The Triumph of Christ's Suffering, Part 3

I'm talking about you, by faith, coming into union with Christ, undergoing the judgment of God that fell on Christ, in His death and burial, and coming out the other side in the glory of His resurrection. Thus, you too have been carried through the judgment of God and out the other side by being in Christ, the ark of safety. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's said that God never wastes affliction. Certainly it's comforting to know that tough circumstances don't just happen. Illness, the loss of a job, difficult relationships, and even the death of a loved one, these are all opportunities for you to grow spiritually.

And so is being mistreated because you're a Christian, whether that happens at work or at school or even within your own family. On this edition of Grace to You, John MacArthur will show you how you can stand strong in the face of persecution. It's a matter of finding and following the right path, the one that leads through suffering to triumph. That's the title of John's study, Through Suffering to Triumph. And with the lesson now, here's John.

1 Peter 3.18 through 22. Now we've been learning that the time of our Lord's greatest suffering was also the time of great triumph. And the lesson for us here is plain. Don't despair in the times of difficulty. Don't despair in the times of persecution. Don't despair in the times of unjust treatment. Don't despair in the times of rejection.

It could be the time of your greatest triumph. That's what Peter wants his readers to understand. He's writing to persecuted, rejected believers who are being treated unjustly, unfairly, and with great hostility. And he wants to encourage them by reminding them that the time of our Lord's unjust treatment when He was crucified was also the time of His great triumph. And we need to look at our own difficulty as a time of triumph also.

Look with me again at our text in verses 18 to 22. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit, in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

This is written, as I said, as an encouragement. Christ, who suffered the just for the unjust, triumphed in the midst of that suffering. And Peter gives us this marvelous insight in order that we might look at our own suffering as a point of triumph. Now, in examining the triumph of Christ in His suffering, Peter focuses on four aspects, a triumphant sin-bearing, a triumphant sermon, a triumphant salvation, and then in verse 22, a triumphant supremacy. You remember that we have already examined a triumphant sin-bearing. We looked at the first part of verse 18, and we saw that while Jesus was being murdered and killed unjustly, nonetheless, it says, marvelously He died for sins in order that He might bring us to God. And so while being murdered by men, He was triumphing over sin. And so the unjust and undeserved suffering of Christ provided a triumph over sin that brings us to God. Marvelous thought that is, to know that in the direst moment of the life of Christ, He accomplished the bearing of our sin that we might come to God.

And then last time, we looked at the second point. Jesus' triumph is also seen in that while being put to death in the flesh, verse 18, He was made alive in the Spirit and went and made proclamation or preached a sermon to the spirits in prison. And we noted secondly that there was a triumphant sermon delivered. And I told you last time that I believe Jesus Christ descended to the place where certain demons are imprisoned, demons who sinned in Genesis chapter 6, who sinned by leaving their own natural estate and entering into a cohabitation with women in order to produce an unredeemable race and to create a situation so that the Messiah Himself could not be born. Satan's great effort to pollute the human stream with some kind of demonic human monstrosity. And because of that, you remember that we read in Peter's epistle and also in Jude that these demons who did that were put in everlasting chains and bound in a place, a prison house where they will be kept forever. At the time of Christ's death, I suppose the demons assumed they had won the victory and He showed up at the party to announce His triumph.

He had accomplished what they feared most. He had bruised the serpent's head who is their master, even Satan. By the way, when interpreting this particular difficult text that way, people ask the question, how could demons, fallen angels cohabitate with women? When it says in Matthew 22, 30 that the angels do not marry, there is neither marrying or giving in marriage in heaven among the angels, Jesus said. And the point to make is that it says that angels do not intermarry and they do not marry nor are they given in marriage in heaven.

And that is precisely the point here. They left their proper abode. They came down to earth. They could not make union with themselves and so they took on some male human form and made unions with women, the daughters of women as the Scripture says.

They took on human bodies and endeavored to corrupt the human stream. Angels in heaven cannot cohabitate with one another. That's the intention of Matthew 22, 30. We're not talking about heaven. We're talking about fallen angels who came down to earth having left their proper dominion.

I might also mention to you that it is always true that in demon activity, whether it is Satan worship or the occult or involvement in demonism to any degree, it always involves perverted sex. Always. Always.

Inevitably. That from long ago. We come to the third area in which our Lord triumphed and we'll call that a triumphant salvation, a triumphant salvation. As Peter was mentioning the time of Noah in verse 20, the time in which those demons were disobedient and committed their great perversion, as he is mentioning Noah, apparently it reminds him about the ark. And as it reminds him about the ark, he moves to discuss the ark and the safety of Noah's family during the flood. Look at verse 20. It says regarding those demon spirits, they were disobedient during the time of Noah. And then he goes on, during the construction of the ark in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Having been reminded of Noah, Peter moves into the next dimension of Christ's triumph by following up the story of Noah as an analogy to the triumphant salvation Christ has provided.

You remember the story. Noah had three sons and they had three wives. Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives all were spared in the flood. The flood came and drowned the entire world except for eight people.

