WEBVTT

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 At the cafe, we overheard a woman who was sitting next to us in brazen mockery of what we were saying,

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 say to her boyfriend sitting across from her,

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 Hey, so do you want to believe in Jesus too?

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 In a sarcastic tone.

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 And it stung a little bit, but I mean, it's not a big deal.

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 We just kind of brushed it aside.

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 But that's kind of an example of maybe the small degree of hostility or persecution you might face as a believer in this country,

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 in this part of the world.

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 But Christians throughout the world have encountered far severe persecution and suffering.

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 You guys are probably aware of what happened last year.

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 ISIS going through some of the Christian villages,

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 marking Christian homes with the letter N in Arabic to mark that they're Nazarenes or followers of Jesus of Nazareth

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 and systematically killing them.

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 And even that is not as extensive or even as horrific as the suffering that the recipients of Peter's letter that we just read

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 would experience in a few years' time after having received this letter.

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 Because in 64 AD, the city of Rome suffered a really big fire.

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 About three-fourths of the whole city was burned.

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 And a lot of people had the theory, which has some empirical backing,

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 that the emperor Nero himself burned down the city for his own entertainment.

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 And because that rumor was spreading like wildfire,

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 in order to find a scapegoat,

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 Nero decided he's going to blame the Christians.

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 Well, no one really likes these guys anyway.

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 They believe in a foreign god.

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 They don't worship the gods that we used to traditionally worship.

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 So it's the Christians that burned the city down.

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 And Tacitus, a Roman historian, he's not a believer,

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 writes about this in his account.

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 He says,

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 Therefore, to stop the rumor that he has set Rome on fire,

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 Emperor Nero falsely charged with guilt and punished with the most fearful tortures,

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 the persons commonly called Christians,

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 who were generally hated for their enormities.

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 Christus, the founder of that name,

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 was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea,

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 in the reign of Tiberius.

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 But the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time,

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 broke out yet again, not only through Judea,

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 where the mischief originated,

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 but through the city of Rome also.

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 In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport,

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 for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts,

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 and worried to death by dogs,

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 or nailed to crosses, or set fire to.

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 And when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights.

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 This is an unbelieving historian writing about the suffering of Christians,

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 which is actually a wonderful historical confirmation of not only the historicity of Jesus Christ,

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 but also of the suffering that Christians experienced.

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 And so suffering for a Christian really has characterized the church throughout its entire history.

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 It's small, belittling, like we experience to even to martyr them.

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 There's a full range of it, but suffering and persecution has always characterized believers.

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 And I think you would agree with me that it's never pleasant, right?

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 Even if it's just a small thing, it's never pleasant.

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 Yet, in this passage, Peter teaches us that the glory of sharing in Christ's suffering

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 enables us to rejoice even in our suffering.

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 That the glory of sharing in Christ's suffering enables us to rejoice even in our suffering.

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 And he explains this, first, by telling us that Christian suffering is to be expected.

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 And then secondly, by telling us that Christian suffering is glorious.

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 And then thirdly, by telling us that Christian suffering is Christ-like.

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 That it's expected, it's glorious, and that it is Christ-like.

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 And if you look around, I mean, the world we live in, especially the secular worldview that people are steeped in,

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 largely avoids suffering and thinks of suffering as meaningless and unnecessary.

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 So they invest a lot of money and time to try to avoid suffering at all costs, right?

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 We plan for all kinds of contingencies, emergencies, insurance for everything.

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 And so that we can ensure a healthy life and a wealthy family and very carefully, you know, select a group of friends, right?

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 And for, so people, because they are so adverse to suffering and try to avoid at all costs,

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 when suffering overtakes them, people are often unprepared, right?

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 And because they do not have a way to deal with suffering.

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 But Christians, this passage tells us, are not to think of suffering in the same way.

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 Especially when it comes to suffering for being a Christian.

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 When you suffer for being a Christian, Peter tells us in verse 12, look with me there,

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 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you,

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 as if something strange were happening to you.

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 Let me just note here how Peter addresses us, addresses the church.

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 He begins with Beloved, right?

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 So this is the address, the exhortation, encouragement of a loving, kind of a fatherly figure, of a leader of a church.

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 Which he's not speaking fatalistically, saying, oh no, suffering is inevitable, so just deal with it.

