SPEAKER_02: Our reading is from First Peter chapter four, verses twelve to nineteen.
SPEAKER_02: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
SPEAKER_02: If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
SPEAKER_02: If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
SPEAKER_02: However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
SPEAKER_02: For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household.
SPEAKER_02: And if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
SPEAKER_02: And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
SPEAKER_02: So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.
SPEAKER_02: And so reads God's word.
SPEAKER_00: We've had a good time, I think, looking at one Peter.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you've been encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: We have a wonderful hope that is secure in it uh that we have because of the mercy and grace of God, because of the resurrection, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are ensured a beautiful inheritance that we're looking for.
SPEAKER_00: We've had a taste of that at this weekend, and that's what we've got to look forward to in ways that we cannot imagine.
SPEAKER_00: But what we've seen is the reality is that we are walking through for just a little while various trials, and part of that is suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Suffering in all sorts of different ways, and that is the backdrop to life in a broken world.
SPEAKER_00: Suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It is the backdrop to life in a suffering in a broken world, and that's what we will all face.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you suffer now, you will suffer at some point, whether wherever that may be.
SPEAKER_00: But we're able to walk through that because the living hope that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's spend some time in this.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for the kindness and the grace that you bestow upon us every single day.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for moments like this, special moments.
SPEAKER_00: And we just ask, Lord, that that these will be moments that are points or flags put in the ground in our Christian lives, both as individuals but also collectively together as your people.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask, Lord, that you would from this point remind us again and help us to walk in the reality where we find ourselves for your glory, for the good of your people, and for the sake of those who do not know you.
SPEAKER_00: So help us as we come to this last passage to be in tune with what you have to say to us when we pray these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: A number of months ago I had a meeting with two men from an organization called Open Doors Ministries.
SPEAKER_00: And open doors ministries are a ministry that supports persecuted Christians all around the world.
SPEAKER_00: They're supporting them, financing them, praying for them.
SPEAKER_00: There's all sorts of things that go on that I can't share with you.
SPEAKER_00: But I had a meeting with a guy who I think we were the last meeting that he was going to have before he retired.
SPEAKER_00: He worked for open doors for 30 years.
SPEAKER_00: So what a great privilege.
SPEAKER_00: He's sharing all stories with us and all different things that had occurred.
SPEAKER_00: And I asked him, What's the one story that you'll remember forever?
SPEAKER_00: Do you think?
SPEAKER_00: What's the one that made the biggest impact?
SPEAKER_00: And he said it was the first trip that he ever did 30 years ago with open doors.
SPEAKER_00: He went to Vietnam and he arrived in Vietnam.
SPEAKER_00: And when he arrived, he got there in some unusual ways, but when he arrived, he ended up being put on the back of a motorbike.
SPEAKER_00: He'd never been on a motorbike before.
SPEAKER_00: No helmets, middle of Vietnam.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, he said, he said, and I'm riding through on the back, and I didn't even know who the driver was.
SPEAKER_00: He said, and we're driving through Vietnam, and then we get into the jungle and we're going in at the jungle for four hours.
SPEAKER_00: On the back, four hours.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, we arrived and we stopped.
SPEAKER_00: And before we went any further, because we had to walk some some further, he said, before we went any further, I was told that that night from villages and little towns all around this particular area, all the pastors and leaders of all the churches had been arrested.
SPEAKER_00: And all the congregations had walked for hours and hours and hours.
SPEAKER_00: And they pulled back, he said, they were like with the trees, and he pulled back like this piece of cloth, like a curtain.
SPEAKER_00: And he stepped through these trees, and there were 450 men, women, and children who'd walked for hours just to hear somebody preach the gospel to them.
SPEAKER_00: And he was like, This is amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Of which they turned to him and said, Please will you share God's word?
SPEAKER_00: So four hours was his preparation on a motorbike was his preparation for the sermon.
SPEAKER_00: So he preached, and this is the prayer that they prayed.
