Well, good afternoon, y'all. If you could open your Bibles up to 1 Peter 4, and we're going to spend most of our time just in those last verses of 1 Peter 4, from 12 on into 19. So get those Bibles and flip them, or if you use an app, just pull up 1 Peter 4. And I hope you won't mind, I'm just going to pray again for our time. Heavenly Father, we are grateful to be your people. Thank you for giving us these songs of Zion that we can sing and enter into the words experientially. Lord, our chains have fallen off. Our hearts are free. Your eye diffused that quickening ray and shone into the dungeon of our sin and our slavery and our spiritual deadness. And now we're born again to this living hope. This is real, Lord God. These songs mean something to us. They describe what's happened. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for assembling us into this body, Lord. This is your body right here in this building, Lord God. Those who you have saved and foreknown from before the foundations of the world. Lord, please do, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that our brother Kenzie was teaching the children about, Lord, send Your Spirit to make Your Word alive to us. Your Word is alive. Make us alive to Your Word, Lord God. Give us ears to hear. Help me in preaching, Lord God. Loosen my lips. Give unction, Lord God, and grant that through this just simple proclamation of Your already written Word, Your church would be built up and encouraged and convicted and challenged and comforted and apply whatever is needful for the hour for your various people in their various situations. Lord, we just want your spirit to be at work this morning, Lord God. We don't want it to just be another clock in, clock out kind of period of time. But Lord, bless this, own this, use this for the good of your people in the glory of your name. We love you. We pray these things in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. So we'll start reading in 1 Peter and verse 12. And there it says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange 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. but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God, and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. Amen. Well, who's writing this book? Peter's writing this book. He's writing it to a very primitive, very early church. And why do you think he needs to tell this very primitive, very early church? Beloved, don't be surprised at these fiery trials. What would cause him to have to say that and address these various churches in this way? will probably be because they were getting surprised by what was going on. Maybe they did not expect for Christianity to look the way it was looking in terms of all the heat, all the hostility, all the persecution, all the slander, all the reputational cost. There was a social cost that was happening to people that live in an honor culture. Maybe these people were used to kind of having a pretty good social standing. People got along with them in their workplace and in their family. And then suddenly, stuff is happening and it is causing them to have a shock and surprise response. They're getting destabilized by what the Christian life is looking like. They had different expectations about this thing. And I know at least for myself, I can say that when I was a newer Christian, I had some not so greatly informed views about what this thing was going to look like. And so, in the beginning, I remember so distinctly reading, who's read the book or listened to the audio book or seen the dramatization of film of Pilgrim's Progress. Anyone familiar? Pretty much everyone. It's like one of the most popular books outside of the Bible. But I remember as a newer Christian reading Pilgrim's Progress and sort of walking away from it thinking, is that really what it's like? It's just hardship after hardship after hardship after hardship. The flavor of my mouth was like, I don't know. Is this really because I was in this like kind of bubble of new Christian enthusiasm. I was just happy and I was so glad to be freed from my sins and I was surrounded by some maybe not great teaching and so I just didn't think that the Christian life looked exactly like that book that I had read. And so when trials did start to come, there was an opportunity for me to get destabilized by that. But Peter's writing this to a church that is undergoing some hostility, some persecution, some heat, and he's telling them, guys, don't be destabilized by this. Don't be shocked by this. Don't be surprised at this fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. He's saying, this is not strange. This is actually completely normal. This is actually par for the course. This is actually exactly what we signed up for. And you've got to remember that they don't have the New Testament in like written form for them. They have some knowledge of the saying, some oral tradition about what the sayings of Jesus were. They didn't have the full four gospel accounts where they have Jesus' words where it says, you're going to be hated for my name's sake. So perhaps these people are seeing the activity of the Spirit post-Pentecost and all sorts of stuff is happening, but they don't have a fully fleshed out theology of Christian suffering and what it's really going to mean to be a disciple of Jesus. So you got people maybe that are signing up and saying, oh, this looks really exciting. People are getting healed. People are talking in different languages. Yeah, I'm in. And then the stars start to leave their eyes and the reality starts to set in and heat starts to come. And Peter's over here writing to these churches and saying, guys, don't let this throw you off. This is absolutely expected. I mean, he knows. The Lord has warned him. He has it probably ringing in his ears. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. People hated the master of the house. They accused Jesus of being demon-possessed. He said, if they say this about the master of the house, What do you think they're going to say about the servants? You think we're going to scoot by unscathed by criticism from people around us? No, they treated Jesus like this. They're going to treat you like this. Don't panic. Don't be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you. This is normal. And then in 1 Peter 5, 9, I'll read that real briefly, you don't have to turn there or anything, but 1 Peter 5, 8-10 says, that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. In other words, this is everywhere. Your test, your trial, this weird suffering associated with being a Christian is not peculiar to your local context. It's not like just your church is going on. Everywhere around the world, this is what it looks like. This is the way. Don't be shaken up by it. And thankfully, there's also a comforting purpose statement there. He's telling us what it's going to look like. He's telling us that everyone's going through this. And he says, guys, it's there to test you. This is a test. The fiery trials that you walk through as a Christian are a test. Don't, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. So I like that we're not left confused at all about why is this happening, Lord, why, why did you? It's a test, whatever it is, it's a test. I want to pass the test. Maybe some of you currently are in the middle or have just come out of or are right about to head into a test, a test of a trial. But knowing that it's a test is helpful because then you're like, I want to pass the test. I want to benefit from the test. I want to have whatever's happening to me serve its proper purpose and do what it's meant to do. I don't want to fail this. I don't want to have to go through this again because I messed up on the first time and flunked it. I want to go through it. I want to be pleasing to God through this test. And this language is also used earlier in 1 Peter 1, 6-7. It says, in this you rejoice. This is 1 Peter, same book, but the first chapter, and then 6-7 in chapter 1 of 1 Peter. It says, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, all sorts of different things happening, so that, purpose statement, so that. The tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, so the genuineness of your faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." So it's a test. And it's not surprising, shouldn't destabilize us. This is perfectly normal. This is what Christianity looks like. Don't get shaken up by it. This is how Peter is speaking here. And I like that he, I don't want to, you know, overlook that one little book. Or that one little word here in the beginning of verse 12 says, Beloved. Peter is pastoral here. He's tender. He's warm. He's sympathetic. He's talking to people. I love that verse in Ephesians 1.6 where it says that we're accepted in the Beloved. We're accepted in Christ, the one who the Father looks at and says, oh, my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. So he's saying, beloved, oh, you guys are so precious to God. This trial, don't make it feel like it's Don't let it feel like it's the displeasure of God involved in the trial or just a chastisement because there's a trial or that God's like just doing this because you've messed up and He's angry at you and this trial is, well, it's just because of your sin. Not always the case. Sometimes chastisements and trials do come and even those are because He loves us, but we don't want to interpret every trial as a chastisement or a punishment. This is coming from a place of love. This is good. So that's verse 12, but we scoot down here into verse 13 in 1 Peter chapter 4, and it says, but, he's saying, here's what you don't do. Don't be surprised about all this. This is totally normal. This is exactly what Jesus told us was going to be like. We're going to go through stuff. People are going to hate us. There's going to be trials. There's going to be tribulations. You're going to be hated by people for his namesake. So don't be surprised about it. Rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." So he's saying, hey, rejoice right in the here and now, right in the middle of it, and also be mindful of the fact that you have not just a here and now, but you have a there and later where his glory is revealed and All of this is going to have been 100% worth it. This is how the apostles think. I mean, you can remember maybe when Paul says what he says, I think it's in 2 Corinthians where it says, this is light and momentary compared with. Let me read it actually. I'm pretty sure I got it here in my little references. I just got to, I don't want to butcher it by trying to do it from memory. So 2 Corinthians 4, 16 and 17, listen to how Paul thinks. So this is across the apostles. They've got this very future-oriented thing going on where their vision of the future and their hope for heaven and for glory that's to come. actually really meaningful and sustaining for them in the present tense when stuff is going crazy in their lives as far as trials. So 2 Corinthians 4, 16 and 17. