Indestructible Hope
1 Peter 4 -VI
Pastor Gary Tolbert
March 15 08

Intro: Ill. Global warming or cooling?  Much of the world has suffered the worst stormy winter in years.  In much of the US it is hard to believe that spring is just one week away. Toronto and around the great lakes have had one of the best snows fall accumulations on record.  For the past three weeks there have been storm watches or warnings of tornadoes, flooding, rain, hail and snow.  More than 20 inches of snow covered the city of Columbus, Ohio breaking the previous record set in 1910.  Two different storm systems in the same week brought snow and ice to Texas forcing many schools and businesses to close.  The fast-moving weather system created havoc at many of the nation's airports.  One airplane skidded off the runway, in despite of having been deiced and was not able to gain enough speed to fly.  Even England has experienced severe weather.  I guess these are more signs of the last days and with that more suffering.
            In the devotional section of the February 21, Adventist Review, Gavin Anthony shares his personal feelings about this.  It dawned upon him that he cannot stop the storms of life from coming.  He realized that he could only have God's peace once he stopped trying to avert the storms.  Anthony uses storms as a metaphor for anything that disrupts life and prevents one from having peace of mind. (Quote) We often presume that we’ll gain peace by preventing or stopping the storm.  But this is not the biblical view.  Peace has nothing to do with whether the storms are big, small, or have disappeared.  Peace has to do with our faith in Jesus and whether we really believe that he has all power and sovereignty.
            (John 16:33, In me you will have peace). The Bible never says our lives are free from pain.  Because we live in a free land we get spoiled and feel any suffering must be wrong, it shouldn't be happening.  An old Irish proverb says: You get the chicken by allowing the egg to hatch, not by smashing it. Pain needs to do its work, relief from it may not be best for us. 
            We are looking at 1 Peter 4. This letter was written to both Jewish and Gentile believers in Asia Minor.  It was probably written from Rome around AD 65, towards the end of Peter's Ministry.  Paul was beheaded in Rome in AD 67.  Nero was the Emperor and carried on severe persecution of the Christians.  Hence the over bearing emphasis in his letter on suffering. 
            Even though we are blessed with freedom of religion here in America, persecution happens daily in this world. (Quote) More Christians had died for their faith in the 20th century and in all other sentries in church history combined. It is estimated that two thirds of all the marchers in Christian history died in the 20th century. (Christianity Today, March 08)
I. Suffering and sin
            1 Peter 4:1-6, Suffering removes sin.  There are two statements here that need explanation: verse 1, Done with sin and verse 6, Preached to the dead.
            Let’s begin with verse 6, (read).  When you are physically dead you are not aware of your surroundings and no one preaches to you because you cannot hear. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, Dead know nothing)  (Psalm 115:17, 18, Dead do not praise God) The dead here are those who were dead at the time Peter wrote and who had accepted the gospel before they died.  The gospel was preached to them that are now dead.  You have to understand that NT prophets, including EGW believed Christ would come back in their lifetime.  They would all be translated and not see death.
            Now: 1 Peter 4:1, 2, Done with sin?  1- Suffering has something to do with sin: To allow yourself to be subjected to suffering you must sacrifice opportunities for pleasant living.  This sacrifice is a way of denying self.  Self is our biggest enemy.  It is the selfish heart that wants to sin.  Allowing yourself to suffer denies the selfish heart.  Accepting suffering in the name of Jesus purges your body and mind of selfishness and drives out the desire for constant sinning.  If we did not have a selfish heart, suffering would not seem so bad.  In prosperity we are for the most part strangers to ourselves.  God makes us to know affliction so that we may better know ourselves.  We see the corruption in our hearts in the time of affliction that we would not otherwise believe was there.
2-Suffering does not make us sinless: It works in us that which keeps us from making sin a way of life.  But we still have sins. (1 John 1:8-10, We all have sinned)  We still are sinful beings.  The apostle Paul went through unspeakable suffering (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) yethe still claimed that he burned with sin.  If we stand with Jesus even in the midst of suffering, we place ourselves on his side and not on sins side.
II. Suffering in Christ
            1Peter 4:12-19, Rejoice in painful trials.  Here we see some of the specifics of suffering:
1-Sorrow through following Christ: We call this persecution.  Ill. A teenager.  It's not very severe in this country but in isolated situations it does exist.  But in other places it can be quite bad. Ill. In a sermon by Chuck Swindoll he observes, (Quote) Thanks to blockbuster movies, thrill rides, and Madison Ave. ad campaigns, we have come to expect that if life isn't sensational, something must be wrong.  We must be skinny and beautiful, pursue a career that's continually challenging and rewarding, become rich and famous, and enjoy a family life that is dynamic and fulfilling.  If we're not careful, we can apply those expectations to our spiritual journey and fail to see the hand of God in the ordinary events of life.  Even more tragic, we might fail to recognize his gentle teaching in the midst of life's most painful trials.
            Along these lines let me share from Ziya Meral, a Turkish convert to Christianity from Islam who is now a theologian. Ill Turkish theologian, Ziya Meral. More Christians are killed than are saved from execution at the last minute.  More Christians stay locked in prison, beaten and tortured, than are able to walk free, guided by miraculous escape.  More Christians suffer lifelong deprivation of their most basic civic and economic rights.  More converts from Islam give up their faith then those who stay Christians, and those who remain in the church struggle in lifelong battles with shame, depression, and isolation, caused by the loss of ties to their families, communities and nations.
