The Problem of Suffering III

Having reminded us of the sufferings of Jesus, in 1 Peter 4:1-6 he encourages believers to follow Christ’s example.  We should recognize that Christ suffered for us while he was in the flesh and so we ought to prepare ourselves for the same.  This disciple-master relationship is not directly referred to but it is implicit in the background.  If the master suffered how can his disciples not?  Are we greater than he?

Prepare For Possible Suffering

Peter tells us to “arm” ourselves with the same mentality that Jesus had when he suffered.  Our mental outlook and rationale regarding suffering can prepare us like a weapon prepares a soldier for battle.  Can you imagine going into war without preparing the gear and weapons you will need to survive and win?  It would be suicide.  Thus Peter reminds us of the battle that is going on to rob us of our faith and keep countless billions in darkness.  Before suffering comes we should mentally prepare ourselves to look at it like Jesus did.  So how did Jesus approach suffering?

Jesus was not a masochist who sought out suffering for suffering’s sake.  Nor did he annoy people on purpose in order to make them persecute him.  For Jesus suffering was something that our flesh does not want, but is sometimes necessary for the sake of others.  You see Jesus did not suffer on his own behalf.  He was suffering for us.  To him suffering had a purpose.  Anyone who runs into war, just for the “fun” of war, is not like Jesus.  But for those who endure the suffering and horrendous nature of war for the prize on the other side, they are willing to lay down their weapons when the battle is over.  Their purpose was peace on the other side. 

We need to have the same mind towards suffering.  It is not something we seek out.  But the choices of others may bring it to us from time to time.  Now none of us suffer for the sins of others like Jesus did.  But our enduring of suffering is a witness to the lost.  Our God is worthy of laying down the “good things” of life.  It is also an encouragement to believers in their faith.  So in that sense our suffering can help others to continue in faithfulness to God and it can turn sinners out of the path of judgment.  We may not know how God is going to do it and who is going to be helped, but we trust that anything the Father allows is for the good in the end.

We should also have the same mind of Christ towards life.  He did not make his choices according to what was pleasing to his flesh.  He lived to do the will of God.  Do you see your life as an opportunity to do God’s will?  Or, do you see it as an opportunity to get the maximum of pleasure possible?  Jesus did all that he did for the will of God.  How much of my life have I given to accomplishing God’s will?  Do I approach my marriage, family, kids, and job as a calling from God?  Or, have I approached them as a means to make me happy?  Don’t get me wrong.  God desires us to have joy and pleasures in this life.  But he does not want us to prostitute our life for the sake of them.  The pleasures of life are to help us along the way, not “be” our way.  Peter lists in verse 3 the things that the people of the world chase after.  Immorality, the strong desires of the flesh, drunkenness, drinking parties, idolatries are all like a person pouring out all the potential of their life onto the ground.  We waste our life and bring ourselves under judgment when we live for these things.  Peter tells them that they had spent enough time living that way.  Now change your mind and prepare for what may come for the right reasons, the glory of God, even when the world thinks you are strange for doing so.

The Day of Judgment

Those who “judge” you worthy of suffering are themselves going to be judged by Christ, Vs. 5.  Though we may doubt it when we are suffering, there is a day of judgment.  Paul speaks of it in 1 Timothy 4:1 and 2a, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.  Preach the Word.”  Peter points out that Christ is ready to judge, but Paul says this judgment will begin when he appears at the 2^nd Coming.  Thus there is a specific time for this judgment and the Lord is “ready” to carry it out.  “Ready” implies both his desires and his preparations.  His heart is inclined to bring this judgment.  Yet he has also done all that is needed to do it.  He has taken on the additional nature of a man and experienced the same temptations that we do.  He has laid his life down and done for us what we could not do for ourselves. 

