WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.240 Um like my dad said, I've had a lot of opportunities to speak while at college in classes or class meetings, etc. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:11.839 But none I take more honor than my dad asking me to speak tonight in his pulpit. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.160 And so like my dad said, I will be leaving next Sunday. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:20.960 I will be heading back to Pensacola to uh work at Teen Extreme and I'll have hundreds of teenagers that I'll have direct influence on. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:27.359 And so if you could be in prayer for me, uh just to sustain me and um that God will use me this year. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:31.120 And so if you have your Bibles tonight, turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.320 1 Peter chapter 4 is where we will be tonight. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:36.479 So what is happening in 1 Peter? 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:43.920 Well, Peter is writing to the believers that are scattered throughout Asia Minor, and these believers are suffering persecution. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:48.479 They're being beaten, they're being mocked, and they're suffering immense persecution. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:01:00.719 It's believed that this is during the time of Nero's persecution of Christians, and so many of them are being burned, many of them are suffering, and they're having a really hard time while Peter is writing them this letter. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:07.200 And Peter writes to them talking mainly about the subject of suffering and how we handle that. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:16.239 And so tonight I want us to look in 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 12, how we can, like the believers in Asia Minor, rejoice while suffering. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:26.719 If you look in verse 12, Peter writes, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:36.879 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:43.200 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:47.200 On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:53.040 Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:59.680 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:11.520 If you look at verse 19, he writes, Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful creator. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.360 I heard of a pastor named Richard Wormbrand. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:17.680 He's not an extremely well-known name. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.800 When I had first read about him, I had never heard of him before. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.319 But Richard Wormbrand was a pastor who lived in Romania when the communists took over the country. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:34.560 And he was told that if he continued to preach the gospel, that he would be sent to prison and he'd be uh beaten. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:41.680 And instead of not preaching, instead of being silent, Richard Wormbrand continued to preach and tell others about Jesus. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:47.759 And one day on his way to church, the secret police got him and his family hadn't even known what happened to him for years. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:49.759 And he was sent to prison, like they said. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:03:00.800 And while in prison, Richard Wormbrand was beaten and mocked and placed in dark cells, isolated from everyone else, because he refused to stop talking about Jesus while in prison. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:06.000 And while he was in prison, he would continue to witness and tell other people about what Jesus meant to him. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:12.639 And when he would do that, the guards would hear him and they'd grab him and they'd beat him and they'd send him and isolate him so he couldn't talk to anyone. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:23.280 And while he was alone in those cells, isolated from everyone else, he began to sing hymns to himself because he said that he felt so overjoyed that he got to suffer for Jesus. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:31.919 And he'd be out of those dark cells and he'd be around the other prisoners, and he'd continue to talk about Jesus, knowing what would happen to him, and he would do it anyways. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.439 And he sang and talked about Jesus over and over again. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:39.120 And when he was released, he gave this statement that I want us to hear tonight. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:47.840 He wrote that I have found truly joyful Christians only in the Bible, only in the underground church, and only in prison. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.360 He then later wrote, It was a great joy to know that I was suffering for Christ. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:10.400 You see, this was a man who understood what Peter was writing about in 1 Peter chapter 4, that when you suffer, when you're persecuted, when you suffer for the name of Christ, not sad are ye, not depressed are ye, not woe is me, not what is God doing, not why is this happening to me when I'm trying to live for Christ. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:11.120 That's not what he says. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:19.120 Richard Wernbrand understood that Peter wrote in this book that when ye suffer for the name of Christ, happy are ye. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:29.759 Tonight I want us to see that suffering and trials are not strange for the believer, but are a reason to rejoice, because those who suffer for Christ are truly blessed. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.120 In verse 12, I want us to see the reality of suffering here. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:41.920 He writes, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:43.360 Fiery trial. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:52.160 Well, in Greek the word fiery trial is referring to the process of smelting, or more commonly known as the process of refining. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:00.319 You see, smelting is the process where they would heat metal so hot that the impurities would rise out of the metal. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:14.319 Or they would stick this metal or they would stick silver into a fire, and the fire was so hot that it made the metal to where it could be burned and it could be shaped in the dross, is the term of those impurities that would rise out of the metal and rise to the top. