WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.140 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:22.240 ! For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:38.079 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. 00:00:39.099 --> 00:00:47.579 With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:52.339 But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 00:00:53.320 --> 00:01:04.700 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. 00:01:05.259 --> 00:01:05.620 Amen. 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:15.900 I'll be 39 years old here in just a couple of months, but to be honest, I peaked physically at 29 about a decade ago. 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:22.180 It was that year I ran my first marathon that year and everything has been downhill ever since that moment. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.180 Some of you have run long distances like that. 00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:25.980 I know Kathy has. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.260 Maybe some of you have done races like that. 00:01:29.320 --> 00:01:32.380 And you know what it's like to hit the wall. 00:01:33.100 --> 00:01:36.560 Did you experience that, Kathy, when you ran a marathon a few years ago? 00:01:37.460 --> 00:01:38.600 You know what it's like to hit the wall. 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:43.740 Hitting the wall in endurance running, it refers to that most difficult part of the race. 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:48.579 And in a marathon, it typically comes somewhere around mile 18. 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:55.719 And that's the point that you really begin to question all of your life choices in that moment. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:57.439 Everything hurts. 00:01:58.299 --> 00:01:59.259 It's painful. 00:01:59.899 --> 00:02:01.560 Your breathing is labored. 00:02:02.259 --> 00:02:07.619 You're not sure why you ever wanted to do this and if you should continue on. 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:11.460 They call it endurance running for a reason. 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:17.879 Athleticism is helpful, but athleticism is not actually what gets you to the finish line in those races. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.480 It's endurance that gets you there. 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:22.360 It's perseverance. 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:28.140 It's enduring the suffering that gets you all the way to the end. 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:37.139 And enduring that hardest part of that race is all about a disciplined mind. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:41.319 It's thinking the right way at the right time. 00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:44.639 And there's lots of things in that scenario that come. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.839 And for those of you who have experience, that can be helpful to you. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:52.539 Certain mindsets that if you can think about what you're doing and how you've prepared. 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:56.919 And the people who are around you who are right there in the trenches with you. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:00.019 Trying to get to the same finish line that you're trying to get to. 00:03:00.099 --> 00:03:04.500 Thinking about those who are around you, around the course, who are cheering you on. 00:03:04.579 --> 00:03:08.199 Who are there to help you and support you and encourage you all along the way. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:15.759 If you can get the right frame of mind, that's the thing that will kind of help you endure all the way to the end. 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:19.419 And thriving in exile is the theme of this letter. 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:25.899 And thriving in exile has everything to do with endurance and perseverance in suffering. 00:03:27.079 --> 00:03:31.839 In fact, we're at a point in this letter where we are neck deep in suffering. 00:03:32.339 --> 00:03:35.039 It's all we've been thinking about for several weeks now. 00:03:35.239 --> 00:03:41.500 And how we are to consider the suffering of this life in relationship to the suffering of Christ. 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:42.799 And what that means for us. 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:44.339 And how we're to think about it. 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:46.399 How we're to persevere through it. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.420 The kind of suffering that Peter is dealing with at this particular point in the letter. 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:54.520 Actually, really throughout the letter, this is a common theme. 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:02.879 But at this point, he's really focused in on the kind of suffering that shows up in being socially shunned. 00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:05.120 Ridiculed. 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:06.659 Mocked. 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.259 Specifically because of your faith in Christ. 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:17.240 And then the transformation of life that that faith ends up bringing to your life. 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:21.879 Not a transformation necessarily that you initiate. 00:04:22.740 --> 00:04:31.560 But the transformation that by God's grace, he initiates and begins to happen by virtue of him calling you. 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:35.079 And regenerating you in the power of the spirit. 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:38.699 No one wants to be rejected. 00:04:38.699 --> 00:04:48.620 And an experience like that in this life is a bit like hitting the wall in one of those endurance races. 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:54.879 Every step of the life seems a bit painful. 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:00.019 And you eventually get to a point where you're wondering, is this really worth it? 00:05:00.019 --> 00:05:14.680 And when you start to wonder if this is really worth it, you might start to doubt whether or not these things that you've subscribed to and that you've bought into religiously in terms of your faith, if those things are actually true. 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:16.759 And you're tempted to doubt. 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:24.120 And when the doubt becomes introduced, you start to waver on other commitments that come as a result of the faith. 00:05:24.259 --> 00:05:29.139 That transformation that God initiates that we're to pursue in our sanctification. 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:31.899 When doubt creeps in, you begin to give in to those doubts. 00:05:32.099 --> 00:05:34.980 You start to move away from faithfulness to those commitments. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:41.920 You begin to compromise not only the truth, but the behavior and the holiness that God calls us to. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.040 And where does it often begin? 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:46.000 With suffering. 