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 No, he's saying, beloved, don't be surprised when a fiery trial comes upon you to test you.

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 And you could think of it this way, about being surprised by suffering.

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 Because if you're blindsided by someone, let's say you're not, you're facing a different direction

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 and someone tackles you or hates you from behind or from the side,

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 and you're more likely to get injured, right?

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 Because you were unprepared, you couldn't brace yourself, or you couldn't fall properly, right?

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 And that's exactly the reason why Michael Lewis writes in his book, The Blind Side,

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 you guys have probably heard of it, about football, that the left tackle,

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 which is an offensive lineman in football, in the game of American football,

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 is one of the highest-paced positions, even though no one really knows about it,

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 but because they protect the quarterback on their blind side, on the left side,

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 usually because they're tossing, throwing the ball with their right hand.

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 And so in a similar way, when we're blindsided, we're unprepared,

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 and that could lead to shock and greater injury.

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 In the same way, Peter doesn't want us to be blindsided by suffering, right?

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 So he tells us, do not be surprised at the fire trial when it comes.

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 He wants to prepare us so that we're not blindsided when suffering,

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 which is to be expected, comes to us.

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 And why is it to be expected?

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 It's because these fire trials come upon us to test us.

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 God's testing us, God's refining us.

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 It's because we're pottery in the fire, right?

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 Being finished by a great potter, our faithful potter.

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 That's why this fire trial is to be expected, right?

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 It's because we're gold being refined in the fire.

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 That's why this trial is to be expected, right?

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 And if you're a, I mean, we're right next to Kendall Square.

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 A lot of startups here, people doing software work.

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 And if you're a software developer and you release a beta version, right,

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 then you're not disheartened or surprised by it

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 when you discover that the beta version has a lot of bugs

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 that you have to work out, right?

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 Because that's exactly what's supposed to happen in the beta version.

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 You're testing it to make sure that those things are,

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 so that you can find them, get feedback, and work them out, right?

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 So that's exactly what you're supposed to do in a beta version.

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 And that's exactly the same for us because this life is not all there is.

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 Really, this life here is preparation, right, for the life to come.

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 This is the foretaste of the greater glory to come, right?

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 And so we're in the fire.

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 We're supposed to expect trials.

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 They're going to come.

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 They're going to test us.

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 They're going to refine us.

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 So we should not be surprised when they come to us.

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 I mean, I have to qualify it a little bit

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 because we're living in a different context than Peter is, right?

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 So in Peter's time, people, if you live as an honest Christian,

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 if you try to follow God, then you're guaranteed to find opposition, right,

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 and meet persecution.

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 We live in the U.S.

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 and in the Western civilization that's been steeped in the Judeo-Christian tradition

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 for years, for centuries, really.

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 And because of that, there's a lot of shared values still, right, to this day.

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 And so we don't encounter the same kind of opposition.

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 But we are in a time when increasingly U.S. is described as post-Christian,

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 and New England is at the forefront of that.

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 And for that reason, we will encounter more and more of that, you know,

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 sifting of clash of values and clash of, and we might be vilified and slandered

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 as a result when we try to follow Christ.

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 So this is just as relevant for us, and I'm sure.

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 And even in this context, a lot of people do leave the faith

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 because of peer pressure or societal pressure.

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 I mean, a lot of college students, for example,

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 when they go for the first time and they have independence,

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 and a lot of their peers are not Christians following God,

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 they abandon the faith when they go to college.

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 So we see that.

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 But Peter tells us, he prepares us.

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 Christian suffering is expected.

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 It's not, we should not be surprised.

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 Now, knowing that it's expected is helpful

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 because it helps us to cope when we encounter suffering.

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 But I don't think it quite teaches us how to rejoice in the midst of suffering.

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 Right?

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 And yeah, you expect it, but it's still not pleasant.

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 So how am I supposed to rejoice in suffering?

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 But Peter tells us, nonetheless, in verse 13,

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 but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings.

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 So the reason why we cannot, we do not merely endure suffering,

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 but we're able, we're enabled to rejoice in suffering,

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 is because the suffering is also glorious.

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 Right?

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 Christian suffering is glorious.

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 And that's what he means that the rest of verse 13, he says,

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 but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings,

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 that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

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 Right.

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 This doesn't mean that we rejoice in the suffering in and of itself.

