Class Lesson August 10, 2014

Life can be tough.

We need a resilient faith.

 

How would you describe your faith? Does it come easy to you, or are you like many who struggle with trust. When difficulties knock on our door, our faith is tested, and for some of us, it's even shaken. How can we maintain a faith in God that is resilient, a faith that – no matter what happens – withstands the ups and downs of life?

 

Suffering has many forms: Physical abuse, Debilitating diseases, Social ostracism, and Persecution. The pain and anguish can tempt us to turn back – to surrender – and to give in. When Peter speaks of suffering – he is not talking about natural disasters or the experience of God’s punishments, but the response of an unbelieving world to people of faith. All believers face such trials when they let their light shine into the darkness. Peter knew persecution firsthand, but he also knew Christ and nothing could shake his confidence in Jesus! So, Peter wrote to give comfort and hope to other believers suffering for their faith and he urged them to continue their loyalty to Christ.

Quick Review

1st Lesson - Focused Faith: Our faith is focused on a sure hope. 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13

Peter begins by giving thanks to God for Salvation and we should too! This should be our central focus. We have been given a living hope of eternal life. He says that our trials will actually refine our faith. We should believe in spite of our circumstances – even the prophets of old wrote about it and they didn’t understand it. But now we see and know that salvation has been revealed in Christ.


2nd Lesson - Active Faith: Live a life that is set apart for God. 1 Peter 1:14-19, 22-25

Peter discusses how we should respond to such a great Salvation, he commands us to do four things:

1. Live holy (set apart) lives
2. Reverently fear and trust God
3. Be honest and loving
4. Become like Christ.

The New Testament describes and defines a Christian in terms of a person’s relationship to God through Jesus Christ. It involves a spiritual birth and an ongoing spiritual transformation wherein a person is set apart by faith unto the Lord to a new lifestyle.


3rd Lesson - Enduring Faith: Trust God in every circumstance. 1 Peter 2:13-23

Peter explains how we should live during these difficult times. He emphasizes three important points:

1. We should live above reproach.
2. We should imitate Christ in all our social roles – Master/Boss and Servant/Employee, Husbands and Wives, Church members and Neighbors.
3. Jesus should be our model for obedience to God in the midst of great suffering.

The call Peter had heard from Jesus by the shore of Galilee many years earlier was a call to a new way of life, though not necessarily a popular or easy one. It would be a life filled with demands and challenges, but it was also a life filled with hope and promise.

4th Lesson - Ready Faith: Suffering brings opportunities to point to Jesus. 1 Peter 3:13-16; 4:1-2

 

You’ve chosen to run the race as a follower of Jesus Christ, which means you’ve also chosen to experience difficult circumstances. Stay strong. Keep running. And remember to use those difficult circumstances as a way to point to Christ until your race is over.







Our 5th lesson in this series is how we can have a:

We respond to difficulties and suffering in a variety of ways. Some of us respond with anger, dogged determination to fight it, or passive resignation. Others respond with introspection or by asking, “Why me?” But who responds with joy? Yet joy is the very attitude the Bible calls us to embrace. Even in the face of unjust suffering, we can rejoice in Christ.

1 Peter 4:12-19

Many early believers faced local persecution. Rather than allowing such treatment to take them by surprise or to seem unusual to them, Peter emphasized for these Christians that suffering for their faith in Christ presented them an opportunity for rejoicing. It also presented them with reason and opportunity to glorify God that they could bear the name “Christian.”

Think about this...

 

Answer: Your Choice

Surprises are often nice, and they can sometimes be fun. But then there are those “other” surprises: the routine checkup that turned into, “We need to run some more tests.” The pay raise that turned into a pink slip. The church ministry that turned into a church fight. Sometimes life’s surprises are irritating, aggravating, and worse.

Where’s the joy in that?

Difficulties, suffering, and persecution may seem like major obstacles to our ability to experience joy, but that doesn’t have to be the case. The truth is that suffering and difficulties are going to happen. And although we can never fully prepare for their impact on our lives, we can be certain of God’s ability to impart joy to us in the midst of those tough times.