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:58.700 The temptation to shrink back from the faith and return to the things that marked your life before coming to Christ are very strong. 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:10.879 And here, Peter is repeating that this perseverance that it takes to get to the end and to thrive in this time of exile requires a disciplined mind. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.920 Now, he said this already once in the letter. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:20.120 If you just flip back to chapter 1, after that opening call to worship in verse 13, we saw it there. 00:06:20.699 --> 00:06:37.319 As a result of the acknowledging this inheritance that we have waiting for us beyond this life, our calling in Christ, the regenerating work of the spirit in our lives, the surety of our election, all of that coming together. 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:51.500 He says, therefore, in verse 13, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:54.819 So this isn't the first time we've seen Peter do this in the letter. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:03.339 Repeatedly, he's acknowledging that if we're going to thrive in exile, if we're going to persevere and endure to the end, we've got to get our mind right. 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:16.279 It comes in this text in the single imperative of verse 1, which says that we are to arm ourselves with the same way of thinking. 00:07:16.979 --> 00:07:19.459 Same way of thinking in relationship to who? 00:07:20.039 --> 00:07:21.659 In relationship to Christ. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.679 In his way of thinking in his own suffering. 00:07:25.979 --> 00:07:32.439 In other words, when we suffer, we are to have the mind of Christ as we face our own suffering. 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:38.959 And what I think Peter ends up doing here in this paragraph, or what I'd like to present to you this morning, 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:51.639 is three mindsets, three truths to which we must tightly cling as we hit the wall in the Christian life. 00:07:51.639 --> 00:08:04.139 As we face suffering, particularly suffering that comes as a result of social ostracization, shunning, ridicule, and mockery from the world. 00:08:04.539 --> 00:08:06.599 Three truths we need to cling to. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.719 Three mindsets of Christ that we need to have. 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:10.899 And here's the first one. 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:16.060 In your suffering, you need to remember that you are dead to sin. 00:08:16.979 --> 00:08:19.399 You are dead to sin. 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:22.139 We see this in verses 1 to 3. 00:08:22.539 --> 00:08:28.479 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. 00:08:29.859 --> 00:08:37.159 For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:41.439 no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.699 For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:51.740 He's using Gentiles not necessarily in the sense of non-Jews. 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:55.660 The churches to which Peter was writing were predominantly non-Jew. 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:00.300 He's using this term to speak of unbelievers, those who are not following Christ. 00:09:00.640 --> 00:09:05.640 So the time passed suffices for doing what unbelievers want to do, how they want to live their lives. 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:09.360 And he goes on and he presents that short list to us. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:15.139 Now I want you to notice that the command of verse 1, the imperative, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:19.740 is flowing out of the indicative of verse 1, which is, 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.600 since therefore Christ has suffered in the flesh. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.000 What is Peter doing with that? 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:32.060 He's drawing our attention once again to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:35.579 This is what it means to be a Christian, isn't it? 00:09:35.979 --> 00:09:43.659 We are followers of Jesus, meaning we not only trust in what he has done for us in his atoning death 00:09:43.659 --> 00:09:50.899 and resurrection for our salvation, but we are following the pattern of life that he has modeled for us. 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:56.839 And with respect to what Peter is dealing with here, what is it that Jesus did? 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.239 What is the mindset that he had? 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:04.560 Well, we know first, he lived righteously before the Father. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:06.799 He lived righteously before God. 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:14.220 He was totally committed to holiness, to not living as unbelievers would do, to not living in sin. 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:16.019 Indeed, he committed no sin. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.659 Neither was any deceit found in his mouth. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.519 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:25.100 When he was threatened, he did not threaten in return. 00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:28.899 He was totally committed to living righteously before God. 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:32.679 That was a mindset of the Lord Jesus, one that we need to follow. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.379 But there was more to it than that, wasn't there? 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:36.799 We've seen in this letter. 00:10:38.419 --> 00:10:47.679 He willingly suffered for righteousness' sake, understanding suffering to be the path to glory. 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:50.059 He willingly did that. 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:51.980 That's a mindset that Christ had. 00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:58.220 Indeed, he came to suffer so that he might bring us to God. 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:03.680 His suffering being one of an atonement for our sins. 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:05.240 That was a mindset he had. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.500 He lived righteously before the Father. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:17.879 He willingly endured suffering as a result of that righteousness, understanding that beyond that suffering was glory, vindication, resurrection. 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:22.740 The third mindset that Christ had is he trusted God. 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:28.740 He trusted the Father to deal with his enemies and to vindicate his righteousness. 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:32.419 Now, Peter spells all of this out in chapter 2. 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:33.840 We've studied it at length. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:43.620 When he says that you've been called to this, for Christ also suffered for you, that you might have an example to follow in his steps. 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:44.700 He committed no sin. 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:46.100 No deceit was found in his mouth. 00:11:46.180 --> 00:11:46.940 He did not revile. 00:11:47.060 --> 00:11:48.300 He did not threaten. 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:52.740 But he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 00:11:52.740 --> 00:12:03.620 Peter's already spelled that out for us. 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:11.220 Now, he's taking that indicative and he's applying it to how we live as Christ's people in the world. 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:16.200 Looking to what Christ has accomplished in his suffering. 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:25.300 We are to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ, thinking as he thought, living as he lived. 00:12:25.900 --> 00:12:29.420 But there's another ground for this imperative in verse 1. 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:30.879 And it's weird. 00:12:32.640 --> 00:12:33.540 Peter says, 00:12:33.539 --> 00:12:49.299 Now, what does that mean? 00:12:49.939 --> 00:12:50.899 What is that all about? 00:12:52.599 --> 00:12:55.839 Well, that he uses suffered in the flesh twice in the verse. 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:57.599 That should grab our attention. 00:12:58.579 --> 00:13:01.599 First, he uses that phrase in relationship to Christ. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.740 Christ suffered in the flesh. 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:05.899 And what was the nature of that suffering? 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:07.220 It was death. 00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:08.120 Right? 00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:10.279 It wasn't just that he had a hard time. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:11.720 It's that he died. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:21.399 And in reference to that, now he says that there is some way in which we suffer in the flesh. 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:26.560 And yet, it's clear that he's not actually talking about a physical death at this point. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:36.319 Because he goes on to say that those who have suffered in the flesh have ceased from sin so that they continue to live now, not for human passions, but for the will of God. 00:13:36.619 --> 00:13:38.099 So what is it that Peter's doing here? 00:13:38.179 --> 00:13:38.879 What's he saying? 00:13:39.859 --> 00:13:43.379 He's linking Christ's suffering with ours. 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:53.439 He's saying that beyond this moment of suffering that we experience, we're living our lives for God's will now. 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:54.740 What is he circling around? 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:58.179 I think he's circling around the idea of our conversion. 00:13:58.179 --> 00:14:18.479 What he's reminding us of is that our life of sin, that old man of the flesh, was put to death with Jesus on the cross so that we might now walk in newness of life in the power of the Spirit. 00:14:19.479 --> 00:14:22.079 I think he's making a theological connection here. 00:14:22.339 --> 00:14:25.799 I don't think he's referring yet to the suffering we experience as Christians. 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:29.319 I think he's talking about being dead in Christ. 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:33.719 Our sins being nailed to the cross of Christ. 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:38.979 Our death being experienced in the death of Christ. 00:14:38.979 --> 00:14:50.839 So that whoever has suffered in the flesh, that is, has died with Christ through faith, is now dead to sin and alive to Christ. 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:53.120 We're going somewhere with this, right? 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:57.000 Now, what does that resurrection life then look like? 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:58.879 It looks like verse 2. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:10.560 So that the rest of your life, the rest of your time in the flesh, after this moment of conversion, after this moment that you are dead in Christ and salvation, 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:17.000 the rest of your life, you're no longer living for human passions. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:25.840 Instead, your whole life is oriented toward the glory and the will of God. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.000 This is so important. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:36.519 This is the opposite, the exact opposite of what the world calls us to. 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:42.120 The world calls us to leave the Lord. 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:45.759 It calls us to live for ourselves. 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:54.740 Its most fruitful or most prominent catchphrases are, follow your heart. 00:15:54.740 --> 00:16:00.580 Or, in the kids' language these days, YOLO, right? 00:16:00.680 --> 00:16:01.799 You only live once. 00:16:02.419 --> 00:16:04.220 You might as well enjoy it. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.019 We live in a YOLO culture. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:15.480 The world says, you know, you just need to do what makes you happy. 00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:16.919 What is it that makes you happy? 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.139 What is it that makes you feel fulfilled? 00:16:19.579 --> 00:16:22.980 What is it that really, really, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:25.220 What is it that really makes you happy? 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:29.199 That's what the world says this life is really meant to be lived like. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:35.440 What Peter's instructing us with here, what the gospel instructs us in, is actually the opposite of that. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:44.340 The outworking of what the world says is the good life is described in verse 3. 00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:47.700 It's consumed with the passions of the flesh. 00:16:48.900 --> 00:16:56.080 It's consumed with them in such a way that it lives as if God does not care what you do. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:03.100 Or perhaps maybe even more predominantly is that God is not actually there to do anything about it. 00:17:04.120 --> 00:17:05.980 So you just do what you want to do. 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:08.759 And then Peter gives that whole list, doesn't he? 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:10.360 All of these things. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.019 What is that in verse 3? 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:14.460 It's what the world calls the good life. 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:20.059 Sensuality, passions, drunkenness, drinking parties, lawless idolatry. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:20.880 This is the good life. 