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 So we don't, you know, when we're having a hard time,

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 we're going through suffering, we don't airbrush it and say,

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 you know what, that really painful thing is actually very pleasant.

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 I enjoy it.

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 You know, or this really difficult trial in my life,

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 you know, it's actually, really, it's good.

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 It's good.

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 I like it.

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 You know, I mean, no, that's not what we're meant to do.

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 We don't put on a face as Christians.

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 That's not what he's calling us to.

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 Rather, we're not rejoicing in suffering in and of itself,

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 but we rejoice in what the suffering points to.

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 And the suffering points to the truth that our vindication and our glory is near.

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 Right?

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 We will ultimately, as God's followers, be vindicated and be sharing God's glory

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 if we're suffering and sharing Christ's suffering in this age.

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 Right?

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 So then suffering as a Christian, then it's not a cause for shame.

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 He tells us it's actually, should be considered glorious.

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 It's not a curse.

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 It's not a sign of God's curse.

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 Rather, it says in verse 14, it's a sign of God's blessing because you are blessed.

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 Right?

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 Suffering for being a Christian is not a reason to despair or become bitter,

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 but rather it says in verse 13, it's a cause to rejoice, to have joy.

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 Right?

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 And this is a helpful teaching because I've seen this in so many people's lives.

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 I see this in my life as well.

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 It's that, you know, when life is going smoothly, it's very easy to be beaming with confidence and optimism.

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 You know, everything's going to work out.

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 You know, I'm going to be fine.

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 It's God's good.

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 I mean, He's faithful.

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 It's easy to say that when life is going well.

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 But as soon as things start to go south, right, and that life is hard and there's suffering and trial,

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 then we start to ask, what did I do wrong?

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 Did I just mess up something?

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 Did I have something of God's plan?

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 Did I, it's why are all these bad things happening?

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 Does God really care?

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 Right?

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 In a similar way, like if we suffer for being a Christian, people who once were full of faith could all of a sudden be plagued with doubts.

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 Well, why do all of these, so many people around me don't believe this if this is really true?

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 Maybe Christianity really is as nonsensical or offensive as people say it is.

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 Right?

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 Maybe God's not real.

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 Right?

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 But in those times, right, Peter wants to reassure us, do not be surprised by suffering.

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 Rather, rejoice because when you suffer as a believer for being a Christian, that's not a sign of God's abandonment.

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 Rather, it's a sign of God's abiding presence.

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 And that means that you will, in the end, be vindicated and share in God's glory because you are sharing in the suffering of Christ.

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 And that's why he says in verses 17 to 18,

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 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.

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 And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

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 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

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 Now, this is teaching us about God's ultimate judgment.

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 Right?

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 And we often speak as Christians that, oh, as Christians, we are no longer under God's judgment.

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 And that's a true statement.

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 And by that, we mean that we're no longer under God's condemnation.

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 Right?

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 Because of what Christ has done for us.

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 But we're still all going to be judged by God.

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 Right?

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 In the end, the sheep and the goats, if you look at the scene in Matthew of God's final judgment,

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 they're both judged, the sheep and the goats.

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 The God's people and the people who are not God's people will all be judged.

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 But the fact that we're not under God's condemnation means that we're safeguarded from the just punishment that we deserve as sinners.

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 So we are no longer going to, we're no longer subject to that punishment because Christ bore that punishment for us.

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 And this is, and Peter kind of goes on a little bit of the side.

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 It says, but don't suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler.

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 Right?

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 So he's making sure that we understand that the suffering, that's a sign of our ultimate vindication and glory,

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 is not the suffering for doing evil things.

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 Right?

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 I mean, you may suffer for doing evil things.

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 Like if you murder or if you steal, if you meddle in people's lives in an unhealthy way,

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 that you might suffer as a result of that, but that's not the suffering that points to God's glory.

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 Because that's deserved suffering.

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 Peter's talking about undeserved suffering.

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 When you suffer undeservedly because of your faith in Christ, then that's a sign of God's ultimate glory.

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 And what does Peter mean by that?

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 You know, that God's judging, that this is God's judgment, that it's beginning with the household of God.

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 That's the people of God.

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 Right?

00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:58.100
 It's beginning with the family of God.

00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:05.360
 So this is why I don't, we talked last week about the fact that we are living in the end times.

00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:05.659
 Right?

00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:09.300
 Because Christ ushered in the end times.

