As Part of God's Household, I Should Rejoice While God Sovereignly Judges His Household
1 Peter 4:12-19
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes for young children to answer are throughout sermon)Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Turn to 1 Peter 4:12. Our passage under study is 1 Peter 4:12-19. As we approach this section with the intention to glean some important principles for our Christian lives, we need to remember that Peter wrote this letter while experiencing persecution for Christ. Many Christians experienced persecution for Christ in Peter's day. Stephen was one of the first to exemplify the intensity of it. He was stoned to death. Stephen's martyrdom reflected the pattern that Christ modeled. Christ's pattern was to be rejected by the lost world culture. Peter prophetically sees that more hardships are coming for the churches throughout Asia Minor. Peter was right. So, Peter is moved by the Spirit to both encourage, and establish, the Christian communities. In the great legacy of how the Spirit operates, you and I have received that same spirit of encouragement through this vital scripture. With this in mind, let's read, starting in verse 12;
"12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the good news of God? 18 and if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the Godless man and the sinner? 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the determination of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, from this sermon titled
"As Part of God's Household, I Should Rejoice While God Sovereignly Judges His Household"
[Prayer]
This morning I want us to explore some vital principles for our Christian lives. It has to do with the realm of suffering. It has to do with suffering according to the determination of God. It has to do with suffering as part of God's righteous judgment. It has to do with suffering that is meant to glorify God through us who are His church. Further, it has to do with another judgment. It is not judgment upon the elect. It is judgment upon those who reject the gospel and remain lost in their sins. Looking into our text, the first principle we will glean has to do with Peter summing up all of the instructions the Spirit has laid out in this letter concerning suffering. Peter wants us set apart priesthood people, to recognize there are certain things that are necessary for us to understand for us to live in mature faith among the lost world culture. Namely, you and I should not be surprised at the intense ordeal of suffering that we experience. He says specifically that the experience of the fiery ordeal is that
"... which comes upon you for your testing ...
[Peter goes on, and he says that you are not to think, or act,]
... as though something strange is happening to you;" 1 Peter 4:12
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This is our first principle. The testing is from God's determination where the tests come to us through fiery ordeals as a matter of normal, good, Christianity. It is difficult to understand from a non-spiritual point of view, but God is the one who determines that you be tested in a certain way that involves a kind of stress that you must experience. So, it is important that we embrace the spiritual revelation: God ordains that we be tested; and further, God does not want to be taken wrongly in what He is doing. What I mean is that the testing way that God ordains this is always good testing--even if it does not seem good to you while you are going through it. But there is more; so follow what I am saying very closely: God always means for your testing to be because of good; and also for good to be accomplished as the result. Think about this for a moment. This means that God is not ordaining your testing because He is playing around with you to see if you will fail. This also means that God does not tempt you to sin. James says,
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone [toward evil]." James 1:13
@1 In respect to evil, God does not ________________ anyone toward it. James 1:13
Our expectation of the testing that God determines because of the goodness of Christ in us, is that it is both for our good, and for His own good purposes. And He wants you to be assured that it all has to do with righteousness. Think about the fact that God does not tempt you toward evil. Tempting, or testing, toward evil is what the devil does. It is what the world does. Temptation toward evil is also what we do to our selves. In sin, we can even tempt others toward sin. Up to this point, I have been identifying a principle. The principle is found throughout the New Covenant Scriptures. Let me put all that I have said into a tight package for us to embrace as a statement: God determines that His people be tested because of good, and toward good, knowing that the outcome for His people in the testing will always be good; and He wants us to recognize this. Let me repeat it this way:
God determines that you be tested because of the good in you through Christ; and He determines that you be tested toward good, knowing that the outcome for you in the testing will always be good; and He wants you to recognize it, and embrace it.
