Embracing the Pain
(1 Peter 4:12-16)

1.  THE INEVITABILITY OF PERSECUTION
(1 Peter 4:12-13)

Persecution must have been harder for Gentiles than it was for Jews.  The average Gentile had little experience of it; but the Jews have always been the most persecuted people upon earth.

 It is never safe to be a Christian.  The Christian life has its own unpopularity, its own problems, its own sacrifices and its own persecutions.  With this in mind we must understand a few things about suffering.

A.     A.  Persecution is inevitable.

It is human nature to dislike anyone who is different; the Christian is necessarily different (Deuteronomy 14:2).  The trouble is, we blend in!!!  To the world the Christian brings the standards of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ standards are in opposition to the world.  Christ is an offence, to a world in which righteousness is regarded as a handicap.  (John 15:18-23)

B.  Persecution is a test.

The test is twofold:

First, a man’s devotion to anything can be measured by his willingness to suffer for it; therefore, any kind of persecution is a test of a man’s faith.  (Revelation 2:10)

Second, it is only the real Christian who will be persecuted.  The Christian who compromises with the world will not be persecuted.  Persecution is the test of the reality of our faith.  (1 Peter 1:6-7)

 C.  Persecution is sharing in the sufferings of Jesus.

When a man has to suffer for his faith he is walking the way his Master walked and sharing the Cross his Master carried.  If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him (Romans 8:17).  If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him (2 Timothy 2:11-12).  We must remember that anything we must suffer for the sake of Christ is a privilege and not a penalty.

D.  Persecution is the way to glory.

The Cross is the way to the crown.  Jesus Christ’s joy and glory await the man who, through thick and think, remains true to him.  (James 1:12)