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:22.700 It's do what makes you happy. 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:23.779 Do what feels good. 00:17:23.779 --> 00:17:26.920 If you just do what feels good, that's really what this life is about. 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.180 That's all you need to really care about. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:36.119 But Peter says, no, those who have experienced this death in Christ, they don't live that way anymore. 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:39.599 They're not oriented toward human passions anymore. 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:42.460 They're oriented toward the will of God. 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:45.599 They desire to glorify God in what they do. 00:17:46.339 --> 00:17:50.139 They desire to obey God now in what they do. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.259 And that's not just the result of willpower. 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:55.140 We don't just wake up one morning and decide, you know what? 00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:59.220 I'm just going to pull myself up by my bootstraps and be a real good Christian. 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:01.059 It's not how this works. 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:02.119 This is grace. 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:04.879 God does this work. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.200 Christ works his righteousness in us. 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:16.519 And then we enter in this unique partnership with the Holy Spirit as we pursue righteousness. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.879 And he sanctifies us as his people. 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:22.480 What's Peter saying in all of this, right? 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:32.619 When we're tempted in suffering to compromise with sin and to move toward the old ways of the flesh, 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:39.139 we need to remember, we need to set our mind on the fact that we're actually dead to sin. 00:18:40.979 --> 00:18:44.659 Like literally dead to sin if you're in Christ. 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:50.659 Our motivation to endure suffering and to continue in righteousness, 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:55.540 it begins with remembering that our old self was put to death on the tree. 00:18:56.820 --> 00:19:06.200 That Christ bore our sins there so that we might die to sin now and live to righteousness. 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:10.320 That's the reality of your life if you're a Christian. 00:19:10.900 --> 00:19:14.200 That's the reality of your position in Christ. 00:19:14.340 --> 00:19:16.080 You are dead to that way of life. 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:18.019 Enough is enough of that. 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:19.440 You don't need to go back to it. 00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:21.819 And don't go back to it. 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:26.059 And be motivated by the cross as you think about it. 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:28.240 That person's dead. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.740 And now you're called to live the rest of your days for God's will. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:33.819 And here's the kicker. 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:37.019 No matter what the social cost is. 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.579 And there is a tremendous cost. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.220 Paul said it this way. 00:19:43.259 --> 00:19:46.759 He actually said it in a lot of different ways throughout his letters. 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:48.480 But he said it this way in Galatians. 00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:51.619 I have been crucified with Christ. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.039 It is no longer I who live. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:58.460 But Christ who lives in me. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.599 In the life that I now live in the flesh. 00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:05.480 I live by faith in the son of God. 00:20:05.619 --> 00:20:08.879 Who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:10.859 What is that all about? 00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:14.039 It's about the fact that you're dead to sin. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:20.599 And all of your life is now oriented toward the gospel and the glory of God. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:22.959 So don't compromise the truth and righteousness. 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:26.500 No matter how hard the temptation is. 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:27.619 Don't compromise on it. 00:20:27.979 --> 00:20:29.479 Don't shrink back from it. 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:31.519 Keep going. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.920 One step at a time maybe. 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:37.019 But just keep going. 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:38.160 Stay faithful. 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:40.420 You're dead to that old life. 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:41.339 Don't go back to it. 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:42.259 Alright. 00:20:42.379 --> 00:20:43.299 That's mindset number one. 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:45.200 Mindset number two is this. 00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:47.599 God is a faithful judge. 00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:50.139 God is a faithful judge. 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:51.759 Look at verses four and five. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:54.039 With respect to this. 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:57.180 That is with respect to this new life that you're living. 00:20:57.180 --> 00:21:00.680 Not living in human passions but for the will of God. 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:02.400 With respect to this. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:04.740 Unbelievers are surprised. 00:21:05.580 --> 00:21:08.620 When you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:10.920 And they malign you. 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:14.000 But they will give account to him. 00:21:14.580 --> 00:21:17.200 Who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 00:21:17.660 --> 00:21:19.120 Well who's the living and the dead there? 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:20.279 It just means everybody. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:22.340 That there is a judge. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:24.980 And every one of us will stand before him. 00:21:25.340 --> 00:21:26.940 That's what Peter means to say. 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:31.640 Now we tend to think of suffering in the most extreme ways. 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:32.019 Right? 