This is so simple to say, but this can be difficult, can't it? The reason why it can be difficult is because we can be wrapped up in the midst of our experiences as Christians in a hostile world, and what happens is that we can get overwhelmed by the impact of the tests we are going through. This is why they are called tests. The point is that the impact sometimes throws us off kilter. Things may seem so bad to us that we may begin to stop trusting our sovereign God in the ultimate good He intends to accomplish through what we are going through. In other words, when you are going through testing, you may not be considering that the testing really is good. Why? Because testing (like persecution, or the discomfort of the cursed world culture) feels bad to you. It hurts to have the world hate you. So, the Spirit is teaching us something here that He wants us to embrace in faith right now, so that later, the principle is already there in our renewed minds. Then, in the midst of the bad experiences, we have the principle implanted; and so we can draw upon the power of the Spirit to rightly trust God according to His principle. We must trust that God knows all the good that is being accomplished even if we don't have the remotest clue concerning what it is. Like all these kinds of things, this is a faith issue isn't it? Either we are going to believe God now, or we are not. Either we are going to believe God later in the midst of the arduous hellish experiences, or we are not. Nevertheless, our faith is based upon facts. So, God has made sure that we can know what some of the good things are in the testing; and this is part of the beauty of being discipled in God's word. What are some of those good things?
--a--
One good is that testing makes you a living evidence of the gospel. It proves your Christianity is real. In much the same way that the godless man and the sinner rejects the gospel, they will reject you too. So you get a fiery ordeal. Why? Because you are an embodiment of the life that comes from the gospel. As living evidence, the tests demonstrate that you are a follower of Christ.
--b--
Another good is that testing molds you more into the image of Christ. It cleanses you so that you will manifest godliness, which by the way, usually brings more, and more persecution as a result. Remember, those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12. On the other hand, those who desire to live ungodly while in Christ Jesus will either be overlooked, or will marked as hypocrites and will suffer the fruits of sin. Now I want us to think about this: We know that Christ has already cleansed us from all unrighteousness in our spiritual state. That is His completed work that He accomplished on the cross, and He accomplished, and is accomplishing, in His elect by grace through faith. It is a done deal for all who are saved. But Christ's work continues through the Spirit using the word. What He is doing is making us manifest more of Christ than more of us. He does it through preaching--like this morning. He does it through exhortation from one another. He does it through many ways. Cleansing us from all unrighteousness also continues through our circumstances that God orchestrates in righteous judgment on His elect for good. What happens is that God presses out your pride through what you are going through. He is burning away your sinful inclinations that make you look like the lost so that the contrast is stark. He turns on the refining fires so that humbleness, and righteous living, come out. Let me ask you something. Do you think you are humble? If you do, then get ready. You are about to experience fiery ordeals. Do you think you are spiritual? Well then don't be surprised when God has you tested for being a Christian. It is through the testing that you will truly see how spiritually mature you are. You see, all of this must take place through the refiner's fire; and in our context, the fire is ordained by God; but yet, it comes from the world that opposes God.
--c--
Another good that it produces in you is endurance in your spiritual life. Just like sulfur is the hardening agent that makes soft rubber into something tough enough to be a tire, God's testing toward good, makes you spiritually tough. God wants his household to be strong in the midst of the hatred against it. So He strengthens your inner man though your outer man is wounded.
