Attitudes in Times of Suffering (Part 1)
1 Peter 3:13-22
Preached by Pastor Tony Miano
at Lake Hills Community Church
August, 2000
Introduction: We’ve come to the point in Peter’s letter where he begins to speak about the central theme of his message. From here on out, Peter will comfort, encourage and teach believers how to endure the suffering that can come with the Christian faith. Let’s read 1 Peter 3:13-22.
Over the next two weeks, we’re going to take a close look at our attitudes in times of suffering. There are several things you won’t hear over the next two weeks. You won’t hear that if you’re suffering, you lack faith. You won’t hear that if you become a Christian all those times of pain and hardship will be a thing of the past. You won’t hear that you should just “suck it up” because there are people a lot worse off than you. And you won’t hear a full-proof formula that will help you avoid suffering in the future.
What you will hear is that times of suffering can be opportunities for emotional and spiritual growth. You will hear that there can be blessing in the midst of suffering. You will hear that unlike times of testing, which are inevitable in the Christian’s life, Peter considers real suffering to be a remote possibility in the life of the believer.
You will hear about certain pieces of equipment, character traits, which will see you through times of suffering. And you will receive comfort and be encouraged to stand firm in the midst of suffering as we hear about the One who suffered all things on our behalf. As Christians we can be assured that our times of suffering are not in vain, but are part of God’s sovereign will, which is so much better than our own plans and desires.
This morning we’re going to look at some of the attitudes we should have if we suffer for doing the right thing. As we dig deep into God’s Word, I want you to consider this. Are you an egg or a potato?
You see, when you face times of suffering, you will respond either like an egg or like a potato. “A potato goes into boiling water hard, but comes out pliable. An egg goes into the boiling water soft and comes out hard” (Anonymous).
Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? (v. 13)
Peter begins this section of his letter with a rhetorical question. Peter’s rhetorical question in verse thirteen is connected with what he had just said in verse twelve. When Peter asks “Who is there?” he is calling for the reader to think of a specific person. Peter is not asking the reader to think of a specific person who might try to harm them. He is asking them to think of a specific person who would actually be able to harm them.
Peter is basically telling the reader, “If you do what is right no one can really harm you.” In other words, as we see in verse twelve, no real harm can come to the person who has the eyes of the Lord watching them. No real harm can come to the believer who has God’s ear listening to his or her prayers.
The Apostle Paul agreed with Peter on this point when he said in Romans 8:31, “what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” King David felt the same kind of assurance when he wrote in Psalm 56:4, “In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”
Now you might hear that and say, “What are you talking about? If what Peter is saying is true, then why do believers suffer? Why am I going through this hell right now?” Peter isn’t saying that believers won’t suffer. After all, Peter was a believer who suffered for his faith in Christ. He is saying that if, as a believer, you are doing what is right and you are living your life for Christ, the chances of suffering are remote. Where Peter talks about enjoying life on earth in verses 10-12, in verse thirteen he wants his readers to have an eternal perspective.
In other words, in the grand scheme of things, no matter how much we may suffer here on earth, can anyone do anything to cause us any real harm? Can anyone do anything to separate the believer from Christ? Peter’s rhetorical question asks for the emphatic answer, “No!”
Peter is setting the tone for the rest of the passage and the rest of his letter, for that matter. Having explained to his readers that even in times of suffering nothing can cause them any real harm in the eternal realm, he can now speak with confidence and credibility about the attitudes believers should have if they should suffer–especially if they should suffer for doing what is right.
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. (v. 14a)
Peter tells his readers that even if they should suffer for doing good, they should consider themselves blessed. The Greek literally means “happy” or “spiritually prosperous.” As far as Peter is concerned, the believer who suffers for doing good is “fortunate in the highest sense because of [his] soul’s spiritual blessedness” (Thomas, L23).
It makes perfectly good sense that Peter would believe this when we consider under whose teaching he sat. It was Jesus Himself who said, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10).
And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, (v. 14 b)
Peter references Isaiah 8:12 in the second half of verse fourteen. Now, the NIV translates the Greek this way. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” In other words “Don’t let the things that frighten unbelievers frighten you.” The NIV translation doesn’t seem to fit within the context of what Peter is saying. The NASB translation, “and do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,” fits the context better.
Peter is encouraging believers to not be afraid of what the world may throw at them. Even if you are doing the right thing, it’s still possible that you might suffer because you are doing it in Jesus’ name. Peter is not suggesting that the believer not be afraid. He is commanding it.
