Significant Assertion, Two Sobering Q.s

Introduction: The Fiery Trial and the Question of Suffering

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, December 5th, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now may I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to 1 Peter in chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4.

0:30 I shall read verses 12 through 19, 1 Peter chapter 4, 12. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you. But insomuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory also you may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, bless the name of Christ, bless the name of Christ, blessed are you, because the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rests upon you.

1:15 For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler in other men's matters. But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name. For the time is come for judgment to begin. And if it begin first at the house of God, and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1:48 And if the righteous is scarcely or with difficulty saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Wherefore, let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in worship. Wherefore, let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in worship.

2:43 glorified humanity when we shall hear his voice saying come you blessed or depart you cursed oh god help us that we will not think upon these things with careless unfeeling hearts that i may not be permitted to speak of them in a clinical manner oh god help preacher and listener alike that together we may taste the powers of the age to come as we listen to your word hear us for the good of our souls and for the glory of christ we pray amen one of the burning questions which is forced upon the minds and hearts of the observing and sensitive souls in every generation is this why is it that so often the righteous suffer and are afflicted while the wicked are at ease

4:00 and prosper it is this burning question that form both the basis and the primary concerns of psalm 73 the psalmist looks out and sees this reality before his eyes the righteous suffering the wicked prospering and his soul is vexed his thinking is so skewed as he looks at those realities that later on in the psalm he says i was as a beast before you in other words to contemplate that disparity that apparent inequity while the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper to think of it in any other way than god's way is to put ourselves in the character of a beast and it is no doubt this very question that was in the mind of many of the believers there in asia minor when the apostle peter wrote to them in that portion of the word of god that we call first peter for as we have seen and as i have sought to affirm again and again the central issue of this letter is peter's passionate pastoral concern to enlighten to encourage and to instruct the sufferers of the world to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first

5:23 to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to Here in the paragraph read in your hearing again today, Peter describes their suffering as a fiery trial. In its present expressions and in its future manifestations, he says that what they are experiencing is a fiery trial or a burning which has been permitted to try them, to test them. And with reference to this trial, this burning, this fiery trial, he says, don't think it a strange thing, but rejoice. And then he tells them what are the grounds for that rejoicing. He says, rejoice, because your sufferings for Christ are in reality a suffering with Christ.

6:45 You are fellowshipping in the sufferings of Christ. Further, he says, as you are enabled to rejoice in your present sufferings, that rejoicing is a pledge and an earnest of an even greater rejoicing that will be yours at the coming of Christ. In addition to this, Peter writes, You are in the category of the blessed ones, the ones who stand under God's covenant favor and blessing, if you are being reproached for the name of Christ. That puts you.

7:19 In the category of the blessed ones. And one of the primary aspects of that blessedness is that the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you. It is because of God's gracious gift of the Holy Spirit that you, in your present level of conformity to Christ, are the object of those who hate your Savior. And as you fellowship in his sufferings, remind yourself all this has come to pass.

7:49 Because the spirit of God has graciously and powerfully intruded upon my life and rests upon me, even as it rested upon my living head, the Lord Jesus. However, Peter says, make sure that you do nothing worthy of punishment or blame that would constitute suffering. Rather, when suffering is the result of consistency in your life as a Christian, don't be ashamed. But glory.

8:19 But glorify God in the realm of your attachment to the name of Christ. That's a bit of a paraphrase and review of verses 12 through 16. But now in verse 17, he begins to place the sufferings of the people of God in a broader, and we might say even a deeper, biblical and theological context. Notice verse 17 begins with the word for.

The Deeper Theological Context of Suffering: Judgment Begins at the House of God

8:46 There is still a logical context. What he has said in the previous verses is going to flower out in what he then writes in what is in our Bibles, verses 17 through 19. In verses 17 and 18, he's going to give a further, a deeper, expanded explanation of the nature and the purpose of their sufferings. And then in verse 19, he's going to give a very helpful conclusion to this entire.

9:19 Paragraph, beginning with the words, wherefore, here's the sum of it all. If you've understood what I've written, this should be the settled disposition and response of your heart. Now, this morning, we're going to focus our attention upon verses 17 and 18. And I struggled and prayed for a popular title to the sermon.

9:43 But for the life of me, I couldn't come up with a popular title that was accurate. So I'm going to tell you, we're going to study the verses under the title, An Expanded Theology of Suffering for the Sake of Christ. Because that's exactly what Peter does for these saints, is to take them into the deeper theology of suffering. With deep, embedded tap roots in Old Testament perspectives.

10:12 And so, though I don't have a popular title, I hope I will preach, by God's help, simply, and plainly. As we look at verses 17 and 18, we will do so under three headings. First of all, we will look at verse 17a as a significant assertion. For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God.

10:35 There's the simple assertion. Then we find the sobering questions. And if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? Question one.

10:48 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Question number two. So having looked at the significant assertion, the sobering questions, I will then seek to make one pointed, concluding application. First of all, then, the significant assertion.

