Christian Suffering

This morning, I'd like us to look a little bit on a topic that is always uncomfortable to talk about. But this week especially, and John alluded to it as well, there's been a lot of stuff regarding Christian suffering, persecution. This week, I read in the newspaper that in Sydney, a Lebanese Catholic church was threatened with death threats as Christians were meeting, I think it was last Sunday. A car or a group came by shouting, you know, death to all Christians or something like that in the wake of some of the stuff going on in Sydney at the moment and in the Muslim community and so on. So the topic has been around again, and I think it's useful for us to look at it this morning from a biblical perspective. A while ago, I read an article about that stated that a Southern Baptist pastor in the States in America talked about his experience with a Chinese house church pastor who was leading a house church movement in China.

And that these Christians in China were praying that the Christians in America might face the same persecution that Christians in China were experiencing so that it would ignite a similar revival in America. A reporter asked a leader of this rapidly growing house church movement how Christians could pray for the churches in China. But to his surprise, the church leader replied with this: stop praying for the persecution to end in China. It is through this persecution that the church has grown. The pastor went on to say, we in fact are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so that revival would come to the American church.

Would you pray this sort of prayer? Would you pray this sort of prayer for churches in Australia? Would you ever ask God to allow persecution or jail time or torture or even murder to come upon Christians here? What would your spiritual life look like if you knew that every time you prayed, every time you read a Bible, every time you went to church, you were actually risking your very life to do so? How would your spiritual life look?

The church in most western countries, as we know, has enjoyed relative peace for many hundreds of years. But if we were to experience a systematic eradication of all things related to Jesus and to Christianity, how would we feel about that? How would we deal with that? Now, despite this radical statement by this church leader, I think we should be grateful that God has prevented, or has, you know, curbed violent persecution against churches in Australia. Because I don't think anyone could say that a Christian being murdered for their faith is actually a good thing. No one would dare to say something like that.

And although we can't associate with that sort of intense persecution that the churches at this very moment in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and China perhaps and some Asian countries are experiencing, although we can't associate with that sort of intense persecution, I do believe that we do experience some form of persecution even today in our contexts. We hear of things like this and maybe you can relate. We hear of our jobs being threatened. If we dare to share the gospel with a work colleague, if we dare to share the gospel with a client, we will lose our job. We may have character assassinations amongst our colleagues or may even be threatened with violence.

Perhaps you have already experienced some form of suffering because of your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. So I think it is good for us to sort of talk about this this week and to look at what God's word has to say about how we deal with this sort of persecution or oppression or whatever you wanna call it, when it arises. So if you have your Bibles, let's have a look at 1 Peter, and we're gonna look at 1 Peter chapter 4 and read from verse 1 to verse 19. 1 Peter 4:1-19. The apostle Peter writes this to the churches in Asia Minor.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do, living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. These pagans, they think it's strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? So then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. So far, our reading this morning.

There are three points that I want us to notice from this passage this morning. The first one is how to suffer in light of God's grace. In the opening verse of chapter 4, Peter says, therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same attitude because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. It's interesting when Peter says this because it echoes very much what Paul has written elsewhere. And often we don't find a strong correlation between Peter and Paul or people wrestle with that.

But here we find a very strong allusion from Peter of something that Paul has written elsewhere. In Romans 6:6, the apostle Paul writes, we know that our old self was crucified with Him, Jesus, so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been free from sin. Peter makes a direct link here with the act of suffering persecution and the process of sanctification. Peter makes a direct link here with suffering persecution and the process of sanctification. And we spoke about that last week.

Remember, sanctification means to become holy. The process of becoming holy. Just as Jesus was persecuted and died to deal with sin, Peter says, so our suffering, so our persecution intimately connects us with Jesus who is our Lord, is our Master. It shows that we are Christians. Have you ever thought about that?

The amount of suffering you experience shows that you are Christian. In other words, if we suffer at the hands of human beings through persecution, it is an outward sign that we have been saved by the gospel. Let me explain this a little bit more. Peter says in verse 2 that as a result of the gospel, as a result of Jesus' death and His resurrection, we have been freed from living the rest of our lives running after selfish, sinful desires. We are now free, in other words, to pursue the will of God, which is good for us, which is perfect for us, which fits like a hand in a glove for us.

