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1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4. As we're going back to 1 Peter,
we're continuing our series, living in Babylon. And throughout
this series, Peter has been writing to the dispersed exiles. These are believers that have
been dispersed by persecution across Asia Minor. And he is
seeking to instruct them on how they should live in the world
as examples to the lost. And so as we concluded 1 Peter
3 last week, looking at verses 16 to 22, again, this was a really
unique passage, a powerful passage, and it focused heavily on the
triumphant and the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on behalf of
sinful humanity. And this was just really cool,
the way that that text aligned with Easter the very next Sunday,
and Peter's talking about Jesus and his sacrifice for us that
saves us from our sin. And that passage, if you remember,
it built directly off of verse 15 of 1 Peter chapter three.
And that's kind of a core foundational verse for apologetics. Peter
says, always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that lies
within you. And he says that in verse 15. And then the really
cool thing that we see in verses 16 to 22 is we see Peter build
on that theme. Always be prepared to give an
answer for the hope. And then in verses 16 to 22, he explains
what that hope is. What does that hope look like? And Peter elaborates in verse
18, saying, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. That is
the hope that we have. It is the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ on our behalf that reconciles us before God. And so again,
really cool that that aligned with Easter in that way. And
in those final verses of chapter three, Peter even goes on to
elaborate and illustrate with the story of Noah and how Noah
was a faithful witness to the wicked and lost generation. Back
in Genesis chapter six, we can read about that, but this is
a close parallel to how the believers were supposed to act in their
current situation, and it translates to us, obviously, as well. We
are supposed to follow that same example of Noah, who was a faithful
preacher of the gospel, despite the wicked generation he lived
in, despite for some 50 to 75 years, as he's building the ark,
no one, not a single person, outside of his family responds
to the gospel. And so we see the impact of Noah
and his ministry. We take our example from that. We should be calling the loss
to Christ while we live on the earth. We should be living as
examples of righteous obedience. This is a testimony of the work
that Jesus has done in our lives. And so this week, as we pick
back up in 1 Peter 4, the apostle Peter is going to continue to
call the believers to righteous living. He's going to continue
to call the believers to righteous living. And really, since chapter
2, verse 12, we kind of see the purpose statement for Peter's
entire epistle. And that is that the unsaved
would see your good works and that they would glorify your
Father who's in heaven. on the day of visitation, right?
This is the whole purpose of Peter's epistle. You're living
in a world surrounded by unbelievers. You must be unique. And as you
live and you do good works, and these good works point people
to Christ. This is the purpose. This is
Peter's purpose. We are to live lives that are
changed by grace, as we saw in our text last week, and this
way of living sets us apart from the world around us. And so as
we look at verses 1 through 6, we'll just cover the first seven
verses of chapter 4, and we'll see together from this passage
the type of living that Jesus demands of his followers. Again,
verses 1 through 6 really outline for us the type of living that
Jesus demands from his followers. And so look at verse 1 of chapter
4, Peter continues, and God's Word says this, 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. 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. Let's go ahead and pray as we
usually do and ask for God's grace as we look at this passage
together this evening. Dear Lord, we're thankful for
your word. We're thankful again for the opportunity to come together
and to study your word. And we see in a powerful epistle
from Peter to the exiled believers of the dispersion, we see again
a call to live righteously, a call to be a testimony in a lost world,
to be a salt and a light as Jesus has called us to be. God, we
ask for your grace as we seek to live this way. We pray for
any who may not know you, even potentially in this room this
evening, we pray that We would have eyes to see this evening
as we engage with your word and that you would convict us of
areas that we need to change and grow, that you would encourage
those that need encouragement. God, we thank you for who you
are and for all that you've done for us this evening. We thank
you for your love and we love you in Jesus' name, amen. The
year was 334 BC, 120 ships carrying roughly 75,000 troops spread across the Dardanelles
Strait. At the helm of these troops was
the precociously brilliant Alexander the Great. At just 22 years old,
the Macedonian king had firmly fixed his legacy in the annals
of history. He is truly one of the greatest
military minds to ever walk the planet. As his fleet came to
rest on the sands of the Persian Empire, Alexander made a bold
and history-defining decision. He turned towards his troops
and commanded his entire fleet of ships to be burned. His men
understandably questioned his decision and asked how he planned
to return home. Alexander responded, we'll return
in Persian ships or we'll die. The psychological effect of Alexander's
dynamic leadership was evident. His men conquered the Persian
Empire and the historic city of Babylon in just three years. Alexander's decision, once again,
on the shores of the Persian Empire, it proved to be highly
motivating. He effectively communicated to
his troops that they would not return home until they had completed
their mission. Their only option was a successful
military campaign. As spiritual exiles, we could
relate this imagery and even this story to our own lives.
