Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

1 Peter 5:8-11 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

As I mentioned last week, there are two great realities presented in this passage. The first, which was the point of last week’s sermon, is the fact that there exists a being in this world whose primary desire is to tear you to pieces and then eat you. The second great reality, which is the point of today’s sermon, is that there exists another being in this world who rules over the one who seeks your destruction and has given himself to secure your rescue.

In the way of a quick review, last week I asked and answered four questions from vs.8-9. 1) Who is the enemy? Peter identifies the enemy with three separate terms (all in v.8): “adversary,” “the devil,” and “roaring lion.” 2) What is his intent? The single expressed purpose of the devil (in this passage) is to devour God’s people. 3) What are his methods? The devil’s methods are revealed in his names: tempter, demon-planter, murderer, liar, blinder, disguiser, destroyer, accuser, and suffering-causer. And 4) How are we to respond? Peter says that God’s people are to be sober-minded, watchful, faithfully resistant, and others-oriented.

The question before us this morning is this: Up against an enemy who has that intention and those methods, how is it possible to respond in these ways? Satan is real. His hatred for the things of God is real. His power to devour is real. How, then, could we ever even hope to respond in sober-minded watchfulness, faithful resistance, and selflessness? The answer, of course, comes in vs.10-11, “After you have suffered for a little while [at the hands of this adversary, devil, roaring lion], the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [Because] to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

With that, let’s pray that God would make us continually aware of our enemy and strengthen us to respond in the ways he’s given us.

WHO IS THIS GOD?

One burning question for Peter’s readers, once again, was why they were suffering as they were. They had trusted in Jesus and therein been promised the favor of God. Why, then, was life so hard? The point of vs.8-9 is that one reason for their suffering was the devil. They were suffering because the devil hates God, his work, and his people. What’s more, the devil possesses great power to devour.

With all of that, what hope did they (and do we) have to overcome these trials, to remain faithful through them, and to obey Peter’s various commands throughout this letter (like those in 5:8-9-to be sober-minded, watchful, faithfully resistant, and others-oriented)? How could they possibly do those things with such an enemy after them? Since they had chosen to align themselves with God, they had chosen to take on God’s enemies. However, as this passage makes crystal clear, by aligning themselves with God they also chose to take on God’s salvation and protection.

With that, (1) Who is this God with whom they had aligned themselves, and (2) How will he protect them from the enemy who seeks to devour them (and the rest of their various, fiery trials)? As we will see, the power to obey the commands in vs.8-9 (and throughout 1 Peter) are found entirely in the nature and work of God. Again, then,

1 Peter 5:8-11 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

There are two great realities presented in this passage. The first is the fact that there exists a being in this world whose primary desire is to tear you to pieces and then eat you. The second great reality is that there exists another being in this world who rules over the one who seeks your destruction and has given himself to secure your rescue. This week we’ll look at the first being and Peter’s prescribed response. And then next week we’ll look at the second being his rescue plan.

With that, let’s pray that God would make us continually aware of our enemy and strengthen us to respond in the ways he’s given us.

THE ROARING LION

Again, the point of this letter is to give God’s perspective to the scattered, suffering saints concerning the reasons for their suffering and the right response to it. One of the reasons for their suffering, which is the emphasis of verse 8, is the fact that Peter’s readers have an invisible, but deadly enemy who is continually working against them. In order to best understand this passage and the manner in which we ought to respond to it, we’ll consider Peter’s answers to four questions: 1) Who is the enemy? 2) What is his intent? 3) What are his methods? and 4) What are God’s people to do in response?

Who is the enemy?

Peter identifies the enemy with three separate terms (all in v.8): 1) their “adversary,” 2) “the devil,” and 3) a “roaring lion.” None of those terms sound particularly appealing. All of them sound remarkably threatening. But it gets worse. The bible has many other descriptive names for this evil being.

