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1 Peter 4:12-19 - (Part 2) Why Won't God Keep Good People from Suffering? · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. You are listening to The Bible Explained with
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Speaker 1: Jen Koukl, a P40 Ministries podcast. Hello and good morning,
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Speaker 1: friends and faithful listeners, and welcome to The Bible Explained
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Speaker 1: podcast on this lovely Tuesday morning. I appreciate all of
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Speaker 1: the wonderful, faithful listeners who reached out to wish me
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Speaker 1: get well soons. It's been very, very nice to receive
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Speaker 1: those messages. And I thank all of you guys. And
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Speaker 1: when I'm feeling up to it, I will definitely respond
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Speaker 1: to each and every one of you. And I don't
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Speaker 1: want to bore you too long with some of the
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Speaker 1: stuff that I've been struggling through and everything. So if
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Speaker 1: you're not interested, I am totally fine. I'm not going
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Speaker 1: to be offended if you want to skip forward and
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Speaker 1: just get to the discussion for today. I completely understand
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Speaker 1: because that is the point of the Bible Explained podcast.
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Speaker 1: It's not to talk about me or my health concerns.
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Speaker 1: It's to talk about the Bible. But for those of
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Speaker 1: you who did reach out and, you know, ask me
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Speaker 1: how I'm doing or give me suggestions or how I'm feeling,
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Speaker 1: I'll be honest, I'm not feeling great. I have a,
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Speaker 1: I guess it's a flu right now that is just,
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Speaker 1: I feel like I'm drowning. That's the best way to
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Speaker 1: put it. I Even though I'm on like a week
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Speaker 1: of having this flu, it does not seem like it's
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Speaker 1: getting any better. So I'm struggling through that. But thankfully,
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Speaker 1: my sore throat is gone. So I'll take the blessings
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Speaker 1: that I can get. I can, in fact, talk. So
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Speaker 1: that is better than before. But it's not just been
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Speaker 1: the flu. You guys may have noticed that I've been
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Speaker 1: taking more days off the podcast. And it's because my
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Speaker 1: overall health these past few months have been has been
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Speaker 1: quite bad. Last month, I had 12 migraines. That is
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Speaker 1: close to three a week. And I cannot, honestly, I
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Speaker 1: cannot function when I have those migraines. And so I'm
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Speaker 1: trying to get to the bottom of what is going
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Speaker 1: on with the migraines specifically because they've ramped up in
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Speaker 1: recent years and have gotten so extreme and so intense
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Speaker 1: that I'm having a hard time even doing normal life.
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Speaker 1: with them. And a lot of times the migraines don't
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Speaker 1: just last one day, but they are a couple days long.
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Speaker 1: And so sometimes there's only one or two days in
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Speaker 1: the week that I actually feel healthy and well. So
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Speaker 1: it's been like a lot these past few months. And
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Speaker 1: so I'm really hoping to get to the bottom of
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Speaker 1: everything that is going on. And I would appreciate any
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Speaker 1: prayers on my behalf If that is something that you're
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Speaker 1: willing to do for me, I'd greatly appreciate that. That is,
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Speaker 1: in fact, the best thing that you could possibly do
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Speaker 1: for me, is to pray for me so I can
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Speaker 1: figure out why and how and maybe a root cause
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Speaker 1: as to what is going on with my health these
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Speaker 1: past few months. And even today, I was debating not
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Speaker 1: doing an episode, quite honestly. But what caused me to
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Speaker 1: actually do an episode was, firstly, I can talk, and secondly,
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Speaker 1: I I'm really excited about 1 Peter 4, and I've
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Speaker 1: been mulling this topic over in my head since I
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Speaker 1: researched it last week, because I was supposed to talk
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Speaker 1: about this, obviously, I think on Thursday, right? And did
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Speaker 1: all my research for it to discuss it with you guys,
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Speaker 1: but then got sick and wasn't able to. But it's
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Speaker 1: something that I'm really excited about. And so I actually
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Speaker 1: do want to share this topic with all of you.
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Speaker 1: So this is going to be today, 1 Peter 4,
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Speaker 1: 12 through 19. So while you're grabbing your Bible and
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Speaker 1: your delicious cup of Seven Weeks Coffee, the coffee brand
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Speaker 1: that supports life in the womb, please listen to this
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Speaker 1: quick sponsored ad, and we'll be right back after that
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Speaker 1: to read 1 Peter 4, 12 through 19 together. Thank you,
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Speaker 1: faithful listeners, so much for listening to that quick advertisement.
