1 Peter 4:12-19
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
August 9, 2020
Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister
A video of the sermon from 1 Peter 4:7-11 may be viewed by clicking on the following link: “Principles on Sharing Christ’s Sufferings”
(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)
1 Peter 4:12-19:
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
• William Barclay introduces this passage with these words:
• “It is never easy to be a Christian. The Christian life brings its own sacrifices and its own persecutions. It is therefore, well to have certain great principles in our minds.” –William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter, Revised Edition, p. 257
• Peter provides several principles for dealing with persecution within this passage.
• You know, it feels a bit awkward teaching about something so sobering that I’ve never really experienced—how to handle serious persecution. But notice how he begins with a term of endearment:
12 Beloved,…
• “Beloved” can indicate that both God and Peter love the recipients of the letter. This would include not only the original recipients but all who follow Christ including disciples here today.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Principle 1: Persecution is inevitable for the faithful Christian. Expect suffering. (v. 12)
• V. 12, GW: …don’t be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you.
• Gareth Reese believes that Peter, writing from Rome, is trying to prepare the Christians out in the provinces for the persecution coming their way that began in Rome after the city burned in AD 64.
• Nero blamed the Christians. As a result, Christians were literally burned as torches to light the emperor’s gardens at night! (Reese, p. 116)
• Jews were accustomed to persecution. Persecution for converted Gentiles (pagans, non-Jews) was a new experience. Peter wanted them and us to go into it wisely.
• In one of Paul’s missionary journeys, he and Barnabas visited some churches and spent time encouraging them to remain faithful with these words (I think it’s kind of humorous but also true.):
• Acts 14:22: …“It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Amplified)
• 2 Timothy 3:12: Those who try to live a godly life because they believe in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (GW)
• 2 Timothy 3:12: Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it. (MSG)
Principle 2: Suffering from persecution is God testing the genuineness of our faith (and Satan tempting us to give up) (v. 12)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you…
• In the everyday Greek language of Peter’s day, the word translated “test” can also be translated “tempt.”
• But the NT is very clear that God does not tempt His children to sin. God tests. But Satan uses God’s tests as opportunities to tempt us to sin.
• See 1 Peter 1:7-9:
• So, our tests and trials are not without good purpose—they prove if our faith (allegiance) to Jesus is real.
• Romans 8:28-29 also reminds us that the good that God wants to bring us to through difficult times is the likeness of His Son. As Martha Stewart says, “That’s a good thing!”
• So what should the Christian’s attitude be toward persecution?
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Principle 3: Persecution is sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ and therefore reason for gladness (v. 13).
• V. 13, NLT: …Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering,…
• “When he suffers in the name of Christ, as a representative of Christ, he participates in Christ’s sufferings.” –Raymond C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude, p. 93
• Peter mentions that he was an eye witness of Christ’s sufferings (5:1).
• Paul: Philippians 3:10-11: I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. (Message)
… so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
• To the degree you share Christ’s sufferings, rejoice now so you can mega-rejoice at His return.
• This is what Paul is getting at in Romans:
• Romans 8:17-18: 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (NLT)
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Principle 4: “Suffering for Christ leads to “tastes” of glory (v. 14)
• If, as in when you are insulted for the name of Christ…
• Peter has been giving examples of this:
• 2:12: …they speak against you as evildoers. (ESV)
• 2:15: …those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you…(NLT)
• 3:16:… when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior…(ESV)
• Matthew 5:10-11: 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. (NLT)
…you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
• Shekinah glory of God (luminous glow of the presence of God)
• Remember when Stephen was facing death by stoning?
• Acts 6:15: And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (ESV)
• …rests upon you…: Perhaps Peter is saying the willingness of a believer to suffer insult and persecution is evidence of the Holy Spirit in his/her life.
