Welcome Suffering as a Part of Life: Glorious Effects of Christ's Sufferings - 1 Peter 3:17

1:44And then it's in this midst, he's saying, If you do suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. Our natural instinct is to recoil from suffering. But what Peter is saying is, if you do suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And then he goes on in verses 17 through 22 and gives a statement and then an example of suffering, that suffering being that of Christ. So in verse 17, let me read the text and we'll work our way through it. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

3:00Responding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to him. It's quite a passage. And we're just going to walk our way right through it. In fact, some have commented that this is one of the most, if not the most, obscure passages in the New Text, in the New Testament. But we'll take it like we do everything else, just keeping an eye on the big picture, the flow of Peter's thought, and we'll just take it step by step and we will walk through this passage. Verse 17: For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. It's a reality, a reality check. There's a reality of life that you need to be aware of, and that is it may be God's will for you to suffer.

4:11It just may be that God desires that you suffer, and that you suffer for what is right, that you suffer innocently, without cause, because of the sake of righteousness. It's what happened to Christ. But if it is his will that you suffer for what is right, you are blessed. That's what he says in verse 14. You are blessed because you are clearly on the side of righteousness. And that is a blessed position to be in. And it is certainly better than suffering for doing what is wrong, as he says in verse 17. It is better to be suffering for righteousness' sake instead of as a criminal or as an evildoer or as somebody who retaliates wrongly or who's somebody who wrongly responds to the negativism of their culture or their peers. And that is what Peter is warning them. Don't respond to them like they are treating you. Don't respond to them in kind.

5:21It's better for you to suffer for righteousness' sake. And it was God's will that Christ would suffer for righteousness' sake. And that's where he's going with this. But it was not suffering for the sake of suffering. God just didn't want Christ suffering for the sake of suffering, but he suffered to bring something about that could not have occurred unless he suffered. God accomplished things through Christ's suffering that he couldn't accomplish otherwise. We can think of Christ's sufferings as God's suffering. Victory through Christ. God brought about the victory through his obedient servant Jesus Christ. And what an incredible victory was Christ's, but what an incredible victory was God's shared victory. Such was true of Christ. Suffering was the road to glory. And this will be true of his followers at times as well. And sometimes God's going to deem it necessary for your good or for the good of others for you to suffer for doing what is right. But keep in mind that suffering is not the destination, glory is the destination. Just like glory was the destination for Christ, it just happened to go through a road of suffering.

6:52And so what Peter does in this section, as he's encouraging this body of scattered believers to stand firm in the faith and to welcome suffering as part of life without retaliating in a sinful way, Peter shows us four glorious effects of Christ's suffering so that not only they, but we would be encouraged to welcome suffering as a part of our life. And this is going to have to be a two-part sermon. And I want to cover the first two effects this morning, and I want to cover the next two. Next week. So let's just start working our way through this passage. First, the glorious effect of Christ's suffering is a glorious atonement. Look at verse 18. For Christ also suffered, or for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. And this verse succinctly and profoundly summarizes the atonement. You want a definitive, short, condensed statement on what the atonement is? This is it. In fact, it may be the most succinct statement in the Bible about the elements of the atonement. We'll just walk through them. First of all, it deals with the offering. Christ made the perfect offering for sin. Verse 18, for Christ also died.

8:30The word there is suffered for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust. He suffered. It's the same word that's been used for suffering throughout this passage. I think the reason the New American Standard Translators put death in here is to highlight that his suffering was all the way to the point of death. But it is suffering, and it's the theme running through there. Christ suffered, and it was suffering that went all the way to death.

9:01For his people. But it was a comprehensive suffering, a suffering that was comprehensive. Look at, it was done once for all. That is, for all people, for all time. It was comprehensive. It was also substitutionary. It was the just for the unjust. It was the perfectly righteous one who was perfectly righteous according to all of God's holy standards. It was the righteous one for the unrighteous ones, for those who are without righteousness of their own, those who fall short of God's holy standards. Christ died for sinners. Literally, he died the righteous on behalf of the unrighteous. 2 Corinthians 5:21 catches this substitutionary atonement. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Isaiah 53, 6, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.