11:10 To assert is to state a fact with certainty. And this is exactly what Peter does. As he, is taking them deeper into the theology of suffering for the sake of Christ, suffering as a Christian, suffering for the name of Christ, he says in this very straightforward assertion, for the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God. You saints in Asia Minor, you who I'm seeking to minister to in pastoral wisdom and tenderness, I've told you so many things about your sufferings.

11:51 Now I'm going to tell you, if you understand this fact, you will cope with your sufferings in a more thoroughly Christian way. For the time is come. You are living in a time frame appointed by God in which judgment is to begin at, or as we shall see more literally and more accurately, from the house of God. Would you understand?

12:17 Your sufferings, then understand this. The time is upon us. The reference that God has given to us is this truth. The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.

Defining 'Judgment' and 'House of God'

12:33 Now it's obvious that the key words in this assertion are the words, judgment and house of God. So we're going to have to wrestle with what do the words mean in this setting? And as Wayne Gruden is very helpfully indicated, and this is, not a direct quote, but I owe so much to him that I must give acknowledgement. Peter begins this assertion by calling the fiery trial of verse 12.

12:56 Remember, he's still in this subject matter. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you. Verse 17 begins with a four. There's still a logical connection.

13:07 He's still thinking about the burning among them, the fiery trial. They're being reproached for the name of Christ. And he says, This fiery trial, in some way or another, is a judgment. For the time has come for judgment.

13:27 The fiery trial is in some way or another a judgment of God. Now the word Peter uses, prima, not kata, prima, is a word that often means an assessment leading to condemnation. If you were to take an Englishman's Greek concordance, or a concordance, Strong's or Young's, and look up the word prima, judgment, you'd see many times the word prima. It does refer to that divine assessment leading to condemnation.

13:58 But it does not necessarily mean that. It is a broader term that can refer to a judgment that results in good or bad evaluations. A judgment that may issue in approval or discipline as well as in condemnation. James, James says, Be not many of you teachers knowing you shall receive the heavier, here's the word, judgment.

14:24 Now if the word necessarily meant the condemnation that sends us to hell, I'd quit today. Be not many of you teachers knowing you shall receive the heavier condemnation to hell. I'd shut my Bible, sit down, and just be an ordinary Christian. No, you shall receive the heavier evaluation, hopefully unto approbation, approval, you see the word there does not mean judgment in the sense that we ordinarily think of that word.

14:55 And there is a passage where it is very, very clear that this is the way in which the Spirit of God uses this word. We read it last week. First Corinthians 11, first Corinthians chapter 11 in dealing with the irregularities there in Corinth.

15:13 One of them was that in conjunction with the Lord's Supper, they had what they called their love feasts and some were coming. Some were coming drunk, some were coming stuffed and burping, and others were coming with their stomachs growling. And Paul had to sort this mess out. And in the midst of it, he says this, verse 29, they were profaning the significance of the Lord's Supper.

15:35 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself. If he discern not the body, there's our word, he drinks judgment. And you have it in both the noun and verbal forms found in the New Testament. For this cause, many are weak and sickly and not a few sleep.

15:54 But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. That's kata krino.

16:13 You have for judgment, krima. Kata krima is the judgment unto condemnation. That's what Paul writes in Romans 8, 1. There is therefore now no kata krima, no condemnation, no judgment unto damnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

16:33 But there is a present judgment unto God's disciplinary action. And that's exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage. When we are judged, we are chastened that we might not be condemned with the world. So here you have a clear use of this word where God is bringing judgment that is in the form of disciplinary action upon His people, not condemning them and consigning them to hell, cutting them off from the grace that they previously had.

17:11 So there's the significance of the word judgment. Back in our passage, Peter says, Would you understand and relate as Christian men and women, boys and girls, to your present suffering, to your present fiery trial? Then understand this. The time has come for judgment to begin from the house of God.

17:33 We are in the time when God is sitting as judge, not judge assessing and consigning men to their eternal destiny in condemnation in hell, but as judge in His house, assessing, evaluating His people, and exercising where necessary a disciplinary providence in order to advance the purposes of His grace in their lives. That leads us very naturally then to the next key words, house of God. Peter writes, The time has come for judgment to begin literally from. The Greek preposition apho never means at. It means from. From this point to another. Apo.

18:24 I will come and paint your entire house beginning from the front porch. And then I move from the front porch into the living room and the dining room and the bedrooms. This is what Peter writes. The time has come for judgment to begin from the house of God.

18:43 Now what is the house of God? If you have a translation that says family or household, it's a poor translation.

18:52 It should really be a poor translation. It should read house of God. That's the very term Peter used in chapter 2. Turn back to it for a moment.

19:00 Peter using Old Testament imagery to describe the New Testament church. He says that coming to Christ, verse 4, as a living stone rejected indeed of men, but with God elect and precious, you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house. It's the image you see of a living temple. And within that temple, we are the priesthood who offer up spiritual sacrifices.

19:28 So Peter uses the term house of God as a synonym for church. You will not find the Greek word ekklesia in Peter's writings. He doesn't use the word church. But twice in this epistle, he refers to the church as the house of God.

