Read that for us first, and then he's going to teach us what it's all about.
So, thank you, Dan.
Morning.
If you'd like to have 1 Peter open to chapter 4, we're going to continue our worship by
looking at God's Word and seeing what it has to say to us today.
God's Word is as relevant to us today in the year 2019 in Karageline as it was to the people
to whom Peter was writing 2,000 years ago.
So, let's have a look at 1 Peter chapter 4.
We're going to do something that's a bit of a challenge for a preacher, which is to do
an entire chapter in one sermon.
So, we'll see how we get on.
Verse 1, Peter writes,
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude,
because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires,
but rather for the will of God.
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do,
living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless while living,
and they heap abuse on you.
But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead,
so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body,
but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
The end of all things is near.
Therefore, be alert and of sober mind, so that you may pray.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others
as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.
If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,
so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you,
as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed.
For the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler.
However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed,
but praise God that you bear that name.
For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household.
And if it begins with us,
what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
So then those who suffer according to God's will
should commit themselves to their faithful creator
and continue to do good.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father, as we continue our worship through the ministry of your word,
open our hearts, open our minds to receive the food of your word.
Plant this truth deep in our hearts, Lord.
May your Holy Spirit enable us to understand what your servant Peter is saying.
Help us to apply it to our own particular situations.
And above all things, Lord,
may we do everything for your glory.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Maybe you've wondered, like I have,
what's God's will for my life?
Fairly common question.
And we tend to mean it in terms of things like this.
Should I marry this person?
Should I buy this house?
Should I apply for this job?
Should I be in full-time ministry?
Should I shave off my beard?
Someone once asked me, was that God's will for his life?
That's a true story.
Should I serve my guests apple pie or lemon meringue pie?
If you're inviting me over, by the way, either of those is fine.
I'm not fussy.
These are all fairly basic human type questions about what our lives should look like.
But when the Bible talks about knowing God's will,
it talks about something different.
It's not about whether you should own something or marry somebody or work somewhere.
It's so much more than simply making a choice about something.
Simply put, it's doing what God would have us do by what he's revealed in his word.
2 Timothy 3.16 says,
All scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for the servant of God to be complete
and equipped for every good work.
We don't need to go into a trance
or try and have some kind of a dream or a vision or something like that.
It's all here in God's word.
So with that in mind, let's take a look and see what God's word tells us.
And we're going to see that Peter tells us three things.
There are God's will for his church, God's will for you and me.
If you have the notes, you have these.
If not, feel free to write them down.
To stop living for yourselves or ourselves.
To start living for others.
And to remember that Christ lives in us.
So God's will is that we stop living for ourselves,
start living for others,
and remember that Christ lives in us.
So let's kick off.
Verse 1.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body,
arm yourselves also with the same attitude,
because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.
Jesus was completely without sin.
Never had an unkind word.
Never had an irreverent thought.
Never had a sinful impulse.
And if we're honest, we can't even imagine that.
In our current human condition,
we cannot imagine someone who is completely without sin.
Who had a total absence of sin.
But this was what enabled him
to be the perfect sacrifice
to atone for the sins
of all those who believe.
See, in the Old Testament,
all the gallons and gallons of blood,
of goats and sheep
and bulls,
all of that wasn't enough to accomplish
what Jesus did
as the perfect sacrifice.
And so he defeated death
with his own death
and resurrection.
And think about this.
If the Son of God himself
had to die
to pay
for your sins
and for my sins
and the sins of everybody
who would believe,
what does that say
about how we ought to live our lives
in light
of that sacrifice?
Peter tells us
at the end of verse 1
and into verse 2,
have a look at it,
whoever suffers in the body
is done with sin
and they do not live
the rest of their lives
for their own desires
but in pursuit
of the will
of God.
Now remember
when Satan went into the wilderness
for 40 days
and along comes Satan.
Think about that for a second.
What a moment that must have been.
