Session X, Day 5

I'm sure you have noticed that Peter keeps coming back to suffering in his writing.  When I read 4:12 I get the sense that his readers needed encouragement for the current persecution they were suffering.  That being said, we can still find comfort and guidance in these words today as applied to our own lives.  Keep this in mind as we do today's assignment.  We are not simply filling in the blanks on our handouts.  We are learning how to live as God has called us, and being reminded to rejoice even though His path may seem difficult so that we "may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed." 4:13

ASSIGNMENT:
1.  Refer back to 4:12-19.*  Think on this... Do you feel you suffer as a Christian?  Given what we’ve learned about suffering from Peter to this point, would you say some of our individual trials are sent by God to strengthen our faith?  Are there other reasons?  

2.  Write down what you learned about suffering in chapter 4 under "Notes on Suffering" at the end of the chapter. 
 

*You may have questions regarding I Peter 4:18.  Notice the cross-reference for this passage:  Proverbs 11:30-31.  John Stott’s commentary comments are below.  You may find reading through them very helpful.

Peter is not questioning the security of the salvation kept for us (see also 1:15).  The word for hard means ‘with difficulty’.  It does not imply uncertainty of the outcome, but the difficulty of the road that leads to it.  God’s purging of His people is not a process that takes place after death, nor is it punishment that atones for sin.  Rather, His purging is the discipline of suffering and trials by which the faith of His people is purified as gold in the furnace (2:21-23).