1 Peter 4:1-11 | "Living For the Will of God"

And as we open the Word of God to the New Testament book of 1 Peter, I would like to direct your attention to chapter 4.

For this morning, I want us to focus on the first eleven verses.

There are many ways to approach this section.

It naturally divides into two sections, verses 1 through 6 and verses 7 through 11.

And there are even individual verses that could easily become an entire sermon in and of themselves.

And I am always tempted to go with the smaller portions.

It's easier to talk about smaller sections than larger sections, at least for me.

And I was tempted to spend several weeks on these eleven verses.

But I chosen instead to look at the forest instead of the trees.

So I want to ensure that we see the big picture of these 11 verses.

So would you look at them with me?

I'll read them if you would like to follow along.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, that's what we've just sung, his robes for mine.

Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.

For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God.

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.

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 an 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 those who that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Show hospitality to one another, without grumbling.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.

Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

We live in a society that longs to have role models.

Whether they're athletes, movie stars, models, businessmen or women, or even mentors, we gravitate towards people that we believe have something that we do not have and that we desire to possess.

Maybe that's wealth or status, maybe it's fame or ability or intellect or wisdom or even experience.

Whether it's based in insecurity or covetousness or simply a positive desire to grow as a human being, we lift up other human beings as people to emulate.

Now some of us grew out of that.

When I was a kid, my role models were professional baseball players and NBA players.

I wanted to be like them.

I wanted to emulate them.

I wanted to be them.

But gradually I came to realize that my hands were too small, my body was too short, and the fact that I despise practice would somehow, for some reason, keep me from being in the position of my role models.

So I grew out of that.

Sometimes our role models change.

When we realize we can't be a professional athlete, we may seek someone who enables us to grow in another area, someone who can help us, who can guide us, who can mentor us through difficult times in life or enable us to grow in ways that we know we need to improve.

Of course, in our outrageous society, there are those who spend tens of thousands of dollars to surgically modify their physical appearance in order to appear like someone they desire to be.

As with many things, this world has taken a righteous action and twisted it in an idolatrous way.

Having a role model or seeking to emulate someone is a righteous act if we have the right role model.

Even the Apostle Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

But if you listen closely to that statement, there's a twist to our normal way of thinking.

Christians do not have the right to choose their role model.

He has been chosen for us.

Our ultimate role model is the Lord Jesus Christ.

For example, in Romans chapter 8, verse 29, we are told, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to whom?

Romans 8:29

To his son.

He is the one we are to follow.

He is the one that we are to emulate, and that is God's purpose, God's intention in choosing us.

Jesus Himself said in John chapter 13, verse 15, for I have given you an example, saying to his disciples, to his followers, I am your example, I am the one you are to emulate, that you should do just as I have done.

John 13:15

And even in this book of 1 Peter that we've already studied in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21, for to this you have been called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

The one we are to follow, the one we are to emulate, the one to whom we must look as our example, is none other than the king of the universe who took on flesh to die for you, to purchase your redemption, as we've sung earlier this morning.

To follow a role model other than the Lord Jesus Christ is to choose something less than what God has designed for you.

Now the first eleven verses of 1 Peter 4 close out the middle section of this book.

And the scene that dominates the middle is the Lord Jesus as our example.

We have been shown that he has already lived what we experience.

What you go through in life, he lived, he has experienced.

Maybe not in the exact details, the exact expressions of life, but he has experienced what we have experienced as human beings.

And that means then that he can be our guide.

He can be our shepherd.

He can be our leader and our example.

When we know what to do in life, it is because we've seen it in Jesus.

When we do not know what to do in life, we need to look to Jesus.

And the Father is making us more like his son each step of the way.

Now, in the last half of 1 Peter 3 and into chapter 4, we are hit with reality.

The reality that life as a Christian will not always be pleasant.

It will not be pleasant because evil still exists in this world, doesn't it?

All you have to do is turn on your TV, and that becomes very clear.

It will not be pleasant because evil exists in this world and evil people exist in this world.

It will not be pleasant because there are people who are opposed to Jesus.

And if they oppose Jesus, he has promised us that they will oppose us.

That's part of being a Christian.

It will not be pleasant because as God's children, we are different.

At least we should be.

That is the theme that Peter addresses in these 11 verses.

