So as I was thinking about this passage and thinking about even what John Cook shared this morning of their ministry in the Middle East, I was thinking about a headline that I saw which I'll paraphrase, essentially it was a conundrum of the Osteens. Joel Osteen has a large ministry in the U.S. here, and his wife was quoted as saying something to the effect of, we come to worship, And it's not so much to worship God, but it is to make us happy or something loosely paraphrased as that. And so when you when you take a headline or a statement of that magnitude and you try to apply the gospel or biblical truth to believers in a situation in the Middle East where they're being persecuted and they're losing their homes and they're being pushed out or put to death because of their faith, there's clearly a conundrum in what the truth of God's Word or how the truth of God's Word makes sense. If the gospel is just for our happiness, then being persecuted and losing your home and being pushed out or seeing loved ones killed, there's no way you're going to be happy in that. And it's empty. And there's no There's no traction to it. And that's why we love the Word of God. We love to proclaim the Word of God because even in the midst of the most horrific circumstances, we can find truth and we can find hope so that we can carry out Christ-like living in a world that isn't. And so that's why this series has been challenging and encouraging as we've studied this letter to persecuted believers under the leadership of Nero at the time and how applicable and more applicable it's becoming for Christians even today. And so if you recall, just a quick reminder, in chapter one, Peter just proclaims this wonderful gospel that God has extended to us, His grace in sending Christ to die on the cross for our sin, being raised again to new life, and giving us the opportunity to place our faith and trust in Him, that we might experience eternal life and have that inheritance that awaits us. And then throughout the rest of the letter he talks about how that is lived out. And so we get to this chapter, chapter 4, and we see that there really is there really is hope for the Christian who is being persecuted or being challenged in their faith or facing circumstances that are very difficult and uncomfortable as we would understand it here in the U.S. and in Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, right? He begins with this idea of, hey, therefore, referring back to chapter three where he's talked about how our faith is lived out in relationships, right? Husbands and wives and slaves and masters Maybe that's not in that chapter, but husbands and wives for sure. And then he talks about how Christ died for it all. In verse 18 of chapter 3, Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. He talks to Christians about living a godly life, being godly examples, being excellent in our behavior among the Gentiles. And he's saying, therefore, because Christ died and rose again, we too have the ability and the capacity to live a life that's honoring to him. So when I thought about a preaching point, if you will, as you think about suffering, as you think about Peter's theme throughout the book, and as we think about our theme, Christ-like living in a world that isn't, Christ-like living turns suffering into opportunities for the gospel, turns opportunities for the gospel, and then also for discipleship. So we're gonna look at two main points tonight. Be armed and be ready. And that can sound threatening when we think of the hostilities around the world related to wars that are going on. But I think it's helpful for the Christian to be thinking what a serious engagement we have in the world because of the challenges that face us. So we are to be armed. therefore since Christ has suffered in the flesh arm yourselves also with the same purpose because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men but for the will of God the idea of arming ourselves it's a command in verses 1 through 6 he's talking about Christ's purpose for suffering. In the midst of suffering we want to have the same attitude as Christ. We want to glorify God. We want to bring Him honor. We want to bring Him glory in the midst of the suffering. It's the picture of a Greek soldier putting on heavy armor. You can imagine in the barracks They're putting on the equipment that will protect their chest from an arrow, or a spear, or a sword. They've got the armbands, the arm guards. They've got the breastplate up here, and they've got the belt. They've got the thigh things, and the shin things, and the boots. Everything, they're just getting ready. They're getting ready for war. And the picture that Peter uses with this word, arm yourselves, is that picture of a Greek soldier getting ready for battle. And it's not just a little skirmish. It's not just a little, well, I'll just go light today. This is a heavy battle that he's getting ready for. And what a good picture for us believers, for us followers of Christ to understand That in the midst of a heavy battle, a heavy engagement of war, spiritually speaking, we need to be ready, we need to be armed, armed with the gospel. Because it's the gospel truth, Christ died, buried, risen again and coming back. that's going to help us in the midst of the suffering okay so a couple things in these verses one is that uh... we we want to no longer live for the loss of men but we want to live for the will of god right christ throughout the gospels we see that he was uh... intent and bent on doing the the father's will no matter what he was bent uh... towards heading to jerusalem to be beaten to be crucified and then to die on our behalf no matter what he was going to fulfill the father's purposes even in the garden when he had prayed to the to the father if it be if you would take the cup away then so be it but your will be done not mine right He was bent on fulfilling the will of God. He suffered in the flesh. He did not sin. He was able to complete his purposes. And Peter is reminding us that we want to follow the