1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice to the degree that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or evildoer or as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God as those named by that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" 19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Introduction: Grace by Association
I'm afraid I have some sad news for you today. A member of our staff has been arrested. The charges have to do with theft - stealing items from unattended vehicles. I won't tell you his name, but his initials stand for Jeff Grow. The elders would look into this, but the details are a little fuzzy because it happened 50 years ago. Jeff was a teenager and was hanging out with a group of friends, and they were suddenly surrounded by police. It turns out those friends had been stealing wheels off cars, and when the police caught up to them, Jeff happened to be with them. Jeff was never involved with their crimes, but he was with the group when the police caught them, and the evidence was with them. So the police arrested all of them and roughed Jeff up quite a bit (this was in Chicago in 1963), then took him to jail.
We call that guilt by association. Just because you are associated with some wrongdoers, you are punished for wrongdoing even though you are innocent. Any judge that would convict someone on the basis of guilt by association would be an unjust judge, because actual guilt cannot be transferred by mere association with criminals. But what about the converse of guilt by association - grace by association (being rewarded when you don't deserve it just because you are associated with someone who deserves reward)? Has that ever happened? Yes, it has, in fact, grace by association is basically a three-word summary of the gospel. If you want to know the most fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion, you can find it in that little phrase - grace by association. Human religion is based on being rewarded for your own goodness. Christianity is unique in that all our rewards come to us not because we have made ourselves good enough to deserve them, but because of our close association with Someone who does deserve them - the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the gospel.
The Greek word for association is just a two-letter word - en. It is usually translated by the English word in. So if they want to talk about being closely associated with or connected to or affiliated with or identified with someone, they would simply say you are in that person. And that is why about 100 times in the New Testament you see the phrase "in Christ." Our religion is all about being closely associated with, affiliated with, connected to, identified with, Jesus Christ. The greatest blessing possible is to be connected to Christ, and the greatest calamity is distance from Christ. The best situation you can be in is to be handcuffed to Christ, so that the things that happen to Him also happen to you. On Judgment Day you will go to heaven if you are in Christ. If you are not, you will go to hell. Every reward or blessing you ever receive in this life or the next will only be because of your being connected to Jesus Christ, because all the favor He receives from the Father also lands on whoever is standing next to Him. Grace by association.
Imagine you are in high school and you have a buddy with a rich father who loves to lavish gifts on his son. And whatever he gives his son, he will also give to whoever happens to be hanging out with his son. So you are having lunch with him one day, and here comes his father, "Son, I got you a 2013 Dodge Viper. Oh, and here's one for your friend, too." Every time you are with him and his dad gives him something it is always, "Here's one for your friend, too," - just because the father appreciates you befriending his son. God the Father loves His Son so much, that the best thing that can possibly happen to you is to be associated with His Son, because the closer you are to His Son the more all that favor lands on you.
How does that happen? Through faith. True association with Jesus comes only by trusting Him. That is the gospel.
But how do you know if that trust is real? There are people who claim to be associated with Him who really aren't, so how can you tell if you are for sure? Whatever the answer to that question is, can we agree it would be worth celebrating? If something happened right now that was proof that you are handcuffed to Jesus Christ, so that all the glory and blessing and honor and love from the Father that Jesus is going to receive, you are also going to receive - wouldn't that be a good reason to celebrate? Peter is going to give us a glimpse today of what it is like to be associated with Christ so that you receive grace by association.
Association with Jesus Involves Suffering
And the first thing we see is that being associated with Jesus is that it involves a lot of suffering. Back in chapter 1, verse 11, Peter reminds us that the Old Testament prophets, predicted the sufferings of Christ. When you read in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah you read about suffering. The book of Isaiah speaks at length about the Suffering Servant - especially in chapter 53. When Jesus met the men on the way to Emmaus after His resurrection and they were all dejected because Jesus had been crucified, He rebuked them.
