Our scripture reading this morning is from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Again, I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors, there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil at a striving after wind. Again, I saw vanity under the sun. One person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches so that he never asks, for whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure? This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king's place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after win. So reads the word of God. Let's stand together again and sing. Why lift up my eyes to the mountains? But what is the source of my aid? My help can be found only with the Lord. Both heaven and earth He has made. He never allows for your foot to slip Your Keeper does not go to sleep See now that the Keeper of Israel He never will slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper on your right hand. The Lord as your shade covers you. The sun will not strike you throughout the day. And mother at night will the moon From all that is evil, the Lord keeps you. Your life He will surely keep safe. Both your going out and your coming in, the Lord will keep now and always. Please, as you are able, remain standing for the reading of God's Word. Please do turn in your Bibles to the first letter of Peter. We're going to read together the last verses in chapter 3, verses 18 to 22. 1 Peter 3, verses 18-22. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. In which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formally did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared. In which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. Thus far, the Word of God. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, sometimes we come to a passage of Scripture and it makes us acutely aware of our need of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding to help us to see what you are trying to teach us through these words. And so this morning, Lord, we cry out to you. Please pour out your Holy Spirit on us now. Help us to make some sense, at least, of these words. Please feed us from your word. cause us to treasure it, to love it, to long for it. May what we see here go deep into our hearts and transform us in your truth. And so we ask for this miracle this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Suffering has the potential to break us, doesn't it? Whether it might be excruciating pain, physical pain, whether it's relational breakdown, scorn, reviling, ridicule, abuse, grief, loss, fear, Whatever form it takes, suffering can lead us to despair. It can lead us to give up, to give in. And so what is it? What is it that we need in those moments when we're in the midst of deep sorrow, we're in the midst of deep suffering? when we feel the temptation to despair, when we might be tempted to believe the lie that seems to be ringing in our ears that all of this is just so pointless, so meaningless. So why don't you just give up? In those moments, what do we need most? I want to suggest to you this morning that in those moments what we need most is not deliverance from that specific form of suffering. We need something more than that. We need something more than just a temporary deliverance. God in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty and love may choose to delay deliverance from that specific form of suffering. Perhaps he'll choose to delay that beyond even your own lifetime. And so we need something that is eternal, something that is everlasting. We need something that is gonna cause us to endure, to persevere, to maintain a good witness. We need to know that we have been rescued in an ultimate definitive way from the source of our suffering. And so what we need brothers and sisters is hope. Hope is the great enemy of despair. Hope is a source of strength, a great source of strength in times of weakness. Hope is what enables us to press on. when we're suffering, to pursue the future, even though the present may seem so bleak. And you know, in many ways, this first letter of Peter could be described as an epistle of hope. And in our passage this morning, Peter does give us yet more reason for hope. Here in this passage we find words of immense hope. Here we find strength for times of suffering and affliction. Because these are words of life, of soul strengthening. And so if you're suffering today, in whatever way that might be, then this passage is for you. And if you anticipate suffering at any point in your life, and that's every person in this room, then this passage is for you. But at first it might seem a little bit difficult when you look at the words in this passage to see where the hope is. And throughout church history, sadly, these words of Peter, these words of hope have been lost or at least muddled in the midst of a kind of academic theological debate Not that theology is not important, but we need to keep the main things, the main thing. And so questions of whether or not Christ descended into hell, what exactly he was doing between his death and resurrection, whether or not baptism, the physical act of baptism actually saves you. These questions have drawn people's attention away from Peter's main thrust in this passage. The pastoral heart of Peter in these verses has sometimes been put to one side in the quest to understand how these other questions can fit into a kind of theological grid. And perhaps as you read through these verses, you can see why. I have to admit I was a bit disheartened when I was studying this passage this past week. I read in a commentary of Martin Luther, no less, a far greater theologian than I will ever be, and speaking of verses 19 and 20, he said this, a wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means. That's exactly what you wanna read when you're studying through a passage in scripture. But boys and girls, children, if you are lost or if you are trying to navigate through some new terrain, some new part of the country that you've never been to before, what do you need? What