WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR FAITH'S ON TRIAL
Living God's Way -- Part 9
I Peter 4:12-19 06-10-12 Sermon
A question I'm asked often as a pastor is the question "Why is this happening to me?" So we've been looking at the book of I Peter which majors on how we handle suffering in life.
Peter tells us that there are three kinds of suffering in life. You are usually experiencing one of the three at any point in your life.
Common suffering -- happens just because I am a human being, things go wrong. We live in a fallen world. Our bodies get sick and wear out. Accidents happen. There are tornados, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. As a part of life in this world we have suffering as human beings.
Carnal suffering -- suffering that happens because I sin. I cause some suffering myself by the choices, the dumb decisions that I make. If I get drunk and then have a hangover, that's carnal suffering. We bring a lot of suffering on ourselves. If I cheat on my taxes and the IRS comes to my door, that’s carnal suffering. The Bible says, "A man reaps whatever he sows."
Christian suffering – This is suffering because I am a believer. It’s when you suffer for doing good. When you suffer for the right thing, you suffer redemptively. Jesus is the best example of this. Did He suffer because He did wrong or because He did right? He suffered because He did right. We are going to be looking at this kind of suffering.
[video clip on suffering for the faith?]
I Peter 4 says that there are five things you need to do when you suffer as a Christian, when you suffer for your faith, when you are harassed because you are a believer --whether it's at work, at school, in your neighborhood, or by relatives who don't understand, or when people ridicule you because you stand for certain things and they don't like that. What do you do? Peter says you do five things: First, you REALIZE THAT SUFFERING IS BOUND TO HAPPEN. [You may not suffer like those on the video but you will suffer as a believer if your life is different enough from the world for people to notice.]
I Peter 4:12 "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trials you're suffering, as though something strange were happening to you." He says don't be upset by it when this happens, when people put you down, when people challenge your faith. He says don't be frightened, don't be shook up, don't be caught off guard. Be prepared. If you're going to be a believer there are times in your life when people won't like that.
Jesus was very realistic about this. Jesus was honest and He said you need to consider the consequences of commitment to Me. He said, "If you're going to follow Me count the cost first." If you're considering becoming a follower of Christ, you need to hear this message first. It's not always a bed of roses, being a believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus said if you follow Me there will be people who get upset with you, that don't approve of you, who don't like it.
John 15:20, Jesus said, "No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also." Did they persecute Jesus? Sure they did. "If they do it to Me they will [not "if"] do it to you." There's a myth that says, if I have everything right in life then things are going to go smoothly. Wrong. You think if I did everything right, life will be pleasant. That's not true. You can do everything right in life if you could, and you would still have problems. Jesus was perfect but they crucified Him.
We forget that we're in a spiritual battle. Once you decide, "I'm going to be on God's side" then you become the enemy of the devil. The Bible says, Ephesians 6:12 "We're not fighting against human beings but wicked spiritual forces." The Bible calls the devil the accuser of the brethren. Satan would like to hurt God, but he can't. So he does the next best thing. He tries to hurt His children, you, because you are a believer. If you really wanted to hurt me, the easiest way is to hurt my kids. You hurt my kids you hurt me. Satan tries to get back at God by hurting His children, those who put their faith in Christ.
The second thing to do when you face suffering for being a Christian is REJOICE WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN.
Peter says, realize that this is going to happen, still he says rejoice when it does happen. v. 13 "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ..." He says, don't complain, celebrate. Don't have a pity party, have a party. That sounds like masochism, a martyr complex, something ridiculous.
But the key word is the word rejoice. It doesn't say "enjoy when you're put down for Christ," it says "rejoice". There's a big different between enjoyment and rejoicing. Enjoyment means getting pleasure out of something. Rejoicing means choosing to have a positive attitude in spite of it. God doesn't say enjoy persecution; He says rejoice in it. Keep a positive attitude. It's a choice to rejoice.
Reasons To Rejoice: Why? Why should I rejoice? Peter lists three reasons. 1. Suffering draws me closer to Christ.
He says, "These trials will make you partners with Christ in His suffering, and afterwards you will have the wonderful joy of sharing His glory." The word "partner", in Greek, is the word koinonia, that's the word for fellowship. Fellowship means you get to know somebody up close and personal. Closeness, intimacy, commonness. It says when you suffer for Jesus' name you have fellowship with Christ. It draws you closer to Him. When you go through suffering with anybody, you bond with them. Ask any war veteran. The suffering that they went through binds them together. Or when people go through a disaster, it brings them closer together. Or when families experience the same problem, it brings them closer together. It says when you suffer for doing the right thing it draws you closer to God, to Christ.