00:21:32.100 --> 00:21:33.720 When we think of suffering for the faith. 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:35.860 When we think of persecution for the faith. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.680 What immediately comes to your mind? 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:40.080 Well you might. 00:21:40.259 --> 00:21:42.700 Maybe you've read the book Tortured for Christ. 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:48.120 And you think about that Lutheran pastor in Eastern Europe. 00:21:48.580 --> 00:21:51.700 Who was tortured for years as a result of his faith. 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.259 Maybe you're thinking about martyrdom through history. 00:21:54.320 --> 00:21:55.640 And of course that's a part of it. 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:55.840 Right? 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.039 Our minds tend to go there. 00:21:58.859 --> 00:22:02.439 And that was certainly a possibility for the Christians to whom Peter wrote. 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:05.079 We know he was living underneath Emperor Nero. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.199 We know that Nero killed hundreds. 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:09.699 Maybe thousands of Christians for sport. 00:22:09.700 --> 00:22:16.299 But over and over in this letter Peter has defined suffering for Christ. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:18.460 Not so much as a physical one. 00:22:18.620 --> 00:22:20.779 Though it can eventually move there. 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:22.980 He's not describing it that way in this letter. 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:28.580 He's describing suffering as a social suffering. 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:30.099 So often in the letter isn't he? 00:22:30.460 --> 00:22:36.500 In this passage it comes in the form of being maligned for your faith. 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:40.079 Unbelievers see your faith and they see the life it produces. 00:22:40.639 --> 00:22:43.179 And they then ridicule you and mock you for it. 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:45.940 But he's used this language in other places hasn't he? 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:48.200 In other places he's described it as slander. 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:50.500 He's described it as reviling. 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:54.779 He's described it as speaking evil against you. 00:22:54.779 --> 00:23:01.379 So when we think about suffering in this letter primarily that's what Peter has in mind. 00:23:02.139 --> 00:23:03.899 I think that's important for us to consider. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:08.240 Because there really is a tremendous cost to following Jesus. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.019 And Christians should always be willing to give their lives for the faith. 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:14.980 And of course we are. 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:17.420 The gospel is that important to us. 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:18.599 We would die for it. 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:24.660 Very few of us if any of us will ever be in a position to actually do that. 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:30.420 The Lord has blessed us to live in a place where that kind of persecution is not prevalent. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:35.240 There are Christians around the world who today do actually deal with that as a reality. 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:38.160 That's not really us though. 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:41.579 How is it that we suffer? 00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:44.319 Every one of us. 00:23:45.339 --> 00:23:46.420 Without exception. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:49.720 Every one of us in this room if you're a Christian. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:52.160 And you care to live as a Christian. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:58.860 You will routinely have to endorse suffering of being a social outcast. 00:24:00.080 --> 00:24:03.080 Of being viewed as a cultural pariah. 00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:10.720 As being the one family member that everybody hopes doesn't show up to the thing this year. 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:11.360 Right? 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:11.439 Why? 00:24:13.959 --> 00:24:14.399 Why? 00:24:17.139 --> 00:24:21.819 Probably not because you're constantly shoving your beliefs down people's throats. 00:24:23.159 --> 00:24:28.579 Probably just because you live for God's will rather than your own human passions. 00:24:29.879 --> 00:24:30.740 Isn't that what he's saying here? 00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:32.839 He hasn't said anything about preaching. 00:24:33.439 --> 00:24:36.779 He hasn't said anything about street evangelism. 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:41.879 He hasn't said anything about always being the one to bring up religion at the dinner table. 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:43.180 He hasn't said anything about that here. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.480 What has he said? 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.799 You just live for God and not for yourself. 00:24:49.779 --> 00:24:52.460 And that provokes people. 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:58.720 Peter didn't view this as a lesser form of suffering. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:02.980 And you don't need to view it as a lesser form of suffering either. 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:05.700 It's a reality for us. 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:07.680 We need to expect it. 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:12.240 We need to be willing to walk that road as we have the mind of Christ. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:17.420 And we need to remember that God is a faithful judge in it. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:20.779 Now, Peter describes how this works in verse 4. 00:25:22.299 --> 00:25:26.640 At first, unbelievers that we know are surprised. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:34.460 They're surprised that you no longer desire to join them in what Peter calls, this is amazing language, isn't it? 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:36.000 Their flood of debauchery. 00:25:36.299 --> 00:25:36.400 Right? 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:41.579 It just means that the things that you used to do with them, you're not doing anymore. 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:48.339 The things that you used to say, the things that used to entertain you with those people, 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:51.599 the things that used to characterize your life and the way that you lived, 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:53.500 and maybe even the things that made you happy, 00:25:54.180 --> 00:25:56.180 those things aren't the things that make you happy anymore. 00:25:57.620 --> 00:25:59.539 That's not where your joy comes from anymore. 