We have to continually remind ourselves that the judgments of people have nothing to do with God’s judgment of us through Christ.  Jesus will judge us based upon Truth.  In fact in verse 6 Peter goes on to mention that the gospel was preached to those who are dead.  What is this all about?  First of all, the main point is this.  Though people have died in the flesh, they can live by the spirit due to the gospel having been preached to them.  He wants us to see that the flesh that we can see is not the ultimate reality. 

The difficulty in knowing what Peter is saying in verse 6 focuses more on the specific details rather than the overall message.  Some say that Peter doesn’t mean the gospel was preached to dead people.  He is actually saying that the gospel was preached to people in the past who are now dead.  The implication is this question.  Did the gospel fail?  The answer is an emphatic, NO!  They are alive by the Spirit of God and, in fact, await the resurrection which will make that life evident to all.

Others tie this passage in to the previous chapter.  Just as Jesus proclaimed his victory to the fallen angels who rebelled before the flood, he has also shared the gospel with those who were being held in Paradise.  Before he leads them in triumph back up to the Father, he explains the details of their salvation for which they had always hoped, trusted, and believed God.

Regardless of which way you interpret the first part of this verse, Peter’s main point stands the same.  Though believers die in the flesh, they continue to live by the Spirit of God.  Thus even suffering to death is not a failure.  It is ultimately victory.  Don’t look at what you see in the flesh or in the natural and let that diminish your faith in what God has promised you through His Spirit.  Be faithful to the end and persevere.

Final Thoughts

What I go through in the flesh is not as important as where I am headed by the Spirit of God.  In the end God will always prove Himself faithful to those who put their trust in Him.  God has not turned his back on you.  Wait upon Him and you will see the promise fulfilled!

Problem of suffering III audio

USMC Lt. Colonel (ret.) Dave Winecoff

This last Sunday we were blessed with the visiting ministry of Dave Winecoff.  Dave comes from a military family and went on to join the United States Marine Corps.  After his three tours in Vietnam he was decorated with the Silver Star for his conspicuous gallantry in Operation Dewey Canyon.

Dave has spoken at Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International and is currently serving as a chaplain for a local Veterans of Foreign War post.

We are grateful that he accepted our invitation and have posted the audio for those who couldn’t be in Sunday’s morning service.

Dave Winecoff Audio

The Problem of Suffering II

Today we are picking up in 1 Peter 3:18-22.  In this section Peter reminds us that, even though we may suffer unjustly in this life, our Lord suffered as well.  Thus if we are following him we should not have any surprise at our own sufferings.

When we are suffering it is easy to pray and ask God to take all the suffering away.  In fact we can be drawn to Christianity out of the mistaken notion that it promises to get rid of all the difficulties of our life.  I find it interesting that Jesus came and suffered with Israel at a time when they were praying and longing for God to deliver them out of their suffering.  In fact once we realize that God suffered through Jesus we might ask ourselves this question.  Is it possible that God himself has suffered from the very moment of creation because he knew and later experienced the pain and sorrow of the rebellion against him?  I would say that Jesus coming to suffer was not God joining us in our suffering, but rather, God demonstrating that he has always suffered.  The truth is that life and the sufferings we encounter are really offering us the opportunity to join God in His sufferings.  Let’s look at this passage.

Jesus Also Suffered On The Earth

The use of the word also in verse 18 helps us to know that God is not expecting us to do anything that he hasn’t also gone through himself.  The call of Jesus is, “Follow me.”  He not only can identify with us, but he is also our example of how to approach suffering.

Jesus suffered as the Christ, the Anointed One of God.  You cannot get any closer to God than to be the messiah, the Anointed of God.  In our hearts we could covet such a position, thinking that it would be a privileged one.  However, the messiah was humbled, tortured, and caused to suffer.  So the next time you are tempted to think that you are suffering because God doesn’t love you, think again.  Peter has already dealt with the reality of suffering we bring on ourselves because of doing wrong.  But even when you have done all you can to do right and still suffer on account of it, we must check our emotions from blaming God.  This is a sinful world filled with sinful people and sin brings suffering with it.

