Well, I love the theme of this year's conference, "Truth Triumphs," which of course, that is the victorious end note of biblical eschatology. Truth will defeat every lie and every false ideology. Christ wins, righteousness prevails, evil is defeated forever, virtue is eternally vindicated, and Christ is enthroned as Lord of all, and God is endlessly glorified.

And no matter what eschatological scheme you favor, if you are a true believer, you affirm that much. Christ, who is the truth and the life, will be absolutely victorious in the end. Evil will never again trouble God's creation. The devil will be consigned to eternal punishment. Truth triumphs, Christ guarantees it.

And one of the great truths of the New Testament is that no matter what trial or hardship you might be facing right now, if you are in Christ, you are already a participant in His triumph. If you simply see things from heaven's perspective, you can always rejoice in that triumph.

In fact, here's an example for you, and full disclosure, they assigned me a passage from 1 Peter 4, and I'm going to get there. But I want to introduce this whole concept with a passage from the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul is dealing with some of the most difficult trials any church leader could ever face.

He's writing to a church that he founded, but they were on the precipice of apostasy. They had fallen under the influence of false apostles. They had been too tolerant of sin in their midst. They had apparently also botched a church discipline case, because Paul has to remind them in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 8 to reaffirm their love for this sorrowful but apparently repentant brother, and he's so troubled by the state of things in the Corinthian church that, according to verses 12 and 13, even though the door was wide open for him to do gospel ministry in Troas, Paul says, "I had no rest in my spirit." He had, you know, hoped to meet Titus in Troas, because according to 2 Corinthians 7, Titus had been in Corinth, and Paul wanted to know the state of the church in Corinth, and so Paul says, "Not finding Titus, my brother, I went to Macedonia." Now, follow this, he is explaining to the Corinthian church how deeply troubled he was about the spiritual state of things in their church, and when he picks up the account again in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 5, he says, "Even when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side, conflicts without, fears within." He's describing an unbearable bodily fatigue, "Our flesh had no rest." John Gill says it this way, "Paul was continually fatigued with preaching and disputing and fighting, what with false teachers and violent persecutors.

Afflicted on every side," Paul says, "external disputing with the enemies of the truth, and internal unrest because of his deep concern for the spiritual dangers the Corinthians had let into their assembly," and so he was afflicted on every side. Every kind of adversity was assaulting him from every possible angle, but he was not in a state of despair.

In chapter 4 verses 8 through 10, he describes it this way, he says, "We are in every way afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." Paul's triumph, giving new life and energy to overcome the bodily weariness of an afflicted soul, and back in chapter 2 after describing his soul's unrest when Titus wasn't in Troas and Paul had to go to Macedonia to make sure he could intersect with Titus, Paul interrupts himself at that point.

He won't come back and finish the story until chapter 7, but notice he interrupts his description of his own misery with this jubilant declaration, 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14, "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ." Or if you, like me, memorize the King James, "Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ." And one thing you've undoubtedly noticed about the Apostle Paul, every time he ever mentions his trials, troubles on every side, conflicts without, fears within, he always punctuates the mention of his adversity with this powerful proclamation of triumph.

Here in 2 Corinthians 2, "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ." In chapter 4, afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing. Even in chapter 7, immediately before, he says in verse 5, "We were afflicted on every side, conflicts without, fears within," just before that he says, verse 4, "As emphatically as possible, I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction." And that's how Christians are supposed to live, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life and the triumph of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

And for the Christian, there is this perpetual triumph, even in affliction and persecution, triumph through persecution. That's actually the theme of the passage they've assigned me this year, 1 Peter 4, verses 12 through 19. So turn there with me. While you're turning, I'll read the passage from the Legacy Standard Bible.

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame but is to glorify God in this name.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God must entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing good." Eight verses, and notice every one of them mentions afflictions of some kind. This passage is full of words that evoke the idea of human suffering. Four times in the English versions, you have some variant of the word "suffering." And he also mentions testing, trials, insults, difficulty, and judgment.

But the word he doesn't use is "persecution." And yet, it's obvious from the context that the main kind of suffering he's talking about here is persecution, suffering for righteousness' sake, bearing insults and attacks, verse 16. Suffering as a Christian. And it's a theme that runs through the entire epistle of 1 Peter, and our passage is actually the pinnacle of that theme in 1 Peter.