do you need to find your way through that new country or to find your way back to somewhere that you know? What do you need? A map, exactly. Yeah, I thought somebody was going to say GPS, because, you know, 21st century. But a map, a map is the answer I'm looking for. Fantastic. And you'll see a map, or at least a kind of map, on your youth bulletin there. And there are four points marked along the way to the treasure. So it's kind of like a treasure map for you. And that treasure is our hope in Christ. And the four points that are marked along this map really map out the life of Jesus Christ. So we see his righteousness, his perfect life. We see his suffering and death. His resurrection and His exaltation or ascension into heaven. And so with this kind of map in our minds, my prayer is that this morning, the hope that Peter wants us to grab a hold of in this passage is not lost to us this morning, that we can grab hold of this precious treasure and be spurred on to endure through whatever trial we may be called to face. So let's get into our exposition then this morning. And in order to make this hope that Peter wants us to have as clear as it can be, we're going to start from the outside of the passage and work towards the middle, and I think you'll see why as we do that. But just for context, we need to consider even wider than our passage, so some verses from before our passage and after our passage. See, Peter knows and he clearly recognizes throughout this letter that Christians are being slandered, they're being maligned, rejected, threatened, and may well have to face much, much worse than that because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their obedience to him. And so in the face of this reality, Peter has been and will continue throughout this letter to call Christians to endure suffering with faithful obedience. So if you go back to chapter two, verses 20 and 21, he says this, if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example. Then in chapter three, verse 14, Peter said, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. And then again in verse 17, right before our passage, he says, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. And then we see our passage today, beginning in verse 18, it starts with the word for, or because. And so we see right up front that our verses 18 through 22 are being presented as a reason, a reason or a rationale for enduring suffering for righteousness' sake. And then if you look immediately after our passage, First Peter chapter four and verse one, Peter writes, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with the same way of thinking. And he goes on to say, so that you may continue to endure suffering in faithful ways. So even before we get to the specifics of our passage this morning, we can already see what it's here for. It's here as a reason, a rationale for faithful endurance. in the midst of suffering. It's meant to arm us as Christians in our thinking so that we're better equipped to suffer in faithful ways. Well now if we come to our verses, we can see our way through with the progression that Peter makes in verses 18 and 22. Some scholars have actually argued that what we have here in verses 18 through 22 is an early creedal statement that's kind of interrupted in the middle by a sort of digression that Peter takes when he talks about Christ's victory and baptism. And so if you look at verses 18 and 22, they actually flow quite nicely together. You can read them without reading verses 19 to 21 in the middle, and it makes sense, right? It's quite similar, actually, to another early creedal statement that Paul includes in his letter to Timothy. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, Paul writes this, Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. But in any case, whether or not this was an early creedal statement, the first thing I want us to see this morning is the righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. This is the first point on the map, boys and girls. Peter says that Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. But before we get to thinking about what this righteousness really is, notice that this is actually a really helpful and wonderful summary of the gospel. This is one way, as we were thinking about last week, that I think everyone here, from the youngest to the oldest, can be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. Someone asks you, what's going on? What's going on in your life? How can you stay so peaceful during this trial? Why didn't you retaliate when that person was reviling or slandering you? And you can use these words that we have here in verse 18 as a springboard to explain the gospel. And we can all memorize these words, Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. That's a great summary of the gospel. So if someone asks you for the reason of the hope that you have, you can go straight to verse 18 here. But what does Peter want us to see about the righteousness of Christ? Well, I think it's this, that Christ's righteousness is not only an example to us, a perfect example, the ultimate standard of goodness. No, Peter wants us to see that the righteousness of Christ is more than just an example. The righteousness of Christ is precious, precious to the believer. It's hope giving because it's an imputed righteousness, because it is given to us, credited to our account. And brothers and sisters, what a righteousness this is. This is a righteousness without any flaw. It is perfect in every single aspect. No matter where you look at it from, it is perfection through and through. And what a contrast that is to our own attempts at righteousness. All they can do is lead us straight to hell. Our righteousness is simply not good enough. Oh, the righteousness, the goodness of Christ. It is super abundant. It is more than enough for every saint. His righteousness pleases the Father in every way possible. Charles Spurgeon links Christ's righteousness with our hope and he said this, my hope lives, not because I'm not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died. My trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am or shall be or feel or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done. and in what He is now doing for me. Hallelujah. Well, the next point on our map, boys and girls, is the death of Christ. The ultimate suffering of Jesus Christ was upon the cross. His death there on the cross. And here in verse 18, Peter shows us that this suffering and death was an effective substitutionary suffering for sin. The Bible is clear, isn't it? All have sinned. Every single one of us. We have all disobeyed God. We've all fallen short of the glory of God and the wages for that is death. An eternal judgment. That's the sum total of our achievements before Christ. We have forfeited our lives because of our sin. Death is the wages for our sin. But Jesus, Jesus laid down his life voluntarily. Death had no claim on Jesus because he had never ever sinned. His life was one of sinless perfection. Scripture tells us that Christ, who knew no sin himself, actually became sin on our behalf. He took that sin upon himself and he suffered and died paying the full price. taking the full punishment that sin deserved. Jesus paid for all of it and in our place. This sacrifice, Jesus offering himself up for sin in our place was an effective offering. We know that it fully satisfied the justice of God the Father once and for all because of what Peter says here. He says it only had to happen once. Jesus died once for sins. It's an act that never ever has to be repeated. He has made full atonement. There's nothing left for us to do. And so his suffering, his death is supercharged with purpose, with effective purpose. He died once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous so that our sin would be paid for. Our sin would be atoned for, that it would be expiated, propitiated, removed, forgiven forever. And this, friends, this is good news. This is hopeful news for people who are suffering for the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ. As we follow His example, as we suffer for doing good in His name, then we can recall that His suffering was not in vain. No, His suffering had great and glorious purpose. His suffering was for our atonement, for our salvation, and His suffering was indeed effective. It was victorious. Our own sin, the schemes of the devil and his demons were defeated decisively. And so we can know in our suffering that that too is not in vain. That too has a great and glorious sanctifying purpose. And it too will culminate in our ultimate salvation. We'll be made fit for heaven, fit to enjoy pleasures forevermore. But Christ's suffering and death accomplishes even more than this. Peter tells us that Christ suffered and died to bring us to God. To bring us to God. The great barrier between us and God is our sin. And since Jesus' death pays the penalty for that sin and removes God's wrath and condemnation from us, the Bible tells us that we can now enter into genuine communion, genuine fellowship, unbroken relationship with the God of the universe. We can therefore boldly approach the throne of grace in our time of need. We can call God, Abba, Father, knowing that there is no condemnation, no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus. And we can know that there is nothing, nothing in all of creation that can separate us from that love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The death of Jesus not only forgives us, it reconciles us to God. Well, the next point on our map is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, the suffering and death of Christ by itself, on its own, doesn't actually bring us hope. If that's the end of the story, if we don't know how this story ends, if Christ's life just ends in suffering and death and there's nothing after that, then we have no ultimate hope ourselves in the face of suffering and even death. But thanks be to God, we do know the end of the story. We see in the New Testament, and in this verse specifically, that death is not the end of the story for Jesus Christ. No, death, in fact, is ultimately ended by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so Peter declares in verse 18 that Christ was put to death in the flesh, but he was made alive in the Spirit. And there's some debate amongst scholars as to what the correct interpretation of the word Peter uses for spirit here is. Should it have a capital S? Should it be referring to the Holy Spirit? Or is Peter talking about something else? Well, I think in this instance, the ESV may have got it wrong. I do think Peter is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in resurrecting Jesus Christ. Jesus is made alive by the Holy Spirit. I think this is what Peter is getting at, and it really does fit with the flow of where he's going in this passage, following that progression of Jesus' life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. So Jesus is not only the suffering servant, not only our perfect spotless sacrificial lamb, but He is also wonderfully, gloriously our risen and conquering King. He has passed through the floodwaters of death and emerged victorious. Jesus' suffering was not the final word. He was raised from the dead. And Christ's victory over death is yet another thing that he blesses us with, that he shares with us. Listen to how Paul puts it to the Corinthians. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So in Christ, not even death can quench our hope. In fact, death is just another servant that God uses to bring us to Him. For the believer, death is not the end. Death is not the extinguishing of hope. No, death is rather the doorway to eternal life, eternal joy, eternal peace. The fourth stop on the map is Christ's ascension into heaven, His exaltation. Verse 22 Luke tells us that Jesus has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. Peter reminds us that Jesus now is in the position of highest honor and power. He rules and reigns over all. He is placing every single one of His enemies under His feet. And as a people who are united to Christ by faith, then we can lay hold of this promise of the gospel. His resurrection and triumph will be our resurrection and triumph. His exaltation, we will share in because He brings us to where He is. The day is coming, isn't it? When the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. We shall live with Christ forever. We shall reign with Christ forever. And so this truth changes the way that we see our suffering now. Listen to the apostle Paul again in 2 Corinthians 4. We do not lose heart. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. This is what belongs to us as believers because of the death and resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ. And this is the ultimate ground for our hope. Our hope is Jesus Christ himself. Well, now we need to come further into this passage and come to some of the more mysterious words that we find in verse 19. Throughout church history, there have been numerous interpretations of these words. Calvin comments here with, I think, more than a hint of understatement. He says, the obscurity of this passage has produced, as usual, various explanations. Yeah, just a few. But of these various explanations, I think three have emerged with a kind of enduring acceptance in various parts of the Church. The first view is what's sometimes called the descensus view, and perhaps you can see where this is going. This is the idea that Christ, in between his death and resurrection, descended into hell and preached to the spirits imprisoned there in hell. Of course, people point to that line that causes much consternation in the Apostles' Creed, he descended into hell, as another proof for this idea. But within this interpretation there are two broad ideas as to who it was that Jesus was preaching to. The first is that he preached just generally to those in hell, providing some sort of second chance after death, particularly for those who haven't heard the gospel. And this idea, at least in part, gave rise to the heretical teaching of purgatory. The second idea within this interpretation is that he preached to the righteous people, and some would say even specifically tying it to the words that come after, the righteous people of Noah's day and before, who are kept in a special, less warm part of hell, not suffering, but waiting for Jesus to come and rescue them. And that's what these people would say is happening here. This is what Peter is describing. But I don't think either version of this view has the support of the rest of the Bible. Scripture clearly teaches that the time for repentance and faith is in between our birth and our death. So Hebrews 9.27, for example, it is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes the judgment. There's no appearing of Jesus to you in hell, giving you a second chance. Or Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Not after you're dead, that's too late. So I think we can rule that one out. The second interpretation is that the preaching that Peter speaks of here is actually Noah preaching through the Spirit of Christ. So if you remember back in chapter 1, we're told that the prophets of old had the Spirit of Christ in them. So chapter one, verse 11, these prophets were inquiring that what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. And so this interpretation holds that it is Noah who is doing the preaching in the power of the spirit of Christ, that the people in prison or the spirits in prison are the people of Noah's day who ignored his his preaching and his obedience. And this, I think, is a much more reasonable interpretation. It does seem to fit, at least in part, with the rest of the book, and in fact with Peter's next letter, 2 Peter, where Peter actually refers again to Noah and calls him a herald or a preacher of righteousness. The key argument against this view has to do with the word that Peter uses for spirits in prison. And whenever this word is used in the New Testament without any qualifiers, without an article, then it always, without fail, everywhere else, refers to some kind of spiritual or angelic beings, whether they are good or evil. I don't think this is a completely insurmountable argument. As we've seen a number of points throughout this letter, Peter uses words that we don't find anywhere else in the New Testament. And Peter's letter is the only instance of these particular words. And so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Peter to use this word differently to how the rest of the New Testament uses it. The third interpretation is that this preaching is to evil spirits that were imprisoned by God at the time of Noah. And the key piece of evidence for this view, actually outside of the text, comes from a relatively recently rediscovered manuscript of an extra-biblical book called First Enoch. And this is thought to have been well-known by the Jews of Peter's day. It is actually quoted from, in the Bible, in the book of Jude, First Enoch is quoted from. But this book, 1 Enoch, conveys how God imprisoned wicked angels who had overstepped their bounds. And it's not hard for us to see how that might have been the case, that might have been exactly what was going on in Noah's day. Genesis 6 tells us the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. I don't know if we can really grasp what that must have been like. It seems to picture a time of intense temptation with sin and Satan and his demons holding sway over almost everyone. I mean, everyone really, bar Noah and his family. The word that Peter uses for proclamation here in verse 19 was one that was often used for heralds who were sent to proclaim a great victory in battle. And this would seem to fit a proclamation by Christ in the Spirit to imprisoned demons. Christ goes to these imprisoned demons and proclaims to them his victory. that it is ultimate, that it is accomplished, it is finished, it is done, that despite their desire, despite their raging against the Lord and His anointed, since the very beginning, these demons have failed. Perhaps Christ told them something like this. I myself have passed through the flood of my father's eternal judgment. I've