Genesis 3:1 (2 Corinthians 11:3) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

Matthew 4:1-3 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came to him…

Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul (master of the house), the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

Matthew 13:38-39 The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers…

2 Corinthians 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial (worthless or treacherous)?

Ephesians 2:1-2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air…

Revelation 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon (destruction), and in Greek he is called Apollyon (destroyer).

1 Peter 5:5-7 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

INTRODUCTION

Peter’s readers, as you know, were experiencing a great deal of hardship in their lives, much of it directly owing to the fact that they were Christians. This letter, once again, is Peter’s explanation of how to live in a God-honoring way in the midst of their suffering. In this passage, Peter’s primary message to the suffering saints is that they honor God in their persecution by being humble.

This is our second week on this passage. Last week we considered: (1) What humility is: the disposition that comes from seeing oneself accurately. The biblical emphasis is on the lowliness that comes from seeing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, but true humility also, always comes from understanding ourselves in light of our lofty position in Jesus. Next we considered (2) what humility is not. We saw that humility is not, therefore, thinking of oneself as worthless, primarily external, niceness, or agreeability. While each of these things are often mistaken for humility, they are not humility. Finally, then, we considered (3) where humility comes from. It comes from God. It is a work of his Holy Spirit in all his people. But God is pleased to bring humility to his people through his Spirit in a number of ways, including putting people and institutions over all of us, offering amazing rewards to the humble, and revealing himself in his mightiness.

This morning we’ll consider a fourth aspect of humility, and the primary emphasis of this passage: (4) what humility does. That is, my point this morning is simply this: the inward disposition that comes from seeing ourselves accurately (humility) always works its way outward. Inside two basic categories that Peter gives, we’ll see a number of things that humility does.

Before we pray, I want to say two things to anyone in the room who doesn’t already want to be humble for the glory of God. First, we’re glad you’re here. We hope to get to know you and help you to know the grace that is offered to you through Jesus Christ. And second, I want to say a quick word about why you should care about what the bible has to say about the importance of humility in suffering. The best reason I can give you begins with an illustration. Many years ago I was backpacking the Appalachian Trail with some friends. The stretch we were on was the most poorly marked trail I’ve ever hiked. There were times when we’d hike for more than an hour without knowing whether or not we were on the trail. On the other hand, the Superior Hiking Trail along the North Shore is the best marked trail I’ve ever hiked. Often the trail is actually lined with rocks, making it impossible to miss. On both trails our goal was to get to our destination safely. On the SHT, knowing how to do that was easy and clear. On the AT, it was nerve-wracking, there were lots of delays and backtracking, and we never quite felt safe.

Whether you know it or not, all of us (including you) want the same thing in life. All of us want to live lives of satisfaction and love. We understand those terms and the places their found differently, but God designed all of us for glory and love. What’s more, whether you know it or not, God has defined those terms for us and shared with us the path to find them. Most people don’t know that God has marked out the path for us or that the path truly leads to everlasting glory and love. Therefore, most people spend their lives seeking glory and love in places it cannot truly be found, lost and lonely.

1 Peter 5:5-7 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

INTRODUCTION

What would you say is the single most important attitude of a mature Christian? That is, if you had to name one heart-condition that best defines someone who has grown in his or her faith, what would it be? Loving? Trusting? Hopeful? Holy? Selfless? Servant? Undoubtedly a case could be made for all of them (especially loving). Let me throw one more into the mix, one that doesn’t get mentioned nearly as often as those above but is just as deserving: humility.

One of the most significant marks of Christian maturity is humility. Therefore, humility is one of the things most needed in times of trouble—which is what Peter’s readers found themselves in. We began looking at humility last week as the proper response to godly eldering (5:5a). This morning we’ll consider humility from a broader perspective as we look at (1) what humility is, (2) what it is not, and (3) where it comes from. Then, next week, we’ll consider (4) what it does. In so doing, I think it will become plain that humility is necessary if we are to honor God, especially when life is hard.