00:15:09.420 --> 00:15:13.120
 So since the death and resurrection of Christ, we have all been living in the end times.

00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:13.399
 Right?

00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:18.440
 And we're at the final stage of God's redemptive plan, salvation plan.

00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:20.519
 And that's what it means to be, we're in the end times.

00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:30.019
 So because we're in that end times, the judgment that which is going to happen at that final stage of God's salvation is already happening in a way.

00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:30.740
 Peter's saying.

00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:32.699
 And this is how it's already happening.

00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:36.980
 It's that God's separating out people who are his and people who are not his.

00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:43.120
 And the mode of that separation, the measuring line, the plumb line of God's judgment is Christian suffering.

00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:45.039
 It's suffering for being a Christian.

00:15:45.420 --> 00:15:52.440
 So when you suffer as Christians, when you are persecuted for your faith in Christ and for your allegiance to him over everything else,

00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.820
 that itself is a sign that you have, that God's judgment has begun.

00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:58.720
 And he's saying that you are my people.

00:15:59.120 --> 00:15:59.659
 This is God.

00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:02.339
 This is my people because they're undergoing suffering.

00:16:02.339 --> 00:16:08.199
 So ironically, when hostile unbelievers oppose Christians and persecute Christians,

00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:14.000
 they're unwittingly declaring judgment upon themselves and saying, no, these are God's people.

00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:14.620
 Right?

00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:16.480
 And that God's judgment has already begun.

00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:23.799
 That separating process, distinguishing process has already begun here and now in the suffering that we endure for Christ's sake.

00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:32.759
 And if you're not a believer here with us, or you may be listening to this sermon elsewhere,

00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:40.879
 you undoubtedly find this idea of judgment and punishment for unbelievers unpalatable, to say the least, maybe even horrific.

00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:45.339
 If you think about it, the concept of God's eternal judgment is not a pleasant one.

00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:48.079
 It's not in at least two Western sensibilities.

00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:51.579
 We like a God of love, right, and not a God of judgment.

00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:57.500
 But I would like to submit to you that we all, in fact, believe in judgment.

00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:05.400
 In fact, we as people who live under the rule of law as citizens or residents of the United States of America,

00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:10.039
 and we submit to the judgment of the court of law every single day.

00:17:10.340 --> 00:17:14.100
 Day in and day out, the court's passing judgment, and we submit to that.

00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:20.259
 And when we think of judgment, we can't merely punish, and punishment, we can't merely think of the fact that,

00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:25.500
 well, punishment is intended to deter future offenses, and it's supposed to rehabilitate offenders.

00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:27.459
 Yeah, it does do those things.

00:17:27.939 --> 00:17:36.679
 But punishment, I think actually the primary purpose of punishment is to affirm the value, the dignity, and worth of the person who has been victimized.

00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:44.259
 In making the offender, the perpetrator of injustice suffer, you're affirming the value and dignity of the person who was made to suffer.

00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:47.400
 So that's justice.

00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:59.680
 And so to illustrate this, just a few months ago, a college student from California raped a 22-year-old woman who was unconscious after getting drunk.

00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:10.539
 And you guys have probably seen the viral letter that she wrote to her rapist and read at his sentencing.

00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:18.220
 And the sentence that he got for raping this woman who was unconscious was six months in jail.

00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:21.100
 Six months, not years.

00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:26.759
 And a lot of people protested across the country.

00:18:26.879 --> 00:18:33.959
 They read the letter and submitted, you know, just bewailing the fact that that was unjust.

00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:35.919
 It was too lenient.

00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:39.699
 This person ruined this woman's life in a way, right?

00:18:39.919 --> 00:18:41.240
 And raped her.

00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.799
 But the reason that the judge cited for the lenient sentence was that this would have a severe impact on the young man.

00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.259
 And to have a longer sentence.

00:18:52.879 --> 00:18:59.859
 And the woman protested in her letter, well, his assault has had a severe impact on me, right?

00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:04.259
 And why are you then being so lenient and saying a six-month sentence?

00:19:04.399 --> 00:19:06.039
 I mean, it's really kind of unprecedented.

00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:08.619
 It's usually, you get, it's a far heavier sentence.

00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:13.220
 And so people are all up in arms about it, all across the nation, saying that is unjust.

00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:16.019
 That person should suffer for what he did.

00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:16.799
 More than that.

