I invite you this morning to
turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 4. I want to look at three verses
here in chapter 4, verses 12, 13, and 14. The lesson this morning is about
being partakers of the sufferings of Christ. Now, let's read all
three verses and then I'll get into the lesson. 1 Peter 4, verse
12. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some
strange thing has happened to you. But rejoice inasmuch as
ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you 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's evil spoken
of, but on your part, he's glorified. Now, what he's telling us here
is when we suffer, and I think the gist of this is about suffering
persecution. I don't think he's just talking
about sufferings in general, although it has some application
to that. But I think here he's talking
about sufferings of persecution and severe trial. as these sufferings
are. And we're not to be shocked when
sufferings and persecution come our way. Believers have been
made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
and light. They've been delivered, the scripture
says, from the powers of darkness. We don't walk around blind anymore. Paul said, That the Gentiles
who worshipped idols, who were out there with no gospel and
out there with no word, no word of God, no anything, just out
there on their own in the world, they walked after the vanity
or in the vanity of their own minds. That's how they walked. That's how they existed in this
world. But not believers. Believers
have been translated from that. They've been called out of darkness
into his marvelous light. They're not blind. They're not
blind. They've been delivered from the
power of darkness. And they know something of that
darkness and something of the deceit of this present evil world. It's utterly impossible for a
man to become a Christian and be ignorant of that darkness
because that process called him out of that darkness. He has
whatever his prior lifetime is, he has that whole lifetime of
experience in that darkness. And he can talk about darkness
once he sees the light. So they know something of the
darkness and deceit of this present evil world and they know something
of the enmity of the carnal mind. The mind, the natural mind of
man is enmity against God. It didn't say it was ademnity,
although it is. But it said it is enmity. It's
hostility toward God. Hostile. But it is especially of His Word
and of His Gospel. And then they know something
of the depravity of human nature. having nothing in it of God. Nothing in it. You know, today's
religion, if you listen to them on the TV or you listen to men
who attend their assemblies and they give you somewhat of a testimony
of what they preach there and what they believe there, and
you begin to listen to these people, you understand that they know
nothing about the depravity of man. They don't know of his emptiness. They all believe that he has
potential in him, life in him. He has something in him. And
God takes that something and begins to work from there. But
the truth of the matter is there's nothing there. Emptiness. Emptiness. So they know something
of the depravity of human nature, having nothing of God in it except
the witness of conscience. And that witness is soon, the
scripture describes it as being seared with a hot iron. You take
an old steak and you throw it in a hot skillet and it just
sears it, you know, and it's brown and hard and crunchy on
one side. And that's what happens to man's
conscience. goes against that conscience
and against that conscience time and again, and pretty soon it's
seared like with a hot iron. And it's not touched anymore.
It's not touched. He just sins. Conscience doesn't
prick him at all anymore. He just goes on any way he wants
to go. He's not affected. You can preach
to him. He's not affected. You can talk
to him. He's not affected. A mother's
love won't even affect him. Nothing affects him. seared as
with a hot iron. And then they know something
of man's hatred for the light. Our Lord said, this is the condemnation. Now, the truth of the matter
is that by the offense of one, the whole world came under the
condemnation of God. But men are mixed up. They don't
understand. They're deceived as to what this
condemnation is. And our Lord sets us straight
over in John chapter 3. He said this is the condemnation,
that light come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light. Man hates the light. When he
comes to the light, when he's exposed to the light, so is his
evil deeds. So is his depraved nature. That's when it's revealed. And
so the believer knows something of man's hatred for the light.
And his knowledge of these things alone ought to be sufficient
to help him understand this world's persecution of those that believe. because he used to be the same. Isn't that what Paul said over
in Galatians when he talked to him? He said, at one time I persecuted
the church of God. I did it in ignorance, but I
did it. I persecuted the church of God. Now let me ask you something. Do you think it's strange that
those who once drew close to you Avoid you now. That seems strange to you. Do
you think it's strange that other religions don't seek your fellowship? Do you think it's strange that
things are taken from you in this world, that people take
advantage of you? Do you think it's strange that
people despise you and talk about you and spread rumors about you?