19:46 Some of you perhaps have already thought of the other very clear reference, 1 Timothy 3 and verse 15. When Paul is giving directions to Timothy as to the ministry he should employ there in Ephesus, he writes in chapter 3 and verses 14 and 15, these things I write to you hoping to come unto you shortly, but if I tarry long that you may know how men ought to behave themselves, here's our phrase again, in the house of God which is the church of the living God. The house of God is the church. The church is the house of God.

20:23 So now, in this significant assertion, and I know this has made you strain your brain, but I don't know any other way to be a faithful servant of the word, I remind you of the quote from Albert Barnes that I give you about once every five years, he who would expound the word as a faithful servant of Christ must do so not under the impress of a vivid imagination, but by the discipline of being able to give an accurate explanation of the words of Scripture, to those to whom he preaches. And that's what I'm attempting to do. You say, well, that's hard. Well, imagine how hard it was for me to try to get it down to where it's easy as it can be for you.

21:01 All right? So we're going to work together, because this may have far more relevance than any of us realize. When the fire may get so intense that we may say, Oh God, have mercy on me, that you gave me the stuff to prepare me, and I sat there half asleep, or mentally lazy,

21:23 God help us that that will not be so. In this assertion, key words, judgment, which we have seen, does not necessarily mean God's assessment leading to condemnation, but it can be God's assessment leading to disciplinary action that has as its goal our ongoing sanctification. And that judgment goes on in the house of God. Now, in trying to think of an illustration that would at least point into, in the direction of this, and then I'll pick up the threads of it later on, it may be helpful, I want you to think with me of a man who is a noble, honest, upright man.

Illustration: The Judge as Father

22:02 He has paid his dues to gain a very thorough acquaintance with law and with justice, and he has eventually made his way into a very prestigious sphere of legal responsibility. He is the duly appointed judge in a specific courtroom. Day after day, at an appointed hour, he goes into his chambers, he puts on his robe, he enters the courtroom, and the court, whoever he is in the uniform that says, will all rise, and he is announced, and he sits in his judgment seat. He sits at his bench.

22:40 And there, day after day, he sits as an administrator of the law of that particular county or state, wherever he may be. He is carrying on his work. When he is there, and the accused appears before him, he is marshalling all of his powers to make sure that in his courtroom there is a fair and honest exposure of the evidence, that there is every opportunity for him, as much as a fallible human being can do it, to express true justice in his dealings. So he's making assessments.

23:19 He is making judgments. He is then pronouncing the, or giving the jury, if it's a jury case, he is the official manipulator, orchestrator of the whole system that then makes a pronouncement, guilty or not guilty, and then a sentence is imposed. Now think of that man, whose whole life is taken up with the courtroom. He is the judge.

23:43 He appears in his robe. He speaks in his legal language. And before him appear, day after day, those who are charged with some felony, with some breach of the law. At the end of each day, he takes off his robes.

24:01 He makes his way back to his home in the suburbs, and there he puts on his slippers, and he takes off his shirt and tie, and puts on a bathrobe, or a lounging robe, and he sits down and kicks his feet up, and seeks to enjoy his family, his four children. And this particular night, he's all done his work as a judge, and he goes home, and he just has had enough time to relax and look at the headlines of his paper, and lo and behold, he hears something going on somewhere else in the house that sounds like two of the kids are having a real old-fashioned Donnybrook.

24:41 So he says, uh-oh, got to go sort this out. So he goes into the room. He says, now what in the world is going on with you two? Well, she said, I didn't know she did that.

24:50 And he said, now, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's get the facts. So he sits down in the bed, and he puts the boy under his right arm and the girl under the other. He says, now, son, she's going to speak first.

25:03 Keep your mouth shut. All right, dear, you give me your account of what happened. Well, Daddy, he says, no, no, no, you be quiet. Let sister talk.

25:13 So sister gets it all out. All right, now, sister, you be quiet. Let your brother speak. So the brother and sister and she starts, no, no, you don't butt in.

25:22 He lets it all out. Okay, now then, we have two different accounts of the thing now. You've heard her. You've heard him.

25:29 Now, and so he lets them cross-examine one another. He's trying to exercise a righteous judgment in this family's past. And after examining and cross-examining and hearing the things, he doesn't take the shortcut that my mother did. All she had to do was discern.

25:44 We were having a fight. She came in and said, if you had a fight, it takes two to fight. You both get your bottoms pumped. End of discussion.

25:51 He's a judge. And he knows, he just feels he's more comfortable this way. So after he gets it all sorted out, he makes a judgment. And he said, now, son, in this particular situation, you bear the primary responsibility.

26:03 You provoked your sister. You're the older. You did this. You did this.

26:08 You bear the culpability. And then he administers some paternal discipline upon his son. Now, let me ask this simple question. The man who sat in court that day and the man who was in the bedroom sorting out a family feud, was he the same man?

26:24 Yes. Right? Was he acting as a judge in both circumstances? Yes.