Peter's writing to people who are living in exile, chapter 1, verse 1, "To those who reside as exiles scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." So these are Christians whose lives have been interrupted. They've been dispossessed of their homes and their livelihoods. They've been driven by the threat of persecution to the outer edge of the Roman Empire.

And in fact, those five districts, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, that covers virtually all of Asia Minor, that's the Turkish peninsula. And by the way, that's a large land mass. These people are truly scattered. Asia Minor is twice the size of California. So they're all over the place.

And furthermore, this is a part of the Roman world that we would normally associate with Paul's ministry. And it appears Peter is writing here to a predominantly Jewish group of believers. They're not really a group because they're scattered like this. He is, after all, the apostle to the Jews.

And so these are Jewish exiles. Circumstances have forced them to flee to a predominantly Gentile region of the Roman Empire, and so they reside as exiles scattered. And he uses the word "scattered" in the Greek. It's diaspora, which even in the first century was an expression that was used distinctively to speak of Jews who had been forced into exile away from their homeland.

So these people had most likely been driven away from Judea and Galilee because of a massive wave of government-sanctioned persecution against Christians under the Emperor Nero. Most New Testament scholars date 1 Peter around the second half of A.D. 64 or sometime in the year 65, and this was a particularly volatile time.

On July 18th of the year 64, a catastrophic fire had started in Rome's Circus Maximus, the chariot stadium there. And by the time the last flames of that conflagration were extinguished, nine days later, more than 70 percent of the city of Rome had been reduced to ashes. It was one of the worst urban conflagrations in human history.

And historians say that the fire was deliberately started by the Emperor Nero to make way for an urban renewal project, and the fire got out of hand. Tacitus, who was a first-century Roman historian whose life overlapped Nero, wrote in his history book Annals that in order to deflect the public wrath away from himself, Nero blamed Christians for starting the fire.

Roman Gentiles generally held all of the Jewish people in contempt. There had been tension between Rome and Judea going back before the time of Christ's birth. And Rome, in fact, at this time was already gathering its military might for a campaign that ultimately would result in the total destruction of the city of Jerusalem.

In fact, less than six years after the great fire of Rome, Titus Vespasian would reduce the temple in Jerusalem to rubble; it's never been rebuilt to this day. The Roman army pillaged everything that had any value in Jerusalem and left the entire city just a pile of smoldering ruins.

So anti-Semitism was a strong undercurrent in pagan Roman society, and because the earliest Christians were all Jewish, Rome had always been a place where hostility to the Christians, in particular, festered just under the surface. And Roman officials, you know, regarded the Christians as secretive, dangerous kind of misfits and even criminals.

Justin Martyr records that when the people of Rome overheard Christians talking about the Lord's Table, many of them concluded that the Christians were practicing cannibalism. Christians were typically regarded as atheists because they refused to worship the pantheon of Roman gods and they were also accused of incest because they called one another brother and sister and spoke of being united together in one body and the depraved pagan ears interpreted all of that in the most sinister possible way.

So there was this comparatively tiny community of believers in Rome, but Roman officials regarded them as a sort of dangerous, fringe sect of Jewish extremists. So Nero's lie intensified the public's contempt for Christianity, and the whole catalog of lies and false speculations about Christians circulated, starting in Rome but went throughout the whole Roman Empire, first as rumors, then as urban myths, and finally these false tales became the dominant narrative about Christianity.

And that's why Christians in first-century Rome were typically looked upon with deep distrust and dislike because most of the pagan public literally regarded Christians as criminals. And all of this made Christians an easy scapegoat when Nero needed one to explain the Great Fire, and under his authority, Roman officials began to sanction and participate in the harshest forms of persecution against Christians.

Tacitus, who lived in that era, is the secular historian who recorded that Nero would bind Christians in thick wrappings of sackcloth and then tie them to poles, coat them with tar and oil, and set them ablaze, and he used them like candles to light his garden parties. He also crucified believers.

Peter was ultimately one of Nero's victims, probably not very long after Peter wrote this epistle. Nero also put Christians in the gladiatorial arenas to be eaten by wild animals for the entertainment of crowds. And so the cruelty that was suffered by these saints is unimaginable to us. The level of persecution where, you know, people were actually being burned alive and eaten by animals, that was confined mainly to Rome and the surrounding region.

