While his suffering is not substitutionary and it is not redemptive, the suffering of a

Christian could be the tool by which someone might be brought to God when they see how we handle that

suffer. Welcome to Grace to you with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. A celebrity once said,

people hate me because I'm a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius.

Now, perhaps some would see those words as, shall we say, lacking appropriate modesty, and

that could cause people to dislike him. But what about people who've done nothing to provoke

others, and yet they're attacked, verbally, even physically? Is it possible that you may one day

find yourself in that position? Or are you there right now? Well, today John MacArthur examines

the example for handling persecution that was set by Christ himself and shows you how you can

follow Christ's lead. The title of John's practical study through suffering to triumph. And now here

is John MacArthur. Let's open our Bibles at this time now to the study of the scripture that God has

brought us to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. We come now to a new section of teaching in this great epistle

versus 18 to 22, the concluding section of this third chapter brings us to the study of the triumph

of Christ's suffering, the triumph of Christ's suffering. Let me give you a little bit of a background.

Peter's recurring theme is simply living in the midst of suffering, living in the midst of

suffering. And all the way through the epistle, his great example is Christ. If you want to know how

to view suffering, then look at Jesus Christ. In chapter 2, you will remember verse 20 and 21,

where he talks about the fact that when you suffer, you must endure it with patience for this

finds favor with God. And then he says, for you've been called for this purpose since Christ also

suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. When you and I suffer,

when any believer suffers for doing what is right, if we want to get a perspective on that,

we look at Christ who is the model of suffering for righteousness sake.

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