He also suffered as a righteous man on behalf of the unrighteous.  Jesus suffered so that my unrighteousness could be forgiven and I could be brought to God.  His suffering opened the door to not only peace with God, but also a place in his family, to be treated as his children.

He also suffered as a mortal man.  The incarnation of Jesus is definitely a mystery.  However, Scripture is clear that he was fully God and yet also fully man.  He wasn’t pretending to suffer in a pretend body.  It was real and his death was real.  Yet, in this state of mortal death, the Spirit made his body alive.  Not alive like Lazarus, who was essentially resuscitated, but made alive in a transformed, glorified body that is a direct creation of God.  Paul points us back to this in Romans 8:11 when he says, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Jesus Then Goes To The Place Of The Dead

We do not have an exact timeline of the events between the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection.  His dead body was placed in a grave and remained there until some point early Sunday morning.  However, in verse 19 it mentions that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison.  Now the question arises, what spirits?  Are these the rebellious human spirits, are these angelic spirits, or both?  The word “prison” makes it clear that we are talking about the wicked dead.  And, why does it mention the pre-flood era specifically?  There are a lot of questions here that are not answered by Peter.  However, one thing is clear, we see that Christ does not go into the grave like a normal person.  He is in control to the point that he preaches to these prisoners.  Preaching is not the same as evangelizing.  So this is not an attempt of Jesus to get these spirits saved.  The word translated as preach simply means to proclaim something.  Thus Jesus proclaims his victory over sin, death, and Satan.  He then leads the righteous dead who have been held in Abraham’s bosom into heaven before God’s throne.  This is why Paul can later say that to be absent in body is to be present with the Lord.  Jesus did not go into the grave to suffer.  His suffering was done on the cross and it was finished as he gave up his spirit.  He went into the grave to proclaim his victory to the lost and lead the righteous into heaven.  Thus he loots the grave of its treasure. 

Peter then compares the salvation of Noah and his family to ours.  God was patient with the pre-flood generation during the time of Noah’s ark building.  For generations men like Enoch, Methusaleh, and Noah had been faithful to preach to their world.  But the judgment was looming.  Thus Noah built an ark (a place of safety from Judgment) over a period of 120 years and then was immersed in the waters of the flood as he was saved.  This is a picture of what we experience now.  Jesus built an ark, which is himself.  All those who come into this ark do so spiritually by believing on him.  We symbolize this saving by being immersed in water.  The flood waters point forward to Christian baptism as much as Christian baptism points back to the flood.  For almost 2,000 years God’s Spirit has been calling to all nations of the earth to enter this ark of Jesus in order to be spared from the coming judgment.  Are you in Jesus through faith in him?

Now verse 21 is critical.  There are some who teach that you are saved by the act of baptism and not until.  Now Peter does say we are saved by baptism, but notice the parenthetical statement that follows it.  He qualifies the previous statement both negatively and positively.  First, we are not saved by the simple removal of the filth of our flesh.  It is not the physical act of going into the water and the cleaning action of it that saves us.  Rather it is something happening in the heart that causes us to do the action.  Baptism saves those who are doing it as their heart answering back to God, yes, I believe!  Baptism as a physical act doesn’t save, but as a spiritual act it does.  Note that the thief on the cross couldn’t be baptized and yet Jesus told him that he would be with him in Paradise that very day.  Life itself is our interrogator.  Our heart has an answer back to God which manifests itself in many actions.  It is our faith in God that saves us not our works, lest we be able to boast.

Jesus Has Gone Into Heaven

Verse 22 clearly speaks of the ascension of Acts chapter 1.  He is at the right hand of the Father.  This point is more about recognizing the power and authority that now belongs to Jesus as the “right hand man” of the Father.  Several verses mention Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, like on a throne, and also standing at the right hand of God when Stephen was martyred.  We are also told that he mediates between us and God interceding on our behalf.  He is no longer under the sufferings of this world and its powers, but has taken up ultimate power.