Philippians 3:10, Paul said, "I want to know Christ and the fellowship of His suffering." It's the same thing, koinonia. I want to know, not only about Jesus, but I want to know Him personally. How do you get to know Him personally? There's a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. Big difference. How do you get to know Christ as a personal friend? You've got to go through the fire. And when you go through the fire for Jesus, you're going through the fire with Jesus. It draws me closer to him.
2. Suffering is a reason to rejoice because It means that God can be seen in my life.
When you're having a tough time for Jesus' sake, it means God can be seen in your life. I Pet. 4:14 "When people insult you because you follow Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of God is with you." Why can I be happy when people put me down for my faith or they challenge me? Because it just means "Congratulations, somebody sees something different in your life." Obviously they noticed the difference. If you're never challenged for your faith, what does that say about your faith? It means it's pretty flabby, puny.
Paul told Timothy, "All who live Godly lives will suffer persecution." If I don't have ever anybody challenge me, it means I'm not living a Godly life. When people put you down, harass you for your faith, congratulations, it means you are a person of character, you have conviction. You stand for something rather than fall for anything.
Take a stand. Don't be a secret agent. Jesus said, "Anyone who is ashamed of me in this wicked and adulterous generation of Him will I be ashamed before My father when he cometh in glory." God says, if you're ashamed of Me, I'll be ashamed of you. Jesus Christ was not ashamed to die for you. Don't be ashamed to live for Him.
3. Suffering is a reason to rejoice because God can trust me.
When you're harassed for your faith, handling a problem because people say, he's a goody-goody, or she's a Jesus nut, it just means God can trust you. Peter and the disciples were literally beat up for being a believer. It happens all around the world. Millions of believers are killed every year for their faith. Some states, countries, areas you can be killed, hanged, given the firing squad for being a Christian. Nobody is going to do that to you in America. I wonder if God can trust American Christians? We want Jesus as long as it's comfortable and convenient. But if Christianity were outlawed would there be enough evidence to convict you? How many people know that you're a believer?
Why did God allow Job to lose everything he had? Because God could trust him. He knew he wouldn't turn on Him. Why did God allow the three young Hebrew men to go through the fiery furnace? Because God knew He could trust them. Can God trust you? What does your faith cost you? Does it cost you anything? We get upset about having to wait for a parking spot. He says God can trust you when you have trials in your life because He knows you can handle it.
III. When you face suffering for your faith REFUSE TO BE ASHAMED.
He says when you are put down for your faith, refuse to be ashamed. Don't be intimidated by cynics, by critics, don't run from situations that put your faith on trial. People are watching you every moment of the day. We've talked about this before. People watch you all the time. If you claim to be a believer, unbelievers will throw stuff at you just to see how you react. They will. They want to know if your faith is genuine. Does your walk match your talk? Do you really believe what you say you believe? People are going to throw stuff at you to see how you react. Is this person a person of integrity? Is this person a person who really has convictions? Is it real to them; if it's not I'm not interested in them. He says, don't be ashamed.
How you respond when you're personally attacked is a powerful witness. I Peter 4:16 "If you suffer as a Christian." He's not talking about suffering because you're obnoxious. Some people are just goofy, and they act strange and then they say, "I'm suffering for Jesus." No, You're just being a jerk. Don't blame God for your personal hang-ups. We've all got them, I've got them, you do too.
"If you suffer for being a Christian," Peter says. The word "Christian" is only used three times in the Bible. It wasn't a popular term when the Bible was written. Christian was a slur, like an ethnic slur, a racial slur. When the Roman empire would refer to people as Christians they meant "those little Christs" -- little Jesus people. It was a slur. Today, we say, "I'm a Christian", it doesn't have the same connotation.
Peter says, "If you suffer as a Christian, don't be ashamed, but praise God that you bear His name." I know a lot of good Christians who would never think of doing certain wrong things, but they are ashamed to admit that they do the right thing when they're around unbelievers. There are men who would never cheat on their wife. But sitting around with other men, like in a card game, and everybody starts bragging about their affairs, the Christian men just keep silent because they didn't want to admit that they had never known anybody but their wife. As if that's something to be embarrassed about. That's how sick society has become. There are Christian young people who would never take drugs, but they are embarrassed to admit that to their friends. There are single people who have remained sexually pure and they are embarrassed to admit that they're a virgin. Since when did that become something to be ashamed of? Do you see how our values have gotten turned around.