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Speaker 1: And now let's get into 1 Peter 4, 12 through 19.
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Speaker 1: I apologize if you hear snoring, by the way. That
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Speaker 1: is my old dog. who is very excited that I'm
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Speaker 1: back at my desk because he has a little bed
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Speaker 1: underneath my desk and he loves sitting at my feet.
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Speaker 1: I think it's like a comfort for him to sit
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Speaker 1: here while I'm recording. And so he's very, very happy
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Speaker 1: that I'm back at my desk. And I am excited
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Speaker 1: as well to talk about this. So let's read 1
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Speaker 1: Peter 4, 12 through 19 together. As I always do,
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Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the WEB. Beloved, don't be astonished
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Speaker 1: at the fiery trial which has come upon you to
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Speaker 1: test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.
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Speaker 1: But because you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice, that
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Speaker 1: at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice
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Speaker 1: with an exceeding joy. If you are insulted for the
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Speaker 1: name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of
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Speaker 1: glory and of God rests on you. On their part
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Speaker 1: he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
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Speaker 1: But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or
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Speaker 1: a thief, or as an evildoer, or a meddler in
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Speaker 1: other man's matters. But if one of you suffers for
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Speaker 1: being a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let
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Speaker 1: him glorify God in this matter. For the time has
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Speaker 1: come for judgment to begin with the household of God.
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Speaker 1: If it begins first with us, what will happen to
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Speaker 1: those who don't obey the good news of God? If
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Speaker 1: it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what
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Speaker 1: will happen to the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore let
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Speaker 1: them also who suffer according to the will of God
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Speaker 1: in doing good, entrust their souls to him, as a
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Speaker 1: faithful creator. So this is a topic I've been having
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Speaker 1: some interest in for two reasons. The first, because we're
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Speaker 1: going through the book of Job right now, and I
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Speaker 1: feel like this passage of 1 Peter ties literally perfectly
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Speaker 1: into everything that Job experienced. Remember, Job was being, in
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Speaker 1: a sense, tested by God to prove what kind of
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Speaker 1: faith Job actually had. Because Satan went to God and
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Speaker 1: was like, hey, God, you know, You're only blessing Job
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Speaker 1: because you give people all of this wealth so that
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Speaker 1: you can get worship from these people. But if you
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Speaker 1: take their wealth away, if you take away everything they have,
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Speaker 1: even their health, they will stop worshiping you. And God said,
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Speaker 1: oh yeah, Satan, let's go ahead and test that theory.
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Speaker 1: And Job has already proved just in the first two
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Speaker 1: chapters that we read that Satan's theory was wrong. Because Job,
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Speaker 1: even at the end of chapter two, when he believed
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Speaker 1: he was dying, when his wife came out to him
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Speaker 1: and was like, just curse God and die already. Job
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Speaker 1: was like, no, I'm not going to curse God. I
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Speaker 1: might die, but I'm not going to curse God. Because
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Speaker 1: should we take the good things that God gives us
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Speaker 1: and not the bad things that God gives us? Now,
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Speaker 1: these are issues that a lot of churches just really
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Speaker 1: don't like to talk about. And in fact, some people
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Speaker 1: will say that Job was incorrect, that God never caused
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Speaker 1: this kind of suffering on Job, that it was only Satan.
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Speaker 1: But God actually took the credit for causing this suffering
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Speaker 1: on Job. And that is something that I think we
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Speaker 1: need to be aware of, that God will put us
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Speaker 1: through trials, and he will put us through suffering. And
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Speaker 1: this is something that every single Christian just does not
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Speaker 1: like to hear because that makes people think that God
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Speaker 1: might be unfair. But as we talked about in Job,
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Speaker 1: God is never unfair and he's never unjust. And whenever
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Speaker 1: there is suffering that happens in each of our lives,
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Speaker 1: it is for some sort of end goal. It is
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Speaker 1: not just to torture us needlessly, not even in the
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Speaker 1: case of Job. Because a lot of people look at
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Speaker 1: that book and they say, God was so cruel that
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Speaker 1: he tortured Job needlessly. But we already see at least
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Speaker 1: one reason why God allowed Job to go through that
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Speaker 1: kind of suffering and even permitted Job to go through
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Speaker 1: this kind of suffering. Because Job was proving the doctrine
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Speaker 1: of Satan to be incorrect. And what was the doctrine
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Speaker 1: of Satan? that God only blesses those that worship him.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't let them go through trials. And anybody that
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Speaker 1: does go through trials couldn't possibly want to worship the
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Speaker 1: Almighty God. That's called the prosperity gospel. And it's preached
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Speaker 1: across many Western churches right here at this moment in time.