SPEAKER_00: God, all the Vietnamese people, God, moving the hearts of your people in England so that they would not be ashamed of you.
SPEAKER_00: That they have the boldness to stand for the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Persecuted Christians praying for the hearts of those of us who have freedom to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, there is something in the midst of persecution that sparks a spirit of unashamedness in the gospel of Jesus that freedom never does.
SPEAKER_00: Never does.
SPEAKER_00: And as you read through the Bible, as you read through church history, the reoccurring pattern that you see is that God's people will be persecuted.
SPEAKER_00: And in this short little passage, I want us to see five things that show us this, that prepare us for this, that help us in the midst of this.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope and I pray encourage us as we step in, knowing that this is going to be our reality at some point.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is this trials are not abnormal.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12 Beloved, dear friends, as the version that was read, 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.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 1, Peter has already told them that the reality of living in a broken world means that they will face all kinds of trials.
SPEAKER_00: Trials that come because of the brokenness and sin of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as Peter speaks about fiery trials in this part of the letter, we don't know the extent of the suffering that the Christians were experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: What I think we do know is that they're not being fed to lines at this point.
SPEAKER_00: But that is going to happen, and they don't know at this point that the experience of suffering is going to ramp up under the hand of Nero in only a few short years.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter is seeking to show to help and encourage them.
SPEAKER_00: Now, folks, even if we don't know the extent at the time, and they didn't know the extent of what was to come, Peter does share with them the reasons why this will happen.
SPEAKER_00: See, the churches are persecuted, and churches will be persecuted because, verse 14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.
SPEAKER_00: They are insulted because of the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, they are going to suffer because they are Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, a follower of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So the reason why people suffer is because of the name of Jesus, and the reason why people suffer and are persecuted is because they are followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter says, verse 12, don't be surprised.
SPEAKER_00: As though this is something strange, as though this is something out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: As you look through the Old Testament, God's people were persecuted, they were rejected.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said on the sermon on the mount, Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
SPEAKER_00: Now the reality is this people don't aren't really bothered by the historical Jesus, are they?
SPEAKER_00: Really?
SPEAKER_00: They're not bothered by him.
SPEAKER_00: There's no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, Jesus, he was a cool fella.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: They might quote some things, they might think, oh yeah, that was nice.
SPEAKER_00: He was meek and he was mind, he was gentle.
SPEAKER_00: If Christians were more like Jesus from their understanding, they're not bothered by the historical Jesus or the good man who is Jesus, but they are offended by the name of Christ and by the call to follow him.
SPEAKER_00: People are offended to hear and be told that they require a Messiah, a savior, that following him is the only route to forgiveness, wholeness, true meaning, true purpose, and being right before God.
SPEAKER_00: They are offended by those who follow him and call them to do the same.
SPEAKER_00: And the evidence of that hatred and persecution is seen in history and it is present today.
SPEAKER_00: In Hebrews 11, we see that lovely roll call of all the people in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: The the writer to to the the Hebrew Christians said, These people showed tremendous faith in all their difficulties, even in the midst of sin and walking in repentance back to God, they showed so much faith.
SPEAKER_00: But towards the end of that chapter, he talks about people who aren't named.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
SPEAKER_00: They were stoned, they were sworn into, they were killed with swords, they were sawn into.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Just just stop and listen.
SPEAKER_00: People living ordinary lives, having their hearts captured by the grace of God, and naming the name of Jesus, walking in faithfulness, telling other people about him, because of the name of Christ, were sorn into.
SPEAKER_00: They went about in skins and sheep goats, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, suffering for Christ may not be yours or our experience now, but it is ramping up, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Like I said in my first talk.
SPEAKER_00: It is ramping up the pressure in schools, workplaces, and it's going to increase.
SPEAKER_00: We have a school over the roads from Cornerstone Church.
SPEAKER_00: It's a school where I was the governor for a number of years, where all our kids have gone.
SPEAKER_00: We have people who are members of our church who are teachers in that school.