The point is that even tough we may not understand everything that is going on in the fiery trials of Christian living as pilgrims in a cursed world, God has made sure that we know enough. Think, for a moment about what is going on in you when fiery ordeals come upon you. The more you are tested, the more you cry out to the Lord. We are reduced to weakness, and so what do we do? We seek our strength in Him. Weakness is not always seen as a good thing, but think about how good it is when it comes to this spiritual principle. When we are weak, then He is strong because He is all that is left. Sometimes God has to literally break through the little prideful shells that are beginning to coat us. He has to chisel away selfish inclinations that are weighing us down in our spiritual race. The result He is looking for is for Himself to be manifested out of us in a wicked world. It is where you manifest more of Him than the junk that was there, getting in the way. Have you ever noticed that when you are fellowshipping with someone that you consider to be an exceptionally spiritually minded Christian, (I am talking about someone who is almost always focused upon the things of God in conversation and action) that you notice that they have a keen propensity to instantly recognize worldliness. Have you ever noticed that? We do not typically think that such spiritually minded people are spiritually foolish. We think that they are spiritually wise, don't we? Among the world, there is a kind of analogy to this. What I mean is that there is a weathering influence that produces seasoned souls that we call "streetwise" people. Think about that term, "streetwise." What being streetwise means is that they have acquired a sense of how to survive. For example, streetwise people can spot a con man a mile away. Streetwise people know how to handle themselves in the dog eat dog world of the lost. Streetwise people have a kind of secular wisdom of the smart dog. Now think about the spiritual realm. In the spiritual realm, the fiery ordeals that come about for the testing of Christians, are what hone us spiritually; they sharpen us like a grinding tool. What is the result? The testing is making us spiritually wise--not street wise, but heavenly wise. We become more, and more, spiritually wise as the foolish, and even sinful, pursuits are being confronted by the Spirit throughout our circumstances. Spiritual wisdom makes you into a living contrast with the world that is easy to see. We are being made to look more like the royal priesthood that we are truly of; and the royal priesthood is the enemy of the world. But folks, our flesh does not naturally like this process; and yet, the Spirit knows that the testing is necessary to bring its perfect result. This reminds me of a movie that came out nearly a generation ago. It was a fight-movie drama about a boxer named Rocky. In the movie, Rocky's nemesis, was a man by the name of Clubber Lang. Clubber Lang was a character who had a somber, focused, tough fighter personification. He was known for pummeling his opponents to smithereens. I saw that movie when I was a boy. One of the few things I remember about that movie, was a scene where a reporter asked, Clubber Lang what he predicted for the fight. His answer was strong, simple, and concise, yet it spoke volumes from the library of the street wise. He said one word, as he looked at the camera: "Pain." That is the kind of intimidating word that makes our flesh recoil. Our flesh doesn't like the testing process because we know what the process entails: We predict it with fearful accuracy: Pain. Sometimes the pain is so immense that we can hardly describe it. It seems unbearable. We may be thinking: "Where is the good? How can any good come from this?" But the point is that God understands all of the pain. He also understands all of the good that comes from it; but He really does understand all the pain too when it comes to living and dying in the sinful world of the lost. Jesus went through unbearable pain in the garden. It had to happen. He called the severe trauma His point of death experience of anxiety. It was so intense that He sweat drops of blood. Jesus also went through the pain of the following torture. He went through the pain of the humiliation. Then He went through the final execution process of the cross. Listen, in the spiritual realm, this had to happen. There was no other alternative. God understood all of this, but never forget, He also understood our need for all that Christ went through. In the same way, He understands that His household needs a similar kind of process, because it has to happen with the saved while among the lost. In God's sovereign determinant judgment in testing, pain brings gain. So Peter reminds you that trials for being a Christian don't come your way by accident. They are part of the sovereign plan that God is working out in our lives because we are His. We are to expect it because it is in God's purpose for good. The outworking of this is seen in the arena of our lost culture because authentically demonstrated Christianity in a Christless culture is an existence that the culture does not tolerate. This is why God reminds us, here, of the next thing we are to do, which is our next principle:
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In our testing which is suffering for Christ, we should keep on rejoicing because the Spirit of glory rests upon us.
