I ask you to turn with me in God's most holy word to the New Testament and the first letter of the Apostle Peter, chapter 4. Verse 12 through chapter 5, verse 4, for our scripture reading and sermon text. Again, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12 through chapter 5, verse 4, which can be found on page 1016 of the Church Bible. As we continue to make our way through 1 Peter, we come to between two worlds. Part 17 and a larger chunk than I would normally preach on and yet I hope to show that chapter 4 verses 12 through 19 and chapter 5 verses 1 through 5 can be taken as a unit that they hang together. Plus less than two years ago recently enough. I preached a couple of messages to you on the opening of chapter 5 and so I don't feel as great and need to cover the same ground with equal depth. So, that said, let's concentrate and listen intently to the Word of the Lord as I read it to us again. 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12 through chapter 5. Let's read through to verse 5, actually. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Amen. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if I had to pick one Bible passage that is tailor-made for the Christian community in our generation, in this part of the world, I would be hard-pressed to come up with a better candidate than this one. Now, in many, many ways, it's still much rougher to function as followers of Jesus as a church in other lands. than it is here, so don't get me wrong. Yet, times have changed, and as one pundit has aptly put it, the cost of calling yourself Christian is starting to outweigh the benefits. So those who do not identify as a Christian according to their convictions are starting to identify as nuns. In other words, as a nothing, as having no religious affiliation, because it's deemed to be more culturally savvy. And so, as people like us strain to adjust ourselves to how radically different the landscape in our society now is, First Peter becomes a timely word. And in particular, 1 Peter 4.12-5.5 takes on a whole new relevance as we seek to bear a testimony that is largely unwanted. And while it would be unwanted before, in the past, as we're always exiles in the Babylon of this world, It's being unwanted in the present is more of an in-your-face, overt, vocal reality, as much of public policy will even reflect. So, Covenant Presbyterian Church, we're inching a little closer to where Peter's original readers and hearers would have felt themselves to be in Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey, with the dark clouds of hostile, antagonism threatening overhead. He has mentioned such fears as if they might materialize. Now he writes as if they're pretty inevitable, as if they are assuredly coming in the near future if they haven't already arrived and started materializing. How then do you not lose your nerve, whether then there or here and now? How do we not only not cave, but with glad hope keep on going when forces of stiff opposition seem to be gathering when they might be closer than we think to breaking down the door? Well, Peter's words in these verses set before us help answer such questions as they mine the rich resources of the gospel and the divinely ordained way it is to be applied so that Christians like us and churches like ours might be propelled to persevere. This begins to take shape as we look at and take in three points. First, propelled to persevere through pains of all kinds. Brothers, sisters, this is where the far-reaching, thorough reorientation begins. There will be pain, and I say pains of all kinds, to give us a category that is broader than just full-blown persecution. Peter's language itself is broad, even though his original audience does face actual persecution from the likes of Roman Emperor Nero, with worse persecutors to follow him. Check out verse 12 where Peter says, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Peter is writing to people who might have some warrant to be treated fairly well, as those whose loyalty to and love for Christ leads them to live as model citizens. Why would anyone wish to give them a hard time? And yet the world does not put up with Christ of being provoked even to irrational attitudes and behaviors in their mistreatment of those who belong to and represent him. That said, I would have to say that Christians in America might even need to take this word to heart even more. It has as much to do with the modern American ethos as anything else. We are conditioned to expect prosperity. We are told that each and every one of us is entitled to pursue the so-called American dream. So suffering is seen as abnormal, though the rest of the world knows better, recognizing that some measure of suffering in this life is inescapable. And Christians in this neck of the woods are affected by such a mindset and outlook that has developed here in the West. Maybe we're a bit soft so that when you couple it with how Christian doctrine and faith and practice and the divine standards of righteousness we seek to uphold are being so marginalized, we can become a bit skittish. So we need to listen, paying attention until what Peter is saying begins to penetrate and sink in. Tribulations and testings are not some aberration in the Christian life. They are to be expected. It means that if we're going to endure as followers of Jesus Christ, we need to come to terms with how this is a marathon that is going to be uphill at times, with hardships along the way, with an unfriendly world among those that will attempt to trip us up, or turn us in the wrong direction, or simply terrify us. Be reconciled to that, though, and you'll at least be less thrown off, even if it still hurts. In addition, such pain is a sign of not bad, but good things. Provided, that is, that you're not just bringing it upon yourself, as Peter explains in verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. In other words, don't complain if you resort to criminal