PETER’S EPISTLES: PREPARING FOR ETERNITY

XVIII. Handling The Sufferings Of Persecution

(1 Peter 4:12-19)

I. Introduction

A. Before the Apostle Peter began to minister for the Lord in the Church, his outlook was impacted by Christ’s prophecy in John 21:18-19 that he would be crucified for Christ. Eternity was thus often on Peter’s mind.

B. Peter’s epistles highlight preparing for eternity, and in 1 Peter 4:12-19, Peter wrote about handling persecution suffering. He had witnessed Christ’s death on the cross, and Jesus had told Peter that he would suffer death by crucifixion, so this topic by Peter carries great weight for us. We view the passage for insight and application:

II. Handling The Sufferings Of Persecution, 1 Peter 4:12-19.

A. Believers are not to be “amazed” (xenizesthe) at facing persecution as if some “strange” (xenou) thing were happening to them. (1 Peter 4:12b; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 854) They must be mentally prepared to suffer persecution for their faith, for all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, 2 Timothy 3:12.

B. In place of surprise, believers are to rejoice in facing persecution since such suffering “shares” (koinoneite) in Christ’s sufferings, 1 Peter 4:13a. “The New Testament is clear that those who take part in the suffering of Christ also will take part in His glory when it is revealed,” 1 Peter 4:13b; Ibid. Thus, if Peter’s readers suffered insults for Christ’s sake, they were to be happy, for the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer rested on them, 1 Peter 4:14a! On the part of their persecutors, believers were insulted, but on the part of the persecuted believers, Christ was glorified, 1 Peter 4:14b.

C. Nevertheless, Peter warned that “persecution was no excuse for lawlessness. Christians were not to retaliate (3:9). Physical violence was not to be met by murder. Confiscation of property was not to be compensated for by theft. No matter what their trials, Christians were to do nothing that would justify punishing them as criminals (cf. 2:19; 3:17). They were not to suffer as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.” (Ibid.; 1 Peter 4:15) If a believer suffered because he was a Christian, he was not to be ashamed, but he was to glorify God because such suffering “identifies the bearer with the blessings of salvation (cf. v. 11),” Ibid., p. 855; 1 Peter 4:16.

D. Up to this point in the passage, Peter had referred to persecution as an unjust trial that nevertheless allows a believer to participate in Christ’s sufferings for eventual glorification with the Lord. However, at 1 Peter 4:17, he introduced the idea that God uses even unjust persecution as discipline to purify His people much as he mentioned in 1 Peter 1:6-7 that persecution refines and proves one’s faith in God, 1 Peter 4:17. This being so, if judgment must begin at the house of God with God’s people, what will the end be of those who do not obey the gospel of God but severe destruction! (1 Peter 4:17-18) “Peter” was “not teaching that salvation is earned through personal trials or works,” what would be a false gospel of salvation by works (Ibid.), but that if “even Christians must be judged (by purging), what fate must await unbelievers who will be punished for their sins?” (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 1 Peter 4:17)

E. Finally, if believers who had committed no crime suffered for their faith in accord with God’s will, they were to handle that suffering by “entrusting” (paratithesthosan) their “souls” (psuchas), what in this case refers to one’s whole person or self (B. K. C., N. T., loc. cit.; G. Abbott-Smith, A Man. Grk. Lex. of the N. T., 1968, p. 488-489), to God as to a Faithful Creator, 1 Peter 4:19. God as our Creator knows our human limitations, be they physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, and He is to be trusted to equip us to handle what He lets us face by way of persecution without our yielding to sin, cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Lesson: If believers face persecution for their faith, they are to handle its sufferings by (1) not being surprised as if some strange thing were occurring, but (2) to rejoice since they were involved in fellowshipping with Christ in that suffering. (3) Believers must not suffer for doing what is wrong by retaliating against their persecutors but view their suffering as a privileged calling from God for His eventual reward. (4) God often uses even unjust persecution to purify persecuted believers, so believers under persecution trials should seek to learn God’s purification lessons in their sufferings. (5) Finally, believers facing persecution must entrust themselves to God as to a Faithful Creator Who knows their human limitations, and Who will meet their needs so they can obey God!

Application: If we face persecution for our faith, may we not be surprised at it but rejoice since we fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. May we not suffer for wrongly retaliating, but view the mistreatment as a high calling, may we learn the lessons God has for us in the persecution and entrust ourselves to His oversight as our Creator.