1 Peter Chapter 4

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Good morning, church. Welcome, whether you're here in person, online, or watching later. It's good that you're here. What a joy it is to open up God's Word this morning. And so, if you've got your Bibles with you here, whether physically or digitally, can I invite you to open up to 1 Peter chapter 4. That's where our focus is going to be for the duration of this morning. But because we've been journeying through 1 Peter for the last couple of weeks, I thought it would be helpful before we just dive in to recap what has been going on as we've journeyed through. On the next slide, we see that over the last couple of weeks, we've discovered that those who have accepted Jesus, who have become Christians, because this is who Peter is writing to, those who have accepted the free gift of forgiveness that we've heard about this morning, that we've remembered in communion, they're called a holy people who are chosen by God. They're set apart to live for Him. Very truly, we highlighted that as the church, as followers of Jesus, as His disciples, we're living stones being built into a spiritual house where Christ is at the center. We've been called to follow the example that Jesus set, and to follow that example not only in our lives personally, but in relation to society and the governing authorities, in our workplace, in our homes, and marriages. And last week, Pastor Dave highlighted an important truth for us, that when we truly understand who God is. It shapes how we live. And how we live very truly should point others to Jesus Christ. Would you join me as we pray? Lord, we thank you that this morning we've already been able to lift our voices in praise to you, our God. Lord, we've been able to celebrate the fact that we have life and life to the fullest because of Jesus' death on a cross. Lord, that because you loved us so much, we have the freedom to receive forgiveness, bought at a great price. Lord, that we're welcomed into right relationship with you. Lord, that we receive your Holy Spirit, who guides us as we continue to walk here on earth, to grow us more and more into the likeness of Christ, more and more obedient to your will, and less and less by our own sinful desires. Lord, as we turn our attention to Scripture this morning, would you be preparing our hearts, speak to us, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. First Peter chapter 4, verses 1 to 5. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions. But for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. But they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. We've been learning over the last couple of weeks that when there's a therefore, we have to figure out why it's there, or why it's therefore. If you go back to chapter 3, verse 16, we realize what Peter is continuing, the thought that keeps going on. Verse 18: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Very truly, we need to remember, bring to the forefront as we approach this passage this morning, that Jesus died for our sin so that we could be forgiven and made right, so that we could receive eternal life, life to the fullest. And no longer be bound by our sin, which leads to death. And so Peter highlights in these first verses, he reminds us Christ suffered as a result of this world's sin. Christ suffered not because he was sinful, not because he deserved to suffer, but because humanity sinned. And so very truly, one who was blameless and undeserving of suffering suffered immensely for us. And right from the outset, that draws an implication for us. If you're a disciple here this morning, Jesus never promised that following him would be easy. In fact, the implication is that if Christ, who was blameless, suffered as a result of the world's sin, then as disciples who follow him, we need to be prepared. We need not be surprised if we suffer as a result of the world's sinfulness. Whether or not we deserve it, Christ certainly didn't. But we need to be prepared that as we walk with Jesus each day, we may face suffering as a result of the sinful world in which we live. And we have to acknowledge, right, Peter highlights that this all begins with Jesus' death on a cross. This possibility of suffering because of sin. Originally started in Eden, but when we follow him, we're freed. Jesus was necessary. Forgiveness was needed because very truly, God does not tolerate sin. And so by implication, as disciples following Jesus, we must not tolerate sin. In fact, to accept Jesus is to put to death our old sinful way of life and to live for the will of God. We read in verse 2, As it is, to live for the rest of our time in the flesh no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. Peter highlights the time that has passed. That's enough. Don't waste any more time living in your old sinful way. Don't think you need one more day or one more hour or one more minute. He says clearly, it's enough. Put away with it and follow God's will. Live in the freedom of the forgiveness of Jesus. And church, as we highlight this this morning, we need to be aware that sadly, many Christians today believe the deception, the lie