Why is there suffering in the kingdom of God? A biblical perspective: 10 reasons for suffering 1. God blesses the suffering of believers that it may b

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2 Why is there suffering in the kingdom of God? A biblical perspective: 10 reasons for suffering 1. God blesses the suffering of believers that it may be one means of extending the gospel to others Col. 1: In your sufferings God comforts you, that you may be His hands of comfort to strengthen others 2 Cor. 1: Suffering is one of the means God uses to focus us on His word in a way that nothing else could Ps. 119:67, It focuses attention and honor on the name of Christ Acts 5:41.

3 Why is there suffering in the kingdom of God? A biblical perspective: 10 reasons for suffering 5. A willingness to suffer for Christ is an indication of sonship; a paradoxical privilege of relationship Rom. 8:17; Phil. 1: Suffering is one of God s primary means of focusing our attention on the resurrection of the saints and the glory of heaven Rom. 8:18 7. The suffering of other believers provides you an opportunity to love, care, and strengthen them in the faith 1 Thess. 3:4; Rom. 15:4.

4 Why is there suffering in the kingdom of God? A biblical perspective: 10 reasons for suffering 8. To put it simply, it may often (understood in the light of Deut. 29:29) be God s will, and we may not, or will not, know anything beyond this 1 Pet. 3: It is one of the ways that we do Matthew 4:19 Follow Me 1 Pet. 2:21; 2 Tim. 1:8. 10.Suffering is used by God to develop endurance in us, and is one of His most effective means for our transformation Rom. 5:3-5; James 1:2-4.

5 What do we need to think of first (first!) when we read or study our Bibles? (Hint: is king) Context!! Context is king! So what s the context for this passage? Well, 3:19-22 is a parenthetical insertion in other words, it s extra added stuff, it s not the main thrust of Peter s argument. Look back at 3:18 think of it like this: read 3:18, think of 3:19-22 in parenthesis, then read 4:1. The point of 3:18 and 4:1? Fairly simple: Christ suffered in the flesh and that has all kinds of implications for us. That s what 4:1-6 is.

6 So there is one imperative (command) in this passage what is it? arm yourselves with the same way of thinking Arm yourselves a military term used only here in its verb form in the NT. It means to arm yourself with weapons, or to put on armor. There are similar thoughts throughout the NT Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7, 10:4; Eph. 6:11-17; 1 Thess. 5:8. Remember Peter s audience facing the threat of intensifying persecution. This section of his letter is intended to help prepare or arm them (& us) for the battle they (& we) will soon face.

7 arm yourselves with the same way of thinking When a soldier is told to arm himself for an upcoming battle, what does he do? He has only a certain amount of armaments available to him he chooses from those. He must choose the weapons that will be the most useful in the battle. He must learn how to use each weapon they are useless otherwise. He must be ready and watching constantly a sleeping soldier is a liability, not an asset. He must keep his weapons in top condition.

8 arm yourselves with the same way of thinking Peter writes specifically here about the unjust suffering that comes to those who follow Christ, suffering for righteousness sake: persecution. There is other suffering though being ready and willing to suffer for Christ s sake is a kind of suffering that is uniquely Christian. Is this passage irrelevant to us if we do not suffer persecution? No the principles here apply to the range of suffering, from simple trials through persecution. The key is this: arm yourselves like Jesus did.

9 Peter helps the saints to prepare for suffering by pointing them to several weapons so that believers can be ready and well-armed when the battle comes. Richard Wurmbrand: I have accepted this proposal. Christians are meant to have the same vocation as their King, that of cross-bearers. It is this conscience of a high calling and of partnership with Jesus which brings gladness in tribulations, which makes Christians enter prisons for their faith with the joy of a bridegroom entering the bridal room. So, Peter in this passage is arming the saints to suffer.

10 Peter arms the saints first with this: Remember the suffering of Christ: Christ suffered in the flesh, v. 1. There is the example, the perfect model. Why did Jesus suffer? For the glory of God John 17:1, 4-5 To do the will of God John 17:4; Matt. 26:39, 42 For joy (ours & His) John 17:13; Heb. 12:1-2 To bring us to God John 17:24; 1 Pet. 3:18 Arm yourselves with that thought: Jesus chose to suffer for the glory of God, in the will of God, for joy, for this: the salvation of others.

11 Peter arms the saints first with this: Remember the suffering of Christ: Christ suffered in the flesh, v. 1. Peter presents this first for a reason: he had heard Jesus tell him the same thing. Matt. 10:38-39; Luke 9:23. To take up your cross doesn t mean to give up doughnuts for a week. Peter knew exactly what Jesus meant: He was talking about being executed on a Roman cross. They must confess Jesus as Lord, no matter what even if it meant to die physically for His sake. MacArthur cf. 2 Cor. 4:8-12

12 The 2 nd weapon: Value sanctification as better than sin: suffering & sanctification are entwined, v. 1b-2. What s the correct interpretation of v. 1b-2? There are many opinions too many to dive into now. What I m going to give you is what I believe the correct, and simplest, interpretation to be. It can t mean that you have died, v. 2 won t allow for that interpretation. Here s what I think: if you have chosen to follow Jesus, even in suffering if He calls you to do so, there is a break from sin in the way you think and live. Human passions do not govern, but the will of God does.