The Son of God
in the wilderness
in human form
and along comes Satan
who is the
ultimate antichrist
if you will.
And Satan says,
you look hungry.
What are you hungry for?
You're the Son of God.
Why are you hungry?
Make yourself some food
out of these stones.
And you know what Jesus said,
man shall not live
by bread alone
but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
He was really saying,
I'm not here, Satan,
to satisfy my own cravings
and my own desires.
I didn't come down here
to do my will.
I came down here
to do the will
of the Father
who sent me.
And the Father's will
was that the Son
would come
and be the suffering servant.
Not the destroyer
of the Roman army
but the destroyer
of death
and sin.
Not to live for himself
but to live for us.
So we ought not
be living for ourselves,
taking our opportunities,
making the most of life
for our own advantage
and our own gain.
And maybe you've heard
things like this.
I was just thinking
some random thoughts.
Maybe you've heard
things like this
or maybe even thought them
or said them.
Who's it going to hurt?
Nobody will ever find out.
Have a few more drinks.
You deserve it.
Well, if I don't take it,
somebody else will.
It's just sex.
It's not even
these things themselves.
Do you hear the attitude
behind them?
It's all about me.
It's all about what I want.
If it feels good,
I'll do it.
I am the master
of my fate.
I am the captain
of my soul.
Don't think like that,
Peter says.
Verse 3,
you've spent enough time
doing all these things.
You're done
with all these things.
And now,
some of you,
if not most of you,
are sitting there thinking,
but Dan,
I do sin.
I sin every day.
And so do you,
in fact.
We're not done
with sin.
Well, you're right.
We do still sin.
But here's the point.
A Christian
doesn't love their sin.
A Christian
doesn't revel
in their sin.
The Apostle John
actually says this.
I think this is in your notes.
But the Apostle John
says this.
If you've been born again,
God's seed
actually lives
in you.
And you cannot
go on
in a lifestyle
of sin.
It's a theological
impossibility
to go on
in the lifestyle
of sin.
And think about it
this way.
I'll illustrate this.
Maybe this will help.
Suppose I was late
getting here.
Like,
I don't show up
until half past 12.
So,
90 minutes late
and Johnny's
preaching comeback
starts early.
And you say to me,
Dan,
you're 90 minutes late.
Don't you care
about this church?
Don't you care
about coming here
to preach the word?
Don't you get
how much we're trusting you
and we're inviting you
here to minister to us
and to preach to us?
And I respond
by saying,
oh well,
I'm sorry,
but on the way here
I got a flat tire.
So I stopped
on the side of the road
and then,
for some reason,
I walked out
into the middle
of the road
and along came
a double-decker bus
traveling 100 kilometers
an hour
and ran over me
full force
and knocked me
into the river
and that's why
I'm late.
You're going to
conclude one of two
things about me.
Either I'm a liar
or I'm certifiably
insane.
And you'd be
absolutely right
because how could I
possibly have an encounter
with a double-decker bus
going 100 kilometers
an hour
and then walk in the door
90 minutes later?
Now suppose it's not
a double-decker bus.
Suppose this is
God himself.
If God reaches down
and takes up
residence inside me,
how could I possibly
look the same
as before that happened?
You talk about
a double-decker bus,
God is billions
upon billions
of double-decker buses
going billions
of miles an hour
invading your heart
and invading your soul
and taking up
residence inside you.
It's why Jesus said
you will know them
by their fruit,
the external proof
of an internal
change of heart
and change of mind.
In fact,
that's what repent
means,
to change your mind.
And people might
mock you for this.
They usually will.
Might call you names,
poke fun at you,
call you a holy Joe.
someone once referred
to me as Ned Flanders.
A few people
aren't laughing
because they've never
seen The Simpsons,
but that's okay.
But I don't answer
to those people.
I don't answer
to anybody
except God.
And you know what?
They will too.
One day,
we will all answer
to God
who will
ask what we thought
of his son.