The reason? Only eight people believed. Only eight people on the face of the earth believed. That is quite remarkable because in 2 Peter 2 5, Peter says that Noah was a preacher. He was a preacher of righteousness. And he preached the message of righteousness for a long, long time. In fact, he preached the message the whole time he was building the ark. And it took him 120 years to build the ark, which was approximately the size of the Queen Mary. He was only in the ark a little over one year.

Now imagine this. Preaching for 120 years about the coming judgment of God and giving a massive object lesson about it as the ark was being built and at the end of those 120 years having no converts outside your family. But for those eight who believed the ark was the means of their deliverance from judgment. As long as they were in it, they were safe. And you remember when the flood came, the ark floated and those eight souls among all the human beings on the face of the earth were alone saved. We might say that the ark carried them from a world of wickedness and iniquity into a brand new life. In fact, they passed through judgment by being in that ark.

They were not touched. They went through the judgment. The rain was above them and the flood was below them.

They were in the middle of the judgment, but they were untouched in the safety of that ark. For Peter, that is a picture of salvation. Notice verse 21. And corresponding to that, stop right there. He sees that as an analogy. Corresponding to that, resembling that. This is anti-toupon, an anti-type, a pattern. That term used in the New Testament basically has the idea of an earthly expression of a heavenly reality. It is a symbol or a picture or a pattern or an analogy of some spiritual truth. So in some way, the fact that eight people were in an ark and went through the whole judgment and yet were untouched is analogous to the Christian experience in salvation. Now somebody will say, okay, what is the anti-toupon?

What is the anti-type? Is it the ark or is it the water? And I think the answer is it's the whole thing.

It's the whole thing. If you want to emphasize the water, you can since water is neuter and so is anti-toupon. But the real idea here is the whole idea that just as these people in the ark went through the waters of judgment, so the believer is carried safely through judgment, the judgment of God. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you. Now if we were to change that word baptism and say immersion now saves you, we'd begin to move toward the meaning here.

Now let me say something at the outset. I don't think he's talking about water baptism because water baptism doesn't save you. I don't think he's talking about water baptism symbolically. I think he's talking about immersion into an ark of safety that went through judgment.

Now follow the thought. He is saying just like Noah was placed with his sons and their wives in an ark of safety and they went through the judgment. They didn't miss it. They didn't really escape it. They were preserved in it. So you have been immersed in some kind of protective ark that has taken you through judgment. They were put into the waters of judgment. The waters of judgment fell down on the top of them.

But they were incarcerated in a haven of safety. And he is saying we as believers are put into the great waters of judgment and we too are incarcerated in a haven of safety. Now what baptism is he talking about?

What haven of safety? Please read further in verse 21. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh. He's not talking about baptism as water baptism. He's not talking about some ritual.

That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You'll notice you probably have some dashes in that sentence. It should read like this if you leave out that qualifying statement in the middle. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The other statements are qualifiers. It is a baptism that saves you. What baptism? Baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ.

That's the issue here. As that flood was a furious judgment of God upon the earth in Genesis, as it killed everybody on the face of the globe and yet eight people lived through, though they were immersed in it, they were immersed into an ark of safety. So, the judgment of God came upon Jesus Christ.

Now follow this. The judgment of God came upon Jesus Christ. And you went through that judgment in Him. But you survived, protected in the ark who is Christ, the ark of safety. And you went into His death, burial, and out again in His resurrection.

That's what he's saying here. He says, I'm not talking about a water baptism, either literally or metaphorically. It is not the removal of dirt from the flesh. I'm talking about you, by faith, coming into union with Christ, undergoing the judgment of God that fell on Christ in His death and burial and coming out the other side in the glory of His resurrection. Thus, you too have been carried through the judgment of God and out the other side by being incarcerated as it were in Christ, the ark of safety. And the eight in Genesis left the world of sin and they came through a flood of judgment. So, you have left the world of sin and you came through a flood of judgment as the ark, in a sense, was a tomb. And there was a certain kind of dying to the world as they entered it and sealed it shut. And there was a certain kind of resurrection that day when it stopped on Mount Ararat and they opened the door and walked out. They walked out to a new life in a new world.

So, says Peter, is the majesty of the analogy. As you, by faith, entered into the ark of safety in Christ, you entered into a coffin of sorts because you died in Him and one day it was opened and you burst out in His resurrection and you live a new life. That's the kind of immersion he's talking about. Yes, it is depicted in water baptism.

We understand that. Peter's not particularly talking about that. That's why he says explicitly, not the removal of dirt from the flesh. Water baptism is another issue. He is speaking about this wonderful immersion into Christ. And Peter is certainly in wonderful harmony with Paul, isn't he? Romans 6, where Paul talks about being buried with Christ in His death and then rising in His resurrection to walk in newness of life.

It's the same idea. One commentator, Alan Stibbs, writes, the ark passing safely through the flood provides a figure of God's method of saving men out of inevitable judgment. First, God delayed the day of judgment long enough for an ark to be prepared. Then the souls that went into the ark did not avoid the judgment. Rather, in the ark they were saved through the very water which drowned others and because of it, they thus passed out of the old world into a new world.

