[0:00] good and live for righteousness sake and not to be afraid of their threats nor be troubled but rather set the Lord God apart in your hearts always ready to give a defense to anyone who asks now why because for Christ says verse 18 for Christ died for sins once for all he was the righteous one and he did it for us the unrighteous his suffering was to bring us to God and yet he was put to death in the body but he was made alive by the spirit now this is a remarkable thing if you ever want to have your mind blown your brain blown out and just think about why in the world would the God of heaven leave the throne of heaven all that there is in heaven to become a man to come down to suffer he knew he was going to suffer 30 some odd years to do that for a people that rejected him why who were his enemies why but that's what he did he engaged the suffering that we have because he desired a people for himself and that was the way he was going to retrieve us and rescue us and he was the righteous the perfectly righteous one and as we see inNING the perfectly righteous one.
[1:35] And as we see earlier in 1 Peter and other places, especially in the Gospels, there was absolutely no reason for people to get angry at Jesus because he always did what was righteous and what was good, what was kind and gracious and loving and merciful, and they still hated him.
[1:56] Welcome to the world. And he did it. He suffered. He died for sins, doing what is good once for all.
[2:06] Now hone in on that. That's a once for all. Jesus saves once for all. He acted once for all. It doesn't happen again and again, every week, every day, every moment.
[2:18] It's applied by the Spirit once for all. What he did happened once. An historical event many years ago that has its impact on us today.
[2:29] He suffered for the unrighteous, though he was righteous once for all. Salvation and suffering focused on the suffering of Jesus.
[2:42] And our share in that suffering is found in the Gospels. John brings it out in John chapter 15. He says, This is a very strong term, by the way.
[3:06] You know, to be despised. You know, to absolutely not to stand you in any way and to do harm to you.
[3:18] Remember the word that I said to you, verse 20 and 15. A servant's not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
[3:31] But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they did not know him who sent me. And if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin.
[3:42] But now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my father also. But I had not done among them the works which no one else did.
[3:55] They would have no sin. But they now, but now they have seen and also hated me and my father. Matthew 24 says, They will deliver you up to tribulation, and they will kill you.
[4:10] And you will be hated by all the nations because of my name's sake. In Mark 13, You will be hated by all for my name's sake.
[4:20] But he who endures to the end will be saved. So the first big point is, Jesus suffered, he was righteous, he suffered for us. The unrighteous, we can expect suffering.
[4:35] I hope not. I wish not. It'd be great, you know, To live back in the days when there was absolute, you know, Great freedom, so to speak, with many Christians.
[4:49] Who knows what the future holds. But it ought not surprise us if we suffer for Christ. Christ suffered his righteousness. He was the righteous one, suffered for us, the unrighteous.
[5:02] He didn't deserve it. We do. But he took it. We didn't. But us being in Christ, We will suffer. Christ suffered first, and then comes the glory.
[5:15] He was put to death in the body, But then he was raised again. Right? And so that's the main theme, Not only of Peter, but revelation. First the suffering, And then the glory.
[5:29] First the pressing down, And then comes the crown. That we get. So Christ suffered for us, But he gained a victory for us.
[5:41] He was made alive by the Spirit, In verse 18. He was victorious. And by the way, He is still victorious. One of the classes that I teach At Colorado Christian University Is a New Testament introduction.
[5:56] And the very last thing that we study, Essentially, is eschatology. You know, future things. The things that are going to, Things that have a goal in the future.
[6:07] And revelation is part of that, of course. And I can't tell you How often I have heard, And I see this with family members, How uptight and fearful These Christians are.
[6:25] That one, There's evil in the world. And two, Jesus is coming back. Now tell me, Why is that a problem?
[6:37] That Jesus is coming back. The sky is falling. Why is that a problem? Why do you not see That you have victory in Jesus?
[6:51] Already. Things are falling apart. That's okay. We don't like it, But He's in charge. And yet they're just so Gripped by fear.