been saved and raised in righteousness and glory and power. I have triumphed over sin and death and hell forever. And I now bring with me into glory a people that cannot be numbered from every tongue, every tribe, every people, every language, and they will reign with me forever. You, you demons will be subjected to me forever in judgment. Maybe he preached something like that. Well, there are problems with all three of these interpretations, some bigger, some smaller, and I have to confess to you, I actually am not settled in my own mind which of those last two it could actually be. I look forward to finding Peter in glory and asking him exactly what he meant. But it's not hard though, is it? To see that Jesus preaching this kind of victorious message to the spirits in prison. It's not hard to see how that would be good news for people who are suffering right now. For them, and perhaps for us, evil seems to reign. Evil seems to have the upper hand. Evil seems even to triumph on many occasions. But, The encouragement to these people and to us is that Jesus Christ proclaims the definitive and final word. He has accomplished total victory. Well, there are still more questions that this passage raises. The first then is, well, why on earth does Peter even bother bringing up Noah in the first place? What's he talking about? Well, I think the main reason that Peter brings up Noah is he's giving us an example. He's giving us a picture of one who has faithfully endured through suffering. You remember Noah for 120 years built an ark. And during that time, Genesis 6 verse 22, Noah did this, he did all that God commanded him. So for 120 years, in the face of scorn and ridicule and mocking, you remember at that time, people really didn't even know what rain was. The concept of enough water to create a flood was just beyond their comprehension. And yet Noah faithfully obeys Christ and he, Peter tells us in his second letter, preaches righteousness to these people. And so Noah is an example to us, to be an encouragement to us, to suffering Christians. And Peter is calling these suffering Christians to commit themselves to God who judges righteously, even as they suffer persecution, because they can be confident that if their persecutors are not brought to saving faith in Christ by their own righteous conduct, then they're gonna meet the same end as Noah's persecutors. They will be consumed in the flood of judgment. Well, then the next question that we face from this passage is, what does the ark and the flood and Noah, what has all of that got to do with baptism? Well, I think the answer is that they both picture the work of Christ. Think about this. Noah and his family were saved by water. The ark floated, didn't it, on that water. So it wasn't water that fell on them. It was water that fell on the ark. It was water that burst up from underneath. And that pictures a man's hatred and wickedness that sort of swept Jesus along to the cross. The waters from above, I think they picture the judgment of God, which again, Jesus bore on the cross. So the waters then picture the waves and billows of judgment that lifted Christ, our ark of safety, up on the cross. And it is by that redemptive work that we are saved. Those waters of judgment fell on Him and not on us, just like the waters fell on the ark and not on Noah and his family. Like Noah and his family, we are safe and secure in Christ. We are saved by the baptism of judgment that Christ knew at Calvary, not anything special in the water that we use. And so this brings us to our last question, is Peter really teaching here that the act of baptism saves us? Certainly not. Peter is not teaching baptismal regeneration here. Look at the words. Just read the words that follow that seemingly shocking statement in verse 21. Peter says, as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The waters of baptism are not what actually washes away sin. Only Jesus Christ can do that. We are saved by Him, by His perfect life, His perfect death, His perfect resurrection. We are saved by Christ alone. So what does Peter mean then? Because he does say, baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. What does he mean? Well, I think he's, at least one thing he's trying to do is emphasize for us that there is, there is a deep, deep connection between the sign of baptism and the thing that it signifies. So Dr. Ryan McGraw, one of Josh's professors, writes really helpfully here. He says this, look, we simply cannot say that every time baptism is outward, so he's talking about every time the scripture talks about the mechanics of baptism, washing with water. We cannot simply say that every time baptism is outward, then the sacrament is in view. But every time a text stresses the spiritual reality, then the sacrament is not in view. If we reasoned like this, with the Word, he says, then would we not risk denying that Christ is present in the Spirit through the Word to bring us to Himself? You see what he's saying there? Sacraments are God's visible words. And there is a deep, deep connection between the word and the sacrament of baptism. Baptism is a naming ceremony, isn't it? In baptism, we baptize a person in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We're marking out that person for the triune God. But baptism alone cannot save us. It conveys promises to us. It seals promises to us. But these promises are realized by faith. So through faith in Christ, baptism, like the Word of God, becomes an effectual means of salvation, to use the words of the Shorter Catechism. And the Shorter Catechism in question 91 is really, really helpful here. Just listen to what it says. Question 91, how do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation? The answer is this, the sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that doth administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ and the working of his spirit in them that by faith receive them. I'd encourage you to go and read that again, read through what the catechism teaches us on sacraments. Dr. McGraw again, he says this, baptism