Helpful Truth for Hard Times

1 Peter 4:12-19

 

Life isn’t easy - You might feel like things are going along pretty well and then all of a sudden life changes

-You get a bad report from the Doctor

-You’re told the company is downsizing and you’re left out

-Someone you thought was your friend turns on you

-Someone you love dies

-Any number of other things...

But those are just the trials of life and none of us has the copyright on hard times

Peter was writing to a group of people who were relatively new believers

-They made the decision to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior believing that He would give

  them new life as He’d promised

-But now they were facing hard times and a lot of those hard times were because of their faith

-So they were confused and maybe even a little bit disillusioned by it all

So Peter was trying to encourage and teach them how to get through those times and I believe what he’s written can still encourage and teach us

-So let’s look at what the passage tells us (READ SCRIPTURE)

Believers Aren’t Shielded From Pain And Suffering

Most of us are familiar with the term “bait and switch”

-I was looking at car ads one time and saw a car that I liked that was a great price

-When I got to the lot I showed them the ad and the car I was looking for

-The salesman said, “We already sold all of those but if you’re interested in that car let me show you this one over here.”

 

There are people who think that the message of Christianity sounds like a “bait and switch” scam

-Some people feel like Christianity is something that’ll solve all of their problems and make life wonderful

-Then when you sign on the dotted line you find out that you still have the problems you started with and there are some that are new because of your faith

 

Well, the Bible never makes any claims that becoming a Christian will eliminate all suffering from your life – the Bible tells us the truth

So, there are two reasons suffering shouldn’t surprise us...

First the Bible clearly warns us

In the Old Testament we read the stories of people who went through tough times because of their faithfulness

-Joseph, David, Job and others

There are lots of places in the NT that warn us...

Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus said, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ·       

In John 16:33 Jesus told His disciples, in the world you will have tribulation but take courage, for I have overcome the world

In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 Paul described his ministry by saying, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Hebrews 12:7 tells us to endure hardship as discipline

James 1:2 tells us to consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds

It’s all out in the open – The Bible isn’t trying to hide anything

The second reason we shouldn’t be surprised is because Jesus faced trials

In John 15:20 Jesus told His disciples, no servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

Trials are a part of being a follower of Christ and being a believer doesn’t shield us from that

But we also need to see that...

Suffering Comes for Different Reasons

¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

Notice the condition Peter adds: if you are insulted for the name of Christ then he says that we shouldn’t be suffering as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler

So, we need to see that because Peter’s telling us that not all suffering is godly suffering

-Some suffering is the consequence of our own sinful acts

-In other words, sometimes we suffer because we deserve it!

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who feel like they’re being persecuted for the gospel when in reality they’re being persecuted because they’re being obnoxious!

So, all suffering isn’t holy suffering and even Biblical suffering has different purposes according to Scripture

-Some trials are meant to correct us

-Some trials are meant to help us grow deeper in our faith

-Some trials are given as opportunities for us to use our faith

-Some trials serve as a training ground for a future ministry

We can learn compassion through our suffering

-Think about how Joseph suffered for so many years but God was using all those experiences to

  put him in a place where he could save his entire family during the famine in Egypt

A lot of the time we might have no idea why we’re going through difficult times

-But when the hard times come the first question needs to be: Am I suffering because of

  something I’ve done? – Maybe some sin in your life?

-If you see some sin you should repent and work to correct the bad attitude

-If you don’t see any problems, then your job is to trust the Lord and believe that He’ll use that trial for His purpose that you don’t see yet

We Can Rejoice When We Suffer for Being a Christian

¹³ rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

 

There’s any number of ways that we might suffer because of our faith but Peter says we can and should rejoice for several reasons.