Peter also tells the readers not to be troubled. The word “troubled” literally means “to shake up or stir,” “to disturb or agitate.” When unbelievers see you making a stand for Christ, their hostility toward the gospel can be intense. They will, at times, go out of their way to agitate you. They may do things in an attempt to disturb you or shake up your faith. Instead of being afraid or agitated by what unbelievers might do to us, we should follow the instruction Peter gives in verse fifteen.
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; (v. 15)
This is one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. I believe that living up to the mandates given in this verse, letting our walk with Christ reflect the attitudes mentioned in this verse and the verse that follows, will not only help us get through those times of suffering, but will give us the tools to live victoriously for Him.
What does it mean to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts?” When we came to faith in Christ, He sanctified us. In other words, He set us apart and made us holy. To sanctify Christ is not to make Him holy, because He always has been. To sanctify Christ in our hearts means to treat Him as holy. Peter is saying that we are to once and for all treat Christ with absolute reverence.
And we are to do this in our hearts. We have to give the Lord Jesus Christ access and possession of our innermost beings. We must yield all control of our lives to Christ. The words Peter uses are known as moral imperatives. This means that to sanctify Christ as Lord of our hearts we must make Him the priority in and over every decision we make.
We may look at this verse and assume that it is written to look like there are different steps. In other words, the first step is to set apart Christ in our hearts, then we must be ready to defend our faith. But the presence of the word “always,” indicates that the idea of being prepared or ready is inseparable from setting Christ apart in our hearts.
If Christ is truly set apart in our hearts, we should always be ready, “never unprepared, never unwilling, never timid” (Hiebert, p. 227, quoting Williams) to answer anyone who questions the validity of our faith in Christ.
The word “answer” comes from the Greek word apologia, from which we also get the English word “apology.” In this context, it means to make a defense or answer back. It does not mean to make an excuse, as we might think of the word apology.
It seems to have become increasingly easier these days to make excuses for what we believe. Very large Christian denominations are willingly setting aside essential truths of the gospel in order to achieve some skewed form of unity. They are setting aside the call to be ready and answering man’s call to get along no matter how costly.
With all that said, does it mean that in actuality we are always ready. I know I’m not. But as we grow in our faith in Christ, as we grow in our spiritual maturity, readiness should be the direction we take, and the goal that is ever-present in our hearts and minds. Although it’s true that we shouldn’t look for theological arguments just for argument’s sake, it is also true that we shouldn’t harbor a spirit of concession when making a defense is the order of the day.
Readiness is an attitude. “This attitude calls for an intelligent grasp of the hope [that is in us] and skill in presenting it” (Robertson, vol. 6, p. 114). There can be a downside to this readiness. It is the fact that there is always the possibility that a person, without appropriate discipleship, can become militant in their defense of the gospel. Some of them will stand on the fact that the gospel is offensive or foolishness to unbelievers. What they fail to realize is that it is the message that can be offensive at times. It should not be the messenger.
If you stand on the truth of Scripture, you should expect that from time to time the person you are sharing with may walk away shaking their head in unbelief. However, the same person shouldn’t walk away from the conversation shaking their head because of your manner of speech, your body language, or an attitude that would cause another person to be offended.
Peter provides balance for his strong words about being ready to make a defense. As men and women who have sanctified Christ in our hearts, we are obligated to defend our hope in Christ with an attitude of gentleness and reverence.
Being gentle in defending our hope in Christ means that we try our best not to let an aggressive or overpowering attitude in our point of view be what convinces the other person that what we are saying is true. At the same time, being gentle doesn’t mean we are to be weak. In defending the Christian faith, even in discussions with other believers, emotions can run very high. If we have sanctified Christ in our hearts and are in a state of readiness as we defend what we believe, then our attitude should be one of humility, courtesy and consideration, without leaving the other person feeling patronized, all the while never compromising the truth of God’s Word.
Our attitude in defending our faith should also be one of reverence or respect. This respect should not be born out of a fear of men, but out of a healthy fear of the Lord. We talked about this kind of reverence last week. In the present context, the healthy fear we are talking about would include an attitude of caution.
As we make a defense of the hope that is in us, we want to be constantly aware, even cautious, about what we are saying. We never want to allow our discussion to deteriorate to the point that our emotions override our common sense and discernment. We want to be cautious never to allow our attitudes negatively impact the message we are sharing with others.