"13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory [who is the Spirit of God, rests on you, NET]" 1 Peter 4:13-14
@2 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are ___________________ because the Spirit of glory rests on you. 1 Peter 4:14
Peter has explained that we should expect suffering and testing. Now notice that Peter talks about quantity. Suffering comes in degrees. Not everyone will experience the same degree of suffering for Christ. Some Christians meet in underground churches because of the suffering they get from the lost world culture. Some get maligned by family members. Some get subtle forms of persecution from coworkers and business associates. It comes in degrees. You might get it from a college professor. You could get it from a neighbor. Sharing Christ's sufferings might be verbal abuse. It could be economic hurt. It might be physical. You may even be murdered for your faith. But, to each degree, Peter says, that we share the sufferings of Christ, the Spirit wants us to keep on rejoicing. The question is: Why? We have already covered the primary reasons, and results, of suffering. But here Peter says, "rejoice." We should rejoice because we are experiencing the special fellowship of Christ's suffering as those in which the Spirit of glory rests. There is another reason. In the degrees of our suffering for Christ, we are recognizing that just as Christ is glorified and is sitting at the Father's right hand, we too will experience eternal glory someday. At this point we can see that it is easy to learn these principles as data from the Bible. But, it is not easy for us; even for me as a pastor, to rejoice over it all in the midst of the time it is happening. This is why I say that this is a faith issue that the experience itself is instrumental in maturing us in. Rejoicing is the height of manifesting our faith in these circumstances. This is why this is a mindset that must first comes from discipleship in God's word. And then once the word is received and believed, it must remain there, ready, in our hearts. It must remain there, ready to be applied to any circumstance that we are in through faith. There are times that it may take time before manifested rejoicing comes out. At least this is the way it is with me. Sometimes I get so hard hit spiritually, and the pain of living as a pilgrim in a hostile world is so difficult to live with, that rejoicing is not always my first reaction. My faith is being tested. With this in mind, I think that the reason why Peter did not say that we will instinctively "rejoice" is because there are clearly logical reasons for rejoicing, and the Spirit wants us to base our manifestation of our faith upon those reasons which means that we rejoice based upon God's word that we are gleaning from. I also think that God wants us to recognize that there are many levels of this rejoicing in view. What I means is that sometimes when I rejoice immediately, it can be a kind of forced effort that must be pressed through what I feel. I have to pick myself up, in a sense, and I have to put on the right mindset in spite of my feelings. Then, I rejoice knowing that there is a real spiritual reason to rejoice. I also know that I should rejoice. But then there is also another level of rejoicing that comes. It usually comes after I have succumbed to the anxiety of the test. If you don't know what I mean, then think about when you are feeling particularly beaten down by the sin filled world with all of its pain. Though you know from God's word that you should be rejoicing in what God has done in you, and is doing with you (a living stone in His household), you don't. But what I am talking about is what happens next. The Spirit is still working. He wants us to regroup our thoughts. It is where we apply the word to our lives as we face what the lost world culture has to deal out to us; but in strengthened faith. So, we rejoice but it may be just a little. The world is still stinging us. But we are embracing the sovereign determination of God, and so it is like a tiny step that we take on a rocky road after a cast has been removed from a broken foot that is healing from a fractured bone. It is a baby step of faith. Ultimately what we are looking for is what God is looking for. It is to be rejoicing a lot as we walk again in a stance that is shining God's glory out of our hearts and circumstances beyond human understanding. This is where you find yourself running in mature strides of faith that endure through the rocks on the road like a champion. The point is that God is the one producing it all, though the fire comes from the lost. And the point is that there are levels that occur in the testing, and God understands all of them. The bottom line is that we are purposing to move forward according to God's word--not according to ignorance, or, our feelings. I want us to think about a strong example of this we see in Acts 8:2. We read that some Christians made loud lamentation over Stephen after he was murdered for Christ. They went through the process of what I am talking about. Stephen was received by Christ who was standing at the Fathers' right hand, which is glorious. The Holy Spirit had been poured out. The saints had faith. But think about it: The saints made loud lamentation anyway. You see, there are levels and degrees; but we must look toward the ultimate rejoicing knowing, in faith, that it will come. And then finally there is that greatest level of rejoicing. Think about when it will finally come. It will come when we will see Christ face to face. This really gives us a glorious expectation doesn't it? Ultimately the suffering you go through for being a Christian will be more than rewarded forever in the presence of the Lord. That will be the greatest level of rejoicing of all! But, in the meantime, the Spirit also cautions us;
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which brings us to our next principle for living in mature faith:
"15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God that you bear such a name."