I told you that little story when I first moved down here.
I went down to a furniture store and my wife and I were looking
around. I don't even remember now what
we were looking for. lady came out and introduced herself and
asked if she could help us. And we said, yeah. And we told
her what we was looking for. And she said, I don't, you haven't
been in here before. I said, no, ma'am, we hadn't.
And she said, well, what brings you down here to this part of
the country? And I said, well, I came down
here to pastor a church. And she said, oh, you pastor
such and such church over there. I guess they were looking for
a pastor at the time. And I said, no, just down the road a little
bit. She said, Grace Baptist? I said, uh-huh. She said, oh. Turned around, went back in her
office, and shut the door. Left us standing out in the showroom.
Do you think that's strange? Paul said, Peter said, don't
think it's strange that these things come upon you. Why do
you think it's strange? Old John Brown, a Presbyterian
minister back in the 1700s, said this. He said, the spirit of
Christianity is so opposed to the spirit of this world that
the wonder is not that there's been so much persecution, but
that there had not been more. Huh? Isn't that what Peter's
saying? Don't think this strange. Don't
think this strange. And then he went on to say, but
for the restraining hand of God and the working of his goodwill
toward us, this world and its self-imposed prince and
God would long ago have exterminated the church. Would have done away
with it altogether. And the more the children of
God walk like their Savior, the more unlike this world they become,
and in so doing, they become the objects of this world's wrath
and enmity against God. These trials of which the apostles
here are talking about are called fiery trials. Now, we're tried
in a lot of different ways. We're tried every day by small
things and things that we encounter every day of our life. We're
tried with these things. But here, Peter's not talking
about those things. He's talking about fiery trials. He's talking about severe trials,
trials of great significance, trials that cause loss and even
suffering. Now let me tell you a couple
things about these trials. First of all, they're appointed
of God. When we're tried, it's not a
thing of chance. It just didn't happen. They're
appointed of God. Nothing can touch you or come
your way or have anything to do to you without God's permission. He said not even the sparrow
over here on the fence post, that old bird that nobody cares
for, he can't even fall to the ground without your father. How
much more does your father, he said, does he care for sparrows
or did he do that for your assurance and for your comfort? So these
trials, they're appointed of God. Listen to this. In Philippians
1, verse 29, it says this, Unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for
His sake. That was given to you. Given
to you by whom? God. God. It's God's gift to the church.
and purpose for their good and given to us on the behalf of
our Savior. And then secondly, I want you
to understand this about trials. Trials don't create anything. I've been going to church all
my life, and I've heard countless professions in my lifetime by
people who profess a faith born out of trial. Trials don't produce
anything. They don't produce anything.
Trials are not given to unbelievers, but to believers, and they're
not given to produce faith, they're given to reveal faith. It's to try your faith, to reveal
your faith, that trials come. In 1 Peter 1, 7, he said that
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that
of gold that perishes, Though it be tried with fire, might
be found that is exposed and revealed, made known unto praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." What's revealed
in these trials? Well, true faith is revealed.
And trials reveal our love for Christ. They reveal our love
for Christ. It's the love of Christ that
motivates believers. It's the love of Christ that
constraineth us, Paul said in Romans 8. It is the love of Christ
that binds us together. We're bound together by that
love. Believers walk in love, and when they're tried, their
love is revealed. And as faith is tried, The preciousness
of Christ is revealed. Peter said this back in chapter
2. He said, unto you therefore which
believe, he's precious. Huh? He's precious. When that
faith is revealed, your love for Christ is revealed. Because
unto us that believe, he's precious. In Matthew 13, our Lord uses
the parable of the stony ground here. to describe people who
profess to believe, but who really don't. They hear the word, he
said, and with joy receive it. But there's no root in them.
They're not rooted and grounded in Christ, and therefore they
endure for a while. And then what happens? Do you
remember the parable? Until persecution and tribulation
arises. And then they wither and die.