same attitude of Christ, have the same purpose as Christ in following the will of God. says that he suffered in the flesh, it's a, he suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose because he who suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men but for the will of God. So as Christ suffered in the flesh, he came, he was human, he was beaten, those who trust Christ as their savior may also suffer in the flesh. may also come to a place where there is persecution in reality, like that we see in other parts of the globe, but where we are mistreated or we are treated differently because of the faith. I remember when I was a teenager and I had trusted Christ, I really, you know, I didn't know anything except that I needed a Savior and Jesus was that Savior. So I told a friend, I was a dishwasher at a pizza place, had a break, he came in for a Coke and I sat down, I said, I'm a Christian now. He said, what's that mean? I said, well, I'm not exactly sure. I go to church. I needed a savior. And he said, oh, so you're a Bible thumper. And I was like, well, I don't think so. But something changed. And my friends at the time, they knew something had changed. And so you call that persecution? Probably not. But there was a relational shift. you know they they understood that something was different and so as I lived out as we live out the rest of our days in the flesh here we may experience and we should expect that there will be suffering that there will be persecution This word here, ceased from sin, so suffered in the flesh and has ceased from sin, has the idea of being released from sin. We've been released from the penalty of sin, we have been released from the power of sin because of Christ, and eventually we'll be released from the presence of sin when we are with Him in His presence, right? So we want to just make sure that as we live out our days, we want to follow Christ's example in the midst of suffering and live for the will of God. We want to follow our Lord's example and live for the will of God. And a lot of this, I think, too, has to do with our mindset, right? Because when things get tough in our life, even if it's not just physical persecution or things that are tough in our knowledge, whether it's financial or health or family relations or whatever it might be, these are tough types of things, we need to have the right mindset And Peter is reminding us that we need to have the same attitude, the same purposes as Christ. Romans 12, 1 and 2, Paul says, what does it say? Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the what? Renewing of your mind. And so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, pleasing, and perfect, or acceptable and perfect. Right? So we have to get our minds reset on perspectives on these things. We've got to understand that God wants us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind and it's renewed when we fill it with the word of God. Okay? When we fill it with the word of God. So we need to do the will of God. In verse six, note that he says that they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. you know, when we trust Christ as our Savior, the Spirit of God is in us, we now have the capacity and the ability to live for God in a way that pleases Him, because it's what? It's in the power of the Spirit. It's not just striving outwardly to do our own thing, right? We're filled with the Spirit, we're led by the Spirit. Galatians 5, it talks about the fruit of the Spirit being demonstrated in us, right? and so we want to make sure that the lives that we live while we're here we're being armed with Christ's purposes in the midst of our suffering we're going to do the will of God no matter what we're going to do the will of God okay on the opposite end of that in these same six verses. He says this, the time has already passed. So Peter likes this concept of time, right? He says the rest of the time in your flesh is no longer for the lust of men. But because the time already is past, it's done, all right? It's time out from how you used to live. He says, the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached, even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. So Peter is reminding us, hey, it's time out from how you used to live. You used to live like the Gentiles. You didn't have a compass, if you will. You didn't have the Spirit of God in you. You hadn't recognized and come to a place where you had placed your faith and trust in Christ to save you. And so you were living in this wicked and debauched lifestyle, right? And at the time, you didn't think it was wicked or debauched. It was just what everybody did. Right? I mean, you were just caught up in it. Paul in Ephesians says we're dead in this world, right? We don't know that we're dead. We're the walking zombies of the day, right? And so Peter is just reminding us, by God's grace, that time out from that. Stop it. Be done with it. Do not live to fulfill the desires of your flesh. The time has passed. The course is done. The course is closed from this. So then he goes on to describe a series of sin, if you will. Pursuing a course of sensuality, it really comes to the idea of a total lack of self-control. It's a determined violation of social norms. In our culture today, social norms are getting further and further from God's truth, right? And so, as we look at a violation of social norms, for a believer, that becomes now, we are a violation of social norms. Right? To have a monogamous relationship between a husband and a wife with children in today's culture is an anomaly. Right? The Olympics, what was the quote from the Olympic snowboard team? This snowboard guy had a wife and he was young and they were so shocked. It was like very unusual to the broadcasters. Do you remember that? And so this idea of these people that Peter is referring to, it's time out from pursuing this course of life that is completely without self-control, and particularly in the area of sexuality and sensuality. He says, having pursued a course of sensuality lusts, you