Luke 24:25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"
Mark 9:12 Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
Suffering was the plan for Jesus, and so if you are going to be handcuffed to Him, guess what is going to happen to you.
2 Corinthians 1:5 the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives
It should not come as any surprise that you end up suffering right along with Him. And that is exactly where Peter begins.
1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
Expect Suffering
Peter is going to give us two commands about suffering for Christ, and the first is this: do not be surprised. Expect it. Being surprised at suffering is strictly forbidden for the Christian. This is the same word for surprise that is used back in verse 4, where the people in the world are surprised that we don't run with them into sin anymore. Peter is saying, "Let them be surprised at our behavior, but we must not be surprised at theirs." When they mistreat us, that is to be expected. It happens according to God's plan, and He has a reason for it. There is a purpose behind it, and our suffering will not achieve its intended purpose if we are surprised by it. In order for it to have the effect God wants it to have in our lives, we have to expect it.
Knowledge
So how do we obey that command? Very simple: knowledge. We have to know a little theology. We have to understand what God’s Word teaches on this subject. If you do not have a theology that can make sense of suffering, you are going to have all kinds of problems living the Christian life. And if you have an attitude that sees comfort and ease as the norm, and suffering as an intrusion, you will never be able to have the right kind of attitude about it.
Suffering is the Norm
As much as we suffer in life, you would think it would eventually sink in that suffering is the norm in this life. But it doesn’t. We always seem to be shocked when it happens. We think of times of ease and comfort as the norm – that is what we fully expect every day, and when suffering happens, we are shocked.
“I can’t believe this is happening!”
And we say things like, “I can’t wait until life gets back to normal.” Sometimes we are even tempted to shut down our lives until the suffering is over. We just sort of put all our responsibilities on hold until things get back to normal. But Peter says, “No, suffering is normal.” When you become a Christian, suffering is the new normal for you. We do not wait around for times of ease and comfort before we get on with serving God. His design is that we serve Him in the midst of suffering.
Promised in Scripture
That is not a popular message. People want to hear the exact opposite message. Joel Osteen preaches that it is not God’s plan for you to suffer. God’s plan for you is nothing but prosperity and health and comfort and ease and riches. And average Sunday attendance at his church is 45,000. There are millions of itching ears that will pay money to hear that message, and there are preachers who will oblige. Jesus suffered, but somehow we are above that and should not expect to suffer. But Jesus was very clear.
John 15:20 No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
Matthew 24:9 You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
The Apostles understood that.
Acts 14:21 [Paul and Barnabas] returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.
1 John 3:13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
That is the plan, so expect it. And don’t just expect it - rejoice in it. That is the second command.
Rejoice in Suffering
12 do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice
When verse 12 tells us to expect it, the idea is not that we all become pessimists or cynics. Pessimists love verse 12, because they love to predict suffering.
“"I'm sure this won't work out.”
“Picnic tomorrow? It will probably snow.”
“My boss wants to meet with me? I'm probably getting fired.”
“God has a chance to inflict pain on me for no good reason? He probably will.”
Is that what God wants us to do? Just assume the worst about everything and walk around like Eeyore on Winnie the Pooh? Not even close. Peter says, "Expect suffering, and rejoice!"
"How can I do that?"
Expecting it - that I may be able to do. But rejoice in it? I could pretend to rejoice, but to actually feel happiness and joy? How do I do that? Peter understands this is not an easy command, so he gives us three insights that will help us.
1) Suffering Proves Association
First, realize that your suffering for Christ proves that you are connected to Christ.
13 rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.
The word translated participate is koinoneo - fellowship. Suffering His sufferings = fellowship with Him. When people hate Him and take it out on you, that means you are associated with Him. And that is a high honor. Suffering for Him is not a curse. It is a privilege that has been graciously granted by God.
Philippians 1:29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ … to suffer for him
If the greatest thing that can possibly happen to you is to be associated with Jesus Christ, so that what happens to Him happens to you, then any time you see evidence that you are joined with Him, you will have reason to celebrate. If you truly are handcuffed to Christ, then you have got it made. And participating in His sufferings is evidence that you are. That is why it was such a badge of honor for Paul to say I bear on my body the marks of Jesus (Gal. 6:17).