            Above all, for the average persecuted Christian, there are unanswered prayers and the absence of peace, strength, courage, and joy.  There humanness in a very earthly plot line finds no place in our modern-day obsession in heroic stories with victorious resolutions.
            For persecuted Christians, suffering turns into affliction when they internalize the horrible feeling that they are alone.  Even Martin Luther found himself in the gray zone between suffering and affliction the night before his defense prayed, (Quote) Oh Almighty and everlasting God!  How terrible is this world!  Behold, it opens its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust in thee!
            Where is God when millions of his children are being persecuted in the most brutal ways?  Why does he keep silent in the middle of persecution but speak loudly in the middle of conferences with famous speakers and worship bands?  Ziya has prayed many times like Luther: (Quote) Bless us, Lord, even curse us!  But don't remain silent! (Ziya Meral) I cringe when I hear Adventists hoping for the last days to come.  We have no idea what we are asking for.
            Matthew 5:10-12, Rejoice in persecution. For those experiencing it, that is not easy. (2 Timothy 3:12, Persecution will come to the godly)   (Romans 8:28, All things work for our good)  If our good is a stable, safe, healthy, happy, and reasonably wealthy middle-class life, then logically one can conclude that God really does not work for the good of the largest portion of the global church today.  We are so isolated here in America.  We have no idea what the rest of the Christian world experiences.
            When we look at Paul's list of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:24-29, Tremendous hardships. It is clear that Paul's life will never be known as a good one by today's pop psychology or quick-fixed spirituality books.  Did Paul ever stop and wonder why he wasn't blessed? 
            Sometimes those being persecuted experience the silence of God.  But it is not the same as the absence of God.  Within those silent moments, he is present in pain, suffering, and isolation.  He is hurting with us as we are hurting like his Son.  In his silence he is speaking loudly to the world around us.
            The greatest glory Jesus brought to God was not when he walked on the water or prayed for long hours, but when he cried in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and still continued to follow God's will, even though it meant isolation, darkness, and the silence of God.  Thus, martyrs know that when everything around them fails, when they are destroyed and abandoned, their tears, blood, and dead bodies are the greatest worship songs they have ever sung.  They know that God is right there with them.  He is present through their lives and words and he has not forgotten them nor turned away his face.  He is not distant from their pain; they have an indestructible hope; he is in prison with them, he is naked, he is beaten, he is raped, and he is killed.  He is not quiet, but is speaking powerfully through their lives, suffering, and death. 
            A leader of the Chinese house-church movement, quoted in World, October 2005:(Quote) Stop praying for persecution in China to end... we, in fact, are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so revival would come there like we have seen in China.
2- Sorrow for our sins: We call this discipline.  God allows us to suffer for our own mistakes. (Hebrews 12:4-11, Discipline produces a harvest of righteousness)  When the prodigal son experienced want, then he returned home to his father (Luke 15:11-32).  When the dove could not find any rests for her feet, she flew to the Ark, (Genesis 8:8, 9).  When God brings a delusion of affliction upon us, then we fly to the Ark of Christ.  Thus affliction makes us happy in bringing us nearer to God.  God allows it to purge us or cleanse us or refine us, yet we holdfast our integrity.  Romans 6:6-11, Dead to sin, live to God.
There are kinds of suffering that are not good. 2 Corinthians 7:10, Worldly sorrow brings death.  Godly sorrow leads to life.  What is worldly sorrow?  Self-pity, putting yourself down and wallowing in it, not forgiving yourself even though God has forgiven you.  This is self-destructive. 
            Many Adventists have a very well developed sense of guilt.  Maybe it comes from our upbringing.  Ill. Guilt? Never in Scripture do we find the Jesus walking down a dusty road, turning relentless questions over and over in his mind. If only I had spent more time than Judas.  If only I had pleaded with him harder; giving him my undivided attention instead of going around healing everybody.
            The thought is preposterous.  Yet somehow we can't seem to get past plunging ourselves into guilt when our daughters pierced their ears, our sons fail high school, we eat a coffee ice cream cone on the way home from work.
            What is wrong with all this is what it does to us, and what it does to our families.  Rather than bringing us closer to God, it pushes us away.  Rather than leading to improvement in our families, it causes us to be critical and condemning of those we love.  Rather than leading to growth, its stunts and destroys.  We need an indestructible hope.
3- Suffering from the sinful world: There is random suffering that comes to Christians and non-Christians alike.  These include a child born with birth defects, cancer, accidental death, terrible injury, etc.  These things happen, not because God wants them to or because we had sinned but because we live in a sinful world and bad stuff happens.  God doesn't always interfere but he can bring a blessing out of it. Ill. Marriage saved by accident Yvonne and Raymond Bailey.
            As the Ill. Hard frosts in Winter bring on the flowers in the spring, and the night ushers in the morning star, so the evils of affliction produced much good to those who love God.  When we Ill. Dig away the earth from the root of the tree, it is to loosen the tree from the earth.  So God digs away our earthly comforts to loosen our hearts from the earth.  God would have the world hang as a Ill. Loose tooth that, being twitched away, does not trouble us much.  Is it not good to be weaned? 
Conclude:
            1 Peter 4:7-11, Love covers many sins.

Indestructible Hope
1 Peter 4
possible screen information

1 Peter 4:1-6, Suffering has something to do with sin
1 Peter 4:12-19, Rejoice in painful trials
Matthew 5:10-12, Rejoice in persecution
2 Corinthians 11:24-29, Tremendous hardships
Romans 6:6-11, Dead to sin, alive to God
2 Corinthians 7:10, Worldly sorrow brings death
1 Peter 4:7-11, Love covers many sins