know, this is a strong unrestricted sense of passionate desire. And at times, lust can be a good thing. But here he's talking about the evil kind of lust that is just unrestricted of passionate desire. And so they drink of it to fulfill as much of it as they possibly can. Peter's saying, it's time out. You've had enough time in that realm. Don't go there anymore, right? He says, no longer living for the lusts of men. Drunkenness, of course. The excess of wine is a Greek word made of two words, wine and bubbling up or overflowing. So the idea that you're just overflowing with wine. Drunkenness, pretty straightforward. The idea of carousing and drinking parties is a collective village merrymaking, if you will, where everybody's out on the street and it's a big party. I haven't been at Times Square on New Year's Eve, but just a big crowd of everybody celebrating and, you know, doing their thing. Maybe Mardi Gras would be a better thing. I've never experienced that either, but, you know, that's the idea, right? That's the whole picture of just the debauched reveling together. in a lifestyle held parading in the in the street wild furious and ecstatic and then these drinking parties interesting drinking bouts possibly related to pagan rituals but certainly these individuals that are just getting it on you know and and not having any self-control in how they're living and Peter for the Christian in the midst of suffering is telling us, listen, it's time out from this kind of a lifestyle. We don't need to be going down this path. Instead, we have to understand and recognize that when we trust Christ as our Savior, there's going to be a change, and people are going to notice. I went back to visit, oh, this was a number of years ago. I went back to visit one of my parents in Canada, and I stopped by my old high school, or it was the new high school, but a former teacher had been there. And she asked me what I was doing. And I told her that I was a pastor. I was in ministry. And she said to me, with a puzzled look on her face, now you weren't always religious, were you? And no, I wasn't. I was a Gentile. I still am a Gentile. But I was living in a way that was not honoring to the Lord or directed in that way. And so people will want to malign you. They'll look at your lifestyle, they'll look at how you're living, they'll look at your faith, your new faith in Christ, and they will want to malign you. And Peter, remember in chapter two, he says, let your behavior be excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the things that they want to accuse you, they can't. Right? Here he's essentially repeating himself. You know, they're going to malign you, but you have to remember, you and I have to remember that they're going to stand before God and they are going to have to give an account. They're going to have to recall and explain and try to defend themselves. And if they haven't trusted Christ as their Savior, their judgment is eternal damnation and hell, right? And so he's saying, remember these things. We wanna be armed and ready with the gospel because in the midst of suffering, in the midst of challenging times, there's going to be opportunities to live for Christ. And we wanna stand firm in the faith so that people can look at us and say, what? How are you possibly able to manage through this? health problems, cancer, premature babies, whatever. Thomas was 10 weeks early. And so we were flabbergasted. We didn't know, but praise the Lord for Lori's ability to just be calm in the midst of all of that. Helicopter down to San Francisco, and I'm like, what in the world? Is she going to be alive? Is the baby going to be alive when I get there? And praise the Lord, they both are and doing well. But at the time it's like what but there was an anchor for our soul because of Christ and the Gentiles the people who are apart from Christ They don't have the same anchor. They don't they don't have that same armor ready for battle Right. They don't have it. And so they are going to stand Before God and give an account and I love verse 6. It's for the gospel has for this purpose been preached so they're blind they're dead you and i were blind and dead before uh... we came to a place where our eyes were open and we recognize our need for a savior the gospel is our only hope in the midst of persecution in the midst of anything and everything he is our only hope for a right relationship with god he's our only hope uh... for being able to to live uh... a life that pleases god And I would say that the verse 6 is referring to those who had heard and trusted in Christ and they are no longer living as Peter writes this. But they were, while they were here they trusted Christ as their Savior, they were living in the Spirit according to the will of God. And that's what Peter, God through Peter and by his grace is reminding us that in the midst of suffering we need to be armed and ready to do the will of God and not to fulfill the lusts of men. So that's the first point that we want to be reminded of. The second point is really turning from the gospel and the opportunities to live out the gospel to the unsaved world. Peter takes a turn, if you will, and now begins to talk about believers and how we really disciple one another, or how we share Christ's love and our walk with Christ and live out the gospel with each other, okay? And so he says, be ready. He says, the end of all things is near, therefore be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. So this again is another command and the rest of what we see as verbs in our English texts are participles. And so it's all supporting this command to, or they're all supporting this command to be sound of judgment and sober of spirit. So sound judgment, again, comes back to our mind. We want to have a sound mind. We want to be thinking clearly and correctly about who Christ is and who we are in Christ so that we can live out a life that is effective for Him, that brings Him glory and honor, all right? It's to put a correct estimate upon oneself. You know, Josh, this