26:34 Was he pronouncing sentence? Yes. But was there identity in what he did in the courtroom and what he did in the bedroom with his two kids? I hope you're saying, no way.

26:48 In the one, he sits as the administrator of pure justice in a system of legality. In his home, he sits as a father to his children. And when he makes a judgment in the one case, it's the sheer brunt of naked law that comes down upon the criminal. In the other, it's the loving passion of a father to see noble character fashioned in his son.

27:20 Now, you see that? Now, we already learned from Peter in chapter 1. We are going somewhere. Just hang in there with me.

27:29 Go back to chapter 1. And I've heard some of you in your prayers give back this language to God, so you will remember it, I'm sure. Chapter 1 in verse 17, And if you call on him as father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. The father is your judge, but the judge is your father.

28:01 And in that courtroom, someone who was pleading for clemency or for leniency could not say, O judge, you are my daddy. Does your daddy's heart not move? No, no. In that courtroom, it's law, pure law, justice, only justice.

28:21 But in that bedroom, where there's a filial relationship between the son and the daughter and their daddy, he's the judge, yes, but he's the father. And the whole intentions of his judgment and any punishment that is administered has an entirely different end in view. One is disciplinary. One is formative.

28:50 One is sanctifying. The other is pure, vengeance upon a broken law. It is the administration of naked judgment. Now, come back to our text.

Old Testament Roots of Judgment Beginning from God's House

29:02 In this significant assertion, Peter says, would you have some deeper, richer understanding of why it is that a fiery trial has come upon you? Then understand this. The time is come. You'll notice in your Bibles, if you have a good translation, is come is in italics.

29:24 There is no such verb in the Greek. Literally, it's very rough English, for the time for judgment to begin at the house of God. It's a very terse statement. You people are living in the time.

29:41 You are living in the kairos, that point or time, or that period fixed in time, but Almighty God, in which God has ordained that judgment shall begin, not at, but literally, from the house of God. Well, if it begins from the house of God, where does it go and where does it end? Well, he's going to come to that because he goes on to say, and if it begins first, again, the same Greek preposition, not at, but apo. If it begins from us, what the end of them that obey not the gospel of God. Now, we've wrestled in this significant assertion with the key words. The time has come for judgment. God's disciplinary assessments and actions to begin from his house.

30:46 And we are living in that time. Now, the next major question is, this seems very, very strange language to me. The time has come for judgment, not in terms of condemnation resulting in eternal damnation, but assessment and decision leading to fatherly discipline and chastisement that has the development of Christian character as its end. What in the world does this mean, that judgment is in the timeframe beginning from the house of God?

31:23 Well, there are many reasons why I still love the old American standard version of the Bible, not the least of which, I love its accuracy, but I love its center column reference. It is often so helpful to let scripture interpret scripture. And if you ever use those, you would find that in the letter attached to this verse, to this phrase, judgment beginning from the house of God, the old American standard refers us to three Old Testament passages. And there is a motif in the Old Testament prophets of this very concept.

31:56 And remember, Peter is writing as one whose mind was not only steeped in the Old Testament scriptures, but he had the Lord Jesus as his personal Bible instructor for 40 days after the resurrection, during which time, according to Luke 24, the Lord Jesus was expounding passage after passage in the Old Testament showing its fulfillment in Christ and in the age of Christ's ascension, the descent of the Spirit, and the gospel age, which is the end times until Jesus returns, what Peter referred to in verse 7, that the end of all things is at hand. And then Peter had the promise of the Holy Spirit coming and in a unique way, giving insight and understanding to him as an apostle. And I want you to look with me very quickly at a couple of passages in which this emphasis of God coming in judgment starting, with his own people, starting in his own house and then moving out to the nations. Jeremiah chapter 25. Jeremiah chapter 25.

33:05 Notice in verse 15, For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Take this cup of wine of my wrath at my hand, now notice, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. God says, Jeremiah, I'm going to come forth in wrath. Take this cup of the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to drink of it. Verse 17, Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand and made all the nations to drink unto whom the Lord had sent me.

33:47 That is, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and the kings thereof and the princes thereof to make them a desolation and astonishment, a hissing and a curse as it is this day. Pharaoh, king of Egypt. All the way down to verse 29. For lo, I begin to work at the city which is called by my name.

34:12 And should you be utterly unpunished? God says, If I start with my people, those called by my name, shall those who are at a greater distance in relationship to me be unpunished? And the answer to that rhetorical question is given, For I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. If I will judge those to whom I have a peculiar covenantal relationship, will you who are outside that relationship escape?

34:50 And the answer is obvious. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 9. This is one of the passages that is in the center column reference. Not inspired, but very perceptive.

35:03 You remember this graphic imagery in which the Lord speaks to Jeremiah. Chapter 9 verse 1. Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate.

35:26 And he describes these who come. One man in the midst clothed in linen with a writer's inkhorn. And the glory of God is again manifested. Verse 4.

35:35 And the Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof. And to the others, he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him in smite. Let not your eyes spare, neither have pity.

