Chapter 2 How WE CAN SMILE THROUGH SUFFERING 1 Peter 1:1-12 fe all exhibit different characteristics. We don’t look alike. We don’t act alike. We don’t dress alike. We have different tastes in food, in music, and in the books we read. We have dis- similar backgrounds, goals, and motivations. We have different phi- losophies, politics, and religions. Our weights vary. Our heights vary. So does the color of our skin. But there is one thing we all have in common; we all know what it means to hurt. Suffering is a universal language. Tears are the same for Jews or Christians or Muslims, for white people or black people or brown, for children or adults or the elderly. Since pain is such a pervasive problem, we need a potent pre- scription. Peter's first epistle dispenses that prescription with advice that tells us how we can smile through suffering. But before we get into our text for today, let’s take a few minutes to review. A Brief Reminder The writer of 1 Peter was a man well acquainted with suffering. He suffered a broken heart when he denied Jesus on the night of His betrayal (see Matt. 26:75). The people Peter wrote to were displaced believers who were being singed by the flames of perse- cution. Their circumstances were the bleakest imaginable. Yet Peter didn’t try to pump them up with positive thinking. Instead, he gently touched his hand to their chins and lifted their faces skyward—so they could see beyond their circumstances to their celestial calling. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Gala- tia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: 13 anned with CamScannerMay grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. (1 Pet. 1-2) Peter attempts to put pain in perspective by focusing on our position in Christ. We are chosen. We are being sanctified. And we have a full measure of God's grace and peace available to us, Those truths form the skeleton of strong doctrine. But without being fleshed out, they are hard and bony and difficult to embrace. Knowing that, Peter reminds his readers of all they have to cling to. Regarding Suffering: Why Christians Can Rejoice James tells us to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (1:2). Underscore “my brethren,” for there is no reason to rejoice in suffering if a person isn’t a Christian. What reasons do Christians have for rejoicing? There are at least six. We Have a Living Hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (v. 3) As difficult to read as some pages of your life may be, nothing that occurs to you on this earth falls into the category of a final chapter. Your final chapter is heaven. And your final meeting is not with the antagonist in your life’s story but with the author Himself. Also, this hope that we have is a living one, based on the resur- rection of Christ. If God brought Jesus through the most painful of trials and from the pit of death itself, certainly He can bring us through whatever we face. We Have a Permanent Inheritance To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. (v. 4) Our ultimate home is heaven, And our place there is reserved under the constant, omnipotent surveillance of almighty God. Nothing can destroy it, defile it, diminish it, or displace it. We Have Divine Protection Who are protected by the power of God through 4 Scanned with CamScannerfaith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (v. 5) Under heaven's lock and key, we are protected by the most efficient security system available—the power of God. There is no ‘way that we will be lost in the process of suffering, no matter how chronic or acute the pain may be. No disorder, no disease, not even death itself can steal away God's ultimate protection over our lives. » We-Have a Developing-Faith— In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (vv. 6-7) Here is the first of several references in Peter's letter to rejoicing. The words “even though” indicate that the joy is unconditional and does not depend on the circumstances surrounding us. And this joy comes in spite of our suffering, not because of it, as some who glorify suffering would have us believe. These verses also tell us some significant things about trials. First, trials are often necessary, proving the genuineness of our faith and teaching us humility. Second, they are distressing, teaching us compassion so that we never make light of another's test or cruelly force them to smile while enduring it. And third, they come in various! forms. This variety of trials is like different temperature settings on God's furnace. The settings are adjusted to burn off our dross, temper us, or soften us, according to what meets our highest need. It is in God's refining fires that the authenticity of our faith is revealed. The purpose of these fiery ordeals is that we may come forth as purified gold, a shining likeness of the Lord Jesus Himself (see Rom. 8:28-29). That glinting likeness is what ultimately gives glory and praise and honor to Christ. 1, The word comes from the Greek term poikilos, which means “variegated” or “many colored.” The word is used in the New Testament for various diseases, various lusts, various miracles, and various strange doctsines. The one other time Peter uses this word isin 4:10 to describe the *manifold grace of God.” There is no trial that Godls grace can't match. It is sufficient, rno matter how severe the suffering (2 Cor. 12:9). 