We’ve spent a lot of time on this verse. But there’s one more thing I want to look at. The appropriate understanding of two little words in this verse may be very encouraging to you. The words are “in you.”
Peter says you should be able to give an account for the hope that is in you. You should not fear your neighbor who has a PHD in astrophysics. You should not fear the two nice young men on mountain bikes at your door. You should not fear your spouse who has ample ammunition about your life prior to Christ that he or she may use to doubt your faith. The reason is the hope is in you.
Maybe you lack confidence in your own ability to stand up to challenges to your faith. Maybe the Jehovah’s Witness living next door is more articulate than you are. It doesn’t matter because the hope in you is not a reference to you as an individual. In you is better translated “among you.” It refers to all those who share your faith.
When you stand to make a defense for your faith, you are not standing alone. You are standing on the hope that is shared by millions. So why be afraid? Can the one person who is standing in front of you possibly defeat the truth shared by all of those who came before you, and all of those who stand with you now?
and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (v. 16)
Peter now looks at the attitude of personal integrity before God when he exhorts the reader to have a good conscience. In order to have a good conscience, the Christian must constantly be taking self-inventory. Who are we when no one is looking?
I’m reminded of the story of a pharmacist who overheard a young boy using the pay phone in the drug store. “‘Hello, sir, I was calling to see if you needed a lawn boy. Oh, you have one. Well, is he adequate? Oh, he is! Thank you, I was just checking,’ said the young boy.’”
“The pharmacist then said to the boy, ‘Sorry you didn’t get the job, son.’”
“‘Oh, no, sir,’ said the boy. ‘I’ve got the job. I was just calling to check up on myself’” (Hughes, p. 234).
When Peter uses the adjective “good” with the word “conscience,” he uses it in the sense of goodness in God’s eyes. He does not use it based on what man counts as goodness.
D. Edmond Hiebert, one of the great theologians of our day, had this to say about the "good conscience.” “‘Good’ implies that the conscience has been cleansed by God’s grace to know what is right and wrong, and further, its possessor obeys its dictates. The maintenance of such a conscience enables one to face an opponent without fear, and to effectively defend the truth” (Hiebert, p. 229).
How often have you walked away from a conversation with an unbeliever, shaking your head, because they claim to have a clear conscience, even though the decisions they are making are immoral? How often have you heard believers justify their sin in much the same way?
If our attitude in times of suffering is going to include a good conscience, we must use God’s standards and not man’s as our barometer. I remember a time when I went to a high school function with the rest of the members of the gang unit. Beside arresting bad guys on the school campuses, we also did a lot of public speaking and individual counseling with students.
We were asked to participate in what could be best described as a pep rally involving all of the local high schools. The idea was to get the kids motivated to excel in school with one of the emphases being respect for others. During the rally, the organizers showed a slide presentation in which motivational words and phrases were flashed on the screen.
The one that caught my eye and the eye of my partner at the time, who is also a committed Christian, was this. The slide read, “There are no good motives and there are no bad motives. There are only your motives.” When the slide flashed on the screen, there was loud applause from the kids and the teachers.
If we are going to possess an attitude that is consistent with having a good conscience, then it must be based on the moral absolutes of God’s character, not on the fallible moral compass of man. Part of living for Christ, part of doing what is good in His sight, is that you might suffer malicious attacks from those who don’t believe as you do. Peter’s readers were constantly being berated and slandered against. The persecution was not that which was officially sanctioned by the government. Rather, it was the day to day malicious attacks from other citizens.
These attacks were very specific. They were directed toward the good behavior of those who openly claimed allegiance to Jesus Christ. If you’ve ever had your Christian motives questioned, or if your faith has been brought into question because of the hypocrisy your opponent has seen in others who claim to follow Christ, then you can understand what Peter’s readers had to endure.
Those false accusations about the Christian faith in general, and doubts about one’s motivation for living the Christian life, can cut deep into the Christian on a personal level. But there is great encouragement in this verse.
If, as a Christian, you have sanctified Christ in your heart which is evidenced by your readiness to defend your hope in Christ, and if that defense is peppered with the attitudes of gentleness and reverence; if you are able to make such a defense with a good conscience because you are truly living what you claim to believe, then those who try to cause you suffering and pain through their accusations will be put to shame. Their accusations will not be able to stand up under the weight of your Christlike attitude and the truth of your faith.