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.199 And they would do that so the metal would become pure. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.639 See, the fire was not meant to destroy the metal, but it was meant to purify the metal. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:29.360 The fire is not meant in our lives to destroy us, but the fire in our lives is meant to purify us. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.680 The fire is not meant to destroy us, it's meant to make us more like Christ. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.519 See, the fire is meant to test us. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.839 The fire is meant to purify us. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.560 The fire proves what we are truly made of. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:06:04.000 Because you see, when the metal was stuck in the fire, those things that weren't truly that precious metal, or with silver and gold, when they're pressed into the fire, what rises out of them is what is not that silver, or not that gold, or not that metal, the sin in our lives, the bad character traits, those things in our lives that are not reflecting of Christ, those are what begin to rise out of us in that refining process. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:06.240 And that's what Peter is writing about in verse 12. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:08.959 Don't think it strange, don't think it a coincidence. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:16.879 That is an intentional act of God, you see, because God does not put us to burn us, he puts us in the fire to refine us. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.959 If you have your Bibles, I want us to turn to Malachi chapter 3 very quickly. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:22.879 Malachi chapter 3. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:24.480 And what's happening in Malachi? 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:30.639 Well, Malachi was written to the nation of Israel after they were in Babylonian captivity and they were freed. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:38.879 And they rebuilt the temple at this time, and outwardly they were still religious, but inwardly their hearts had drifted far away from God. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:47.360 The priests were corrupt, the worship was polluted, and the people were living in compromise, unbelief, and spiritual apathy. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:49.759 See, on the outside, everything looked great. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.240 The temple was rebuilt, the priests were there. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:56.639 Everyone looked on the outside like it was great, but inwardly they were not there. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.879 They were not magnifying Christ in their inward life. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:09.839 And Malachi was writing, and if you look in Malachi chapter 3 and verse number 2, the Bible says, But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.319 For he is like a refiner's fire and like fooler's soap. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:26.319 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:29.759 See, in verse two, he says, A refiner's fire. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.279 God refines us. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:49.680 He loves us enough, God loves his children enough to get rid of that dross, to put us in the fire, to put us in those uncomfortable circumstances, so that those things in our lives, those sinful character traits, begin to rise out of us, the negative attitudes, the gossip, the lying, the lack of faith. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.000 God puts us in fires to pull those things out of us. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.480 You may in your life right now feel like you're in a fire. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.800 You may not understand what God's putting you through. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:04.319 You may feel like you're in a storm and you're lost and you don't see what's in front of you. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.519 But you see, you in those moments you may feel far from God. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.040 You may feel like God's not there, but God is very much so there. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:17.439 And in those processes, that is when God is testing you, and that is when God is purifying you to himself. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:28.560 Because when a blacksmith is refining his silver, he doesn't stop putting the silver in the fire until he sees his reflection in his work. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:39.200 God doesn't pull us out of the fire until we're in that position to where we've been heated up enough so much that he can mold us into what he wants us to be, and he can use us for his glory. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.639 But but Malachi doesn't only talk about refining here in verse 2. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.639 I want you to see the other thing he says. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.879 He says, For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:59.440 Fooler's soap, I had never heard of until I had read this passage and I started looking into it, and I thought it was extremely interesting the concept of fuller soap. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.440 So fuller soap was this soap that a fooler would use on garments to get stains out of garments. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:09.360 And so he used this soaping agent and he would put it in garments. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:17.039 And the word fooler there in Hebrew was referring to that the fooler would put the garment on the ground and he would begin to step on it with his feet. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:25.600 And he'd try to rub this this oil and this chemical agent that he would put into the garment so that it would get the stains out of the garment. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:29.200 And it was an extremely uncomfortable position for the garment. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.200 He would press it with his feet extremely hard to get to soak into this garment. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.840 He would put his knuckles into the garment, pressing it extremely firmly to try to rub it in. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:49.039 He would put it under his uh feet and move it back and forth, stretching this garment farther than it's ever been stretched before to try to get those impurities, stains out of the garment. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:55.679 He would use his knuckles and his feet to harshly wring out these garments so that the agent would get in it to pull the stains out. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:03.200 To work the soap into every fiber, the fabric was repeatedly beaten and kneaded in and stomped with the fooler's feet. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:15.919 This abrasive process stripped away all the impurities and all the stains out of this garment, leaving behind a pristine, bright white cloth that would be fit for the fooler's use. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:24.559 He would press this garment so far, he would stretch it so much to get these stains out of the garment so that it was fit for his use. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:30.720 And that is the picture that God gives us in Malachi 3.2, that sometimes God has to deal harshly with our pride. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:42.879 Sometimes he has to deal harshly with our sin and our bitterness and work through us so that the worldliness and it will clean us from all of those sinful character traits that are in us because surface cleaning isn't just enough. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.919 He didn't just pour it on and rub it on top and call it good. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:51.600 He had to press it in and work through in and out of this garment so that it would be fit for his use. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.159 And the same is true of us today as believers. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:11:04.480 Sometimes God has to press us farther than we want to be pressed and stretch us farther than we feel like we can be stretched, just so he can get those sinful stains out of our lives, so that he can use us for his glory and honor. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:17.759 Because if the fooler never gets those stains out of the garment, if the fooler never gets those horrible things that were pressed into the garment, if he didn't stretch it enough so that he could clean it, the garments were never fit to be used for his glory. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:19.919 And the same is true with God. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:28.639 If he doesn't press us, if he doesn't stretch us, if he doesn't put us through things that we don't feel like we can endure, then we're not fit for the master's use. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.279 You may be in a storm tonight feeling like you're being stretched. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.600 You may be in a storm tonight feeling like God is just pressing you and you can't see far ahead. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:37.759 You don't feel like you can see around you. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.440 And I had a circumstance similar to that. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.799 I lived in California for a few years, and it was in the desert. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:53.679 And it wasn't the beaches of Malibu or or or uh those beautiful spots in Southern California. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:55.919 It was in Lancaster in the desert. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:03.440 I remember when I first was driving there with my dad, and it's just straight sand there, I saw a tumbleweed roll across the road. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:08.320 And I was like, I've never been that jaw-dropped in my life because I thought those were just in cartoons. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:09.919 I was a 16-year-old guy. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.399 I genuinely thought that those didn't exist in real life. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.320 Like this place doesn't, you just gotta see it to know what I'm saying. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:25.519 And I was driving one day after school with my sister Phoebe, and we were driving home, and there was a sandstorm, a literal sandstorm. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.519 I also didn't know those really existed. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:32.639 And I was driving, and it got so bad that I couldn't see in front of me. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.679 And the cars in front of us, they were they were going crazy. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.879 They were pulling off the side of the road, they were slamming on their brakes, they were going everywhere. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:42.639 I mean, you could not see farther than three feet off your windshield. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:43.759 And I didn't know what to do. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.320 Phoebe was screaming and panicking, obviously. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.279 And so I did the only logical thing to do. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:52.799 I called my dad, and I was like, Dad, I don't know what to do. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:53.919 I can't see right now. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.600 I explained the situation. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.480 And and he said, Well, can you see far in front of you? 00:12:58.559 --> 00:12:59.679 And I was like, No, I can't. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:01.440 And he said, Well, can you see? 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.559 Can you look out to the side and see the dotted line on the road? 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.320 And I was like, I mean, I can I kind of can't. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.120 I can't see them in front of me, but I can see the ones next to me. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:15.120 And he said, then just follow the ones that are right next to you until you get out of it and until you can see home. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.440 And I did that and I got through the sandstorm fine until I could see my house. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.519 And the same is true in the storm. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.000 You see, God doesn't tell us, or God doesn't expect us to see way far out in advance. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.799 God doesn't expect us to see home from here. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:30.320 But what does he say in Psalms? 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.039 That his word is a lamp unto a feet and our light unto our path. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.559 God doesn't show us the whole path, but he shows us the next right step. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:40.000 See, the will of God isn't knowing all the things that God wants us to do. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:43.840 It's not looking way out into the future and seeing, oh, I know this decision here and this decision. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:45.600 That's not what God calls us to do. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.919 God just calls us to do the next right thing. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.200 I just saw the next dotted line and it got me through safely. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.759 I wasn't trying to see things that were out of my control. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.559 I wasn't trying to press through what was in my control. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.279 All I did was follow the line next to me. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:15.519 And in your life today, if you feel like you're in a storm and you can't see what God wants you to do and then and it seems blurry and you don't see God in it in the future, don't be worried about the future, what you can't see, but just trust God and trust the next right step and follow Him closely through that. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:24.240 You see, it is not strange and it is not random and it is not unexpected that as Christians we go through hard times and we go through storms. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:28.480 Many Christians today believe that God is just like a genie in a bottle. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:35.279 And whenever we need something done for us, and whenever we need a circumstances, a circumstance taken off of us, we can just pray and God will remove that. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.039 But that's not what we see in the Bible. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:45.600 In modern times as Christians, we we associate going through hard times as, oh, this person's living in sin, or what did I do wrong to deserve this? 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.840 But clearly that is not what we see in 1 Peter. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:54.879 And actually, if we go back in the Bible, we see the men that sometimes did the most for God were the men that went through the hardest times. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:56.960 I think of Job, who lost everything. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.720 He lost his children, he lost his money, he lost his wives, he was sick, but Job lived for God. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:08.720 I think of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery for having a dream, and God used him in that way. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:15.279 I think of David, who was who was anointed as king over Israel, but was chased by Saul in the wilderness for years. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.879 I think of Shadterak, Meshach, and Abednego, who were placed in the fire for not bowing and praying to the king. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.759 I think of Jeremiah, who was mocked and beaten. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:29.919 I think of John the Baptist, who said he wasn't worthy to buckle Jesus' shoe, but then was beheaded for his faith in Christ. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.200 I think of Paul, who was beaten, imprisoned, and shipwrecked. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:37.919 I think of Stephen, who was the first martyr for Christ, and Paul saw him and what happened to Paul. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:46.879 I think of Peter, who wrote this very book that said to rejoice when we go through suffering, who denied Jesus when it mattered, but then in the future God gave him a second chance and God redeemed him. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.919 And he asked Peter if he loved him, and he said to go feed his sheep. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:56.559 And I think of it was not recorded in the Bible, but it's recorded in history books that Peter also was crucified for Jesus. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:03.440 And not only was crucified for Jesus, but it's recorded that he watched his wife be crucified and hang on a cross. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.919 And he scroll and he told his wife, he said, Remember what Jesus did for you. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:11.279 And Peter was crucified upside down. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.240 I think of these men who did great things for God, but suffered so much. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.639 And in our in our modern minds, we we can't fathom how Peter could write when you go through these things. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:26.879 Don't be upset, don't blame God, but rejoice. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:32.000 Not only do I see the reality of suffering here in this passage, but I see the response to suffering. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:36.320 If you look at verse 13, here Peter writes, but rejoice. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.039 He doesn't pity us, he doesn't say, poor Christian. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:43.840 He says, in response to suffering, but rejoice. 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:50.960 Peter suffered more for Jesus than any of any of us in this room could possibly ever imagine or possibly ever experience. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:57.200 Yet he wrote the words in this passage, When ye suffer for Christ, happy are ye. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:05.200 What does Peter have while writing this book to these believers who are being persecuted in Asia Minor that we don't have today? 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:15.920 Well Peter says here in verse 13 that though and when we suffer, it should not bring resentment, bitterness, or hatred to God, but actually it should bring joy. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:21.519 James 1, 2 says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptation. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:30.960 I think of John 15, in the passage where Jesus talks about him being the true vine, and he's talking to his disciples about love and how they should love one another. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:39.279 But then towards the end of that chapter in chapter in John 15, Jesus writes about how in the world they're gonna suffer persecution, and in the world they're gonna be mocked. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.279 And he and he's talking to his disciples here. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:56.640 He says, You're gonna suffer rejection, you're gonna suffer mockery, you're gonna suffer isolation, you're gonna suffer persecution, you're gonna suffer betrayal, you're gonna be misunderstood, you're gonna lose relationships with people, and you would be and they would be treated unfairly for their faith in Christ. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:07.519 Yet he writes in John 15, verse 11, he says, These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:16.319 All of these passages that we have read tonight are directly linking that suffering for Jesus Christ brings true joy. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:21.279 In our very book, 1 Peter, I want you to look back one chapter to 1 Peter 3. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:31.039 And if you read verse 12 with me, it states, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.359 And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:40.880 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.319 And be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:54.880 In verse 14, he says, When you suffer for righteousness, when you suffer for Jesus, that word, the word happy there is the word for blessed. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.160 Blessed are you. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:01.759 When you suffer for Jesus, when you suffer for doing what's right, blessed are you. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.200 You're in favor with God. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:10.000 As Jesus writes in the Beatitudes, it brings spiritual favor, reward, and closeness with God. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:12.720 That's what Peter's saying here in 1 Peter 3 14. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.079 When you suffer for righteousness' sake, you're truly blessed. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:28.079 If you keep reading in chapter 3, verse 15 says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:35.599 Remember, Peter is addressing the believers who are scattered throughout Asia Minor that are being so awfully persecuted for their faith. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:40.559 And he tells them to sanctify the Lord God in their hearts and be ready always to give an answer. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:45.920 You see what Peter is saying here is you don't need to shove it in the face of those people that you live right. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:50.720 You don't need to shove it in their face that though God does these hard things to you, that you're gonna live right with an attitude. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:51.759 He says, No. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:20:01.200 When you live right and when you suffer for righteousness' sake and you maintain a good attitude and you're happy about it and you're joyful about it, then those people are gonna ask you. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:04.559 They're gonna say, Well, what does this person have that I don't have? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.240 How does this Christian go through this and he just keeps getting back up? 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:15.599 How come he's been knocked over time and time again, doing what's right, yet he still remains to get back up again? 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.119 You see, the lost people, the people that aren't living right, they're gonna notice that. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:24.160 And Peter says, be ready always to give an answer with meekness and fear. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.279 And what do you what do you respond with meekness and fear with? 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:28.880 With the hope that is in you. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:34.880 You see, as Christians, though we suffer for Jesus Christ, though we may be put through hard times, we have a hope. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:39.279 We we don't live for the hearing now, we live for the hope and the glory that is in Christ Jesus. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:51.599 If you keep reading one more verse in chapter three, he said, Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:21:02.000 Peter urges these believers to maintain good and honorable conduct, that when you live a life of integrity, you silence critics and put to shame those who slander you. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:12.880 If you face backlash, a pure conscience keeps you from becoming bitter, and it ensures that any accusations brought against you are proven false by your good deeds in Christ. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:20.160 Proverbs 28,2 says, The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:26.000 You see, when you live with integrity, when you're right before God, you don't have to flee when no man pursues. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.240 You don't even have to flee when man does pursue, because the righteous are as bold as a lion. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.920 As we see in Acts, Peter is so bold proclaiming the name of Christ. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:37.759 And the people marveled at how learned he was, the Bible says. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:44.079 Yet he had this boldness to preach and boldness to talk, even though he had denied God to that same very crowd. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:45.680 How did Peter have that boldness? 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:47.440 Because he lived with integrity. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:22:09.359 And when you live with integrity, you can be bold proclaiming the name of Jesus, bold that when you suffer, when people mock you, when people start false accusations about you, you don't have to fret, you don't have to hold back, because God said Says in his word that if you have a good conscience, and those that speak evil of you will be put down, because your integrity speaks for itself. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:17.039 Verses fifteen and sixteen of chapter three tie right back into what Peter is saying in chapter four, in verses fifteen and sixteen here. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:25.119 He says, But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:32.559 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:39.440 You will not be ashamed if you suffer as a Christian, because if you have integrity, God will be glorified in your suffering. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:48.720 If we look back one verse in a verse 14, it there's an expression there that says, For the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:55.440 Suffering for the name of Christ is truly a blessing because it shows who we're truly following. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:04.240 And when we suffer for Christ, we are identified with the one who suffered more for us than any of us could give back in return. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:16.160 When you suffer for Christ, you are identified with the one who hung on that cross, who was stretched open, who was spit on, who was beaten, who went through all of these awful things out of his love for us. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:23.119 And when you suffer for doing what's right, when you suffer for righteousness' sake, you are identified with him. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:32.319 Paul wrote in Philippians 1 29, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:37.440 You see, it's not just enough for us to believe in our Christian walk, but we're also going to suffer. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:48.319 And that's what Paul is trying to get across to the church of Philippi, that it's not only that we're believing on Christ that shows our faith, and that is what God calls us to, but it's also to suffer for him. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:59.759 And as Christians, it's not just enough that we believe, but we must put shoe leather to our faith, and we must be willing to go wherever God calls us to go and do whatever God calls us to do for him. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:08.240 So I see the response to suffering here in these verses, but lastly tonight, I want you to see the refuge in suffering. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:22.240 If you look in verse 19 of 1 Peter chapter 4, he says, Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.279 Peter closes this passage with two reminders. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.599 You may suffer as a Christian for doing what is right. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:41.519 You may be mocked, like Richard Warmbrand, as we heard tonight, you may be beaten, you may be placed in places of isolation and feel like you're all alone. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:53.359 But as Peter shows us in 1 Peter chapter 4, God is still sovereign, and God is still faithful in Job's life, in David's life, in Jeremiah's life, in these men who suffered in Shatterak, Meshach, and Abednego's life. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.240 God is still faithful, and God was still sovereign. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:58.640 And that is what Peter is trying to get to us tonight. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:02.720 Your suffering is not random, and your pain is not outside of the hands of God. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.400 That is why Peter says to commit the keeping of your souls to him. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.559 That idea of committing is giving of something valuable. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:15.680 And Peter is saying here, what is valuable to you, your soul, you can commit that to God. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:19.680 How can we trust that that God is faithful for us to commit this to him? 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:24.079 Because, like it says in the end of that verse, as unto a faithful creator. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.880 It wasn't just enough for God to create us and let us be. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:27.359 No. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:33.279 God created us and desires a relationship for us, and he stays faithful to what he created. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:36.400 He didn't just send us here on our own and tell us to figure it out. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:36.640 No. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.640 He didn't just call us to him. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.759 We aren't just Christians who follow blindly. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.799 No, but God is a faithful creator. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.359 Psalms 46, 1 says, God is our refuge in strength, a very present help in trouble. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:58.079 See, Psalm 46 connects to the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem during the Assyrian siege. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:05.279 Yet the psalmist is able to write, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in our times of trouble. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:18.720 No matter the trouble you're going through tonight, no matter the circumstances you're in, no matter how hot the fire feels, no matter how dark the storm is, God is a very present help in our time of trouble. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.279 I think of Psalm 91, verse 1. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.480 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:32.880 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Him will I trust. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:42.480 These verses all point to the same truth Peter gives us in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 19, that when believers suffer, God is not distant, but he is our refuge. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:50.160 He is the strong tower, the present help, and the faithful creator who keeps and comforts his people in trouble. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:54.960 Because God is our faithful creator, we can trust him in committing our lives to him. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:09.279 And that no matter what we suffer, no matter the circumstances that we're in, no matter how far we may feel from God, we can trust that we can commit to him our souls, because he is a faithful creator. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:18.400 We should not be surprised when we suffer for the cause of Christ, but rather we should rejoice because we are identified with the one who suffered for us. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.480 I think of Cory Tunboom. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:35.519 She was a Christian who was alive during the time of the Nazi concentration camps, and she was her and her family were hiding Jews from captivity, and they were found out, and her father was sent to prison, and there he died. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:40.960 And Coryton Boom and her sister Betsy were then sent to a concentration camp. 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:44.079 They were sent to Robinsbrook concentration camp. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:45.920 And there the camp was terrible. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:47.920 It was with overcrowded barracks. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.319 There was starvation, sickness, beating, it was cold. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:56.640 And in this specific situation, there were fleas everywhere. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:02.559 She became so discouraged and she complained so much to her sister Betsy about these fleas that were everywhere. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.680 And her sister gave her a response that she did not expect. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:12.799 When she was complaining about it, her sister said, Well, let's remember 1 Thessalonians 5.18, and everything give thanks. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.240 Her sister said, How about you thank God for these fleas? 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:19.359 And Court of Moon thought that was a ridiculous idea. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:22.640 She said, Why would I thank God for this stuff that he put in my life? 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:24.079 But but she did it anyways. 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.039 And they began to pray and they thanked God for the fleas. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:32.000 Later they discovered that the guards stayed away from that barrack because there were so many fleas. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:36.240 And since the guard avoided this barrack, they could read the Bible openly. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:37.519 They could pray freely. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:44.400 They began to talk to the other women in this barrack about Jesus because of this horrible situation that she was in. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:50.720 Because she was sent to this concentration camp for not doing anything wrong and sent to be persecuted. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:57.119 She thanked God for the horrible situation that she was in, and God began to bless through those fleas. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:01.519 God used the very thing that Corey Tinboom hated for her good. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:08.000 Corey later stated this, that she learned that during this situation, joy is not based on her circumstances. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:19.359 The situations and the circumstances that God put her in, that did not dictate her joy, but what did dictate her joy was her outlook on her faithful creator and the one who was with her no matter what. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.119 She learned that she could pray freely. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:27.279 She learned that God is present even in suffering, that no matter what she suffered, God was there and God cared. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:31.359 She said that God can use pain for his purpose. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:36.880 After the war, she traveled speaking, talking about the forgiveness and the faithfulness of God. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:42.240 She said that there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.880 She also said this quote that I want us to end with here tonight. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:52.559 She said, when a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:55.359 You sit still and you trust the engineer. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:03.279 See, in life, when we go through situations that seem so dark that we that we can't see what's ahead of us, when we go through situations that we just don't understand. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.720 Or we're faced with situations where we see, well, I don't know how God could bring any any good from that. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:12.319 You see, we we say that God is love, but this situation doesn't seem very loving. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:15.440 We say that God is just, but this situation doesn't seem very just. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:28.880 I've tried long enough. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:30.640 You're not a faithful God now. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:33.759 She said, sit back and trust the engineer. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:47.039 Or in our circumstance, we can sit back and we can trust the faithful Creator that though we suffer, that though he cause grief, he will have mercy according to the multitude of his mercies. 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:49.519 And so remember the refiner and the fuller soap. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:31:05.200 God allows us to go through trials not to hurt us, not to jamage us, not even to scar us, but rather he allows us to suffer to bring us closer to himself, to be identified with him, and that like Jesus said in John 15, that our joy might be full. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:22.640 See, in suffering, it doesn't have to be a reason for us to for us to doubt God or for us to complain, but when we're placed in the hard situations for doing what's right, we can follow what Peter said in verse 14 that if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:25.759 So tonight I end with a question. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:31.119 When you go through circumstances, will you remember what Peter said here? 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:35.440 That happy are ye when you suffer for righteousness' sake. 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:36.559 Let's pray tonight. 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:42.079 Dearly Father God, I thank you for uh for this this church and what you do through it, God. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:32:03.440 I thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight, God, and I pray that that this passage would help and that we would listen in our in our hearts and minds to the things that you wrote here in 1 Peter, God, that a man who suffered so much, a man who was persecuted and beaten and mocked for living for you, God, yeah, he said to remain joyful and to remain to remain faithful. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:19.359 And God, I pray that that as we go into the week, God, and and here in Englewood and in 2026, God, that that your passage is that is still true and that when we suffer, we can sit back and we can trust the faithful creator, that he has the whole world in his hands, God. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:35.359 And so I pray that you would please just just help us to remember that that whoever here tonight is going through a dark storm or is going through a fire, God, I pray that you please help them not to not to think about quitting on you or not to doubt your goodness, God, but that they would sit back and they would trust the faithful creator. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:37.440 I pray this in Jesus' name. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:38.720 Amen. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:40.000 Let's have our heads about our eyes.