that Satan will tell them. Very truly, Satan will get in our ear and tell us that if we follow Jesus, perhaps we'll miss out on the full experience of life here on earth. If we follow Jesus, there's so much that you can't do. There's so much that's not aligned with his will. There's so much rebellion in the world. What if you follow Jesus and you miss out on all this world has to offer? Church, this is a deception and a lie of Satan. But sadly, there's many Christians who fall into believing this truth. There's many people who haven't yet accepted Jesus who will go, I think that there's a God out there. Perhaps this Jesus guy, he's got some merit to what he's doing, but I just don't want to give up the way that I'm living. I'll deal with that when I'm older. I want to experience all that life has to offer. Church, it's a lie. A life filled with sin is no life at all. It's a life that leads only to death and destruction. Very truly, for those who delay too long, we don't know the day or the hour that Jesus will return. We don't know the day or the hour that we will no longer be alive here on earth. And sadly, throughout history, there are many who have put off figuring out what Jesus means for them and have missed the opportunity that they had to receive his forgiveness. We need to be aware of this tragic deception. Satan will tell us that we miss the experience of this world. If we accept Jesus. But the promise of Jesus is, accept me, receive forgiveness, and live life to the fullest. Not half-heartedly, not you miss out on this stuff. You will receive life and life to the fullest when you accept Jesus. And so, church, this morning we have to ask ourselves, this week, what have you lived for? If you take honest account of the last seven days, what have you lived for this week? Have you lived for the passions of your flesh? Have you been so focused on creating treasure and wealth here on earth? Have you been so focused in chasing fleeting pleasures that actually, as an outsider looking in, there's no hint of Jesus in your life? Or as you've lived this week, is it evident that you've lived for the will of God? That although imperfect while still here on earth, there has been a daily decision to seek and follow Jesus. In the context of 1 Peter, who have you been living like? Peter draws a contrast between the pagan Gentiles who were living in a numerous amount of sin, compared to those who had accepted Jesus, disciples who were different and being persecuted because of it. And beyond that. As you look back on the last seven days, is there sin in your life that you have been tolerating? Let's demystify sin very simply. Is anything that does not align with God's will. Sin is rebellion against God. And so there's big lists that we can put together, but in its simplest form, if we're unsure if it's unloving towards God or unloving towards others, it's probably sin. And so in your week, has there been sin that you have been tolerating? As a society, in our culture, there's so much sin, which over the years has become more and more tolerable, more and more socially accepted. And so how do you, as a disciple of Jesus, engage with this? I can't stress this enough, church, this morning, do not be deceived. Tolerating sin in our life is dangerous. Peter reminds us of this in verse five. He highlights that everyone, both disciples and those who haven't accepted Jesus, will need to give an account of their life when Jesus returns again. And church, by tolerating sin in our lives, we become more susceptible to it becoming just okay. We become more susceptible to temptation to participate in that sin. Very truly, it's a slippery slope from tolerating sin to prioritizing our sinful passions of the flesh rather than God's will in our life. If we start to tolerate sin, we go, well, I can't really tell them that what they're doing is wrong. But maybe God's will is that you highlight that the way that things are going on isn't okay. There's a simple truth that anything that you feed gets stronger. And so if there's sin in your life which you're tolerating, which perhaps occasionally you give attention and focus to, it will continue to grow every time that you feed it. And so if there's sin that's been tolerated in your life, if there's things that shouldn't be there that are causing you to rebel against God's will, can I encourage you, stop feeding it. Stop giving it attention. Remove it from the realm of possibility. By consequence, if you want to grow as a disciple of Jesus, start feeding your relationship with Jesus. Start making sure that each and every day you spend time in prayer and in Scripture. Make sure you prioritize hearing God's will for your life. What you feed is what grows. And so increasingly, we live in a society that is becoming tolerable to sin. Not only tolerable, but in some cases accepting and promoting of things which disobey God's will, which conflict Scripture. And so Peter talks to the disciples. He talks to Christians in the world in a very similar context to the one that we live in. And he says, Enough is enough. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. For whoever suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. Church, this week, what will you prioritize? Will you prioritize following God's will, or will you prioritize not causing a scene, not making a stand which could make people uncomfortable, not lovingly sharing about the faith that you have? Peter highlights, don't mess around with sin. Don't fall into the deceptive lie of next time will be the last time. Imagine if the last time has already happened. Imagine if from this point you go, I'm not going to tolerate. That anymore, I've decided to follow Jesus. And so this rebellion against God has no place in my life. Jesus' invitation is to receive forgiveness. That's why he died. But not only to receive forgiveness and then keep on sinning, but to receive forgiveness and to follow him. The Bible tells us that when we do, we receive the Holy Spirit, who increasingly is at work within us, growing us more and more into Christlikeness, convicting us of areas in our life where there is still sin, so that we may repent, that we may confess to God this sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask for his help to overcome it. And so, church, this morning, do you want to experience the fullness of life that God has for you? If you haven't accepted Jesus, can I urge you, the first step, you need to really consider who Jesus is. I'd love to have a conversation with you if you're unsure. But here's the truth: Jesus died so that you could be forgiven, and he has a plan for you. Church, we need to guard against convenient Christianity. What do I mean by that? I mean sometimes there's a temptation. Maybe we've been coming to church for a while now. We know the things that we should say. We know the good news of Jesus. We've very truly accepted forgiveness for our sins. And yet here on earth, here and now, we find ourselves in this tension, the here but not yet, where very truly Jesus promises that sin is defeated. He has overcome it. And yet until he returns again, which he's promised to do, we still wrestle with sin here on earth. Even as we commit to following Jesus daily, we still struggle with the effects of sin until Jesus comes again. And so to live as a disciple, we need to be very conscious, very active in making sure that each day, not just once when I was 13 or 14, that each day we make the decision to follow Jesus. We pray, God, your will, not my will, be done. Grow me in my walk with you, that my actions, my life would be aligned with yours because your will is the way that I experience the fullness of life. I was thinking about an illustration to try and pull this through. Some of you will probably know, but a little while ago, Zali and I, along with a whole bunch of others, went to the far north Queensland, up to the very tip, Cape York, which was great. And one of the exciting things that we did on this was the old teletrack. And the old teletrack, for those who don't know, is pretty intense four-wheel driving. That was the most intense sort of incline for one of the rivers. But that incline that's up there is called Gunshot. Okay? There was about five or six different entrances into the creek. They were all pretty gnarly. There wasn't an easy option. That was the most difficult one, but also arguably the most fun. And so we got to Gunshot. We knew that it was coming. And as we got there, there was a convoy of three or four cars ahead of us. They got there, they looked at it, and they're like, Maybe not. Conveniently, they had to do maintenance, so they let us go ahead. They wanted to see someone else go down it. We got out in our convoy of seven, and probably three of the seven cars took one look and went, Actually, we think we're going to backtrack to the bypass. We'll meet you at the end of this track. There was no way out once you started. I can't open the doors once I'm there. There was no one down the bottom to pull me out if I got stuck. There was no way that the weight of that car with the six-meter incline that kind of inverted a little bit was going to be towed backwards up the incline. And so I made the decision. Zali and I knew that this was part of the trip. We were both excited for it. We were prepared for it. And it was still daunting as we looked at it for the first time, but we had counted the cost to do it. We knew that there was a possibility that even with the safety measures involved, things could snap, things could go wrong. We could flip the car, have to kick out the front windshield, crawl out and leave the car there. We knew that that was a possibility. And so I drove up to the edge, six-ish metre drop. Can't see where I'm going. I'm relying on handheld radios. And in that moment, there was a point of no return. There was a decision that had to be made: either get out right now, throw it in reverse, unhook everything, go back to the chicken tracks. Let's just not do this. Or take your foot off the brake, roll past that point knowing that there's no turning back, and trust that you'll get through. That's what we did. We let go of the brake, rolled down. It was fantastic. I actually did it a second time. I jumped in someone else's car. It was good fun. But the reason I share that is because it can be helpful for us to view our daily