activity. Now, why? Would any of these first century Christians do that? It's not the first time Peter has brought up self-inflicted suffering. Why does he feel the need? Why would it be necessary to repeatedly give such warnings? Well, if you're being hard-pressed and feeling oppressed by the unrighteous powers that be, There can be a temptation to strike back, to take matters into your own hands, to feel justified in doing so. In less adverse circumstances, some professing Christians in this country, for example, have bombed abortion clinics. Putting yourself in the shoes of these early Christians, then, you could fathom how and why they might entertain such otherwise inconceivable things. Stealing, for instance, when destitute. With a destitution that can be directly traceable back to their commitment to Jesus. To how they are being treated as a result. So, Peter's onto something. Onto a legitimate concern. And yet his policy, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is one of zero tolerance towards such things, even when it comes to being a meddler and lacking social tact, as commentator Daniel Doriani points out. I remember watching the movie about the Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock, whose son, afraid because he thought his father would have to move away to find work, and hungry too, but impoverished, would steal salami from the local butcher, only to have his father, with a reassuring but firm hand, compel him to return the salami, telling him, we're Braddocks, and Braddocks don't steal. Something to that effect. Well, how much more must we raise the standard if we belong to the family of God and bear the name of Christ, or Christian? Which is what Peter turns to in verse 14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, he declares, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. He adds in verse 16, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. Because that's a crime you want to be charged with. See, it's a totally different story if your pain and mine comes our way because we identify with Jesus because of what we confess and the way we live as we stand with Him. You may be insulted, among other things, but you're in good company. It is no shame. As Peter would hear Jesus teach in the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, you are blessed. fortunate, happy, if you are given a hard time for righteousness' sake. This would be true of Christ Himself and of the prophets who would proceed His coming, living ahead of their time, as it were. So that if that's you, if that's you too, God's benediction and smile is upon you. So, aligning yourself and myself with Christ is even a token of glory to come for the likes of us, with the Spirit of glory and of God resting upon us. Now, and not just then. In other words, He draws near to you in the meantime. He not only promises vindication in the future on the last day. So, press on in a life that seeks to glorify and enjoy Him. In fact, you're not only blessed, but beloved, Peter has already said at the beginning of verse 12, addressing his audience. Beloved, meaning that they are loved not only by Peter, and their brothers and sisters in the faith, but by the God we know in Christ Himself. Not a small thing. When people can be enticed by the enemy to draw a twisted, warped conclusion when things are going wrong, when so much is arrayed against them, that maybe God doesn't love me, maybe He hates me after all. The very opposite. is the case. And the Lord wants you and me to know it if we are afflicted because of our attachment and devotion to Jesus. What underlies and undergirds all of this is union with Christ, something Peter addresses in verse 13. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. He's speaking this time not so much of the sufferings Christ would undergo in his person, but our Christian suffering that we experience when we live for Jesus in a world that still, left to itself, rejects him. So being one with him and following in his footsteps means leading a cruciform life, a life lived under the shadow of the cross. Nevertheless, being one with Jesus also means the cross leads to the crown. It means sharing in His victory, His rising, His going to glory, a glory that will be revealed when He returns, which will shine upon us. It will be cause for rejoicing and gladness then, but it is cause for these things now as well. So, you see, Peter is first of all, helping us to get our bearings. Fiery trials are something we need to come to grips with, but they indicate the best of all possible outcomes, with some of it to be foretasted along the way. So it's all part of God's redemptive plan, with much here meant to encourage and strengthen us. First, pains of all kinds. Second, propelled to persevere by means of pastoral care. Brothers and sisters, this is where I bring in chapter 5, verses 1 through 5. You see how they relate. So, I exhort the elders among you, Peter begins in chapter 5, verse 1. There is a connection with what he has just been saying. His exhortation to the elders has to do with providing pastoral care to suffering people in such a way that they are led to joyfully keep on with their hope in God more than intact and ever set before them. And it's clearly elders in terms of the office bearers. the ordained men of God, with the Greek word being the root to our English word, presbyter or Presbyterian. In Orthodox Presbyterian speak, he's referring to ministers and elders, the members of what we call sessions with elders, plural, hinting at what other texts make more explicit, the New Testament pattern of Not a single head honcho, but a plurality of equals, of qualified men, again, ministers and elders, or teaching elders and ruling elders, to be divinely called and appointed to lead each local congregation. Such men bear a burden, of course, and it can feel heavier and more intensified when the chips are down and the saints are suffering. when they're being harassed by the world, under