For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than doing what is wrong. (v. 17)
In verse seventeen, Peter substantiates calling believers to have a good conscience even in times of persecution or suffering. The reason for keeping your conscience clear, even during times of suffering, is that it’s better to suffer for doing the right thing instead of suffering for doing the wrong thing.
Notice that Peter uses the word “better.” Peter is not saying that one kind of suffering is good and one is bad. Regardless of the circumstances or the condition of your heart, suffering is never pleasant. It is simply better to suffer for doing good.
God allows and uses times of testing in the life of believers to strengthen our faith and produce endurance in our lives. That endurance becomes necessary when we face times of suffering. I like what John Piper said when talking about suffering. He said, “The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears.”
Now, there’s an interesting phrase nestled in the middle of verse seventeen–if God should will it so. What does this mean? Does it mean that God wants His children to suffer? Does it mean that it is likely for believers to suffer when they are living right and doing right for God?
In our Shepherd Groups at Pico Canyon, it may be said that we major on the minutia during our study of God’s Word. Our answer to that is that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a twofold proposition. As disciples, we are called to be both followers of Christ and students of His Word.
If we are truly going to study God’s Word with depth and integrity, we must be doing everything we can to be sure that we are rightly dividing God’s Truth. Sometimes that requires us to look closely at what the verse actually says before we try to decide what it really means. What we see isn’t always what we get.
To truly understand what Peter is saying, we need to take a moment to look at the grammar of the verse. Our understanding of the word “if” is critical to understanding what Peter is saying here.
The word “if” introduces a conditional statement of which there are four types. What Peter is actually saying falls under the fourth category of conditional statements. It is the most rare in all of Scripture. The fourth type of conditional statement is the one that is a “less probable future condition.” This kind of statement expresses not a probability that what is being said will happen, but only a possibility. Peter is saying, “if perchance it should be God’s will for you to suffer for doing good.”
Do you see how important this is? What we should believe, what Peter is teaching, is that although God could allow us to suffer for doing good, it is very unlikely that He would allow that to happen. And if we do find ourselves in a situation where God is allowing us to experience a time of suffering for doing something right, it is still better than paying the penalty for doing the wrong thing.
I would hazard to guess that most of us have been taught that suffering is inevitable in the life of a believer. I believed the same way until Monday morning. Then I dug below the surface of what I was seeing in the verse, to what it actually meant.
I think this mind set of waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for that inevitable time of suffering to come, has probably kept some of you out of ministry. Maybe it has kept you from sharing your faith because you thought you would suffer consequences if you did.
Knowing that it will be rare for you to suffer for doing good for Christ should change the way we look at service and evangelism. Our fear of man should be set aside because we are more likely to be blessed than persecuted for standing firm in our faith and bearing fruit as we walk with Christ.
I think it’s important for us to understand that there is a difference between times of trial or testing, and times of suffering for Christ’s sake. When we are experiencing difficulty in our lives, we need to evaluate the reasons why. Is the difficulty a direct result of my defense of the gospel, or is what I’m experiencing a hardship allowed by God to produce endurance in my life?
An even tougher question to ask is, “Am I suffering because of a sin issue in my life? Have I allowed myself to be put into a position where suffering is a distinct possibility?” I think there are times in our lives when our first inclination is to ask God why He allows us to suffer instead of looking to see how our own actions have contributed to the problem.
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (v. 18)
In the last five verses of chapter three, Peter shows his readers what the reward is for suffering for doing what is right. Blessing is what follows times in which we suffer for good. The blessing is in the knowledge that “our willingness to suffer for the sake of Christ is grounded in the wonder of Christ’s willingness to suffer death for our sake” (Hiebert, quoting Clowney, p. 235).
Peter describes two characteristics of Christ’s suffering that are important for us to look at. The first is that His sacrifice was “once for all.” Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was a unique event in history–and Christ’s death was a historical event–and one that can never be duplicated.
Christ Himself said, “It is finished,” as He hung on the cross. What Christ did on the cross, once for all, was completely sufficient. There is nothing else God needed to do in order to atone for our sins. Only the Perfect, sinless sacrifice would satisfy the required penalty for our sins.
This is the second characteristic of Christ’s suffering. It was the Just dying for the unjust that makes Christ’s death so unique and so unrepeatable. Although He was without sin, He willingly humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on the cross, and took our place.
Peter says that the reason for Christ death was “so that He might bring us to God.” This phrase is one of purpose, not one of possibilities. We can look at the word “might” and think that there may be other reasons for Christ’s death or that His death may have not been sufficient to bring us to God. We might think there is something else we need to do, like good works, in order to find our way to God.