One day there was a lady who was having some health problems and she was hurting all over so she went to the doctor. And when she got there the doctor asked, “Well what seems to be the problem. Where are you hurting?” The lady said, “I’m hurting everywhere doctor. See?” She proceeded to touch her arm and cried out, “Ouch!”  Then she touched her leg and said, “Ouch!”  Then she touched her nose and screamed, “Ouch!”  “See doctor?” she cried, “I’m hurting all over!” and the doctor replied, “Lady you’ve got a broken finger!”

Anybody know somebody like that? How many of you would say that lady was causing herself a lot of unnecessary pain there? You know what? Many Christians today are doing the exact same thing! How? Not with a broken finger, but with a broken faith.


The devil is trying to get us even today to seek a temporary happiness instead of a biblical joy. Life is full of things that try to push us down. Setbacks: health, work, even relationships can surprise us like a hurricane and destroy everything in its path. And we many times will get so discouraged that we break and just give up.

We could learn a lesson or two from the Palm Tree. 

During a hurricane you will notice that there are many trees that break or are simply blown over from the storm – huge oak trees, pine trees, elm trees, and magnolia trees. But not the palm tree, why – because God designed the palm tree not to get knocked down. Unlike other trees, the palm tree is designed to bend so it doesn’t break and it comes back up. During the storm the palm tree isn’t worried, he sees other trees cracking and falling all around him but he knows that God put a “Bounce Back” in his DNA. Studies show that when the palm tree is being bent over and stretched – its roots are actually strengthening and being given opportunities for new growth. When the storm is over the palm tree comes back up stronger than it was before.
 
Psalm 92:12 “The righteous will flourish like the palm tree.”  We need that “Bounce Back” mentality toward the storms in our life. That “Bounce Back” is a Joyful Faith! We need to remember that what was meant for our harm, God can use for our good. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. God is a God of restoration and He’s promised to pay you back double for every unfair situation – that’s double for your trouble!
 
The seed of an Almighty God is in you – the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of you. In your blood right now is the DNA of a WINNER. The DNA of an OVER COMER!  There is no challenge too difficult for you, no obstacle to high to overcome, no sickness, no disappointment, no person, no hurricane, no stock market that can keep you from your God-given destiny!  

This week’s session will help you discover how to experience joy even in life’s difficulties. Because you do have a choice. 

We are the ones who consciously determine which way we will go. 
The poet writes:

“One ship sails east

One ship sails west

Regardless of how the winds blow.

It is the set of the sail

And not the gale

That determines the way we go.”

 
 
Our lesson this week wants us to choose joy even in life's difficulties.

 

I. REJOICE! – 1 PETER 4:12-13
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.
  

Don't be surprised. Rejoice! Peter's words are the very encouragement we need to hear. He wasn't chastising his readers for not trusting God during times of great trial. He reminded them of the truth of God's revelation at the end of times, and he highlighted how that truth should inform their present situations. He wanted them (and us) to gain a more robust perspective on life - to see that something much bigger is going on than what we're currently experiencing.

Peter acknowledged our encounters with suffering, referring to them as a "fiery ordeal." He wasn't glossing over the trouble we experience in this life. Yes, our own fiery ordeals may seem all-consuming. They may ignite with such force that we're tempted to question God's goodness - or even question His very existence. But Peter reminded us that in a world full of evil, we should expect suffering to come upon us, just as it came upon Jesus.


Peter also gave us a couple of ways to respond to suffering: 

1. Recognize that you are being tested. We are tested in this life to refine our faith or even to see if we truly possess a faith at all. The testing of our faith reveals who we really are, and how we respond to the trial reveals what we really believe.

2. Rejoice in following the path of the Lord. Follow along with this progression: 1) God suffered and sacrificed Himself for all of humanity. 2) You suffer because of your trust in Him. Therefore, 3) You have good reason to believe that your suffering is not in vain.


After Jesus' suffering and sacrifice, God raised Him from the dead. Paul called Him "the firstfruits" (1 Cor. 15:20), which was a reference to the first crops to appear during harvest season. This early crop was a sign - a guarantee - that more crops would follow.

