Sermon: Sunday, 20th July, 2025
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: John 15:18-27 and 1 Peter 4:12-19
Peter, is writing to Christians who have lost pretty much everything. They’ve had to leave their homes and their livelihoods behind and are on the run because of their faith in Jesus. So what do they do now?What now? How do they move forward?
1. A reality check
‘Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.’   (1 Peter 4;12)
Why is this not a surprise? Well, these things should not a surprise, Peter’s whole point is that it’s to be expected. ‘… it’s not something strange that’s happening to you.’
‘If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.’ (John 15:20)
‘In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…’ (2 Timothy 3:12)
There’s been a pattern, really since the beginning of time that God’s people will be persecuted. You see it early on in the Bible, in the Exodus story as God’s people are in slavery to the Egyptians to Daniel as he and his mates stick out like a sore thumb not getting sucked into the cultural and religious practices of Babylon, sent to a blazing furnace, sent to a den of lions.
In the New Testament, it continues from Jesus to his Apostles. And those to whom Peter is writing to are in the same boat. They are Christians who have been displaced due to persecution they’re facing because of their Christian faith. They’ve lost homes, possessions, livelihoods and they are now scattered. (See 1 Peter 1:1)
You can’t even imagine what that is like for them to have undergone that experience, to now be homeless, rootless, on the run all because of your Christian faith.
And Peter’s words are a helpful reality check for these believers on the run. ‘… don’t be surprised that this is happening as though something strange is happening to you.’ Peter’s words are not intended to be glib, nor are they intended to be the silver bullet. Like all you need to realise is you shouldn’t be surprised when it happens: So, is it all right then? No the suffering is still as painful and awful to experience, yet, there is a comfort in knowing this is normal.
• It removes the question of; ‘Am I doing something wrong? Am I getting it wrong?’ because this is par for the course.
• It removes the self-pity of; ‘Woe is me, I have it so hard, nobody knows what its like to be me.’ because as much as you have suffered, you haven’t gone to the cross to bear the sins of the world have you?
• It removes the triumphalist false piety: ‘I’m the real deal cause I’m suffering for Jesus.’ because any have suffered before you and many will suffer after you.
What the reality check does do is remind Peter’s readers; ‘No, what I’m experiencing now, this is normal, it is to be expected.’ And as they (and us) are called to deny self, take up cross and follow Jesus, this is very much a part of that. The reality check Peter is bringing is that there is no following Jesus without also suffering for Jesus.
‘I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings…’ (Philippians 3:10) Both go together.
And we have to admit the words that Peter write feel a bit foreign to us. We have been incredibly fortunate for a long time in the UK to be more or less free from persecution. Imprisonment, execution, the loss of property and possessions for being a Christian is incredibly foreign to us. So it’s easy to look at a passage like this and think that it doesn’t apply to us.
• Just because we do not suffer to the same extent, doesn’t mean we don’t suffer
• Just because we do not suffer to the same extent today, doesn’t mean we never will.
‘Since Jesus suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking…’ (1 Peter 4:1)
2. A reason to rejoice
So having heard this first part you might not want to rejoice, but Peter continues: ‘But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.’ (1 Peter 4:13-14)
And you might think Peter is living in some kind of fairy tale, perhaps he is also naïve to say we are to rejoice in our suffering. But Peter himself has walked this road, as he is writing this letter he is probably walking this road. He isn’t an ivory tower theologian who is distant and removed from the experience of ordinary Christians. Peter is in the trenches, he has suffered for Jesus up until this point, he probably is suffering for Jesus as he is writing this letter and he will suffer for Jesus right up to and including his death.
As he writes this ‘rejoice in your sufferings’, he isn’t asking something of his readers that he himself hasn’t or isn’t doing. Peter writes to them as he and his readers are in the thick of it and calls them to rejoice.
There are two reasons to rejoice in our sufferings which Peter gives:
• Because of what is to come
• Because your sufferings are prove you belong to God.
3. A reminder
Finally, we have a reminder of how we are to live our lives in our suffering: we are to live our lives for Jesus.
‘If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name.’ (1 Peter 4:15-16)
Peter is saying here, ‘If you’re going to suffer, don’t let it be because of your own stupidity and sin.’ He gives the example of murderers, thieves and evildoers or meddlers but it could literally be anything. Gossips, slanderers, adulterers, liars and so on we could go. If you gossip, or slander, or lie, or are unfaithful to your spouse, you’ll find people won’t like you very much or want to spend that much time with you. And Peter says that if you’re going to suffer, don’t let it be because of those reasons. If people are going to hate you, don’t let it be because you’ve lied to them.
• Don’t let it be because you’re the town gossip.
• Don’t let it be because you’re interfering with people’s lives and trying to tell them how to run it.
• Don’t let it be because you’ve had an affair and ruined your family and the family of the person you slept with.
If you’re going to suffer, don’t let it be because of your own sin, rather let it be because you’re living for Jesus.
I think this is particularly helpful in regards to evangelism. In certain personality types there is a tendency to be quite combative, aggressive and ultimately unhelpful in our discourse.
If you’ve ever seen these videos online in America of some guys going round university campuses in order to debate others and usually the debates themselves are handled quite well however the admin or whoever posts the videos up and gives the videos their titles do not handle it well. It’s usually titled ‘Based conservative destroys college liberal’ or after Prime Minister’s Questions both sides, Conservatives and Labour put up videos of PMQ’s with titles claiming that their side destroyed the other side.
And it can be tempting, especially against anyone who causes our suffering, to proclaim the message of Jesus using the world’s methods. We are not out to win souls to Christ so much as we are to win arguments, we’re not out to convince people of the beauty of Jesus so much as we are out to wash the floor with our opponents.
Ultimately, if people are going away hating us, we want it to be because of our love for Jesus, we don’t want it to be because we’re cantankerous, argumentative, harsh so and so.
• God forbid that we stand in the way of anyone wanting to become followers of Jesus,
• God forbid that we put anyone off Jesus,
• God forbid that instead of painting Jesus being as winsome and attractive as he is we paint him to be a grumpy miserable git because that’s how we are.
Friends, how is your heart when engaging in dialogue, discussion and debate around the Christian faith? Are you there to win the argument or win the person? If you suffer, don’t let it be because you’re being a tool, let it be because of your love for Jesus. If you’re going to have a target on your back, make sure it’s not a target which you have drawn or encouraged others to strike.
Now to turn to the fearful and timid, Peter says ‘… if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name.’ (1 Peter 4:16)
If and when you suffer for being a Christian, Peter says don’t shrink back, don’t hide away, but glorify God in the midst of your suffering for him because; ‘…it’s time for judgement to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?’ (1 Peter 4:17)
The judgement for the believer spoken of by Peter is not judgement for sin, but is the refining process, the process of being made like Jesus whereas for the unbeliever, it is one of judgement for sin.
And herein lies the reason we are not to be ashamed as followers of Jesus, not to shrink back because those who mock us and mistreat us will ultimately be judged by God for their sin against us and their rejection of him meanwhile you and I will be vindicated for our faith.
And so the call for the fearful and timid is; ‘… entrust your souls to a faithful creator while doing good.’ (1 Peter 4:19)
Keep on keeping on, press on, fight the good fight all the while entrusting your soul to him that Jesus may be made known throughout Scotland and beyond.
And really, that is where we ought to end for all of us regardless of our personality type: entrust yourself to your creator while doing good because you know that as you walk the narrow path in obedience to Jesus what awaits you eternal pleasures in God’s presence forever.