morning as you were talking about pride, not having a right perspective of who we are, or a right estimation of who we are. Having a sound judgment, according to what Peter is talking about here, has the correct estimation of who we are. It has a correct understanding that apart from Christ we are doomed, right? We are absolutely without hope. and that really it's only because of Christ that we're able to accomplish much for Him. This idea of being a sober spirit, and sober spirit has the idea of being calm and collected, to be temperate, to be circumspect. The opposite of it is frenzy or madness, and the Greek word that's, we get the English word mania, from the opposite understanding of sober spirit. That's a good way to understand the difference, right? So you get all worked up and into a frenzy, and you're, oh, my world is falling apart. It's crazy, it's crazy. That's not sober-minded. That's not sober spirit, okay? Being of sound judgment and sober-minded. Peter actually, in chapter one, turned back there in verse 13, he says prepare your minds again see preparing our minds we have to be thinking straight prepare your minds for action keep sober in spirit and fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ over in chapter five turn over there Again, he says, be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So the idea of being sober mind or of sound judgment and a sober spirit is near and dear to Peter. And it's interesting as we think about Peter, right? Because he wasn't always of sound judgment or sober spirited. He would kind of jump into things maybe, right? Or he would not be thinking clearly of what Christ had wanted him to do or be a part of it. So as we think about being ready one of the things to start out with in verse seven is the idea of the end of all things is near. He's talking about Christ's imminent return. He's talking about the fact that Christ is coming back. We don't know the day or the hour, but it could be right now, all right? And as imminent as it was for Peter and his readers then, it's as imminent today. It could be today. And Lord, wouldn't it be wonderful if we were able to go home today? Wouldn't that be wonderful? And so Peter wants us to have this perspective that as we're using sound judgment and we're sober of spirit, we're thinking correctly about these circumstances and our suffering. We want to understand and be motivated by the anticipation of Christ's return, okay? it's it's coming he says the end of all things is near therefore be of sound judgment and sober spirit interesting that he says for what for the purpose of prayer again this is interesting because it's coming from Peter right you remember in the garden of Gethsemane what did Jesus tell the disciples and and especially the the guys that he pulled aside a little bit further away keep watch and pray Right? Keep watch and pray, he said in Mark chapter 14. Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. You know, we want to anticipate Christ's return. We want to be of sound mind and sober spirit, of sound judgment and sober spirit so that we can be effective in our prayer, so that we can be in a close communion and communication with our Father in heaven, with our God. right? We want to be thinking clearly that when we face whatever circumstances God brings our way or Satan tries to put in our path for evil, we want to be thinking clearly so that that communication with our God is uninterrupted, right? Is high priority in the midst of persecution. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 18, this would be worth turning to, Ephesians chapter 6 And verse 18, after he talks about the armor of God, he says, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. And pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness of the mystery of the gospel. So Paul understood how important it was for prayer in the midst of battle, right? And so we want to be armed, we want to be ready with the gospel and with the understanding that Christ is going to return imminently. Above all, he says in verse 8, so you know we've got all this living that he's talked about up until this point in his letter, He says above all keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sin so in this command of Being of sound judgment and sober spirit, he's saying, above all, hey, we need to have a fervent love for one another. And the picture there is of an athlete who is crossing the finish line and is straining with all he's got to be the one that crosses the tape first, right? So you can picture the muscle straining. He's gasping. He's doing everything he can. And Peter uses that word to describe how we ought to love one another. I confess, I don't love that way. That's hard. That takes work, right? John and I ran that marathon a few weeks ago, and neither one of us crossed the line like that. We crossed the line. I mean, maybe you were straining, but I was straining, but not like this. Right, but it takes worth work and and and Peter is telling us that just as an athlete is going to Be diligent and work hard to accomplish the goal of straining across that finish line first We and our love for one another need to be fervent. It's going to take effort. It's going to take work and Peter is reminding us of that You know, he mentioned it already in chapter 1 in verse 22. So it's a theme that Peter is reminding them. Because of the great gospel, because of our salvation in this magnificent God through Christ, he's reminding us that we need to love one another fervently. And it's nothing new. John records for us in chapter 13 he says a new commandment I give to you Jesus is saying this that you love one another even as I have loved you that you also love one another by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another the Christian does not ever have the opportunity to say I don't love that person we can't there's no There's no room for us to be able to say that or to do that because of Christ's love for us, God's love for us. It went beyond everything that's natural and human, okay? And