10:19The iniquity of the unrighteous falling upon the shoulders of the righteous. And only a perfect person, mind you, not an animal, But only a perfect person who could pass all of God's piercing scrutiny could be considered a candidate to be a perfect sacrifice. All others were unrighteous on their own merits. And so, because they were without righteousness of their own, they had to, they needed someone to carry their unrighteousness or the penalty of. So, they were under the sentence of death themselves. So, in order for there to be a glorious atonement, a full atonement, there had to be a perfect offering. Christ provided that. But, second deals with the payment. Second aspect of the atonement deals with the payment for sin. Christ endured the full penalty imposed on sinners by God's law. Verse 18, for Christ also died for his sins, having been put to death in the flesh. According to God's infinite, holy standards, death is demanded for all unrighteousness. I don't think we really get our minds around the degree to which God hates sin. He is so removed from sin. He hates sin to a degree he will not participate, he will not fellowship with. He is absolutely, totally, comprehensively removed from sin.

11:56And the penalty for sin is an obligation begun. Comparison, beyond comprehension, because of God's degree of hatred for sin. Now, think about it like this. Let's suppose you have a loved one that gets killed tragically by some freak car accident, and the party responsible comes to you and asks for forgiveness. Completely freak accident, and you lost a loved one. You might deal with that very differently. That if somebody came to you who is very reckless and say, I was out one night just messing around with a bunch of my friends, and I was showing off and I killed your loved one. Will you forgive me? That's a very different kind, right?

12:54Now, let's suppose it has to do with total irresponsible behavior. A drunk over and over and over who has been warned of DWI or has been received and locked up or whatever for DWIs, still an irresponsible person, a drunk driver, kills your loved one. Well, then that ratchets us up even further, right? It becomes a greater grievance. Well, now suppose somebody came and said, you know what? I just didn't like your loved one, and I just ran them over.

13:30Despised him. Much different degree, right? Well, this is how we've sinned against God. All of these across this whole spectrum. And you can kind of imagine what the holy standard, the holy response, the hatred towards the criminal behavior. And God's law demands that death would be the payment for sin. And because of this, all unrighteous people live under the shadow of death. In fact, as Jesus begins his ministry in Matthew chapter 4, speaking about the land of Zebulun and Naphthali, the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light has dawned. Those who do not know Christ, who are not in Christ, upon them looms the shadow of death, an expectation, a fearful expectation of the judgment to come, for they will experience the full wrath of God and his hatred towards sin.

14:50But there is hope, and it's in Christ. The death that he experienced had both physical and spiritual dimensions. Christ died, having been put to death in the flesh. And death is not to be understood as annihilation or as a cessation of being, as is typically understood. The Bible never talks about death in those terms. Death is always a separation. Physically, Christ died. His spirit was separated from his body. Spiritually, Christ died. His spirit was separated from the Father.

15:34So Christ experienced both a physical death and a spiritual death. Then there is another death that is spoken about in Scripture, and that is eternal death. A death of separation from God eternally. But even more than that, it involves eternal condemnation. Eternal death is having that relationship with God throughout eternity where he is condemning you for your sin, where you are under a state of condemnation for eternity. And the conscience, your conscience will play a role in this.

16:14Well, somehow, Christ experienced this. His death had physical and spiritual dimensions, and his death took upon himself the penalty, the full penalty, the eternal penalty. Wrath, the eternal condemnation for our sin. It can be said that he took upon himself eternities of wrath. Something beyond our ability to understand, but it is there. Death in every sense of the word. He took the full penalty. So he offered the perfect sacrifice, he was the perfect offering. He provided a full payment.

