Suffering Triumphantly! 1 Peter 3:8-22 Message 4 of 6 in our 6-part series on 1 Peter Sunday, November 15, 2009 Speaker: Phil Hainaut

In 2:12, Peter says: Live such good lives among pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

A.The practices that allow us to see and love the good life in the midst of suffering (V.8- 12) 1. The calling (v.9b) 2. The blessing (v.10a) 3. The formula (vs.8-11) a. Seek and pursue unity and peace

John 17:20-23 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me. Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men

A.The practices that allow us to see and love the good life in the midst of suffering (V.8-12) 1. The calling (v.9b) 2. The blessing (v.10a) 3. The formula (vs.8-11) a. Seek and pursue unity and peace b. Suffer along with others c. Do good to everybody d. Be tender-hearted e. Be humble f. Don’t retaliate g. Bless your enemies

Matthew 5:38-42 You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, ‘Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’

Romans 12:14, 17, Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

A.The practices that allow us to see and love the good life in the midst of suffering (V.8-12) 1. The calling (v.9b) 2. The blessing (v.10a) 3. The formula (vs.8-11) a. Seek and pursue unity and peace b. Suffer along with others c. Do good to everybody d. Be tender-hearted e. Be humble f. Don’t retaliate g. Bless your enemies 4. The promise (v.12)

A.The practices that allow us to see and love the good life in the midst of suffering (V.8-12) B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering (vs.13-17)

B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering 1. An eagerness to do good (v.13) 2. An understanding that Christians who do suffer for righteousness are eternally blessed (v.14)

Hebrews 11:36-40 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering 1. An eagerness to do good (v.13): 2. An understanding that Christians who do suffer for righteousness are eternally blessed (v.14): 3. A fear of God rather than man (v.14): Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.

B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering 1. An eagerness to do good (v.13): 2. An understanding that Christians who do suffer for righteousness are eternally blessed (v.14): 3. A fear of God rather than man (v.14): 4. A submission to Christ as Lord of your suffering (v.15) 5. An answer for unbeliever questions (vs.15-17) a. Be prepared to verbally explain your faith b. Do so with gentleness and respect c. Based on the powerful integrity of good behaviour

B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering 1. An eagerness to do good (v.13) 2. An understanding that Christians who do suffer for righteousness are eternally blessed (v.14) 3. A fear of God rather than man (v.14) 4. A submission to Christ as Lord of your suffering (v.15) 5. An answer for unbeliever questions (vs.15-17) 6. An understanding of your suffering options (v.17)

A.The practices that allow us to see and love the good life in the midst of suffering (V.8-12) B.The defenses against a hostile world of suffering (vs.13-17) C. Christ as the ultimate model of righteous, triumphant suffering (vs.18-22)

1. Christ’s triumphant sin bearing (v.18) a. It involved ultimate suffering b. It involved ultimate and righteous sacrifice c. It was a sacrifice offered once for all humanity d. It brought eternal and abundant blessing 2. Christ’s triumphant preaching (v.18-20)

Genesis 6:1-7 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward— when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.

2Peter 2:4,5 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others…

Jude 6,7 The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire

C.Christ as the ultimate model of righteous, triumphant suffering (vs.18-22) 1. Christ’s triumphant sin bearing (v.18) a. It involved ultimate suffering b. It involved ultimate and righteous sacrifice c. It was a sacrifice offered once for all humanity d. It brought eternal and abundant blessing 2. Christ’s triumphant preaching (v.18-20) 3. Christ’s triumphant salvation (vs.20-21)

Romans 6:3,4 Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

C.Christ as the ultimate model of righteous, triumphant suffering (vs.18-22) 1. Christ’s triumphant sin bearing (v.18) a. It involved ultimate suffering b. It involved ultimate and righteous sacrifice c. It was a sacrifice offered once for all humanity d. It brought eternal and abundant blessing 2. Christ’s triumphant preaching (v.18-20) 3. Christ’s triumphant salvation (vs.20-21) 4. Christ’s triumphant supremacy (v.22)

Philippians 2:8-11 He humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Romans 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 2Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.