But meanwhile, this notion that Christians are criminals actually reached to the outer edge of the empire, and in fact, that is precisely what was happening when members of that first generation of Christians in Jerusalem began to emigrate to Asia Minor. These were the exiles that Peter is addressing his epistle to.

And even in Asia Minor, believers were not allowed to live and worship in peace. These beleaguered saints fleeing the threat of persecution in their homeland would face several more decades of persecution in Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and Bithynia. In fact, some 45 years after Peter wrote this epistle, the governor of Bithynia and Pontus was Pliny the Younger.

People whom Peter wrote this epistle to were no doubt still alive and still in permanent exile in Pontus and Bithynia. And their governor, Pliny, wrote a letter to Trajan, who was the first Roman emperor of the second century, and Pliny asked Trajan for advice on how do we deal with these Christians.

And it's clear from the questions he asked that Christians were regarded as outlaws. Pliny doesn't charge them with any specific crimes. It's evident that he believed just bearing the name Christian, affirming that Christ is Lord, that was crime enough. And that is the environment in which these exiled saints were living.

That's the main reason why suffering is the theme that dominates not just our passage but the whole epistle. Peter mentions suffering in every chapter of this epistle, starting in chapter 1 verse 6 where he says, "Now for a little while you've been grieved by various trials." As you read the epistle, you realize that's an understatement, grieved by various trials.

They were living under the worst kind of persecution. And Peter is empathetic. Peter knows that he himself will die as a martyr. Enemies of the gospel will take away his liberty and then end his life. And he knows this because Jesus told him in John 21 verses 18 and 19.

Immediately after he commissioned Peter with the words, "Tend My sheep," Jesus said to Peter, "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you to where you do not wish to go." And the Apostle John, commenting on that, adds this, "This he said signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God." So Peter knew that martyrdom and persecution were in his future.

Living under vicious persecution is a subject that Peter no doubt thought a lot about. He's the perfect pastor to compose this epistle to encourage these suffering saints in exile. And he brings the subject up at the very start of the epistle, but it remains his central theme really until his closing words when he writes at the end of the epistle, "Resist the devil, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished among your brethren who are in the world." In other words, you're not alone.

"And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore and strengthen and confirm and ground you to him be might forever and ever. Amen." It's a great benediction. And notice, he's basically taken the theme I've been assigned, triumph in persecution.

And that closing benediction then summarizes all of his main points throughout the epistle, really. One, that suffering is the common experience of those who are truly saved. Number two, that the pathway to glory is strewn with suffering. But for believers, all of our suffering will give way to eternal glory.

And point three, our suffering is just for a little while in comparison with eternity. It never seems like a short thing, but it really is just a little while in comparison with eternity. It's not even a nanosecond. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's about to be revealed to us." Now notice, those three themes that I just named, those are standard Pauline themes as well.

One, suffering in this life is the common experience of all believers. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:12, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Number two, our suffering prepares us for glory. Romans 8:17, Paul says, "We suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." And three, the hardships of this life are really nothing in comparison with heaven's glory.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, "Our momentary light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison." So those same three truths you see in Peter and Paul, they're also all three alluded to in the opening verses of our text, Philippians 4:12 to the end of chapter 4.

One, all true Christians suffer, this is an inevitable feature in the life of faith. You see that in 2 Peter 4:12, "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial, as though something strange were happening to you." Number two, suffering paves the way to glory, that's verse 13, "To the degree you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation." Because after all, verse 14, the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

And number three, the hardships pertain to this short life only, the glory is eternal. And that means, verse 13 again, that even in this life you can keep on rejoicing and at the revelation of His glory, you can rejoice with exultation. Or as the New International Version has it, you can be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.

I love that. Now notice the twin themes, suffering and glory, those are Peter's twin themes throughout this epistle, and of course those are common themes throughout the New Testament. Suffering is a necessary prelude to glory. Christ suffered for us, and therefore if we hope to have a share in His glory, we must also partake in the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

Yea, and all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And Peter's counsel to these suffering saints is intensely practical. And to most, it will seem counterintuitive, because the response Peter calls for here is not the natural reflex response for any of us. This epistle is full of encouragements for those troubled saints to be full of joy, to be patient, to be thankful, even to be submissive.