35:55 Slay utterly old man, young man, virgin, little children, women. But come not near any man upon whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the elders, the old men, the older ones that were before the house.

36:15 And then you see the judgment of God going out in ever widening circles. There's the directive to begin at my sanctuary. And then, what is probably the passage that was at least working in the mind of Peter as he penned these words, the book of Malachi, that last book of Old Testament revelation. You have this vivid language in chapter 3, Malachi, last book of the Old Testament.

36:48 Verse 1. Behold, I send my messenger. He shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire, behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts.

37:05 We know this refers to Jesus, for we have the infallible New Testament interpretation that the messenger was John the Baptist. He's the messenger, prepares the way. And then the messenger of the covenant himself comes, the Lord Jesus. Verse 2.

37:21 But who can abide the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he's like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and will purify, notice, the sons of Levi and refine them as gold and silver and they shall offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness.

37:49 The messenger of the covenant comes and his first work is to purify the sons of Levi. That they may offer acceptable sacrifices. Does that sound like some of Peter's language in chapter 2? We are made, this spiritual house, to offer up spiritual sacrifices.

38:07 And the Lord is determined that the sacrifices in his house will be offered by these new covenant Levites who are increasingly purified and made more and more into his likeness. Peter had written in chapter 1 that their trials were like fire that purified metal and it was being used to purify their faith. He again picks up the theme of fire here in chapter 4. And as you read on in the book of Malachi it's not until chapter 4 that the day comes that burns as a furnace and the proud and those who work wickedness shall be as stubble that the day comes that shall burn them up.

38:48 Judgment begins from the house of God and will ultimately move out until the messenger of the covenant shall come in all the glory and power of his second coming and then the wicked who in this period have been let loose to oppress the people of God, to mock the people of God, to taunt the people of God, to throw into their faces everything they can do to dissuade them from their attachment to Christ while all the while the loving Father is judging his own all in anticipation of the day when he comes in glory and power and his work of judging and purifying his own is completed for we shall be like him when we see him as he is then he sits on his throne not as a father in the bedroom with his arm around a son and daughter but as the judge to deal with you in pure justice and if you think you're going to get by just look at God's people does God take sin seriously look what he does to his people whom he loves throws them into the fire lets them be burnt and scorched brings his disciplinary rod upon them why because though he is their father and he loves them

40:17 with a passion that finds its expression in the giving of his only begotten son he hates the sin that is his yet in them and he is determined to make them more and more into the likeness of his son and so he uses afflictive dispensations as the old Puritans would call it and he uses the taunting and the abuse and the opposition of the wicked all to one end to make his people more like him judgment upon human sin is beginning at the house or from the house of God that's what God is doing and his great concern you see for us as his people is not our present happiness it is not our present comfort it is our ongoing conformity to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ so as Peter is instructing the people of God as to how to view and react to their suffering for the name of Christ for you are living in the period between the first and the second coming the time is for judgment to begin from the house of God the messenger of the covenant is come he has lived and died

Application: Embracing God's Disciplinary Judgment

41:45 and rose again and sent the spirit you've embraced him as he is offered in the gospel as a result of your allegiance to him you are suffering for his name and Peter says I called you to rejoice rejoice because your sufferings for Christ are a fellowship in the sufferings of Christ rejoice for your present joy is a pledge of even greater joy rejoice because you are blessed even now the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rest upon you therefore you don't need to be ashamed but glorify God in the midst of your suffering and your suffering and your suffering as you ought Peter says here it is your sufferings for Christ are perfectly suited for and consistent with the timeframe in which you live this is the timeframe of judgment beginning from the house of God and the only pointed application I shall make is dear people if there were no other passage to utterly explode the health wealth it's this that's trying to bring into this time what awaits us in another time this is the time of God's judging not unto condemnation and damnation but unto

43:13 every fatherly discipline essential to purify our faith to prune our graces this is God's appointed time for the fire in the file for the hammer and the hard knocks for the pinch and the pruning hook and we shall have endless ages in order to bask in the glory of unmixed joy and peace and overflowing glory that's Peters assertion it made me sense I've done my best to try to explain it to illustrate it Peter says that's the deeper theology of your sufferings you're in this time now after that perspective we then have and we can move much more quickly the sobering questions Peter follows this assertion with two sobering questions let's look at the question number one and if not an if of uncertainty but just a conditional statement this is reality if since it begin first at us and then you'll notice the word shall be or in italics no shall be in the Greek in the original first language again and if first at all of what they know

Sobering Question 1: The End of Those Who Disobey the Gospel

44:39 those that obey not the gospel of God that's feeders first question if the God who is the moral governor and judge of all men takes in so seriously that he brings a fiery trial among his people of disciplinary judgment in his house what will be Envy of those who are not his children, who are not justified, who have not embraced his son. You see, if the judge is a righteous father, let's go back to my illustration. If all you saw, first of all, was that judge in his home, you were a fly on the wall. And you heard the spat and you watched him get off his easy chair and go into the bedroom and take his son and daughter under his big arms and sort the thing out. If you were a fly on the wall and said, man, this guy deals thoroughly, he deals righteously, he's not going to let any kind of nonsense go on in his house. He's neither moved by the whines of his daughter, nor is he moved by the booming voice of his son. He gets down to facts and he deals with issues where they need to be dealt with.