If you are a believer today, your life has been transformed
by God's grace and should be continually transformed by God's
grace. Scripture teaches us that your
flesh has died. It has been crucified with Christ. And so to return to your former
way of sinful living, it is simply not an option. You must be faithful
to run the Christian race with endurance. This is what Peter
is going to outline for us in verses one through six. We see
this message portrayed throughout Peter's epistle, but we'll see
it exemplified once again here in verses one through six. So
with that being said, look at verse one with me. Peter begins
saying this, And so the two opening words of this chapter, Peter
says, since therefore, and again, we've highlighted this before,
but this is a really important context It's connecting us to what Peter
has already been talking about in verses 16 to 22. And so Peter
says, since therefore, he's connecting us back with the example of Jesus
Christ that we saw in verses 18 to 22. Christ also suffered
once for sins. And Peter begins in chapter four,
verse one, since therefore Christ suffered, What are we supposed
to do? In verses 18 to 22, we see the
work of Jesus Christ. Again, we see a triumphant Jesus
conquering death, conquering sin, winning salvation for humanity. And in verse 1 of chapter 4,
we see an important distinction. Since therefore Jesus did that,
here's how you ought to live. And so we have the example of
Jesus Christ held up before us once again. And Peter is effectively
saying, because of the suffering of Jesus Christ, believers must
be faithful to put on the same mind or to think the same way
about suffering. Jesus set an example, and he
set an example in that he was willing to suffer for sinners. He entrusted himself to the just
judgment of God. And this is a theme that we've
seen several times in Peter's epistle. And so because of the
example of Jesus Christ, we must also be willing to suffer. Peter
says in verse 18, the righteous for the unrighteous, Christ has
suffered." Peter's making clear Jesus didn't deserve suffering,
and yet he goes through it. He goes through it because of
what it will accomplish in reconciling sinners to God. And so in this
way, Peter's saying, in the same way, have that same mind. Recognize
what your suffering for righteousness sake might accomplish for God's
kingdom. This is Peter's purpose. Again,
an amazing example that we as believers are called to emulate. And Peter gives us this charge. He commands us in this way by
saying, arm yourselves. Again, this is a military term. And we've seen it before in Peter's
epistle. You might think back to verse
13 of chapter one. Peter says this, therefore preparing
your minds for action. Again, this is another military
phrase. Peter invokes these phrase to
give us a sense of urgency. These believers must recognize
the seriousness of the struggle that lies ahead. They were engaged
in spiritual warfare. They had to be actively deciding,
actively putting on this mindset, preparing their minds for spiritual
warfare. Are you doing that? Do you live
that way? Actively preparing yourself for
spiritual warfare. The ways that you can do that
are very, very simple. You know how to do this. These
are spiritual disciplines that you need to be engaged in as
a believer. Reading your Bible, praying regularly,
confessing sin, witnessing and evangelizing to the lost. These
are spiritual disciplines that actively prepare you for spiritual
warfare. They prepare your mind. This
has been a theme for Peter. We've looked at many, many different
commands throughout his epistle, and this is another one, a imperative
command for us as believers. You must do this. Arm yourself. Prepare yourself. Just as a soldier
must intentionally discipline his body and intentionally prepare
himself for battle, equipping himself for battle. Peter wants
the believers to understand the same gravity that goes into spiritual
warfare. You must be intentional in equipping
yourself for battle. Are you doing that? Are you living
that way? Before we move on to the next phrase in verse one,
I want you to recognize also a pattern that Peter is using.
He says, and he finishes that next phrase saying, has ceased to sin. And so there's
a really important pattern that I want you to recognize here.
