Enduring Suffering: Trusting God's Sovereign Plan
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"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." [00:02:54]
"We see this fiery trial; we see it throughout this epistle. We see it in the first-century church that these Christians who suffered physical persecution under the hands of Nero, under a godless Rome, under a Rome that was the antithesis of a biblical Christianity. Many of these Christians suffered economic hardship." [00:04:22]
"Peter is saying, 'Don’t be surprised at this.' He is also reminding them, 'Don’t suffer because of your sinfulness or because of your idiocy by committing some crime, and so you suffer. That’s not suffering, a godly suffering that Peter is talking about.'" [00:06:43]
"And here Peter, as it were, forces the question by not answering it, but by reminding us of the fact of God’s sovereignty. And so, it’s not intended to raise a question; it’s intended to be a comfort that this is not happening, this suffering is not happening outside of God’s will." [00:07:55]
"That we realize in God’s plan that suffering and hardship and difficulty are part of His plan for our lives to strip away those things that we depend on, or perhaps, even strip away those things that can become an idol in our lives. So that at the end of the day, we are left to depend upon and to trust and to rely fully upon Him." [00:09:08]
"He also tells us what to do while we suffer. That while we are suffering, we are to be doing good. So, I’m going to skip ahead here, and skip the middle phrase, and skip to the end, the last phrase, 'While doing good.' What does he mean by that? Well, go up to verses 7 to 11, and you’ll see he lists, by my count, five things that we should be doing." [00:10:24]
"This loving one another, it would be all right if Peter said, 'Love one another,' but does he have to say 'earnestly?' And why in chapter 1, does he say, 'sincerely?' Now, it’s even harder to love one another from a pure heart. Is this doing good not taking our eyes off of ourselves?" [00:12:46]
"And I was never around a more joyful person than that man. This is why Peter says, 'Therefore if you suffer according to God’s will, do good.' Don’t be so inward focused, because it’s going to lead down an unhealthy path, but to remember to show hospitality." [00:16:01]
"And then, the fifth thing. So, we’ve got be self-controlled, be sober-minded, love one another, show hospitality, and then, the fifth thing, 'serve.' As each has received a gift, use it to serve. These are the spiritual gifts. This is not a formal list like we find in Paul to the Corinthians." [00:17:07]
"Now, let’s take a look at each one of those. First, this word 'entrust.' It’s translated some places as 'commit.' The idea is to, to put this literally, it means 'to put beside you.' Now, this is what we do with our phones. Peter did not anticipate that we would have ... this is what we do with our phones." [00:18:19]
"We are not just entrusting our souls to anyone; we are entrusting our souls to the Creator, and this is not just the Creator. Maybe the keyword to all of this is 'faithful.' And here is the beauty of this word. Could we pause here for a moment? Could you go back to the very first verse of the very first chapter, and could you look at the six words that begin this book?" [00:20:59]
"Look at verse 8, 'Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good.' Even in suffering, yes. Even in times of hardship, yes. Even being in precarious positions where that next step just is not clear and riddled with anxiety, 'What do I do?' 'Taste and see that the LORD is good.' 'Entrust your soul to a faithful Creator.'" [00:31:03]
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"We see this fiery trial; we see it throughout this epistle. We see it in the first-century church that these Christians who suffered physical persecution under the hands of Nero, under a godless Rome, under a Rome that was the antithesis of a biblical Christianity. Many of these Christians suffered economic hardship." [00:04:22]
"Peter is saying, 'Don’t be surprised at this.' He is also reminding them, 'Don’t suffer because of your sinfulness or because of your idiocy by committing some crime, and so you suffer. That’s not suffering, a godly suffering that Peter is talking about.'" [00:06:43]
"And here Peter, as it were, forces the question by not answering it, but by reminding us of the fact of God’s sovereignty. And so, it’s not intended to raise a question; it’s intended to be a comfort that this is not happening, this suffering is not happening outside of God’s will." [00:07:55]
"That we realize in God’s plan that suffering and hardship and difficulty are part of His plan for our lives to strip away those things that we depend on, or perhaps, even strip away those things that can become an idol in our lives. So that at the end of the day, we are left to depend upon and to trust and to rely fully upon Him." [00:09:08]
"He also tells us what to do while we suffer. That while we are suffering, we are to be doing good. So, I’m going to skip ahead here, and skip the middle phrase, and skip to the end, the last phrase, 'While doing good.' What does he mean by that? Well, go up to verses 7 to 11, and you’ll see he lists, by my count, five things that we should be doing." [00:10:24]
"This loving one another, it would be all right if Peter said, 'Love one another,' but does he have to say 'earnestly?' And why in chapter 1, does he say, 'sincerely?' Now, it’s even harder to love one another from a pure heart. Is this doing good not taking our eyes off of ourselves?" [00:12:46]
"And I was never around a more joyful person than that man. This is why Peter says, 'Therefore if you suffer according to God’s will, do good.' Don’t be so inward focused, because it’s going to lead down an unhealthy path, but to remember to show hospitality." [00:16:01]
"And then, the fifth thing. So, we’ve got be self-controlled, be sober-minded, love one another, show hospitality, and then, the fifth thing, 'serve.' As each has received a gift, use it to serve. These are the spiritual gifts. This is not a formal list like we find in Paul to the Corinthians." [00:17:07]
"Now, let’s take a look at each one of those. First, this word 'entrust.' It’s translated some places as 'commit.' The idea is to, to put this literally, it means 'to put beside you.' Now, this is what we do with our phones. Peter did not anticipate that we would have ... this is what we do with our phones." [00:18:19]
"We are not just entrusting our souls to anyone; we are entrusting our souls to the Creator, and this is not just the Creator. Maybe the keyword to all of this is 'faithful.' And here is the beauty of this word. Could we pause here for a moment? Could you go back to the very first verse of the very first chapter, and could you look at the six words that begin this book?" [00:20:59]
"Look at verse 8, 'Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good.' Even in suffering, yes. Even in times of hardship, yes. Even being in precarious positions where that next step just is not clear and riddled with anxiety, 'What do I do?' 'Taste and see that the LORD is good.' 'Entrust your soul to a faithful Creator.'" [00:31:03]
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