Rejoice To Participate in the Sufferings of Christ

1 Peter 4:1-19, Key Verse: 4:13

  "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Today we will be taught about the right attitude toward sufferings of Jesus and what to do in those sufferings. Let us pray we may be full of “holy desire” to rejoice in participate in Jesus’ sufferings through today’s message.

I. A right attitude toward suffering for Christ (1-6)

Nobody likes to suffer. We just want to avoid suffering by any means if it is possible. Last month I had two-hour-long gum surgery. That was the last thing I wanted to do.  That’s even seemed like a torture. Anyway, the pain of the dental surgery made me think something. “How I could endure physical persecution or suffering if I would be harassed by anti-Christians?” But, on the other hand, I believe God would give me strength and power to overcome all fear and go through persecution. Even though it is very painful to go to dental office, it is good for health. Just like that, following Jesus is to suffer, but it is good for our spiritual health and our salvation. Peter deeply understood Christians’ suffering. And he found how to overcome it after some spiritual failures. Let’s think about them.

Look at verse 1. "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin." In the gospels, especially during the time of his passion, Jesus suffered in his body. He was beaten and flogged. His flesh was even ripped by a whip of leather strands embedded with metal spurs. And he was nailed and at last died on the cross. What was his attitude from the beginning to the end of his suffering? Did he say, “I am going to kill every single one who is involved in my suffering,” or “I hate this suffering and I hate all sinners?” About my gum surgery again, when I had gum surgery, I thought about beating up the dentist after the surgery all of a sudden because he gave me too much pain even though he was treating me. How about Jesus? How about his attitude toward his suffering? We could know Jesus’ attitude toward his suffering by meditating on some of his words on the cross. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23:34a). "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Lk 23:46). Can we see any sense of loss or victim mentality or hatred in what Jesus said? Absolutely Not! He was full of love of forgiveness and assurance of God’s final victory.  

How was it possible for Jesus to have such an attitude? In Luke 22:42 we see Jesus pray in face of the ordeal in his flesh. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Through prayer he was fully prepared for his suffering and death. We can also arm ourselves with the attitude of Christ through prayer for our own suffering. But, in reality, we do sleep more, watch more movies, and eat more food, and you name it. We do everything except for praying to handle the difficult situations and sufferings. Praying seems like the last stop to come by in our lives of faith. However, victory in suffering comes only through prayer. Let’s learn to pray first, like Jesus.

The last part of verse 1 says, “…he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” This means that suffering we have indeed helps us to be holy through continual prayers. When Christ died for our sins, he died once for all, and made complete atonement for our sins. So, when we believe in Jesus, we are justified as children of God. And we participate in victory over sin. However, the process of appropriating this victory may take time, because we are still inclined to enjoy our sinful natures or desires, which hardly die. Speaking of sinful desires, I am reminded of all kinds of weeds on the yard of my place. One day I worked hard getting rid of all weeds by hand as well as by some chemical stuff. However, not before long, I saw the yard covered with another kind of weeds. So I was so frustrated because it was almost out of my control and I said to myself “Where in the world did all those unwanted weeds come from?” If I do not care of the yard at all, the yard would be an exhibition of all kinds of weeds. To me, sinful desires or natures seem like weeds.  Getting rid of our sinful desires like removing weeds is never-ending work. So we cannot stop cleaning our hearts with the blood of Jesus. In this our current suffering helps us focus one what is most important, which is freedom from sinful desires.  

Look at verse 2. “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” When sinful desires die through sufferings, holy desires grow in our hearts. Holy desire is to obey God’s will with whole heart. Let us pray that we may embrace our sufferings positively and our hearts may be purified enough to obey God’s will absolutely.

I read a story about an interesting psychology test in three student groups. Given that every single student in the three groups has no difference in their abilities, the professor, who directed the test, gave each group only some different restrictions on their paper due that would affect their grades.

If they miss the due date, their score would be reduced by 10 points. Students in Group A should turn in their three papers according to their own time frame. They could turn them all of three in at a time at any time, even on the last day of the class. Students in Group B should set their three paper due dates themselves and turn their three papers on those dates. And Students in Group C do not have any option for due date.  Paper due dates were set by the professor.  Now, Can you guess what the results of those three groups were? Those in Group A for the first time were very happy because they thought they were free and had a lot of time until the last day of the class. But they were the ones who got the lowest average in grade and got stressed a lot for the last couple of days.  But the students in Group C showed good performance and got the highest average even though they got stressed a little bit by the fixed time frame for their paper due.  What does the test show us? We all want absolute freedom from sufferings or restrictions in our lives. But in reality we are likely to fall in temptation and slack if we do not have any suffering in our life. And eventually we end up being a loser just like the students in Group A in the psychology test. But through sufferings we have a great chance to grow in spirit and to meet God personally and moreover we can have the true hope in the kingdom of God. Let’s give thanks to God who gives us meaningful and helpful sufferings that make us purified and obedient to his will.  