With that, let’s pray that God would make us humble.

WHAT HUMILITY IS

In our passage for this morning Peter charges his readers to clothe themselves with humility. He declares that God gives grace to the humble. And he commands them to humble themselves. But what is humility?

The most straightforward definition of humility that I’ve come across, the one I think best captures the biblical perspective, is this: humility is the disposition that comes from seeing yourself accurately; nothing more and nothing less. This definition has two parts to it. Peter and the biblical writers primarily emphasize the first part, but we need to see the second part as well in order to avoid being crushed and misdiagnosing humility.

The first part of our definition means understanding that we are lowlier than we could ever realize. Why do we lack humility or possess pride? Often it is because we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We have certain gifts or abilities and those things make us feel superior to others. Having an accurate understanding of ourselves, however, means knowing that anything good in us is a contingent, derivative good. That is, nothing good in us is native to us. It is all, only, and always a gift from God. Let me give you an illustration…

There’s a famous father and son duo, the Hoyts, who have completed over 1000 endurance events together—including marathons and even Ironman triathlons. That’s impressive by any standard. What would you think if you heard the son bragging about his accomplishments? It might seem warranted, wouldn’t it? But, as you may know, there’s a bit more to the story. The son has severe cerebral palsy. In every one of the 1000+ competitions he did nothing except sit in a boat or stroller while he was pushed or pulled along. His dad did all of the work for both of them. With that understanding it’s easy to see that the son has no foundation to boast. An accurate understanding of himself means understanding that without the help of another he was incapable of even beginning—let alone finishing—a single race.

Whether we realize it or not, that’s the case for us in everything. Any good in us, anything we might be tempted to boast about, is from God. That is why Peter wrote, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.”

What’s more, because sin has infected all of us, even the good that God has put in us is thoroughl...

1 Peter 5:1-5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been in a chaotic or difficult situation, not one of your own making, but nevertheless one which you were tasked to provide leadership over? For instance, I know many moms at Grace whose home was hit by what felt like the plague. Everyone was sick, including them, but they were responsible for keeping things going. Likewise, how many of you who have some type of managerial position have walked into work to find a catastrophe that you needed to guide your employees through? Military personnel? Coaches? Virtually everyone in a position of leadership has experienced this. The situation was rough on you, but in addition to whatever personal challenges you faced, you had the added task of bearing the weight of the others as well.

In a number of ways, that’s the situation in this passage. For four chapters Peter addressed the manner in which ordinary Christians ought to navigate whatever trials and persecution might come their way. At the beginning of this last chapter, however, Peter turned his attention to how those in positions of leadership ought to handle suffering. That is, 1 Peter 5:1-5 is a passage addressed to church leaders (elders), instructing them on the unique ways that leaders honor God during times of various trials.

The main point of Peter’s exhortation and, therefore, this sermon is this: Elders, as God’s representative shepherds within the local church, are to be particularly careful to elder well when times are hard. In order to help you see that in the text, and what Peter meant by it, we are going to consider the recipients, foundation, content, and goal of this exhortation. Let’s pray that God would make this clear and sweet to us, and true of us.

THE RECIPIENTS OF PETER’S EXHORTATION

To point out the obvious, Peter’s exhortation—his urgent message—in this passage is addressed primarily to local church elders. That Peter shifts his focus (from ordinary Christians) to church leaders becomes plain in the first few words of the chapter. There he wrote, “So I exhort the elders among you…”. That is, elders, in light of the gospel, in light of the persecution you and those under your charge are enduring in Jesus’ name, and in light of everything I’ve already written, I have some specific implications and applications for you.

In case you missed it we spent all last week looking at what the bible has to say about eldership—its origin, description, and requirements. In particular we saw that the role of elder is the last in a long line of offices instituted by God whose primary charge is to provide shepherding care to God’s people on God’s behalf, we saw that elders do so primarily by knowing, leading, feeding, and protecting the church, and we saw that the primary requirement for an elder is exemplary Christlikeness.