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:01.279 You're just living a different life. 00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:03.740 And first, they're just surprised. 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:06.980 Because that's different, isn't it? 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:11.920 But surprise eventually turns to offense. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:19.740 There is something about the presence of righteousness that sets the unrighteous on fire. 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:30.400 R.C. Sproul told this story in The Holiness of God, if you've read that book, about Billy Graham playing golf with President Ford and a couple of PGA golfers. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:38.460 And after the round was over, one of the golfers just storms off and one of his friends sees him and he's angry and he's frustrated. 00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:40.200 And the guy asked him, what's going on? 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:43.660 And he said, I don't need Billy Graham shoving religion down my throat. 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:49.200 And the friend said, he said, he said, he was pretty rough on you out there, wasn't he? 00:26:50.019 --> 00:26:53.519 And the golfer just replies, well, actually, he never even brought up religion. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:27:09.879 It's astonishing, R.C. Sproul says, how Billy Graham was so known for living righteously, so characterized by the gospel, 00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:18.519 that just his presence, to quote a proverb, sent the man fleeing when no one was chasing him. 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:19.799 He's just angry. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:23.139 We call that spiritual war. 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:25.000 That's what's happening there. 00:27:26.619 --> 00:27:31.680 Now, I know some of you are dealing with family members and friends who don't know the Lord and they don't love the Lord 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:37.980 and they think that a nice way to put your life is just maybe as a stick in the mud. 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:41.779 And that's a hard way to live. 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:48.099 To be rejected not only by our culture, but to be rejected by the people that you love the most in this life. 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:57.440 But there's something that you need to realize that the Spirit of God working righteousness into your life, 00:27:58.879 --> 00:28:05.119 it has a way of setting on fire the people that are around us that do not know the Lord and do not love the Lord. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.160 You might not have to say anything. 00:28:09.339 --> 00:28:12.740 Sometimes it will come just merely because you're doing right. 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:16.900 And that causes conviction to people, right? 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:22.279 And if it's not conviction, it's just anger because they assume that because you live different than them 00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:25.759 that there must be something wrong with the way that they're living. 00:28:26.740 --> 00:28:30.900 It's amazing in an age of tolerance, people can be tolerant of anything but that. 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:36.319 What does Peter say that we are to do with it? 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:40.240 Well, he tells us in verse 5, the second mindset. 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:43.839 He says we're to remember that God is a faithful judge. 00:28:43.899 --> 00:28:44.919 Do you see it there in verse 5? 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:46.339 What do we do? 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:50.379 He just reminds them, look, those people that are maligning you, 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:55.039 they will give an account to God who judges the living and the dead. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:01.619 I think what he's doing here is what he's done often in the letter, 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:05.599 which is basically to remind us that God is the judge. 00:29:06.659 --> 00:29:08.839 God will handle our persecutors. 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:11.839 We don't need to take that responsibility on our own. 00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:16.399 Our place is not to retaliate. 00:29:17.159 --> 00:29:20.579 Our place is not to sit in the seat of judgment. 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:27.960 Our place is not to pick a fight or to continue maligning them in return. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:31.299 No, we leave the judgment to God, don't we? 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:33.539 But there's another part to that, isn't there? 00:29:34.299 --> 00:29:40.539 He says it's not just that God judges the sinner, the living and the dead. 00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:42.179 All people, we're all going to stand before him. 00:29:42.379 --> 00:29:45.019 What's the temptation when we're facing this kind of suffering? 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:50.980 The temptation is to, well, maybe I can just get a little relief from the slander. 00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:54.720 Maybe I can get a little relief just by compromising a little bit. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:58.779 And what we end up trying to do is we take our Christian faith 00:29:58.779 --> 00:30:03.279 and we try to maintain a Christian faith without being fully committed to a Christian life. 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:04.720 And that just doesn't work. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:06.819 But that's what we try to do, isn't it? 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:10.660 And I think at least part of what Peter is reminding us of here 00:30:10.660 --> 00:30:13.519 is if you walk that path of compromise 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:18.519 and you start to go back to the things that are supposed to be dead in your life, 00:30:18.580 --> 00:30:20.360 that you're supposed to be dead toward, 00:30:20.800 --> 00:30:24.519 you will end up being in the seat of the sinner 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:26.940 and in the path of the scorner. 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:32.160 And you too will stand in the judgment of God for that. 00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:35.200 So what's the mindset that we're to have? 00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:36.560 Well, we're dead to sin. 00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:38.360 The old life is enough. 00:30:38.460 --> 00:30:39.519 We don't have to go back to that. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:41.440 God's a faithful judge. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:45.720 Let him take care of our enemies who do not repent. 00:30:46.379 --> 00:30:49.400 And then let's be mindful that we too will stand before him as well. 