Glorify God in Suffering

Sermon Text

1 Peter 4:15-19

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now

“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Christians should first ask why they are suffering, because Scripture distinguishes the just consequences of sinful conduct from suffering for bearing Christ's name.
• When suffering is self-inflicted through wrongdoing, the proper response is shame over the sin, repentance, confession, and renewed holiness rather than self-justification.
• When believers suffer as Christians, they need not be ashamed; they can glorify God because the reproach belongs to their identification with Jesus.
• Judgment begins with God's household, not as condemnation for those in Christ, but as fatherly discipline that exposes unbelief and sanctifies genuine believers.
• Rejecting the gospel leads to final judgment, while the salvation of sinners required the costly blood of God's own Son.
• Those who suffer according to God's will must entrust their whole selves to their sovereign and faithful Creator while continuing to do good.

• Is my present suffering caused by faithfulness to Christ, ordinary brokenness, or the consequences of my own sin?
• When my conscience exposes wrongdoing, do I repent or defend myself because I dislike feeling shame?
• Where am I tempted to meddle, gossip, slander, or act sinfully and then call the consequences persecution?
• Am I ashamed of being identified with Jesus when others reject or mock his name?
• How can God's fatherly discipline be distinguished from condemnation for those who are in Christ?
• Whose rejection of the gospel should move me to sorrow and prayer rather than self-righteous satisfaction?
• What would it look like to entrust my whole self to God and continue doing good in my present trial?

Christian suffering

Suffering that comes because a person bears Christ's name and remains faithful to him, rather than suffering caused by personal wrongdoing.

Moral shame

The conscience's proper recognition that sinful conduct is wrong and calls for repentance, not the shame of belonging to Christ.

Fatherly discipline

God's corrective work in his children, designed for holiness rather than their condemnation.

Judgment

God's righteous evaluation and action, which refines his household but ends in condemnation for those who persistently reject the gospel.

Perseverance

God's faithful keeping of true believers as he continues his work in them through suffering and temptation.

Faithful Creator

The sovereign God who made and remade his people and can therefore be trusted with their whole lives while they suffer and do good.