B. Understanding your time of trial.
1. (12-13) Enduring trials with the right attitude.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
a. Concerning the fiery trial which is to try you: Instead of thinking of trials (even fiery trials) as strange occurrences, we see them as ways to partake of Christ’s sufferings. And if we partake of His sufferings, we will also partake of His glory and joy.
i. Peter once told Jesus to avoid the suffering of the cross (Mark 8:32-33). “Once it seemed strange to the Apostle Peter that his Master should think of suffering. Now he thinks it strange that He could have imagined anything else.” (Meyer)
b. Partake of Christ’s sufferings: We can only partake of Jesus’ sufferings because He partook of our humanity and sufferings. He became a man and suffered so that our suffering wouldn’t be meaningless. It is good to share anything with Jesus, even His suffering.
c. Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy: Our tendency is to embrace the glory and the joy and to avoid any sharing of Jesus’ suffering. Or we morbidly fixate on the suffering and forget that it is but a necessary prelude to the glory and joy.
i. We should never deny the place of suffering in building godliness in the Christian life. Though there is much needless pain we bear through lack of knowledge or faith, there is also necessary suffering. If suffering was a suitable tool to teach Jesus (Hebrews 5:8), it is a suitable tool to teach His servants.
ii. To the extent implies a measure. Those who have suffered more in Jesus will rejoice more at His coming in glory.
2. (14-16) The difference between suffering as a Christian and suffering as an evildoer.
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
a. If you are reproached for the name of Christ: Suffering for the name of Christ is a blessing, because it shows that we really are following Jesus, and that we suffer because we are identified with Him.
b. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified: We expect the world to blaspheme Jesus. But He should always be glorified among Christians.
c. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody: Suffering as an evildoer is deserved and brings shame to the name of Jesus. Peter recognized that not all suffering that Christians experience is suffering in the name of Jesus.
i. We understand when Peter writes about the suffering that might come to the murderer, the thief, or the evildoer. Yet we shouldn’t be surprised that he also includes the busybody in other people’s matters. Such people do suffer a lot of grief and pain, but not for the sake of Jesus.
d. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed: Suffering as a Christian is nothing to be ashamed about, even though the world may despise the suffering Christian. Instead, we should glorify God in these matters.
i. We don’t glorify God for suffering. But we do glorify Him in suffering, and we glorify Him for what He will accomplish in us and through us with the suffering.
ii. “The name ‘Christian’ (Christianos), built on the name Christ with the suffix –ianos, a Latin formation (-ianus), denotes a partisan follower… Christian categorized the followers of Christ as ‘members of the Christ-party,’ not ‘little Christ’ as some popular explanations would have it.” (Hiebert)
iii. Christians were first known as “disciples,” “believers,” “the Lord’s disciples,” or “those who belonged to the Way” before they were known as Christians, first at Acts 11:26. This is the first of three places in the New Testament where the followers of Jesus are named Christians.
· In Acts 11:26 it tells us the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
· In Acts 26:28 Agrippa told Paul, You almost persuade me to become a Christian. This shows that between Acts 11:26 and 26:28 Christian had become a popularized name for the followers of Jesus.
· In 1 Peter 4:16 the idea is that some are suffering because they are identified as Christians. This shows that the name had become very widely used, so much so that one could be persecuted for being numbered as a Christian.
3. (17-19) Committing your soul to God in the midst of suffering.
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? Now
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
a. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God: In the context of suffering, Peter tells us that judgment begins at the house of God. Right now, God uses suffering as a judgment (in a positive, purifying sense) for Christians (the house of God).
i. It is right for judgment to begin at the house of God. “There is equity in it; for Christians profess to be better than others, and so they ought to be. They say they are regenerate, so they ought to be regenerate. They say that they are a holy people, separated unto Christ; so they ought to be holy, and separate from sinners, as he was.” (Spurgeon)
ii. Now is our time of fiery trial (1 Peter 4:12); the ungodly will have their fire later. The fire we endure now purifies us; the fire the ungodly will endure will punish them. Yet we always remember that there is never any punishment from God for us in our sufferings, only purification. For the Christian, the issue of punishment was settled once and for all at the cross, where Jesus endured all the punishment the Christian could ever face from God.
iii. The same fire that consumes straw will purify gold. The fire is the same, but its purpose in application is different, and its effect is different upon the straw and the gold. Even so, Christians do suffer some of the same things the ungodly do, yet the purpose of God is different and the effect is different.
b. If it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Peter’s sobering application is clear. If this is what God’s children experience, what will become of those who have made themselves His enemies? How can they ever hope to stand before the judgment and wrath of God?
i. Christians can rejoice that the sufferings they face in this life are the worst they will ever face throughout all eternity. We have seen the worst; those who reject Jesus Christ have seen the best of life their eternal existence will ever see.
c. If the righteous one is scarcely saved: Since this is true – that the salvation of the righteous does not come without difficulty – then it should make us pause if we ourselves or others seem to have an easy salvation.
i. It isn’t that our salvation is difficult in the sense of earning it or finding a way to deserve it; it is all the free gift of Jesus Christ. Yet our salvation is hard in the sense that the claims of discipleship challenge us and demand that we cast away our idols and our sins. Real discipleship and genuine following after Jesus Christ is sometimes a hard thing, so we understand why Peter quoted the passage from Proverbs 11:31, “the righteous one is scarcely saved.”
d. Those who suffer according to the will of God: Peter again made a distinction between those who suffer according to the will of God and those who suffer otherwise. Not all suffering is the will of God.
e. Commit their souls to Him: The ancient Greek word translated “commit” is a technical one, used for leaving money on deposit with a trusted friend. Such a trust was regarded as one of the most sacred things in life, and the friend was bound by honor to return the money intact. It is the very word Jesus used when He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46).
i. So when Christians commit their souls to Him, they leave their souls in a safe place. God is a faithful Creator, and we can give ourselves to Him as pliable clay in His hands.
f. Faithful Creator: Much of the agony we put ourselves through in times of trial and suffering has to do with our disregard of God’s faithfulness or of His place as Creator. He is our sovereign Creator, with the right to do with us as He pleases. Yet He is faithful, and will only do what is ultimately best for us.