SPEAKER_00: And we have a fantastic relationship.
SPEAKER_00: All the kids come in, we're able to do RE lessons with the children, and they're all meant to come in.
SPEAKER_00: And one parent made a complaint about Cornerstone Church, which wasn't even true.
SPEAKER_00: They had a grievance about Cornerstone Church to do what we believe that stands in contrast to what the world says is right.
SPEAKER_00: And overnight they cut relationship with us.
SPEAKER_00: To the point where, to the point where, to the point where that actually we probably had grounds to go in and say that we felt our ch our children were not safe.
SPEAKER_00: Now, by God's grace, that relationship has been reconciled, and they're back in.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But there that's that that's an example of what we experience for some of you at your workplace, and it's going to increase.
SPEAKER_00: It will become, I was chatting to a brother yesterday, and we were talking about just the ramping up of what that could look like.
SPEAKER_00: And he he said he feels that in the corporate world.
SPEAKER_00: He feels that even in the corporate world, there might come a point where he has to sign something, denouncing his faith in some way, or affirming some ideology or philosophy of what it is to be human or life or whatever, and he goes, That's real for me.
SPEAKER_00: But folks, what we've got to remember is we shouldn't be surprised when that happens.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be surprised as though that's an abnormal thing.
SPEAKER_00: All over the Bible it's there, and even Jesus said that it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: Because the name the name of Christ is painful, and to stand for and follow Jesus is a painful thing amongst people who find him an offense.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, trials are not abnormal.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, how are we to react?
SPEAKER_00: And there are five things underneath this.
SPEAKER_00: How do we react to this persecution?
SPEAKER_00: What does he say, verse 13?
SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy, rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, Peter, you're having a laugh.
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings.
SPEAKER_00: When we suffer for the name of Christ, we should recognize the privilege of suffering for the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: See, this is reflected in Peter's own life in Acts 5.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's there, and him, and I can't remember off the top of my head, who is he with?
SPEAKER_00: This one now?
SPEAKER_00: John.
SPEAKER_00: John, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: And they were, and they were, they were um preaching, they get arrested, an angel comes, he releases, they they get released from prison, they're out, and what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: Do they run?
SPEAKER_00: No, they go right back to where they were preaching and they preach again.
SPEAKER_00: And then all the people going, hang on a minute, the people that you arrested are now back out preaching again, and they're completely perplexed.
SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
SPEAKER_00: So they get them, they beat them, and then they say to them, Don't you ever preach the name of Christ again?
SPEAKER_00: What do they do?
SPEAKER_00: They go and preach again.
SPEAKER_00: But they go, and this is what it says, they go and they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We are to rejoice in that we share in the sufferings of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: How do we respond?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, we are not to be ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, think about what it costs for Peter to write this.
SPEAKER_00: Peter.
SPEAKER_00: We are not to be ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who don't know, it was Peter who denied Jesus on three occasions.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord Jesus said, Look, you know, I'll never abandon you.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to him, Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's like, Yeah, as if.
SPEAKER_00: But he did.
SPEAKER_00: He denied the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He was ashamed of the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He was afraid of the suffering that he may have had because of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: See, the call to renounce shame focuses on actions that are shameful.
SPEAKER_00: On actions that are shameful.
SPEAKER_00: And here specifically, Christians act shamefully when we deny Christ before unbelievers.
SPEAKER_00: Or by failing to persevere in obedience, even in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Now, folks, this is a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: This is not just, oh, just try not to be ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: No, don't be ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the Lord Jesus said.
SPEAKER_00: Calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it.
SPEAKER_00: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
SPEAKER_00: For what can a man give in return for his soul?
SPEAKER_00: For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
SPEAKER_00: Do you hear that?
SPEAKER_00: Those who are ashamed of me are guilty of apostasy.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus will be ashamed of them.
SPEAKER_00: An abandonment of the faith.
SPEAKER_00: We are not to be ashamed of Jesus or the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: But number three, under point number two, we are glor we are to glorify God in that name.