Again, as we’ll see in a bit, this exhortation has implications for the entire church, but it is primarily addressed to those who hold the office of elder.

THE FOUNDATION OF PETER’S EXHORTATION

Again, Peter had an urgent message for the elders of the scattered, elect exiles. It was an exhortation,

1 Peter 5:1-5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

INTRODUCTION

(In addition to the Bible itself, this sermon is largely influenced by two documents: 1) The Shepherd Leader, a book by Timothy Witmer, and 2) Our church’s elder position paper.)

Grace, God loves his people. With everything else the bible addresses and society focuses on, it can be easy to forget the simple reality that for his people, God’s primary disposition is love. One of the primary expressions of God’s love for his people is the reality and manner of his constant care for us. And one of the primary ways in which the bible describes God’s loving care for his people is as our Shepherd.

You see, we might like to think of ourselves as strong lions or innocent doves or wise serpents, but the bible most frequently describes us as lowly sheep. We struggle to know what’s best for us. If we’re left alone we’re prone to wander into trouble. We are largely unable to protect ourselves from those who would do us harm. We need help even to know how to find fulfillment and rest. For that reason, it is truly good news to know that God is always leading and guiding us as a good shepherd. He is always working to keep us close, safe, well fed, and well rested. He is always watching over us, leading us exactly where we need to go.

All of that is what this sermon is primarily about—a particular expression of the continual loving, shepherding care of God. Specifically, it’s about the fact that one of God’s primary means of shepherding his people today is through elders within the local church.

In our passage for this morning, Peter assumes all of this. My aim in this sermon is to show you why. That is, I mean to help you see how the shepherd/shepherding metaphor runs throughout the entire bible, right up to 1 Peter 5:1-5; and in so doing I’m going to do my best to make explicit what, for Peter, is implicit. It is my hope, then, that all of this will set us up well for next week when we actually get into this particular text.

Let’s pray, therefore, that the Holy Spirit of God would be pleased to give us clarity of thought on the bible’s treatment of God’s shepherding care through local church elders and its significance for rightly interpreting and applying this passage.

THE ORIGIN OF ELDERSHIP (WHERE DID ELDERSHIP COME FROM?)

Our passage for this morning begins with these words: “So I exhort the elders among you: … shepherd the flock of God that is among you.” The connection between eldering and shepherding is what we’re after. How did Peter come up with that job description? What’s behind and underneath it, and, once again, what difference does it make for rightly understanding and applying 1 Peter 5:1-5?

Specifically, this morning I mean to help you all see what the bible says about: 1) The origin of eldership, 2) The definition of eldership, 3) The duties of eldership, and 4) The qualifications for eldership. It is my hope, that by doing so, we will be able to more fully understand the meaning and implications of this passage.

Beginning with the first question, then, where did the office of elder come from?

John 10:7-11 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning and merry Christmas!

For Christmas to fall on a Sunday or Monday is particularly special. It’s special since it only happens every few years and since it means that our worship service gets to take on an even more powerful air. I’m grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s coming with you all on this day.

My aim this morning is simple: to provide you with Christmas celebration fuel. But where do we get Christmas celebration fuel? It mainly comes from the bible. Where in the bible? Certainly in the Gospels where the Christmas story is recorded. There we get to look on in awe at the events surrounding God becoming flesh. Anywhere else? In a few OT passages that predict Christmas and speak of its glory. There we see that the incarnation was God’s plan all along; that he had planned to save his people from their sins from the moment they first sinned. Is that all? No. The bible is actually filled with passages which provide Christmas celebration fuel. In fact, some of the most powerful Christmas fuel of all is found in places you might not have ever thought of as Christmas passages. Consider the following verses in this light:

Matthew 9:13 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Luke 12:49 I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

John 9:39 For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

1 Timothy 1:15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

Galatians 3:24 Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Christmas is, of course, the good news of Jesus coming to earth. Each of these verses are Christmas verses, then, in that they speak of a particular reason for Jesus’ coming. In other words, they’re Christmas verses because they answer the question: What’s Christmas for? In understanding how they answer that question we find a great deal of Christmas celebration fuel in them. That is, the more God reveals to us about the amazing nature and implications of the Christmas story, the more reason we have to celebrate in earnestness.