45:48 Now, if after you were to fly on the wall and saw him dealing with such fair and inflexible paternal judgment in his home, and you say, oh. By the way, where does this guy work? Oh, he's a judge. You say, boy, I bet you things are really sorted out in his court.

46:05 Wouldn't you have every reason to believe if he dealt that way when he was a father, all the more would you expect it when he was dealing with pure law and justice in the courtroom. That's Peter's argument here. The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if first, it's Peter and all these believers.

46:31 Sojourners, that's how he addressed them in chapter 1. Sanctified in Christ. Brought unto obedience. They have this marvelous inheritance reserved in heaven.

46:42 They're redeemed by blood. They're born of the Spirit. All the stuff we preach for months in those early chapters. He says, but God nonetheless, he deals with us with the fiery trial.

46:53 That is a form of his judgment beginning from his house. If it begin first from us. What? The end of those that obey not the gospel of God.

47:10 They are described as those that, notice, obey not the gospel. This word apitho is not a simple word for, if I may ever use the term, simple unbelief. It's not the word for simple unbelief. It's unbelief to use current terminology.

47:29 It's unbelief with an attitude. It is perversion. Worse, willful unbelief. It's a construct of the alpha privative.

47:37 Ah, someone's moral. Someone who's not moral is amoral or amoral. This is apitho. Not to be persuaded.

47:47 Intransigent. Sovereignly refusing the claims of the gospel. Peter says. Now look.

47:55 Here's someone who by the enablement of the Spirit has embraced the privileges and claims of the gospel. Peter describes them in chapter. The gospel was preached unto them with those who preached with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Further on in chapter one, he says, you purified your souls in your obedience to the truth, having been begotten again.

48:17 Here's a community. The gospel has conquered them. They love the Christ of the gospel, whom having not seen, you love. They want to obey him.

48:26 They're pursuing universal holiness when they hear the words in chapter one. Is he that is called you is holy? So be ye holy. And they say, Lord, that's what I want to be.

48:36 I want to be as holy as you are and as you are revealed in your son.

48:42 Now you see what Peter's saying. If, if, if God deals so with us who have complied with the gospel, who are living within the dynamics and the power of the gospel, as we considered last Sunday night. If to us judgment begins. What?

49:04 The end of those. Who not merely turn away from the gospel in ignorance or never exposed to it, but they hear it and they not only hear it, it comes with persuasive energy, reasoning, warning, entreating by tenderness, by love, by thunders, seeking to persuade them to come within the orbit of gospel privileges and gospel commands. To obey. And to believe on the Lord Jesus, to believe and obey Peter doesn't answer his question, does he?

49:43 Look at the text. It leaves it hanging. It leaves it hanging. If it begin first at us, what the end of them that obey not the gospel of God, not the gospel of Trinity Church, not the gospel of this church, that church, this preacher, but of the living God who is their judge.

50:05 And they will not be persuaded. There's the question. What the end? What the end?

50:14 And remember, this was said not because Peter said, look, take this part of the epistle and send it out as an evangelistic track. He's wanting Christians to think in these terms, because when you think in these terms and realize that my end as one who has been persuaded by the gospel is to know in my experience everything described there in the book of the Revelation, there shall be no more. No sickness, no crying, no tears, no pain, no death. And in the midst of the fiery trial, I see that the God who loved me in Christ is committed to make me like Christ and shall at last bring me home to Christ. How can I envy the wicked who have it easy now, but have nothing but a wretched eternity of outer darkness of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth? He wants you and me as Christians to think. Think that way.

51:14 Think that way. If, if, if his judgment begin from us, what the end of those that obey not the gospel? I can in a sense relax on my bed of thorns. I can in a sense hug the pinch and the pressure and the file and the pruning hook.

51:37 What the end? What the end? What the end? What the end?

51:40 Christian, ask yourself that again and again. Because you're not one who disobeys the gospel. Your end is glorious. Look at question number two.

Sobering Question 2: Where Shall the Ungodly and Sinner Appear?

51:52 He follows on. And built upon the same foundation of that assertion, if the righteous, most of our Bibles say scarcely saved. Again, it's a poor translation. If the righteous is with difficulty saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?

52:16 Just to give you a flavor of how this word is. Turn to Acts 27. It's crucial that I persuade your judgment from the Bible that I've not arbitrarily put that meaning on the word. In Acts 27, we have three uses of it in a short compass.

52:31 Acts 27 in verse seven. Speaking of one of the seafaring voyages of Paul and his companions, we read. And when we had sailed, Acts 27, seven, slowly many days and were come. Here's our word.

52:47 With. Difficulty. Over against. Needless.

52:51 The wind not further suffering us. We sailed under the Lee of Crete over against Salmoni. And with. Here's our word again.

