back to indexWed Bible Study (1 Peter) Lesson 10 - 03-22-17
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And with that, let's turn to verse 12 through 19 and read our section for tonight. 00:00:10.960 |
He says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon 00:00:18.000 |
you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. 00:00:22.960 |
But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also 00:00:27.360 |
at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exaltation. 00:00:31.800 |
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory 00:00:39.380 |
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a troublesome 00:00:44.440 |
meddler, but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify 00:00:52.020 |
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with 00:00:56.280 |
us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 00:01:01.600 |
And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless 00:01:10.200 |
Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls 00:01:15.120 |
to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." 00:01:20.640 |
Heavenly Father, we ask again, Lord, that You would continue to work in our hearts through 00:01:29.560 |
God, washing away all that is worldly, any sin that harbors in our heart, and especially, 00:01:37.080 |
Father God, a thought, a perspective, a worldview that is more manly than it is godly. 00:01:44.000 |
I pray, Lord, that You would wash away those things and continue to renew our minds. 00:01:52.920 |
As we take a look, you see repeatedly through the study of 1 Peter why I'm saying Apostle 00:01:58.640 |
Peter has been challenging our worldview and perspective. 00:02:02.200 |
Likewise, here, he is challenging your worldview, and in verse 12, he says, "Beloved, do not 00:02:07.880 |
be surprised at the fiery ordeals among you which comes upon you for your testing as though 00:02:20.520 |
And so the command is clear, saying, "Hey, don't be surprised." 00:02:24.440 |
But as he's saying that, my point is there is a worldview that he's challenging. 00:02:29.480 |
There's almost a question of like, "Why in the world are you surprised?" 00:02:32.640 |
It is not because of the expectations that we have. 00:02:36.560 |
So the command clearly is, from your worldview, expect it and prepare for it. 00:02:42.360 |
Expect for hardship and suffering to come as a Christian, and be prepared for that. 00:02:47.720 |
Now there's a passage, please turn your Bible to John chapter 15, where Jesus again, I've 00:02:53.960 |
referred to this before, but I felt like we needed to look at the whole section. 00:02:57.600 |
When Jesus was teaching the disciples, how we shouldn't be surprised by the animosity, 00:03:04.800 |
the kind of pressures that we experience from the world around us. 00:03:08.280 |
As a matter of fact, he tells you, you should actually think of it as like, "That's reasonable. 00:03:15.520 |
Starting from verse 18 to verse 25, John chapter 15. 00:03:19.400 |
He says, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 00:03:24.340 |
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. 00:03:28.440 |
But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the 00:03:34.280 |
Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' 00:03:37.800 |
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. 00:03:41.520 |
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours, but all these things they will do to 00:03:45.120 |
you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 00:03:50.200 |
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. 00:03:59.280 |
If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty 00:04:04.180 |
But now they have seen and hated both me and my father. 00:04:08.080 |
But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled. 00:04:14.880 |
So as Jesus sees the hatred that they have for him, in his mind it makes sense. 00:04:25.740 |
And when you see the hatred that you experience from the world because of your faith, that 00:04:38.240 |
Of course that's going to translate to me as well. 00:04:41.520 |
And so the command is just to expect it, but the command gets even more amplified because 00:04:55.080 |
I mean, part of me almost feels like, "Wow, that's a bold thing to say for Apostle Peter 00:05:01.120 |
when he's in a generation where there are people being burned at the stake." 00:05:09.080 |
There are people who are being wrapped up in animal skin, thrown among the wolves, the 00:05:15.080 |
lions, and seen as sport, and there's all this stuff happening. 00:05:18.720 |
And he says, "Look at this ordeal, this fire of fearsome ordeal that's happening." 00:05:24.160 |
And he says, "Even the worst case scenario that you can possibly think of, for us, completely 00:05:34.880 |
For us living very privileged in a culture that has specific rights, where even if someone 00:05:40.440 |
tries to prevent me from speaking, we can, you know, lash out and be like, 'I've got 00:05:45.080 |
Well, imagine in that time the kind of ordeal they were going through, and then Apostle 00:05:50.360 |
Peter saying, "Even this, we should anticipate, even the worst of it all." 00:05:57.040 |
And to me, I'm incredibly challenged by that. 00:06:00.240 |
Because again, when we think about why in our perspective a lot of this does not make 00:06:05.500 |
sense, it's because to us, suffering is always supposed to be not normal. 00:06:13.920 |