They're gone. Thirdly, trials reveal our hope
of eternal life. Paul said, the man who's truly
reconciled to God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and robed
in his spotless righteousness, shall so appear at Christ's coming. And he says this. He said, if
you continue in the faith, if you continue in the faith,
rooted and grounded, and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel. So when we're tried, our hope
of eternal life is revealed. You see what these trials do?
That's why God sends them. That's why He sends them. And
they reveal these things. Now in verse 13, Peter tells
us to rejoice, not in the suffering itself. Suffering is not a joyful
thing. I've not suffered like some have
in my life, but I have suffered. And suffering itself is not a
joyful thing, but he says here, inasmuch as ye are partakers
of Christ's sufferings. How are we partakers of his sufferings? Well, we're partakers of his
sufferings as they are appointed to us. I told you that a few
moments ago. They're appointed to us, same as his was. And so
we rejoice in those things, knowing that our God has sent them our
way. And if He sent them our way, He sent them for our good
and for His glory. So we rejoice in those things.
We're to rejoice in godly suffering. That is, to rejoice knowing that
the hand of God is upon us and that it's in us and that it's
working for us. And we're to rejoice knowing
that His strength is made perfect in weakness. But we can rejoice
in these things knowing that, and that His grace is sufficient. Whatever it is that's trying
us, His grace is sufficient. You remember how much Paul, he
reasoned whatever this abnormality was that he had, whatever this
thorn in the flesh was. We're never truly told what it
was. But whatever it was, he just saw it as such a thing as
made his ministry impossible. in his own mind. And he prayed,
and he prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed three times that
Christ would remove this thorn in the flesh. And finally, the
Lord told him, he said, Paul, my grace is sufficient. My grace
is sufficient. And then we're to rejoice knowing
that he won't put more on us than we're able to bear. Isn't
that what the Scripture said? The refiner's fire has a narrow
margin. I don't know if you've ever looked
that up to see what that process is, but it has an exact temperature.
And they take that gold and those crushed rocks, and they throw
them in there, and they heat that temperature, and it has
this little narrow margin. Now, if you come under that,
if the fire ain't quite hot enough, then it doesn't do anything.
But if you go too far, it destroys the gold. And the same is true
of trials. He gives us these trials, but
he don't try us beyond what we're able to bear. But with that temptation,
with that trial, he'll make a way of escape. So we're partakers of his sufferings
as they are a gift and a privilege. God's name is manifested. in the suffering and death of
Christ, is it not? God's name, his very name, his
glory is revealed in Christ's sufferings and death. Had he
not suffered and died, what would we know of true holiness, justice,
and righteousness of God? What would we know? If Christ
had not died, had not suffered and died, what would we know
about the true love of God? What would we know about the
mercy of God or the grace of God or the kindness of God if
Christ did not die? It's through these things that
the very name of God is manifested. His name is declared in the suffering
and death of His Son. And in this, He said, was manifested
the love of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Send him here to suffer
on our behalf. This is the love of God. Take
that away, we wouldn't know what the love of God is, would we?
And then listen to this verse over in 2 Corinthians 5.21. For
he hath made him, talking about Christ, to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him." God's righteousness is manifested in him. And then over in Romans chapter
3, he said, being justified freely by His grace through Christ's
sufferings and death, Through the manifestation of those things,
he said, we're justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood for the remission of sins. Why? That he might be just and justifier. That's how he set forth his son.
So we wouldn't know anything at all about justice if it wasn't
for the suffering of Christ. Now then, is it not for His name which
we confess before men and His glory in our worship that we
rejoice in as our hope that brings upon us this suffering? If you don't want to suffer,
just keep your mouth shut. You get along just fine with
this world. You want something, just keep your mouth shut. But
if you confess His name before men and you live that life He's
commanded you to live. If you live in that name, walk
in that name, walk depending fully upon His righteousness.
Walk depending fully upon His atonement. Walk depending fully
upon His reign and glory. Walk looking for Him alone. You
do that, this world will despise you. It'll despise you. So in a sense, these are the
things that we do that make us partakers of the suffering of
Christ. We suffer for the same reason.