Jesus' resurrection points to the resurrection of all those who follow and worship God. We may suffer with Jesus, but we will also experience glory with Jesus. In this, we can find a way to rejoice in any trial. 

"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is."

- C. S. Lewis

Final Thoughts:

1. As Christians we shouldn’t be surprised by suffering because it has a definite purpose in our lives - Suffering comes to test the Christian. Moses reminded the Israelites God had led them 40 years in the wilderness to humble and test them to determine whether or not they would keep His commands (Deut. 8:2).

2. We can rejoice in the midst of suffering because we are in fellowship with Christ who Himself suffered on our behalf. Christians can take joy in knowing their suffering is temporary in light of Jesus’ promises about the future.

3. We will rejoice at Christ’s return in victory as we behold Him in His glory. By standing strong in suffering, the Christian is standing by faith to demonstrate that a time is coming when the wrongs will be made right. In this sense, joy is a supreme confidence Jesus will fulfill His promises and God will establish in heaven everything He promised.


Commentary: The previous lesson ended with the revelation that suffering can help Christians draw closer to the Lord by reminding them that Christ’s death dealt with the power of sin. This led to a discussion of how the knowledge of Christ’s return should help the sufferer maintain discipline in life (1 Pet. 4:3-11). Knowing the final outcome of history allows us to have joy even in the context of suffering.

Peter referred to the suffering Christians as dear friends. Few things bind people together as tightly as common pain. He encouraged readers not to be surprised by their suffering. Peter cautioned his readers not to embrace the mindset that suffering could never come to anyone who followed Christ. The reason Christians should not be surprised by suffering is that it has a definite purpose in their lives. Suffering comes to test the Christian. This idea resides in the Old Testament also. For example, Moses reminded the Israelites God had led them 40 years in the wilderness to humble and test them to determine whether or not they would keep His commands (Deut. 8:2).

With fiery ordeal, Peter referenced the suffering his readers were enduring. The single Greek word literally means burning. This most likely was a reference to the connection between suffering and the purifying presence of God. The purpose of the fire was not to hurt and harm but to purify the one who was suffering. Certainly the Bible speaks of the fire of judgment upon those who do not believe, but that is not the purpose of the fiery ordeal Peter’s readers endured.

Because Christians should not be surprised by trials, they should not see them as something unusual. All Christians go through trials at some period in their lives. Rather than being astonished and overwhelmed by them, Peter suggested that Christians should rejoice. Peter believed it was a privilege to share in the suffering of the Messiah. By rejoicing in their suffering, Christians anticipated the rejoicing that would accompany the revelation of His glory. It was not ordinary joy but great joy. The Greek word for revelation is the root word for apocalypse in English. This is the same word that occurs in 1 Peter 1:7, 13 in reference to the return of Jesus Christ. Suffering creates a longing for Jesus to consummate everything He promised concerning the end of time, heaven, and eternal life. Christians can take joy in knowing their suffering is temporary in light of Jesus’ promises about the future.

Certainly Peter did not mean believers will enjoy suffering. However, undeserved suffering for Christ in the present is an indicator of future deliverance by Jesus at the end of time. By standing strong in suffering, the Christian is standing by faith to demonstrate that a time is coming when the wrongs will be made right. In this sense, joy is a supreme confidence Jesus will fulfill His promises and God will establish in heaven everything He promised.

 
II. BLESSED! – 1 PETER 4:14
14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

 

Over the years of doing apologetics ministry, I've been called a lot of names: hatemonger, bigot, stupid, delusional, dishonest, a "nutter," and much more. (Those are the tame ones!) Most of these come from my interactions on the internet. However, these are the kinds of insults we can expect as Christians in accordance with Peter's words in verse 14.

Though Peter stated that I'm blessed when I endure slander in the name of Jesus, my typical first response is not, "Wow! I am so blessed." I usually react by reviewing the situation with questions like these: What did I do? Did I attack or offend the person? Was my original statement or online post motivated by a sin that may have prompted this adverse response?