Like whenever we experience suffering and setback, we think automatically, like, "This 00:06:22.280 |
And that's when we start asking God, like, "Why, God? 00:06:31.160 |
And all of a sudden, trying to interpret the setbacks of life becomes super difficult. 00:06:36.560 |
Because there is a fallen condition in us that just assumes any kind of hardship, any 00:06:42.160 |
kind of suffering is not the normative, right? 00:06:45.600 |
As a matter of fact, for us, we try our best, put forth all our effort to avoid that kind 00:06:54.020 |
We find solutions and remedies for suffering as fast as we can. 00:06:58.200 |
Our perspective does not have suffering included in it as, "This is the way by which we're 00:07:06.080 |
This is the way by which we're going to be glorified into the future." 00:07:14.720 |
You know, I remember counseling this individual who had an incredible amount of setback, and 00:07:25.120 |
And in this kind of scenario, I had to ask the question, like, "How did He disappoint 00:07:31.840 |
And it was one of these scenarios where they had a strong relationship that they thought 00:07:35.560 |
were going to end up in this, they were on their way to it, and it just shattered and 00:07:41.640 |
There was a lot of fighting, a lot of conflict. 00:07:45.040 |
And they said, "I don't know why God would do that to me." 00:07:49.240 |
And I'm sitting there thinking, "Okay, your question is deeper than you think." 00:07:57.800 |
Because in your worldview, in your worldview, you placed in your worldview that God promised 00:08:03.400 |
you you will have X, Y, and Z, including, let's say his name was John, John to be your 00:08:10.200 |
Whatever it may be, whatever you were thinking in terms of God's promises to you, that was 00:08:17.520 |
And then you decided, once that didn't happen, now I need to go to God to plead my case. 00:08:24.960 |
See that's the kind of fallen condition I'm talking about when we have a world perspective 00:08:28.700 |
that God is supposed to have a normative life for me in this fashion. 00:08:33.040 |
But Apostle Peter's challenge to us is, let's change our perspective. 00:08:39.120 |
And let's anticipate, let's expect and not be surprised by even the worst case scenarios 00:08:46.240 |
Because this is what Christ said was actually normative for me. 00:08:49.240 |
When Christ said to his disciples, "Foxes have holes, birds have nests, the Son of Man 00:08:59.200 |
It could be you might not even have a home, right? 00:09:03.980 |
When Christ was sharing with his disciples that this is the expectation you have for 00:09:07.880 |
discipleship, is that the kind of expectation we held onto for our lives? 00:09:14.600 |
So that's a great challenge that it's just for us in terms of the command to change our 00:09:21.320 |
But what's more, the reason why we should anticipate and expect this is because we know 00:09:30.120 |
The passage says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at this fiery ordeal among you which comes 00:09:37.480 |
Now, I asked you guys for your homework, are there other passages that teach us that God 00:09:50.080 |
Well, what are some of the passages that you found? 00:09:59.840 |
Are there other references in the Bible that teach us very clearly God tests you? 00:10:25.400 |
There are a lot of passages in the New Testament even that will describe the testing that we 00:10:36.400 |
And to tell it truthfully, this should be something, let's say, if you hit a concept 00:10:40.600 |
in the Bible that kind of strikes you as like, "Hmm, that's interesting." 00:10:45.800 |
And then you could ask a lot of questions about that, right? 00:10:55.780 |
And how does the other passages of the Bible kind of fill in the details of that concept? 00:11:05.240 |
Remember, even in the book of 1 Peter, when we started in chapter 1, the answer to that 00:11:12.400 |
And he said that God tests us for the proof of our faith, and the proof of our faith, 00:11:16.920 |
when it shows to be genuine because of the testing, is even more precious than gold, 00:11:25.980 |
Other passages, for example, James chapter 1, verse 2 through 4. 00:11:30.600 |
James says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for 00:11:34.240 |
you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." 00:11:41.200 |
Deuteronomy chapter 8, Old Testament, Isaiah 48, verse 10. 00:11:47.040 |
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. 00:11:50.040 |
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." 00:11:55.600 |
So clearly, God tests us with trial, hardship, and affliction. 00:12:04.600 |
So as we think about this, yeah, if this teaching comes to you as new and fresh, this is something 00:12:12.480 |
So the next time you endure through some kind of difficulty, some kind of pressure from 00:12:17.320 |
life, it's not to sit there and wonder like, "Oh my goodness, everybody else has it easy. 00:12:25.000 |
But now you have a way and means to interpret what's happening. 00:12:28.600 |
But I want to use this opportunity to get at a certain point. 00:12:36.800 |
My point number three, I kind of phrased purposely, God is testing you. 00:12:43.440 |
I was going to write, "Sometimes God tests you," like sometimes he puts you under affliction, 00:12:49.360 |
but actually God's always testing you, right? 00:12:53.680 |
Because it's not just in hardship that you're tested, actually. 00:12:58.560 |
Your faith is being examined when you have affluence. 00:13:05.480 |
It's not affliction, but he just delays the answer. 00:13:09.680 |