[7:07] Constant fear. And the fact of the matter is We don't know how it's all Going to pan out. Things could get far better In the near future. Or things could get far worse.
[7:20] Ultimately, Jesus hasn't. He's in charge. He's the king. He rules over all. He gained the victory For us.
[7:33] Now there are five main Interpretations of this thing About Jesus going down Put to death. And visiting or preaching To the spirits in prison.
[7:46] You know, There's a lot of different Interpretations. I included that in your notes. I'm not going to spend Much time there. But the idea That Jesus Went down into Hell To preach the gospel So that people in hell Could come to faith in Christ.
[8:05] You know, That's not supported By any Any other place In scripture. More than likely He proclaimed his victory To those who are imprisoned.
[8:16] The devils. The demons. To say I am king. I have the victory. I have my people. And they will be victorious With me.
[8:31] And whatever it is You believe And how this fits Peter obviously knew. But really What he's leading to Is this point about Noah. That in Noah's day There were only eight people Who knew the Lord.
[8:47] Imagine all those people Hundreds of thousands Maybe millions Who existed And only eight people Knew the Lord. And yet God Rescued And saved them.
[9:01] Well, The church at the time Of Peter Was really small. I mean, It was tiny. It was A few thousand And it was growing Maybe To Several thousand.
[9:17] You read Dr. Stark's books And you find out It wasn't A massively Rapidly Growing Where Tens of thousands Hundreds of thousands Came to faith in Christ That first century Wasn't that way at all.
[9:31] But Peter's point is If God came to the rescue And offered victory To eight people Who knew the Lord And loved the Lord And believed And trusted in God How much more Now that we know That Jesus is victorious Is he going to do The same for us?
[9:49] Right? We don't need The ark Because we have Jesus Who is the ark And just as The water judgment Brought destruction To the disobedient While rescuing God's people Baptism of water Is an ordeal That separates us From the world Bent on destruction Water is a symbol Of cleansing It's a symbol Of identification It's a symbol Of washing It's a lot Of symbol there And whether we are You know Sprinkled Dipped Dunked You know However we get The water Of sprinkled However we get The water Of Jesus The point is We are washed By Jesus And we share In his victory The unrighteousness And the sin And all that Before God Has been cleansed And washed away And we are Separated unto him
[10:50] So he was victorious Says he's gone Into heaven And is at God's right hand This is about His ascension And exaltation Jesus rose But let's not Keep him on earth He ascended Into heaven And now He sits on God's right hand Meaning he has All power And all authority And he's given us The victory He is victorious For us He was victorious He has all angels And all authorities And all powers In submission to him Meaning there's not One little devil Big devil You know Satan There's not one Unbeliever Who will ever Be able to accomplish His intended purposes Of harm Against you Without God Jesus Our God Not only knowing But intervening On our behalf He was victorious And he continues To be so today
[11:50] Now We have our suffering For Christ Because we're in him You may be harmed Even if you're eager To do good Verse 13 Don't be surprised By that Now I will admit That I am quite surprised By certain people In the various churches That you know We've been in Over the years Who have sought To do us harm And did a great job At it Now why would you do that We're Christians You're Christians Now I can understand It from unbelievers And yet believers Have this Maybe they're not believers You know Maybe they're wolves Maybe they're hypocrites I don't know That's God's God's deal But what he's saying Is You may be harmed Even if you're eager To do the right thing To do good To be righteous To live A life of good works You may suffer For what is right In verse 14 If that's the case
[12:50] You're blessed But don't fear They're the ones Who are afraid And you may suffer For doing what is good Not for doing evil Verse 17 This is talking about Unwarranted Unprovoked Uninvited suffering Just because you Follow Jesus In other words Don't be shocked Yeah be sad Grieve over it Hurt by it But don't be shocked Or surprised by it Your suffering In Christ Will happen And yet you have Victory in Christ Because he has victory It starts with Jesus' work And it's revealed In the baptism That you have His death Burial Resurrection His ascension The new life That we have That indicates That we have The victory in Christ The old is put away And the new Is what we live in In verse 21 It says This water Symbolizes the baptism That saves you Also