In fact Peter states that the spiritual powers are subject to him.  All angels, spiritual authorities and powers are under his rule.  This is reminiscent of Ephesians 6.  We are called upon to battle against these spiritual powers of the world that are in rebellion to the Father and his champion, Jesus.

Final Thoughts

The life and words of Jesus make it clear that those who follow him will suffer as well.  This gives deeper meaning to, “Come, Follow me.”  Are we greater than Christ himself?  Should we somehow not have to deal with difficult things in this sinful world?  Should God shield us completely?

Our faith follows the same pattern of Christ.  He suffered in this world, died, was buried, then resurrected, and then exalted.  This is our destiny.  By faith we who suffer for the sake of righteousness will die, be buried, be resurrected and be exalted beside Jesus.  Thus the sufferings of this world become a badge of honor.  Not that we attempt to cause our own sufferings, that is no honor.

In Jesus we are enabled to fight against the spiritual powers with Truth, God’s Righteousness, the Gospel, faith, our sure salvation, God’s Word, and prayer.  Through these we are able to break down strongholds in some people’s lives and set them free.  If I have to suffer that some may be saved then so be it because that would just mean I am following in the footsteps of Jesus.  Amen!

Problem of Suffering II Audio

The Problem of Suffering I

As we continue through the book of 1 Peter, we are now at a point where Peter speaks to the area of suffering.  Many believers were encountering suffering on a personal basis and often throughout a whole region.  Eventually, Caesars such as Nero and Diocletian would promote a persecution against Christians throughout the whole Roman world.  Thus these words from Peter were timely. 

In our own day and age, we still see large parts of the earth where persecution of Christians is the norm.  Even in America, where we have been sheltered for so long, we see a growing animosity against believers, along with incidents of clear persecution.  Thus these words are timeless and we need to pay attention to what God is saying to us.  Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:13-17.

What Kind Of Person Harms Those Who Do Good?

In verse 9 we are told to not pay back wrong for wrong.  However, this brings up the area of when others repay my good with wrong.  No matter how right and good you try to do things, there will always be some who resent you for it.  What kind of person does evil to those who do good?  That is the question that Peter puts forth in verse 13.  The main intention is to remind them that only evil people who do not belong to God will do such things.  God is against those who do evil and has gone on record that he is going to judge them.  Thus we need to remind ourselves, when we are suffering from wrongs that others do to us, that they are not doing what is right and God is against them.  That may not make you feel better, but suffering tends to get in the head of an individual.  We can begin to question all manner of things, even God’s favor for us. 

Another aspect to this question is that the answer is not just an evil person, but is the fact that they are only a human.  They are NOT God, even if they do command the power of government like Caesar.  Even if the whole world worships him as a god, he is only human.  He will stand before the true God and give account for the evil he has done.  That is why Jesus reminded his followers in Matthew 10:28 that they should not fear those who can only kill their bodies.  Rather we need to fear God who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.  When people persecute us we can be tempted to accept it as God’s punishment upon us, especially if it is ongoing.  We wonder where God’s blessing is and look for the reasons why we are so wretched to deserve this.  Thus in verse 14 Peter moves to another point.

The Righteous Who Suffer Are Blessed

How can God tell us that when we suffer for doing what is right we are blessed?  How can persecution be interpreted as blessings?  We so often only see blessings that are material.  However, we are missing the more important, eternal blessings.  In verse 12 Peter had told them that the Eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.  You are blessed because God is watching over you with affection and care.  Secondly, you are blessed because his ears are open to your prayers.  Now clearly the psalmist was not trying to say God literally has eyes and ears.  Yet, the One who created the eye and the light that makes it work did it so that we can “see” what he “sees.”  The same is true with ears.  As an aside, let me just say that even this point becomes moot in the light of Jesus and his incarnation.  God didn’t take on flesh so that he could see and hear, but so that we can understand that he has always seen and always heard.  So when you are suffering praise God that he sees your plight and pray to him with your petitions and your praises.