Yeah, he just takes away what you already had. 00:13:12.240 |
So you just feel like, "Ugh, everything was going well. 00:13:20.920 |
Everything's good, and there's a testing then too. 00:13:22.660 |
The fact of the matter is, every single opportunity that we have on earth, we are being tested 00:13:27.960 |
for our faith, what's contained in our mind, what's contained in our heart. 00:13:34.520 |
And one thing I've always said is, "And therefore, every decision that you make that's big in 00:13:46.040 |
It's a faith decision of how you go about making those things." 00:13:49.920 |
And I just want to make that admonition that for us, we are being tested. 00:13:53.580 |
It's just that for us, sometimes, again, we're coming back to this idea of expectation. 00:13:57.540 |
It just shocks us because we didn't think we'd be tested by pain, right? 00:14:03.980 |
It shocks us because we didn't think we'd be tested by affliction. 00:14:08.940 |
But the scriptures teaches us there's all sorts of testing, right? 00:14:13.520 |
Including those that really hurt, those that cause us a lot of grief and worry. 00:14:18.860 |
And so, clearly, just to kind of summarize that point, God uses the different experiences 00:14:25.140 |
in your life, including suffering, very purposefully and intentionally. 00:14:31.500 |
God uses all things in your life, scripture says. 00:14:34.920 |
Even the things that seem mundane, even the things that seem out of place, even the things 00:14:43.760 |
Please turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 7 through 11. 00:14:52.020 |
This is that passage where God is talking about His discipline as a father of His children. 00:15:03.940 |
It is for discipline that you have to endure. 00:15:09.860 |
For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 00:15:12.900 |
If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate 00:15:19.860 |
Besides this, we've had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. 00:15:26.540 |
Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? 00:15:30.300 |
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplined 00:15:34.060 |
us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 00:15:38.060 |
For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields 00:15:42.400 |
the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 00:15:46.300 |
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for 00:15:50.940 |
your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 00:16:03.580 |
I presume there are many people in here who have suffered. 00:16:07.220 |
I presume there are perhaps many people in this room who are already suffering. 00:16:13.960 |
What makes suffering super difficult is, I repeat, when you feel like it's pointless. 00:16:27.560 |
Then trying to make sense of it all becomes all the more frustrating. 00:16:32.800 |
You realize that in the hands of God, it is being used in multiple ways. 00:16:43.000 |
God is using it to treat you as a son, as a child, as a daughter. 00:16:48.600 |
And so we remember that God does not work in kind of this haphazard, wishy-washy, whatever 00:16:54.600 |
comes, whatever may be, so let it be kind of way. 00:17:00.880 |
And so again, Apostle Peter's challenge to us is, keep this in your perspective. 00:17:06.280 |
That you're not all of a sudden taking a back thinking, "What is this?" 00:17:15.720 |
Next, rather than then being frustrated by a lack of understanding, rather than being 00:17:21.080 |
caught off guard and then asking, "Why in the world is God doing this?" 00:17:26.440 |
He says, rather, verse 13, "But to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, 00:17:31.680 |
keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exaltation. 00:17:38.360 |
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory 00:17:47.240 |
So here I have another section, verse 13 through 14, as he makes a contrast, right? 00:17:53.920 |
Contrast to being shocked and taken off guard. 00:18:00.520 |
So the point learned from verse 12 through 14 here, okay, is simply that. 00:18:06.240 |
Apostle Peter wants to change your perspective so that you can go from frustration from not 00:18:10.200 |
understanding and not expecting, to rejoicing. 00:18:14.200 |
To having an expectation where you're going to exalt with Christ when he comes. 00:18:20.320 |
So remember, we've talked about this before, to rejoice in our suffering and stuff, right? 00:18:29.800 |
How does that look if we're supposed to rejoice in suffering? 00:18:35.540 |
And if it sounds in your head right now, like, that sounds so wrong, you know? 00:18:42.960 |
There are those people who are, I think they call them sadomasochists, where they just 00:18:51.040 |
I saw this crazy video that now there are these people who've been watching all this 00:18:55.760 |
crazy stuff, so they're actually paying men to torture them. 00:19:02.600 |
Like, they're paying people to get a van, grab them, take them to the woods, and beat 00:19:10.200 |
And the police are wondering, like, what should we do about this? 00:19:16.640 |
Part of me is shocked that this world is doing that. 00:19:21.160 |
But is it that kind of twistedness where you're just like, "Ah, yay, pain!" 00:19:30.000 |
But rather, there are reasons that Apostle Peter gives. 00:19:38.800 |
You rejoice because, it's there in the passage, you're sharing in Christ's suffering. 00:19:51.880 |
And so here and now, we are talking about not just every and any kind of suffering that 00:19:56.980 |
