Patient Enduring of Suffering

Cameron Porter1 Peter 2:21–24

1 Peter 2:21–25 calls believers to the patient endurance of suffering, grounding that call in the person and work of Christ. This sermon examines the reason for that exhortation (the promised and realized persecution of the first-century church), the shape of the exhortation itself (negatively, refusing to revile or threaten; positively, committing oneself to the righteous Judge), and the threefold foundation for obedience: Christ's atoning suffering on our behalf, Christ's example as the sinless sufferer, and the believer's present status as found sheep safe in the fold. The application presses believers to expect suffering, to cut off retaliatory impulse at its root, and to meditate on Christ's cross as the chief remedy for a vindictive heart.