This sermon flows from a different, but similar Christmas passage, John 10:7-11. In it we find that Jesus came (that Christmas happened) so that God’s people could have an abundance of life. For your Christmas joy, to amplify your Christmas celebrations, to direct your Christmas affections, to fill up your Christmas celebration fuel tanks, therefore, I want to answer three questions from the text this morning. 1) What does it mean to have life abundantly, 2) Why don’t we already have it, and 3) Where does an abundance of life come from.

With that, let’s pray and ask God to open his Word to us, that we may live as he intends.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what you really want your life to be like? That is, do you have a clear picture in your mind of what your life would look like if you were able to make it any way you like? If everything in your life were exactly as you wanted it, what would it consist of? These are just different ways of asking the question of what you consider the fullest, or most desirable, or most abundant life.

What’s the first thing you’d change?

1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

INTRODUCTION

If you’re just joining us, this is the third and final sermon on this passage. In the first sermon we saw that Christians ought not be surprised when suffering comes our way. We also saw that God means all suffering saints to be surrounded by the love of other Christians. In the second sermon, last week, we saw from this passage several ways Christians honor and dishonor God in our suffering. This week we’re going to look at another, secondary message in this passage: suffering as an expression of God’s gracious judgment on Christians.

What’s more, believe it or not, this too is an Advent sermon. Let me share with you my logic behind this claim.

* Advent is the time of celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ.

* Jesus Christ came because God’s judgment rests upon all mankind—resulting in either eternal condemnation or sanctification.

* The way in which mankind responds to Jesus’ coming is the sole determiner of whether God’s judgment results in condemnation or sanctification.

* 1 Peter is a letter describing the kind of response to Jesus’ coming that leads to everlasting sanctification.

* Therefore, 1 Peter is an Advent letter!

Let’s pray that the nature of God’s gracious judgment on Christians would be clear, that we’d receive it in joy, and that the connection between all of this and Advent would be plain.

THE CERTAINTY OF GOD’S JUDGMENT

As a new Christian I remember enthusiastically arguing for a number things I would enthusiastically argue against today. I argued for the majority of the items on that list on the basis of nothing more than remnants of worldly wisdom. Some, however, I argued for out of a false understanding of the bible’s teaching. In the former I offered no authority beyond my own logic and reasoning. In the latter, I appealed to a perverted interpretation of God’s Word. Unfortunately, I am not the only one to fall into such a trap.

Some Christians have pointed to passages like Romans 8:1 (“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”) as evidence that Christians will not be judged by God. Generally that argument is made when individuals want to downplay or dismiss the notion that their behavior in this life has consequences. However, that is not (as we’ll see even more clearly in the next section) what Paul meant when he wrote those words. Indeed, the opposite is taught throughout the bible—including our passage for this morning.

In 1 Peter 4:17, Peter wrote, “…it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.”

In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Matthew 25, Revelation 20, and a number of other NT passages speak to the ...

1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. It’s Advent, so let’s talk about suffering. In case that seems like an odd connection (which it probably should), let me offer a bit of help. See if you can follow my 5-part reasoning.

* Advent is a time we set aside to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ.

* Jesus Christ came to suffer for the salvation of the world.

* God has determined that his people share in Jesus’ sufferings as a means of demonstrating the saving power of Jesus sufferings.

* 1 Peter is primarily a letter instructing God’s people on how to share in Jesus’ sufferings in that way.

* Therefore, 1 Peter is an Advent letter!