life has to offer, but here and now we are talking about the kind of suffering these 00:20:00.880 |
people that Apostle Peter's addressing who are suffering because of the name of Christ. 00:20:06.800 |
Suffering because they proclaim his gospel and because they claim his name. 00:20:20.160 |
And Apostle Peter says, "You rejoice because you share with Him in that." 00:20:30.200 |
This past week, in the afternoon on Sunday, I forget what day it was, but I got a chance 00:20:36.000 |
I got a chance to meet up with one of the Lighthouse pastors and we're all talking and 00:20:46.440 |
We're talking about that week that we spent here that we're calling like, "Hey, it felt 00:20:50.880 |
So I was telling him, I was like, "It was crazy. 00:20:54.360 |
We cleaned the church and everything, like cleaned the floor and then it happened." 00:20:59.560 |
And I'm like, "The structural engineer came in." 00:21:02.160 |
And then I didn't know how to tell the story. 00:21:03.360 |
So I was like, "And then after the structural engineer came in, we were like distraught 00:21:06.400 |
and then we pulled in beams and there was like this 24-foot beam that we were all carrying." 00:21:17.160 |
It took like four of us, like eight of us to carry the big ones and then I got cut right 00:21:22.800 |
here but it's gone so I don't have anything to show for it anymore." 00:21:27.360 |
And I could tell he was getting bored by my story and it totally deflated me. 00:21:37.040 |
And I'm trying to share with him and it was crazy because the guys, we stayed up till 00:21:49.040 |
And then I was telling my sister-in-law or whatever. 00:21:52.200 |
I was like, "Dude," and then we had like 15 guys at the church and she looked at me and 00:21:56.080 |
was like, "Why didn't you guys just hire contractors?" 00:21:58.360 |
I was like, "I'm not going to answer your question." 00:22:04.520 |
Well the reason why I share with that is because when you're trying to tell a crazy story to 00:22:10.280 |
someone who hasn't shared the experience with you, isn't it so hard? 00:22:14.320 |
But then when we get together with the church people and we're like, "Dude, remember how 00:22:18.080 |
Remember when Kevin got hit in the face with a hammer?" 00:22:21.520 |
Chris was like throwing the hammer and then he got hit in the face." 00:22:27.520 |
And everyone's laughing because we knew what happened with the hammer to his face, you 00:22:34.640 |
You can have a sense of automatic fellowship with that. 00:22:39.920 |
But there's also a sharing of the glory, of the joy in participating with all the experiences. 00:22:47.640 |
And that's how men feel when they go to battle and they come back. 00:22:50.060 |
That's how people feel when they have a crisis experience and all of a sudden they feel close. 00:23:10.840 |
That's the joy in fellowship with experience and sympathy with what Christ has experienced. 00:23:20.240 |
But what's more, we rejoice because we're blessed. 00:23:25.760 |
Apostle Peter, again, here is this great big perspective change, right? 00:23:33.120 |
So he wants you to define the persecution you experience, including the confiscation 00:23:40.600 |
of your property, the ripping apart of your family, getting chased out of your home, getting 00:23:47.840 |
And the fear that you have that at every turn and every corner, you're going to be hunted. 00:23:52.760 |
He says, I want you to count that as being blessed. 00:23:56.560 |
Man, you must do an entire worldview shift in order to do that. 00:24:07.600 |
Remember in Matthew chapter five, he said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because 00:24:11.840 |
of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:24:15.640 |
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against 00:24:22.720 |
Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they 00:24:26.320 |
persecuted the prophets who were before you." 00:24:30.760 |
So there's a sense in which in the Beatitudes when Jesus is saying, "Blessed are those who 00:24:35.280 |
hunger and thirst for righteousness," we're like, "Yes!" 00:24:42.280 |
That you're supposed to have a worldview that completely is shifted from how the natural 00:24:46.320 |
man thinks so that you would now define the persecution that you're receiving as being 00:24:59.080 |
We feel typically blessed when we have all our needs met. 00:25:02.520 |
We feel typically blessed when we have the next stage in life move smoothly and all the 00:25:08.100 |
transitions are going well and all the expectations that we had are filled. 00:25:13.000 |
But here he says, "No, you are blessed when you're persecuted, insulted, when all kinds 00:25:17.640 |
of evil is done to you because of the name of Christ." 00:25:23.960 |
Number one, you're counted blessed because of future grace. 00:25:31.640 |
You're counted blessed because of future grace. 00:25:34.480 |
This passage talks about how at the revelation of His glory, then you're going to rejoice 00:25:41.140 |
So, we're looking forward to the glory that is wrapped in Christ and His coming. 00:25:46.040 |
There's a passage in Romans chapter 8, I'm going to read this for us. 00:25:49.000 |
Verse 14 through 17 says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 00:25:54.320 |
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received 00:25:58.160 |
the spirit of adoptions as sons by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" 00:26:02.960 |