Degrees
"But what if my suffering isn't suffering for Christ? What if I'm suffering for some other reason?"
Literally verse 13 says, to the degree you participate in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice. Not all suffering is suffering for Christ. A few weeks ago Ron Underwood was preaching the gospel in Denver on the 16th Street Mall, and someone unloaded on him with his fists and gave him a concussion. Clearly that is suffering for Christ. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be suffering for doing evil.
15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or evildoer
If society is treating you harshly because you are a murderer, or thief, or any other kind of criminal - obviously that does not count as suffering for Christ. That is suffering for evil. That is not evidence that you are associated with Christ.
And that is true even if the reason for the persecution is something really minor. Look at the last thing Peter adds.
15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or evildoer or as a meddler.
This word meddler is an interesting word – allotriepiskopos. Episkopos is the Greek word for overseer. Elders in the church are also called episkopoi because they oversee the affairs of the church. The other half of the compound word is allotrios, which means belonging to another. So an allotriepiskopos is someone who is overseeing other people’s business. A busybody. Someone who just thinks it is his or her job to make sure everything is happening according to what they think should happen in the lives of others. That is why it is translated meddler.
Peter gives us the extremes on both ends. The most extreme evil that will get you in trouble with the world is murder. Meddling is probably about the most mild kind of wrongdoing that can result in suffering. If you commit murder, they will give you the electric chair or life in prison. They won’t do that for meddling. No one will put you in jail for meddling; it is just an irritation.
So Peter is saying, "No matter what level of severity - don't let your suffering come from any kind of wrongdoing." There are some Christians who are mistreated by people in the world, not so much because the unbelievers hate the gospel, but just because that Christian is annoying. There are Christians who pat themselves on the back for being persecuted for Christ, when in reality they are just unpopular because of rudeness or insensitivity or annoying people through some kind of socially inappropriate behavior. Or they make a nuisance of themselves through political protest. Or they are troublemakers at work. They just become a headache for people who are in charge, and so they get harsh treatment. None of that counts as suffering for Christ.
Let's resolve as a church that if we receive disfavor from this world, it will only be because of the gospel - no other reason. Probably all of us would already say, "I would certainly hope I would never go to prison for any reason other than the gospel." But let's say the same thing about any degree of dislike by the world. If anyone dislikes you, ask, "Is it because I'm obeying Christ in some area?" If not, something needs to change. People's eternal destinies are at stake, so let's not cloud the issue by giving them any other reason besides the gospel to dislike us.
You Can Still Rejoice in Chastisement
Does that mean we cannot rejoice at all unless our suffering is persecution for the name of Christ? No. There are plenty of other reasons to rejoice in suffering. If you are suffering the consequences of sin in your life you can rejoice over the fact that if you are a Christian, those consequences are corrective, never mere punishment. For unbelievers, the painful consequences of sin might just be sheer punishment and nothing else. And it does not do them any good - only harm. But for the child of God that is never the case. All the chastisement and discipline we receive for our sin is always only for our good. It is always remedial and corrective. The purpose of discipline is to teach us to obey, and God is good at discipline. It has a cleansing, purifying, sanctifying effect on us and makes us more holy.
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
So you can rejoice in that. You can most definitely rejoice over being disciplined by God for your sin. But the point Peter is making here is about one particular kind of rejoicing. That rejoicing that comes when you get proof that you belong to Christ - proof that you are identified with Christ – that is the joy that Peter is talking about here. And that kind of joy comes only to whatever degree your suffering is suffering for Christ.
Examples of Suffering for Christ
So what does count as suffering for Christ? We live in a country that was founded on religious freedom, so we don't face the overt kinds of persecution many of our brothers and sisters around the world face. We are not being thrown in prison and tortured because we confess Christ. But this is not just talking about torture and imprisonment. In fact, Peter does not even mention torture or imprisonment. Other passages of Scripture do, but what example does Peter give?