17:00And number three, Christ provided a complete reconciliation. A full atonement. A perfect atonement involves a perfect offering, a full payment for sin and complete reconciliation. Look back at the text. For Christ also died so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. There is a barrier. This sin is unimaginable, but the barrier, the gulf between reconciliation with God is unimaginable as well. He hates sin to an incredible degree, and we know this and are terrified of God because of this. So we don't come into God's presence knowing that we have sin and guilt. Let me understand. Get you into the logic flow of verse 18. What Peter is saying is, he suffered to the point of death so that he might bring us to God. There is a point in his suffering, literally that he might bring us forth to God. I remember being those first days when my firstborn was brought into the world. Nancy had just given birth to my oldest son, and after spending some time with him, she then gave them to me and she looked up at me with tears running out of her eyes and said, You now have a son. And all that that implied, a relationship, a friend for life, all that beautiful images that come to your mind about a father-son relationship, she had just brought forth and given me this. That's the same kind of language here. Christ suffered that he might bring us forth to God. It was his delight to bring us to God that we might have a relationship, a father-child relationship with God. And it was Christ's joy to bring us to God through his suffering, through his death, and through his resurrection.

19:25Both the death and the resurrection of Christ were necessary. For the way of reconciliation to be opened. And this is what he told, this is how he comforted his disciples. In John 14:1, he said, Do not let your heart be troubled, but believe in God. Believe also in me. And then he goes on to say in verse 6, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

19:52And he opened that door, that way to the Father, for that reconciliation so that you can have that relationship with the Father, and that the Father can have that relationship with you. What a glorious reconciliation. You see, the glorious elements of Christ's atoning sacrifice were three. He was the perfect sacrifice. He endured the full penalty, and he removed the barrier of hostility, and he brought us to God. And none of this could have happened if he wasn't willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness. And this is going down Peter's vein of thought. Look at Christ. Look what came about because of his willingness to suffer for righteousness' sake. Now, you and I are not going to die for the world in the sense of providing an atonement. That's been done. But we are called to suffer for righteousness' sake.

20:56But know that if you do, you are blessed. And also know that. God has a purpose for it, and also know the ultimate end of it will be glory. You see, in Hebrews 10, it writes it all out, there was a problem which only Christ's suffering could remedy. Hebrews 10:1 says, For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make perfect those who draw near. There was a problem, insufficient sacrifice. There is an insufficiency.

21:45But something had to happen. There had to be a willing sacrifice. Then he said in verse 9, Behold, speaking of Christ, I have come to do your will. And by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. You see, Christ had to be willing, or else it would not have been a perfect sacrifice. I had a discussion about the justice of God with one of my Islamic friends. And it came down to the work of a just God. And he said, How is it just that? God would put all of the sins of mankind upon one individual who you claim is God's Son. How is that just? Well, it comes down to the bottom line. He had to be willing. If God forced him, it would hardly be a willing sacrifice. You see, Christ was willing to suffer for righteousness' sake according to the will of God and to trust God with that outcome. That's Peter's exhortation to us as well.

23:02So Christ welcomes suffering. Therefore, we can welcome suffering because we are identified with him. So the glorious effects of Christ's suffering. First, there is a glorious atonement. Second, there is a glorious proclamation. Look at verse 19. In which, by the way, that looks back to verse 18. He was made alive in the Spirit, in His Spirit, in which the Spirit, He also went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison who were once disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Well, that's so clear, I hardly even need to preach on it, right?

23:53One commentator quotes Luther as saying 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 a good way to start study, right? Well, we'll just walk through some of the interpretive issues through the ages, and I'll just want to spend a lot of time on them, but I do want to make you aware there are several schools of thought. How do we understand this passage? Some various interpretations. Clement of Alexandria and the school of thought that he represents, and those after him, around 200 AD, taught that Christ went to hell in his spirit to proclaim the gospel to the souls of sinners who were imprisoned there since the flood.