[13:50] The real baptism Of being placed Into Christ Not the water Not the baptism That removes The dirt from the body But rather The pledge Of a good conscience Baptism as you know Is far more Than mere Removal of dirt From the flesh It's a pledge Of a good conscience The word Is the same word That the Romans Took the Greek word And had a word for it It was called Sacrament It was a pledge It was a sacrament And what the sacraments Meant The sacraments Of the Lord's Supper And baptism Meant in the very early church And still In our circles today Means that Has to do with Christ And all the benefits Everything that comes along With all that he did for us Is applied to us Our faith in Jesus Is confirmed When I was baptized
[14:51] I was baptized as a baby I don't remember any of it I was baptized In the In Okinawa Dunked in the In the sea I do remember that And then when we lived In Utah My friends baptized me By proxy So I guess I'll go To Mormon heaven You know That this doesn't work out But the thing is None of those Proved I was a Christian Baptism doesn't prove it It's a mark That God has placed on you That you are his And you believe it And you hold to it And you have faith It's a solemn Pledge In service to Christ It signifies And seals All that you have In Jesus And your victory In him And it's a picture Of the rescue That Jesus provides Because you share
[15:53] In the suffering In Christ And now the victory In Christ You're sealed With the pledge Of a good conscience And you're blessed He said Even if you should Suffer Even should you Suffer Even since you Suffer For what is right You are blessed Because you don't Have to fear What they fear I really feel Sorry for those Who persecute Fellow believers The hell That they're Going to go through The judgment That they will Have Is beyond Our comprehension And yet He tells us This How do we live Then As we wrap This up Don't be Frightened We have no Need to fear Set Christ Apart In our hearts As Lord That doesn't Mean we make Him Lord Of our lives That means To honor His place In our lives
[16:53] To recognize He is Lord Of our lives And then Always be Prepared To give An apology To give A solid Defense A testimony The thing With my friend Many years ago Is I was a Brand new Christian He was asking A lot of Questions And frankly I don't know If I gave him The right answers And I'm sure I know I didn't have All the answers But what I had Was enough And that is Jesus loves me This I know For this Bible Tells me so And that's all I could tell And all I could do Was answer As best as I could And when Peter says Apologize He means Give A good reason And it doesn't Mean you have To be a Perfect apologist And have Your degree In Christian Apologetics How do we
[17:57] Wrap this up In the future In times of Suffering Just take this To heart The God Who became A man Came to Earth To suffer For you And if You are In Christ You will Suffer Too But Jesus Was victorious He is Victorious And he will Always be Victorious And we can Wrap our Hearts around That And be Assured That while We don't Understand What's Going on Right now We do Know he's Got this And he's In control And he Will work It all Out for Us If you Believe in Jesus You can't Escape Suffering If you Don't Believe in Jesus You can't Escape Suffering Either But you Do have And you Will have Victory In Jesus Ultimately Just hold
[18:58] On to That Okay Thank you Father For all That Christ Has done And is Doing And will Do For us Thank you That while We didn't Deserve it And we Were treasonous We were his Enemies He still Came to Suffer for All those Years Living the Life On our Behalf Fulfilling The law Doing your Will And doing It perfectly Without sin Without flaw All because Of us And then He died Upon the Cross As we Know Thank you Jesus You died Upon the Cross To remove Our shame And forgive The things We're guilty For And thank You For coming Back to Life and Being raised Again That we Have this Sureness This power Resurrection Power and This Great hope Help us Not to Focus on All the Details of What's going On in Life Help us Not to Focus on All the Bad news
[19:58] That we See Help us Not to Focus on The Difficulties And the Challenges And the Hardships And even The Persecution But to Look at Those things And still Focus on Jesus Who is Our hope Amen