00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:20.119
 The punishment did not fit the crime.

00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:21.559
 It should be commended with the crime.

00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:23.639
 But in that case, it did not fit the crime.

00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.240
 And why are people all up in arms about this, right?

00:19:26.379 --> 00:19:31.440
 It's not because people are masochistic and they just want to ruin a young man's life and want to see him suffer.

00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.619
 I don't think that's why people are up in arms about it.

00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:37.799
 They're up in arms about it because they feel that this woman was wronged.

00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:43.279
 That her value and her dignity was not affirmed in that judgment, right?

00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.799
 And that's why they're up in arms about it, right?

00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:49.920
 And that's exactly, I think, the reason why God must judge.

00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:53.619
 God must mete out punishment, right?

00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:58.879
 In the same way because, I mean, just a small analogy.

00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:03.960
 I just killed a fly this afternoon in the kitchen because it was bothering Hannah, right?

00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:09.299
 None of you guys are going to protest and give me a hard time about it.

00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:11.359
 Say, I can't believe you killed a fly, right?

00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.199
 I mean, no one's going to sue me for that.

00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:18.759
 But imagine if, let's say, Taylor had a dog and he doesn't.

00:20:18.899 --> 00:20:22.599
 But let's imagine he had a dog and he was really abusive to his dog, right?

00:20:22.919 --> 00:20:26.199
 That actually could be, is a misdemeanor according to the law.

00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:32.159
 So he could be charged $1,000 and he could actually spend up to a year in jail, right?

00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.619
 Because that's a little more serious than killing a fly, right?

00:20:35.019 --> 00:20:35.519
 Squatting a fly.

00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:39.459
 But imagine someone harmed a person, right?

00:20:39.460 --> 00:20:44.240
 A husband was abusive to his wife, domestic abuse, right?

00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.900
 That now, right, can be, is a felony, right?

00:20:48.940 --> 00:20:51.460
 And in some states they could spend up to a lifetime in prison.

00:20:52.100 --> 00:20:54.519
 Now why do these punishments differ, right?

00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:59.200
 It's because of the value and dignity of the person that was inflicted, that the suffering

00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:00.279
 was inflicted upon, right?

00:21:00.620 --> 00:21:05.840
 The dog is more valuable than the fly and the person is more valuable than the dog, right?

00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.799
 In the same way, God is of infinite value.

00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:14.339
 He's eternally holy and he has done only good to us and has been benevolent toward us and

00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:15.279
 gracious to us.

00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:16.819
 Yet we have offended him.

00:21:17.339 --> 00:21:19.519
 We have sinned against him and wronged him.

00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:25.359
 And the only punishment that is commensurate with the crime is eternal punishment, is eternal

00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:25.819
 judgment.

00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:29.740
 So it is not unfair that God inflicts judgment.

00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:30.899
 It's right.

00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:34.039
 It affirms his worth, his dignity, and his glory.

00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:38.299
 And that's why judgment, the Christians never have, you know, airbrushed judgment.

00:21:38.639 --> 00:21:41.859
 We do not try to, you know, put it under the rug and not talk about it.

00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:45.839
 We talk about God's judgment because we believe that it affirms God's glory.

00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:48.480
 Something that we're called to, something that we're committed to, right?

00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.620
 So punishment is inescapable.

00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:57.200
 If you have sinned against God, and all of us have, every single person in this room

00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:01.259
 and in this world has sinned against this holy God and deserve eternal punishment.

00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:07.279
 And there's only one way in which God has made a way for our justification.

00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:09.339
 So we can be declared innocent.

00:22:09.700 --> 00:22:11.480
 So that we can be vindicated.

00:22:12.019 --> 00:22:13.839
 And that brings me to my final point.

00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.539
 It's that Christian suffering is Christ-like.

00:22:16.539 --> 00:22:19.460
 Christian suffering is expected.

00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:22.119
 And Christian suffering is glorious.

00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:24.619
 And Christian suffering is Christ-like.

00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:26.859
 Verse 14 says,

00:22:27.659 --> 00:22:30.920
 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.

00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:34.680
 Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.980
 This phrase, the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you,

00:22:39.399 --> 00:22:42.500
 is an allusion to Isaiah 11, verse 2.

00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:43.339
 Which says,

00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:45.839
 The spirit of the Lord will rest on him.