Insults Because of Righteousness
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed
Insults. If someone just insults you or speaks negatively about you behind your back – that is real persecution. And it does not have to be strictly because of preaching the gospel either. In some cases the world will dislike you and mistreat you just because of your holy life. You never even said a word to them, but the fact you live with integrity and righteousness, and you won't lie, and you don't use dirty language, you don't laugh at their jokes - that has a way of exposing their sin, and they can start to resent you for that. That is suffering for Christ.
Anger Because of Obeying God's Word
Any very often the suffering comes not from unbelievers, but from inside the church. You see someone who is in sin, and you would like to just look the other way, but Jesus commands in Matthew 18 that you confront the person and show him his sin, so you do that, and now he and all his friends don't like you. And people think of you as a troublemaker - all because you obeyed Christ's command. That is suffering for Christ.
Hardship While Sharing the Love of Christ
Any time you suffer in any way in your efforts to bring the love of Christ to others, that is suffering for Christ.
Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Christ suffered to bring grace to His church. But something was lacking? What could possibly be lacking in Christ's sufferings after He said, "It is finished," on the cross? What was lacking was the personal, face-to-face delivery of that grace to people. Who gets to do that part? We do. We get to the be the ones who take the love of Christ right into someone's living room, by bringing them a meal or teaching them from Scripture or praying with them or helping them financially in the name of Christ. And when you do that, it will involve some suffering. And Paul says, I rejoice in what was suffered for you, because he understood that that kind of suffering is an actual sharing in the sufferings of Christ - filling up in our flesh what was lacking in Christ's sufferings. So any hardship you suffer while bringing the love of Christ to someone in person counts as suffering for Christ. If it takes up a lot of your time, or you have to miss work, or you have to burn a bunch of gas to drive over there, or it is a really unpleasant experience for whatever reason - all of that counts as suffering for Christ.
The Difficulties of Obedience
How about staying in a hard marriage because Jesus forbids divorce? That is suffering because of obedience to Christ. What about forgiving someone who hurt you instead of harboring a grudge or getting revenge? You just absorb the loss – that is suffering for Christ. Any time you are suffering because of obedience to any command in God's Word, you are suffering for righteousness. And that would include any time you ever resist any temptation. If you are tempted with some sinful pleasure, and you resist, you forfeit that pleasure for the sake of Christ. That is suffering for righteousness.
To whatever degree your suffering is a result of the fact that you are following Christ, to that degree you can rejoice because it is evidence of your association with Christ. That is one reason. Then in verse 14 he gives us a second principle that will help us rejoice.
2) The Spirit Rests on You
14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Usually the Bible speaks of the Spirit coming upon a person, or dwelling within a person. Where does Peter get this concept of the Spirit resting upon you? That language comes from Isaiah 11:2, which is a prophecy of the Messiah.
Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD.
Isaiah is saying, "Do you want to know what will be unique about the Messiah? The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon Him. And as a result He will have all those things that come from the Spirit of God - wisdom and understanding and counsel and might and knowledge of the fear of the Lord. That's what will be special about the Messiah." And Peter says if you are insulted because of His name, that means the Spirit of the Lord is resting upon you!
"But I thought that was a sign of the Messiah?"
It is, and that is Peter's point. If you suffer for Christ you are so closely connected to Him that when the Spirit rests upon Him, He rests upon you as well. That is grace by association - you get whatever He gets.
And what is the result of that? What happens to you when the Spirit rests on you? The more you suffer for Christ the more the Holy Spirit brings about all kinds of glorious outcomes in your life. Whenever we hear stories about the martyrs who were burned at the stake or boiled to death or tortured for years and years, we always ask, "Would I be able to do that? Would I be able to remain faithful in the face of that kind of suffering?" Answer: yes, because the Spirit of glory rests upon people in situations like that. The more you suffer for Christ the greater the empowerment from the Spirit that you get.