Peter says to his listeners that in their previous lives, in verse 3, he says, you spent enough time doing what the unbelievers did, living in sin, living in drunkenness, living in sexual promiscuity, in idolatry. But now, because you have become Christians, you have refused to give in to those sins once more and you've been saved. The people around them, however, who used to do these things with them see a changed life but want to draw them back into that again. Now let's go out. Let's go, you know, do what we used to do.

And once they see that there's a difference, this persecution starts. And perhaps you can relate to that. Perhaps you can remember to that time where you changed your way of life, where you came into this relationship with God and you had to say to a friend, I'm sorry. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not into that anymore.

But Peter says that even though they judge you, and they will, and they will think and say the meanest things of you, even though they judge you, they judge you by their flawed human standards. But God's true and fair judgment is the one you should be concerned about. And God's true and fair judgment is still coming. And everyone, not just yourself, everyone will have to give an account to Him. Everyone will come and meet God whether they believe in Him or not, whether they want to be obedient or not.

Every single person who has ever lived, who will ever live, will have to give an account to God. And so His judgment and His opinion and His values is what is important. In verse 6, Peter says that He preached the gospel to those Christians who are now dead. And there's some debate about this, but scholars believe that those who are now dead were killed, were persecuted to the point of death for their faith. And so despite them being judged by humans who killed them, who judged them and said this faith of yours is ridiculous, who said what they believe in is either blasphemy or is against Roman law or whatever, and were put to death, who were judged by these laws, killed by human hands, based upon these human decisions, they have been put to death and died, but they will live for eternity because God is the one who judges them ultimately and who saves them through Jesus' death and resurrection.

You see what happened was that unbelievers who were killing the Christians were asking this question: Well, if these guys are dying, they talk about a faith and life and an eternity and all that sort of stuff. But if they're dead, if they die, where is this so called eternal life? Where is this hope that they keep talking about? It doesn't look like this eternal life thing is working for you, does it?

Where now is this splendid hope that you talk about? It may look to the unbelievers as though the Christians have lost the struggle. They have lost the battle. If Christians are being beheaded right now, where is their hope? But these Christians, even though they had died, had previously received the powerful word of the gospel, Peter says in verse 3.

And so even though through physical death they die at the hands of human judgment, when it comes to God's final judgment and vindication, their belief, their clinging to the gospel means now by God's Spirit that they are alive for eternity, and they await a resurrection which will last forever. And this, friends, this is what gives us our greatest comfort. And although, you know, we may struggle to really grasp it and really appreciate it, the Christians, guarantee you, who are facing life threatening persecution, they cling to this, and they have remarkable peace because of it. Because all earthly situations, all earthly situations pale in comparison to the wonderful truth of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

All worldly possessions, including our physical lives, are nothing in comparison to the overwhelming joy that we receive when we know that we have been called into an eternal relationship with God. A relationship that no one can take away. The great comfort is this, that this life and all its blessings are merely a foretaste of an even greater future. Our blessed lives, our rich lives are simply a foretaste of an even greater future, and that future will last for eternity. And that gives us the perspective that we need in persecution.

That's the Christian hope. And so you can see, can't you, how your perspective changes. It radically changes what we are experiencing right now. Why worry about current persecution when a far greater hope awaits us? And so the question is, do we keep this eternity?

Do we keep this amazing eternal blessing in front of us in our decision making? Do we grasp how long eternity is? I've said this before. I've used this description before of how long eternity is. This is a great analogy that I read.

This is how long eternity is. If you imagine a metal ball, a steel ball the size of this planet. Okay? 40,000 kilometres in circumference. That's a big steel ball.

Right? And every one million years, a little sparrow is released and lands on this ball to sharpen its beak and then flies away, and then comes back again in a million years time to sharpen its beak again. By the time that bird has worn down that steel ball to the size of a ball bearing through sharpening its beak, we've just begun eternity. That is how big eternity is. It is impossible to grasp.

If that is what awaits us, you know, our little present day stuff pales into comparison, doesn't it? When we suffer, keep in mind God's grace and the preciousness, the preciousness, the pricelessness of eternal life that we already have received right now. It's already ours. And nothing can take it away.

Eternity with God is the greatest thing you and I can receive and we've already received it in Christ. In light of God's grace, our first point, in light of God's grace, suffering can be endured even to the point of death. Why? Because suffering is temporary, but heaven is forever. First point that Peter makes here.

