I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Peter chapter four. 1 Peter chapter four, this can be found on page 1,205 in the Pew Bible. Page 1,205. Continue our sermon series through Peter's letter to elect exiles in a foreign land. That is, those children of God chosen by God and dispersed throughout the empire at that time, giving glory to God in their profession of faith in Christ and in the way they live their lives for Jesus. In fact, the general epistles, or what's called the Catholic epistles, those James and the epistles that follow, they're general epistles because they teach Christians how to live the Christian life by faith. How to live the Christian life in a foreign land, in a world that doesn't know Christ and is at enmity with Christ and hates the Christ. How do Christians live in this world? We begin our reading at verse one to verse six. Let us now hear God's word. 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 account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. Thus far the reading of God's word. Let's ask his blessing in a time of prayer. Father in heaven, once again we come to another portion of Peter's letter. Your word, your inspired and holy word that is difficult and challenging. And so we rely upon your spirit. to illuminate our hearts and minds, to understand and believe this word, and to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that is in Christ our Lord. Help us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Interrogation of Christ, Proverbs 23, verse seven says, as a man thinks In his heart, so he is. As a man thinks, so he is. The mind is the seat of our thinking, our understanding, and our reasoning. And it is from the mind that we act or react. Who are you, Christian? What does it mean to think Christianly? By God's tender mercies, he made us alive, born again by the Spirit. By his grace, he created faith in our hearts by the Spirit. By his love, he unites us to himself in a personal relationship with the living and true God by the Spirit, through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is through the cross, the death of Christ, the suffering of Christ in the flesh, that unites us to God and to himself. We are united to Christ, united to the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We belong to Christ, and by the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. And so who are we, Christians? We are Christians because we belong to Christ. We've been anointed by the Spirit to know him, love him, and serve him. We are his children. And Peter speaks to such people. He writes to Christians. And in the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, The flesh being those sinful passions that arise in our hearts and minds. In this battle, it begins in the mind. The mind. How do we fight spiritual battles against the world, the flesh, and the devil? It begins in the mind, or we can say heart, as the Proverbs say, that can be synonymous or heart can have a broader meaning, a fuller meaning, which is the mind, the affections, and the will. Peter exhorts us to think in the same way as your Lord. In other words, think with the mind of Christ. Arm yourselves with the mind of Christ. And oh, do we, the church, need to do this. I've seen it and you've seen Christians be sifted like wheat. Because the mind has been captured by the ways of the world, by sinful passions. And their mind becomes the devil's playground. According to the context, Peter returns to a very important theme of suffering, of suffering. It's honorable before God to suffer for doing good and not evil. For example, look with me in your Bible, go back to chapter two, verse 19. For this is a gracious thing when mindful of God, Note the theme here. When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. Now chapter three, verse nine, Peter says, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. Verse 17 of chapter three, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Christian, Christians, Peter exhorts us to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ, particularly when we suffer. And to be sure, he has in mind here persecution of a physical kind, but also slander. All the attacks of the devil, the accuser. Arm yourselves with the mind of Christ. How do we do that? How do we do that? Three points. Live for God's will. Do not live for human passions. Live forever in the Spirit. Three points come straight from the text. Live for God's will. Look with me in your Bible again at verse one and two of chapter four. 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. Jesus suffered in the flesh, in his human nature. He suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, as he says earlier in chapter three, verse 18. And he did so that he brings us to God. By his suffering and death, he unites us to God. He reconciles us to God through his cross. But in his suffering, he is also our example. When he suffered in the flesh, in his human nature, in his body and soul, his mind was set on the will of God. In all his sufferings, he lived for God's will. Not my will, but thy will be done. That is how he is our example. Living for God's will. He shows his people, he shows us believers, how to suffer in the flesh when living for the will of God and not the passions of the human nature, which is contrary to God's will and law. You wanna know what it is to have the mind of Christ? You look at God's will fulfilled in