And Peter uses it many times in his epistle. We see Paul use
it in his epistles as well. And really what Peter does is
we see a Christological example. This is an example of Jesus Christ
And then Peter gives a charge. And this charge is usually based
on the example that he just mentioned. In a sense, because Jesus did
this, you should do this. So we have first this example
of Jesus. Then we have a charge because of the example, because
of Jesus lived this way. And then Peter gives an explanation.
Why should we live this way? Ultimately, he grounds his charge,
his command to obedience in a theological truth or in a doctrinal truth. Once again, we see this unfold
here in the beginning of 1 Peter 4. And I also highlight this
as we transition because it helps us to recognize patterns that
Peter uses, the author uses. But most importantly, I think
it helps us to recognize commands that we must obey as believers.
That's something that as you're reading through your Bible, as
we work through a passage in a message, you should be looking
for those commands. And this pattern, of example,
command, and then explanation, this is something you should
be able to recognize. So once again, if you're taking
notes, maybe you're marking in your Bible, that would be a good
thing to recognize. 1 Peter begins with that example
of Jesus Christ. He says, arm yourselves with
the same way of thinking. There's a command. And then he
says, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased to sin.
That is the explanation. Here's why you should do what
I'm telling you. Here's why you should put on the same mind that
Jesus Christ has in relation to suffering, because whoever
has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Now, straight
away, as you look at that phrase, you might question the accuracy
of Peter's thought. You may say, it seems like he's
saying whoever has suffered for righteousness sake, no longer
struggles with sin. They're perfect in this way.
And that clearly would not be Peter's He's not saying if you've
suffered you will no longer struggle with sin. There are many many
examples of individuals who have suffered for righteousness sake
and they potentially even leave the faith or they struggle with
bitterness. That is not Peter's purpose. It's not what he's teaching.
Instead, Peter's point is this. Those who suffer for righteousness
have demonstrated a clear break from sin. This is a tangible
demonstration. If you're willing to suffer for
righteousness sake, that you have forsaken your sin, you've
turned to Jesus Christ, and this is the relationship that you
value. And a tangible reflection of that is that you're willing
to be maligned, physically persecuted for that truth, to believe in
Jesus. And so this is Peter's point.
These believers that suffer for righteousness, they clearly demonstrate
their allegiance to God, and this is even at the cost of bodily
suffering, even at the cost of injury, their suffering becomes
a tangible picture of their death to sin and their new life in
Christ. This is a breaking away from
sin, and this thought is well-attested throughout Scripture. We see
multiple passages that demonstrate this truth, and consider even
Romans 6, 7 through 8, Paul says this, for one who has died has
been set free from sin. Now, once again, Paul is not
teaching that once you're set free from sin, you no longer
sin ever again. No, that's not what he's saying.
He continues on, now, if we have died with Christ, we believe
that we will also live with him. So you also must consider yourselves
dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. This salvation,
it is pictured as a clear break from sin and a clinging to Jesus
Christ. Galatians 5.24 says this, those
who belong to Christ Jesus, have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires. Again, this is a vivid image. Your flesh has been crucified
with Christ, completely put to death. You are not bound to that
anymore. you're now free to live righteously. That's what Galatians 5 is all
about. This is true Christian liberty. The ability to live righteously. Because before Jesus Christ,
you have zero capacity for righteousness. That's what Jesus does for you.