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. It's motivating. It's helpful. That'll keep you not just afloat, but actually give you the ability to not just grit your teeth and be like, okay, let me just get through the trial and try to just, I just want it to be over. But you can do what verse 13 says if you really believe. if you really believe that this is all this is sent from a kind providential hand it's happening to you for a very good reason you're being tested you're being refined you're being purified and you can actually not just grit and get through it barely but you can rejoice You ever have that happen? Has this ever happened to where you had something going on and your initial response might have been it destabilized you? You were surprised by it. It took you off guard. And then the Spirit gave you a gust of sustenance and help and peace and peace that surpasses understanding. It's like, well, nothing has changed circumstantially, But something changed internally, and I am actually able to feel peace, even though nothing in the circumstances has gotten even a little bit better. And joy! Has this ever happened to you guys? It's happened to me. Raise your hand. I mean, give God glory. Has this happened to you? It's never happened to anybody? There you go, there's a hint, okay. And I saw a little hint from Ray. This is a marvelously affirming thing when the Lord lets you feel your initial flesh response to something difficult. and you sort of freak out, you get worried, you get stressed, you get sad, you get discouraged, and then you just feel the Comforter, the Helper, the Sent One, the Holy Spirit, just making it like all the haze and the clouds and the dust clear away. And it's just like, oh, He's actually with me in the middle of this. He cares about me. I'm walking in the way that He walked. He walked the road of suffering, and I, as His child, am walking through those steps that He's put before me. Look at that in verse 13. It says, That, to me, speaks of something of There's union. You've got solidarity with Christ. He can sympathize with us. He knows what it's like to go through the human experience and never sin. And when we go through suffering as Christians, there is a sense in which we can identify more with Him. We bear reproach for His name. We get to feel the reviling that he felt he came to his own and his own received him not, we get to enter into that. We're sharing Christ's sufferings. We're resembling him. Can you just picture the father looking down and seeing his kids get insulted and have their reputations dragged through the dirt? and having even harder things happen to them like they did in many places still in the world, but beatings and imprisonments and lawsuits and all sorts of things. And the Father looks, in the eyes of the world, we're just the refuse of the world. We're the dregs. We're nothing. Yet the father's looking down. He's like look at them my kids They look just like me look at him taking taking all the shame look at them Oh, I can't wait to reward them. I can't they're doing so good down there. They're being like me down there Sharing in Christ's sufferings, that's very comforting to me. That makes trials feel like they matter a whole lot more when it's able to make me have more union and identification and gluedness with Christ. You know how like if soldiers go through traumatic stuff together, it's like we've been in the trenches together. We've gone through traumatic, crazy stuff, and now we're just We've bonded over that stuff. Now we're closer to one another. Our relationship is a little deeper because we went through crazy, hard situations together. I believe that this is how the apostles actually view their sufferings in terms of how it's making them feel even closer to Christ. And I don't think that's just speculation on my end. I think the apostles write in this way. Let me pull up some of these references real quick. Yeah, listen to this. 2 Corinthians 1, 3-5. I'll just read verse 5. It says, 4. As we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort, too. So this is not just rhetoric for the apostles. They're not just talking poetic, nice-sounding talk. They're saying, we've had abundant sufferings, and let me tell you, palpable, felt, abundant comfort in the midst of those things. This is real for them. As they go through suffering, they feel like, God's closer to me in the middle of this. God's actually, it's like He's putting His arm around me in the middle of this. And you could even see this right in the present text. It says in verse 14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, You are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. I mean, who else is that? The Spirit of glory and of God? The Holy Spirit, right? The Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ says when you're insulted, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed because the Spirit is resting on you. You're having a more, there's like a special attentiveness from the Spirit of God when someone's going through trials, specifically insults where the Spirit's like, extra close, resting on you, near. That's encouraging to me. And I felt it. It's been a reality. And I hope you felt it, too. And if not, I hope that the Spirit seals this kind of thing, too, to where when trials come, you could actually start to develop a sort of, instead of reflexive panic or discouragement, you could have a reflexive, oh, Lord, you're going to meet me in the middle of this, aren't you? What are you going to get out of this? What kind of lessons are you going to teach me? What kind of comfort are you going to apply to me? What kind of new nearness and new testimony and ebenezer of your faithfulness am I going to get to where I can now have that in my knapsack for the rest of my life? I'm always going to be able to pull out that polished gem of testimony of, oh yeah, you know, three years ago when super wild stuff happened to me? The Lord was so faithful. He was so near. He comforted me so much. In the past tense, it's always easier to look at it, but what about in the present tense when it's currently happening? I think Peter wants us to be able to have new responses. I mean, he's saying, don't be surprised. Rejoice, this is difficult. This is very counterintuitive flesh has Flesh is just very self-perspective Self-preservation instincts survival instincts. It's like this feels bad. I don't like it but by the Spirit we can actually be so transformed by the renewing