53:00 With difficulty coasting along it. We came to a certain place called Fairhead. Here is a sea voyage and the winds are not favorable. And Luke writes.

53:12 We entered these particular circumstances and pass through them with difficulty. And then in verse 16, you have it again and run, running under the Lee of a small island called Calder. We were able. Here's our word again.

53:27 With difficulty to secure the boat. So when I say the word should be translated here, not scarcely, it gives the idea of the sage just barely make it know they're all going to make it. But it is with difficulty. Now what is Peter saying?

53:44 And if the righteous is with difficulty. Say. What does he mean? Well, it's all he's been writing about.

53:52 Here are the righteous ones. Here are God's righteous ones. And they are saved with difficulty in the language of Acts 14, 22 through many tribulations, they are entering the kingdom of God, the difficulty of opposition, the difficulty of strange providences, the difficulties that combined constitute the fire, retrial the burning. This is how the righteous.

54:16 Are being saved. saved. This refers to the whole process of salvation, not the initial saving act of God declaring us righteous. That's a part of it. But salvation takes in, in this context, the whole of God's saving work, and it's pictured as a process going on. If a righteous one, quoting from the Greek version of Proverbs 11.31, word for word quote just omits one little Greek particle, Peter either quotes or it's influencing his thinking, and it all turns to singulars now, singular nouns and verbs. If a righteous one with difficulty is continually being saved, that's his question, and that's reality. Now he asks, where, where, where shall the ungodly and

55:11 sinner, and for you Greek students with an article in front of the one noun, ungodly and not godly, where shall the ungodly and sinner, and for you Greek students with an article in front of the one noun, ungodly and not godly, where shall the ungodly and sinner, and for you Greek students with an article in front of the other, it's to be conceived as one person. Where shall the ungodly and sinner, and the two words are found in couplets several times in the New Testament. Ungodly is what they are primarily with reference to God. They are not like God.

55:34 They are impious. They do not occupy themselves with God and give him the place he deserves in their life as his image bearers. Sinners refers to what they are with reference to God. Sinners refers to God's law. It is sinners, sinners in terms of their stepping over the boundaries of God's law, missing the mark of his law. Where shall those indifferent to God and his law, and look at the next word, appear, appear. He doesn't say where shall they end up, but where shall they appear. And every use of that word in the New Testament, it refers to something that is seen. His appearance, what was seen, is seen.

56:17 What was manifest, what was visible. And so Peter brings these two questions to bear upon the people of God up there in Asia Minor. He said in the light of this reality, that you are living in the time when judgment begins from the house of God. Now I ask the first question, what the end of them that obey not the gospel, what is their end? Now he asks, what will be their appearance? Where will they appear? Where are they going?

56:48 Where will they appear? The answer is obvious from other portions of the word of God. Peter does not answer it here, but it is answered. The Lord Jesus shall come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that obey not the gospel. Second Thessalonians 1, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of his glory. Peter says, I want you saints to think upon this. This is the period of God's judgment beginning from his house. And if it begins from us, what the end of those that obey not the gospel. Think of it. And if you as a righteous one with difficulty are being saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Where will he be seen in his eternal state? Think upon it, Christian. And when you do, you won't envy what he has now, because what he is and has now is taking him to where he shall appear.

The Psalmist's Resolution and Peter's Call to Think

57:51 There's nothing to envy. Nothing to envy. And isn't that exactly where Psalm 73 turns? Isn't that exactly where it turns? Look at it. If it's not coming to mind, look at it with me. Psalm 73. The psalmist is battled by this prosperity of the wicked and the difficulty of the righteous. And he can't sort it all out until Psalm 73, verse 16.

58:25 When I sought to know, when I thought how I might know this, it was too painful for me. And what he's been talking about is this problem of prospering wicked men and suffering righteous men right down to their graves. And he says, when I tried to sort it out, it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God and did what? Considered their latter end.

58:55 That's what it says. Considered their latter end. He said, when I did that, then I saw I was thinking like an animal. He said, surely you've set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. They have become a desolation in the moment. They are consumed with terrors as a dream when one wakes. So, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their image.

59:20 My soul was grieved. I was pricked in my heart. So brutish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before you. Nevertheless, I'm continually with you. You have held my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you and none that I desire upon earth beside you. It all got sorted out when he did exactly what Peter says we're to do. That's what Peter says to do. In the midst of the fiery trial, ask yourself the question. If judgment begins from God's house and I'm part of that house and he's so determined to deal with my sins and so determined to fashion Christ-like graces in me that he'll stop with nothing. Everything in his

60:07 universe, from the cells in my body that mutate and cause a tumor, to the disposition of my neighbors, to the judgment of my boss about whether I should be fired or let go or laid off. Everything is in his hands to be instruments of his loving paternal judgment, working in his house to bring it more and more. And to conform it to his son that these new covenant Levites, when they gather on the Lord's day, will be purified sons of Levi who can offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable through the Lord Jesus. If indeed he deals so with us, what the end of those who obey not the gospel.