Before Jesus, you have no capacity for righteousness. Every decision
you make is evil and only evil. This is what the Bible teaches
us. You are dead in your trespasses. And so when Jesus comes and he
takes your sins on the cross, he is mortifying your flesh. He is killing your flesh so that
you now can live righteously. You can live in a way that formerly
you were not able to live. And so Christian liberty is not
talking about, well, now we can do things like drink alcohol
and we can, whatever the case may be, we can do these kind
of maybe taboo things that some people think, well, you can't
do that. But with Christian liberty, we can kind of do things that
we may not be able to do. That is not what the Bible is
talking about. The Bible is not talking about that. Christian
liberty refers to your ability to live righteously by God's
grace. Colossians 3, 3 and 5 also talks
about this. Paul says this, This is, again,
this is the imagery. You have died. Your life is hidden
with Christ. Once again, you are freed from
the bondage of your sin and your flesh. And this emphasis only
becomes clearer as Peter continues in verse 2. Notice what Peter
says in verse 2. So, as to live for the rest of
the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the
will of God. And so as you look at verse two,
Peter's opening phrase, so as to, this is indicating he's offering
further explanation on the previous context. Again, the previous
context is verse one, when he says, whoever has suffered in
the flesh has ceased to sin. And he says, what that looks
like is this, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh,
no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. Again,
what an incredibly practical message for us. He's expounding
upon the meaning of cease to sin, what exactly does it look
like to cease to sin, and so he explains this, for the rest
of the time in the flesh. This essentially means, for the
rest of the person's natural life, what happens? They live
no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. They
strive to glorify God. They don't prioritize their own
passions. They don't prioritize their own lusts anymore. Instead,
they are seeking to live for God's glory. Once again, Peter
demonstrates that those who suffer for Christ, they have not become
perfect. They're not fully sanctified
and glorified. Instead, they have in a very
noticeable way, they've illustrated their transformed hearts. They've illustrated the change
of their desires, their new heart. Again, they've illustrated this
by being willing to suffer. And this is something we've talked
about all through chapter three. This willingness to suffer is
ultimately rooted in our love for God. We might call it living
for an audience of one. You're living for Jesus Christ
and Him only. The rest of the world, it doesn't
matter what they think. You're not living for them. You're
living for God. You're living for Jesus Christ.
And so you're willing to suffer. instead of conforming to a lifestyle
that would make you virtually indistinguishable from the world
around you. And you have to understand, this certainly would have been
a temptation for these believers. Peter's writing in this way because
these believers who are facing real physical persecution, there
is a tangible temptation. Maybe I just blend in. Maybe
I just live like the world and stop being persecuted in this
way. Peter says, don't do that. You
have died to your sin nature in this way. You have ceased
to sin if you persevere, even in the face of suffering. As
you think about this, I told you all last week, I gave you
the illustration of a coworker that I had, and he was a believer,
but instead of really standing out for Christ, and instead of
being an example, his lifestyle was conformed, you might say,
to the wickedness of the men around him. As I watched his
life, as I listened to him speak, there wasn't anything tangible
that set him apart as a believer. This is what Peter doesn't want
the believers to do. Don't live this way. Again, his
reason for doing this, my coworker, it was ultimately to avoid pressure
that he might face for being a Christian in an unsaved environment.
And it is very difficult to live this way. It's hard to be a light
shining in a dark world, as Jesus describes us. It's hard to no
longer live for human passions, but to live for the will of God.
Because the world is going to look on at your life and question,
why in the world are you living that way? Why would you make
the decisions you're making? Why don't you just do what we
do? Jesus tells us this in John 3.20,
This is the nature, this is the nature of a light shining in
the darkness. The darkness is constantly trying
to overcome it. It doesn't like to be exposed. So you see the lost world hates
when believers imitate Jesus Christ because it exposes them,
it exposes their sin. You need to evaluate this evening
as you look at this passage. What about your life? How do
you live? Does the lost world necessarily
feel exposed or convicted? It's not so much that you're
trying to embarrass unsaved people with your testimony, but your
good conduct should expose the work that Jesus has done in your
life. and draw them to Christ in that
way. Instead, it would be a real shame for the unsaved world to
look at your life and say, really, I'm pretty comfortable interacting
with that person. There's nothing about their life
that makes me uncomfortable as a lost person. Peter says that
is not the way it should be. There should be a tangible difference
when you look at the world and look at a believer. Again, this
is the imagery of a spiritual exile. There's something tangibly
different about that person. You know they don't belong for
a number of reasons. Does the unsaved world know you
don't belong? There's something different about
you. Peter says they should. They should be able to recognize
that. Notice verse three. Peter continues verse three.
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. And so Peter now goes
on to explain why believers should never be caught living like the
world. And he says, what? Because the
time that is past suffices for doing what Gentiles do. In a
sense, Peter's saying, you used to live that way and that is
over. It's done. You should not live
like that anymore. Peter's effectively writing,
you have sinned enough. The time that has passed suffices.