of our mind and through just seeing the faithfulness of God walk us through different things that when the trial comes, we're no longer having that reflexive panic or fleeing or escapism, but we're leaning in and saying, all right, Lord, you've been very faithful in the past. I felt your comfort in the past. I fully expect and I even rejoice preemptively that you're going to bring me through this thing. But I think verse 14 gives us something more specific to sort of look at. Up until now, it's been sort of more broad and general. Fiery trial. Don't be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. I mean, that's kind of general, kind of vague. There's not really something specific within that description of just any old fiery trial. But verse 14 starts to sort of drill down into one of the more specific trials that will be associated with the Christian life. It says, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. being insulted for the name of Christ. So we're being told, don't be surprised about this. And this is, yeah, this is difficult, especially for I guess if you struggle with people-pleasing and wanting approval and wanting people to think well of you, I mean, the Bible says the fear of man is a snare. Fear of man has a lot of ways that it manifests, but one of them I think is in just like people-pleasing. Your unbelieving co-workers, you want them to like you. Your unbelieving family members. You don't want them to hate you. You don't want your reputation in their eyes to be low. You want them to respect you for what you believe, and the decisions you make as a Christian, and moves that you believe are right in accordance with what Scripture said. And yet, A lot of times, you're going to make those moves, and instead of them saying, oh, wow, you know, I really respect that, I really admire that about you. They're not gonna think that way. They're actually going to, whether right to your face, or behind your back, or just in their thoughts, in a way that comes off subconsciously through their just facial expressions, they're gonna be like, oh, you're doing that. All right. It's not going to win you a bunch of respect. And guys, I struggle with this, have struggled with it, and the Lord is just getting it out of me bit by bit, gradually, gradually. I remember in the beginning of my Christian walk, I thought that maybe, maybe I would be able to be kind of like a cool Christian. Where unbelievers look at you and they still kind of have a little bit of respect for you, or they still kind of have a level of, oh, you know, yeah, he's a Christian, but he's not like those Christians. But you know what I've come to find out? There's no such thing as a cool Christian. Christian, that's like an oxymoron. What on earth? We don't believe something cool. We don't believe something that the world's gonna look at and regard that with respect. They're gonna be like, you guys are crazy. You guys are just straight up crazy. You're talking about someone that raised from the dead and that you're going to live forever. You're talking about immortality. You're talking about blood being spilled to wash away your shame and your guilt and your sins so that you don't burn in an eternal torment. This is crazy stuff! We just need to ditch the delusion that there's some kind of way to dress this up that looks inoffensive or that's not going to catch reputational damage for us as people who profess this and believe this and stand behind this thing. They're going to mock us. They're going to laugh at us. They're going to insult us, saying, don't be surprised when that happens. And actually, when this happens, you're blessed. And there's a notice, a divine spiritual notice and response when these very things happen. I want to read just quickly a cross-reference here from, I believe it's, let me just pull this up real quick. Luke chapter 6. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read it for you. This is the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ telling us something extremely similar here. Luke 6, 22. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day. And it says leap for joy when they're doing this, when they're excluding you, reviling you, spurning your name as evil, hating you on account of the Son of Man. It says rejoice and even do yourself a little leap for joy. Jump and be happy. And then it says why? For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did to the prophets. You see that? It's like you're entering into this long heritage of being mocked, reviled, spurned, excluded, just having your name dragged through the mud. This is how the prophets were treated. This is how our Savior Jesus Christ was treated. And when you're treated that way, You're in good company. You're walking in a good direction. If it's for his name's sake, we don't want it to be like because we're just kind of jerks. We want it to be on account of the son of man, as it says. Spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. But it says, in that day, rejoice in that day, leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did to the prophets. And listen to this corresponding thing that Jesus says just down in Luke 6, 26. It gives us the opposite end of this too. It says, woe to you when all people speak well of you. for so their fathers did to the false prophets." If there's a big vacuum, a big lack, a big radio silence in terms of any criticism, any insults, any reviling, if everyone just thinks well of you and you've got like pretty much everyone in your unbelieving family and everyone in your unbelieving workplace is just like, he's great, they're the best, That might be a little pause for, am I putting my lamp under a bushel? Am I being too reserved, too quiet, too timid? And now, I also don't want to shame you and be like, oh, no one's insulted you this