Next, we must decide to do the will of God (3-6). Look at verse 3. “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.” From time to time we confront with hardship and suffering, and then we want to go back to the old sinful life, rather than come to Jesus and pray to him. Even after we were saved from the power of sins, we still live in this sin-sickened world, which is full of pagans the unbelievers that are indulged in all kinds of pleasures of sin. Being influenced by the world, we often compromise with our sinful pleasures to forget our sufferings and make an excuse. Someone might say, “Everybody drinks and smokes and do whatever they want to do. Why not me? Just one time! It’s Ok.” But we’ve got to know that we are not just everyone, but a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God. And in the verse Peter points out that we have sinned enough. Therefore, we’ve got to say to ourselves, “Enough is enough.” Instead of sinning again and again, we must pursue union with Christ in his death, and live a holy life, seeking to do the will of God.

Then, what is God’s will? It is good and perfect (Ro 12:2). Therefore, when we follow God’s will, we can produce good fruit and be happy with ourselves and others as well. Furthermore, Obedience to the will of God gives a deep joy that has no regrets, and it leads to eternal life (1 Jn 2:17). Therefore, instead of returning to the old bad habit of sinful desires, we should do the will of God that makes our lives full of joy and happiness. As we all know, to be joyful always, to pray continually and to give thanks in all circumstances are God’s will. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). If God wants us to be joyful, just be joyful when you work hard and sacrifice yourselves in God’s work for his name’s sake. If God wants us to pray, then pray instead of sitting around in a great despair. If God wants us to give thanks in all circumstances, thank him even though you lose everything you have. It’s all because God’s will is good and perfect. What a simple and powerful it is to obey God’s will! Let’s pray that we may do the will of God by faith in all situations.

II. The end is near: Love one another and glorify God (7-11)

Look at verse 7a. “The end of all things is near.” This is another reason why we must have a right attitude toward suffering and how we can follow the will of God. As I said earlier about the psychology test, the students in Group A thought they had plenty of time because the paper due would be any time before or on the last class, and they easily became complacent. Just like them, we also relax and have fun before exams or homework due date, thinking of studying hard later if it seems there is plenty of time left. However, unfortunately, we are too far behind to catch up by the time we come back to our senses. This is why many students fail to fulfill their dreams. When we are aware of the end of all things such as time, youth, strength, and even life in this world, we can live a different life. Most of all, when we remember that Jesus will come again and put an end to this world as the judge, we cannot live like those who just eat and drink for tomorrow everybody dies. Like the slaves in the parable of talents (Matthew 25:13-30) we have to wait for our master to come back at any time while we work hard and endure sufferings. In his time our mater Jesus will settle his accounts with us and we will have to report about our achievement. On the other hand, we can be happy with the idea that our suffering will not last forever but end at last. I could finish my army duty in spite of all kinds of hardship and training because I expected and hoped for “the day” of my military service discharge. Even though the darkness of the night gets deeper and deeper, there must be the end of the night and will be the light at the end of the darkness. Even though the darkened tunnel of our lives looks endless, there must be the end of it and we will the light of the glory of Jesus. If there is a start of something, there must be an end of it. 

Look at verse 7b. “Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” Since we know the end of all things is near, we should clean our minds and control our desires in order to pray to the Lord. Simply speaking, to clean our minds means set your minds on things above. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” We have to set our minds to be positive, joyful, thankful, and God-centered, not to be negative, defeat, depressed, and dejected. One of you might ask me, “Oh, M. Joseph, I got a ticket other day. How can I be positive and thankful with that?” or “Oh, I got screwed up with my exams. How is it possible for me not to be negative and depressed?” Yes, you can clean your mind; you can set your minds on things above. I also got a lot of tickets and spent a lot of money to settle the cases. For each case I said to myself, “Oh, Thank God you gave me a great chance to repent of my sins in this court room.” And I imagine that the judge in the court would be Jesus and I will be summoned by his angles some day. Let us praise the Lord who is righteous but pardons us all our offenses without issuing tickets or imposing any penalty. By the way, we also have to control our desires; otherwise, our enemy Satan controls our desires and turns them into evil ones. We get always deceived by Satan. But how about deceiving Satan in order to control our desires? Let say, you do not want to do something holy (such as early Morning Prayer or writing testimony) you have to keep on doing. Then you say to Satan sitting on your shoulder, “I am going to do that only this time, just one time. That’s it.” And you do it later again, saying to the enemy, “This is the last time for me to do it! I am not going to do it again.” This way, you can deceive Satan and somehow control your evil human desires. 

