Failed You? Zondervan, 2010, pp. 105-107; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the benefit of being a living witness in the midst of pain and loss. It can lead those who know us best, our friends and family, to true and genuine faith in Christ. This is part of God’s will for us as believers!
1 Peter 3:17 It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (NIV)
It is God’s will to use our unjust and unfair suffering to bring people to faith in His Son. Dear friends, if we want to enjoy the benefit of pain, then God would say to us, “Don’t fear people; fear Christ. Fear Christ in word and in deed.” Then…
FOLLOW CHRIST FROM GRIEF TO GLORY.
Look to Jesus Himself for the inspiration and strength to take advantage of the unjust suffering in your life. Depend on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins and to keep your conscience clear even in your pain.
1 Peter 3:18a For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (NIV)
Christ’s unjust suffering brought us to God. It gave us an audience with the King of the Universe Himself. You see, He who knew no sin took our sin upon Himself and died in our place on the cross. He didn’t deserve to die; we did! We were the sinners, and our sins had kept us separated from God, but Christ’s unjust suffering made it possible for us to be reconciled to God. On the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so God could be our Father instead of our judge.
Now, all we have to do is trust Christ with our lives. All we have to do is depend on Him to give us access to God. All we have to do is rely on the Lord Jesus Christ and we WILL be saved; we WILL have an eternal relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Jesus took our place that we might take His place in Heaven.
I like the way Tim Keller put it in his bestselling book, The Reason for God. In that book he says, “In a real world of relationships, it is impossible to love people with a problem or a need without in some sense sharing or even changing places with them. All real life-changing love involves some form of this kind of exchange.”
Then he talks about parenting. He says, “Children come into the world in a condition of complete dependence. They cannot operate as self-sufficient, independent agents unless their parents give up much of their own independence and freedom for years. If you don't allow your children to hinder your freedom in…at all, and if you only get to your children when it doesn't inconvenience you, your children will grow up physically only. In all sorts of other ways they will remain emotionally needy, troubled, and over-dependent.
“The choice is clear,” Keller says. “You can either sacrifice your freedom or theirs. It's them or you. To love your child well, you must decrease that they may increase. You must be willing to enter into the dependency they have, so eventually they can experience the freedom and independence you have.”
Keller closes with these words: “All life-changing love toward people with serious needs is a substitutional sacrifice. If you become personally involved with them, in some way, their weaknesses flow toward you as your strengths flow toward them…
Then Keller asks the question, “How can God be a God of love if he does not become personally involved in suffering the same violence, oppression, grief, weakness, and pain that we experience? The answer to that question is twofold: First, God can't. Second, only one major religion even claims that God does.” (Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, Riverhead Books, 2008, pp.201–202; www.PreachingToday.com)
Christianity is the only religion whose God became a man, who suffered as we suffered, and who died in our place for our sins. And He did all this for us, so we could be free to live a supernatural, God-like life. Christ’s unjust suffering made it possible for us to forgive as He forgave, and to love even our enemies with the unconditional love He had for us.
So let’s look to Christ for the strength to take advantage of the unjust suffering in our own lives, because His unjust suffering brought us to God!
More than that, His unjust suffering brought Him victory in the end. It allowed Him to conquer His enemies.
1 Peter 3:18b-20a He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. (NIV)
You see, from the very beginning, Satan’s demonic hordes tried to thwart God’s plan of coming into this world as a man. God had promised Adam and Eve that “the seed of the woman” would one day bruise the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). Well, some of Satan’s forces tried to poison that seed in Noah’s day by intermarrying with the “daughters of men.” Genesis 6 says that giants were born of those unholy unions and eventually the whole world of humanity became so wicked that God had to destroy it all with a flood, all but the eight people in Noah’s family.
It looked like those demonic forces had won, but when the flood hit, those demonic spirits were put into some kind of prison. Jude 6 says God has “kept [them] in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”
Those demonic forces didn’t win at all. Instead, Jesus won! God HAD become a man. The “seed of the woman” CAME. He suffered and died for our sins, and after He rose from the dead, He went to those “spirits in prison” and “preached” to them verse 19 says.