You see what he's saying here? You're suffering for the same
reason. After our Lord told the Pharisees
that they believed not because... He said, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they're never going to perish, and no
man is going to pluck them out of my hand, and they're not going
to pluck them out of my father's hand. And he finished telling
these Pharisees that, these Jews, this Sanhedrin council that come
out to question him, try to trick him and trap him. He told them
that straight out. They said, if thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He did. He did. And they picked
up stones to stone him. And listen to what he said. He
said, many good works I've done in my father's name. For which
of these works do you stone me? Oh, they said, we're not stoning
you for a good work. We're stoning you for what you
said. Huh? That's what brings on persecution,
what you say. And you say what your hope is.
They told Peter and them, they said, now, you all ain't going
to preach in his name no more. And they said, well, we don't
know about all of these things that you're saying. But we cannot
speak except of those things which we've both seen and heard.
That's all we can do. And that's all the believer can
do. He's going to tell men and women what his true hope is.
And when he does, he's going to be persecuted for it. He's
going to suffer for it. To live a godly life is to live
a life of faith, trusting in the person and work of Christ,
trusting in His righteousness and blood atonement with love,
submission, and gratitude to God. And the man or woman who
lives by this rule are going to suffer persecution. It can't
be otherwise. Now listen to this, 1 Peter 4,
verse 14. If you be reproached for the
name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and of
God resteth upon you. On their part, he's evil spoken
of. But on your part, he's glorified. Now, what in the world is he
talking about here when he says the spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon us? It rests in our confession of
Christ. He's talking about what we say
before men, what we confess before men. Because he immediately says,
on their part, he's evil spoken of, but on your part, he's glorified. You see, the believer has the
Spirit of God. He has the witness of the Spirit
of God. The Spirit of God has taken of
the things of Christ and showed them unto him. That Spirit of
glory rests on him. It rests on him. And therefore,
he speaks of the glory of God. He speaks of these things that's
been showed to him. So that the suffering saint has
upon him and in him the spirit of glory. And that spirit of
glory is the true knowledge of the glory of God as it was manifest
in our Savior and manifest in his saint's confession and testimony
to men. Turn with me over to Romans chapter
8. Let me show you something over there and I'll wind this
up. Romans chapter 8, verse 14. We're talking about the Spirit
of glory resting upon a man who's going through godly sufferings.
Now listen to this. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with
Christ. Now watch this. If so be that
you suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared, now listen
to this, with the glory which shall be revealed in us. I don't know about you, but I
don't have anything in me that I'd want to glory in before God. I don't have nothing I've ever
said or done that I would glory in before God. But I can glory
in this, the Spirit of glory resteth upon me. God has given
me a true knowledge of Him in my Savior. And that's going to
be manifested not only through this life, but it will be manifested
completely and perfectly in that day to all men and fallen angels
and heavenly angels. It's going to be manifested in
that day. Now, I want to say something
here. This is not, and I want to repeat
that, this is not talking about our sufferings in any way having
anything to do with the putting away of sin or the establishing
of a righteousness before God. Our Lord did that in His own
body on the tree. His sufferings on that tree accomplished
those things, and those things are eternally accomplished. They're
finished once for all. But because of our union with
Him, His great works are counted as our works. And because of
our union with Him, Christ in us, which is the hope of glory,
is being persecuted now in this world. You take Christ out of a man's
profession, you take those things out of his profession, there's
nothing there for this world to despise. And then you remember
what our Lord said over in the book of John. He said to them,
he said, if the world hates you, you know this, it hated me first.
And the world hates you because I called you out of the world.
And I put my name in you. And they hate you because they
hate me. That's why they hate you. Suffering. We're partakers
of the sufferings of Christ. And you remember Paul, when he
said, you think you've got a hope before men? He said, I had more. And he went through all these
things, and he trusted in there in Philippians chapter 3. And
then he gets down here at the bottom, and he said, oh, he said
that I might win Christ and be found in him, not having my own
righteousness. that I might know something of
the power of his resurrection, now listen, and the fellowship
of his sufferings. May the Lord reveal to us what
it means to be partakers of the sufferings of Christ.