Secondly, suffering gives us a new perspective on caring for others. It actually motivates our ethics, our interpersonal ethics. Funnily enough, suffering gives us a new perspective on caring for others. In light of the gospel and the eternal hope that awaits us, Peter says our perspective on relating to one another will also be radically altered. In verse 7, Peter says, the end of all things is near.

Now this doesn't mean that the space time continuum is about to come to a shattering halt, but that God has already now in Jesus Christ begun the process of cosmic renewal. Since Jesus and His time, this renewal has started coming in human lives. That's why the apostle Paul could say, I am a new creation. The old has gone. The old is dead.

The new has come. The end of the old system has arrived. God's new system is here, and it has already started changing people. We have people in this church. We have people in this church who will attest to this and say how God has radically changed their lives.

Broken people restored and renewed by love. In light of this, Peter says we ought to love one another so deeply because love, he says, covers a multitude of sins. Love is always stronger than sin. Love is always stronger than sin. It doesn't mean that love is a cover up operation for the things that we don't want to face, but rather the gift of love we are invited to offer one another actually transforms their lives and our lives, and it conquers the brokenness in us so that the sins that are committed to us or by us are taken out of the equation altogether.

Love overcomes sin. We find forgiveness in love. We find reconciliation in love. The threat of persecution gave these new Christians a fresh perspective on life. Why not work towards loving others instead of holding grudges?

Why hate those we call brothers and sisters when we have this hope to look forward to? Now this is such a challenge really for us to grasp, to show love and grace to other people because we tend to hold on so tightly to our ego and we tend to hold so tightly to our reputation. But again, in light of eternity in the gospel, Peter says, so what? So what? When real persecution started taking away people's wealth, their health, their reputation, these Christians started realising how unimportant those things are in the big scheme of things.

We might feel slighted when someone abuses our generosity. When they abuse our Christian hospitality. They come to our homes. They overstay. They are welcome.

They eat all our food, and they leave without saying thank you. But does it really matter? Is what Peter is asking. Does it really matter if our perspective is on the true wealth, that rich inheritance that he talks about in chapter 1? If our true hope is in that, what is our wealth really worth today?

In light of this eternal hope and the fact that we have peace with God, that we are not under His judgment anymore. In light of this, we have been set free to be generous. Think about it. We are free to love without seeking anything in return because anything we get in return really pales in comparison to eternity. So suffering even gives us a new perspective on how we treat one another.

And then thirdly, and probably the most hard hitting, is that Christian suffering isn't so surprising. Christian suffering shouldn't be so surprising. We are often stunned, aren't we? And horrified that someone could be so mean as to threaten to fire us for inviting a friend to church or sharing the gospel with them. It horrifies us.

But why is it a surprise? It's been happening to Christians for two thousand years. And Peter goes further and says it happened to Jesus. So why is it a surprise to us now? Jesus, the one who was perfect, who loved perfectly, who didn't do anything really to cause anyone to murder Him.

Why do we think it should be different for us? In fact, the Bible says here that it's something we should be thankful for. Wow. Why? Because it means that we can consider ourselves as followers of Jesus.

Verse 14 says, if you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed. For the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. In other words, when the Holy Spirit is in us, it means that we have truly become Christians, and this Holy Spirit makes His home in our hearts, showing us and revealing in us this mysterious intimacy that we have with Jesus. We have the Spirit of Jesus within us, and we are considered to be one with Him. Verse 15 says, if you suffer, it should be not as a murderer or a thief or any kind of criminal or even a meddler, which is someone who causes mischief or as a busybody.

But if you suffer as a Christian, don't be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. All throughout Acts, you were to read that you hear of these disciples who are persecuted and flogged. And it says, and they went away thanking and praising God that they were considered worthy, that they were considered worthy of suffering for that man. That's amazing. If our faith, friends, is truly impactful, if it is truly transformational, we should see people being uncomfortable around us.

If our faith is truly effective, impactful, we should see people being uncomfortable around us. We shouldn't be surprised to be teased. We shouldn't be surprised to become the butt of jokes. You want to know, you want to do a litmus test whether you are carrying the name of Christ into the darkest recesses of the city. See how many people outrightly cuss you for being a Jesus freak.