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Speaker 1: And they even say that the book of Job is
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Speaker 1: incorrect or not actually true. or that Job was incorrect
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Speaker 1: in believing that it was God that allowed this kind
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Speaker 1: of suffering to happen to him. But Peter, right here
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Speaker 1: in 1 Peter 4, specifically says that every single Christian
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Speaker 1: is going to go through fiery trials. Verse 12, Beloved,
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Speaker 1: don't be astonished at the fiery trial which has come
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Speaker 1: upon you to test you as though a strange thing
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Speaker 1: happened to you. And man, this is something that I
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Speaker 1: think a lot of Christians right now really don't understand.
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Speaker 1: When some sort of trial happens to them, they actually
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Speaker 1: do become astonished at it. They're like, how could this
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Speaker 1: possibly happen to me? Because I go to church, I
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Speaker 1: tithe my money, I give of my time, I do
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Speaker 1: all of these good things for God, and yet I'm
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Speaker 1: astonished at this trial that God is allowing in my life.
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Speaker 1: Peter says, don't be astonished at these fiery trials because,
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Speaker 1: verse 13, you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. So rejoice
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Speaker 1: that the revelation of his glory also may rejoice with
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Speaker 1: exceeding joy. So that's another reason why God allows suffering
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Speaker 1: to happen. Not just because he's proving the doctrines of
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Speaker 1: Satan incorrect, the prosperity gospel is wrong, but also because
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Speaker 1: we are becoming more like Christ. We are being partakers
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Speaker 1: in Christ's suffering. In fact, Paul said something kind of
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Speaker 1: bizarre in Colossians 1 that sort of follows that same
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Speaker 1: vein of thinking. Colossians 1.24 says this, And if I
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Speaker 1: were to guess what that means... It's that you don't
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Speaker 1: really understand how bad Christ suffered until you suffer yourself.
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Speaker 1: You can't really understand his affliction until you, in a
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Speaker 1: similar way, experience that affliction. Just like how, I'm sure
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Speaker 1: some of you can relate to this. Have you ever
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Speaker 1: had a friend that is going through some sort of trial,
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Speaker 1: and it's a trial that you've never experienced before? And
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Speaker 1: you know that they need help and comfort, but you
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Speaker 1: don't really know what to say to them when you
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Speaker 1: see them. This happened to me when my friend who
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Speaker 1: I interviewed years ago, Jeff Marcraf, passed away. I interviewed
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Speaker 1: him and two weeks later, he ended up passing away.
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Speaker 1: But when that happened, I had such a hard time
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Speaker 1: comforting his wife, even though I really, really wanted to
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Speaker 1: comfort her. And so there's a few times after conversations
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Speaker 1: with her where I'm just like kicking myself because I'm like,
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Speaker 1: why did I say that? Oh my gosh, I'm like
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Speaker 1: the worst comforter in the world. And it was because
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Speaker 1: I have never experienced the kind of pain and suffering
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Speaker 1: that she has experienced. And I'm sure some of you
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Speaker 1: can relate with that as well. But when we experience
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Speaker 1: those trials for ourselves, and God forbid that we do, honestly,
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Speaker 1: I hate that we have to suffer. But When we
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Speaker 1: do experience that kind of suffering, though, we can relate
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Speaker 1: with other people in a different way. And so I
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Speaker 1: almost wonder, in Colossians chapter 1, when Paul said that
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Speaker 1: he was filling up on his part that which was
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Speaker 1: lacking in the afflictions of Christ in his flesh, I
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Speaker 1: wonder if he was saying that his suffering was causing
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Speaker 1: him to understand Christ's suffering in a new light, in
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Speaker 1: a way that... he never had before. And going back
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Speaker 1: to our passage, 1 Peter 4, that's kind of what
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Speaker 1: Peter says too in verse 13. But because you are
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Speaker 1: partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice that at the revelation of
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Speaker 1: his glory, you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. So
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Speaker 1: we're sharing something with Christ and not just his affliction,
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Speaker 1: but also his joy. When we suffer with Christ, when
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Speaker 1: we connect with Christ on that deep of a level,
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Speaker 1: and really have a deep relationship with him, that we're
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Speaker 1: willing to, I guess, suffer afflictions for our faith. Jesus
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Speaker 1: is going to share with us his joy and also
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Speaker 1: the revelation of his glory. Because again, the entire book
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Speaker 1: of 1 Peter, I think, was written to people who
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Speaker 1: were being persecuted and who were suffering for Christ in
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Speaker 1: whatever way that might look like. Sometimes suffering is for
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Speaker 1: Christ is not always physical. Sometimes it's emotional, sometimes it's mental,
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Speaker 1: sometimes it's through sickness and pain. But whatever it is,
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Speaker 1: if we're doing it to the best of our ability,
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Speaker 1: in solidarity with Christ, trying to just follow His will,
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Speaker 1: whatever kind of plan He has for us, whether His
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Speaker 1: plan for us is something we want or something we
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Speaker 1: don't want, then our reward is going to be something great.