That was good enough. You used to live that way and
you shouldn't anymore. Again, this is such vivid language
and it can be seen throughout the New Testament. We see multiple
admonishments like this to the believers. The believers are
repeatedly called, live differently, look different. As you think
about this, we've seen numerous admonishments through the New
Testament for believers to live lives that are changed. Keep
your place in 1 Peter and turn over to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
6, just briefly. As you turn over to 1 Corinthians
6, we're going to look at verses 9-11, just quickly. Paul writes this in verses nine
through 11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the
sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice
homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And
what? Such were some of you. but you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God. Once again,
Paul's purpose is to demonstrate this rampant wickedness used
to describe the believers. You read through this list, this
is a pretty all-encompassing list. sexually immoral, idolaters,
adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy
drunkards, revilers, swindlers. None of these people will inherit
the kingdom of God. And what? Such were some of you. This is how you used to look.
You used to live this way. But what? You were washed. You were sanctified. God reached
into your sinful life. He saved you. And because of
that, you can't live that way anymore. Peter's communicating
this very same truth in verse 3. And so look back at verse
3 and notice the description that he offers of the world that
surrounded the believers. Notice his description. He gives
a similar list as what Paul does in 1 Corinthians 6. He says,
the time has passed, this suffices for doing what the Gentiles wanna
do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking
parties, and lawless idolatry. And Peter gives this lengthy
description of what describes the lives of believers in this
context. And even what would have formerly
described some of the lives of the believers that he's writing
to it. So he's trying to describe in verse three, this is what
the Gentiles do And your time for sinning in that way, it is
over. The list that we read in verse
three, it's commonly referred to in the New Testament as a
vice list. We see several of these through
the New Testament. Most of the time they describe
Gentile living. Even unsaved Jews would not have
been described. They would not have been characterized
by some of these sins. Sensuality. passions, orgies,
all of these characteristics, they describe some type of, some
manner or degree of sexual sin. These words refer to an unrestrained,
just completely giving over of yourself to pursue whatever sexual
desires you may feel. As you consider that list and
you read through it, certainly Peter strikes a chord with our
culture today He describes quite well through the Holy Spirit
what we face today as believers. He goes on, drunkenness, drinking
parties. Again, this is just referring
to wild, completely out of control parties. These encourage drunkenness. This is to completely give yourself
over to substance abuse, to being controlled by various substances
and passions. Again, you might notice all of
these sins. Every sin in this list, it is
related to rampant, out of control, lack of self-control. Complete
and total lack of self-control. And the reason that that is so
spoken against throughout the New Testament is that the believers
were to be controlled by one thing. Believers are to be controlled
by the Spirit, that's it. That's why drunkenness is so
condemned throughout the Bible. Old Testament, New Testament,
we see repeatedly. Don't be drunken with wine. Don't be drunk. This
is listed as a characteristic for pastors, for deacons. We
see it all over the place. Why? Because you're supposed
to be controlled by one thing, the Holy Spirit. To give yourself
over to any other control is sin. The last sin that Peter
mentions in this list is lawless idolatry. Oftentimes pagan Idolatry
could be described by all of the vices that's previously been
listed in verse three. Pagan temples were known for
prostitution, for orgies, for wild partying. Again, a total
lack of self-control. And I love the way that Peter
chooses to describe idolatry in this passage. He uses the
word lawless, lawless idolatry. And you might wonder for a second,
well, isn't all idolatry against God's law? Why does he need to
qualify it this way? Well, many times when we think
of the word lawless, our propensity is to believe that this word
lawless indicates there are no laws. This is actually not the
meaning of the word lawless. You might sometimes think of
the Old West or the Wild West, and people would say, it was
a lawless place. But again, this doesn't mean
that there weren't any laws. Actually, again, that's not what
lawless means. It's quite the opposite. An individual
who is lawless describes someone who knows the laws, and they
willfully disregard them. They live with a total lack of
consideration for the laws. That's what lawless means. I
recognize the laws, I understand the laws, and I'm choosing to
live a lifestyle that is in complete disregard for the laws, for God's
law. Again, lawless idolatry, it's
describing someone who recognizes the sinfulness of idolatry and
pursues it anyways. As you consider this passage,
are there any idols in your heart, any idols in your life today?