week. You're not being a good enough Christian. There is a sense in which you can grow in favor with God and man, and he can grant you seasons of peace and refreshment, and people can really actually not be against you in the workplace or in the family. But at some point during the trajectory of life, there's going to be those crossroad moments where you say something, and you got to say something, you do something, and you got to do something, and they really respond unfavorably. We need to be prepared for that, and we need to be not surprised by when that kind of thing happens in association with our Christian witness and testimony. But Jesus says you're blessed when that happens, when they revile you and spurn your name as evil. So back to our 1 Peter 4 text. If you're insulted, insulted for the name of Christ, then if you're really quick, just jump down to verse 16 in 1 Peter 4. It also says, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. I was thinking as I read this of like, all right, what are right responses to trials and insults? And what are wrong responses to trials and insults? I had a lot of different things that came to mind in terms of like, oh, well, here's ways that I've responded wrongly to trials and to insults. I mean, one of the responses is just discouragement. You just get discouraged. You can mope and give way to self-pity and complaining. Or you could have an anger response to people insulting you or to trials in general. You could be angry at God or you could be angry at the people who you perceive as the ones who are causing you this harm or this injury to your reputation. And you could just be angry and retaliative and seek vengeance and take it into your own hands and be defensive and try to defend and explain away and make your reputation safe in this bubble where it's protected against criticism. So you could have that kind of anger response to these things. Or you could have a fear response where you become just paralyzed by worry and anxiety and just the anxious thoughts are multiplying in your mind because people are talking bad about you or some trial is just you don't see the end of it and it just gets you in this spiral of anxious, worried thoughts. So those are some of the wrong responses to trials or persecution that came to my mind more quickly, but that's not where Peter goes here. He says, if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. That's the response that he's dealing with here with the church, is that people are having a embarrassment for being associated with this Christianity thing. And I think it's helpful there to just remember some of the cultural context here is that amongst the Jews, there's this expectation of the Messiah just like getting the Roman government and the Roman political system kind of out of their hair and that there's going to be this Jewish supremacy and this stately, kingly messiah king that gets installed and sits on that physical throne right then and there and everything just starts looking better for the Jews. And then their messiah dies. and is raised again. But everything's just looking so different from what their expectations are. And so I think plenty of people, I know plenty of people, were feeling this kind of temptation to peel back, to say, this is not what I had in mind. I thought we were getting a Messiah. I thought we were coming out on top of this thing. I thought we were going to look like the triumphant victors. What's all this imprisonment stuff? What's happening to my reputation taking an absolute nosedive? People are making fun of me. People are not giving me employment anymore. There's all kinds of familial tension and stress now. I mean, Jesus said, your enemies will be those of your own household. But people perhaps were not having this as an expectation of following the Messiah and being disciples of Jesus. And they were feeling a shame response. And Peter's trying to correct that and address that and say, guys, if you're suffering as a Christian, don't be ashamed. but actually glorify God that this is happening to you. Glorify God in the fact that you're being associated with the name of Jesus Christ. Glorify God in that name. People are calling you Christians. They're calling you Christ-like. They're using it as a derogatory term. They're using it as an insult. Oh, look at those little Christ trying to pretend to act like their Savior, their crucified Savior. It says actually instead of feeling a shame response about that when people ridicule you and mock you and you're suffering as a Christian and the heat is on and you're feeling that social stigmatization, instead glorify God. Glorify God that people are even saying that about you and that you're counted worthy to suffer for the name." Listen, this is actually how the apostles think. Let me read you just real quick from Acts chapter 5, 40 and 41. Listen to this. And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. That could be pretty demoralizing, right? Wow. They literally beat our bodies and said, stop preaching about this Jesus. Stop it. And what's their response to this thing? It says, then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. supernatural, who gets beaten and charged with this stern charge of we don't want what you're talking about, get out of here. And they walk away and they're like, guys, what an honor we have to get beat up for Jesus and be ridiculed and dishonored instead of having a shame response and hanging their heads low and going home. which is probably what they would have done pre-Pentecost, but post-Pentecost, full of the Spirit of God, this thing happens to them and they walk away. And it doesn't say that they've leapt for joy, but you can get a sense that the morale that they have is, they've got a spring in their step. Maybe they got a little bit of a limp because they've been