Your time here is short.

So live for God.

In verse 2, Peter says, live for the rest of the time in the flesh.

No longer for human passions, but for the will of God.

It can be depressing to think about the portion of your life that is already behind you.

For me, at least half of my life is already done.

Probably more like two-thirds of my life is already done.

That can be kind of depressing thinking about the short time that I might have left.

The remainder of our lives, though, is still ahead of us, isn't it?

No matter whether it's short or long.

We don't know how long it could be.

It could be hours for some of us.

It could be days or weeks.

It could be decades.

And that's how we tend to think, isn't it?

But Peter tells us we are not to think in those terms.

Death is one of the inevitable realities of life.

Our time will end, whether we like it or not.

But the reality of our death is not what is to guide our thinking.

Our thinking is to be guided, it is to be focused on God's program coming to an end, not my life coming to an end.

That's why Peter says at the end of verse 7, the end of all things is at hand.

The end of all things is at hand.

Now, if we've been tracking with Peter up to this point, we know that what he has in mind, the end that he has in mind, is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look back at chapter 1.

Chapter 1 and verse 7.

In verse 6, he says, In this you rejoice, if necessary you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

When he returns, and we see him in all of his glory.

Similarly, at the end of verse 13, the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter has in mind the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that because at the end of the book, he leaves us with that same thought, chapter 5, verse 4.

And when the chief shepherd appears, your life, my life as a Christian, as a disciple of Christ, is not to be focused on how much time we have left, but how much time is left in God's program.

A time that we cannot discern.

We do not know how much time.

All we know is that Peter tells us it's very close.

It's so close that Peter could say 2,000 years ago, the end is at hand.

The end of all things is the end of things as they currently exist that will be concluded, will be wrapped up with the return of Christ when he comes to make all things right.

Now, please understand, Peter's not telling us that Jesus is going to return this afternoon or tomorrow.

He may, but that's not what he's saying.

He's speaking from the vantage point of God's perspective, from God's timeline.

And from God's viewpoint, as Peter says in his second book, 2 Peter 3, verse 8, a thousand years in God's mind is as if it were a single day.

2 Peter 3:8

Telling us that God doesn't see things from a time perspective because it's irrelevant to him.

He's outside of it.

It's a thousand years a day, it's the same to him.

So when we consider time in light of God's program, we are nearing the end.

And if it was nearing the end 2,000 years ago, then we're that much closer today.

And we are to treat today and tomorrow as if it were very soon, as if the Lord's return is very soon.

Your time, my time is short.

We do not know exactly when God's program will move to the next phase, but we are to live as if it's soon.

So what does that look like?

What does it look like to live as if the Lord Jesus is going to come back very soon?

Well, I said that we can divide this passage into two clear sections, and in the first section is verses 1 through 6, and there we are told that living as if Jesus is going to return soon looks like this.

Think like Christ, and in thinking like Christ, live for God.

God's people must think God's way.

That's what he says in verse 1.

Arm yourselves with what?

Armor?

Artillery?

No?

With the same way of thinking.

Arm yourselves.

You're moving forward in life, you're moving forward day to day.

Your armor in that is between your ears.

It's having the right way of thinking.

Now the context here has been about suffering because of our faith.

There are many ways and varieties of suffering.

We suffer when we pray before a meal at a restaurant and people look at us strangely and begin to snicker.

That's suffering.

We suffer when someone treats us differently than another person because they know what we believe.

And we suffer when someone hurts us physically or emotionally or mentally as a result of our faith in Jesus.

There are all manner and kinds of suffering.

And all of that is going to be present in a world that is filled with sin and is opposed to Jesus.

And that's okay.

Really?

That's okay.

That's what we saw at the end of chapter 3.

When we remember what Jesus has done for us, we can have our fear removed and not be troubled.

Now Peter reminds us in verse 1 of chapter 4 that we are not alone.

Jesus has already gone before us.

He has already suffered.

He is our example.

He is the one to whom we should look.

We are to model ourselves after him.

Since he suffered, we are to work then at having the same pattern of thinking that carried him through that suffering.

Now, why would Peter say that?

Well, he gives us three reasons.

First, because suffering purifies us.

Thinking like Jesus means that we process the kind of treatment that we receive as Christians in the right way.