duress. So Peter, in a wise as well as heartfelt way, sympathizes with them, establishing solidarity with them, calling himself a fellow elder with them, in verse 1, stressing this aspect of who and what he is to them, not so much the fact that he is an apostle with a higher level of authority conferred on him by Christ. Now, he does acknowledge that he is a witness of the sufferings of Christ, which he is in a unique, more or less, eyewitness way as an apostle. Still, he is not thus distancing himself from his fellow elders and the scattered churches they govern, hated by many. Peter too, you see, would once find Christ's sufferings and his fellowship in them inconceivable. unthinkable. He and Jesus would even trade rebukes in Matthew chapter 16, so blindly out of step would he be with his Lord. He would have to learn by experience about Christian suffering after cowering before others and denying Jesus three times as the Gospels tell us. As our Savior would go to the cross with Peter rather impotent in terms of ability or willingness to stop it from happening. With him, only after all that, being restored by the later, and then risen, Christ. So he knows what these churches and their leaders are up against. Knowing both where human pride can lead you, to the exposure of your feeble nature and pathetic weakness, and where the Lord's strengthening can take you. to a boldness otherwise not possible. Peter also knows that there is a sense in which these elders share in all of these things with him, as they too, though in a more derivative way, are those who bear witness to the sufferings of Christ. The same goes for the glory to be revealed that he mentions in the rest of verse 1. He says that he himself is a partaker of it, along with the churches and their believing members in general, and the elders he is writing to in particular. Suffering is not the endgame then. But again, the coming glory is. We are all in this position, in between the times, with Christ having suffered and with Christ having conquered all things, with our load lightened, with the knowledge that the best is yet to come. So you see, Going for a moment beyond these first century elders and speaking for your elders, your session, this is what we need to instill in you, equipping and fueling you by the spirit to endure. What is being said and what is coming next teaches you how to view myself and Ed, what to look for and pray for in us. How you then need to humbly follow us and our lead as we ourselves follow Jesus, like it says in verse 5, addressing especially those who are younger. Peter sums up the mandate at the beginning of verse 2. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. This would be Peter's job description when Christ would reinstate him before the others, John chapter 21, when he would reaffirm his love for Christ three times to match his three earlier denials. If the language of elder is to denote their mature character, then the language of shepherding denotes their function. It's all about tending the sheep, watching over them. We who are elders are under-shepherds with Christ, as Peter calls them in verse 4, being the chief shepherd. where we fail as leaders, and we will at times, just as the whole church does, where we are limited in scope, Christ is infallible and unlimited, with none of His sheep beyond His reach, as ultimately He keeps and secures each one for whom He died, for whom He rose, to whom He gives His Spirit, that they might be united to Him, recalled from their wanderings as they hear the gospel word. Still, his plan is to work through his under-shepherds, which are among the gifts he gives to his church. And he does have standards for them, which Peter begins to outline here. Sheep are high maintenance, needing lots of care and attention. Requiring lots of dirty work with their shepherd leaders needing to know them. Pastor shepherds like myself are also to feed you if you're Christ's sheep. Feeding you the Word of God, the Word of Christ. That'll enable you to endure through the furnace when the heat is being turned up. That'll keep your eyes on the Savior, on what He promises. So giving yourself to the means of grace, including the public means of grace, is certainly implied here. In our prayers and coming alongside you to listen and give counsel, session members are, in that way, to lead and protect you as well. At the end of the day, redirecting you to Jesus himself. And yet, in a threefold way, it's the attitude of such under-shepherds that Peter, more than anything else, speaks to, not so much their activities and methods. Number one, we who are elder shepherds are to carry out our work, we read in verse two, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have us. This has to do with the will. Number two, we who are elder shepherds are to carry out our work. We read also in verse two, not for shameful gain, but eagerly. This has to do with the heart, with what is motivating us. We must love God and his people and not be driven by greed for monetary compensation or some other form of self aggrandizement. This does not preclude some elders from being material provided for by the church, which other passages do support, like Paul's words in 1 Timothy 5. But such can never be what drives you if you're called to pastoral ministry. Number three, we who are elder shepherds are to carry out our work. We read this time in verse three, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. This has to do with the body. This is about serving in Christ's name, not lording it over anybody or being on a power trip. This, moreover, is about being an example to people who are looking for examples of contagious, courageous faithfulness in the face of Christian suffering. They need to see you with them in the trenches if you're an elder shepherd. Put it all together, the will, the heart, the body, as John Piper says, and it means being all in. It's the opposite of what our natural inclination might be when the