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:52.139 That should be a motivation to continue and endure. 00:30:53.099 --> 00:30:56.660 And then thirdly, the third mindset is this. 00:30:57.859 --> 00:31:02.139 Eternal life is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:04.319 Eternal life is yours. 00:31:04.700 --> 00:31:05.519 Look at verse 6. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:10.680 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead. 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:14.559 That though judged in the flesh the way people are, 00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:18.779 they might live in the spirit the way God does. 00:31:19.879 --> 00:31:23.139 This is another part of the text that needs careful thought. 00:31:23.660 --> 00:31:28.559 Because the idea of preaching the gospel to dead people is so strange. 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:29.180 Right? 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:30.799 What is that about? 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:35.240 Well, the verb tenses help us with this, don't they? 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:38.019 The gospel was preached. 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:38.799 Right? 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.759 That's past tense. 00:31:40.560 --> 00:31:43.340 To those who are now dead. 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:45.960 That's present tense in the way that the verbs are being used. 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:48.100 Now, the word now is not in the Greek text. 00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:50.000 But it's implicit there, isn't it? 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:54.420 That this is why the gospel was previously preached to those who are now dead. 00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:55.840 So what's Peter getting at? 00:31:56.060 --> 00:32:03.680 Well, I think we already know that the death of other Christians was a significant concern for first century believers. 00:32:04.580 --> 00:32:07.200 We see that teaching repeated in the New Testament. 00:32:07.660 --> 00:32:10.259 Paul dealt with it head on in 1 Thessalonians. 00:32:10.600 --> 00:32:11.500 People were concerned. 00:32:11.940 --> 00:32:19.140 They believed that the return of Christ and that the kingdom was so imminent that they didn't expect that any of them would actually die still. 00:32:19.140 --> 00:32:24.640 And then those that they loved and who loved Jesus began to die and they were getting very discouraged about that. 00:32:25.540 --> 00:32:27.620 So Paul deals with that in 1 Thessalonians. 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:31.920 Well, I think what Peter is maybe implying is the opposite. 00:32:32.259 --> 00:32:35.280 That it's not just the Christians who are concerned about that. 00:32:35.360 --> 00:32:38.380 But now it's the unbelievers who are maligning the Christians. 00:32:38.900 --> 00:32:41.940 Who are noticing that, well, you guys died too. 00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:44.620 So what advantage is there to Christianity? 00:32:44.619 --> 00:32:51.139 What advantage is there to the Christian life if all of us are going to die the same way? 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.259 We might as well live it up while we can, right? 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:57.319 And I think Peter is answering that for us here. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:00.519 And he reminds us that unbelievers, they don't see the whole picture, do they? 00:33:01.799 --> 00:33:05.819 They spend all of their time living for this life as if it's all that there is. 00:33:05.939 --> 00:33:07.419 But we know better than that. 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:11.000 The gospel teaches us better than that. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:18.279 Though we will all face death, we will be judged in the flesh the way that all people are, Peter says. 00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:22.440 We know that there is life that awaits us still. 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:25.619 But how can we be so sure? 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:30.700 Shane was telling me about an evangelistic conversation he had with a friend this week. 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:32.859 And the guy's just constantly asking questions. 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:33.299 How do you know? 00:33:33.380 --> 00:33:33.740 How do you know? 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:34.160 How do you know? 00:33:34.220 --> 00:33:34.720 How do you know? 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:40.140 How can we be so sure that there is actually life beyond this? 00:33:40.620 --> 00:33:43.600 Because most people that you know probably don't think that there is. 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:45.079 This is all you get. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:46.640 You only live once. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:48.640 So you might as well make the most of it. 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:49.720 Do what makes you happy. 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:52.740 How do we know that it's different than that? 00:33:54.860 --> 00:33:57.600 Well, it's the very reason that we've gathered for worship today, isn't it? 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:00.839 It's the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:02.700 That makes all the difference for us. 00:34:02.700 --> 00:34:07.440 This verse calls us back to chapter 3 and verse 18. 00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:08.960 Just set your eyes on it. 00:34:09.420 --> 00:34:16.099 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. 00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:18.699 And notice the language Peter used about Jesus there. 00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:22.039 That Jesus was put to death in the flesh. 00:34:22.679 --> 00:34:23.800 He died physically. 00:34:24.659 --> 00:34:26.820 But was made alive in the spirit. 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:28.440 Made alive in the power of the spirit. 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:30.199 That is, he was resurrected. 00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:35.519 Now, what is the language Peter is now using for us, those of us who are in Christ in verse 6? 00:34:35.859 --> 00:34:36.419 Look at it. 00:34:36.919 --> 00:34:43.579 Though judged in the flesh the way people are, we might live in the spirit the way God does. 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:44.619 What is it? 00:34:44.879 --> 00:34:46.159 It's death and resurrection. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:48.579 That's the whole idea, isn't it? 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:49.939 What's the third mindset? 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:53.259 It's the whole thing that Peter's been on about in this letter. 00:34:53.260 --> 00:34:55.840 Keep your eyes on what's coming. 00:34:56.520 --> 00:35:01.380 Set your hope fully on the grace that will be yours at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:35:01.820 --> 00:35:09.680 Keep thinking about this very real, very secure inheritance that God is keeping secure for you. 00:35:10.120 --> 00:35:11.380 It's imperishable. 