Bear the insults and the injustices of your tormentors and do it patiently. And verse 12, "Do not be surprised, it's not as though some strange thing were happening to you." Verse 13, "You are sharing the sufferings of Christ, so keep on rejoicing." Verse 14, "You are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you." And verse 19, "Entrust your souls to a faithful Creator." Now remember, he's writing to sojourners and exiles, people who have been dispossessed of home and comfort.

They're literally outcasts. They're persecuted people seeking refuge, but still living under intense hostility from the culture all around them. The conventional wisdom of our generation would encourage them to make the most of their victim status, you know, milk it for political advantage, protest and demonstrate and demand reparations and fight for social justice and rise up and devote your energies to political and legislative remedies, perhaps even retaliate.

Pick up arms to resist the tyrants and put a swift end to this systemic injustice. And in fact, he does notice, he does start this chapter by saying, "Arm yourselves." But what he's saying is this, "Prepare your minds and your hearts to suffer. Equip yourselves with the same resolve Christ took to the cross.

Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose." And verse 12, "Do not be surprised by the fiery trial, and don't be indignant or bitter when you're called to suffer as though some strange thing was happening to you." All of that is totally contrary to the spirit of the culture all around us, and it wasn't much different in Peter's time.

Believers in our generation really need to learn this and take it to heart. You know, believers today are routinely told that the church needs to change its strategy in order to avert the hostility of the world. Some say we need to, you know, edit and adapt our message, contextualize, cater to the felt needs of the unchurched, soften the tone, don't tell people they're sinners and they won't hate you as much.

You know, winsomeness is the key to avoiding persecution and gaining the approval and affirmation of the world, even if that means you have to censor the hard parts of the gospel message. And that's, I would say, actually the dominant evangelical strategy, and it's been that way for decades. And it has clearly failed.

So now we have this growing chorus of other evangelical voices proposing that, no, the church should get aggressive and openly antagonistic with the world and we should endeavor to commandeer the reins of power away from Caesar. They want the church to use the machinery of statecraft and use our collective political clout to build the kingdom of Christ on earth through the force of law and government, and I suppose if it becomes necessary even with military might.

You know, basically they're saying, "Render unto God the things that are Caesar's." But notice, Peter says none of that. Instead, this whole epistle is loaded with exhortations urging these exiled sufferers to bear patiently the cross of grief and pain, to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, even while they are being persecuted, to count themselves privileged to suffer for Christ's sake, to rejoice that they've been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

And he also urges them to lay aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander and to keep their conduct excellent among the Gentiles so that in the thing which they slander us as evildoers, they may because of our good works glorify God. In other words, Peter is concerned about their sanctification, not their lack of political clout.

He writes, 1 Peter 2 verses 11 and 12, "I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles so that in the thing that they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good works as they observe them glorify God." That's his strategy.

He's saying our best testimony to a hostile world is our sanctification, not our collective political clout. And furthermore, persecution is not something to rise up and resist. It's an instrument by which God blesses and sanctifies us. Chapter 3 verses 14 and 15, "If you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed and do not fear their fear and do not be troubled, 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 fear." And by the way, Peter is not the least bit interested in to know whether these strangers and pilgrims are influencing the arts and entertainment world as they fan out into the Roman Empire.

He doesn't urge them to try to redeem popular culture. He doesn't want them to try to find redemptive themes in Greek drama. He doesn't hope that they'll learn to use enticing words of man's wisdom in order to win the respect of the leading philosophers of the day. And he doesn't propose a strategy whereby they might wrest power away from Caesar and give it to him so that Peter can rule over Rome as a pope.

To say it bluntly, Peter is not a Christian nationalist and he's not an insurrectionist. Peter of all people understands that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. He doesn't respond to this massive wave of unjust government-sponsored persecution by trying to make Christians more militant. Peter is obviously aware of what Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." And to me, this is remarkable, coming from Peter especially because we know that Peter as a natural man did have a dose of carnal insurrection in his heart.

You know, he's the guy who cut off Malchus' ear. And the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. But this is a different Peter now, with a superior strategy. As I said already, Peter's counsel sounds counterintuitive to carnal ears. You know, he exhorts these persecuted exiles, suffering mistreatment and intimidation and contempt, and sometimes even torture and death.

