Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 4:17-19
Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter
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Sermon Series: Spiritual Exiles
Suffering is Hard, Judgment is Worse
Airdate: 11/2/2026
Program: 2391
What Peter is going to say today is that while the sufferings that we experience through the brokenness of this world and the loving discipline of a Heavenly Father who is refining us through the hardships, while those things are painful, they are nothing compared to the alternative. They are nothing compared to the alternative. And the clearer we have in our mind that to be a Christian is to take up our cross and to follow after a suffering servant, the less surprised we’re going to be when that actually happens to us. And as we carry that cross and wonder if it is worth it, Peter’s going to bring up, think about what it means to not have Christ. And all of a sudden, the temporary fleeting trials of this life... are nothing compared to the enduring eternal sufferings for those who are outside of Jesus.
So here is the text. Here’s where we’re studying. 1 Peter 4:17 through 19. Peter writes this, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” May the Spirit of God impress the truth of this text upon our hearts today.
Now, this can be a confusing passage, and to be honest with you, I’ve read this over the years, and I’ve never quite understood what it meant, so I’m happy to study that this week and get some clarity on what does it mean for judgment to begin at the household of God. And this is confusing because there are all kinds of verses in the New Testament that explain that as a Christian, we do not face condemnation, that we do not face punishment. We don’t face judgment. Like Romans 8:1, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And if you’ve been in the church very long, that truth is taught very clearly. And it’s one of the things that we sort of love about coming to faith in Jesus, is that now I don’t need to fear the judging hand of God. And then you come to this passage, and Peter says, “It’s time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” What’s going on there?
Well, one of the things to remember when you’re studying the Bible, and there seems to be sort of contradictory answers being given, is that most of the time the reason is that they’re answering different questions. So Paul, in Romans 8, is answering the question, how can a sinner have a right standing before God? And the answer to that is justification by faith, where I am declared righteous in the eyes of God by virtue of my faith in Jesus. Positionally now, I am right before God. I do not face the judgment of God. I do not face the condemnation of God. Praise God for justification. It’s a wonderful truth. Amen. Okay, amen to that.
But again, different question being answered. What is Peter answering? Peter is not answering the question of eternal position before a holy God. He is answering the question, why do Christians suffer as they do? Why these hardships? Why these pains in life? And to that, he says, it is time for judgment to begin in the household of God. So this is a theology of trials and judgment. It is not a theology of positional righteousness before God.
So what does it mean then? Well, first of all, notice that God is judging, in quotation, Christians, in order to purify us, in order to refine us, in order to make us into the likeness of Jesus, who, by the way, did He suffer? You might say, “Man, if God loved me, I wouldn’t suffer.” Who does He love the most? The Son. And what happened to Jesus? He suffered tremendously, more than any of us.
The us here, “for it is time for judgment to begin in the household of God, and if it begins with us,” notice that that is described as the household of God. And to get a little bit technical here, because I need to, what he is talking about is the household of God in the sense of the place where God’s dwelling is. This is not a building that he has in mind here. He’s not talking about a physical structure, but a dwelling place. And this is important because he is drawing on Old Testament imagery here of the temple, where there was a building that was the dwelling place of God. God’s presence was there. And he is probably referring to Malachi 3.
If you read Malachi 3, Malachi talks about the fiery judgment of God. And he says that that fiery judgment begins in the temple, refining the priests of the temple, i.e., those that are in the temple, but that this fire will break out with terrifying judgment on unbelievers. Okay, so did you hear that? Fire in the temple, breaking out to judge unbelievers.
That’s what Peter is saying here about the judgment of God. That commitment to His holiness, that glory of His majesty within the temple, within the church, is doing something that is good. It is refining His people. It is purifying our passions. It is weaning us off of the world. It is drawing us towards holiness of life. It’s causing us to see sin and its rebellion against God and all the negative things that come from sin. It’s drawing me towards a life that is lived to the glory of God. That fire, that hardship that God sovereignly brings into our life, is doing a good thing within the household of God. But that same commitment to His holiness, that fiery judgment outside of the household of God, has an entirely different effect on those that are unbelievers. “What will be the outcome,” he says, “for those that do not obey the gospel of God?”
So the judgment of God begins in the church. It is temporary. Paul says these light and momentary trials, they are fleeting. Nothing, Christian, that you are facing right now that is pain or a hardship in your life is forever. It is all temporary. All of it is shaping us into the likeness of His Son. So is it judgment? And here’s the key point that kind of helps answer that question. Is it judgment? Yes, but not in the sense of punishment, which it will be for those that are not believers, but in the sense of the fire of God’s holiness and holy purposes at work within the church.