If you are a Christian, suffering isn't so surprising. I've mentioned this before, but one of the biggest influences of my Christian life, and I really believe, my calling to ministry, was a man who I worked with after having left school. I was just a builder's labourer, and we used to work side by side in trenches, sticking trenches, or building cages, or, you know, all sorts of random things. But he just so happened to be a passionate Christian man, and he would share the gospel with whatever tradie would be willing to listen to him on the work site. But as you know, if you come from that sort of area, he became the absolute butt of every single joke.

He copped so much flack because he was the Jesus freak. But I remember as a young guy that there was nothing more inspirational and moving for me than to see how sure this man was about the gospel. There was nothing that shook him. He was unwavering in his consistent message that Jesus saves and that every single person must know Him and accept Him as Lord. The message of God's love and grace in Jesus was far more important for him and lasting than copping a little bit of flack.

And that was huge. Because Jesus suffered and because we are connected to Him in His spirit living in us, the reality is you will face persecution. It's not that you may. You will. We should acknowledge that it is part and parcel of being a Christian.

And for most of us, this idea is scary. You know, we don't like to be confrontational. We don't like having people not, you know, love us. We don't like being bullied. But the message this morning is this, that we can be very confident to share the gospel despite the threats, despite the threat of getting fired.

Because if we get fired for sharing the good news that people have forgiveness available to them in Jesus Christ, so what? So what? If God is God, and if He is in control of everything, and if we have an eternity waiting for us, that is, you know, the blessings we have multiply to the power of infinity. So what if we lose our job? This is radical, guys.

So what if we cop a bit of flack for being a Jesus freak? If God is God, He will sort it out. And the challenge is, isn't it far more important for people to hear about Jesus? And if we get ridiculed, and if we get fired, if we get bullied, we shouldn't be surprised. In fact, we should be proud like the disciples in Acts were because it means we have been identified with Jesus.

And if Jesus suffered, we're probably gonna suffer as well. Now I'm not saying that this is a pleasant thing, but if we were to put ourselves on a spectrum between uncomfortable and comfortable, where would we place ourselves? We can find comfort and suffering in view of the good news that we have a brilliant future awaiting us. A hope that no one, not even ourselves can take away from us. We will find a deep and serious love for our friends.

We will be able to live generous lives and share our gifts with others, and we will find a special intimacy with Jesus even in the midst of our suffering. Be courageous Christians who speak out a little bit more often, who engage in those conversations just a little bit more even if persecution comes. Consider yourselves blessed to have been considered worthy of suffering in the name of Jesus. Let me pray for us. God, You created us to seek and to desire good things, blessings.

It is not a bad thing, Lord, to seek comfort. It's not a bad thing to seek to be well fed and provided for. God, You have given us many good things in our life to provide for that. You've given us minds, work ethics, abilities, gifts, talents, Lord, to provide for these things. But if anything, Lord, these things can come in the way of some very important things in our life as well.

And Father, it is difficult, when we have work to do, when we have families to provide for and raise, Father, we have activities that keep us busy, it is difficult to remember some of the very important things that we have been commanded to do, Lord. And first and foremostly, You commanded us to make disciples of all nations. Father, in the light of some serious persecution happening to brothers and sisters in other parts of this world, Lord, I pray that You'll also give us this morning the reminder and the encouragement to speak out just a little bit more often and to be reminded of the perspective that we have that a conversation we could be having with our colleague on a topic that has been raised regarding You, regarding our faith and the gospel, well, that is an opportunity that You are perhaps giving us and leading us into that we should take this. And despite the fear and the anxiety of a little bit of suffering that may come our way, give us the courage, Lord, and the perspective that eternity lies in the balance here.

Give us that courage, Lord. Give us Your guidance as well. Holy Spirit, as You are in us right now, we pray that You will intercede and mediate and give us words in those situations, that You will even give us a supernatural courage to speak out. But, Father, may we also be encouraged this morning that this work is not dependent on us. We know that You are sovereignly involved in this.

Father, that the battle and the victory already belongs to You and that we have an amazing rest and hope that we will spend a blessed eternity with You, a time frame that we cannot even grasp. So Father, we ask that keeping these things in tension, Your guidance, Your sovereignty, and Your command on our lives, to live in such a way that those around us may praise You and glorify You. Father, we pray that You will guide us in all wisdom and all understanding in these things. Give us courage where courage is needed. Give us wisdom where wisdom is needed.

And Father, we pray that above all that Your name will be made famous in our workplaces, in our schools, in our universities, in our friendship groups. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.