00:35:11.580 --> 00:35:12.420 It's undefiled. 00:35:12.640 --> 00:35:13.500 It's unfading. 00:35:14.040 --> 00:35:18.680 He is keeping it safe as he guards you through faith in this life. 00:35:18.679 --> 00:35:24.419 When we're suffering, when we're beaten down, when we're struggling to get through, what are we supposed to think about? 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:25.359 What's going to get us through? 00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:27.659 We think about the resurrection of Jesus. 00:35:28.359 --> 00:35:33.440 And if we're dead in him, then that means we will also live in him. 00:35:34.539 --> 00:35:36.480 That's what Paul says in Romans 6. 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:40.039 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:48.519 Just as Jesus, or excuse me, now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 00:35:49.320 --> 00:35:54.759 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. 00:35:55.880 --> 00:35:58.340 Death no longer has dominion over him. 00:35:58.980 --> 00:36:04.659 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. 00:36:04.739 --> 00:36:06.320 That means we're included in that. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:11.920 But the life he lives, he lives to God. 00:36:12.660 --> 00:36:21.039 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. 00:36:22.160 --> 00:36:23.000 Isn't that it? 00:36:24.760 --> 00:36:30.680 That's the thing that the unbelievers that we love in our lives, that hasn't clicked with them. 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:32.820 They don't see the whole picture. 00:36:33.820 --> 00:36:36.200 This life is not all that there is. 00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:42.980 This life is not about us making the best of it and just living as happy as we can. 00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:43.840 That's not the point. 00:36:46.460 --> 00:36:47.720 There's more to it. 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:53.200 And we know it because Jesus rose from the dead. 00:36:54.080 --> 00:36:56.220 That's the heart of the gospel message. 00:36:56.740 --> 00:36:58.880 That Christ has taken our death. 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:02.420 He has brought us to peace with God. 00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:05.280 And he offers us eternal life. 00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:14.260 So Peter says, this is why we preach the gospel even to those people we love who are now dead. 00:37:14.260 --> 00:37:24.300 So that even though they die now, they might continue to live in eternity as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:26.000 This is the third mindset we're to have. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:32.340 Just as Jesus entrusted himself to the father for final resurrection, so do we. 00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:47.240 And when we're tempted to shrink back and compromise in light of the reality of death, we are to continue trusting that there is indeed an imperishable inheritance that awaits us. 00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:56.519 If we're going to thrive in exile, we're going to have to get accustomed to the cost of being a Christian in a hostile world. 00:37:56.519 --> 00:37:59.000 That's why Peter calls it an exile. 00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:00.519 It's hard, isn't it? 00:38:00.739 --> 00:38:01.639 It's really hard. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.420 Harder than probably what we ever imagined. 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:14.000 And one of the more difficult things is when people that we love cut us out. 00:38:15.500 --> 00:38:18.199 It's not just that they think it's weird, but they take it further. 00:38:18.340 --> 00:38:23.340 They actually think we're a problem because we're living for God. 00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:24.259 That's hard. 00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:29.020 That's a legitimate form of suffering, and we all need to expect it. 00:38:29.300 --> 00:38:42.740 And we all need to be willing to walk that path, which means enduring, staying faithful, not compromising the truth, and not backing away from the life that God has called us to live. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:47.240 Living for his will rather than for human passions. 00:38:47.239 --> 00:38:53.579 And as we do that, not alone, but in community together, right? 00:38:53.759 --> 00:38:55.579 We need each other in that desperately. 00:38:56.939 --> 00:39:01.899 But as we do that, we want to get our mind right, and discipline our minds. 00:39:02.659 --> 00:39:03.719 And how do we want to do that? 00:39:04.179 --> 00:39:06.059 We want to remember that we're dead to sin. 00:39:06.059 --> 00:39:11.940 And that our lives are now consecrated in holiness to the Lord. 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:13.980 We're living for him, not ourselves. 00:39:14.659 --> 00:39:16.239 And that's the joyous life. 00:39:16.299 --> 00:39:16.960 It really is. 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:21.239 We also need to remember that God is faithful. 00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:23.659 He's a faithful judge. 00:39:23.659 --> 00:39:28.819 We can trust him to deal with those who sin against us. 00:39:29.619 --> 00:39:32.879 We should tremble before him as we consider our own lives. 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:47.779 But then as the faithful judge, we also know that when he looks at us, those who are in Christ, he is faithful to judge our sins on Christ so that we might be counted righteous. 00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:54.580 And then we set our hope on the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ. 00:39:55.540 --> 00:39:57.320 We really do have eternal life. 00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:59.460 It awaits us beyond this time of suffering. 00:40:00.980 --> 00:40:15.940 And just as suffering is harder than what we ever imagined, I am certain that the blessing of that life is far greater than what we could ever imagine. 00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:23.100 Now, Paul certainly had to have been one of the most brilliant Christians to have ever lived. 00:40:23.900 --> 00:40:27.880 The Lord used his life in an amazing way, in a radical way. 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:31.900 It still affects us now in the way that the Lord used him to write the scriptures. 00:40:33.019 --> 00:40:36.820 And maybe it would be helpful to leave off with what he said about this. 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:38.840 Romans 8 and verse 18. 00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:48.700 He said, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:50.900 This life is hard. 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:51.380 It is. 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:54.620 We're not trying to discount that at all. 00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:55.720 It's hard. 00:40:56.940 --> 00:41:07.180 It doesn't even compare to the glory that awaits us at the end that Christ has secured for us and for those who believe his gospel. 00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:37.159 We're not trying to discount that at all.