I like that song. Thank you, Ruth. Let's begin today in the book of 1st Peter. 1st Peter will begin in chapter 4 and begin reading in verse 12 of chapter 4. 1st Peter chapter 4 verse 12.

A little background on this, Peter is writing this book to saints that are suffering persecution. And he reminds them in various places throughout this book that they're suffering that persecution for the Lord's sake. But he also reminds him that there's no suffering that they're going to go through that comes close to what our Lord suffered for their sake.

And starting in verse 12 of chapter 4, it says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 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. Yet, if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began at us, what shall the end of them be that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doing as unto a faithful creator.

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed."

Now as I said, Peter is writing to saints that are suffering persecution. And he reminds him in chapter 1, in verse 7, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Now the verse I want to concentrate on is verse 1 of chapter 5, where Peter declares that he was an eyewitness to the things that our Lord suffered on behalf of his elect people. And as I read that, I thought of the things that I've seen in my lifetime, and you, I'm sure, sometimes think on the things that you have seen. But none of the things that any of us have seen come close to those things that Peter says he was a witness to.

Now before the Lord called Simon Peter and the rest of his disciples, I would assume that Peter led a pretty mundane life as a fisherman. Never ever in his wildest imaginations did he ever imagine that he would do the things that he did and see the things that he did as he traveled with the Lord Jesus Christ and after even Christ was crucified.

And I thought about the things, all the things that Peter was witness to. He was with the Savior nearly every day for three years, three and a half years. He saw the Lord in good times and bad. He saw how he dealt with the self-righteous hypocrites of his day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. He saw how he tenderly dealt with sinners that he encountered. And he saw the Lord heal those that were consumed with leprosy with merely a touch of his hand. Miraculous things. But he also saw the Lord on a rampage in the temple when he made a whip and went in and threw over the money changers tables, drove out those that sold oxen and doves were told, And every time I read that account, I try to picture in my mind how the Lord must have looked. He apparently had to have looked like a madman. And I also find it interesting that not a single word in any of the four Gospels indicate that anyone tried to stop him or challenge him. And there is no other story in any of the Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ doing anything similar to this. Just this one account. And I'm guessing that as he was doing these things, he didn't look similar to that one who was described as meek and lowly in heart.

And Peter also saw the Lord heal untold numbers of the sick and free from terrible bondage those that were possessed of demons. That man of Gadara, that demon-possessed man. Peter saw that man who used to attack anyone that came near, running to the Lord Jesus Christ and bowing at his feet. Peter saw as the Lord cast out a legion of demons out of this man, how they went into a herd of swine, and those swine ran into the sea and were drowned. He saw the Lord feed thousands with just a few loaves and fishes. And he saw the Lord Jesus Christ walking on the Sea of Galilee, and he saw he himself walking on those waves until he took his eyes off the Lord and began to sink. No other man in the history of this world ever did such a thing except Peter and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter watched with his own two eyes. He witnessed the Lord Jesus Christ being transfigured on that mount. And the scriptures tell us his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was as white as the light according to Matthew 17 2. Peter saw Moses and Elijah there speaking with the Lord. Now those men it says spoke with the Lord. I've often wondered what that conversation between those three men consisted of. We do know from Luke 9 31 that one thing they spoke of was the deceased that he should accomplish at Jerusalem, speaking of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now keep in mind that Moses and Elijah had been in heaven for a long time. They had seen the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory seated on the throne of ease in heaven. So I'm sure they weren't nearly as impressed as what took place on that Mount of Transfiguration as Peter and the two sons of Zebedee.

But sadly, Peter also saw our Lord being arrested and taken away by that mob in the garden of Gethsemane. And he saw the God-man as the Lord looked at him after he had denied him, denied even knowing him. And he saw him after he had been beaten by those Roman soldiers and his face was almost unrecognizable.

That visage that Isaiah tells us was so marred more than any man, and it's formed more than the son of man. I tried to picture this in my mind. There are a bunch of people standing around. The desert tends to get pretty cold in the nighttime. And everyone was standing around including peter warring warming himself by the fires With the enemies of everything he stood for And there's a commotion over the side that peter turns and sees some roman soldiers coming out And they're leading a man That is so disfigured. He's not even recognizable, but peter knows That this is his lord and savior Peter knows this is the one that he betrayed and denied knowing just a short while before.

Peter was witness to the agonies that our Lord suffered after he was scourged and nearly beaten to death by his enemies. But worst of all, the thing that he was eyewitness to was the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ as he hung on that Roman tree, suffering an unimaginably excruciating death.