I’m partially joking, but mostly serious. God’s people are not best served by sentimentalizing Christmas. God’s people are best served by looking at and celebrating Christmas for what it is: the birth of the one who was to suffer and die for the sin of mankind. The primary and deepest experiences of Christian, Christmas joy, therefore, come from keeping suffering in proper perspective and plain view. It is Jesus’ suffering that gives glory to his birth.

To that end, we’re going to continue working our way through the flow of Peter’s thought in 1 Peter 4:12-19. Last week we considered the first two aspects of this (Christians should not be surprised when suffering comes our way and Christians are not meant to endure suffering apart from the love of other Christians). This week, then, we’re going see Peter’s charge for suffering saints (not to be surprised, but) to rejoice!

Please pray with me that the connection between Peter’s words and Advent would be clear to us all and therein fuel—not dampen—our Christmas celebrations!

HOW CHRISTIANS DISHONOR GOD IN OUR SUFFERING

As God’s people go through life, inevitably hardship will come our way. Genuine hardship produces genuine suffering. The question in front of us, one that Peter addresses throughout this letter and in this passage, is what about the way we navigate that hardship or suffering determines whether we honor or dishonor God.

That, therefore, is the outline of this sermon. Part one: How Christians dishonor God in our suffering. Part two: How Christians honor God in our suffering. Let’s begin with Peter’s two pronged answer to dishonor.

Feeling wrongly about our suffering.

The first way God’s people can dishonor God in our suffering is by feeling wrongly about our suffering. As I meditated on this text throughout the week I noticed six misguided feelings.

I imagine you can easily see some of them in the text. Starting with the clearest, Peter directly charges his readers not to be surprised in v.12 (from a different angle, we saw this one last week). Given what Jesus, his apostles, and his gospel tell us about suffering,

1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

INTRODUCTION

Every year I wrestle with how to handle the holidays from a preaching perspective. Of course most people celebrated Thanksgiving a few days ago and are already looking toward Christmas. There are many passages in the bible that would allow me to appropriately tap into the powerful holiday current. I have done just that at times. I may do it again this year. This morning, however, I’m going to take a different approach…sort of. I’m going to continue on in 1 Peter, but I’m going to do so because I believe that this passage, rightly understood cuts right to the heart of the uniqueness of Christian thankfulness; which is to say that it gets right to the heart of the meaning and implications of Jesus’ birth, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Let’s pray together, therefore, for God’s grace to come upon us such that we’d be truly thankful for the things we should be truly thankful for.

THE GOALS

As any of you who follow football know, for any opponent your team faces there is always more than one game plan that would make sense. The goal remains to win the game, but one approach might do a better job of exploiting the other team’s weaknesses while another might do a better job giving your team’s strengths the opportunity to dominate. Those of you who deal in computer code know that the same is true for any desired outcome. One approach might take less time, but be more bug-vulnerable while another might be easier to debug but take longer to write. Financial planners can usually, reasonably, recommend two different investment portfolios to the same individual. Of course there are other parallels in baking, grocery shopping, teaching, parenting, etc. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

In a similar way, the structure and message of this text lends itself to several good approaches to preaching on it. I think you would have been served well by any of them. Before I get to the one that won out, I want to quickly explain two approaches that didn’t make the cut. I think this will be helpful because each highlights an important aspect of this text that other approaches can’t accommodate quite as well.

The first approach I could have taken to preaching on this passage (but didn’t) would be to organize it around its explicitly stated goals. This is a letter about suffering. But Peter doesn’t want Christians to suffer for suffering’s sake. He wants us to navigate our suffering in particular ways, for particular reasons. In fact, there’s no doubt that this entire letter is goal-driven. Indeed, Peter’s ultimate goal is explicitly stated in this text. Again, for those reasons, it would have been appropriate to preach this text primarily through the lens of the five stated goals.

Suffer well so that:

* You may rejoice at the second coming of Jesus (13)...