Listen to this, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit we are children of 00:26:06.760 |
God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided 00:26:13.480 |
we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him." 00:26:19.360 |
He says you are children provided that you go through this necessary process as legitimate 00:26:27.920 |
That you suffer with Him and then you will be glorified with Him. 00:26:35.360 |
What's more, number two, you're blessed because you're being used. 00:26:45.320 |
I want you to take a moment to think about that a little bit. 00:27:00.280 |
You know, every single individual who has a skill, who has a purpose, who has a talent, 00:27:07.920 |
You know any basketball players who loves being on the bench? 00:27:17.840 |
You don't ever meet anybody who thinks like that. 00:27:26.400 |
So even if they had to run the full length of the court 48 minutes the entire game and 00:27:31.040 |
then some, it feels good even if they're exhausted. 00:27:40.640 |
To their, it's even satisfying to them that I got used. 00:27:46.160 |
Well the fact of the matter is for every Christian, every servant of God, to be used by the master 00:27:54.800 |
I remember when I was a Christian, when I first became Christian and I was young in 00:27:58.720 |
high school, I thanked my pastor because the very first Christian song I learned is a simple 00:28:04.920 |
song that simply stated, "Use me dear Lord, use me. 00:28:10.400 |
To be a light in the darkest night, use me dear Lord." 00:28:13.600 |
It had three chords because that's all I knew and that's the one song I sang for like a 00:28:19.200 |
And I'm going to tell you honestly, I felt like that implanted in me like I'm happy when 00:28:29.600 |
That's why, you know, sometimes people wonder why did you want a van? 00:28:33.200 |
I wanted a minivan because when I took the youth group out and I was like, you know, 00:28:40.360 |
It just felt good to drive people around, you know, get people where they needed to 00:28:45.520 |
I love driving and all that kind of stuff, but I wanted to be used. 00:28:49.720 |
Well the fact of the matter is that's the kind of example that the scripture says too. 00:28:54.760 |
There's a passage in Acts chapter 5 verse 31 when the disciples are persecuted. 00:28:59.560 |
Apostle Peter and the disciples are told by the Sanhedrin and the leaders, "Don't you 00:29:06.240 |
And this is what it says, "When I called them, they beat them, charged them not to speak 00:29:12.360 |
Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to 00:29:20.880 |
And every day in the temple and from the house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching 00:29:29.000 |
If we really thought of ourselves like true athletes in the game, like true servants in 00:29:34.760 |
the house, it would be our reward and blessing to be used by the master. 00:29:41.600 |
It's when our perspective thinks, "I'm the master of the house though." 00:29:46.680 |
It's when our perspective is, "But I'm the coach." 00:29:49.520 |
It's when our perspective is skewed and twisted and perverse when we all of a sudden don't 00:29:58.440 |
And if you remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, please turn your Bibles there. 00:30:03.160 |
This is a longer passage, but I just wanted to read it in whole because it had lots of 00:30:07.120 |
the same themes that we're studying here in 1 Peter. 00:30:11.200 |
So 2 Corinthians chapter 5, starting from verse 5. 00:30:17.740 |
Apostle Paul here in 2 Corinthians says this. 00:30:23.200 |
It says, "For we know that if the tent, that is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have 00:30:27.440 |
a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. 00:30:32.560 |
For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting 00:30:39.960 |
For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, 00:30:44.880 |
but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 00:30:49.520 |
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us a spirit as a guarantee. 00:30:58.780 |
We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk in 00:31:04.040 |
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with 00:31:09.440 |
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim, our ambition, to please Him. 00:31:15.480 |
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive 00:31:19.760 |
what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." 00:31:28.040 |
In connection with this idea of wanting to be used and being blessed when we are used, 00:31:35.080 |
there is this idea of if it is our ambition to be pleasing to our Master, He says, "And 00:31:41.280 |
then later on you are going to be examined for that. 00:31:48.040 |
The doctrine of the Christian reward, the heavenly reward, is that in our works, in 00:31:51.800 |
our striving, in our labor, it is not for nothing. 00:31:56.000 |
But rather we are going to actually give an account for the things, and God and Christ 00:32:00.120 |
on that bama seat, judgment seat of Christ, is going to actually reward you for the things 00:32:07.680 |
And so we make it then our ambition to be used by the Lord, and it is to our blessing 00:32:15.000 |
Number three, we are blessed because of God's favor and presence. 00:32:21.400 |
We are blessed because of God's favor and presence. 00:32:27.400 |
So here we are not talking about a blessing where like, "Hey, if you go through suffering, 00:32:36.560 |
then you are going to have battle scars to show for it." 00:32:40.360 |
