1 Peter 4:1-11 Living for the Will of God WC McCarter
Introduction
We
have been talking about suffering. We have been talking about how, as
believers, we are going to suffer unjustly in this present wicked age. Yet, we
know that Christ has gone before us and also suffered unjustly. He did so to
pay for our sins and all those who will come to Him by faith. He suffered in
the flesh, we were told last week in our paragraph, but He has been highly
exalted. This was His pathway to victory, and as a servant is not greater than
his master, so, too, we shall follow Christ down that same path of suffering.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
Living for the Will of God (1-2)
Therefore,
Since Christ suffered for us in
the flesh à
Arm yourselves with the same mind
The
word, “therefore,” is our signal that a conclusion is being drawn from the
previous passage. What was it that we saw last week? Christ has been highly
exalted, and His pathway to that victory was through suffering. That attitude
of mind that Christ had, we should take as ours as well. Suffering is our call
in Christ. Pain is part of the process, but that we should be exalted with
Christ. This is seen as a weapon, a weapon against all things worldly. This is
how you fight off temptation, sin, and all lusts. The military term reminds us again
that we are in a spiritual battle. Like soldiers preparing for war, we should prepare
for suffering. How drastic is that Christian doctrine from, for example, an
Islamic jihad concept! We don’t prepare for physical battle and grab up a
sword. We prepare for suffering and grab up the mind of Christ.
For
He who has suffered in the flesh à
Has ceased from sin
This
wording points us back to 3:18 where we were reminded that Christ suffered to
the point of death in the flesh. Not only that, but Christ suffered in the
flesh for sins, that is, to pay the penalty for sin that it might be done away
with, canceled out, paid for. When we choose to suffer, we are choosing to not
let sin reign over us. We are choosing to be done with sin. The one who chooses
to suffer is the one that has truly broken from a lifestyle of sin. You can
pursue comfort and ease at all costs, but that is to only allow sin to reign
over you.
That
He no longer should live the rest
of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men à
But
for the will of God
Choosing
to gladly accept suffering is choosing to do the will of God, it is choosing to
be in the will of God, that is how sin loses its control. How ever many years
you have left on earth, you are to live passionately for the will of God. True,
born-again Christians are those who prepare to suffer, who put away sin, and
who live for the will of God.
Living According to God (3-6)
We’ve
spent enough of our past lifetime doing the will of the Gentiles (pagans). The
church is seen as the new Israel. The unbelieving lifestyle is:
1) Lewdness
(debauchery): sin in general but maybe specifically to sexual sins
2) Lusts:
same as above
3) Drunkenness:
people of God are not those who need a buzz
4) Revelries
(orgies): linked with drunkenness, wild sex
5) Drinking
parties (carousing): social drinking parties
6) Abominable
idolatries (detestable idolatry): worshiping man-made gods
*The
idea of excusing teens, college age, and 20-somethings from moral standards
must go. This extended idea of “adolescence” should not be tolerated in the Christian
community. We need to teach our children and young adults that these things are
disastrous to us and displeasing to God.
Your
pagan family, friends, coworkers, classmates, etc. think that it is strange
that you do not continue in the same “flood of dissipation” or, in other words,
you no longer live for self-indulgence (alcohol and sex are key in this
passage). You are no longer wild and careless. Outsiders think that you are
strange because most people live for the moment, live for themselves, and live
for instant pleasure. But not you! When you do not fit into that mold,
they insult you and think less of you. Our culture used to at least keep evil
things hush-hush and sweep-it-under-the-rug, but since the great revolution of
the 60s, no one cares any more. Everyone thinks that you should be able to live
wild and free. Your body is your body and no one can tell you what you can and
cannot do with it—not even God. That is why we are called pilgrims and exiles.
We no longer belong to this world and the lusts of this world. God has called
us out of it and saved us from the present wickedness that we might live unto
Him.
The
thing about it is—the apostle states emphatically, they will have to give an
account to the One who is ready to judge the living and the dead. There will
come a day of reckoning. This age will not last forever. We will all have to
give an account for everything that we have done in this body. The sad thing is
that most people today scoff at the notion of a Judgment Day. But, Jesus taught
about this during His earthly ministry. He taught that in the last day that
people will be like they were in the days of Noah—eating, drinking, and
marrying with no care in the world about the things of God and judgment will
come upon them suddenly and swiftly. The Lord has said that He will come like a
thief in the night with no one expecting Him. (See Luke 17:26-37).
We
were dead in our trespasses and sins, but the Gospel was preached to us calling
us out of that death and into life by the power of God. Now, we are enabled by
the Holy Spirit to live according to God in the spirit. This is a very
spiritual conversation. We live a very spiritual life.
The End of All Things is at Hand
(7-11)
The
Bible makes clear that there will be a Last Day, a Day of Reckoning, a Judgment
Day. In light of that day, which Peter calls “the end of all things,” we are to
be prayer warriors. Now, I certainly think that some people are gifted in this
area more so than others, but we are all commanded to be people of prayer. In
our praying, we are told to be serious and watchful. We need to put things in
perspective. We must see the big picture. For example, instead of turning a
blind eye to our kids and grandkids in their “adolescence,” we should be
praying for them all the more that they would be protected and saved from this
present wicked age and the lusts thereof.
Now,
let’s save verse eight for just a minute. We are told to be serious and
watchful in our prayers, then, in verses nine through eleven we are also told
to be hospitable to one another and to minister our gifts to one another.
Set
your attention back on verse eight which says that “above all things have
fervent love for one another.” It does not matter what your personal life may
be, your marriage, your relationships with any others, love can cover a
multitude of sins. Love is the theme of the New Testament. Love is the
distinguishing mark of a true believer. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give
to you, that you should love one another as I have loved you.” And how did He
love us? He laid down His life for us. The apostle John said in 1 John 3:16, “By
this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay
down our lives for one another.” The apostle Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians
that the Christians were already loving, but that they should love more and
more. Christians are to abound in love knowing that God first loved us.
Conclusion and Christian
Application
The chief goal of all our
activity, of all our pursuits, of our lives is that God may be glorified. So,
he tells us: take this mind of suffering—arm yourselves—let this be your weapon—that
you are willing to suffer, even unjustly, for the cause of Christ. Do the will
of God. Put to death sin in your life and how the Gentiles live. You used to
live like that—we excused it in your youth—but God is calling everyone,
everywhere to repent knowing that the end is near. We should pray passionately,
be hospitable to one another, to minister to one another depending on each of
our giftings, and above all to have fervent love for one another. This is how
God will be glorified in your life, in your family, and in this church—above all
things, love one another.