the Son. Jesus, the one who said, I have not come to do my will, but the one who sent me. Not my will, but thy will be done. Jesus, the Christ, perfectly obeyed the Father's will in his teaching, in his living, his life. He submitted to God's will and did not succumb to the temptations of the devil or his enemies. He knew no sin. Now someone might ask, well of course he knew no sin because he is truly God. Jesus doesn't know what it means to be truly human because he doesn't know sin. But wait, Jesus alone what it means to be truly human. Jesus alone teaches us really what it means, what true humanity truly is. When you look at the person of Jesus Christ and his true humanity, you see true humanity. One who fully does the Father's will. and who went, underwent extreme temptation and struggle and sorrow and hurt and weeping. Think of the Garden of Gethsemane. Tears as of drops of blood, tormented in his soul, bearing in his body and soul the wrath of God on the cross for you, Christian. Jesus truly knew what it meant to suffer, far greater than we can because he descended into hell on the cross, bearing wrath and punishment and hurt and pain and sorrow, and he did this for us, accomplishing the Father's will. Peter says, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. Arm yourselves with the mind of Christ. For, he says, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased, or a good word there is restrained, has restrained from sin. When the believer suffers, when the Christian, who still wrestles with sin, When the Christian wrestles with sin in the flesh, while we are still living in these tents, earthly tents, he has ceased or restrained from sin in his life when he obeys God's will. Now I'm gonna break that down for us. What does that mean? When we live for God's will, we cease from sin. What does that mean? Well, it's somewhat explained in the next part of the verse. So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, which is sin, but for the will of God. For the will of God. And so when we suffer in the flesh, at the hands of the world, the flesh, and the devil, when we repay evil with good, This means that we are following God's will. We have ceased from sin and love our neighbor when we repay evil with good. We are doing God's will and God's will is perfect and good and true and therefore we have ceased from doing that which is evil. If our minds, for example, if our minds are consumed with unhelpful, unhealthy content or experiences or other things contrary to the will of God, do you suppose that we'll resist the sin or be more inclined to sin? Do you think we'll cease from sin? or be more inclined to sin? If we ourselves arm ourselves with the same way of thinking as Jesus Christ, do you suppose that will restrain sin or be more inclined to live for God's will as Christ lived? It's when we live for God's will, like our master and Lord Jesus Christ, That's when we cease from sin, restrain sin in our lives. Listen to Romans chapter 12, verses one and two. Write this verse down if you're taking notes. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. In other words, he's appealing to them because they are Christians, they are saved by grace. They are sinners saved by the grace of God. Therefore, because of his mercies for you, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Live for God's will. Arm yourselves with the will of God because that was the mind of Christ and is the mind of Christ. Secondly, do not live for human passions. Look with me at verse three. For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. Let me just stop right there. If you think that this existed only in the past, is this not going on in the world today? We would be naive to think it's not going on today. We live in the same kind of generation. Verse four, with respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery. Debauchery, boys and girls, is extreme pleasures of the body, extreme living for evil. and they malign you, but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Peter says, do not live for these human passions, this idolatry. These believers, this audience that Peter's writing to, they were once people of debauchery. They were once living like these Gentiles. They lived in lawless idolatries. Literally, it's plural, lawless idolatries. these sins listed, and then some. And Peter says, for the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. In other words, been there, done that. The sins of the past are just that, the sins of the past, Christian. You've done them, they are forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, through his suffering and death, now leave them in the past. Leave them in the past. Press on in faith and obedience to your Lord. Arm yourself with the mind of Christ. And notice what he says there at verse four. With respect to this, this lawless idolatry, this debauchery kind of living, What does he say? They, that is the Gentiles, are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery. They're surprised, or I like the translation, they find it strange. They find it strange that you don't join them in this. They ask, why don't you, Christian, join us in this immorality? Well, they wouldn't call it immorality, would they? They're human passions, they're natural. Go with what comes natural to you, it's okay. Why don't you join us in this? Why don't you approve and affirm that which we approve and affirm? Why don't