Or yes, is suffering going to produce in you greater perseverance? 00:32:45.240 |
Is suffering going to produce in you maybe a greater confidence, "Hey, I went through 00:32:52.880 |
And as a matter of fact, other passages do teach us that suffering produces a level of 00:32:57.360 |
endurance where without the suffering, without the hardship, maybe you would have never experienced. 00:33:03.240 |
However, in this passage, He is not emphasizing that. 00:33:07.120 |
He is not emphasizing, "Hey, you're blessed because there's self-improvement. 00:33:13.640 |
Rather, here and now, He's talking about, "You are blessed because you experience a 00:33:18.240 |
kind of grace and presence of God like none other. 00:33:23.280 |
You experience subjectively," and this is very important, okay? 00:33:27.380 |
We can experience some things to a certain degree, okay? 00:33:31.680 |
We can feel the warmth of God because you're sitting here and then pastor preaches to you, 00:33:36.320 |
"God is so loving," and He sees you precious and then you're just like, "Yeah, that feels 00:33:43.280 |
But there is a kind of subjective, "I experience the comforting words of God when I need it 00:33:48.600 |
most, when I'm most desperate, He finds me," kind of subjective experience with God that 00:33:53.800 |
you need to know, that you need to know on a deeper level. 00:33:59.760 |
And then, Apostle Peter is saying, "That knowledge and depth of God's presence, when 00:34:05.200 |
you experience it in the midst of your suffering, you are blessed." 00:34:09.720 |
Do you remember Apostle Paul saying, there's a passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where 00:34:15.880 |
he says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect 00:34:23.160 |
And so, Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness 00:34:28.440 |
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ when I am content 00:34:33.160 |
with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, for when I am weak, then I 00:34:40.920 |
That statement, "When I am weak, then I am strong," I believe Apostle Paul says experientially, 00:34:52.400 |
Apostle Paul had to plead with God three times, maybe even more, "God, can you please take 00:35:04.400 |
And through that hardship and pain, God taught him, "But my strength is perfected even when 00:35:10.880 |
you are weak, maybe especially when you are weak." 00:35:15.280 |
That's not something he heard because he saw it on the wall and was like, "Oh yeah, I remember 00:35:23.440 |
I believe he experienced the comforts of God and that's why the whole book of 2 Corinthians, 00:35:28.960 |
Apostle Paul can lavishly pour out the comforts of God. 00:35:33.320 |
Because he says in chapter 1, "I can comfort you because I receive the comfort of the Father." 00:35:42.560 |
So he's saying you are blessed because of this presence of God that you experience when 00:35:50.840 |
So this kind of perspective, we obviously don't learn overnight. 00:35:57.520 |
We have to commit ourselves to spiritually interpret the world this way. 00:36:05.880 |
There are sometimes loyalties we have to this world where in our thinking, we have trusted 00:36:14.420 |
and given our confidence to the principles of this world. 00:36:19.240 |
I'm going back to the idea of when we expect that when I try hard, we're going to receive 00:36:25.640 |
When I'm kind and nice to people, I will have friends. 00:36:28.700 |
When I show my love and make vulnerable, then I will have that reciprocated to me. 00:36:32.720 |
When I X, Y, and Z and all this kind of stuff, the promises of the world, the normal functions 00:36:37.320 |
that everybody operates by, do not give your allegiance to that stuff. 00:36:45.200 |
But John did this and but, but, but, you know? 00:36:51.240 |
We always have this kind of like subtle allegiances to the way the world thinks. 00:36:59.440 |
I will begin interpreting my life, this world, my God, all my experiences, and the people 00:37:08.120 |
I'm actually blessed when I'm proclaiming the name of Christ, I'm in His will, and I'm 00:37:20.120 |
That takes a profound amount of effort, spiritual faith for us to interpret the world that way. 00:37:26.800 |
So the challenge to us is keep on rejoicing, keep on rejoicing, and have this perspective. 00:37:35.080 |
Any questions about that so far before we jump into the last section? 00:37:48.520 |
Apostle Peter says, "Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evildoer 00:37:54.960 |
But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in 00:38:02.080 |
And I'm just going to make a couple statements here about this. 00:38:09.600 |
Let's be discerning about our life experiences. 00:38:15.440 |
Sometimes we suffer just because of our silly mistakes. 00:38:20.600 |
And his challenge to us simply is do not suffer in a way that you shame God. 00:38:27.260 |
Don't suffer in ways that you just shame yourself and God. 00:38:36.020 |
Don't be surprised when you suffer for foolish things. 00:38:41.040 |
Don't be surprised when you suffer for foolish things. 00:38:45.880 |
You know what's worse than doing dumb things? 00:38:54.320 |
When all of a sudden you're like, "Oh, I didn't know that was going to happen." 00:38:58.560 |
Like, for example, sometimes guys say really silly things. 00:39:02.400 |
Sometimes as they're saying silly things, they hurt people. 00:39:07.120 |
They think it's funny and they start making fun of people. 00:39:09.160 |