And that’s what God has always been doing. You think back to the early church and all of the terrible things that our brothers and sisters went through in those days, the terrible persecutions that they suffered. Think about the apostles. All but one died as martyrs. Think about the first 300 years of the church. Read Fox’s Book of Martyrs and see the terrible things that brothers and sisters who believe the same gospel as us endured at the hands of those that hated them. All of that sovereignly under the hand of God, all of it refining His people, all of it making them into the likeness of Christ. And that trial and hardship that you are going through right now, my dear friend, is the same. It is the same.
And I wonder if we can stop and just sort of ask ourselves, wait, if God was working in Polycarp and what he went through, dying at the hands of the Romans as a martyr, can I believe that God is at work in the trial or suffering that I am going through right now? That it is not random. It’s not just chaos at work in this world, but a sovereign loving God is doing something in my heart and in my life. In fact, ask yourself that about that trial you’re going through. “God, what are You doing with this in me? God, I surrender to what You are wanting to accomplish from this pain that is in my life.” And to come under that, which is what God’s people have had to do forever.
God is doing a good work in us. These fiery trials transform us. They shape us. They mold us. It’s part of the deal. We just have to be realistic about it. And to not be surprised. Peter is writing to the church and saying, there is hardship ahead. You’ve got to be realistic. To follow Jesus is not a path of comfort. It is not a means to prosperity and happiness all the time. It is to take up my cross and to follow after a suffering servant and to embrace the refining, purifying fire of God in my life, making me into likeness of the one that I’m following. You gotta be realistic. Do not be surprised when these things come in to your life.
Peter says, being a good pastor here, do we face judgment? Yes, we face judgment. I don’t have time to get into this, but it’s known as the judgment seat of Christ. Everybody stands in judgment. The judgment that we face is not a judgment of salvation or not, eternal life or not. It is a judgment of commendation, of rewards gained or rewards lost. And Jesus Himself will sit on that bema seat judgment. And we’re all going to stand there. We’re all going to stand there.
Now you might, again, look at that and say, “You know, I’m kind of checking out Christianity, but I don’t think that sounds so great. Like if you’re telling me if I become a Christian and I follow after Jesus, trouble is coming. I don’t know that I should do this. Maybe I’ll kind of find a different path.” Well, let’s consider the alternative to taking up a cross and following after Jesus. Peter writes this. “And if this judgment begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
If our experience is painful, how horrific will it be in the end to be an enemy of God? For those who do not obey the gospel of God, that just means to not obey the gospel of God is to not believe the gospel of God. He’s not talking about obeying the Mosaic covenant or stipulations or the law. He’s talking about obeying the gospel. And we oftentimes present the gospel like, “Hey, this is an alternative. You might want to choose it. If you do, you get your sins forgiven and eternal life.” It is truly that. But it is more than that. It is a requirement. It is a demand that God the Father makes to believe in the Son. To not believe in Jesus is itself a sin. Unbelief is a rebellion against God, a refusal to submit to the lordship of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, is itself cause for eternal condemnation.
So Peter here is describing this huge percentage of humanity who today and in their life stand apart from the grace of God, stand apart from His love, are not under His forgiveness. What about them? And Peter is basically making an argument from the lesser to the greater. If to be a child of God is to experience painful hardships on the road to eternity, without them, what will it be like to in the end be found to be an enemy of God? Lesser to the greater. And he doesn’t answer the question, you’ll notice. He just lets it hang out there like, wow, that is going to be really terrible. The fire that purges us will consume and overwhelm the unbeliever.
Jesus said this Himself, Matthew 10:28. “And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.” If we for a moment could understand the fate that awaits the person who is not in obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, these things that we are going through on the path to salvation will pale in comparison. We would say... the future us would say to the present us, “You don’t realize how much better you have it.” One glimpse into hell will help us realize how good we have it now. Yes, it’s painful, but it’s not that. Yes, it has hardship, but it’s not that. And that... that is forever. Our this is temporary. And we take comfort in that. We take comfort in that.
As Psalm 73 says, consider the end of the ungodly. And it changes our perspective on these momentary trials that God brings into our life. Are they painful? Yes, they are painful. They are painful. How and why? Weaning us off of the world, driving us to our knees in cries and prayers. They are temporary. The suffering of the unrighteous is eternal.
And I don’t think this means that we beat our chest and go, “Yeah, you’re going down.” It’s not a vitriolic thing for us, but it should sober us to realize that that unknown person standing in line with you at the grocery store is a soul that’s going to spend eternity somewhere. And apart from submission to the gospel of God, it is hell. And to allow that not only to change our perspective on our trials, but to cause us to care for their eternal souls and to care and love and hopefully share the gospel of Jesus with them.