SPEAKER_00: So when we suffer for the name of Christ, don't be ashamed of that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be ashamed of him, but glorify God in that name, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: See, they glorify in that they are recognized as Christians, followers of Jesus, which was the name that other people gave to Christians.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't what should we call ourselves?
SPEAKER_00: We'll call ourselves Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Who thought of that?
SPEAKER_00: No, look, they didn't even have a name, they just followed Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It was other people saying these people live their lives following that fella that no one can find the grave of.
SPEAKER_00: And the grave that they do find and they point to it's empty.
SPEAKER_00: But they follow him.
SPEAKER_00: They're Christ followers, they're Christians.
SPEAKER_00: It was a name that was given because their lives have changed so much because of the power of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So what he's saying is, look, you're persecuted for the name of Christ, for following Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be ashamed of that.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, glorifying the fact that people recognize you as somebody that follows Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was in the police and I was these friends in the police, and this was like in 1998, 1999.
SPEAKER_00: So that's a long, long time ago.
SPEAKER_00: Predates most of you.
SPEAKER_00: All right, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is when everything was in black and white.
SPEAKER_00: It literally was in black and white.
SPEAKER_00: We walked around black and white, that's what happened.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember I got into a car and there were these, this, this wonderful couple, two ladies who who lived together, they they were lesbians and they they lived together and they were little, and I got on really well with them.
SPEAKER_00: And I was put alongside one of these ladies for 12 hours in a car.
SPEAKER_00: You talk a lot for 12 hours in a car with people.
SPEAKER_00: And I'd worked with them for a year or so, and they turned around to me and they said, Steve, you don't like us, do you?
SPEAKER_00: I said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: I said, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: I I actually used those words.
SPEAKER_00: No, I love you guys.
SPEAKER_00: And I've been to social gatherings, we've been to parties, we've hung out, we had a laugh, it's all great.
SPEAKER_00: But Steve, you can't like us because you're a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, you've got this totally wrong.
SPEAKER_00: I may not agree with the life choices that you are making, but I want you to know I love you.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that I love you.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you why I love you and what this is and what this means.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the reason I tell you that story is because in that moment I felt suffering.
SPEAKER_00: In that moment, I was like, oh, what do I say here?
SPEAKER_00: In that moment, oh my you've totally misunderstood my situation.
SPEAKER_00: You admit, but what was encouraging was she associated me with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're a follower of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Globy, even when we're persecuted, that the fact that people persecute us because they associate us with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's saying, rejoice and glorify God because people know you are a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: That's the reason you suffer, because you bear his name.
SPEAKER_00: This is the opposite of shame, folks.
SPEAKER_00: It is a thing of honor to bear the name of Jesus, and we should glorify God for that privilege.
SPEAKER_00: We are to commit ourselves in the midst of suffering, verse 19, to a faithful creator.
SPEAKER_00: A faithful creator.
SPEAKER_00: We are to entrust our souls to him who is the creator of all things.
SPEAKER_00: The sovereign God who is in control is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: We saw in chapter one that all kinds of trials test the genuineness of faith.
SPEAKER_00: They refine and purify and result in and will result in the praise of God on the last day.
SPEAKER_00: And we have seen, folks, as we've walked through these trials, as we await the glorious future of an inheritance, that that is kept in heaven for us.
SPEAKER_00: And that according to his great mercy and the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead, God is guarding our faith in him and keeping our inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: So therefore, in the midst of persecution, we can entrust our souls to him.
SPEAKER_00: Because for some of us, we may go to prison for the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, you may even give your lives.
SPEAKER_00: They know of people who have given their lives to the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Your friends, your fellow church members, your family know what it is to see others lose their life for the name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So if that is for us, whatever that may, we can entrust our souls to the great creator.
SPEAKER_00: Because the great creator has shown grace and mercy on us in and through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He has an inheritance for us.
SPEAKER_00: So if my life ends because of this, now I can entrust my soul to him.