Lastly you are blessed because your trust in God puts you on His side.  Here Peter quotes from Isaiah 8 when he says do not be afraid...nor be troubled.  Now if you go back and read this whole chapter you will see that God speaks to both the Gentile nations and the people of Israel.  God is a sanctuary to those who trust Him, but He is a stumbling block to those who do not trust him.  So, whether you are an unbelieving heathen or a waffling Christian, you are going to either come to faith in Jesus or you will trip over him.  When God doesn’t do things our way it is easy to stumble in our faith.  But if we trust him we are blessed because those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  God will bring them through every trial.

Those Who Suffer Should Do These Things

In verses 15-17 Peter lays out several things that we need to do especially when we are suffering for doing what is right.  The first is to set our heart and mind upon the Lord alone.  To “sanctify” means to set apart for a particular purpose.  We can’t make God holier or more sanctified.  But we can make our heart and mind a special place where God’s thoughts and his desires are set up as primary and special.  They are our sole focus.  This word is the same as is used in the Lord’s prayer: “hallowed be Thy name.”  The prayer is about God’s name (Jesus and all that he is) being set apart in the hearts and minds of people.  In Hebrews 12:1-2 we see this need again.  “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…”  If we are to run this race well we need to set our heart and minds upon the desires and thoughts of Jesus Christ.  If we are to run well we need to run in the footsteps of the only one who ran it perfectly, Jesus.

The next thing those who suffer need to do is to ready themselves to give reasons for their faith in Jesus.  Typically this verse is quoted to encourage people to study apologetics.  However the context goes beyond just defending the gospel.  This actually represents the suffering person going on the offensive.  When we do not pay back wrong for wrong it will open the door of the inquisitive.  We need to be ready to pour forth that inner communion of love and adoration of our savior to them.  We can only do this if we have been reading the Word, spending time in prayer, and meditating upon God’s Word and our life.  It is here that the Holy Spirit clarifies these things in our soul.  Why do you hope in Jesus?  Can you spend hours pouring forth why you hope in Jesus?  It is increasingly important in these days that we have a relationship with Jesus that is real and spiritual.  Peter also mentions the attitude we should go about giving those reasons.   Our attitude should first be meek.  This simply means to be gentle.  It doesn’t matter how strong you are.  Meekness is strength under control.  Sharing our hope in Christ should be done gently, but also in fear.  Not fear of people, but fear of the Lord.  I am representing him.  I need to have a healthy respect and speak out of pure motives rather than out of a hurt and embittered heart. 

Lastly we need to keep our conscience clear.  Improper motivations behind even good actions can cloud our conscience just as sure as if you through a clump of mud into your drinking water.  When we repent of impure motives and trust God that he forgives us and cleanses us from it, we will have a conscience that is clear.  Many believers today have a murky conscience.  Even when they repent they don’t fully trust the forgiveness of the Lord.  We need to stop such insanity.  Either God is a Truth teller or he is a liar.  But he is not both!

If we live through suffering in such a way it will cause some to be ashamed.  They will sense the guilt of their actions and perhaps repent.  But even if they do not “feel” ashamed, they are shamed nonetheless.  We need to keep the door open for the salvation of those who persecute us by responding in these ways.

Final Thoughts

It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.  When we suffer for doing evil, we deserve it.  We need to suck it up, repent, and learn.  But when we suffer for doing right, we take our place alongside God himself.  We are able to stand next to Jesus and all the other saints who suffered with him.  We have the joy of having a bond with Jesus that others will not understand.  We’ve been through the same fire that he went through.

Also, remember that God’s will is never just about suffering.  It is about the ends to which that suffering will take us.  We not only will have a place next to Jesus, but we will be like him because we have faithfully traveled the same path as him.

Lastly, suffering in this passage is based upon the choices of others.  We need to remember that God is greater than the choices of others.  And, even though we may be caused pain because of their choices, God has promised to overturn the evil others do to us.  Let us keep our faith in Jesus to the end!

Probs Suffering I Audio