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Courage in Suffering

Courage in Suffering
October 30, 2016

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:6-14

I. You can have courage because God cares for you.

A. Peter advises you to humble yourself before God (vs. 6). What would a humble person say to God when suffering? He or she would say the same thing Jesus said to God in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He died, “Your will, not my will, be done.” We should not be surprised if we suffer insults and persecution just like Jesus did. We should humbly recognize that suffering is not apart from God’s will for us. And we should humbly submit to God’s purpose for our suffering. 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

B. Suffering makes us anxious. So how can we overcome the worries that go along with suffering? By remembering that Jesus cares for you. Peter had reminded his readers in 1 Peter 5:4 that Jesus is the chief shepherd. Jesus is a good shepherd who takes care of all of his sheep. Worry chokes out your faith. But faith in Jesus will choke out your worry.

II. You can have courage because you can resist Satan.

A. In vs. 8 Peter reminds his readers of the threat they are facing: Satan as a roaring lion. What do you think sheep would do if it heard a roaring lion? The sheep would panic. Instead of panicking he tells the church to be sober-minded and watchful. Stay alert for the enemy. Pray for God’s protection against Satan and his temptations. If you pray and keep watch for the enemy, you don’t need to panic.

B. Satan likes to portray himself as this great, roaring lion. But do you know who Satan really is? He’s a faker. According to the Bible who is the real lion with real power? Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Jesus! You don’t need to panic because Satan sounds like a lion. Jesus is the real lion. instead of panicking in the presence of Satan, we can resist him (vs. 9). How? We resist him by being firm in our faith. We get firm in our faith by hearing the Word of God and by the support of other believers who are going through the same kind of suffering we are.

III. You can have courage because God is going to win.

A. Did you notice the contrast here between suffering and glory (vs. 10)? How long will your suffering last? A little while. But how long will you experience glory in the presence of Christ? For eternity. Your future is a glorious future. It is a future in which King Jesus will have completely delivered you from all suffering. And in its place Jesus will have brought you to a place of glory, beauty, joy, peace, abundance and wonderful adventures. And how long is the kingdom of Jesus going to last for the church according to vs. 11? Forever and ever. This is a guaranteed promise from God.

Application:
Take courage. Keep the faith. Suffering will not last forever. God will give us victory.

Sources:
The letter of 1 Peter
Commentaries on 1 Peter by David Helm, Karen Jobes and I.H. Marshall