decision to follow Jesus in the same way. The world tells us that there's such a thing as convenient Christianity. You can come to church on Sunday, you can declare Jesus with your lips, but you can live as part of the world. You can sin as much as you want and then say sorry and all's forgiven and life's good. Church, that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible is very clear. Jesus died to pay your sin, that all who believe in Him, all who confess and ask for forgiveness, put to death their old way of life. And seek to follow him daily. Church, all too often we can approach our walk with Jesus as though there's off-ramps along the way. That's bad thinking. It probably means that we haven't really trusted Jesus to help us through. And so if you've accepted Jesus, can I encourage you each day, make the decision: I will follow Jesus. Lord, your will, not my will, be done. Wherever you take me, that is where I will go. Even if it's scary, even if it seems like things might go wrong, if that is your will for my life, that is where I will go, in obedience to you. Peter tells us what this kind of living looks like. Verse 7 to 11 says this: The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled. Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Peter highlights the end is near. Do not delay. The time lived in sinfulness is enough. Follow Jesus. Grow as a disciple of Jesus. Be self-controlled, choosing to follow Jesus rather than the fleeting passions of sin. Be self-controlled and sober-minded. Love one another. Show hospitality to one another. Serve one another with the gifts that God has given you. Steward all that he has given you for his glory. Because it's only through Christ's death on a cross that we have life and life to the fullest. Church, as we close this morning, it's important that we realize that genuine discipleship will be tested. Peter writes this to those who are living out their faith, who are following Jesus and experiencing suffering because of it. The way that Jesus called them to live didn't align with the way that the world was living. And they were suffering for it. And maybe you're a Christian here this morning. Maybe you've experienced some suffering, and it seems hard. Remember that chapter four began, Jesus suffered for us, not because he deserved it, but because of the sin that is in this world. If we're disciples of Jesus, we need to be prepared to suffer in the same way. And I find it so amazing. I love this last bit of chapter four, because we have to remember that Peter, who wrote this, is the same Peter who was a disciple of Jesus, part of the twelve, who probably one of his most memorable acts, as recorded in the Gospels, is the fact that he denied Jesus three times for fear of persecution. And yet we see that the Holy Spirit has grown him in his discipleship journey, has grown him into closer obedience with God. We read in verse 12, the same Peter who, for fear of persecution, denied Christ, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 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. Church, the way that I see it this morning is it's possible for us to suffer in two ways. Either we suffer rightly as a consequence of our sin. We don't accept Jesus, and so we suffer the consequence of our sin, which is death and eternal separation from God. There's no joy in that. There's nothing to celebrate or no hope to hold on to. But if you believe in Jesus, if you've been forgiven, if you're a disciple who chooses to follow Jesus each and every day, we need to be prepared that we could experience suffering as a result of following Jesus. We shouldn't actively go out and seek it, but we could just by nature of following God's will for our life. Experience suffering. But if we do, be reminded that Christ suffered even though he didn't deserve it, and so join in the glory that he receives. Thank God that you are suffering because you are being obedient to him. Thank God that his promise is never to leave you nor forsake you, but to grow you through that. So this morning we have two options. We can choose to tolerate sin. We can choose to entertain it in our lives, to give it focus, to let the actions of our lives be determined by the fleeting sinful desires. Or we can choose to be forgiven for our sins, to follow Jesus Christ, and to align our will with God's will for our lives. Church, is Jesus enough for you this morning? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for our time together. We thank you for Jesus, who's made it possible through his death and resurrection to be forgiven of our sin and trespass. Lord, thank you for the hope that we have. Thank you for your promise that you will return. And Lord, we pray for each of us this morning, Lord, whatever's going on in our lives. Lord, in the quietness of this moment, Lord, we pray, search our hearts. Reveal to us any way in our lives which grieves you, any action that requires repentance. And Lord, lead us by your Holy Spirit to a place of confession. Lord, to be able to receive fully the forgiveness of Jesus. And Lord, strengthen us to walk each day as a disciple. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.