going gets tough, when sometimes it's some of the sheep who may be providing the opposition, when our default mode might be to play it safe, to withdraw. Which makes the incentive that Christ gives, that He makes known through Peter here, so critical, so energizing. According to verse 4, the chief shepherd is to appear. In other words, he is close by through the Holy Spirit. When he comes back, he will not be from far away, so that he will simply make his presence manifest and visible once more. And when he does, every genuine elder shepherd will receive what from him? The unfading crown of glory. analogous to the kind given at the ancient Greek Olympic Games, the unwithering garland wreath of glory. To quote Piper, In other words, no matter how hard, how dangerous, how painful it may be to join the people in their sorrow, your reward when Jesus comes will be spectacular. Everything you have ever sacrificed will be made up 10,000 fold. Every cross you have borne, every shame you have despised will be compensated beyond imagination. You will be crowned, crowned like a king with a crown of glory. Every adversary who thinks they have gotten the last word of scorn in your life will see it. They will see you crowned by the King of the Universe. Elders need to believe this. They need to believe it. We need to believe it. For one thing, that we might impress it upon those we are leading, upon you. Because ultimately, every sheep of Christ, every one of you who is His disciple to the very end, will hear Him say what you long to hear Him say. according to his promises in Matthew chapter 25, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. The bottom line is that the context of your keeping on as a Christian through battle after battle, through so many snares, is union with Christ in the setting of His church. complete with the ministry of word and sacrament, complete with the shepherding, discipline, and care he supplies through his office bearers. Otherwise, cut yourself off from that. And I'm talking about when you're not providentially hindered. And it's like cutting yourself off from a lifeline. You're setting yourself up and asking for your heart to grow hard. and your love to grow cold. First, pains of all kinds. Second, pastoral care. Third, propelled to persevere for the sake of purification. Beloved dear brothers and sisters, Peter has already mentioned fiery trials, hearkening back to chapter one, verse seven, and his talk of testing by means of fire. Think of Daniel, chapter 3, when a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be tossed into the burning fire, only to have a fourth angelic or godlike figure with them, protecting them, sanctifying it to them, believed to be an appearance of Christ in advance of his incarnation. In His hands such fires serve to reveal our faith and to purify it, something more treasured than gold or silver. Peter seems to have more of that in mind in chapter 4, verses 17 and 18, when he calls upon the recipients of his epistle to be unashamed, to glorify God for, or because of this reason, it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Now, frequently when this is quoted, the purpose is often to provide a proof text saying that the church is going to get it. That it is fat and complacent and ripe for judgment in terms of some corrective chastisement from the Lord. And there's no doubt about it that such temporal judgments do come. that our Heavenly Father does in His love discipline us, both corporately and individually. However, I don't think that's the sort of thing Peter is getting at here. The church he is writing to is beleaguered, or is about to be. And when we are beleaguered for being followers of Christ, we can know this, that judgment is beginning at the household of God, and yet it's a purifying judgment, and not a punitive one. We are the new temple in Christ, one living stone upon another, built upon Him, the living stone, through the work of God's Spirit, like we read back in chapter 2. Derided by the world, we are nevertheless precious in the sight of God, in Jesus. So when He comes, Sovereignly employing and working through these ordeals at the world's hand, he makes it his refiner's fire. As Malachi chapter 3 verses 1 through 3 spells out, a key Old Testament text that seems to be in the background as Peter writes these things. We do not get what we deserve for our own sins. We are not consumed. But in Christ, who has taken our death penalty, we are instead purified and made holy through it all. Otherwise, apart from what God gives in Him, apart from His holiness and righteousness, we could not, we would not, survive the refiner upon his visit to his temple. You see, when Peter alludes to Proverbs 11, verse 31, and speaks of the righteous being scarcely saved, as Edmund Clowney explains, it does not imply uncertainty as to the outcome, but the difficulty of the road that leads to it, to final glory. As for the wicked, on the other hand, who refuse to repent, who would attack the household of God and Christ, a rhetorical question is raised. What will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Where will he or she be when not purified, when so unprepared? Again, Malachi seems to be influencing Peter, who in chapter 4 verse 1 of his prophecy tells of all the arrogant and evildoers being burnt, set ablaze by the Lord like stubble. Therefore, Peter concludes in verse 19, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good, as Jesus would do. Continuing to follow in his footsteps and to do good, not at all backing down, not at all shying away. with conflict and suffering opening new doors of opportunity to show forth the love of Christ. With Peter knowing Jesus' teaching in Luke 6, verse 28, that we are to do good even to those who curse and abuse us. Expressing to those around us that this God is overflowing with eternal pleasures at his right hand, made all the more sweeter when other lesser advantages and comforts are taken away. Amen.