60:53 Bless God, I'll not know their end. And if I as a righteous man or woman with difficulty am being saved and God surely has a lot of difficulty with me, he has to use extra long teeth in the file when he's working on me. And he's got to use an awfully wide paddle when he's going to work on me. Where shall the ungodly and sinner be seen?

61:23 Child of God, that's for you, that's for me. That's how God wants us to think. As we try by his grace to respond to our fiery trials in a way that will enable us to bring him glory. Well, I've sought to open up the text under those two headings.

Direct Application to Unbelievers: Consider Your End

61:41 The significant assertion, the sobering questions. I said I want to make one final pointed application. I've tried to open up the passage in terms of Peter's primary concern. I've sought to open up the passage as a word to believers. But I want to ask you all a question as we close this morning. And I want you to think on this question. Do you believe you could sit at my desk and know over the past days that you were going to preach on this text? Do you think, do you think, do you really think that believing what I say I believe about the Bible being God's word, there is a heaven, there is a hell.

62:26 And in less than a hundred years all of us, our fate will be fixed for one place or another. Do you believe I could live with words like this? What shall be the end of those that obey not the gospel? If the righteous with difficulty shall be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?

62:48 What shall be the end? Where shall they appear? Do you really believe I could conclude the message without looking you in the eye and begging you to think about your end and where you will appear? Do you really think I could?

63:08 Maybe you've sat there saying, well, sooner or later I know he's going to. Yes, that's right. You know why. Because you know that in some very faked and imperfect way the heart of the God who is your judge is reflected in his word and poorly mirrored through the heart and voice and pleadings of his servants. And I want you to think, that's the problem. There's a sense in which the only way the devil can keep you as his servant is to keep you from thinking about your end and where you're going to appear. You think for five minutes on this issue. What is my end? Not what do I have right now

63:54 at the endings of my nerves? What pleasures can I enjoy? What relationships can I sustain that give me some sense of delight and fulfillment? Think beyond all pleasures and relationships and ask yourself, what shall be my end?

64:12 If I go on disobeying the gospel of God, what shall be my end? Think on it. I challenge you to take this day and for five minutes sit in quietness in your room, no images in front of your face, no sound in your ears and think, what shall be my end? And then, think of the next question. Where shall I appear before the assembled multitudes of all the nations? Angels, angels, glorified saints, where shall I appear? In their company or in the company of the devil and his angels? Shall I appear in the pit described as outer darkness and the fire that never shall be quenched?

65:06 About every five years I tell what was passed on to me in a book. It's a true story and I close with this. The old man, wise Christian man,

65:21 welcomed into his presence a starry eyed, brilliant, ambitious, effervescent young man. Began to talk to him about his future. Said, young man, what are you planning to do? Oh, he said, I'm going to pursue a medical career. I'm going to go to the most prestigious universities to get my undergraduate training, my med school training and then go on and I'm going to do my internship at this prestigious hospital. He said, yes, and then? He said, well, after that I plan to establish a practice in such and such a well-known city and there I want to earn the reputation of being the finest physician in that field. The old man listened and then said, and then? He said,

66:08 well, when I've established my credentials and my reputation is well known, I should begin to receive invitations from some of the most prestigious hospital teaching centers and I want to further establish my name as one who can instruct others, the top of my field. And the old man listened and then said, and then? And he said, well, after doing that I then will hope to retire and name the place where he thought was the ideal retirement village or place in his country. The old man listened and then again, just with two words, and then?

66:46 The young man paused and said, I guess I'll then grow old and die.

66:53 The old man looked at him and asked the same two word question, and then?

67:01 And then?

67:03 And then?

67:05 And I ask it to you this morning. You mean you're going to live?

67:13 Ask the question, and then? What's the end? Where shall you appear? Escape it. This is not preacher scare tactic, folks. The trite little saying, the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. Only one of them is absolutely true.

67:35 And then? And then? What then? I want to think about it.

67:41 Well, you see, that's not going to change the reality. The reality is there, inescapable. May God have mercy upon you. Often, the first step in a sinner getting right with God is thinking on those two questions. What's the end? Where shall I appear? May God grant that you join the ranks of those who found their first steps to heaven were serious reflecting on what their end would be. And where they will appear if they go on in the category of the ungodly and sinner and those who obey not the gospel of our God.

Closing Prayer

68:33 Our Father, we marvel at your goodness and mercy to us, your people, giving us your word through the mind and pen of your servants, Peter and Paul and John and Mark and Luke. We thank you for this portion of your word and we pray that the Holy Spirit will write it upon our hearts and that you would also, O God, use that word as we were reminded in the previous hour. It is your ordinary means to bring people to repentance and faith and, O bless that means that some would mark this day as the day when they stopped disobeying the gospel and believed on the Lord Jesus. O God, will you not give to your son the reward of his sufferings from among those who sit in this place today. Help your people. O God, help us to treasure up these biblical perspectives for whatever fiery trials we presently face and whatever crucibles of trial into which we shall yet be brought.

69:43 O Lord, enable us by your grace to think as we ought to think. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.