Now, this is not the same word used in 1 Peter 1:12 and 4:6 where it talks about preaching the gospel, or good news. No. The word used here in 1 Peter 3:19 simply means “to announce” or “to declare” something. In other words, Jesus went to those disobedient spirits in prison and announced his victory. This was a declaration of conquest over Satan and his forces, so that we no longer need to be afraid.
Jesus’ unjust suffering brought us to God.
Jesus’ unjust suffering brought him victory with the result that His unjust suffering also brought us salvation. By His death and resurrection, Jesus was able to save us from our sins.
Peter was talking about Noah’s ark, in which he says, vs.20, “only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water…”
1 Peter 3:21 And this water symbolizes baptism (literally THE baptism) that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (NIV)
Now, just what is THE baptism he’s talking about here? Well, the word “baptism” literally means “a washing,” and it was used in Mark 7:4 to talk about “the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.” But here, we know he’s not talking about a literal washing or the “removal of dirt from the body.” This is not water baptism here, but rather it is something that gives us “a good conscience toward God.”
Dear friends, no religious ritual can ever give you “a good conscience toward God.” Getting baptized in water will in no way take away the guilt of your sin. It will get you wet, but it won’t clean your conscience. Only Jesus can do that, and He did it through His death on the cross. 1 John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin,” not the waters of baptism.
In fact, Jesus Himself described His own suffering on the cross as “a baptism.” In Mark 10, Jesus had just predicted his death and resurrection when two of his disciples, James and John, came to him requesting the top two spots in His kingdom. Do you remember how Jesus responded to their request? He said in Mark 10:38, “You don’t know what you are asking… Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
Jesus was referring to the suffering He was about to endure on the cross, and it is THAT baptism which saves us from our sins; it is the unjust suffering of Christ on the cross that delivers us from evil.
Dear friends, if you are depending on some religious ritual to save you, whether you were sprinkled or dunked, you are still lost and going to hell.
Please, put your trust in Christ instead. Rely on the One, who died for you and rose again, and He will give you “the pledge of a good conscience before God; He, and he alone, will take away the guilt of your sin.
Look to Jesus. Depend on Him, because His unjust suffering brought us to God. His unjust suffering brought Him the victory. His unjust suffering brought us salvation.
And His unjust suffering put Him in the place of all authority. After he died and rose again, He ascended into heaven where every authority is now ranked under him.
1 Peter 3:22 [He] has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (NIV)
Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! Revere Him and Him alone. Don’t fear any man, and don’t fear even the demons. Instead, fear Christ and follow Him from grief to glory. Look to Jesus alone to keep your conscience clear even in the midst of your pain. It’s the only way we’ll ever find the benefit in our pain. It’s the only way we’ll ever take advantage of our suffering.
In her book, A Place of Healing, Joni Eareckson Tada, who herself is a paraplegic, talks about visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral years ago when she was Paris. “There it was,” she says, “almost one thousand years old, standing there so huge and… black.” She says, “I had never seen such a dirty cathedral! After hundreds of years of soot, dust, and smoke, Notre Dame was covered in layers of black grime. It was even difficult to make out the beautiful carvings and details on the exterior.”
Then sometime after that, the grand old cathedral went though a year-long restoration process. Scaffolding was erected, and the entire exterior was sandblasted. Joni says, “I was stunned when I saw a recent photograph of the cathedral. It was beautiful – and so very different from the way I remembered it… The ancient stones glowed bright and golden. You could see details on carvings that hadn't been visible in decades. It was like a different cathedral. What a wonder a bit of sandblasting can accomplish…”
In the same way, Joni says, “God uses suffering to sandblast you and me. There's nothing like real hardships to strip off the veneer in which you and I so carefully cloak ourselves.” And instead of “wearing us down, dulling our joy, and diluting our hope,” the afflictions of life “can’t help but strip away years of dirt” and allow the radiance of Christ to shine through. (Joni Eareckson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty, David Cook, 2010, pp. 86-87; www.PreachingToday.com)
Please, Let Jesus do that for you even in your pain. Trust Him with your life. Trust in His good and perfect will for you as He sandblasts away. Then let His radiance shine through you so that others might stand in awe of Him.