And then,
depending on our answer,
how did you live
in light of the fact
that you say
you knew my son?
Verse 6,
the same as the believers
who are now dead,
their flesh might have
been judged
by human standards,
but now
they've been judged
according
to their faith
and the fruit
of their faith.
So we have to ask ourselves,
are we living
for ourselves?
Is our spare time
taken up
pursuing comfort?
I read an article
that was
from
The Examiner
talking about
the secret codes
to unlock
all the Christmas movies
on Netflix.
Are we spending
our time
pursuing entertainment,
filling our belly
with whatever
particular cravings
that we have,
literal or otherwise?
Do we think
we're entitled
to a certain way
of life
because we live
in the West,
in this country,
in 2019?
or,
do we follow
the example
of Jesus
who didn't use
his position
to his advantage,
Philippians 2 says,
but became nothing,
became like one of us,
emptied himself
of everything
but love
and then
suffered death
so that we
might live.
God's will
was that God
himself would die
so that we
would die
to our sin.
The will of God,
friends,
is for his church
to stop
living
for ourselves.
Secondly,
God's will
for his church
is that we would
start living
for others.
Look at verse 7.
The end
of all things
is near.
Therefore,
be alert
and of sober mind
so that you
might pray.
I don't know
how often
you think
about the end times.
We're starting
a series on it
in Middleton soon
but basically
there's two kinds
of people
when it comes
to the end times.
They're the ones
who can't get into it
and there's the ones
who can't get out of it.
The ones who never
want to talk about it
and the ones
who want to talk
about nothing else.
Questions about
when it happens,
what happens,
what the signs
will be,
all things like that
but really,
whatever your view
on the end times is,
the question
is the same.
Jesus is coming back.
Are you ready?
And the writers
of the New Testament,
just like Peter here,
they certainly exhorted
people to live
every day of their lives
as if the next person
they met
was Jesus.
He's coming back,
Peter is saying.
Therefore,
be alert,
be ready,
be sober,
not taken up
with the things
we just looked at
and this is interesting,
look at the end
of verse 7,
so that you may pray.
Now,
no matter where you are
in your walk,
if you've been a Christian
for 20 years
or for six weeks,
you probably figured out
you can't walk
this journey by yourself.
None of us can
because we all have ups
and we all have downs.
That's the nature
of this life.
It's the main point
of Peter's letter.
It's easy to be a believer
when things are on the up,
when things are going well.
But what happens
when things go badly?
You see,
a lot of us
are like the prophet Elijah
because even though
he had great victories,
including defeating
the prophets of Baal,
the very next thing
that happened
was he ran off
into the wilderness,
he was alone,
he was depressed
and he was even suicidal.
And the angel of the Lord
appeared to him
with some food and water
and said,
Elijah,
eat something
because the journey
is too great
for you.
You can't do it alone,
Elijah.
You can't do it alone,
Peter.
You can't do it alone,
Dan.
You can't do it alone,
Karageline.
The journey
is too great for us.
And without prayer,
this is just
a social club.
A nice Sunday morning
with tea and coffee.
We need the power
of God in our lives,
friends,
and we get that
through prayer,
through his word,
through fellowship
with one another.
And we do this,
verse 8,
because we're to serve
one another.
Love one another,
verse 8 says.
Verse 9 says,
offer hospitality
to one another.
Because Jesus died for us
and because Jesus
is coming back,
God's will
is that we should live
for others.
Serve one another.
And to do this,
look at the end
of verse 9.
This is profound.
The end of verse 9.
To do this
without grumbling.
Now the Greek word
is interesting.
It doesn't really mean
loudly complaining
about something.
You know,
such a terrible day
today with the rain
and traffic
and whatever the case
might be.
It actually means
something more subtle.
Muttering.
Murmuring.
Begrudging.
We know all about that
in this country.
Begrudging.
What's our attitude
in serving one another?