13 The 2 nd weapon: Value sanctification as better than sin: suffering & sanctification are entwined, v. 1b-2. Moses made the same choice Heb. 11: Does this mean that if you are willing to suffer with & for Christ, that you are sinless from that point on? Duh. We interpret Scripture with Scripture clearly will still struggle with sin: 1 John 1:8-9. But if we are willing to consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, we have made a value judgment: I choose to make the will of God the governing factor in my life for the rest of the time in the flesh.

14 The 2 nd weapon: Value sanctification as better than sin: suffering & sanctification are entwined, v. 1b-2. When you suffer for what's right, it's a sign that you have renounced sinful human desires and embraced the will of God as a higher value. John Piper Moses reached a fork in the road in Heb. 11:24-26, and he made a choice (v. 25) and life was never the same from that point on. He had made a break from sin. He still sinned, but he had made a break from sin. When he faced the choice between suffering and sin, he chose suffering. He no longer lived for sin.

15 The 3 rd weapon: You ve had more than enough time to sin: consider your past a closed book, v. 3. Ok look at v. 3, and tell me how much unbelievers have changed from the 1 st century until now. And those things or variations on the themes have characterized us in the past, pre-conversion. But hopefully they no longer do 1 Cor. 6:9-11. Question: How much did you sin before you were saved? A lot, or a little? And the answer is It doesn t matter. Think of it as enough. Do you feel like you want a little more time for indulgence in sin? No we ve had enough.

16 The 4 th weapon: Always remember that justice is coming: they will give account to Him, v It s a prominent theme throughout the NT Matt. 18:23; Acts 10:42, 17:31; Rom. 3:19; 2 Thess. 1:6-9; Rev. 20:11-15 (and many others). Who will be judged? the living and the dead. No one will escape Heb. 9:27 And notice this: the judgment is coming rapidly: God is ready to judge the living and the dead. In v. 4-5 Peter gives his readers sobering hope: those you used to hang out with, who malign you now, will be brought to justice.

17 The 4 th weapon: Always remember that justice is coming: they will give account to Him, v Take a look at Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:17-21; Heb. 10:30 what Peter writes rests on this foundation. This is the core thought in what we call the imprecatory psalms. See, for example, Psalm 10:1-2, 15; 17:1-6; 58:3-9; 59:12-13; 69: In the imprecatory psalms the writers left judgment to God He may, or may not, have done what was written in the psalm but judgment is His. This frees you to do what Peter writes in 3:9 instead of evil, bless; instead of reviling, bless.

18 The 4 th weapon: Always remember that justice is coming: they will give account to Him, v And notice what brings on the slander & maligning: they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery When Peter s readers met Christ, there was a big change in their behavior their friends were shocked, astonished why aren t you hanging out? Sin was so normal that their unbelieving friends resented that these new Christians had changed. Debauchery: that state in which a person s mind is so corrupt that he things about nothing but evil and how he might indulge his sinful passions. MacArthur

19 The 4 th weapon: Always remember that justice is coming: they will give account to Him, v Because of their abstention from social situations involving idolatry or immoral behavior Christians were seen as haters of humanity, politically disloyal, or otherwise abnormal. Peter Davids Interesting comment there we ve mentioned that Peter wrote to a pre-christian society; our is characterized as a post-christian society. There are many parallels that s why Peter s letter is so relevant to our day.

20 The 5 th weapon: Eternal life is a reality: they might live in the spirit the way God does, v. 6. Yet another verse that should be fairly clear, but has suffered from much speculation & misinterpretation. Does it say that went into hell before His resurrection and preached the gospel to the dead to give them a second chance? How can you determine if that interpretation is correct or not? First, look at the immediate and larger context; second, go further and compare Scripture with Scripture. This interpretation doesn t fly. Luke 16:26; Heb. 9:27; etc.

21 The 5 th weapon: Eternal life is a reality: they might live in the spirit the way God does, v. 6. The passage says this: the best death can do is to bring your saved spirit triumphantly to Christ to live with Him eternally. The gospel was preached: many heard it, believed, and had died by the time Peter wrote. Death comes to all people: Rom. 5:12; all will die and be judged in the flesh the way people are. The early church struggled with whether believers who had died would miss the Lord s return 1 Thess. 4:13-18.

22 The 5 th weapon: Eternal life is a reality: they might live in the spirit the way God does, v. 6. Just as Christ was crucified but was alive in spirit and raised from the dead, believers may suffer physical death but their spirits will remain alive and enter into the promise of eternal life. MacArthur See Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:6-8. Arm yourselves when unbelievers malign you by saying that you Christians die just like everybody else does where s this heaven you talk so much about? You just believe a bunch of myths.

23 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Rom. 5:1-10