Certainly, probably none of you have graven images at home that
you offer food to or worship in that way, but we recognize
the concept of an idol is to place anything of greater importance
in our hearts than God. It's to say this is rising to
a level that I care about this more, I talk about this more,
I think about this more than I think about God. Again, you recognize you're not
supposed to have idols before God, but maybe you just don't
care. That is lawless idolatry. To look into your heart and life
and say, I recognize these things. I recognize that I have certain
pursuits in my life that these do not honor God, and these certainly
rise to the level that I care about them more than God, but
I simply am not going to do anything to change that. It's lawless
idolatry. Many times we would look at this
passage and say, well, I kind of get away on that list of sins,
right? I'm not out getting drunk, all
of these all of these characteristics that Peter mentions. And then
he throws that one in at the end. Peter says, you have said
enough. The time is past. for you to
pursue this type of lifestyle. You can't afford to live that
way anymore. Why? Why can the believers not live
this way? Notice what happens when you
set aside that former way of life, that old man, and instead
you put on the new man. Notice the end of verse three.
With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join
them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. So your
refusal to give yourself over to the desires of your flesh,
your refusal to look like an unbeliever, shocks the unsaved
world. It's very interesting to note
the phrase, flood of debauchery. This carries the idea of almost
a groupthink mentality. Well, everyone's doing it, why
can't I do it? You know, in a sense, we're all
throwing ourselves headlong into this sinful behavior. Why don't
you just come along with us? This is the idea. And so Peter
says, with respect to this, they are surprised when you do not
join them in the same flood of debauchery. Everyone is going
this way. The culture is pursuing this. And for you to not join
in makes you stand out in an awkward way. Why don't you join
us? You might think of issues that
we see today. Why won't you affirm my gender
identity? Why won't you allow me to take
the life of an unborn child? Why don't you just have sex outside
of marriage? Again, because your transformed
life sets you apart from the lost. They see that and they
question, why aren't you going along with this? The massive
cultural wave has flooded over, people are living this way, lives
characterized by debauchery, and there you stand. Totally
separate from the culture, totally unwilling to conform to the sinful
culture. This is a powerful testimony.
And there's really nothing they can do, Peter says. All they
can do is malign you. attack you personally, attack
your character, and maybe in this day and age they're attacking
them even physically, but it doesn't matter. Notice verse
5. Notice verse 5 again, repeated
theme through this epistle, and it's come up here again, but
they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living
and the dead. This is why ultimately we can
live righteously. This is why when Peter says,
if someone is persecuting you, take it. And in our American
minds, we're saying, you want me to be a doormat? I'm just
supposed to take it when someone interferes with my rights. And
Peter says, yes. And how can we do that? because
we can trust God, the just judge. God is the ultimate avenger of
wrongdoing and sin. He will judge the living and
the dead, those who have already died for their sins against his
people. Paul writes this in Romans 12,
18 and 20, beloved, never avenge yourselves. Again, never avenge
yourselves. There's no reason for this. There
is no justification, no matter what has been done to you, no
matter your sense of justice that says, I will not be walked
on. Peter, Paul, they say, never
avenge yourselves. Why? But leave it to the wrath
of God. For it is written, vengeance
is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your
enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something
to drink. For by so doing, you will heap
burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome with evil,
but overcome evil with good." Peter gives us this same admonishment. When someone persecutes you for
doing a righteous thing, what does he say to do? Bless them. Bless them is an incredibly loaded
word. It actually means pray for their
salvation. Not just say nice things about
them, pray for their salvation. What an unbelievable testimony.