SPEAKER_00: And how do we respond?
SPEAKER_00: We respond, verse 9, in continually doing good, even in the midst of persecution, verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: See, being ashamed of Jesus, not entrusting ourselves to him, not accepting the will of God never leads to doing good, but always leads to paralysis, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: When we are ashamed, when we don't entrust ourselves to God, it doesn't lead to us doing good, it leads to us being paralyzed.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to do anything.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm ashamed and I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: Because if I do something, if I say anything, then I'm going to be persecuted.
SPEAKER_00: But in the midst of persecution, if we trust him, we can continue to do good.
SPEAKER_00: You know, hear me when I say this.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you really don't care, you do things.
SPEAKER_00: When you get to a certain age, you don't really care.
SPEAKER_00: To some extent.
SPEAKER_00: Hear me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that you know you get past a certain age, it's like, fine, free game, say what you want.
SPEAKER_00: But you get to a certain point where you're not that bothered, really.
SPEAKER_00: Because you've gone through the insecurities and you've gone through all the issues and you realize that you're not as brilliant as you think you are, and all this sort of stuff, and you're gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: But you get to a point where you don't really care.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you it don't really you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00: It is what it is, you don't really care.
SPEAKER_00: When you know you have a living hope and an inheritance, and you know that what is coming out of your mouth and how you are living is the greatest news that these people that you love need to hear.
SPEAKER_00: You really, on one level, don't really care what happens to you on one level, so therefore you can continue to do good, but if you care too much about what people think about you, it will paralyze you and you won't do good for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You just won't.
SPEAKER_00: So, how do we respond?
SPEAKER_00: We respond in rejoicing, we respond in not being ashamed, we respond in glorifying his name, we respond in committing ourselves to the faithful Creator, and we respond in continuing to do good.
SPEAKER_00: But what should we expect suffering to bring?
SPEAKER_00: Because Peter here talks about this things, and one of those things is blessing in the present time.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14 if you're insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.
SPEAKER_00: You are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is also tied up to what it means to share in the sufferings of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: See, the spirit that Peter is talking about is the same spirit that Isaiah wrote about in Isaiah 11, 1 to 2, when he talks about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus, when he was quoting from Isaiah in the synagogue, says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor, to liberate the captives, to make the blind see and the deaf hear and the lame run.
SPEAKER_00: That same spirit that Isaiah talks about, that same spirit that the Lord Jesus said was upon him is the same spirit that we also have.
SPEAKER_00: We are blessed because the spirit of God rests on us and is in us.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, through faith we are united to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We're united to him because of the spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: We know that humanity in all its fullness is in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we know that when the new creation comes, we're gonna have new bodies.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You're all gonna be ginger and have that bodies.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm but we're all gonna have new bodies, fellas.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to let you know you're not gonna be like this with a six-pack because the amount of self-worship that you need to get like that, you need to justify the fact that I'm not like a but you you we unite humanity, we're united with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There is a present blessing in the fact that we are filled with the spirit of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We have been named, we're marked by him, we're united to him, we're united in his death, we're united in his resurrection, we are united in that we bear his name, and we're united in that when we suffer, we share in his sufferings.
SPEAKER_00: The blessing is that we are suffering because we are united to him, but also because our union with him, we are able to walk through these sufferings.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because he promised never to leave us nor forsake us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00: When I hear of stories of Christian suffering for Christ, I find myself saying, I don't think I could bear that or do that.
SPEAKER_00: Please, Lord, not us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord, that I was born in this country.
SPEAKER_00: I find myself doing that.
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is this, in our own strength, we couldn't.
SPEAKER_00: But one of the present blessings that we receive in the midst of suffering for the name of Christ is that we are united to him, which means we are not suffering alone, that he is with us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not forget that we are suffering because the world hates him first.
SPEAKER_00: See, Christ doesn't share in our sufferings, we share in his.
SPEAKER_00: The blessing is we are recognized as his, and therefore we suffer for his name.