so our love for one another needs to be fervent. He also says that it covers a multitude of sins. Now, it doesn't ignore or condone sin, but as we demonstrate and exercise our love for one another, this love helps us to address sin, but do it in a way that's gracious and humble. and then to not bring that sin up and to use it against our brother or sister or to use it to bring somebody down and say oh yeah so-and-so did you hear what so-and-so did that is not demonstrating love that covers a multitude of sin we don't have to dredge it up we don't have to broadcast it to everybody right so Peter is reminding us that as we disciple one another, as we live out the gospel in the world and in the midst of one another, we're gonna be fervently loving one another, straining at our love for one another because love covers a multitude of sin. And then it says that we should be hospitable to one another without complaint. That's a good one. Be hospitable means to love strangers, right? And some of us are stranger than others. I suppose, right? Yeah, that was a good one. But we, the idea is really going beyond our comfort zone and, you know, Connection Point is a great place for us to do that, but in our neighborhoods, in the workplace, back then, Believers would come into a town and and other believers would welcome them into their home And they would feed them and they would spend the night they were Demonstrating hospitality to the nth degree but Peter is addressing that while they're doing that they go back into the kitchen and say huh? When are these folks gonna leave? Right and so they're grumbling and they're complaining And Peter is reminding us that as we're being hospitable, as we're showing love to strangers, as we're being welcoming and caring for others who we don't know, we wanna do it in a way, in the right attitude, right? This idea of complaining and grumbling is really a fascinating study and it's convicting and it's humbling as it's convicting. Philippians says do all things without grumbling or disputing there's nothing left out there it says all things right do all things without grumbling or disputing and then in our list of big sin in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 The idea is how we ought to avoid Israel's mistakes and so their record is for our benefit that we might see them as examples so that in verse 6 of chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, we would not crave evil things as they also do. Do not be idolaters, verse 8, nor let us act immorally as some of them did. Verse 9, nor let us try the Lord as some of them did and were destroyed. Verse 10 and then it says nor grumble. What? That's not at the same level as immorality and idolatry, is it? Grumbling? Well, yeah, it is. And Peter is telling us that as we demonstrate our love for one another and our love for strangers, that we ought to be hospitable without grumbling or murmuring or talking about them behind their back. That's not the same attitude that Christ had when he came on our behalf. Then he talks about, in verse 10 and 11, he talks about gifts. stewardship of gifts. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The gifts that God gives are special gifts. They're special. It's not just a talent. It's a divine or a supernatural ability that God uses in the context of the church, of the body of Christ, to bring Him glory and to edify one another. and he breaks them down into a couple of categories speaking gifts and serving gifts we'll talk about that in just a minute here but they're special gifts because it's God that is the one that gives them we simply as believers we receive the gift that God has already ordained for us to receive there's nothing that you and I can do to stir up or to try to get certain types of gifts God in His sovereignty and in His divine plan and overseeing of His body makes sure that the gifts are in His people He doesn't need your help to identify which gift you should have Now, and they manifest themselves in different ways. The speaking gifts manifest themselves in different ways. Josh is a different type of preacher than John, than me, than Chris, you know, and there are some that are more effective with little ones. When I get into it, I've tried to help Lori in the little kids' classes. I really have. I went in there once. And I left after five minutes. I just am not effective. If they're my kids, I love it. We can do things. But when there's other kids, I love the little children, but I'm not effective teaching with them. Because they're just kind of all over the place. But some people are effective there. Some people are more effective with the adults. Some with teens. So those gifts of speaking, God designs and makes sure that there are people to be able to minister to those individuals. But we simply receive the gift. We don't figure out, oh, you should have that gift. You should have that. I should have this gift. It's not how it works. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 is a good place to turn to remind us of gifts. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 is another place. You can mark that down on your paper. But 1 Corinthians 12 it says in verse four now there are varieties of gifts but the same spirit and there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord there are varieties of effects or results but the same God who works all things in all persons but to each one is given the manifestation is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good all right so it's God that that distributes the gifts and it's for the purpose of bringing God the glory and for the common good of serving others, right? He says, each one, in 1 Peter again, has received a special gift. Employ it. Activate it. Get busy. If all you're doing at Santa Rosa Bible Church is coming to listen to a sermon or a message and then going away, you're not using your gift. There's not a gift of sitting. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry. There is no gift of sitting. You need to engage. You need to get involved. You need to use what God has given you for his glory and the common good. And another thing, those people that aren't here tonight, well, not tonight. Those people who absent themselves from church. They miss out on the body of Christ ministering and serving one another. We miss out when they're absent because we miss out on the gift that God has given them. And so that's a good reason to make sure that we are gathering as God's people, okay? It's to serve others. serving one, employ it, so he's saying get at it, get busy, use what God has given to you in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. You know, being a household manager is what God is describing for us here, being good stewards of this very gated, this very different distribution, these various types of gifts that he gives to the body of Christ He wants us to use it. They're all a demonstration of His grace. That we might be encouraged in Him. That we might be built up. He wants us to use them as good stewards. Serving one another. Your gift is not to serve yourself. You know, Josh, you talked this morning. Is it anger? Is it the praise of men? And there was a third one. I'm sorry, I forgot the third one. But, you know, sometimes as preachers, it's for the praise of men, right? We want to hear that attaboy, that, oh, well, yeah. But we need to stay humble and understand that that gift is not for yourself. That gift is for everybody else that's in the body of Christ, serving one another as good stewards. And then he talks about these two types of gifts. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Speaking gifts. We want to make sure, that's what I really love about this church, that those who are teachers or preachers, that they are preaching and teaching the word of God. The utterances of God. You know, I don't have good advice or good counsel. But God's Word does. God's Word is truth, and God's Word is what gives life, and God's Word is what can give perspective, and what helps us understand who God is, and our salvation, and how to navigate troubled waters and troubled seas. And He wants us to understand that if you have the gift of speaking, the gift of teaching or preaching, that we ought to be doing that, making sure that what we speak and what we preach is the very words of God, that is driven by the foundation of the Word of God. And our motivation is to help you grow in love for Him and for one another. The other one is serving. whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies you know there's a volunteer stat statistic I guess where 20% of the people do 80% of the work Well, in the church, because of these gifts, it should be 100% of the people doing 100% of the work. It should not be that statistic of volunteerism or that statistic of organizational development. It should be the body of Christ is actively engaged, using their individual gifts for the glory of God and serving in the power that God gives. It's not just us doing it in our own strength or begrudgingly Or I see people that are busy getting coffee set up. I see people getting chairs set up. The picnic last week, everybody pitched in and took those tables and chairs down. It was like, wow, we're done already? And that's just people getting involved and serving. There's a lot of ways to serve in a local church that don't involve getting up front and speaking. We have people that need rides to church. We have people who can't get to church, so they need a visit. Our deaconesses and deacons both coordinate those types of ministries we have people that We have needs to help spruce up or decorate and Ralphine does all of that or most of that or with her team of people You know Bob is heavily involved in in a lot of the landscaping But if people have green thumbs and that's their thing come on. Let's use it for the glory of God Let's get involved And stop just sitting. There's no gift of sitting. I'll say it again. Do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies. Why? So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We serve, we speak, we love, we're hospitable, we pray, we look for Christ's return, we share the gospel, not for our glory. It's not for our fame as a local church. We don't do missions and support missions so generously for our name's sake as a local church. We do it because God is the God of the universe. And it's Him, by His grace, who has provided salvation for us. And in the midst of suffering, and in the midst of challenges, as we live out the gospel, and as we change our ways from living a life that used to be for ourselves, and like the Gentiles, we now change and turn to live a life for Christ. We do it for His glory. That God would get the fame, not us. that people see Christ in you as people see Christ in me that it's not about directing attention to ourselves it's for his glory and dominion forever and ever amen and he ends I mean that's a great doxology in the midst of that little section there isn't it he shares that same doxology over in verse 11 of chapter 5 to him be dominion forever and ever amen you know as It's our own pride that wants to get the fame. It's our own pride that wants to get the glory. But Peter is reminding us that we don't do these things for our own sake. We do it for the glory of God. And I pray in my own life that I would live a Christ-like life, armed and ready. Armed with the gospel, turning suffering into opportunities for the gospel, and ready for discipleship to be an effective part of the church. Amen? Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word that is so true. And Father, help us to have sound minds, be of sober spirit, and to be ready with the gospel. Thank you for transforming us through him. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our purpose is to lift up the Lord by living out the word, loving one another, and leading others to Christ. Be sure to visit us on the web at www.srbible.org or come visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road, Santa Rosa, California 95409. You can also give us a call at 707 538-2385.