Don’t Allow Yourself to Be Discouraged

I Peter 4:12-19

Growing up in the Depression, my parents had very little. My mom’s family lived in a eight foot by twelve foot house for several years. One of Mom’s jobs was to gather cow chips for cooking and heating the house. They nearly always had a milk cow, but Jackrabbit and tumbleweed greens comprised major portions of their diet. Because there was no refrigeration, frequently all that was available for supper was a cup of clabbered milk. That was milk that had soured but not yet completely turned to cottage cheese. Mom’s teeth developed yellow streaks that we now know were an indication of malnutrition.

My grandfather worked at any job he could get, helping herd cattle, traveling to other areas to help in wheat harvest, or working at WPA jobs for fifty cents to a dollar a day, when work was available. Flour was bought in cloth sacks because the cloth was needed for clothing. During that time, they didn’t consider themselves poor, because almost everyone they knew lived the same way. They just didn’t have any money.


Today, many people are shocked when they experience problems in their Christian life. They don’t understand that Jesus said we will have problems in John 16:33. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” I Corinthians 10:13 declares, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:…” Job 5:7 advises, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”, and Job 14:1 reiterates, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Trouble is a normal part of life and should not shock us.

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (I Peter 4:12-13)

After the end of the Depression and World War II, Grandad became a highly respected member of the community, having his own farm, running a custom broomcorn cutting and baling service, and later working for the county. Many others went looking for an easier way to live, moving to California or other more glamorous sounding places. Many times it was not better, with many becoming involved with criminal activities, whether as victims or participants.

While going elsewhere to escape the trials here may seem desirable, there will be equal and perhaps bigger trials elsewhere. Turn your back on the Lord or become involved with wrong doing will take away any possible rewards already earned, and may not even be better temporarily. Instead, we should rejoice that God counted us able to handle what we face, and that we will be rewared for the suffering. II Timothy 2:12 warns, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

“If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (I Peter 4:14-16)

It is troubling to see those who profess to be Christians persisting in obvious sin. I John 3:9 is very clear. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The way the Greek word translated ‘commit’ is used here implies that the person may do a sin but that he cannot continue to do so, because the Holy Spirit will not permit it. If it were impossible for a Christian to do a sin, There would be no need for chastening, and Hebrews 12:7-8 makes it clear chastening will be administered. “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

Examining the entire passage of John 3:8-10, we find that consistent sin enables us to identify some who are not really Christians. “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

Hebrews 3 and 4 describe many who painted their door posts with the blood and escaped from Egypt, crossed the Red sea, partook of the manna and drank of the water from the rock, but still without faith, turned from God and were destroyed in the wilderness. Hebrews then goes on to point out that the church has some in the same state. It is this group, who’ve seen all the blessings yet never accepted it as enough who Hebrews 6:4-6 refers. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

When they reject Christ, after experiencing all he has offered as not sufficient for them, they can no longer claim any ignorance, nor can they ever come back to the place of accepting Christ. They have rejected him fully. As a result, II Peter 2:20-21 says they are worse off than if they’d never heard. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” If they’d never heard, ignorance would mitigate some of the punishment.

Because God chastens his children, they cannot get by with things nearly as long as the unsaved do. Because they don’t stop, the unsaved will receive far greater punishment.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” (I Peter 4:17-19)

We can safely trust God with all the trouble we have. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Even when we are being chastened, unlike some parents, God always does it for our benefit as we see from Hebrews 12:10. “For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”