He exhorts them, 1 Peter 2, 13 through 15, to be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good.

For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." Paul gave the same instructions, of course, in Romans 13, "Be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God." And this is not as confusing as our generation has made it out to be, you know?

When Caesar acts within the sphere wherein he has rightful authority, submit, obey, show respect to the office even if the ruler who occupies it is a fiend like Nero or a half-wit like some of the government officials we live under. Now we know, don't we, that Peter holds firmly to the principle that when there is a conflict between that which is Caesar's and that which is God's, we must obey God rather than men.

He's not going to forsake the assembling of the saints, or he's not going to stop singing hymns of praise just because some government official tells him he has to. And when he gets sent to prison for worshiping a God whom Caesar despises, Peter continues singing praise, even in prison.

He's not living by the sword anymore. He's not slicing off the ear of the captain of the guard. And as he writes this epistle, years after that night in the garden when he brandished his sword against Malchus, now the persecution of the saints has attained almost an apocalyptic ferocity.

It's worse. He could see clearly how bad things were for these Christians and for Peter himself. Chapter 4, verse 7, "The end of all things is at hand." So what should these suffering saints do? Arm themselves for Armageddon? Organize a protest march on Palatine Hill or hold a rally in the Roman Forum?

No. Peter says, "Therefore, be of sound thinking and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Tie your mind with the truth and devote your heart to prayer." That's his remedy. That answer wouldn't be very satisfying to the average evangelical activist today. But Peter had taken to heart the words of Jesus, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great." And Peter wants to remind these scattered saints of that blessed beatitude. He sums up the message in our passage, and so now I want to look at this passage point by point.

I see five imperatives that are either stated or implied in these eight verses, and I want to point them out to you. Five simple imperatives. The first is this, be ready...be ready, verse 12, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you." This is contrary, by the way, to much of the American evangelical experience.

We tend to think that persecution is some kind of anomaly in the Christian life. It's not. It's what normal Christians have always experienced. This is what is normal. As long as we live in this world as strangers and aliens, we're citizens of heaven, we're slaves of Christ, and none of that fits neatly into the hierarchy of earth's social pecking order.

It's not supposed to. Again, as Paul said to Timothy, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Even in our generation, two millennia after Peter wrote this, you realize, I hope, that the trajectory of this world's constant spiritual decline is following the pattern Paul outlines in Romans 1 and it is a descent into deeper and deeper depravity.

And friends, it's going to get worse. If you're alert at all, you ought to be able to see signs that suggest the persecution of Christians is going to intensify. And in fact, if you count the statistics worldwide right now, the truth is, persecution of Christians today is worse than it's ever been.

Did you realize that in the 20th century alone, more Christians died for their faith than in all of the previous 19 centuries combined? That's a fact. Ted Johnson, who's a professor of global Christianity and mission at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary says it like this, quote, "More than 70 million Christians have been martyred over the last two millennia," that's more than half of them died in the 20th century under fascist and communist regimes.

He says, "We also estimate that one million Christians were killed between 2001 and 2010, and about 900,000 were killed from 2011 to 2020." It's getting worse. Now we live in a kind of cocoon in North America where the threat of dying for our faith doesn't seem all that imminent.

And meanwhile, we ignore what's happening worldwide. But Christians are currently being killed for their faith by the thousands in Nigeria and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in other places in Africa. We don't hear about it from the mainstream media, but Google it and you'll see dozens of news items about the slaughter there.

Last Christmas, just this recent Christmas, 100 believers were killed in Nigeria because they refused to recant their faith on Christmas. At that time, I tweeted a news item about it from the New York Post, and that article in the New York Post opened with this sentence, quote, "A never-ending massacre of Christians being killed for sport is reportedly happening in Nigeria, yet the world appears to be largely deaf to the matter." It's a sad state of affairs, really, when the New York Post is more aware of the mass slaughter of Christians than most of the churches in America.

But that is the current state of this world's contempt for Christ. And despite all of the clever strategies of stylish American megachurches on the one hand and this evangelical political activism on the other hand, despite all of that, this world's contempt for Christ is speedily getting worse, not better.

And Scripture gives us every reason to think it's going to continue in that vein. Now if you're a post-millennialist, you're going to say, "That sounds like eschatological pessimism." But it's not. You know, we believe truth triumphs. That's the theme of our conference. Truth triumphs not by the wisdom of this world or the scheming and politicking and social leverage of mere mortals.