Look at verse 8. “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

When the end of all things is near, we should be clear-minded and self-controlled; and what’s more, we should love each other because loving one another prevents us from committing sins. When we feel that we love someone and we are loved by someone around us, we are happy and do something positive and constructive for better life. On the other hand, if you feel abandoned or ignored by some people around you, you feel painful, sorrowful, and even hateful that you may just sitting around and think about all negative and destructive ideas. “How can I get even with them?” Or “How can I make them feel what I feel badly?” Then we fall into a trap set by Satan and destroy ourselves and even others for the sake of our enemy Satan. However, when we remember Christ’s love covered over a multitude of our sins by his blood shed on the cross, we can love and serve one another.

 Then, how do we love and serve one another? Look at verses 9-10. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various form.” In a word, we should serve others with no complaining by using our resources. God gives gifts to his children. We don't deserve them; that is why they are called "gifts." They are not meant for showing off, but for serving others. In love, we must discover what needs to be done, and then do it with the gifts God has given us. We must use our gifts faithfully to share God's grace with the body of Christ. Then, we can move forward joyfully and happily in these latter days for the glory and the power of our Lord Jesus for ever and ever. Amen (11).

III. Rejoice to participate in the sufferings of Christ (12-19)

Peter goes further steps and goes to the extra miles for a right attitude toward sufferings and he seems to drives the nail up to the head in the latter verses of the chapter. How does he do that?

First, Peter tells us to rejoice in the sufferings of Christ (12-14). When I was suffering from stammering in public, I asked myself, “Why only me?” Friends at school, sales persons at store, members at church, family members both in father’s and mother’s sides, all those people never stuttered. But it seemed I was the only one who stammered in the whole universe. So I cried out, “Why, Why me?” In fact, I was not the only one who suffered and I realized that many other people suffer from their own life problem. So my question changed from “Why?” to “How?” “How can I overcome or solve this problem by faith for the glory of God?” “Why me” sounds very miserable, fatalistic, and dismayed, but “How…by faith for the glory of God?” sounds very challenging, active, motivating, and mountain-moving. Look at verse 13. “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Ironically, we go through sufferings how? By rejoicing, by praising, and by giving thanks to God, instead of asking, “Why me?” Actually, suffering for Christ has a mysterious power to draw us to Christ and to deeper fellowship with Christ. As a result, we do not focus our attention on the suffering, but on Christ. In Christ we rejoice.

When I was in the army, I had an overnight march around 25 miles fully armed with rucksack, mask, rifle and so on. Not long after I began marching, I got a blister on my foot, which was so painful that I did not want to go further. But in front of me there was a long way to go all night. I felt very miserable first time, but then I began to mediate on Jesus and his sufferings for my sins and recite some words joyfully: “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall (Mal. 4:2).” And mysteriously the pain on my foot disappeared over time and I could finish my march without falling out. If I had focused on my pain solely, the march could have been a miserable memory, not a sweet memory of having fellowship with God through his words and praising with joyful heart. Let us pray to focus our attention not on the suffering, but on Christ and we may rejoice in Christ.

Look at verse 13 again. “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” To those who share his suffering, Jesus promises that we will share his glory as well. The Apostle Paul, who suffered much, knew this secret very well. So he said, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." (Php 3:10). He also said, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Ro 8:18). Therefore, when we participate in the sufferings of Christ, and are sure of it, we have reason to rejoice greatly, for we can be sure that we will share in his glory.

Look at verse 14. “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” This verse might mean if we are not insulted because of the name of Christ, we are cursed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. When we just hang out with worldly people well without any religious conflict, it seems ok for a while. But over time we would become tasteless salt and God’s blessing would be taken away. Therefore, suffering for Christ is a way to receive and maintain God’s blessing for the Spirit of glory and of god rests on us.  

Second, Peter tells us to suffer for Christ because it is much better than suffering for our own sins (15-19).  Look at verse 15. “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.” If we commit a serious crime, we go to jail and suffer much in the cell. When I watched “Prison Break”, I felt so terrible because the inmates were under violent and horrible situations. Even when we violate any traffic rule by mistake or on purpose, we get a ticket and feel so terrible all day long. This kind of sufferings due to our mistake or evil desires has no redemptive value. Every suffering for sins is just mere misery. On the other hands, when we suffer for Christ, and do not be ashamed, but praise God, we have real reason to rejoice and find deep meaning of our Christian life (16). Look at verse 19. “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” God knows our suffering. God uses our suffering for good. In God's time it will end and we will receive everlasting glory. God has promised this, and he is faithful. So let us commit ourselves to him, and continue to do good.

Though we have so many reasons to be positive about suffering for Christ, sometimes we become tired of suffering. Sometimes we wonder if it might not be better to take a break from suffering and enjoy an easier life for a while. But there is no easier life. I heard a saying that if you cannot avoid suffering, you just enjoy it. Some people here might have heard this saying in the army. “Just enjoy it!” Let us pray to enjoy the suffering of Christ by obeying God’s word and to keep on doing good for the glory of God!