00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:50.439
 And the him that Isaiah is talking about is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, right?

00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:53.379
 So then in alluding to Isaiah 11, 2,

00:22:53.679 --> 00:22:58.419
 Peter's making a deliberate connection between Christ and his people.

00:22:58.679 --> 00:23:01.279
 In the same way that Christ suffered, right?

00:23:01.399 --> 00:23:04.279
 And when he suffered, the spirit of God rested on him.

00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:09.859
 And when we suffer for Christ's sake, the spirit of God, the same spirit of God rests on us.

00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:12.439
 And verse 19 says,

00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:16.319
 The believers who suffer according to God's will,

00:23:16.639 --> 00:23:19.719
 they are to entrust their souls to a faithful creator.

00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:23.019
 This again is following in the footsteps of what Christ has done.

00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:24.679
 In chapter 2, verse 23, it says,

00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:31.959
 When Christ suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:33.559
 That's what Christ did.

00:23:33.659 --> 00:23:34.919
 Christ suffered.

00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:36.200
 He did not deserve to suffer.

00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:42.880
 He was the one man who ever lived that did not deserve to suffer, was never sinned against God, yet he suffered.

00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.460
 And why did he suffer?

00:23:44.840 --> 00:23:46.860
 Peter told us in chapter 3, verse 18.

00:23:47.320 --> 00:23:55.080
 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

00:23:55.079 --> 00:24:00.159
 The righteous one suffered for the unrighteous, right?

00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:07.939
 Christ bore the punishment that we deserve, and because of that, we are able to be declared innocent, justified.

00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:15.019
 And because we are justified in Christ, that's what assures us when we share in Christ's suffering that we are his people,

00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:19.480
 and that in the end, we will be vindicated, and we will share in God's glory.

00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:24.699
 Friends, I hope you understand the import of this.

00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:28.019
 This is the same gospel I preach every week.

00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:33.400
 If you guys have been here since the beginning of our services, you've heard it every week.

00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:35.759
 But this is the gospel that Paul said,

00:24:35.860 --> 00:24:37.700
 Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:40.539
 It's the only gospel that can save us.

00:24:40.580 --> 00:24:42.880
 It's the only gospel that can transform us.

00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.940
 And until it sinks in, the penny drops, your life will not change.

00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:52.500
 And if you're not a believer, I want to enjoy you.

00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:54.860
 Repent of your sins.

00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:59.600
 And believe in the fact that Christ died and rose again for your sins.

00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:04.500
 And that's the one and only way which you can be reconciled to God and come to him.

00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:09.900
 And if you are a believer, then I want to encourage you that when you suffer,

00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:13.240
 when you're sharing in Christ's suffering,

00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:16.700
 and when you suffer for being a Christian,

00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:20.839
 that's a sign that we are part of God's people,

00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:22.680
 that God's judgment has begun,

00:25:22.940 --> 00:25:26.000
 and we're on the right side of God's judgment that we belong to him.

00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.079
 That's why we share in Christ's suffering here and now.

00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:33.619
 And that, beloved brothers and sisters,

00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:35.980
 is what enables us to rejoice in our suffering,

00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:37.759
 as Peter is teaching us.

00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:43.279
 We began talking about Nero and persecution that they endured,

00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:47.019
 and according to the tradition passed on by the church history,

00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:50.859
 Apostle Peter, the author of this letter,

00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:55.759
 was himself crucified in Rome under the Emperor Nero.

00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:59.660
 And the story has it that he was crucified upside down,

00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:01.559
 at his own request,

00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:02.880
 because he said,

00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:06.940
 he insisted that he is not worthy to be killed

00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:09.839
 in the same manner of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:13.960
 He lived what he's preaching here.

00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:16.859
 He understood that suffering,

00:26:17.779 --> 00:26:19.680
 we're sharing Christ's suffering,

00:26:19.900 --> 00:26:21.619
 that he needs something to rejoice in,

00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:25.059
 because we get shared in the glory

00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:26.879
 that's in the end waiting for him.

00:26:27.199 --> 00:26:29.319
 And that's what enabled him to suffer in that way.

00:26:30.339 --> 00:26:31.079
 So in the same way,

00:26:31.159 --> 00:26:33.879
 I pray that we would be able to do the same as believers,

00:26:34.659 --> 00:26:36.119
 to suffer for being a Christian.

00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:59.659
 B