beaten, but they walk away and saying, guys, that was a win. We're worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. What an honor. We're so glad that we're honored with suffering dishonor for the name. It's very counterintuitive, but this is how they actually viewed it. So going back to our verse 16 in 1 Peter 4, it says, yet if anyone suffers out of Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name, counted worthy to suffer for the name. And then we can just jump down to verse 19. It says, therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. I like that it has that as one of the right responses. So we've got some do's and don'ts that are present here saying, guys, don't be surprised and don't be ashamed. And here's the things that I want you to do instead of being surprised and instead of being ashamed when you get these trials and these insults, I want you to do this. Instead of surprise and shock and destabilization and instead of shame and embarrassment and retreat, I want you to rejoice. Rejoice, and I want you to just keep doing good. Entrust your soul to a faithful creator. Trust God, and just keep doing good. Don't let this heat and this pressure make you kind of second guess what you're doing. Just keep doing good. I like earlier in the book, he gives us a reference about this. What does it say? It gives us... You know what, I'm going to skip the cross-reference over here. I'm going to drown in cross-references. But this is the way. This is what it looks like. We're going to suffer, and we're going to suffer for doing good. And actually, I've got to go to this particular cross-reference. Listen to this. Where are we? 1 Peter, 1 Peter, 1 Peter. I've got too many cross-references over here. You guys have got to forgive me while I try to find this. Okay, yeah, there it is. 1 Peter 2, 19 and 20 says, For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this suffering for doing good and enduring anyway and continuing to do good, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. He sees it, he notices it. When Christians get poor treatment from others for doing good things, God is looking and he's considering it a gracious thing. God sees it and there is a reward in heaven for it. It says, but if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. So that's one of the right responses to trials and sufferings and insults is just keep doing good. Don't shrink back. Don't adjust your behavior to try to appease people or please people or have their approval or get out from underneath their criticism. Just bear up. Endure underneath. their displeasure, their critiques, their insults, and just keep doing good. God's looking and He considers it a gracious thing. Well, I guess I'll just conclude here with a couple of questions. These are questions that I have to apply to myself too, but the question is, are you prepared for your reputation to be maligned and misrepresented and slandered? Is that something that's going to really catch you by surprise or is that going to be something that you increasingly consider part of the package and something that you even feel honored? I'll never forget one of the first times that I tried to go out witnessing many, many years ago. It was at a college campus. And it was around the time that Occupy Wall Street was happening. And so there's like this protest kind of energy in the air, you know. And so I got up there and I'm like, Guys, I'm just exercising my right of free speech. I want to talk to you about something this evening. And, you know, drunk college guys are like, yeah, woo, you know, speak your mind, man. And then I start talking about what I'm talking about. Start talking about God and your soul. And immediately, it's like, boo. And someone threw French fries at me. And that was, you know, that was demoralizing for me in one sense. But in another sense, it was like, Huh. Up until that point, I was trying to be cool Christian. But to get french fries thrown at you, it's like, I feel good about that. That actually makes sense. I was glad. But are you prepared for your reputation being maligned? Listen, a lot of us are maybe not going to be in prison. I don't know. I don't know what the trajectory of the country is going to look like. Maybe it's going to get a whole lot worse. But at the minimum, people maligning you, people insulting you, people thinking poorly of you, your reputation taking a significant impact. Even, guys, sadly, even from other Christians, because American Christianity has operated at such a low cost of entry level for so long, when a Christian starts not being radical, but just sort of being just a normal Christian, just a New Testament Christian, even other Christians will look at you sometimes and be like, what are you doing, man? This is not a good look. You're not making us look good. That's not our job, to look good to unbelievers. The seeker-sensitive movement messed things up so bad, trying to appeal to people that it doesn't make sense for them to be super attracted to us on the basis of anything other than that the Spirit is drawing them and making them turn into people that love Jesus instead of hate Jesus. And if they've hated Jesus, they're gonna hate us. Why are we trying to dress the thing up? It's a paradigm shift. I trust, probably not for you guys here, because you've been under good teaching, but there's still, I think, at least for my own soul, there's still the subtle pressure to just be liked and to shrink from what it really is going to cost in terms of reputation for walking with Jesus. So the question is just, are you prepared for your reputation to be maligned? misrepresented, slandered? Are you going to be surprised or ashamed when your reputation takes a nosedive and people start to talk bad about you? Are you going to be okay with that? Are you going to be able to