@3 If I suffer as a ____________________ I am not to be ashamed, but I am to glorify God that I bear such a name. 1 Peter 4:15-16
The Lord is telling us that there are unacceptable reasons for us, as Christians, to suffer. Notice that Peter makes a command. It is an imperative. He says that you better make sure that you do not suffer for ungodliness. Being a murderer, or a thief, are only a few examples. Peter put the reference to doing things that an evildoer does to make sure that we get the point. Murderers and thieves get their due from the lost who seek revenge, and so called, penal justice. Evildoing covers all bad things, right? What is going on here has as much to do with God's glory in your life, as it has to do with being a warning. We are the only royal priesthood that exists among the lost world culture. We are the only holy nation. We are the only living stones. The name "Christian" is a title of honor that brings great responsibility with it as we are engaging society. We glorify God, in being called a "Christian." So, whenever you are sinning, what are you doing? You glorify the old nature of sin. You glorify the devil. To glorify the devil as a "Christian" is shameful to both yourself, and also to the Lord of glory. The Spirit is exhorting us to strongly consider that our deeds are not meaningless. Certainly we are continuously covered by the grace permeated blood of Christ. But the damage that comes from ungodly deeds is real. And further, the damage is just too far-reaching to fully identify. And yes, whenever you suffer the consequences in this life for you sinful actions, it is still suffering according to the righteous judgment and determination of God. But to glorify God where your whole life is living worship, as a Christian, is to be fulfilling what you and I were designed to do, called to do, and expected to do. This is one reason why practical Lordship of Christ is so important. Notice that Peter says that shameful suffering also applies to being a troublesome meddler. How many Christians are guilty of this, and yet they don't act as if they are evildoing? The world is packed with troublesome meddlers. And they suffer for it. Unfortunately, the church is packed with troublesome meddlers too. They are people who cause trouble in the lives of others. They love drama. They thrive on getting involved in situations that are none of their business; and once they have trespassed into the situation, they stir up strife and discord. If they would have heeded the Spirit's true leading, and learned to lead a quite life, and tend to their own business, then they would not have caused others to suffer. But further, they would not be suffering too because of the trouble that they have caused. The Spirit is warning us to avoid being troublesome meddlers, and if we are, and we suffer for it, we can not act as if it should not have been expected. None of these things are legitimate reasons to suffer for as a Christian.
By the way, the label, "Christian" literally means "one who is of Christ." The term was first used in Peter's day by non-Christians to describe followers of Christ. The term was first used at Antioch according to Acts 11. King Agrippa used the term in Acts 26. Eventually it came to be used by followers of Christ. In Peter's context, suffering in society, as those who have been given a name by outsiders that says that "you are of Christ" by doing truly contemptible things that are not God's will, ridicules our living worship. Instead of living worship, such suffering makes us a living mockery of Christianity. You don't want to be suffering in such a way as to define a word for outsiders according to your sins, do you? Of course not. But, it is easy for the unsaved to seek to find reasons to indict us who are of the household of God. They would love to be able to call us murderers, thieves, and troublesome meddlers. They get a thrill out of identifying Christians as evildoers. Why? Because they are spiritually dead in their own unholy priesthood. Think about how the priesthood of the lost is watching you. Lost people will identify Christianity through you who are the truly royal priesthood of the King of kings. Therefor our ambition for daily witness should be to make the world's label on us into a name that is honorable. Let's suffer for righteousness as the "One who is of Christ."