Luke 12:11 "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
And when the Spirit of glory comes upon you, not only does that enable you to withstand the suffering, but it brings a thousand other blessings into your life. In Isaiah 11, the Spirit is called the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD. Peter takes all of that and just summarizes it with one word - the Spirit of glory. All of those things mentioned in Isaiah, and everything else that flows from the glory of God - all of it will be part of your life with the Spirit of glory rests upon you.
It is far better to have suffering and have the Holy Spirit rest upon you than to have comfort and ease without the Spirit. There is no correlation between comfort and ease and joy - none. There are millionaires who can afford every earthly comfort who commit suicide. Paul Brand, in his book: Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, wrote this: "I have come to see that pain and pleasure come to us not as opposites but as Siamese twins, strangely joined and intertwined. Nearly all my memories of acute happiness, in fact, involve some element of pain or struggle." Paul said the same thing.
2 Corinthians 6:10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
The deepest joys of life do not normally come in times of comfort and ease. Those are shallow joys. The really profound, life-changing kinds of joys are connected very often with suffering because in that suffering, the Spirit of God draws near.
More Than Teaching a Lesson
So often I hear people who are suffering say, "I'm just trying to figure out, what is God trying to teach me through this?" Trying to discover what God is teaching you is a good thing to do to be sure, but when people talk that way it makes it sound like the only purpose of suffering is for God to teach us some lesson. And the only valuable thing you get out of it is that lesson. So if you can't figure out what the lesson is, it seems like pointless suffering. But there are so many purposes and benefits from suffering besides just learning lessons! One of them is the evidence that you belong to Christ. And another is all of the glory that comes into your life as a result of the Spirit of glory and of God resting upon you because of your suffering. And then Peter gives us a third reason to rejoice in suffering.
3) Rejoicing Now Increases Future Rejoicing
13 But rejoice to the degree that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Whether or not you have joy or sorrow when Christ returns depends on whether you rejoice in the sufferings of Christ in this life. Lots of people are eager to follow Christ at first, but then when suffering and persecution come, there are two possible reactions. Some are so happy to be identified with Christ that they consider it a privilege to suffer for Him.
Acts 5:40 They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
For people like that, any evidence that they are truly connected to Christ is worth celebrating and it makes them genuinely happy. But not everyone responds that way.
Mark 4:16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Some people, even though they received the gospel with joy at first, as soon as they find themselves surrounded by people who hate Christ, they become ashamed of Christ. They don't rejoice in persecution at all. They would rather disassociate themselves from Christ than suffer or be looked down on for associating with Christ. Will those people have any joy when Jesus returns? No.
Luke 9:26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Persecution separates different kinds of followers of people in the church. It separates the people who value association with Christ above all from the ones who value the respect of people in this world or comfort in this world. And it is only the ones who value association with Christ above all who will be laughing when Christ returns in glory.
So if you want to be overjoyed with Christ returns, rejoice in suffering for His name. And the more you rejoice in suffering for Him, the greater will be your joy on Judgment Day, because the closer will be your connection with Christ. Those who have rejoiced in their suffering for Christ more in this life will have greater joy. Those who have rejoiced less in their suffering for Christ will have lesser joy. So if you want to work on something in your spiritual life, work on rejoicing in suffering for Christ. If you can increase that now, you have just increased the measure of the joy you will have in heaven. That is the force behind Peter's command, When you are insulted for Christ rejoice ... so that you will be overjoyed when Christ's glory is revealed. This is such a fascinating principle to me. Peter is not just saying, "Rejoice because of your reward." We know we should do that.
Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
So we understand that we should rejoice over persecution because more persecution means more reward.
2 Corinthians 4:17 our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory.
So suffering now increases your glory then. But Peter is going beyond that. He is saying not only does your suffering now increase your reward then, but your rejoicing over your suffering now increases that reward even more! So if you are persecuted, you get more reward, and if you rejoice over that persecution, you get even greater reward. Why? Because your rejoicing proves that you treasure association with Christ above earthly comfort. That is why Paul said...