feel content and at peace with that? Or are you going to feel eager to defend your name and try to still make a case for why people should still like you and respect you for your union to Christ, the Christ who they hate? Well, friends, I'm not just preaching this thing in a vacuum. I feel like lots of stuff just suddenly happened all at once in my own life, and my reflexive response was to be surprised, like, Lord, what's happening? Why is all this stuff kind of happening all at once? And the verse, the little phrase that I believe the Spirit just brought to mind was, don't be surprised. It was such a nice reorientation and paradigm shift and reminder of, this is totally normal. This is what it looks like. I like that song, Am I a Soldier of the Cross? It says, must I be taken to the skies on a flowery bed of ease? It's like, no. There's an A.W. Tozer book called This World, Playground or Battleground? And the title tells you the book. It's such a great title. This world, obviously, it's not a playground. It's not just like an obstacle course to avoid painful things and trials. It's going to be a battleground. There's going to be fiery darts, whether those come by way of human instrumentality and people are insulting you. which we shouldn't be surprised by, or if it's stuff that occurs in the realm of the mind as far as just the enemy sending you destabilizing thoughts. Don't be surprised by that. Have you ever had Sunday morning hit and suddenly you're very irritable? Suddenly your kids are on your nerves way more. Your spouse is on your nerves way more. Traffic is on your nerves way more. You're more tired than usual. Don't be surprised. This is actually, I mean, our old friend, Zeke, some of you guys may have met Zeke, would say, oh, it's Friday, isn't it? Because Friday, the night that he would go out to evangelize, it was like something would always happen. And he learned not to be surprised and to actually expect it. Oh, I'm going out to evangelize tonight. Something's going to happen. I'm not going to be surprised by it. I'm going to be ready for it, actually. Don't be surprised when Sunday morning comes and you're irritable. Don't be surprised when Wednesday for prayer meeting or home group or whatever and weird stuff is going on at work. Even stuff outside of circumstances where nothing, I've had this happen so much. where there's no circumstantial reason for me to be discouraged, and yet there is just some onslaught of weird, negative, self-critical, defeated, oppressive, just thoughts smashing me down in my spirit. They're fiery darts. They're from the wicked one. That's not normal. That's not just me deciding to have a negative day. There's spiritual stuff going on. This world is a battleground. Don't be surprised when, even if people aren't talking against you, the slanderer, the accuser, the brethren is just sending weird, weird. distracting, destabilizing thoughts. That's a form of trial that is common to the Christian life. We need to not be surprised about that kind of stuff either. But I know we do need to get going a little bit sooner than usual, so let's close in prayer and then take the Lord's table together. For that, I do want you to turn to Still within our 1 Peter section, we'll go to 1 Peter 2, 18 through 25 to consider together before we go to the Lord's table. But let me read that and then pray. So 1 Peter, you can flip a couple pages back, 1 Peter 2, 18 through 25, says, servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if, when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. Four, to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. Verse 22, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Verse 24, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep. but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you that you went before us as our savior, but also as our example, you've told us to follow you and to follow you on this path where there is suffering and rejection and insults. And we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow you on that hard, narrow road that leads to life. And few there be that find it. Lord, we're so grateful that you've brought us onto that narrow way. And we so need regular reminders to stay the course with endurance and to follow you, our risen Savior, who had to go through so much to secure our place with you in heaven. Lord, please do. Let the partaking of these elements be as a fresh reminder to us of just what you've had to endure for our sake. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that you've brought us back. We were wandering, and you've brought us back to the shepherd and overseer of our souls, and you had to do it by way of bearing our sins in your body on the tree. Lord, please let that motivate us to say, Lord, if you had to bear that kind of suffering and pain for me, we can bear some suffering and pain too. If you'll help us, we'll identify with you in your sufferings. We'll share with you in your sufferings that we might also share with you in your glory and inherit this heavenly reward that awaits those who are faithful, those who endured to the end and were saved. Lord, help us as we remember you. Bless us as we partake of these elements and thank you for this time to be under the sound of your word. Oh father I pray that by the power of your spirit you cause for something of what has been preached to lodge into our minds and stay with us and give us enduring power for when trials come because They will, and for some of us, they're here right now. We're right in the middle of it. Spirit of God, help us endure well. Help us rejoice. Help us leap for joy. Help us have a heavenly perspective whereby future glory helps carry us through present suffering. We love you, Lord Jesus. Bless us in the remainder of this time as we partake of the almonds. In Jesus' name we do.