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This brings us to the next principle. It has to do with God's judgment beginning with the household of God;
"17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 and if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the Godless man and the sinner?" 1 Peter 4:17-18
There is an eschatological sense here that Peter is alluding to for those who do not obey the gospel. But, notice that Peter is connecting God's sovereign work in purifying us in our outward actions to manifest the purity we already have inside because of Christ. Here, Peter calls God's sovereign determination that we be tested, by a different term. Notice that he calls God's wise actions in respect to the fiery ordeals we experience for being Christians, His "judgment." When we think of the word "judgment" here, we should be thinking of God's wise determinations, right decrees, and perfect actions. This is what a judgment is. The "household of God" in Peter's use of the word, in respect to God's judicious action, means all of the whole expanse of His Christian people. Back in 2:5 Peter calls all of us combined Christians "a spiritual house." Paul uses the term in a similar, but slightly different, way in respect to the local Christian community,
"I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth," 1 Timothy 3:15
Paul is talking about the local congregation aspect of the household of God. The point is that the household of God is the church, from the local congregation in Paul's context, to the broader church here in Peter's context. Peter says here that God's judgment "begins with us first." "Us" means you. It means me. It means the body of Christ everywhere. To understand this, we need to remember what we have already covered, as we consider God judging His children in numerous ways. For example, we must recognize that God has already judged His whole church to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus positionally, 2 Corinthians 5:21. Here Peter is talking about another judgment for the elect. He is talking about the household of God experiencing the testing from the lost world culture according to His righteous judgment, which is temporal judgment conditionally. Try to stay with what I am saying. There can not be any confusion on this. If there is, then you will miss Peter's actual point. Again, this judgment experience for us Christians in the fiery ordeals has to do with our condition while on earth. It is not a judgment against us in our position in Christ. I'll explain some more: Notice that Peter rhetorically asks two questions:
First Peter asks; if God's judgment is to have fiery trials be part of the plan for His own people, what will be the end of those who reject the gospel? In other words, if God ordains that the world tests us and we experience pain in it, can you imagine what the damning judgment of the lost will be like?
Secondly Peter asks; if salvation is difficult for the righteous, what shall happen to the unsaved?
It is the same point. What Peter is doing is making a comparison for effect. He points out the magnified wrath end of all who reject Christ. Then Peter touches upon God's righteous determination for the testing of Christians for identification, contrast, and growth, as the daily process by which God is demonstrating the practical image of His son. The point is that God judges everything, but in different ways. In other words, the lost are judged to be lost. In tests, we are judged in another, unique, way. Paul talks about our kind of judgment that we go through daily, as he describes the persecution and affliction that the Thessalonians church was going through. Paul really shines a bright spotlight upon Peter's meaning when he repeats the principle, saying,
"we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
[That is the testing. Now comes the judgment reference]
5 This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering." 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5
Right there is the exact same principle. Paul says, it is a plainly obvious indication, that when you go through all of this tribulation, and trial, and suffering, that it is God's judgment to demonstrate that you are a Christian. Why? Because God is revealing Christ out of you. Your tests manifests Christ. They show that you are a Christian in a lost world culture. It shows your worth as being a citizen of the Kingdom. In Peter's specific context, that we are gleaning the main principles from, God's determined testing, and judgment, concerning the condition of His people, is for identification, contrast, and growth in molding us into the practical image of His son. The same result is looked for: Christ is made manifest. This is why it is so important for you to understand that when God judges you this way, it is not God's wrath that is on you. Let me repeat that again. When God judges His royal priesthood of His household, which is you, it is not God's wrath. What is it then? This judgment is God's love. So, what Peter has been saying is that we children of God in Christ, need to get the proper perspective of comparison. You are not going to understand it until you do. It is far better to endure suffering as the Lord has the world test the church, and to endure it with joy for the sake of Christ, than to endure the kind of damning judgment that lost people will go through eternally. This is what leads to Peter's second rhetorical question: If it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the Godless man and the sinner?" Peter is exegeting, Proverbs 11:31 from the Greek Septuagint, yet with some insights reminiscent of the Masoretic text, and applying it to Christians.