24:51Then there came Augustine a couple hundred years later, and those who followed in his train said, No, this is the pre-existent Christ proclaimed salvation through Noah. So Noah's the preacher, and that Christ is pre-existent in his preexistent form, is proclaiming salvation through Noah to the people who lived before the flood. And then, and there's a number, I'm just giving you some reader's digest versions of some of these, but in the mid-1700s, a cardinal, a Catholic cardinal, Said that Christ went in his spirit to release the souls of the righteous who repented before the flood, and they have been kept in limbo. And it's where the whole Catholic doctrine of limbo, that is, the place between heaven and hell, where the souls of the Old Testament saints were kept. So you kind of get stuck in this limbo. Christ atonement hasn't been, he hasn't gone to the cross, so you're repented, so you've got to go into this limbo period until.

25:59Well, I'm going to rule all three of these out and let me explain why. And I do so not because I think I have a better mind than some of these guys, of course, or even that I have a better spirit than these guys, some of these, I mean, giants of the faith, at least some, great minds. But I will say this: I have a better library than they do. I really believe that. Not only that, I have 1600 to 1,800 years of good minds interacting and dissecting and cutting these views to pieces and thinking through them. So I have the advantage of that. Plus, I have computer search horsepower. Plus, I have a wonderful church that allows me the time to study these. So I say that just there's a number of reasons.

27:00But on two basic premises, I would rule all these out. Number one, the word used for proclamation there in verse 19 is not the word for evangelize. Remember in chapter 1, in verse 25, he's speaking about that all flesh is like grass and all of its glory, like the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you, evangelized. This is the good news that was proclaimed to you. The word used here doesn't necessarily, and many times does not mean good news. It's simply a proclamation, a declaration was made. Had Peter wanted to teach that he went to preach good news to these spirits in prison, he would have used the word evangelize. Or I would expect that he would. Second, if humans were involved, I would expect the term soul to be used. These souls, he went to preach to the souls. I would not expect the term spirits.

28:19You see, the word for spirit is very different, and it is never used to refer to people. In the New Testament, unless it's qualified by a genitive. And what that means is that it would have to read the spirits of those who repented in Noah's Day. Now there's a connection to a class of people, spirits connected with a body of people. The New Testament never uses it that word on its own to refer to people, always disembodied spirits. So I would, just on those two, and there's a lot more, and if anybody wants to walk through some of these, I would be happy to do it. I spent a lot of time studying this. I have studied it before. I spent time this morning, or spent a lot of time this past week reading the leading Catholic apologists of our day on how they understand this. And I just would welcome that conversation with anybody who wants to get into it more. But there's a fourth view that I think is best to take, and it is that Christ, and this is in many ways, has become more of the popular among evangelical scholars, and even many Catholic scholars have come to this conclusion as well, that it is speaking about Christ's proclamation of victory and judgment over an imprisoned class of evil angels. That he made a declaration, a proclamation of victory over to a bunch of Spirits who were basically in jail or in a prison. That's the idea. So we'll work through that as we keep going.

30:11Verse 19, let's look at it. In which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits now in prison. As we walk through this interpretation, there's several questions that are typically asked. What is this prison? Who is in it and why? And what did Christ proclaim? That's where it all hinges. First of all, it is a literal spiritual prison or a literal spirit prison. You know, it's not a literal prison with bars, you know, but it is a literal spirit prison. It's almost a contradiction, but there is a literal spirit prison, a place literally, where spirits can be confined or incarcerated. And this should not surprise us that there is such a place, because a spirit prison is seen in other places in Scripture. You remember the man of the Gerrasines in Luke chapter 8?

31:08Jesus asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him. And they were imploring him not to command them to go away into the abyss. So here's this man with all these demons, and they're saying, Please don't send us into the abyss over and over and over. And so he allows them to go into the swine. Then in Revelation 20, there is a place where Satan is going to be incarcerated. In verse 1, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed. After these things, he must be released for a short time. So there is a place, there is a mechanism where Satan himself will be bound, imprisoned, incarcerated.