Someone has maligned you, they have persecuted you in this way
for doing nothing wrong. Peter and Paul, they say, not
just don't take revenge, but actually seek to do good to that
person. Ultimately, because we serve
a good, a loving, a just God, we have no need to repay evil
for evil. We can see evil going on around
us. We can even, by God's grace, experience evil perpetrated against
us. And we can respond with grace
and love because we trust that God will fight for us. God will
avenge those wrongs. And ultimately, even when we
see horrible injustices happening all around us in the world, we
can take comfort, those people will give account for the way
that they've lived. This is a sober warning. Peter says this in verse six,
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. The phrase for
this is why, this refers to the judgment and our desire as believers
that people might respond. Again, the reason that we preach
the gospel is because we know there's a judgment, we have the
truth, we know there's a God, and all people will give account
to this God for how they have lived their lives. And so we
must be faithful to boldly witness. Again, this draws us back into
the context in verses 18 to 20 of chapter three. The example
of the Spirit of Christ preaching through Noah to the wicked generations. Why? Because we know the truth. Judgment is coming. Repent. Turn
back. We don't want to see this happen
to you. Again, as spiritual exiles, we
exist to point the world to the reality of the judgment. Christ's second coming. Their
need for a Savior. Jesus comes the first time as
a suffering servant. He comes the second time as a
conquering king. He dashes the nations with a
rod of iron. Revelation describes him as the
Lion of Judah that rips apart unbelieving nations. Graphic,
violent imagery of a conquering king returning to unleash vengeance
on unbelieving peoples. We as believers are here to say,
this is what's coming. Don't go that way. You have a
choice. You have the ability to respond
to Jesus's sacrifice. As you look at verse 6, one obvious
question with this verse, Peter began saying, for this is why
the gospel is preached even to those who are dead. What does
Peter mean when he refers to preaching to individuals who
are dead? Once again, this is almost similar
to what we read at the end of chapter 3. Peter's referring
to these individuals in their current state. Once again, as
you look back at chapter three, Peter says in verse 19, he's
talking about the spirit of Christ in which he went and proclaimed
to the spirits in prison. And we said, what is he referring
to when he talks about spirits in prison? How is Jesus speaking
to spirits in prison? Well, again, Peter was referring
to them as they currently were. In their current state, they
were in hell. They were imprisoned in hell.
They had been judged by God. In the same way, in chapter four
here, in verse six, Peter's referring to these individuals in their
current state. As he's writing this, they had
died. And so clearly he had preached
the gospel to them while they were alive, they were unsaved,
The gospel is preached to them, and after accepting the gospel,
they have since died. Notice Peter's language. The
gospel was preached to those who are dead. This took place
in the past, and these individuals now have died. And so the preaching,
again, it took place in the past. Peter's ultimate goal in preaching
the gospel to these individuals is what? You notice at the end
of verse six, that they might live in the spirit. that these
individuals might have new life in Christ, living by the power
of the Spirit instead of in the flesh. Truly, as you look at
chapter 4, verses 1 through 6, this passage is so rich with
application for us. But first, We have several applications
we can take away. Number one, have you been made
alive in the Spirit? Do you have a relationship with
Jesus Christ? Really beginning in verse eight
of chapter three, we see this gospel theme really carrying
through the end of the chapter, and Peter picks it right back
up in chapter four, this gospel theme. We see encouragements
in verse 15 for us to witness. Ultimately, you must consider,
has this gospel message transformed your heart and life on an individual
level? Have you been reconciled to God
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Jesus is the only way
that you can be made right with God today. If you don't have
a relationship with Him, don't miss verse five. You will give
an account to Creator God on the judgment day. This should
be a sobering reality for all of us. Secondly, for believers,
do you live transformed lives? As recipients of grace, you should
be stewarding the grace that is given to you by God. You have
a hope, an eternal hope, an imperishable inheritance. Your responsibility
is to tell others about it. Do you do that? Do you live righteously? Do you seek to point the lost
to Christ? You must. By God's grace, you
can. Today, you can live righteously
and sanctified because Jesus died for you. He purchased grace
upon grace, John tells us, that empowers your walk with God. Today, once again, have you responded
to that grace, and if you're a believer, are you living in
light of that grace? Let's bow and close our time
together with prayer. Dear Lord, we see in this passage,
once again, the example of Jesus Christ. We see a charge for us
as believers to follow in his example, and we see what motivates
our obedience. What motivates our obedience
is that we point the loss to you. We can win souls to Christ
by our example of suffering for righteousness sake. God, we ask
that we might be stewards of your grace today. We ask that
for any who do not know you, that we would have a positive
impact on their lives, that we would point them to their need
for Jesus Christ by our own testimony. God, we ask that we would recognize
as believers we cannot go back into the sinful lifestyle out
of which we were saved. This simply is not an option
for us. And so we pray that we would
live in light of your grace. We pray that we would live transformed
by the power of your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.
Don't Turn Back
Series Living in Babylon
| Sermon ID | 424251350265736 |
| Duration | 43:57 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Peter 4:1-6 |
| Language | English |
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