The Septuagint states,
"If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Proverbs 11:31
The Masoretic text states
"If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!" Proverbs 11:31
This is an expression that is stated in more than one way, and recognizing Peter's usage of Proverbs 11:31 is the key. Peter is simply repeating what he said in verse 17 concerning the judgment of God in respect to the temporal life of the saints while on earth, but he is doing it in slightly different terms from his own uniquely inspired exegesis from Proverbs (a practice that Peter does a lot of in this epistle). In 17 Peter talks about God's Christians being judged worthy to suffer for Christ, and then on the other hand, Peter also talks about the condemnation of people who reject Christ. Here Peter talks about Christians, who are righteous, and then he goes on to contrast them with the Godless and sinners. Peter is not saying that the Christ-covenant of grace is teetering on the brink of being ineffectual for real secure salvation. The gospel of the grace of God is not barely, or scarcely, or hardly, saving people in eternal security. Salvation is not God's second thought, or His contingency plan, and so we are barely saved because God barely got the plan off. Born again people are not living each and every day by the skin of our teeth where at one moment we may be in, or at another moment we may be out because of our sins. No, you are once in always in eternal spiritual inness (OIAIIESI). What Peter says at the beginning of this letter, goes for what he says here. Christ was,
"foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God," 1 Peter 1:25
@4 Through Jesus Christ, Christians are believers in ______________ who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory so that our faith and hope are in ______________. 1 Peter 1:25
You are, as Paul says, where your Father,
"elected us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we would be set apart and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His determination," Ephesians 1:3-5
God did not barely do this. God thought this up, and then did it. You are not set apart and blameless in Christ in a kind of difficult experience that means that it might not stick. You are a completely set apart, blameless, spotless bride as a miracle, Ephesians 5:25-27. You were once not a virgin. Now you are spiritually virginal in Christ no matter how many failures of sin you may fall into;
"by grace you have been [already] saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;" Ephesians 2:8
You have not been barely saved through faith. It is not barely a gift of God. Peter states that your eternal hope of salvation is an,
"inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you," in 1:4.
Your inheritance is there waiting for you, which means that you must be an inheritor here (logic 101). So, what Peter is doing is once again referring to the difficulty that persecution brings to Christians in our salvation. Salvation brings persecution--a judgment of temporal hardship. Lostness, on the other hand, brings the judgment of eternal separation from God. All of this helps us to see the importance of a clear evaluation of our suffering.
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This leads to the last principle. In all this we must have trust. Peter says,
"19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the determination of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."
Non-Christians don't trust the one true God of the universe. But, we can trust our faithful loving creator in the midst of His testing judgment. Peter says, "therefore." "Therefore," means that Peter is summing up what he just said about not being surprised at your fiery testing ordeal. Really, once again, it all boils down to being a faith issue. Trust God. Trust that He loves you. Trust what He is doing. Trust the result.
The summation is that the Spirit wants you and me to rejoice as we share Christ's sufferings. He wants you to recognize that you are blessed because you are one of the people He has chosen to have God's Spirit dwell within you. We suffer without shame as Christians, because God's testing judgment begins with His people. Though this is true, be encouraged concerning your future. Our final destination is our eternal reward. The final destination for those who reject Christ is eternal doom. So, since we now understand our suffering, my urging to you is to purpose to have faith. Be encouraged. Let's all entrust ourselves to the creator knowing that he is not out of control of our lives and our circumstances. Amen
@1 In respect to evil, God does not ________________ anyone toward it. James 1:13
@2 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are ___________________ because the Spirit of glory rests on you. 1 Peter 4:14
@3 If I suffer as a ____________________ I am not to be ashamed, but I am to glorify God that I bear such a name. 1 Peter 4:15-16
@4 Through Jesus Christ, Christians are believers in ______________ who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory so that our faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:25