 

First because, in our trial we’re identified with Christ (13)  

 

The logic here is simple: when people treat us the way they treated Jesus it shows that they see Jesus in us

When we live for Christ we become a contrast to the ways of the world

-We become sort of the “conscience” of society

It always sort of amazes me when people sometimes feel guilty around me

-Not because of anything I said but because of the lives their living

-And sometimes instead of dealing with their sin, they’d rather attack Christians

 

We’re told that the disciples rejoiced that they were considered worthy enough to suffer for the name of Christ

-They considered it an honor to be associated with Christ to the point that people treated them the same way they treated Jesus

Second, suffering shows the depth of our faith

When we’re willing to suffer for the glory of God the way that Jesus suffered we show the true nature of our faith

We can claim to be or be able to do all kinds of things but the proof is when you show that you can really do what you say you can do

Anyone can say they’re a Christian – It’s easy to say

-But what happens when there’s the threat of going to prison for your faith or where that faith is going to cost you something (comfort, popularity, pain, or even our lives)

When we endure suffering because of our faith in Jesus we’re showing that our claim to trust Him is real

Romans 8:17 says we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory

-If we suffer with Christ we’ll also be glorified with Him

 

Third, we experience the strengthening of the Holy Spirit

In verse 14 Peter says, 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.

When we go through suffering we might feel like we’ve been abandoned by God but the truth is that He’s closer to us at that point than ever

-The worst times can be the times when we discover the Lord in the deepest ways

-It’s during those times that we learn to depend on God’s strength and sufficiency

In school no one earns a degree without having to pass tests

-The tests are designed to motivate us and to measure what we’ve learned

Trials do the same thing

-They motivate us, deepen us, and show the true nature of our faith

We know from experience that difficulty actually enhances our lives

-We experience blessings in the hard times that we couldn’t know apart from them

We know that the suffering is temporary 

Peter says we rejoice so that we will be overjoyed when his glory is revealed

In other words we know the suffering has an eternal purpose

-People who believe that this life is all there is have a real problem with suffering; they feel like they’ve been cheated

-But as Christians we have a different perspective because we understand that the suffering in this life is preparing us for the glory of the next life

Vv 16-18 Peter says, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with the family 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?”

Think about an amusement park; you get on the “death defying” roller coaster

-It’s scary during the ride but you aren’t really frightened for your life

-Why? - Because you’re strapped in and you know that the track is maintained and you’ve just seen hundreds of people on the ride before you and they came through it
  safely

Peter’s saying that we should see the trials of life in the same way

-Can they be painful? Yes.

But we don’t have to worry because we know that God’s watching over us during the trials and He won’t let us be defeated

-He’ll keep us safe through the storm and the trial even if the trial leads to our death

So in verse 19 Peter says ...those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good

Understanding all that Peter’s said there are several things we need to do...

First, Be Prepared 

We’re living in a society that’s becoming more and more hostile to Christianity

-People don’t like the idea of a standard of truth that doesn’t change

-They don’t like the idea of ultimate accountability

-They don’t like the idea that we need a Savior

When we hold ourselves to Biblical standards we’ll be called hate-mongers, narrow-minded, judgmental, empty-headed and a lot worse

Are there Christians who are mean and insensitive? Yes.

-But they’re the exception, not the rule

There are people in the world who are putting all Christians into the “dangerous-extremist” category

-Several years ago a national talk show host said that “Christianity was as dangerous as radical Islamic terrorists”

I believe that more and more we’re going to be faced with choices that force us to choose between peace with the world and faithfulness to God

-We need to be prepared to endure suffering and abuse to stay true to the gospel

 

Commit yourselves to God 

Peter tells us to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator

-The key to surviving any difficult time is to realize that God is in control

-God has a plan even when the world feels like it’s out of control

Every time we go through a difficult time we need to ask a simple question: Do I trust my circumstances or do I trust the one who’s Lord over the circumstances

-If God is really in control and He loves us we need to trust Him

But the craziest thing we can do is to wait until trials come to learn to walk with Christ

-We need to be prepared for difficult times and we get prepared by learning to walk with God now

-We prepare for difficult times by learning to trust God in the good times

Continue to do what’s good 

When people attack us it’s always tempting to want to respond the same way

-But God’s called us to respond the way that Jesus would

-We should react to hostility with grace, kindness, and the desire to show love

We can’t let the conflict keep us from our mission to share the gospel of Christ with people who are lost and in need

Will that be easy? Sometimes – no

-But you know what? Life isn’t easy

Jesus told people to “count the cost” before they became His followers

-He’s warned us that following Him will make us targets of the devil and the world around us

God hasn’t promised to shield us from heartache or pain

-But He has promised that anyone who’s willing to trust Him will find His strength even in the tough times

And anyone who’s willing to trust Him in the hard times will discover that He’s more sufficient to meet our needs than we ever imagined

Why not trust Him now?

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