When they emerged from the ark, they literally found that old things had passed away and all things had become new. The figure, he writes, is fulfilled in Christ. He was prepared of God to come in the fullness of time.

The judgment due to sin and sinners was meanwhile delayed. Then the judgment fell on Him as the flood waters upon the ark. And when sinners take refuge in Him, they do not avoid the judgment due to sin. They are saved through its falling on Christ. And because of it, instead of meeting their own doom, they are brought safe in Him to God. Marvelous analogy. Marvelous, rich analogy. Peter makes it clear in that qualifying statement when he says, not the removal of dirt from the flesh. We're not talking about some external right, but an appeal to God for a good conscience.

What are you talking about? What does this mean? Well, the word appeal is the word that is used as a technical term for making a contract. It is a technical term for making a pledge, agreeing to certain conditions or demands of a covenant. This is a very important statement. Here it says that what places you into the ark of safety is a covenant or a pledge or a contract or an agreement to certain conditions in regard to God.

That's what he's saying. It is a confession of faith in desiring a covenant with God. An appeal to God for a good conscience. Sinful men have only an evil conscience. The point here is the sinner is sick of his evil. He's sick of his sin. He is sick of his accusing conscience. He wants to be delivered from the burden of sin. He wants to be delivered from the guilt of sin, from the crushing, intimidating, fearful anticipation of judgment. He wants to have a good conscience. He wants to experience what Hebrews 9.14 says, the blood of Christ will cleanse your conscience. Hebrews 10.22 basically says the same thing. It says, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

What is he saying? He is saying in verse 21, there is an immersion into Christ that saves you. It isn't an external ritual of washing. What puts you into Christ is not a water baptism. What puts you into Christ is a pledge to God, an appeal to God for a clean conscience. In other words, it's a pleading to be forgiven for what? For your sins. It is repentance.

That's what it is. What saves you? Not water baptism, but immersion into the ark of safety who is Christ in whom you go through the death and burial and resurrection and the judgment of God falls, but it falls on the ark and not on you. What saves you? Not some external ritual or external rite, but a heart longing to be delivered from the crushing burden of sin that plagues your evil conscience and wants to covenant with God to live an obedient life and it leads you through the judgment, out the other side, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That celebrates, that completes the salvation triumph.

This is Grace to You with John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, and he is titled our current series Through Suffering to Triumph. You know, John, from what you said today about Christ's suffering and the triumph that followed, it seems clear that growth toward Christ-likeness can actually be stunted without suffering. In other words, if we want to grow spiritually, then suffering will almost certainly be part of that process. And so as much as it is natural to not want to suffer, it's important not to fear suffering, not to worry about suffering. Is that a fair point?

Yeah, well, I think it's even more than that. Not only not to fear it, but to welcome it. James says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, because the testing of your faith produces patience, and patience has a perfect work. In other words, your own spiritual maturity is directly related to your suffering. We don't enter into glory unless we go through the path of suffering. And I think our eternal reward is directly related to how faithfully we suffered in life. So instead of worrying about suffering, you ought to be thankful that it comes into your life, because by that suffering, the Lord does his greatest work.

Although we have to accept suffering and even can look forward to it because of the wonderful spiritual work it does in us, we still have to survive it. And along that line, I want to mention a book. It's a classic book. We've talked about it for years on Grace To You, a book that will help you in the midst of times of suffering.

The title is Anxious For Nothing. Through the years, I have heard countless testimonies from people who read that book in times of trial. I was listening to a story of someone the other day who keeps a copy of the book Anxious For Nothing right nearby, because it seems as though life is always driving this person back to the Word of God and being able to replace worry with faith. So we want to get one in your hands, features questions at the end of each chapter, helpful prayer suggestions, the list of helpful psalms to meditate on when you're anxious.

Wonderful resource. Here's what we want you to do. We want to send you a free copy of Anxious For Nothing for just contacting us for the first time.

This is a limited time offer. So get in touch with us right away. Again, free to anyone contacting Grace To You for the first time.

Yes, thank you, John. And again, friend, we'll send you a free copy of Anxious For Nothing if you've never been in touch with us before. Request your free book when you contact us today.

The number here, 855grace, and our web address, gty.org. When people tell us they're struggling with fear and worry, this is the book we point them to. It unpacks powerful biblical promises for why believers never have to be afraid. There's also a special section on Psalms for the Anxious that you can turn to whenever worries creep in. Again, Anxious For Nothing is our gift to you if you've never contacted us before. Request your free book now. Call us at 855grace or go to gty.org.

And thanks for remembering to pray for Grace To You and for letting us know how our Bible teaching has helped you better understand God's Word and apply it to your life. Email is great for that. You can reach us at letters at gty.org. Again, that's letters at gty.org.

Or for regular mail, that works too. Our address is Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. And now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace To You staff. I'm Phil Johnson. Be here tomorrow for more biblical encouragement for finding your way through suffering to triumph. Tune in for 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace To You.