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Speaker 1: It's not just The sickness and the sadness and the
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Speaker 1: misery and the persecution is something so much greater than
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Speaker 1: we can ever really understand until we meet Jesus face
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Speaker 1: to face. Peter says, if any of you are insulted
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Speaker 1: for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the
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Speaker 1: spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On
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Speaker 1: their part, he is blasphemed, but on your part, he
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Speaker 1: is glorified. And so now Peter moves into more of
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Speaker 1: the mentally abusive kind of persecution that a lot of
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Speaker 1: people suffer. People insulting you, calling you names, treating you
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Speaker 1: as if they hate you because you are a Christian.
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Speaker 1: You are blessed through it because even though they think
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Speaker 1: they are blaspheming the name of Jesus, he's actually being
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Speaker 1: glorified because through those blasphemers, you are bringing glory to
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Speaker 1: God with your faith and your conviction and your solidarity,
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Speaker 1: I suppose, with Christ. They think they're blaspheming him, but
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Speaker 1: in all actuality, he is being glorified through your actions.
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Speaker 1: But then Peter says in verse 15, it's kind of funny,
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Speaker 1: but let none of you suffer as a murderer or
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Speaker 1: a thief or an evildoer or a meddler in another
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Speaker 1: man's matters. He's like, I have no sympathy for you.
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Speaker 1: If you're suffering because you're doing something wrong, if you're
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Speaker 1: suffering because you're sinning, well, then that's on you and
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Speaker 1: you don't have any reward in that. So avoid that
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Speaker 1: kind of suffering. If you have to suffer, do it
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Speaker 1: in the right way. Do it in the name of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: not as a terrible person, essentially. But verse 16, if
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Speaker 1: one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him
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Speaker 1: not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
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Speaker 1: So don't be ashamed of the name of Jesus. If
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Speaker 1: you have to suffer proudly for Christ, be confident in
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Speaker 1: your faith, be confident in who you believe in. Verse 17,
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Speaker 1: but the time has come. for judgment to begin with
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Speaker 1: the household of God. If it begins first with us,
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Speaker 1: then what will happen to those who don't obey the
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Speaker 1: good news of God? This verse blew my mind when
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Speaker 1: I read it. And you know, I've read 1 Peter
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Speaker 1: many times in my life, and I've brushed over this
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Speaker 1: verse every single time. Until last week, when I read
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Speaker 1: this to study it and present it for you guys,
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Speaker 1: this verse blew my mind and made me rethink suffering
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Speaker 1: for Christ completely. As we're going through Job, we've seen
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Speaker 1: already a couple reasons why God was allowing and permitting
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Speaker 1: Job to suffer in the tremendous way that he did.
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Speaker 1: The first reason was to show who God really is.
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Speaker 1: He's not somebody that just blesses people to get worship.