But he was also allowed to see the risen Christ several times were told in the scriptures. Probably the most significant time was on the road to Emmaus when the Lord expounded to he and Cleophas all the things concerning himself in the Old Testament scriptures. And of course he was among those that watched the Lord ascend into heaven. After which he saw the wondrous things that happened on the day of Pentecost described in the book of Acts.

Peter was witness to many, many, many amazing things. In chapter 3 of Acts, we read the account of how he saw that man sitting at alms or begging for alms at the gate of the temple called Beautiful. That same man who he took by the hand and said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He watched as that man, who had never taken a step in his life, leaped to his feet. Peter was privileged to witness so many things that no other man in history has ever witnessed.

I read a couple articles, I wondered how many people have ever lived on the earth and according to scientists, I don't know how they get this, don't ask me, between 100 billion and 117 billion. Go with a simple number of 100 billion people have lived on this earth. We use the term sometimes he's one in a million. But concerning Peter, he was one in a hundred billion because no other human being has ever done or seen everything that Peter was witness to.

But here in 1 Peter, he is writing to the saints that are scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. And he's writing to them about the sufferings that they are enduring for the cause of Christ and him crucified. And he reminds them that he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. That is the title of this message, A Witness of the Sufferings of Christ. But he also encourages them by reminding them that he and each of them are also partakers of the glory that shall be revealed.

But of all of the things that Peter witnessed as he traveled with the Lord, the one that made the most significant impression on his mind The one that was forever burned into his memory was being a witness to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ as he hung on that Roman cross and paid for the sins of his elect people.

Think about that for a moment. We're privileged week after week to hear of the unspeakable gift of blood-bought salvation and we rejoice in it as the scriptures tell us with joy unspeakable. And we're sometimes moved to tears as we hear of the sufferings, the magnitude of the sufferings of Christ on our behalf.

But Peter was an actual eyewitness to those sufferings. And as he stood there beholding the agonies of the Savior, his heart had to have experienced the sorrow that few men will ever know. Because his was a deeper heartbreak than we will ever know in this life. And he loved that man hanging on that tree more than he had loved any human being in his entire life.

But he was also painfully aware that just a few hours before he had cursed and denied even knowing this man. And if it were possible, For a human being to die from a broken heart of regret, surely Peter would have died that day.

I tried to imagine this. You think about your spouse, your children, your grandchildren maybe. And I thought, suppose I had given up One of my children or grandchildren who I loved dearly in order to save me from being arrested and put to death. And I tried to imagine the unbearable agony that one would suffer if you were made to watch that one who you claim to love but yet betrayed being tortured for hours on end. The guilt of heart would be crushing beyond description.

But what Peter went through was worse than that. He didn't just forsake a loved one. He forsook and denied the very God of glory, and he knew it. And very likely, adding to his agony of heart were the words that he heard the Lord Jesus speak in Matthew 10, 33. The Lord said this and Peter, I'm sure this played over and over again in his mind. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven. Peter probably felt that he was now cast away from the saving grace and mercy of God, having publicly denied his Lord.

But some would say, well, he had the assurance that he was a disciple of the Lord. Keep in mind, so was Judas. But according to the account that we find in John 21 of the Lord feeding his disciples on the seashore when he appeared to them the third time, Peter was assured of being one of God's chosen, one of his dear children. When the Lord asked him three times, lovest thou me? After which he instructed Peter, feed my sheep. Continue to preach the things that you have seen and heard of me. And we read of how Peter was grieved when the Lord asked him three times, lovest thou me? But I think the Lord did that. three times because Peter had denied him three times as well.

But Peter wrote these books of 1st and 2nd Peter many years after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And these saints who Peter was writing to knew that all things that came to pass, including the persecution they were suffering, come to pass because of the will and the express purpose of God Almighty And that included the sufferings of Christ that Peter was witness to. He told the Jews as much in Acts chapter 2 when he said this, He men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Peter tells them you did this because God had purposed it to come to pass, that it must come to pass to redeem his chosen people. But he also reminds them that they had no excuse for killing the Lord of glory.