Verse 19 is a summary verse. Grudem calls it the theme verse of the whole book. Verse 19, “Therefore,” so concluding now, “let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” And here we have it just in one verse. You want to know what 1 Peter is? Here you have it in one verse. Righteous suffering is not random. It is according to the will of God. That trial that you have in your life, somehow in the mystery purposes of God, is from the hand of God. He is in control. There is nothing that we will ever face. Nothing will ever come to us that God has not brought into our path and somehow has a good that He is accomplishing through it. He’s ordained all of it.
So what should we do? Peter suggests three things for us. Notice, first of all, we are to entrust the trial to God. Entrust the trial to God. To entrust something, literally the Greek word there, it means to take something really, really valuable to us and to hand it over to somebody else. Something really valuable, hand it over to somebody else. What is a trial? A trial is when something valuable to us is being threatened. It is at risk. And that can be any number of things. It can be my health. It can be my reputation. It can be relationships. It can be my financial status or security. On and on and on you could go with things that are important to us. A trial. We don’t care about things that aren’t important to us. But when something matters to us, and now there is something in it that is calling it into question, undermining it somehow, now I am experiencing this tension.
And that’s the sense of it here. Our health is valuable to us. Our reputation is valuable to us. Our relationships are valuable to us. A trial is when those things are at risk. And Peter is urging here to entrust it to God. And again, what does it mean? It’s to take that thing that is valuable and to hand it over to somebody else. Maybe visualize that in your mind a moment. That trial that you’re in, whenever I talk about trials, the same thing comes to mind, person, issue, whatever it is. In your heart of faith, can you take that trial and entrust it to God, to hand it over to Him? Like Abraham, to take Isaac and to lay him on that altar. Entrust it to God.
And you say, “Well, why would I do that?” Notice what he says next. “Entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.” Peter highlights something about the character of God that we need to know when we’re doing this entrusting of valuable things to us. He is faithful. You say, “Well, faithful to what?” He is faithful to His promises. He is faithful to His love. He is faithful to His people. He is faithful to His Son’s work in our lives. He is faithful to the end as the unchanging God. He is faithful to His joy in our Christ-likeness and growth. He is faithful to His power’s ability to meet our needs, and many, many other things we could say about the faithfulness of God.
But when we’re in a trial and something that we think is valuable to us is at risk, and we’re searching for somewhere to go for hope and comfort, to rest in the fact that God isn’t going anywhere and brought this to me in the first place. God gives our trials to us, and we’re called in our trials to give them back to Him and to believe that He will show Himself faithful. And He will. He will.
Where do we go? Here’s where we go as best we can. And I’m trying to do this myself. I don’t know the future, but the Lord does. He is faithful to His promises. We’re going to try to lean into Him, trust His promises as best we can, and to trust His loving care. I think that’s what it means to live by faith. I think that’s what Peter is saying here.
And the last thing he says is to continue to do good. Continue to do good. What happens during trials? Oftentimes we become very selfish. We self-obsess about our trial, and we think nobody’s ever had it as bad as me. I’m the only one that matters in the world right now. And Peter says, keep doing good. Keep serving others. You know, part of the misery of trials is that we become self-obsessed, right? Part of the blessing what Peter is sharing here is that by serving others, there is a kind of encouragement that God brings to us as we see other people in their pain. And now we can relate to them in a way that we never could before, which is its own kind of healing, I think, and encouragement.
Last thing I want to ask is this, who does this sound like? Who does all of this trusting in God, committing the trial to God, who does this sound like in the end? Here is Luke 23. “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.’ And having said this, He breathed His last.”
See that word there for commit? Same word in the Greek as we have here, right here. What did Jesus do there on the cross? Did He suffer according to God’s will? He suffered in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He suffered according to the will and the purpose of God and cried out, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” He held His life loosely. He held it with an open hand. And when the time came, He entrusted it to His Heavenly Father, even His own life.
I don’t know if you ever thought about it. If you had... if you have sanity in the last moment of your life, what’s the last words that you want to say? I think I’m going to go with this one right here. “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” If we are called in the end to take our most precious thing, my life, and to offer it to God and to commit it to Him, knowing that He is faithful, how can we not take all these lesser things in life, these pains and hardships, and to do the same and to look to God, to trust Him? “Father, into Your hands I commit my trial. I commit my cancer. I commit my child. I commit my broken relationship. I commit my unemployment. I commit my frozen marriage. I commit my pain.” Can you do that, dear friend? I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what this week holds other than suffering and difficulty. To know that God is faithful and we can trust Him is a wonderful, wonderful comfort. And it’s true.