These kinds of questions swirl around in my head for a while because I forget that, as one who publicly professes Jesus Christ, I am going to receive insults and ridicule due to the world's hatred toward God. One mention of Jesus in public can be enough to get people uptight or bent-out-of-shape. This is exactly what the apostles experienced when they preached Jesus in public. Paul was even stoned by the people of one city and left for dead Acts 14:19).

I offer a caution: some Christians bring slander and insult upon themselves because of their ungodly behavior. In such cases, it's inappropriate to claim that one is "suffering for Jesus." As we saw in 1 Peter 3:16, we are to witness to the truth of Jesus "with gentleness and respect" so that we will not bring shame to the name of our Lord.

Peter reasoned that "you are blessed" when slandered for "the name of Christ," because the Spirit of God is on you. Because the Spirit indwells believers, the Lord Himself will comfort you. The Holy Spirit rests on you, refreshing and strengthening you to carry on.







Final Thoughts:

1. Believers can expect to be insulted by those who deny Christ.

2. Those who stand strong in the face of reproach are happy and blessed in the Lord.

3. The Lord blesses those who stand for Him with the power of His glory and the refreshing presence of His Spirit.

Commentary: Though suffering for Christians would soon reach the point of physical torture and death, as it did for the apostle Peter, this verse indicates persecution was still in its initial stages in the empire. Peter spoke of Christians being ridiculed. Whatever else their suffering included; the Christians to whom Peter wrote were abused or slandered with words. Jesus had taught His followers, “You are blessed when they insult and persecute you … For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12).

Early Christians had a deluge of lies told about them. Some called them cannibals, believing they ate the flesh of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper. Others called them immoral because they participated in love feasts. Some called them atheists because they had no visible god to worship as many other religions did. The lies accumulated and the ridicule grew stronger. As criticism mounted for Christians, Peter reminded them of the reason for their suffering. Namely, the early Christians were ridiculed for the name of Christ. Peter did not promise blessing to those who caused their own suffering. Rather, he promised that those who suffered for their faith in Christ were blessed. In a world that perceives material blessings as the only real type of blessings, people may have difficulty understanding Peter’s logic. He was not saying Christians should enjoy suffering, but rather that they should live in a state of blessed peace in the middle of the trials. Blessed is the same word as the one Jesus used in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, and it means a state of happiness or to be congratulated.

The blessing comes not in the suffering itself but in what accompanies the suffering. Because signals that Peter was about to reveal the reason for the blessing. Believers are blessed in their suffering because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on them. God does not abandon sufferers. As Christians suffering for the cause of Christ, we can rely on God’s presence to abide with us as we suffer. A person’s choice to suffer rather than deny faith in Jesus reflects the presence of the Holy Spirit already at work. But not only is He present when the suffering begins, He is powerfully present throughout the suffering as the indwelling Spirit of God.

In spite of suffering intended to discourage and harm Christians, Peter promised they would be blessed in the midst of their suffering because they suffered for the name of Christ. This blessing would include the fact that the Spirit of God rests on the sufferer. Peter could not have chosen a better word to describe the experience of the Spirit. While their lives may have been in chaos and turmoil, the Spirit patiently rested on their lives so the believer could experience now a foretaste of the glory to come through the ministry and promise of the Spirit.




III. GLORY! – 1 PETER 4:15-19
15 None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a “Christian,” he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? 18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? 19 So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator. 

 



Peter mentioned several obvious activities we should avoid as Christians - murder, theft, evildoing. But he also mentioned a more subtle sin: meddling or being a busybody. Christians should avoid meddling in everybody's business. When we engage in this kind of behavior, we have nobody to blame but ourselves for any suffering we experience afterward.

There are other times, however, when we need to step up on important issues - such as defending what we believe. This isn't meddling when it's done with gentleness and respect. Instead, defending our beliefs is necessary in light of all the misinformation being spread about Christianity in today's culture.

In verse 19, Peter reminded us to continue to do what is good, even while suffering. Why? Because God is our faithful Creator.

• God does not leave us stranded here to endure oppression, suffering, and evil on our own.
• God will judge evil for what it is.
• God will set things right and back to the goodness He intended at the beginning of creation. 