So I want to ask five questions today concerning the suffering that Peter was witness to, and I'll be brief. Why, when, and where did these sufferings take place that Peter says he was witness to? What were those sufferings, and for whom did they take place? First, one would have to ask, why did Christ have to suffer these agonies? What was the purpose of God and his suffering? The scriptures make it plain that the Lord Jesus Christ was holy, harmless, and undefiled. That he was the spotless Lamb of God. He did no sin. He knew no sin. That every second of his life was lived in strict accordance and obedience to the holy law of God. Yet he was made to suffer unspeakable agonies under the heavy hand of God the Father. Made to cry out, my God, my God. Why is thou forsaken me? But why did this have to happen? What was the purpose of God in causing, not allowing, but causing these things to come to pass?

The simple answer is found in this same book of 1 Peter, in chapter 3, verse 18. It says, For Christ hath also suffered, once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. And this is why, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. This is the reason that he was made to suffer, because it was the only way that he might bring us to God. If there had been any other way for this to be accomplished, surely God the Father would not have sent his Son to this world to die. And we're told that he is who is described in this verse as the just was made to suffer for those who are called the unjust.

But who are these people, and why are they described this way, the unjust? Who are these that are brought to Christ, are brought to God by the death of Christ? They are described in Romans 5, verse 6, as the ungodly. And two verses later, they're called sinners. And two verses after that, they are called the enemies of God. But who are they? We'll look at that in just a few minutes.

So next we need to ask, when did these sufferings that Peter says he was a witness to take place? Now we need to remember that the sufferings of Jesus Christ didn't just happen after his arrest in the garden. We must remember that this man who was born of Mary was God Almighty. Immanuel, the scriptures say, God with us. Every attribute of God that we read of in the scriptures is an attribute of Jesus Christ. He was, indeed, God.

We're told that our God is a pure eyes to look upon sin, yet the Savior's entire life was lived among men who were nothing and did nothing but sin. Now, you think about that. If Lot, who was just merely a wretched sinner, he was grieved by what he saw in the city of Sodom. Just imagine how our Lord was grieved by the things he witnessed day in and day out as he walked this earth. I'm sure many times he listened as men cursed and took his very name in vain. He saw every kind of rebellion and sin practiced by evil men taking place right before his eyes. Those eyes that the scripture tell us are too pure than to even look upon sin.

And is it any wonder, knowing that, that he is described in the scriptures as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. When we say that one is acquainted with something, It means being familiar with and having personal knowledge of something, having seen and experienced it. I thought about this for a long time and I wonder if our blessed Lord ever once, ever once had occasion to laugh or even smile. You think about that. I certainly don't find any record of him laughing or smiling anywhere in the four gospels. He was indeed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we must remember that Peter only knew the Lord the last three and a half years of his life. There were many sufferings that our Lord went through that Peter was not a witness to. He may or may not have known of our Lord fasting in the wilderness for 40 days. And I try to picture in my mind's eye what a man would look like after going without food for 40 days. He had to have lost a significant amount of weight. He must have looked, as we say, like death warmed over. Because even though he was God, he was still a man. He suffered and experienced anything that any other human being would experience going through what he went through. And when he was in this physically weakened state, Satan came to him knowing that he would never again catch him in such a weakened state, such a fragile condition, and attempted to get our Lord Jesus Christ to sin against the Father, knowing that if he could, our Lord would no longer be that perfect sacrifice to be offered for sin.

But each temptation was met with the Lord of God. Christ told Satan three times, it is written, Using the Holy Word of God, which you can bet Satan knew by heart, to repel all and any attempts by Satan to entice the Lord to sin.

These temptations that our Lord suffered at the hand of Satan had a specific purpose. And that purpose is described in Hebrews 2.18. For in that he himself suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. He knows what we go through in temptation. We know this from Hebrews 4 verses 15 and 16. It says, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points Tempted as like as we are yet without sin And we're encouraged it says let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace That we obtain may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need in time of temptation

So the next question we ask is where? Did these sufferings take place? We just looked at the fact that the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ took place throughout his life. But the sufferings that Peter is specifically referring to in our text here in verse 1 of chapter 5 is what took place after the arrest of our Savior in the garden when his disciples all fled and left him to suffer both the wrath of man And worst of all, the wrath of God. The Holy Son of God was made to be a sacrifice upon an altar, not made of stone, but made of wood, in the shape of a wooden cross. It was on a hill outside of Jerusalem, called in the Hebrew tongue, Golgotha. Hebrews 13 12 wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his blood suffered Without the gate suffered outside the city of Jerusalem There is a spot outside that city No one knows where it is, but there is a specific spot Where the Lord Jesus Christ Was made a sacrifice for the sins of his people where he was brutally murdered by the Roman authorities on the behest of the hypocritical Jewish leaders of his day.