And in fact, just right after he says, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted," the Apostle Paul adds this, "Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." You can call that pessimistic, and it might sound that way to those who rely on horses and trust in chariots, or to those who think large armies of people wielding political power are going to be necessary for the truth to triumph, or to anyone who thinks that righteousness comes through the Law.

If any of those ideas are the key strategy you have in mind for winning the world, it's true that large portions of biblical eschatology are going to sound pessimistic. But as I've said more than once, I'm not a pessimist, I'm a Calvinist. Greta Thunberg is a pessimist. I'm not.

Calvinists can't be pessimistic because we know that God is still sovereign. He is always in control. He always works all things together for good, and His truth will triumph in due time. That's a certainty. God's inerrant, infallible Word says so. There's no room for pessimism there. Now let me be clear, I am totally and enthusiastically in favor of voting for laws insofar as possible, also electing candidates with values that reflect the influence of biblical principles.

Candidates like that seem almost non-existent today. But I am not in favor of thinking that that's the key strategy by which the church can remedy what's wrong with human society because if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly. The gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Truth triumphs not because Christians expend all their resources and energies to elect the right political candidates. Truth triumphs because Christ is Lord, and He who is called faithful and true will strike down the nations and He will rule them with a rod of iron. And He'll accomplish that victory with a two-edged sword that proceeds out of His mouth, not by a proxy who sits in the oval office.

Which is to say, in this time of political turmoil with an overabundance of zeal coming from every corner of Caesar's realm, 21st century evangelicals need to adjust our expectations. We need to stand athwart the winds of culture as society rushes headlong into those judgments that Paul describes in Romans 1.

But earthly strategies designed to turn aside this world's hatred for Jesus, those are all a vain hope. You don't improve the effectiveness of our testimony or the efficacy of the gospel by dressing the church up in the latest fashions, or by cultivating an obsession with academic prestige, or by campaigning for political clout, or by pretending that we are paragons of cultural savvy, or by using any other strategy to curry favor or seek friendship with the world.

The world is enmity with God. And persecution is inevitable, Scripture says, if we seek to live godly lives in an ungodly culture. "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you." Jesus said, "If the world hates you, know that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.

But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." That's John 15 verses 18 through 20.

Or back to our text, "Do not be surprised as though some strange thing were happening to you." Persecution is inevitable, be ready. Imperative number two, be glad, verses 13 and 14. But to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Now again, this is counterintuitive counsel. When you're persecuted, be glad. But Peter is only repeating here what he heard Jesus preach, Luke 6, 22 and 23, "Blessed are you when men hate you and exclude you and insult you and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man.

Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers were doing the same things to the prophets. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." One of the great birthrights every Christian inherits is the ability to rejoice always.

In Colossians 1:24, Paul says, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up what is lacking of Christ's afflictions in my flesh." And that verse is often misread and sometimes mistranslated. The ESV and the New American Standard Bible both have Paul saying, "I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions," as if he's doing something to the once-for-all sacrifice...he's adding something to the once-for-all sacrifice that Christ made.

But that's not the point. Nothing whatsoever was lacking in Christ's afflictions that Paul or anyone else needed to compensate for. But you read it carefully. Here's the Legacy Standard Bible again. "I fill up what is lacking of Christ's afflictions in my flesh." In other words, Paul is...by suffering for the sake of the church and suffering in the name of Christ, Paul is entering more fully into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, being conformed to His death.

He's filling up what he lacks, not something that Christ lacked. And that's a reason to rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted. We are entering into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. And nothing is more Christ-like, nothing does more to conform us to the likeness of Christ than when we suffer and bear it gladly, which is precisely what Peter has in mind right there in the text when he says we should rejoice and be glad when we're persecuted.

We are sharing the sufferings of Christ, he says. And furthermore, Peter says that that joy that we have even in the midst of our suffering will be multiplied by infinity at the revelation of Christ's glory. And the knowledge that this is what the future holds, that should be enough to make any Christian glad.

Frankly, that's precisely what keeps me from being pessimistic. Here's another reason to be glad, verse 14, "Because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you." So if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. It's actually a token of God's favor. So be ready, be glad.