SPEAKER_00: But because he is the with us, because the spirit of glory and God rests upon us, we can endure it.
SPEAKER_00: Like yesterday, I thought I did really well modeling a Stephen in the picture.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you remember.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna take up a new career.
SPEAKER_00: Live, live photos, biblical characters.
SPEAKER_00: I could do any of them, I could do Abraham because this is gonna be the new creation body, and I could do Adam.
SPEAKER_00: And then we can go into chimpanzee, and I could be split.
SPEAKER_00: I digress, I demagress only sorry.
SPEAKER_00: It's the last talk I'm telling.
SPEAKER_00: But in all seriousness, Stephen was killed, he was stoned.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what's really interesting?
SPEAKER_00: What's really interesting when you read in Acts 7, Stephen, whilst he is being killed, basically says, and this is my paraphrase, I see Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is there with me.
SPEAKER_00: Even in the midst of him losing his life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's interesting, folks, this is talking about persecution for namesake, but I want you to know this Jesus is with you in all forms of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: If you're suffering in your marriage and you feel on your own, Jesus is with you if you're struggling with loneliness, Jesus is with you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're struggling, even in the midst of fighting sin and the temptation, Jesus understands because he was tempted in every way like us, yet he did not sin.
SPEAKER_00: He knows the fight.
SPEAKER_00: He's with us.
SPEAKER_00: We have a Christ because of the Spirit of God that is upon us, means that He is with us, therefore we can get through.
SPEAKER_00: The blessings of suffering is that, verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: There is a future glory.
SPEAKER_00: A future glory.
SPEAKER_00: The refinement of trials and sufferings are preparing us for the glorious inheritance that awaits.
SPEAKER_00: And the story of the New Testament, the story of the gospel is glory through suffering.
SPEAKER_00: There was a death before there was a resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And it's this big picture that we need to have in mind when we suffer for Christ's sake.
SPEAKER_00: We need to have an eternal perspective because what awaits us is glorious, the future glory where Jesus will proclaim to his Father that we are good and faithful servants.
SPEAKER_00: He will not be ashamed of us.
SPEAKER_00: This is the inheritance and the glory that is being kept for us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that day, folks, when you stand before Jesus, the Father, and Jesus steps in and goes, This one's with me.
SPEAKER_00: Well done.
SPEAKER_00: Good and faithful servants.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, what a day.
SPEAKER_00: These trials are only for a little while.
SPEAKER_00: And it is that that we rejoice in, knowing that we will experience the joy of being with him in all his fullness.
SPEAKER_00: Number four, the suffering that we should seek to avoid, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: He says, look, we don't want to suffer because of being a murderer or evildoer or a meddler.
SPEAKER_00: See, we need to know that this glory and blessing is conditioned upon truly suffering as Christians.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to know that not all suffering qualifies you for God's blessing and joy because we can also suffer because of sin.
SPEAKER_00: We can also suffer the consequences of our own sin.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter is saying, see the distinction?
SPEAKER_00: Suffer for Christ's sake and rejoice in that, but don't suffer because of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Gives the examples of a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, which means wrongdoer.
SPEAKER_00: But he also says meddler.
SPEAKER_00: Nowhere else in the Bible is that word used.
SPEAKER_00: And it means this getting involved inappropriately in other people's affairs.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be a busybody.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, don't be a busybody.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be acting without tact and without graces.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be a pain in the backside.
SPEAKER_00: And think that the suffering you are experiencing because you are is because you are a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's because you're being a divvy.
SPEAKER_00: I worked in the police.
SPEAKER_00: I was in the when I was in the police for six years.
SPEAKER_00: There was no police uh Christian in my station.
SPEAKER_00: But there was a Christian that I knew quite well.
SPEAKER_00: He went to a different church quite well.
SPEAKER_00: He was older than me.
SPEAKER_00: And he did not help my witness.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was a busy bodily.
SPEAKER_00: He was a meddler.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, let me try and encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: We want to stand for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We want to speak truth.