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Speaker 1: He is the God of the universe. Another reason is to,
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Speaker 1: you know, bring down the doctrine of demons, the prosperity gospel,
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Speaker 1: to bring that down, to make sure that people know
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Speaker 1: that that is anti-biblical. Another reason was to prove Job's faith,
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Speaker 1: to stick up for his servant, because God knew the
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Speaker 1: level of faith that Job had. He knew it. It
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Speaker 1: was to stick up for Job. And those are among
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Speaker 1: many other reasons that we'll talk about as we get
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Speaker 1: further into the book of Job. Because, you know, it
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Speaker 1: wasn't just about that. It was to destroy all sorts
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Speaker 1: of false arguments against God. But Job's suffering was also
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Speaker 1: going to teach Job a lesson as well. But Peter
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Speaker 1: here brings another reason for suffering. Because those who believe
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Speaker 1: in God are going through the judgment now, here on earth,
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Speaker 1: and instead of going through the much, much worse one
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Speaker 1: that non-believers are going to have to go through when
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Speaker 1: they see Jesus face to face. That's why Peter at
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Speaker 1: the beginning here in verse 12 called them fiery trials.
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Speaker 1: What do Christians usually associate fire with? Two things, either
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit or with hell itself. And hell, as
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Speaker 1: we know, is the judgment for non-believers. And I believe
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Speaker 1: that hell is a real place. I believe scripturally, Jesus
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Speaker 1: says on multiple occasions that it is a real place
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Speaker 1: and to fear this place. Jesus himself, the God of
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Speaker 1: the universe, told us to not go to hell, essentially,
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Speaker 1: because we can't even begin to imagine how horrific that
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Speaker 1: judgment is going to be. But because God is completely fair,
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Speaker 1: Christians have to go through some kind of judgment themselves, right?
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Speaker 1: He's not just going to let Christians go off scot-free, right?
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Speaker 1: Because Christians are sinners too. And every single person, because
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Speaker 1: of their sin, even if they don't actively sin against God,
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Speaker 1: like a murderer, like Peter was saying right here, even
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Speaker 1: if they don't sin against God as a thief destroying
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Speaker 1: people's lives, they still contribute to the overall sin of
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Speaker 1: the world because we were born into the sin nature.
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Speaker 1: We have the sin nature. And every single one of us,
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Speaker 1: Christian or non-Christian, sins. We sin in our hearts. We
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Speaker 1: sin with our mouths. We sin with our actions. All
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Speaker 1: of us contribute to the sin nature. So even Christians
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Speaker 1: are judged for the sins that they do. But their
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Speaker 1: judgment is not the fiery second death that is the
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Speaker 1: judgment for those who don't believe. Instead, the judgment us
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Speaker 1: Christians experience are the fiery trials. that we have to
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Speaker 1: deal with here on earth. Again, here's what this verse says.
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Speaker 1: For the time has come for judgment to begin with
19:55
Speaker 1: the household of God, and it begins first with us.
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Speaker 1: So in other words, the judgment of Christians is already
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Speaker 1: happening here on earth. And if you think about it
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Speaker 1: in the Judgment we really have to go through if
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Speaker 1: it's only here on earth. If it's only through the
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Speaker 1: persecutions and trials we have to go through now. Romans
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Speaker 1: 8.18 says this, For I consider that the sufferings of
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Speaker 1: this present time are not worthy to be compared with
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Speaker 1: the glory which will be revealed toward us. In the
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Speaker 1: grand scheme of eternity, our lives are like a blip.
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Speaker 1: Is it not better that we suffer through these momentary
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Speaker 1: trials that aren't even worth thinking about in the grand
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Speaker 1: scheme of eternity? I think Christians have a tendency to
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Speaker 1: not think about eternity enough. We're not really taught about
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Speaker 1: how wonderful eternity is going to be. Just based upon
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Speaker 1: the Bible says in Revelation that there's not going to
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Speaker 1: be any pain or misery or suffering or tears or
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Speaker 1: Ever again, it's going to be joy and happiness and
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Speaker 1: fellowship and love. It's going to be peaceful. In Hebrews,
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Speaker 1: it describes this big feast that we have with Jesus.
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Speaker 1: Think about a feast. You know, I think some people
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Speaker 1: think that heaven, when you go there, it's just a
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Speaker 1: boring old thing of clouds and you just for eternity
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Speaker 1: play a harp or whatever, because that's what the cartoons
21:31
Speaker 1: have showed us since I've been a little kid. And
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Speaker 1: we don't think of heaven the way it's described in scripture.
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Speaker 1: Think about a feast with your siblings. Siblings you get
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Speaker 1: along with, by the way. There's no issues. There's no problems.