• The normative place and time of receiving the Holy Spirit is when a repentant believer is baptized:
• Acts 2:38: Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NLT)
• Acts 5:32: “…the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (ESV)
Principle 5: Suffering is a reason to examine your life (15).
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
• Meddler = “troublemaker” (GW), “prying into other people’s affairs” (NLT)
• This is the only place the Greek word translated meddler is found in all of the NT! Wasn’t found in any literature prior to this. It seems that Peter coined or invented it!
• Literally: “an overseer of what belongs to others” or “looking into that which belongs to another”
• Kelcy and Reese point out that some believe it points to unnecessary political agitation.
• “At the very time Peter wrote, the zealots were very active trying to overthrow the established Roman government. Peter here cautions his readers against getting involved in political opposition movements that would subject them to efforts by the authorities to squelch them. Make sure you are not doing what Nero has falsely accused the Christians of doing against Rome.”—Gareth Reece, Peter & Jude, p. 119
• Others suggest interference in the domestic affairs of neighbors; others interference by Christians in matters pertaining to religious practice.
• Some think that Christians may have meddled through excessive zeal in attacking pagan habits. (Clowney)
• “At any rate, Peter is forbidding his readers to pry into the affairs of others and to busy themselves with matters that do not concern them.”—Raymond C. Kelcy, p. 94
• 1 Thessalonians 4:11: Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. (NLT)
• 2 Thessalonians 3:11: Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. (NLT)
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
Principle 6: Suffering persecution because you follow the Way of Jesus is an opportunity to glorify God (v.16)
• 1 Peter 2:19-20: 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. (ESV)
• “[The Christians] life and conduct must be the best argument that he does not deserve the suffering which has come upon him and his attitude to it must commend the name he bears.” –William Barclay, p. 260
• "Glorifying God,…is done by a thoughtful, edifying, winning approach to our neighbor. Instead of letting a feeling of shame silence him or paralyze him into inaction, the Christians has an opportunity to bring honor to God while he is being persecuted for being a follower of Jesus. Peter says, ‘Do it! Seize the opportunity!" --Gareth Reese, Jude & Peter, p. 120
• Armando Valladares, for 22 years a prisoner of Castro’s regime in Cuba, tells of how he came to a living trust in Christ: ‘Those cries of the executed patriots—‘Long live Christ the King! Down with Communism!” had wakened me to a new life….The cries became such a potent and stirring symbol that by 1963 the men condemned to death were gagged before being carried down to be shot. The jailers feared those shouts.’ (quoted in Edmund Clowney, p. 192)
17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”(Pr. 11:31)
• If the righteous is scarcely saved =is being saved with difficulty
Principle 7: Persecution not only prepares us for judgment, it may also be the beginning of our judgment (vv. 17-18).
• “Where the privilege has been greatest, there the judgment will be sternest.”—William Barclay, p. 261
• Couple of ways of interpreting these verses. One, is the current persecution of Christians is part of our judgment.
• “The fire of judgment that will come when Christ comes already burns in the sufferings that Christians endure. Yet how different is the purpose of the fire in God’s house from the fire of the last judgment! God’s fire in his temple purifies the faith of his spiritual priesthood.” –Edmund Clowney, The Message of 1 Peter, pp. 194-195
• V. 17 the idea is that Christians, you think this is bad, think about what the destiny of the disobedient—the unbelieving and unfaithful!
• The other is that Judgment Day is coming. Christians will be judged first, and we’ll be saved by the skin of our Savior. You want to avoid being a part of those who will be condemned to Hell.
Principle 8: Persecution should be a motivation to try to win unbelievers to Christ (17).
…what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
• 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: 7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 10 When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him. (NLT)
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Overriding Principle: When it comes to persecution and tough times, follow the example of Jesus (v. 19)
• 1 Peter 3:17: For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (ESV)
• 2:23: When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
• Luke 23:46: Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (ESV)
The One who created your soul can be trusted to keep your soul; keep trusting and obeying our Creator King!
Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?