And some girl's all mad and they're like, "What'd you say? 00:39:13.160 |
And then all of a sudden the guy goes, "What? 00:39:16.920 |
You look extra dumb when you do dumb things and then you suffer the consequences of your 00:39:25.440 |
But the reason why I bring that up is because we tend to do that sometimes. 00:39:30.720 |
We tend to strive after worldly things and then when we get jaded by it, when we're disappointed 00:39:41.200 |
Sometimes we actually sin by way of greed, by way of lust, by way of wanting things we 00:39:47.620 |
And when it backfires on us, all of a sudden we're all shocked. 00:39:55.040 |
And then it convicts us because, yeah, what in the world were we thinking? 00:40:01.600 |
But what's more, earlier we talked about not being shocked. 00:40:07.440 |
Let's not be shocked by what we do not to do. 00:40:13.800 |
It says, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. 00:40:17.800 |
And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the 00:40:23.840 |
And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless 00:40:37.240 |
Verse 17 and 18, Apostle Peter uses a means of asking questions to make a point. 00:40:47.760 |
And for this one, yes, audience participation, please. 00:40:51.400 |
What is the point that Apostle Peter is making via his questions? 00:41:00.040 |
If you raise your hand and you say something silly, everyone might laugh. 00:41:09.080 |
We're just trying to make observations and then trying to, you know, kind of take an 00:41:13.080 |
insight into how Apostle Peter is making a point here. 00:41:17.280 |
And it's not just one specific point he's making. 00:41:21.680 |
So just let's take a shot and think about it. 00:41:27.720 |
So what point do you think Apostle Peter is making via his two questions? 00:41:42.560 |
So he said, have this godly sense of reverence and fear, and then you should be appreciating 00:41:56.240 |
So as you take a look at that, definitely when he says it's time for judgment to begin 00:42:02.000 |
with the household of God, there is an aspect of, yes, you should be anticipating with reverent 00:42:17.040 |
And we should be with a reverent fear than going through that examination with a healthy 00:42:25.960 |
There's a passage in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 32 that specifically spells that out. 00:42:34.080 |
He says this, "Let a person examine himself, and so eat of the bread and the drink of the 00:42:41.480 |
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 00:42:45.960 |
That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 00:42:49.120 |
But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 00:42:52.400 |
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned 00:43:00.760 |
So there's this element here of this exhortation to you. 00:43:05.040 |
You know, even in this time of suffering, you should still have this reverent fear of 00:43:10.080 |
God because God is going to judge us, and it says he's going to judge the house first. 00:43:19.480 |
And so just like Dean was saying, we shouldn't fear like, "Oh my gosh, we're going to be 00:43:24.080 |
Rather he says, "You're not, you know, you need to judge yourself and examine yourself 00:43:31.800 |
And rather you have this appreciation for the salvation you have in which God has afforded 00:43:37.680 |
But I think there's even a point to this that he's making when he contrasts between the 00:43:48.720 |
So by way of asking the question, he is highlighting a contrast here, is he not? 00:43:53.480 |
He's saying, "If it begins with us, the question is, what about them?" 00:44:00.920 |
So what do you think is the point of those two questions? 00:44:03.920 |
The first question he's asking, and then verse 18, he uses a quote from the Old Testament 00:44:28.320 |
Basically, if you want to summarize it in kind of just real frank terms, this is so 00:44:36.400 |
Like the people are suffering and perhaps they're just thinking like, "We can't do 00:44:42.840 |
And there is this incredibly frank and candid and just direct statement through this question. 00:44:52.320 |
What you are going through, you are going through a judgment. 00:44:59.880 |
Meaning, think what will be of those who reject. 00:45:03.200 |
Think what will be of those who fail this test. 00:45:05.840 |
What would it mean for these individuals to fail the test? 00:45:13.480 |
For them to fail the test would be to deny the name of Christ. 00:45:16.100 |
For them to fail the test would be to say, "I'm not a Christian." 00:45:19.520 |
Because all they would have to do is to say, "I'm one of you guys. 00:45:26.920 |
It would be like the Jewish people where Jesus said, "And many of them believe but were not 00:45:31.000 |
willing to profess His name because of the fear of the Pharisees." 00:45:34.480 |
That's what they would have to do to protect themselves. 00:45:37.360 |
And if they did, Apostle Peter is both giving an encouragement and a warning. 00:45:44.440 |
What you're experiencing is so much better than what awaits those who reject the name 00:45:51.940 |
What you're experiencing, yes, it's so difficult and painful. 00:45:59.320 |
If you're even tempted with, "That might be a way of escape," think about those who would 00:46:07.740 |
If Christians have to go through this, if Christians, the household of God is going 00:46:12.120 |
to be judged first, it's going to be so much worse. 00:46:16.840 |
So much worse for those who would deny the name of the Lord. 00:46:20.680 |