The fact of the matter is that the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was singular in focus–to lead us to our heavenly Father. There is nothing man can add to the perfect, finished work of the Savior.
The final phrase in the verse, “having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,” shows that Christ’s death was a literal, physical event. The word “spirit” is not a reference to the Holy Spirit. It is a reference to the bodily spirit of Christ being brought to life without excluding His bodily nature.
in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, (v. 19).
Verse nineteen is considered to be one of the most difficult verses in all of the New Testament to understand. There are differing opinions among credible theologians as to how best to interpret this verse. I’m going to share with you the conclusion I have drawn based on my own study and try to explain it to you in the next thirty seconds or so.
This is not a verse describing a second chance of redemption for those who died in their unbelief. Jesus did not go to hell to give unrepentant sinners a second chance at salvation. The person of Christ, no longer restrained by human limitations, went to that place, lower than Hades, reserved for those fallen angels who rebelled against God, as they await the judgment. The message Christ proclaimed to them was one of victory, not salvation. This fits with the context of the next verse where Peter refers to Genesis 6–the time of the flood.
This view is also consistent with what Peter teaches in II Peter 2:4-5. It is also consistent with Jude 6. One last piece of support for this view is the fact that the Greek word pneumati, translated in this verse as “spirit,” never refers to the spirit of men. It is only used for supernatural beings, which include angels.
One last thing–We don’t know for sure when exactly Jesus proclaimed His message of victory to these fallen angels. But if we follow the flow of the text from verse 18 to 22, a reasonable progression would be death, preaching, resurrection, and ascension.
Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (v. 21).
Now if verse nineteen wasn’t complicated enough for you, let’s look at verse twenty-one. It appears that Peter is saying that baptism is necessary for salvation.
Context is critical to understanding this verse. What Peter is doing is striking a “parallel between the events and people of the flood and the events and people of his time. The people in the ark correspond to the Christians; the water of the flood corresponds to the water of baptism; the escape of Noah’s family from drowning corresponds to the spiritual salvation of believers” (Marshall, p. 130). It wasn’t the water that saved them.
Peter was very much aware that what he has just said about baptism could be misinterpreted and misused. That why, without taking a breath, he qualifies his statement by saying, “not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience.”
What Peter is saying is that it’s not baptism that removes the dirt and weight of sin, “it is an appeal to God for a good conscience” (Piper, 1997 sermon). It’s helpful to remember that the vast majority of Christians in the early church were baptized the moment they came to faith in Christ. The idea of a Christian not being baptized would be completely foreign to Peter.
Baptism served then, as it does now, as a proclamation of the believer’s faith in Christ. Baptism is the outward appeal for a good conscience that is found through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves by washing away our own sins with water. Only Christ’s finished work on the cross and His resurrection can do that.
who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. (v. 22)
Noah and his family were given a way of escape from the evil spirits and the causes of suffering in their day. Christians are also given a way of escape and protected from the evil forces in the world through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is our source of victory.
Peter ends his word of encouragement by reminding his readers that God is sovereign. Jesus Christ has authority over all things, including those circumstances that bring about suffering in our lives. Nothing–no set of circumstances or level of suffering–separates the believer from the love of Christ.
Not only can we endure with a Christlike attitude in times of suffering, but, with Christ, we can conquer our fears and win overwhelming victories over those who would seek to persecute us for doing what is right. We can be victorious because Christ has already won the battle over sin and death. Paul wrote this to the Roman believers in Romans 8:35-39.
Finally, let us not forget what Peter has taught us as we ask ourselves the question, “Whether it be in the day to day trials and tribulations, or on that rare occasion when we truly suffer for doing what is right, can anything really bring us harm when, as believers, our place with Christ is secured for all eternity?”
If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can leave here this morning with the confidence and assurance of knowing that no level of suffering, no matter how intense and seemingly overwhelming it may be, can harm you to the point that you will be separated from the love of Christ.
That good news should encourage you to have the right attitudes, those that honor Christ, in any circumstance. Remember our analogy about the egg and the potato? Our attitudes will determine how we come out of life’s boiling water. We can allow those uncomfortable times to harden our hearts and miss the blessings God promises to give to those who suffer in His name. Or we can have our hearts softened by those rare times of suffering for Christ, or those inevitable times of trial and testing, and grow in Christ through them.