you approve and affirm the lifestyles and policies, I'm speaking of governments now, and certain persons in government now, certain policies that promote such debauchery. Why don't you follow us in this? In other words, they're saying, come and join us, join our team. Essentially, they're saying, why don't you deny your God and follow our gods? Right? You see, at the heart of all this, It's a spiritual battle. Everything you see going on in politics, in culture, in society, comes from a spiritual battle. Ephesians chapter five and six, read it. How the devil works through agents, human agents, to promote such debauchery. The mind of Christ was to flee from this and to defeat it. Congregation, the world finds it strange that you Christian don't engage in such idolatries because for them, such idolatries and debaucheries are normal and socially acceptable. You and I, we're the weirdos. You and I, we're the problem. You and I are strange. You and I are strange because we don't participate in the world's way of living, the world's mind and worldview. The world's moral standard and worldview is incoherent, contradictory, and destructive to one's soul and society. When good is called evil, and evil is called good, we witness the collapse of any society. And we see the collapse of the church, who oftentimes and sometimes does the same thing. These Christians that Peter's writing to are exhorted to have the mind of Christ because they have been made alive in Christ by the Spirit. They have the mind of Christ. They are forgiven and set free from the bondage and slavery of sin. Forget what is behind, press forward to what is ahead. Head toward the prize that is yours in Christ Jesus. Turn with me to Philippians chapter three. I remember, as you turn to Philippians chapter three, verse 13, when I became a believer and I was in, still working in the hairstyling industry, and at that time, I was a Christian, and wrestling with things of faith, I was a young baby Christian, and I remember Carrie bought me a plaque, and it had this verse on it, and it was my daily reminder, and I set it on, my station so that I saw it every day. And it was this verse, verse 13. I'll start at verse 12, but I'll tell you which verse I'm talking about. Not that I have already obtained this, that is the resurrection of the dead, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus had made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, this is the verse, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Christians have a newfound desire to love, please, and serve God in His will. To think as our master thinks. To think with the mind of Christ. The Christian life is an absence of fierce battles. Today, today, our children are targets, aren't they? There's a fierce fight and battle for the minds of our children. There's a fierce battle for the minds of young people. Yes, teenagers, young people, young adults. There's a fierce battle to capture your mind. Are you arming yourself with the mind of Christ? Why do you think, why do we think children are being targeted in schools and with technology? Why do you think, why do I think there's an indoctrination that takes place in these settings? It's to go to the mind. The mind. that feed the human passions? Why do we think that many people, many children struggle with gender dysphoria and are greatly confused? Parents, it is our calling, not the government's calling, it is our calling, parents, to train our children in the way and wisdom of Christ so that when they suffer in the flesh, sin may be restrained because they think in the same way as our Lord and Savior, resisting sin. How about our elderly, elderly saints? Pray for our young children, pray for our young people, pray for the congregation, encourage them, exhort them, instruct them, warn them. Peter provides the remedy to defeat sin and the human passions that lead us away from God. The remedy is the mind of Christ. Arm yourself with the mind of Christ and do not live. and the passions of the flesh. And friends, we need not make this complicated. We don't need to make this complicated because the Bible is God's word and in the Bible we have the mind of God, we have the mind of Christ. The Bible is the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God, the wisdom of Christ. so that we may think in the same way as Christ, to listen to Christ speak to us through his living and active word. The Bible is God's voice to us. When tempted by the devil in the wilderness, what did Jesus do? He referred to scripture, he quoted scripture. He remembered scripture and submitted to the will and promises of God, the community faith. What about the community of faith? God has given us one another. What a blessing the church is to the community of faith. And shame on us for not appreciating it as we ought. Bonhoeffer frequently writes, about the great blessing of the congregation of Christ, the great blessing of the church. And he draws our attention to places like China, North Korea, places where churches can assemble. But we, here, we can assemble. Yet why so many neglect it? God gave us his church to assemble together, yes, to worship him, but to encourage one another As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, to sharpen one another in the faith, to sharpen one another with the mind of Christ. And then when the world maligns you, don't fret or be anxious or take it personally, because they will be held accountable. The judge sits on the throne with gavel in hand, ready to judge the living and the dead. He will judge the living and the dead. And those who have not confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior, who have not repented and believed, believed in Him, will know eternal condemnation in hell. But those who do believe, who have repented and believed, will have eternal life. and his sins will not be counted against him or her because of the blood of Jesus. Meanwhile, we live for God's will. We do not live in the passions of the human nature, human flesh. Thirdly, live forever in the Spirit. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead. We have another complicated verse here. For this refers to the previous context, the coming judgment of God when he will judge the living and the dead. And for this is why the gospel was preached, notice past tense, was preached to those who are dead. The NIV, if you have the NIV translation, it says this. The gospel was preached to those who are now dead. It was added to the NIV because of this. The gospel was preached to those who were alive at one point, but have now since died. Before they died, the gospel was preached to them. They were made alive in the spirits, made alive by the spirits. And then they died and they lived forever in the Spirit with God. They live in the Spirit as God does. Again, this is interpreted, this difficult verse is interpreted by the next part, that though judged in the flesh, that though judged in the flesh the way all people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. In other words, every human being was or will be judged in the body or flesh because death is the consequence of sin. It's a consequence of the fall of every human being. As Hebrew says, it is a point for man to die once and after that comes judgment. and said that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. The spirit is permanent and does not die. It lives forever because God created us immortal, eternal spirits or souls that live forever. And the Christian who has died in the flesh, who has suffered in the flesh and died, lives forever as God does in the spirit. Or we can say in the spiritual realm. The ultimate destination is the spiritual realm where God lives and dwells until the resurrection of the dead, when Jesus shall come to judge the living and the dead. Is that your destination? Where are you heading? Until then, the way of the destination is a road marked with many and fierce and dangerous battles that requires the Christian's mind to be sharp, ready, and proactive. Arm yourselves with the mind of Christ. Be sharp, ready, and proactive, fighting against all evil. To fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, it's imperative that the mind of the Christian must be filled with the mind of Christ. I often am asked by people how Mateo is doing and if he's been deployed and Are we concerned about the imminent dangers in the world and what's going on there? Well, sailors don't talk much about what's going on, but one thing that the captain of the ship always tells the sailors is this, we're always gonna be ready, we're always gonna be prepared, and we're always gonna be proactive and not reactive. Be ready, be prepared, be proactive. And all the while they're training for that. All the while they're training for it. Going out to sea, going underway, doing maneuvers, ready. I can't think of a better illustration for us Christians to have arm ourselves with the mind of Christ. And sadly, we fill our minds with so much garbage. I'm preaching to myself here. I'm preaching to myself. We fill ourselves with so much garbage that the mind of Christ sometimes ceases to exist in our hearts and minds. And we do what is right in our own hearts and minds. What are those things, Christian? What are those things that we need to pluck out of our lives that we may arm ourselves with the mind of Christ so as to not hinder us from restraining sin in our lives? Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Feed your mind Christ and his word. Christ and his word. Amen. Let's pray. Oh Father in heaven, We thank you for the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, a free gift, a gift of grace, unearned, undeserved. You have called us to be your children, and you have called your children to imitate their Father in heaven. And so we pray, oh Lord, that as we take up the calling to which we have been called, We would arm ourselves with the mind of Christ and think as our Savior thinks. To live for your will, to not live in human passion. Live forever in the Spirit as God does because He alone gives life eternal. And so we look to you in faith, and as we walk in faith, oh Lord, we pray that our trust and obedience to you would grow and blossom, that we would, oh Lord, rely upon you and your spirit to put to death sin in our earthly bodies. And Father, we pray that when we suffer, that we would not repay evil with evil, but evil with good, reflecting our Lord. who loved us and gave himself for us. Father, help us, we pray, and when we fall and fail, when we fall short in sin, may we always take hold of that promise that through Jesus Christ and faith in his name, we are forgiven. That when we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us. and walk in newness of life, forgetting what is behind and pressing forward to what is ahead. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.