32:13So a spirit prison is seen throughout Scripture or in Scripture. But who is in it and why? Look at verse 19. He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison who once were disobedient. That means who at some time were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark. Okay, so they are spirits, as I've already mentioned. They are spirits who were disobedient and tried the patience of God.

32:53And three, they are spirits from the time of Noah. Now, as you're working your way through a Passage, and you come to a reference to the Old Testament, and he's using something, it's good to go back and to read that to kind of bring your mind up to speed as to what was in this text. What is he referring to? So, this reference should prompt a survey of the biblical record regarding Noah. Were there any spirits mentioned in the Noahic passage? You can flip over to Genesis chapter 6, because that's where it happens. And I'll spend a little time there, but keep your thumb there, and then we'll come back to 1 Peter. But you're welcome to turn there, or I'll just read it to you. Either way, but in Genesis 6, chapter 1, let me just read to you the first five verses. Now it came about when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he is also flesh. Nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years. The Nephilium were on the earth in those days. And also afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continued.

34:30Wow. Question becomes: who are these sons of God? Well, a number of interpretations throughout history. The oldest, most ancient, is that these are angels. The sons of God are referred to as angels, and that somehow they came, they occupied, took control of male bodies, male individuals, and they had children of this union. They were angels who left their proper abode and intermarried in this way and totally corrupted or played a significant role in totally corrupting humanity. There's also what has become the more popular position or majority position is that these are the godly sons of Seth and they married the daughters of Cain. That became kind of the, and then there's several others that these are dynastic rulers of old. These are royal heroes. These are some take this, these are men that are believers and they married kind of an unbeliever type thing. All of these arguments or all these positions have been set forth. Still, I think the best is the first one, the most ancient. Sons of God are references to angels that somehow. Spirits came in, occupied the men of the day, and intermarried, thus corrupting humanity in part.

36:17But the bottom line is: whoever you take the sons of God to be, it's clear that Peter sees a class of spirits as having played a significant role in the corruption of the human race. In fact, Jude speaks of these, Jude will also speak of this class of spirits, and they crossed a line. Jude 1:6 said, and angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. These were angels who were not content with their station in life, with their created order, and they left it.

36:59And it seems to fit what Genesis 6 is also describing. But whatever it is, there's this class of spirits. In fact, 2 Peter, Peter is going to come back and pick up this theme again. Let me read you what he says. In 2 Peter 2:4, Peter says, For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness. So he harkens back to that, and then he goes on to say, And if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter, and if he rescued righteous lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, then he comes to his conclusion: then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. So, what Peter is saying is that God knows how to protect his people and God knows how to incarcerate wickedness. So, however, you come through those interpretive issues, the bottom line is that what Peter is saying is: if God wills for his people to suffer, understand he has a glorious purpose for it because he has the power to incarcerate wicked spirits, he knows how to keep them in check, and he knows how to deliver his own.

38:34So, that's it. Who's in there? Foul spirits who are disobedient. Then, the question is: what did Christ proclaim? Well, the text doesn't say. But it does give us a strong sense of the nature and the tone of this proclamation. The word is not evangelizo, as I said, to evangelize, but kiruso, which means that Christ preached or he heralded something, he went and made a prophet. Proclamation. And this is what heralds used to do in ancient times. Number one, they would go and make public announcements. They would represent the king or represent, they'd be an ambassador of some sort. They would go into a town and they would stand up and make public proclamations. But they would also precede generals and kings as celebrating military conquest. So if the enemy had been defeated, it was a herald that would go in to the defeated place and make an announcement. I'm coming in. The king is coming. Make announcement, a declaration. And by the way, it's important to recognize that the same verb in verse 19 that he went to the spirits is in the passive form.