And so he says, "Therefore, those who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust 00:46:25.480 |
their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right." 00:46:31.120 |
In giving them that admonition, think about the two options here. 00:46:43.080 |
The word there for entrust, it's a very vivid term because he uses a banking term, like 00:46:49.920 |
the bank, an institution that holds your money, as a way of which you are putting your money 00:46:59.560 |
You know how banks have those safe deposit boxes where it's locked up in a vault and 00:47:03.320 |
you see those movies where people have to go in with a guy from the bank, the banker 00:47:07.800 |
guy, and you have to go in with two keys and open it up. 00:47:10.200 |
He's saying essentially in that vivid form, "Entrust your soul to God." 00:47:16.880 |
And I want to read an interesting passage that joins together the previous section, 00:47:23.160 |
Think about those, those individuals who are persecuting you or those who are denying the 00:47:27.680 |
name of Christ and this idea with trusting yourself over to God. 00:47:31.800 |
By going in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 5 through 9. 00:47:41.340 |
And in this passage, the people that Apostle Paul is talking to is also suffering, but 00:47:48.240 |
he encourages them who are suffering with these words. 00:47:53.840 |
He says, "Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness 00:47:58.200 |
in faith in all your persecutions and all your afflictions that you are enduring. 00:48:04.200 |
This is evident of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of 00:48:08.480 |
the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering." 00:48:14.480 |
Worthy of the kingdom of God, you're experiencing these persecutions and you're enduring, right? 00:48:18.320 |
He says, "Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict 00:48:23.200 |
you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. 00:48:28.200 |
When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting 00:48:32.960 |
vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our 00:48:37.840 |
Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence 00:48:42.920 |
of the Lord and from the glory of his might." 00:48:47.360 |
So from that passage, I want to challenge you. 00:48:53.240 |
You need to trust God that he will take care of you, first blank, God will take care of 00:49:03.280 |
When Apostle Peter in that passage is asking the question, "Well, you've gone through this 00:49:07.000 |
and you're going to go through judgment, but what do you think is going to happen to them? 00:49:10.960 |
The people who do not obey the gospel, the enemies of Christ, those who reject and deny 00:49:15.480 |
the name of the Savior, what do you think is going to happen to them?" 00:49:19.520 |
He's not, you're not just supposed to be like, "Well, I don't know. 00:49:23.120 |
You're supposed to think God's going to take care of them, right? 00:49:43.160 |
There have been so many times when I've counseled certain people, whether it's counseling people 00:49:48.720 |
to, you know, as a mediator between two people in conflict, and I'll say, "Man, I think you 00:50:02.000 |
Someone might say, "Oh, you know, you need to reconcile with that person and you need 00:50:21.840 |
These are the moments you actually start practicing your trust in God, right? 00:50:28.280 |
I feel like I can't because in my intuition, when I do this, the end result is going to 00:50:35.800 |
They're going to keep doing it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 00:50:41.360 |
Because you're always calculating the action and the end result. 00:50:48.200 |
Here and now, the challenge is you need to trust God with all the results. 00:50:53.080 |
Should God call you to patient endurance, then you do it trusting the results. 00:50:57.960 |
Should God call you to keep speaking with boldness the gospel of Christ, you do it entrusting 00:51:04.400 |
Because God is encouraging you through Apostle Peter that you're supposed to not only entrust 00:51:08.760 |
God with the results, you're supposed to trust God with your soul, right? 00:51:15.320 |
How are we going to entrust, bank, literally bank our soul in God when we can't even entrust 00:51:25.640 |
We can't trust God with the results of how I'm going to look when I say this. 00:51:34.040 |
Trust to God your entire soul, everything about you. 00:51:44.040 |
Father Lord, we want to thank you again for your grace. 00:51:48.240 |
You remind us, Lord, that you are absolutely sovereign even when there seems to be a storm 00:51:54.920 |
Even when we are at our wits end, when we can't make sense of things, we realize, Father 00:52:04.280 |
Help us fight by faith to both remember and to consider these things, Lord, so that, Father, 00:52:10.440 |
we would experience the kind of peace and comfort that Apostle Peter is talking about, 00:52:15.920 |
the kind of blessedness that Apostle Peter describes. 00:52:19.680 |
And Lord, I again pray that if anybody in this room is suffering, is going through hardship, 00:52:25.440 |
would you encourage them by reminding them, Lord, that by your sovereign hand that you 00:52:30.000 |
will guide them, guard them, and Lord, you will use it all to your glory. 00:52:34.880 |
And Father, every experience that we have, we can redeem for your praise and for your 00:52:40.760 |
Lord, we want to thank you again, Saint Christ, and we pray.