SPEAKER_00: We want to proclaim truth.
SPEAKER_00: We want to give a defense for the hope that is within us.
SPEAKER_00: But we want to do that with gentleness and winsome, and we want to be loving.
SPEAKER_00: We move towards people and we want to love them because they bear the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then we reverse engineer in light of that.
SPEAKER_00: But we love people.
SPEAKER_00: We always start from a position of love.
SPEAKER_00: And let us not be surprised when non-Christian people act in non-Christian ways.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're coming in like this from our holy tower, going boo, boo, boo, boo, boo, that's not going to help anything.
SPEAKER_00: And then you suffer for that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm suffering for the cause of it.
SPEAKER_00: No, you're suffering because you're an idiot.
SPEAKER_00: But it's true.
SPEAKER_00: You can graciously, lovingly, and kindly represent Christ without being a meddler.
SPEAKER_00: Now you're going to have to make calls.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to make decisions.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to decide whether or not you go to that social gathering or that social gathering.
SPEAKER_00: And you will suffer because some of the reasons why you don't is because you're a Christian, but you do it graciously and lovingly.
SPEAKER_00: And we do not cast judgment upon those who do know nothing of what it is to.
SPEAKER_00: They're blind.
SPEAKER_00: They're dead.
SPEAKER_00: It's our responsibility to show the wonder of what it is, the better story.
SPEAKER_00: Don't suffer for being a loser.
SPEAKER_00: But it's also don't suffer for being lazy in your workplace.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be a lazy Christian is that's an oxymoron.
SPEAKER_00: That's an oxymoron.
SPEAKER_00: We give our whole lives as living sacrifices.
SPEAKER_00: So at work, don't suffer because you're you're lazy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying you have to be the best, but refuse to be average in your effort.
SPEAKER_00: Because that makes a difference.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, number five.
SPEAKER_00: It's really interesting because obviously our suffering is a form of God testing us.
SPEAKER_00: There's a word of judgment that's uses here.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter says, if judgment starts with the Christians, what becomes of those who aren't?
SPEAKER_00: See, let's begin with the issue of God's judgment on Christians, on the household of God, verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: Let me clarify that Jesus has taken and paid the judgment of God for our sin on the cross, and that has been done.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a Christian, you do not sin under the judgment and the wrath of God, the just wrath of God, the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_00: The judgment that is spoken about here is a judgment of refinement, trials, the tests, genuineness of faith.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter is making a reference to Malachi 3, where God said through the prophets, and it's my summary, for the Lord will come to his temple and refine and purify his people, and then the offerings of his people will be acceptable.
SPEAKER_00: God's going to come and refine his people, and then they will live.
SPEAKER_00: Live in those terms.
SPEAKER_00: See, the judgment that begins with God's people purifies those who truly belong to God.
SPEAKER_00: And that purification comes through suffering, making believers morally fit for their inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, folks, he spares us nothing to get out of us what he hates and to get us ready for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He gets us ready.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the Bible tells us that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another, to the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We need the reason why we need to die physically is because our bodies couldn't cope with the glory of the new creation.
SPEAKER_00: It just couldn't.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we need to go into the ground to die to then grow again into something that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: That's why there will be a resurrection of the bodies when Jesus returns.
SPEAKER_00: Boom, it's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_00: Can't wait.
SPEAKER_00: And you'll feel that more when you get over 40.
SPEAKER_00: You can't wait.
SPEAKER_00: So if God begins with the household of faith, his people, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel, verse 17?
SPEAKER_00: Those who are ungodly, those who are, verse 18, sinners.
SPEAKER_00: Those who don't bear the name of Christ, those who are not Christians, those who don't have faith in Christ, that He has taken the ultimate judgment of God from you.
SPEAKER_00: What will happen to those people?
SPEAKER_00: See, 2 Thessalonians says this this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also are suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.
SPEAKER_00: When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming flower, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.
SPEAKER_00: Away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
SPEAKER_00: When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marvelled, and among all who have believed because of our testimony to you was believed.