This is the point.
When we're serving
one another
and living for one another,
what are we thinking?
What are we feeling?
So maybe I'm working
on a sermon
during the week.
Am I just going
through the motions?
Because I have a deadline?
Sunday?
Quarter to 12?
Or am I filled
with gratitude
to God
who gives me
the opportunity
to come and preach
his word?
Or how about this?
When there aren't
enough Sunday school
teachers
or musicians
or whatever,
tea and coffee servers,
and we find ourselves
on the roto
week after week
after week
after week,
are we bitter?
Do we get resentful?
Or do we honor God
in our lives
by killing our pride?
Forgetting that
it's not about us
and being gentle
with other people
in our service?
Or how about this?
And I'm preaching
to myself
on this one too.
When we're trying
to meet up
with somebody
to encourage them,
someone who's suffering,
maybe isolated,
to encourage them
and to minister to them
and they keep postponing
and they keep making excuses
that can sound
made up
or whatever.
Do I quit?
Do I give up?
Do I harden my heart
against them?
Or do I pray to God
that I love that person
the way God loves them?
In other words, friends,
are we joyful
as we live
for one another?
Not viewing it
like a chore
or something
we have to do,
but as a way
to participate
in the work
of Christ
who is the chief
servant
of all.
verse 10,
use whatever gift
you have received
to serve others
as faithful stewards
of God's grace
in its various forms.
One of the beautiful
things about the church
is that we're all different.
We're not all robots.
Alex read from Romans 12
earlier.
Later on today,
have a look at
1 Corinthians 12.
The amazing picture,
we won't look at it now,
but it's an amazing picture
of how the church
is one body
with many parts
and we all look different.
We all have
different nationalities
and speak different languages
and we all have
different gifts
that God gives us
to serve one another.
Paul says,
by one spirit
we were all baptized
into one body
to serve one another.
And some of you,
verse 11,
some of you have gifts
associated with speaking,
preaching,
teaching,
Sunday school,
leading Bible studies,
that kind of thing.
Things that tend
to be quite public.
And still in verse 11,
towards the end,
some of the rest of you
have gifts
that Peter broadly calls
serving gifts.
Setting up,
tearing down,
making and bringing food,
sound control,
administration,
things that aren't
necessarily public
in the same way,
but things which impact
people
in very tangible,
visible ways.
You're all good
at something.
You know what
better than I do.
But regardless
of what it is
you're gifted at,
the Spirit
gave you
those gifts
in order
that you might
live for other people,
not for yourself.
I've been doing
public speaking
since I was
four years old.
Started off
doing school
fesh,
then going on
to drama
and debating
and public speaking
competitions
and all that
kind of thing.
I could always
do that,
but it wasn't
until I became
a Christian
that those gifts
that I had,
God changed my mind
so that I would
use them
to give God glory.
Not to win
the next debate,
not to win
the next argument,
but to glorify God
and to live
for other people.
And we do this
not by our own efforts,
but by the power
of the Spirit.
And that's why,
friends,
if you've ever wondered,
that's why we pray
for God's will
to be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
Because only God
will accomplish
God's will.
And we want it,
if we want to be
a part of that,
if we want to see
God's will done
as we live
to serve one another
and live for one another,
then we have to be
prayerful.
Because otherwise
all the things
we just talked about,
being resentful,
getting hard-hearted,
bitter,
all these things
are going to come back.
We need to be prayerful
so that we can be
humble,
sacrificial.
In both our service
and in our prayers,
we need to mimic
Jesus who said,
the Son of Man
did not come
to be served,
but to serve
and to give his life
as a ransom
for many.
And in the same way,
when we serve
sacrificially,
when we live
for one another,
what we're actually doing
is we're lifting up
Christ and saying,
here he is.
This is a picture
of what this looks like.
Because we're saved,
friends,
so that we can point
other people to Christ.
Yes, by our words,
but also by our actions.