Here's a third imperative from our text, be steadfast. Verses 15 and 16, "Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he's not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name." Now I have to abbreviate these last three points in order to make sure I don't go over time.

But this one, this one is vital to Peter's argument. Again, the way he wants them to convey their message to the world is not by marches and demonstrations or any other of the common tools of protest and political activism. But instead, he wants them to answer the world's contempt by putting their sanctification on display.

And it's okay, it's more than okay. It's a divinely bestowed blessing to suffer as a Christian for Christ's sake, to suffer in the name of Christ and for His honor and glory. There is frankly no higher privilege than to suffer as a Christian. This is true triumph, to glorify God in this name.

In other words, thank God that you bear Christ's name. If people cause you to suffer because you're called a Christian, be thankful that you have that name. And so, be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, your suffering is not in vain either.

Glorify God for it. So follow the logic of these imperatives, be ready, be glad, be steadfast. Number four, be humble. Persecution is not only a blessing, it's also a tool by which God proves and purifies and strengthens the church. And that's what Peter means by the word "judgment" in verse 17.

What he has in mind might entail an element of fatherly discipline, but it doesn't imply even a hint of condemnation. Romans 8, 1, there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But nevertheless, there is a need for testing and strengthening and even correcting the church. And the church is what Peter means when he speaks of the household of God.

Remember verse 17, "It is time for judgment to begin with the house of God and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?" Now what does this mean?

It is with difficulty that the righteous is saved. Understand, he is not suggesting that God has a hard time saving us, though in all candor as I peer into my own heart, I have to confess to my shame that I haven't always made it easy for the Spirit of God to conform me to Christ's likeness.

But that's not what Peter is saying here. He's saying that if life is hard for the redeemed, if honoring Christ and following Him always entails taking up a cross and suffering, if it always subjects the saints to persecution and anguish and hardships and even death at the hands of the wicked, if it's that bad for us, how much more severe will God's final judgment be for the godless man and the sinner?

And if you realize all of that, what should that compel you to do? It should compel you to be humble and sober-minded and zealous for the salvation of the lost. It's quite a humbling realization when we see that even for redeemed people on the scale of what we actually deserve, persecution isn't really a cosmic injustice.

It's a tool that God providentially uses for our sanctification. It's literally a means by which He brings us into an eternal triumph, an eternal glory that frankly we don't deserve. And Peter is going to underscore this principle in chapter 5 verse 5 when he says, "Clothe yourselves with humility, for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." Gird yourself with humility.

I love that expression, gird yourself with humility. There's no doubt thinking of that night when Christ girded Himself with a towel and washed Peter's feet. That was Christ on the eve of His death facing persecution with humility. That's our example. So be ready, be glad, be steadfast, be humble, and now fifth and finally, be faithful, verse 19.

"Therefore those also who suffer according to the will of God must entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing good." You serve a faithful God. So be faithful in doing good. That needs very little exposition here. Nothing I could say could improve on what John MacArthur said yesterday anyway.

So I'll just leave it at that. Be faithful, as Jesus said to the church at Smyrna, "The devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for days. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." Be faithful, brethren.

And let me say one other thing in closing. There is nothing elegant or impressive about suffering persecution. I mean, even if you follow all five of these imperatives, it won't win you many accolades. Paul suffered so much that no one but Luke even wanted to be closely associated with him anymore.

And in fact, suffering itself is a powerful reminder that we should never regard the Christian faith purely or even predominantly as an academic matter. It's not merely an academic matter. Ever since the Puritan era ended, the quest for academic respectability and an illicit craving for academic honors and intellectual status has actually undermined the faith and weakened the testimony of the church.

On the other hand, persecution, if it's well-received, is a powerful practical affirmation and an unanswerable testimony to the world that our faith is real, that the gospel is true, that heaven's glory will ultimately triumph over all the evils of this world. May God give us grace no longer to live in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Let us pray. Father, we confess that our natural instincts run contrary to every admonition contained in this passage. Give us grace to respond to this world's contempt with pure Christ-like grace and steadfastness and humility, and grant us wisdom to see and to embrace with a whole heart the reality that it is truly a blessing to suffer for Christ's name.

May we live by that name, may we glorify you in that name, and may we live lives that truly honor that name. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. Amen. Amen.