Suffering is Sacred, Part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Today, as we continue this sermon series titled, How Free People Suffer, Rich challenges us to reframe the way we view suffering. He shows us from God's Word that suffering is sacred. The apostles knew this about their own suffering.

After receiving a beating for sharing the gospel of Christ in Acts 5, the apostles left rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Listen as Pastor Rich unpacks 1 Peter 4, 14-16 to show that suffering is a unique opportunity to engage in the highest purpose. This is part 3 of a message first preached February 12, 2023. There is a blessing in sacred suffering because this kind of suffering is sacred.

Let's continue now. Look at verse 15 with me. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler.

Yet if anyone suffers, verse 16, as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. Honor. The second main point is honor. With suffering that is sacred, there is honor. Because Peter gives us kind of two warnings here.

All right? And so that's what I want to focus on. And if we heed those warnings, then this sacred suffering will be a suffering of honor. And the first part of it is that we are set apart from self-preeminence.

Look what he says in verse 15 again. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a meddler. That means we need to be, as Christ's followers, we need to be set apart from the self-preeminence that is the default modus operandi of the unregenerate, unbelieving world. You're free. You're not bound by self-preeminence.

You're free. So live as people who are free. So in other words, he says, if you might claim the name of Christ and yet you are hateful or greedy or just a person of bad character or undisciplined, unprincipled or lacking of self-control, you're going to suffer for those things.

And Peter says, that's not what I'm talking about. If you suffer for those things, you've called that suffering upon yourself and you deserve it. That's the law of sowing and reaping. What happens if you're a person who manifests hate or greed or weak character, lack of self-control, you're hiding the light under the bushel.

It's self-imposed suffering. And even worse, perpetuating the name of Christ through bad behavior is taking the name of God in vain. So in other words, getting in somebody's face and hollering at them, even though you're hollering truth and quoting scripture verses, you're taking God's name in vain. Because that's not God. You're using God and His truth as a weapon to injure someone. That's not God. God has the prerogative to do that.

You and I do not. And when we use truth to injure someone, it's not because we care so much about God. It's because we care so much about being right. And when you weaponize the word of God like that, or Christianity or Christian truth or Christian principles, when you weaponize them like that, you are simply practicing self-preeminence and you are bringing persecution upon yourself justifiably. There's too much of that going on in America today, folks. We should not participate in that.

Jesus Christ came in grace and truth. And even a meddler, talking about meddler there, he says, what could that be? You know, meddling in other people's business. And one commentator says this could be Christians expressing excessive zeal and attacking pagan habits. Cursing the darkness. Rejoicing when someone in their evil is exposed. Smacking them down.

It's a very common thing to happen, particularly in social media today. We love to smack people down, don't we? And if you smack an unbeliever down with the truth, what are you doing? You're being a meddler. You are not propagating the gospel. There is no honor in cursing the darkness. But there is honor in being the light that exposes the darkness simply by virtue of being the light. And when you are light, it exposes the darkness. And Paul bears that out really well in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 8 through 11. So our honor comes when we are set apart from the default self-preeminence of the world. As Christ's followers, let's make sure that we're not operating in the same vein as the world is, the vein of self-preeminence.

Just simply wanting to win an argument or having to be right. We're not called to win. You know why? We've already won. Do you recognize that? Secondly, first, we're set apart from self-preeminence in our honor. Our honor is also, secondly, is we're set apart from shame. First part of verse 16, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.

This is touching every one of us right where we are, isn't it? Because we don't want to be singled out. We don't want to be smacked down in our work environment because we're a Christ follower. And because of that, some of us might just be closet Christians. Let him not be ashamed. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.

Three ways that that could happen. First of all, we could avoid shame by making Christianity pleasurable and popular. We could manifest our shame by making Christianity pleasurable and popular.

Now listen, I get it. God wants us to be satisfied. God wants us to experience his pleasure, but all of that is found in him. The world doesn't recognize that. And there are too many today that are trying to make Christianity pleasurable and popular. Dorothy Sayers wrote, I believe it is to be a grave mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offense in it. Now listen, we're not setting out to be... This almost goes without saying. You understand this.

You get it, right? But listen, truth divides, and the gospel is offensive. Tell me why the gospel is offensive.

It points out our sin. We need to be rescued. The gospel is a message of rescue, but that means the truth follows that you and I need to be rescued, don't we?

Every human being on this earth needs to be rescued. That's why the Bible calls us free. That's why we're called to live as people who are free. Live as people who have been rescued from the penalty and the power of sin. Live as people who are free.

People who have been reconciled to God, who now walk with him and delight in him and enjoy him. Live that. And understand that you live in a world where there are so many people that don't have that freedom. And why would we take that away to make that freedom, that Christianity, more acceptable to people who are still held in bondage by their own rebellion? Doesn't make sense, does it? That is one way that we could be ashamed.

A second way is somebody comes at you with a name, with a label. Hateful, bigoted, infantile, ignorant. Well, I'm not a person of faith, I like to think for myself. Do you care to be open-minded about that?

Ask somebody that question and see how they respond, right? Names, labels, and when somebody labels you and somebody denounces you, that makes you feel like less of a person. And your flesh then says, I need to protect myself.

I need to protect my name, my reputation, my image. I'm not less of a person. But that's why we need to change the lens through which we look at those attacks. They're not putting us down, they're putting Christ down. They're pinning a badge of honor on us because we identify with Christ. Thirdly, it might be a matter of self-preservation. Remind me again who's writing this letter.

This is not a hard question. Who's writing this letter? Remember what Peter did? You were with Jesus, weren't you? I mean, aren't you one of his followers?

Don't know the guy. Three times. You think he ever forgot that? This man knew the transforming grace of God. Because now his delight was so encompassed in the person of Jesus, it did not matter what anybody else thought.

Not one bit. So we might be ashamed because when we find ourselves in a position of self-preservation, I either need to preserve myself or maybe I find myself where I need to preserve my job. And if they find out that I'm a Christian, I might lose my job.

Yeah, and how big is your God? Let me just step aside here and say, as we pray for each other, all of us in the public arena, in the workforce, in the marketplace, some of us even with family and friends and neighbors, this is a new way that we need to pray for each other. That we will not be ashamed.

We will not seek to preserve ourselves or protect ourselves from whatever may come at us because we're Christ followers. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.