God has shown us His faithfulness through Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. And He will continue to show us His faithfulness through the resurrection and redemption we will fully realize and experience in the end.

 










 
 Final Thoughts:
1. Our suffering for the name of Christ is not an occasion for shame but an opportunity to bring glory to God.

2. Suffering for Christ’s sake proves and purifies the quality of our faith.

3. The ungodly and the sinner stand hopeless before God.

4. By entrusting their lives to God’s keeping, those who suffer for Christ can stand with confidence, knowing He does all things well.

Commentary: Throughout the letter, Peter distinguished between those who suffered for their own careless actions and those who suffered for the cause of Jesus Christ. He qualified his words about the blessings of suffering by again reminding readers that they only had the promise of rest if they suffered for the right reason. The promise of joy and the Spirit’s presence was for those suffering for Jesus.

Peter listed four examples of people who suffer for their own actions.

1. Murderer – those who willfully take another person’s life cannot sit in jail and bemoan the fact that they are suffering.

2. Thief - Peter also refused to sympathize with a person who was suffering because he was a thief. Those suffering because of their thievery received the due consequences of their actions.

3. Evildoer - Peter’s third example of those who suffer for their own actions. Anyone who does wrong and brings suffering upon himself does not have the same promise of blessing as those suffering for their Christian faith.

4. Meddler – this word does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament or, for that matter, in any literature prior to 1 Peter. An examination of the Greek word leads one to conclude that this word has to do with someone who watches over someone else’s business – a busybody.

Peter was descending from sins that people considered more serious to the less serious.

Yet, suffering for any of them did not qualify a person for the same comfort those who suffered for the name of Christ.

Peter returned to the reason for their suffering in verse 16. Those who suffered for being a Christian had a legitimate reason to suffer. Early Christians did not usually call themselves Christians – the name was given to them in Antioch as a term of derision (Acts 11:26). By using this term, Peter echoed the ridicule of those who verbally attacked his readers. However, instead of wearing this as a badge of shame, he encouraged the sufferers not to be ashamed. Instead, Peter encouraged his readers to wear the name of Christ proudly and in doing so to glorify God. The peace and rest that accompanied those who were suffering certainly would speak to those who were without faith in Christ.

Quoting Proverbs 11:31, Peter reminded his readers that a righteous person is saved with difficulty. Certainly he may have had in mind the price it took for Christ to make sinners righteous. However, he also may have had and difficulties to point them to Christ. But the main purpose of the statement was to highlight the utter futility of those who do not know Christ. He asked for a second time in the passage - What will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Great disaster awaits them as they will be eternally separated from God and in eternal torment in hell. So both the sinner and the saint face suffering. Why not suffer for righteousness rather than for evil? The former leads to a better future, while the latter leads to damnation.

Conclusion: The message of Peter in these verses is difficult – no, not difficult to understand but difficult to apply. Who among us really wants to suffer? We tend to think people ought not to be harmed or suffer for doing good. We would claim that is unfair. Therefore, when it comes, is there really cause to rejoice, to feel blessed, and to glorify God? That is just what Peter advocated!

 
Describe an experience in which you suffered for the cause of Christ. What was your attitude during that time? Did you come to the point of rejoicing, feeling blessed, and giving glory to God? If so, how did you get there?
 


Live it Out
What steps can you take to discover joy in all seasons of life?
 
1. Seek Joy. Do something this week that you know will help you experience joy. Don’t feel guilty about it, either. Accept your joy as a gift from God.

2. Have honest communications. Ask your friends and family members if there are areas in which you’ve cause your own suffering. Listen to what they say, then respond appropriately.

3. Trust God. Read Psalm 71:1-8 several times during a quiet moment this week. Rewrite those verses to express your own requests to God in connection with your current suffering.

Choose to stick with God even when you feel like your heart is breaking or the world is crashing down. That choice will help you grow nearer to Him and begin to understand how He ministers to His children in this world – and that’s always a pleasant surprise.

Kay Warren's definition of Joy: "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things."

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, even in difficult times, because of Christ, I can rejoice and I can know I am blessed. Therefore, I can shout “glory!” Amen

See you on Sunday,

Susan & David