So then the next thing we ask is what were the sufferings of Christ that Peter here says he was witness to? Now they began that faithful night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Turn with me over to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26 What were these sufferings of Christ beginning in verse 36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples I Set ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took Peter with him and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O father, O my father, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup must not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying, The same words.

And Luke tells us that an angel from heaven appeared unto our Lord and strengthened him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That was the beginning of the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of his people. His bloodletting did not begin with the scourging of the Romans. His bloodshedding began here in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And the four Gospels give us accounts of what was done to the Lord by these wicked men after his arrest. When Peter, or I should say we read how when Pilate sent him away to be scourged, I've spoken of this in previous message, how that this scourging was done with a whip of multiple braided leather strips into which were woven lead balls and pieces of jagged bone and metal. And with each blow, these balls caused deep, deep bruising and the jagged pieces of metal and bone tore the victim's back as a plow would turn the soil. And many victims died of this scourging before they could ever be crucified, died of shock and blood loss.

And then after this scourging, we read in Mark's gospel how that the soldiers came together, the whole band, in a hall called Praetorium. Now a band of Roman soldiers consisted of a hundred men, battle-hardened, cruel men who were completely unmoved by the brutalities that they were bestowing upon this what they saw as another worthless Jew. These Romans hated being stationed in Palestine, and they hated the Jews that lived there. This was a chance for them to take out some of that hatred, and they did with gusto. They felt not a shred of guilt over what they were doing to this man. And probably most of these hunters took turns in beating and mocking the Lord Jesus Christ until his face was a bloody mass of unrecognizable flesh.

They put a robe on him, a purple robe, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. They fashioned a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and took a reed and beat those thorns into his head. But these things, as horrible as they are, were merely the wrath of man. Many other condemned criminals were subject to similar tortures. But then our Lord was led away to be crucified.

Many times, the victim of crucifixion was only nailed to the cross member of that cross. And with a rope and pulley, they were dragged up the vertical member that was already planted in the ground, and you can just imagine the agonies of that back that's already shredded, being dragged up that wooden cross, causing even more agony to that victim. But as horrible as these things are that were done to our Lord, they paled in comparison to what came next.

When our blessed Lord was made to suffer, to endure the wrath that was due the sins of his people. When he became that lamb slain from the foundation of the world, which is declared in Revelation 13, 8, when an eternity's worth of suffering, which we would have suffered, was poured out on our blessed Lord, that cup that he was made to drink, that cup of God's wrath that he prayed to be taken away from him. He was made to endure a horror that cannot be imagined by a human mind. When we read of all the cruel tortures that were done throughout the ages by wicked men, all of those combined cannot begin to compare to what our Lord suffered when he hung between heaven and earth.

Now, earlier I asked the question, who was it then for whom the Lord Jesus Christ endured these sufferings? And we know it was for those that are called his elect, those chosen by God in the far, far ages of eternity past to be the objects of his mercy and his grace, those to whom he would give the gift of faith that would enable them to believe on the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Those who were the offscouring of society, the losers, who had nothing going for them, who were not the least bit desirable to anyone. Now one would think that if the God of this universe had his choice among the human race of those that he chose to be his, that he would pick The smart ones, the moral ones, the upright ones, those who had something to offer, something, as we say, to bring to the table.

But our God reminds us in Isaiah 55, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Turn over with me to First Corinthians. This is a familiar text. First Corinthians chapter one starting in verse twenty six. This describes those chosen of God in eternity. First Corinthians one twenty six for you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty, and the base things of the world and things which are despised. hath God chosen, yea, the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

Our God tells us that he is a jealous God who will not share his glory with another. Therefore he chooses those who are the worst of the worst to be his children, those who are taught to have no confidence in the flesh. And the most marvelous thing of all is that our Lord Jesus Christ is happy and willing to claim this bunch of worthless no-goods. to himself, to claim them to be trophies of his grace, to one day proclaim before all the universe, behold, I and the children which the Lord has given me, to do what is described in Jude the 24th verse, to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

those for whom he suffered, those things which Peter tells us he was a witness to, and Hebrews 12 gives us the reason why he was willing to do this, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. He willingly suffered those things that Peter witnessed, Because it was the only way to redeem those who were his from the foundation of the world, the only way to redeem them from the wrath due to their sins.

Those who were healed by his stripes, those for whose transgressions he was wounded, those who shall be justified by his knowledge, those for whom he made intercession. And let us ever hold him in the highest adoration for the things that he has suffered in order to bring us to God. Those things that Peter was a witness to.