39:47He was led to make a proclamation that God led him there. It's the same verb used in verse 22 to describe his ascension to the right hand of God, who is now at the right hand of God in verse 22, having gone into heaven. Same verb, passive form, he was led to the spirits in prison, just as he was led to power on high. And I think this convinces me that Jesus did not go and preach the gospel, but made a proclamation of victory, a proclamation of triumph over the foulest and darkest of spirits. You know, think about a prisoner of war camp. What is the hope of prisoners of war? That there Forces will one day win the victory and come and release them. I think Jesus is going squarely down there and he is saying the back of resistance has completely been broken. Victory is ours. You are incarcerated and judgment is coming.

40:56How does all this fit? In the flow of Peter's goal of encouraging suffering believers, he's trying to encourage them to stand firm. I think what Peter is stressing is the fact that a victorious proclamation followed Christ's suffering. Christ himself, having suffered, was then led and given the opportunity to make a victorious proclamation. And I don't think it'll be any different for those who suffer for Christ's sake. Suffering will give way to a victorious, triumphal speech. Keep in mind, it was God's will that Christ suffered. It was God's will that Christ make a proclamation of victory. It was God's will to exalt Christ to the highest place.

41:48And the God who wills your suffering for righteousness' sake is the God who will also exalt you. And he has already laid out that time in chapter 1 and verse 7 at the Revelation. Of Jesus Christ. So we've looked at the first two. This is why I broke this thing in half. Aren't you glad I did? Aren't you glad we don't have another two to go through this morning? But we've looked at the first two of four glorious effects of Christ's suffering. And if you do not know Christ today, I want you to understand something. The shadow of death hangs over you.

42:27But in Christ's suffering for righteousness' sake, he opened the way for you to be saved. I think many of you probably have loved ones in your life, maybe a father or a mother, or I know I have, who made sacrifices for you, right? Because they wanted your good. They wanted to give you a good life. Well, the same thing with Christ did. He made such a sacrifice for his people. He endured the scorn, the bitterness, the pain, the loneliness, and the rejection of the cross and the full wrath of God. He experienced rejection of man and rejection of God for your sake, or the wrath of God for your sake. And he did that to open the way. And the question is, and where Peter is going to go in this, are you ready to get on the ark of God's grace and leave your old world behind? That's the question. He has made a way of salvation. Are you ready to leave your world of sin?

43:30And enter into that ark of grace. Then call upon him. Ask him to forgive you of your sins. Call upon him. He'll save you in an instant. And to the rest, the exhortation is clear: do not be ashamed of Christ or His righteous standards. Sometimes the only way to accomplish God's purpose is through the affliction of His people. But keep in mind that if you are going to suffer for righteousness' sake, there is a purpose. And suffering for suffering's sake isn't it, it's suffering for the sake of glory. And He'll bring it about, He knows how, for sure.

44:14So, no matter how difficult things get, no matter what happens in the world, no matter what happens in your job, no matter what happens in your home, no matter what happens at your school, keep enduring. Be identified with the righteous standards of God and keep growing in your identification with those righteous standards. Expose your mind over and over to God's Word. Elevate your conscience. You see, what Peter is saying is, you should bear up patiently under the persecution because Christ died for us. You should. But then he's also saying we can because we have been consecrated to God by his death and by his resurrection. You should, and you can. Can and you are free to do this. So bear up.

45:07Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the exhortation to not be ashamed of you and your righteous standards. And Father, that you have told us ahead of time that there is going to be suffering involved because we have believed your word, because we have taken your righteous standards to heart. Father, and that we announce them. We desire to live by them. Father, we recognize that they are true and perfect. And our desire is to bring ourselves into conformity and each day be growing in our Christ-likeness. And Father, we just thank you for the way that's been opened. We thank you for your goodness. And Father, just give us right hearts. Give us the right spirit. Father, that we might treasure these things to the praise of your glory. In Jesus' name.