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and ... fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death
Jesus descended to the lowest possible humiliation, because the lower the depths of humiliation the greater the exaltation. And if we are handcuffed to Him in humiliation and suffering we are also there with Him in his super-exaltation. Paul could not have stated it more clearly in Romans 8.
Romans 8:17 ...we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Or the writer of Hebrews:
Hebrews 13:12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Association with Him is worth any suffering, because whatever it is we have to lose in this world is nothing. And so Peter tells us, "Whatever you do, don't be ashamed of Him."
Conclusion: Do not be ashamed
15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or evildoer or as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God in that name.
The term Christian was used by outsiders probably as a term of derision. When they wanted to refer to a partisan or follower of a man, they would often add ian on the end of the person's name. We do something similar. If you want to refer to someone as being associated with Ronald Reagan, you might call him a Reaganite. And for people who hated Ronald Reagan, calling someone a "Reaganite" was an insult. They did the same thing back then, but instead of ite on the end, it was ian. So calling someone a Christ-ian was like calling them a Christ groupie. Or a Christ lackey. A more modern term for that would be "Jesus freak."
If you suffer, don't let it be because of wrongdoing or being annoying. But if you suffer as a Jesus freak or Bible thumper, Peter says, "Whatever you do, do not be ashamed.” If we are ashamed of Him now He will be ashamed of us on Judgment Day. The Father will say, "Here's one for Your friend, too" and Jesus will say, "He's not My friend." Don't be ashamed of His name. And don't be ashamed to be associated with Him, or His Word or His gospel or His church or anything that He taught. Don't be ashamed of any doctrine that came through the inspiration of His Spirit.
And if the world sees you as having been disgraced and humiliated - if the world regards you as the loser and the people mocking you as the winners - don't agree with them. If they mock you and everybody laughs at you, do not regard yourself as having been disgraced. Why? Because God alone decides who is exalted and who is disgraced. God, not society, is the ultimate arbiter and conferrer of shame and honor. And if God says you are honored then hold your head high because you are honored. And if the world thinks you are disgraced, they can take that up with God. But you go with what God says, not what they say.
In that Name
Notice what he says at the end of verse 16. The end of the verse is hard to translate, but the literal translation is this:
16 if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God in that name.
What name? The name Christian. The name they used to mock you. The very thing they think is so stupid about you - instead of being ashamed of that and distancing yourself from it – glorify God with it.
There is a tendency for Christians to attempt to glorify God by distancing themselves from the aspects of Christianity that the world mocks. Pastors do this. Certain things in the Bible offend people, and so bit by bit you start hearing less and less about those things in the sermons. It is not that he is denying those doctrines - he just does not mention them very often. He figures he can best glorify God by getting people to like God, and so mentioning those things about God that are unpopular or hard to understand seems counterproductive. And it is not just pastors who do that. Christian authors and speakers - and just regular, everyday Christians who get into conversations at work or with friends, who just kind of shy away from the things about Christianity that people don't like. But what Peter is telling us here is, "No, go ahead and glorify God, but don't do it by distancing yourself from the things they mock. Glorify God in connection with those very things." If they call you a Bible thumper, don't try to win their favor by hiding the Bible. Glorify God by holding your Bible high. If they mock you as a Jesus freak, ratchet up your association with Jesus all the more. Why?
17 Because it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God
What does that mean? We are out of time now, but we will plan on picking it up right there next time.
Benediction:1 Peter 5:10,11 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
1:25 Questions
1. Which kind of suffering for Christ (insults because of your righteousness, anger because of your obeying God's Word, hardship while delivering the love of Christ to someone, and difficulties in obeying God's Word or resisting sin) is most common in your life?
2. Which of the three principles for rejoicing (suffering proves association, the Spirit rests upon you, rejoicing brings greater joy) helps the most in rejoicing over that kind of suffering?