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Speaker 1: This isn't like the Thanksgiving dinners where people are arguing
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Speaker 1: about politics or whatever. This is like a joyful, peaceful
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Speaker 1: celebration where you just are in complete harmony with every
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Speaker 1: single person that's there, especially with Jesus. That's the kind
22:03
Speaker 1: of feast we are talking about here. And that is
22:05
Speaker 1: what heaven is going to be like every single day.
22:08
Speaker 1: It's going to be joy and parties and worship and
22:12
Speaker 1: love and music and dancing. It is going to be
22:14
Speaker 1: the best time of your lives. So if we have
22:17
Speaker 1: to suffer, let's say 100% of the time that we
22:19
Speaker 1: are here on earth for the short time that we have,
22:22
Speaker 1: is that not worth it to gain that type of eternity?
22:28
Speaker 1: I would say yes, it is. And guess what? The
22:30
Speaker 1: majority of us are not going to suffer 100% of
22:32
Speaker 1: the time. Some of us might only suffer 40% of
22:36
Speaker 1: the time. Some of us might suffer 50% of the time.
22:39
Speaker 1: But even so, our suffering can't be compared to the
22:44
Speaker 1: glory that we're going to someday receive because of Jesus's
22:49
Speaker 1: grace and love toward us. But because we're sinners, we
22:52
Speaker 1: do have to go through suffering. And this is God's judgment,
22:56
Speaker 1: I suppose, on the church to go through these kinds
22:59
Speaker 1: of fiery trials on occasion. You know, going back to
23:02
Speaker 1: the book of Job, because I'm kind of obsessed with
23:04
Speaker 1: that book right now. I left off last week talking
23:09
Speaker 1: about how James says that God was actually merciful to
23:14
Speaker 1: Job and kind to Job. And that is not what
23:17
Speaker 1: we think of when we read the book of Job nowadays.
23:19
Speaker 1: We think of God as cruel and evil and mean
23:22
Speaker 1: and terrible to make Job suffer. But James understood something
23:26
Speaker 1: about God that I think very few of us really understand.
23:31
Speaker 1: That the trials we experience are not just judgment. They're
23:35
Speaker 1: not just misery. They are refining. And they're temporary. Even
23:41
Speaker 1: here on earth. If you go to Psalm 41, here's
23:44
Speaker 1: what the first three verses say. Blessed is he who
23:48
Speaker 1: considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day
23:51
Speaker 1: of evil. Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive
23:54
Speaker 1: and he shall be blessed on the earth and he
23:56
Speaker 1: will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
24:00
Speaker 1: Yahweh will sustain him on his sick bed and restore
24:04
Speaker 1: him from his bed of illness. Though we deserve it,
24:07
Speaker 1: God is so merciful to us that he doesn't even
24:10
Speaker 1: force us here on earth to constantly suffer. We are
24:15
Speaker 1: going to have moments of suffering, but he delivers us
24:19
Speaker 1: out of them is what David says right here. And
24:21
Speaker 1: even think about the case of Job. Ultimately, Job suffered
24:25
Speaker 1: hard and he suffered for probably many months. But the
24:30
Speaker 1: beginning of his life and the end of his life
24:33
Speaker 1: were so blessed in spite of that suffering he experienced.
24:39
Speaker 1: Because God himself understands the pain of suffering. And Jesus
24:44
Speaker 1: came down to earth to have solidarity with us in
24:47
Speaker 1: our suffering. It says in Isaiah 53 that he is
24:49
Speaker 1: acquainted with disease. It says that he is a man
24:52
Speaker 1: of sorrows. And it says in Hebrews that he came
24:56
Speaker 1: down to do this so that he could really relate
24:59
Speaker 1: to our suffering. And if Jesus, the God of the universe,
25:02
Speaker 1: the creator of the universe, could come down to earth
25:05
Speaker 1: and suffer in solidarity with us and give us eternal life,
25:10
Speaker 1: then I think all of us should really rethink suffering.
25:14
Speaker 1: And as Peter says right here, that we can become
25:17
Speaker 1: partakers in Christ's sufferings because he was a partaker in
25:21
Speaker 1: our suffering. Well, thank you so much, faithful listeners, for
25:28
Speaker 1: going through this episode with me. And I hope that
25:30
Speaker 1: maybe some of you thought about suffering a little bit
25:33
Speaker 1: differently as I did when I went through this last week.