Peter is saying, it's not a matter of just not doing bad things, it also means being proud and being honest and admitting that you do the right things, and not being embarrassed to admit it. Don't be embarrassed for you faith, for your values. Stand firm.
The problem really is the fear of rejection. We're afraid of what other people will think of us. What's the antidote? The antidote to the fear of rejection is two fold:
1. Realize that you don't need the approval of everybody in order to be happy in life. Whether you approve of me or not has nothing to do with my happiness.
2. Be more concerned with what God thinks about you, than what other people think about you. That's called spiritual maturity. When you think more about what God thinks about you than what other people think about you, that's what's going to last. "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the kingdom of heaven belongs to them."
IV. When you suffer for your faith REMEMBER THE REWARD I'LL RECEIVE.
II Corinthians 4:17 "These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won't last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God's richest blessing upon us forever and ever!"
If somebody doesn't like you, if somebody puts you down because of your faith, that's small potatoes. This isn't going to last. It's only temporary. But the reward for standing up for your faith is going to last for eternity. Keep the long perspective. You don't have to be popular with everybody right now. But you can reap the rewards for eternity.
Look at that phrase "richest blessing". Notice that that is a comparative term. "Richest" like "most of all". The Bible teaches very clearly that there are going to be levels of rewards in heaven. I'm not talking about salvation, but after you get there some people are going to be rewarded more than others in heaven. It's very clear about that in Scripture. It says that the richest blessings go to those who stood up for Christ in spite of sufferings. That's where the richest blessings are going to come from.
Nobody is going to kill you, in America, for your faith. But do you ever find anybody challenging you? Or are you just so wishy-washy so much of a chameleon that nobody knows what you believe? Nobody knows your values. Nobody knows where you stand on anything. You're so afraid that somebody might look at you funny. Peter says, you're caring too much about the wrong thing. You ought to be caring about what God thinks of you and you ought to be caring about the reward you're going to receive in heaven for doing the right thing in spite of the fact that it's not the most popular.
Romans 8:17 "Since we are God's children, if we share in Christ's suffering, we will also share in His glory." When we get to heaven, God isn't going to look at how much money you saved in your bank account, He's not going to look at how many trophies you have on your shelf, He's not going to look at how many awards or plaques or degrees you put on your wall. God's going to look at the scars you have. Did your faith cost you anything?
It says, if we share in His suffering we will share in His glory. Imagine getting to heaven and there's this giant billboard 100 miles long lit up like Las Vegas and it says, "Starring for eternity, Jesus Christ" and underneath it it says, "co-staring ..." and it has your name. That's what it means to share in His glory. Any persecution you might possible experience because of your faith, because you stood up for it, is so insignificant to the lasting reward it's not even comparable.
V. Lastly, when you suffer for your faith REMAIN FAITHFUL TO GOD!
How do you do it? There are two ways.
"So then, those who suffer according to God's will..." Underline "suffer according to God's will". Do I mean that suffering is sometimes according to God's will? I'm not telling you this, God is. Sometimes suffering is exactly God's will for your life. Why? Because God is more interested in your character than in your comfort.
There is a certain brand of Christianity out there today that says God wants everyone to be healthy, wealthy and comfortable and you should always be healed, and you should always have every prayer answered and you should always have everything you want and never have any problems. If you do have problems it means you don't have enough faith. The spiritual term for this is "Baloney!" Obviously those people have not read I Peter 4 where it says sometimes we suffer according to God's will. That's Christian suffering. Suffering that's redemptive, for our growth and the blessing for other people. If God answered every prayer you ever made, and gave you everything you ever wanted, and took away all your problems, you'd be a spoiled brat. God isn't interested in raising spoiled brats. He says remain faithful even when the heat's on.
Ask yourself these two questions:
1. Do people notice Christ in my life? Do the people who you're around all the time know where you stand? Have you shared the good news of Jesus Christ with them? It's not like you're trying to give them cancer or something! We've got the greatest news in the world. The world is far more ready to hear about the good news of Christ than we are ready to share it.
2. Have I been ashamed to take a stand? Take a stand for Jesus Christ. If you can't even do that, how much is your faith worth?
"I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God's powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven ... everyone is invited to come to God in this same way."
Rom. 1:16 (LB)
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