The way we live,
not just our own
personal holiness,
but the way we live
for one another
and serve one another.
Just like it was
God's will for the Son
to die for the church,
it's God's will
for the church
that we should live
for one another.
Thirdly,
and finally,
God's will for the church
is to remember
that Christ lives
in us.
Verses 12 to 14.
Dear friends,
don't be surprised
at the fiery ordeal
that has come on you
to test you,
as though something strange
were happening to you.
But rejoice
inasmuch as you participate
in the sufferings
of Christ,
so that you may be
overjoyed
when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted
because of the name
of Christ,
you are blessed.
For the spirit of glory
and of God
rests on you.
This is the theme
that runs all the way
through Peter's letter,
from start to finish.
When things go wrong,
when bad things happen,
where is God?
Has he forgotten about me?
Have I done something wrong?
We won't turn to it,
but think all the way back
to the very beginning,
if you can,
of Peter's letter.
The very first sermon
I ever preached to you.
Peter told us
that this suffering
is like a refiner's fire
that you use on gold
to weed out
all the impurities
and to clean it up,
to make the gold pure.
And he's saying,
don't be surprised
when the fire comes
because it's not
something strange.
It's not something unusual.
It's not something
out of the ordinary.
Suffering is something
that God allows us
to go through
to develop
our Christian character,
to see what is our response
to this suffering,
to learn to trust him,
to rely on his own strength.
Not my strength.
When I got the phone call
one morning
and my sister
had hanged herself,
was I going to rely
on my own strength
in that moment?
There's no way.
This is so that
despite what life
throws at us,
whether it's people
mocking us for our faith
or suing us
because we won't
bake a cake
for their wedding
or bullying at work
or school
or sickness
or unemployment
or whatever it is,
you still,
verse 13,
rejoice
that we participate
in the sufferings
of Christ.
Christ.
And if it's all ourselves,
we can't do that
because this is the key.
Christ lives in you.
God lives in you.
We don't do this ourselves.
We didn't wake up one day
that we had all this faith stuff
figured out
and decide that we were just
really smart
and made ourselves believe
the right thing.
Ephesians 2 says
that we were dead.
Not sick.
Not unconscious.
Dead.
Dead in our sins
and our transgressions
and that God
made us alive.
And he didn't just
bring us back to life
and then say,
off you go then,
figure things out
for yourself,
but he actually
took up residence
inside us.
I don't know
if many of you
have the King James.
I'm a bit of a
King James aficionado.
And Galatians 2.20
says this,
I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless,
I live.
Yet,
not I,
but Christ
liveth in me.
And the life
which I now live
in the flesh,
I live by the faith
of the Son of God
who loved me
and gave himself
for me.
I am crucified
with Christ.
Nevertheless,
I live.
Yet,
not I,
but Christ
lives in me.
Friends,
if our faith
is in Christ
and we suffer
in this life,
even though we're
doing nothing wrong,
like Sam was talking
about this morning,
even if we're doing
nothing wrong,
Christ
still
lives
in us.
God's will
is that
we remember
this
in the good times
and in the bad times.
You might say
in sickness
and in health.
For richer,
for poorer,
this is a covenant
that God
himself
has made with us
by taking up
residence
inside us.
Christ
lives
in you.
Is there anything
that ought to cause us
to praise God
more than this?
That Christ
lives in us?
Verses
15 and 16.
Don't suffer
because you break
the law
or you gossip
or you meddle
in other people's lives
because all of us,
believer,
unbeliever,
just as I was saying,
we're all going to answer
to the king of the ages
one day
and we're going to have
to give an answer
as we stand
in that judgment.
Even the righteous,
you know,
the people who always
seem to do the right thing,
people who always
seem to do the good thing.
Peter says,
even they don't have
an easy time of this.
It's almost impossible
for them,
so imagine what it's like
for the unrighteous.
And I was thinking
how to illustrate this.