25:36
Speaker 1: But I do have one closing point I'd like to
25:38
Speaker 1: talk about regarding 1 Peter 4. And I'll talk about
25:41
Speaker 1: that right after this last message from a sponsor. So
25:46
Speaker 1: Peter ends all of this in verses 18 and 19
25:49
Speaker 1: by saying, if it is hard for the righteous to
25:51
Speaker 1: be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore,
25:55
Speaker 1: let them also who suffer according to the will of
25:58
Speaker 1: God in doing good and trust their souls to him
26:01
Speaker 1: as to a faithful creator. Now, right there, Peter is
26:05
Speaker 1: quoting Proverbs 11 31, which says in the W.E.B. version, behold,
26:11
Speaker 1: the righteous shall be repaid in the earth. And how
26:14
Speaker 1: much more the wicked and the sinner. So even the
26:16
Speaker 1: righteous has to experience some form of judgment for the
26:19
Speaker 1: sins that they have contributed to and committed. Because God
26:22
Speaker 1: is a just judge, obviously. And this judgment is starting
26:27
Speaker 1: here with the church. It's not starting with the unbelievers.
26:30
Speaker 1: The unbelievers, unfortunately, that is later on, and it's going
26:33
Speaker 1: to be much more difficult for them. Which is why
26:36
Speaker 1: two reasons. We need to, Peter says, entrust our souls
26:40
Speaker 1: to God as to a faithful creator. In other words,
26:43
Speaker 1: understanding that God loves us, that there's a reason for
26:46
Speaker 1: our suffering. And even if it is part of the judgment,
26:50
Speaker 1: just in general, of the sins of humanity, God actually
26:54
Speaker 1: still uses it for our good. There's a verse in
26:56
Speaker 1: scripture that says, God works all things to the good
27:00
Speaker 1: of those who love him. Everything, even the trials that
27:04
Speaker 1: we experience are for our good. And we are not
27:07
Speaker 1: going to understand it all the times, but God understands.
27:10
Speaker 1: And he knows the refining quality it's going to have
27:12
Speaker 1: on us and how it's going to train us and
27:15
Speaker 1: teach us to be more like him. And even the
27:17
Speaker 1: good things that might come from our own personal suffering,
27:21
Speaker 1: even if it's to someday help somebody else in the future,
27:24
Speaker 1: because we can relate with them on a deeper level
27:27
Speaker 1: that maybe some other people can't relate to. But that
27:30
Speaker 1: is the first thing we learn from all of this,
27:32
Speaker 1: to just trust God that he knows what he's doing.
27:35
Speaker 1: And secondly, that we need to be very active, I suppose,
27:40
Speaker 1: in sharing the gospel message to the unbeliever. Because the
27:45
Speaker 1: unbeliever is headed to a destiny of judgment, and not
27:49
Speaker 1: the light judgments we go through here on earth, but
27:51
Speaker 1: something far worse. The second death is what scripture calls it.
27:55
Speaker 1: Death is not good, and we don't want to experience
27:57
Speaker 1: death twice. But that is what is in store for
27:59
Speaker 1: those who refuse the free gift of eternal life. So
28:03
Speaker 1: we should be more active as Christians, caring about the
28:05
Speaker 1: soul's of these individuals, knowing that hell is a real
28:09
Speaker 1: place and that there are people who are going to
28:12
Speaker 1: go there. So we can start with our family members,
28:14
Speaker 1: your children. You can start with your parents, whoever it
28:19
Speaker 1: might be that doesn't believe in Jesus. Start with that person.
28:23
Speaker 1: Faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I will
28:26
Speaker 1: hopefully see all of you guys tomorrow as we discuss
28:29
Speaker 1: more in the book of Job. But if there is
28:31
Speaker 1: no episode, it's because I took a turn for the worse.
28:34
Speaker 1: Hopefully I just continue to get better every single day
28:37
Speaker 1: and not take a turn for the worst. But if
28:41
Speaker 1: there is no episode, that's the reason. Otherwise, I will
28:43
Speaker 1: do my utmost to have an episode tomorrow in Job.
28:47
Speaker 1: But faithful listeners, I hope you guys have a fantastic
28:49
Speaker 1: and wonderful, wonderful rest of your day. Happy listening and
28:54
Speaker 1: God bless. I just want to take a second to
29:01
Speaker 1: thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with
29:04
Speaker 1: me on the Bible Explained podcast. In fact, if you
29:06
Speaker 1: go to lifeaudio.com, you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts
29:10
Speaker 1: in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting,
29:15
Speaker 1: and more.