saves us then when we see baptism as a vehicle to lay hold of the triune God through faith in Christ. This is like Noah's ark then, in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. So I hope you can see Peter's heart here, his pastoral, caring, loving heart. Hope you can see what an encouragement these verses are. I wonder if you hear the words of Martin Luther ringing in your ears, remember your baptism. That's what Peter is telling us here. See, baptism also publicly proclaims judgment, doesn't it? For any who are outside of Jesus Christ. Baptism says that Jesus Christ alone is the ark of salvation. And so the same Christ who subjected angels and authorities and powers through his ascension and reign saves his people by coming to them through his word, through sacrament and judges their enemies. So how do we tie all of this together? How can we summarize Peter's words, Peter's message of encouragement, his call to faithfully endure suffering for righteousness' sake and to lay hold of the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus? Well, this is my attempt. In Christ, it is no longer possible for suffering even death to harm us. By his victory, these former foes are transformed into servants for our good. That's our doctrine this morning. In Christ, it is no longer possible for suffering, even death to harm us. By his victory, these former foes are transformed into servants for our good. So loved ones, Christ's victory over Satan, over sin, over death is so complete, so powerful, so universe changing that suffering, even death is transformed. These things that once were our greatest enemies are now changed into servants for our good. That is how powerful the work of Jesus Christ is. By his suffering, by his death, by his resurrection, Christ brings us to God. He has gone into heaven and all things are in subjection to him. And our great soul enlivening, soul enriching hope is that where he has gone, we shall go too. Listen to Paul's words to the Corinthians again in 1 Corinthians 15. Where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, death has lost its power. It cannot harm you anymore. once the ultimate enemy that would usher us into the fearful judgment of God, is now a defeated foe. It has been transformed into the gateway through which we reach the everlasting embrace of God as our Father. The victory of Christ then is a shared victory. He's won it, yet we share in the spoils. but more than a future hope as wonderful and glorious and encouraging as that is, Christ's victory has great benefit for us here and now. As we are called to endure whatever suffering God may call us to, our Savior's victory transforms that suffering here and now. And we see this, don't we, in perhaps one of the most well-known verses in Scripture. Paul writes, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Paul is saying all things, all things, even suffering, even pain, even the loss of opportunities, even the loss of loved ones, even the scorn and ridicule of the world. All things, Paul says, all things work for our good. So loved ones, our suffering here and now is not meaningless. It is not a sign that God has abandoned us. Not only Christ, only Christ suffered true abandonment. That severing of his special relationship as he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Christ was abandoned, dear believer, so that you would never be ultimately abandoned. Now the worst that suffering can do to you is make you more like Jesus. Now we can rejoice in suffering. Peter says in chapter 1, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while if necessary you've been grieved by various trials. Paul says more or less the same thing. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and our hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us. Because of Christ's victory, suffering now does something good for us. Suffering actually produces endurance and character and hope. Every foe is transformed into a servant that refines and strengthens our faith. And later on in this letter, Peter is going to bring out one more huge benefit from our new servant. In chapter 4, verses 12 and 13, he writes this, 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. This is a deep, deep truth. As we suffer, whatever it may be, in a mystical and mysterious way, we are sharing in Christ's sufferings. And as we do that, our fellowship with Him deepens and grows and matures. As we experienced just the tiniest, tiniest fraction of what he suffered, our love for him enlarges. Think of Job in the Old Testament. You remember after months and months of suffering, really vile suffering, Job finally says to God, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear. but now my eye sees you. Do you get that? Job had been a godly and an upright man. He'd been pleasing to God, but the difference, do you see the difference? The difference between what he knew of God in his times of prosperity and what he knew of God in the times of suffering and adversity is the difference between just hearing about something and seeing it with your eyes. Or think about it this way, if we suffer for righteousness' sake, if we suffer for speaking out for Christ, for refusing to engage in something that we know is wrong and sinful, we can rejoice in that. We can rejoice in that suffering because it proves, it shows that we belong to Christ, that we are in Him. And so in times of suffering, in times of trial and testing, we can know with Paul what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he has put all things under his feet. and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Our Savior is risen. He is victoriously reigning over all things and nothing and no one is outside of his control. He has authority, power, dominion over all things, all things, even suffering, even death. And so in Christ, suffering and death have been transformed from threats, from foes, into instruments of God's redemptive work. Christ's victory over death means that believers, you and I, can face suffering and death without fear. We know that these