15 canned with CamScanner» We Have an Unseen Savior And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. (v. 8) The context of this verse is suffering, remember? So we know that Peter's not giving us an inconsequential, theological hors d'oew. vre. He's giving us something we can sink our teeth into. He’s telling us that our Savior is standing with us in that furnace even though we can't see Him. Some, like the disciple Thomas, need to see and touch Jesus in order to believe. The Savior's words to the doubting disciple instructive: “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29). Even though we can’t see Jesus beside us in our trials, He is there (see Ps. 23:4; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5b)—just as He was when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:19-27). We Have a Guaranteed Deliverance. Obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (v. 9) The final passage of our faith is the deliverance of our souls, which includes not only a deliverance from present sin but a ylo- tification of our physical bodies. With the mention of this salvation or deliverance, Peter takes us on a literary interlude in which he suddenly addresses some questions that may have been under discussion in Christian circles in that day: What about earlier times in the days of the prophets? Did they grasp the full significance of this salvation? If not, how much did they comprehend? Regarding Salvation: Why Prophets Were Curious Those questions are answered, parenthetically, in verses 10-12 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories 16 Scanned with CamScannerto follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. We're told here that the prophets wrote of the sufferings of Christ and of the glory that would ultimately be His. But verse 10 concludes that those prophets “made careful search and inquiry.” Why? Because they didn’t have access to two critical privileges that we have today. First: They didn't have a clear picture of God's full plan. Looking ahead, they saw two mountain peaks—Mount Calvary and Mount Olivet. On one Christ would die in disgrace; on the other He would return in glory. What they couldn't see from their vantage point was that between these two mountains stretched a valley. This valley represented the church age, an era when God would extend His grace to the Gentiles. Second: They didn't have the Holy Spirit. living within, them as we do.today. The Spirit of God spoke to the prophets, spoke through them, inspired them, and ignited their message like a fire from heaven. But the benefits of the permanent indwelling of the Spirit were a total mystery to them. Like a blind lamplighter faithfully making his rounds on the streets of seventeenth-century London, the prophet lit lamps for the benefit of others, not himself. A Personal Word In concluding our lesson for today, we would like to address two categories of people who may read this material: those who suffer and those who seek. To.those who suffer: Only Christ's perspective can replace your resentment with rejoicing. Jesus is the central piece of suffering’s puzzle. If you fit Him into place, the rest of the puzzle—no matter how dark and enigmatic—begins to make sense, That's when the rejoicing first begins to replace resentment. To those who-seek: Only Christ's salvation can change you from a spectator to a participant, You don’t have to sit in the audience, watching, You can step out of your seat and onto the stage. You can play a part in the unfolding drama of redemption. The scenes will be demanding; some, even tragic. But then you will be able to 7 Scanned with CamScannerunderstand the role that suffering plays in your life. And only then will you be able to smile through your suffering. P* Living Insights srumvowe Romans 8:28-29a states that God's purpose for us is to make us into a great work of art—to conform us to the image of His Son. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become con- formed to the image of His Son. In his thought-provoking book The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis commented on the ramifications of this lofty creative vision that God has for our lives. We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Di- vine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be sat- isfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a dif- ferent fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble— and would, doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumb-nail sketch whose making was over in a minute, In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glo- rious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wish- ing not for more love but for less. 2... Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York, N.Y Macmillan Co., 1962), pp. 42-43: 18 Scanned with CamScanner‘The rubbing and scraping on the dried canvas of our lives can be painful. But like da Vinei’s Mona Lisa, the finished product will be well worth the waiting—and the suffering. If the canvas of your life is resisting God's brush and turning ‘out to be the “Moaning Lisa” instead, here are a few verses you may want to look up to give that painting the perspective it needs. Proverbs 3:5 Romans 5:3-4 Isaiah 45:9 Romans 11:33-36 Isaiah 55:8-9 James 1:2-4 Isaiah 64:8 James 5:10-11 Remember, only Christ's perspective can replace your resentment with rejoicing. PF Living Insights swore Once you become a Christian, the storms surrounding your life may not suddenly subside. In fact, they may even intensify. The difference is, you have the Master of the wind and the waves sitting beside you now in your boat, manning the helm and keeping you on an even keel. Did becoming a Christian simplify your life or complicate it? ‘Are you presently going through some suffering? Describe it. In Philippians 3:10 Paul talks about the “fellowship of His suf- ferings.” What do you think he means by that? Scanned with CamScannerHas your suftering led to a deeper fellowship with Christ? How? Paul shares his perspective on suffering in Philippians 3:8-10. How does your perspective compare with his? Scanned with CamScanner