SPEAKER_00: To this end, we also pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfil every resolve for good and every good work of faith by his power, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and in you and in him, according to his grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica is saying, what becomes of those who reject Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that refines, but rather something that destroys.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal destruction.
SPEAKER_00: Away from his presence, his grace and his might.
SPEAKER_00: Sitting under the judgment of God for all eternity without the cross there.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you are all Christians.
SPEAKER_00: But if you have not put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you face the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to encourage you, please, the people who've brought you, the people who are praying for you, the people who genuinely want you to hear this, they want you to hear this because they love Jesus and they love you.
SPEAKER_00: And they want you to know this.
SPEAKER_00: But they want you to hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_00: They don't want you to hear the words, depart from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: And you may be putting this off, and oh, the next time, or when I've finished the degree, or when I've got this sorted.
SPEAKER_00: The reality is this, and we've been speaking about this a lot, we don't know when that will end will happen.
SPEAKER_00: I offered you complete forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_00: I offered to create a new heart within.
SPEAKER_00: I offered you Jesus as my very own son, but you would not believe in the works he had done.
SPEAKER_00: This is my offer, this is my plea.
SPEAKER_00: This is my call saying, Come unto me.
SPEAKER_00: But you were too too busy and you hadn't the time, and so you refused that great offer of mine.
SPEAKER_00: Life, it is short, you know it so well.
SPEAKER_00: I've told you of death, of judgment, of hell, but now you are here.
SPEAKER_00: You've met your last date.
SPEAKER_00: My offer is gone.
SPEAKER_00: And now it's too late.
SPEAKER_00: Please turn to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Not only will you have forgiveness for your past, you will have peace in the present, and you'll have a hope for the future.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, suffering for Jesus will come.
SPEAKER_00: Let us not be ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: Let us rejoice that we bear his name.
SPEAKER_00: Let us suffer knowing Christ is with us, and let us live life as his people in the midst of a hostile world in a way that presents Jesus as the treasure he is.
SPEAKER_00: And the promise is this 1 Peter 5, verses 6 to 11.
SPEAKER_00: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_00: Be sober-minded, be watchful.
SPEAKER_00: Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
SPEAKER_00: Resist him.
SPEAKER_00: Firm in your faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
SPEAKER_00: 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, listen to this, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
SPEAKER_00: To him be the dominion forever.
SPEAKER_00: Endeavor.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, I am happy that my days are in the hands of God.
SPEAKER_00: My days are in his hands, everyone by him is planned.
SPEAKER_00: So why should I fear when I know he is near?
SPEAKER_00: All my days are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Days of joy and light.
SPEAKER_00: Days of peace and might.
SPEAKER_00: Days when you're strong and your heart filled with song.
SPEAKER_00: All those days are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Days when your eyes flood with tears.
SPEAKER_00: Days when your heart pounds with fear.
SPEAKER_00: Days when you sigh, days when you want to die.
SPEAKER_00: All those days are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Days of coldness and sin.
SPEAKER_00: Days when you walk out on him.
SPEAKER_00: Days when you run.
SPEAKER_00: Days when you think you're done.
SPEAKER_00: All those days are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Days which are now a memory.
SPEAKER_00: Days to come filled with uncertainty.
SPEAKER_00: Days good or bad today to come or what we've had, all those days are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: My child, won't you understand?
SPEAKER_00: Won't you rest in my sovereign plan and can storm or shine today?
SPEAKER_00: Won't you hear my spirit say, All your days are in my hands?
SPEAKER_00: When we move from these shadow lands to the home which our Lord has planned, He will banish all our fears, he will wipe away our tears, and we'll rest in the glory land.
SPEAKER_00: So my Lord, my God, my King, my Jesus, my way, my everything, I commit to you my ways, all my moments, all my days.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad they're in your hands.
SPEAKER_03: If you found this helpful or want to know more about City Church Dublin, please visit our website found in the link below.