experiences can only bring about a far, far greater good. These experiences only sanctify us. They only ultimately lead us to eternal life with God. The transformative power of Christ's resurrection ensures that death and suffering no longer have the final word. But instead, they merely contribute to our ultimate good and to God's glory. So as we close this morning, let me just give you some brief points of application. The first one is this, remember that Christ suffered and died for you, believer. And that suffering was not meaningless. It was not some cosmic accident. His suffering for you was supercharged with purpose. His suffering brings you to God. The righteous one became a servant in order to save the unrighteous. Unrighteous ones like you and me. His suffering was effective. He suffered once, remember, once. It needed no repeating, no topping up. And so we can rest. We can rest in the rock solid assurance that his once for all sacrifice has reconciled us to God. His suffering, dear believer, brings you peace. His suffering eliminates your guilt. Second, fix your eyes on something. Look to Christ. In your spirit, look to Christ at God's right hand, ruling over everything, over all things. We are strengthened by this. We're strengthened for suffering when we see that Christ is at the right hand of God, ruling over all angels, authorities, and powers. Remember that nothing and no one is free to do as they please. Not even demons, not even Satan himself. All angels, authorities and powers are subject to Jesus Christ. And so when Peter, he's going to say at the end of his letter, that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour. And that what we're to do is to resist him and be firm in our faith. This is the faith I think that Peter has in mind, the faith that everything is subject to Christ. All angels, all authorities, all powers are subject to him. And so this is what we rebuke the devil with. We say to him, Satan, you are subject to Christ. You are subject to Christ. Jesus reigns at the father's right hand and you are under him. You can do nothing without his permission. And you may be a lion, you may roar, but you are nothing more than a cat on a chain. You cannot touch me unless He lets you. And He will only let you to the extent that whatever you do will turn for my good and for His glory. So look to Christ, see Him ruling and reigning at the Father's right hand. And then finally, with Luther, remember your baptism. Remember your baptism, treasure, celebrate all that your baptism seals to you. By faith, you have passed through the floodwaters of judgment and death and have entered into everlasting communion with God. By faith, you inherit all the covenant promises made to Abraham and to his offspring. By faith, you are united to Christ in his death and in his resurrection. So by faith you can sing with the old hymn writer, Jesus lives and so shall I. Death, thy sting is gone forever. He who deigned for me to die lives. The bands of death to sever. He shall raise me from the dust. Jesus is my hope and trust. Jesus lives, I know full well. Not from him my heart can sever. life nor death nor power of hell, joy nor grief henceforth forever. None of all his saints is lost. Jesus is my hope and trust. And so loved ones, today and every single day, arm yourselves, arm yourselves with this thinking, especially when you find yourself in times of trouble, in times of suffering, press on in faithful obedience, knowing that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is exalted, and Christ is coming again. He has atoned for your sin. He has reconciled you to God. The full force of the flood of death and judgment has fallen on Him. He brought Noah through the flood, and He will certainly bring you through the flood of whatever suffering, trial, whatever it might be that you are called to, even through death itself. So hope in Him today. Hoping Him until that day when by His grace and resurrection power, your hope and faith become sight. Until that day when you land safely on Canaan's side and are in the presence of your Savior forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. Thank you for these specific words that we've been wrestling through this morning. Lord, we thank you that your Word is so deep and so rich that wherever we turn, there is food for our souls. Thank you for the hope that you have shown us once again in this passage. Lord, help us to to remember that Christ suffered for us, to fix our eyes on Him in His risen and exalted position now, ruling and reigning. Oh God, help us to remember our baptisms. And in all of this, help us to hold on to the hope that we have in Christ, through whatever suffering may come our way. Lord, we pray that we would know this, in this local church, that your people all over this country and all over this world would know this, that they would be strengthened, encouraged, equipped, even this day, as they gather together in various places across the globe, to lift high the name of Jesus, to read your word together, to sing your praises. Lord, may they be strengthened, encouraged, equipped for all that they face. Lord, please cause your church to be a bright, shining light. Cause your church to be a city on a hill, a light on a lampstand, something that cannot be ignored. Oh Lord, may our witness be faithful and true. May we hold fast to your word. May we be given all the strength and courage and confidence that we need to live as salt and light in this world. Lord, please make us the kind of people that really are asked about the hope that we have. And help us to be ready, to be ready with the answer of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. So Lord, we thank you for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. Please magnify that hope in our hearts and cause it to overflow, as it says in your word, to spill out from us, that it would be contagious, that it would spread throughout this city, throughout the Treasure Valley and throughout the world to your great glory and honor and praise. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.