Having decided my approach to and having exegeted the text I now had to work on the point, the meaning of the passage for the people who would be sat before me as I preached.

Why has the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write this complicated and detailed piece of Scripture? What is the message he wants to get over?

Let’s look at the context:

We’re forced to do that because v18 begins with ‘for’ or ‘because’, which takes us back to v17 and v17 also starts with a ‘for’ or ‘because’ which takes us back to the verses before that – which were the verses we had studied the previous week.

v17 is the hinge, the transition.

Let’s recap on verses 13-16:

v14 – suffering for righteousness’ sake brings God’s blessing

v15 - we need to be ready to explain ourselves to non-Christians as they observe us bearing witness in times of unjust suffering

v16 - we must be conscientious, making sure that if we suffer, we only suffer persecution for good reasons, for living godly lives

v17 then sums up that section and leads into some evidences to back up the statement

Based on this I came up with the following as my theme for the sermon: “Making Sense of Undeserved Suffering” and I had five points of application.

1. Suffering is to be Expected - consider Christ

2. Suffering is Part of the Battle - consider the spirits

3. Suffering is not a Mark of God’s Failure but of his Patience - consider Noah

4. Suffering does not defeat God but serves his purposes - consider the ascended Christ

5. Deserved suffering is all that awaits those who reject God’s offer of salvation in Christ - consider yourself

(mp3 recording of preached message)