We'll call this
a preacher's story.
You can read into it
what you will.
A preacher once
went to visit
an elderly woman
in the hospital
and she was near the end
and the preacher
said to her,
when you stand
in front of God,
what will you say?
What will you do?
And she said,
I'll tell him
that I've raised
eight children
and that I worked
these hands to the bone
and I'll lift up
these hands
and I'll say,
I didn't have any time
for church
or for Jesus
or for any of that
sort of stuff
but I did my best
and I'll just hold up
these hands.
And the preacher replied,
you're too late, dear.
Somebody beat you to it.
Somebody got in line
in front of you
and he already held up
his hands
and God has no eyes
for anybody else.
If we think
we can convince God
that because the way
we lived our lives
or reacted to our circumstances
makes us righteous,
makes us right in his lives,
then frankly,
we're on a hiding to nothing.
unless those things
were the proof of a heart
that believed
that God raised Jesus
from the dead
and confessed with our mouths
that Jesus is Lord.
That it is only
the righteousness of Jesus
that makes us righteous.
And because once again,
Christ lives in us.
As we finish,
let's think about this.
Do we know these things?
Do we really know
that God's will
is for us to stop
living for ourselves?
For that next pint?
For that next bit of gossip?
For that next bit of comfort,
entertainment,
whatever the case?
To be holy
as God is holy?
To take our new selves
and not to live for ourselves,
but to throw ourselves
into living for others.
And doing all these things
because Christ
took up residence in us.
Not because we want
to be really good people,
although we do,
but it's because Christ
took up residence in us
and his righteousness
lets us stand
before the Father
and be counted as righteous.
Remember that we have
this rock-solid assurance,
what Peter called
in chapter 1,
this living hope
that we'll never die
because of the work
of Jesus on the cross
who said,
it is finished.
There's nothing else to do.
In verse 19,
with all these things,
it's simple.
Let's commit ourselves
to the one who created us
and continue to do good.
Because it's all about him,
friends.
This isn't about us.
It's not about
our families
or jobs
or careers,
whatever the case might be.
It's about him.
Because life will be hard.
Life is hard.
But let's keep going.
Let's keep loving one another.
Let's keep bearing
one another's burdens
and weeping with those
who weep
and rejoicing
with those who rejoice
and living for one another.
Remember that it's only
by Christ's strength
that we keep going.
Don't try to do this
by yourselves.
Submit yourself
to the Lord in prayer.
Come to the fountain
that never runs dry
and drink
from the living water.
Let's remember that
whether it's the land of plenty,
whether it's the barren desert,
whether we're on top
of the mountain
or in the valley
or the noonday sun
or the pitch of black,
God
came to earth
and took up residence
in you
and in me.
And those
whom he draws to himself
will never
be brought out of his hand.
They will be lifted up
on the last day.
Let's remember the words
of the old hymn.
King James,
old hymns.
I'm on to old stuff today,
apparently.
The old hymn,
I hear the Saviour say,
Thy strength indeed is small.
Child of weakness,
watch
and pray.
Find in me
thine all
in all.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Gracious Father,
we give you praise
for what you've done for us.
It's not always easy,
Lord.
It's not always easy
in this world of sin,
death and decay
to
declare
boldly
the praises of you
who brought us
out of darkness
and into the light.
We ask you,
Lord,
for help.
Lord,
we know that you live in us.
We don't often feel it.
Help us to be aware
of your presence in us.
Give us strength
day by day
to simply keep going.
To love one another
as you love us.
To serve one another
as you came to earth
to serve
and become a ransom
for many.
Give us the strength
to keep going.
Whether you give
or whether you take away,
help us to do everything
for your glory.
And as we come to a close
and finish in song,
help us once again
to elevate our
voices
and our hearts
to commune with you,
to enter into your
holy of holies
and to
get a tangible sense
that you do indeed
live in us.
Be with us, Lord.
All for your glory.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.