When somebody snickers at you because you've prayed over your meal in public, how should you think about that?

How should you process that?

Well, we need to process it appropriately.

If we don't, then we're going to see that suffering incorrectly.

When we suffer because of our faith, it moves us to leave behind pagan desires and sinful actions, Peter says.

For whoever suffered has ceased from sin.

He doesn't mean that in the sense of you no longer sin.

He means that in the context of moving on from sinful actions.

Now there are going to be those, even probably some of us here today, who will face suffering for Jesus and decide that Jesus is not for them.

They may decide, even very good friends of yours may decide, you know, if that's what following Jesus is like, then that's just not for me.

But, as John would say, such people leave because they were never God's family in the first place.

But when God's sons and daughters emulate Jesus in the way they think about suffering, the result is that they are drawn more to Jesus and less to sin.

And how did Jesus think about suffering?

That it was part of God's plan.

And by going through it, he would bring glory to God.

When we think about suffering that way, it moves us closer to Jesus and further away from sin.

And the more we are drawn to Jesus, the more we realize, you know what, I've done enough sinning.

Suffering for Jesus brings us to the right way of thinking.

It purifies our thinking and purifies our action because we realize, you know what, I don't have much time left, and so I should not live any longer for human desires, but for God.

And we begin to see sin for what it is rebellion against God.

No longer do we celebrate how we how we have lived life to the fullest.

Instead, we begin to process sin as grieving over what we've done in the flesh.

Think about it this way.

When do you find yourself giving in to sinful desires most often?

Take a minute and just process that.

The times, the the moments, maybe it's maybe it's uh an hour, maybe it's days, maybe it's weeks or months that you have found yourself being in a position of giving in to temptation again and again and again.

When is that?

Isn't it most often when we are furthest from the Lord?

When we've been skipping church and the fellowship of the saints, when we've neglected worship and prayer and time in God's word.

See, sin thrives in the absence of Jesus.

Just the same, sin decreases in the presence of Jesus.

Because God's Spirit is working in his people.

Suffering for Jesus makes us realize our time is short, and it's time to stop living sinfully and live for God.

So suffering purifies our thinking, and by purifying our thinking, it purifies our lives.

But suffering also, Peter says, prepares us.

With respect to this, verse 4, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you.

Your life will stand out from the crowd when you live and think like Jesus.

When you live for God, your life will stand out from the culture.

The result of thinking like Jesus and living for God is being at odds with the world.

If you think like Jesus, the world and the culture will not appreciate you.

If you process your world and your worldview according to the mind of Christ, the rest of the world will not see you as intelligent.

The rest of the world will not see you as wise.

They will see you as odd.

Peter mentions some categories of sinfulness that were probably prevalent in his time.

But they're not too different from what exist today.

He says, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and just to make sure he covers everything, lawless idolatry.

In other words, to paraphrase that, living in a way that pleases me, that fulfills my desires, that pleases my senses, being controlled by alcohol and drugs, giving in to pleasure and uncontrolled partying and setting myself up as the one who makes all the rules is the pattern for our day.

But that's not the way Jesus thinks, and that's not the will of God.

Now we should not be surprised that the world lives that way.

We should not be surprised at all.

But God's children have God's spirit.

The world has no ability to be different, folks.

Don't be surprised when you pick up the newspaper or you open up your web browser or you turn on your television and you see the latest crime statistics.

The world has no ability to be different, but God's children have God's spirit, making them more and more like Jesus every day.

And the more we think like Jesus and the more we live like Jesus, the more we are able to say no thanks to the way the world lives.

That will bring in some suffering for following Jesus.

But we are prepared for the world's surprise that we're different when we begin to think like Jesus and live for God.

We are prepared when they don't understand why we're different.

We are prepared for the discomfort unsaved people will feel when they're in our presence and we don't do what they do.

We don't talk the way they speak.

We are prepared for the discomfort of unsaved people with our worldview, with our thought processes, even our very presence.

Suffering for Jesus prepares us for the world's reaction to our faith, Peter says.

But there's a third reason that we are to think like Jesus, and that's seen in verses 5 and 6.

In these difficult verses, Peter shows us that suffering actually enables us to proclaim the gospel.

Now, I don't mean that suffering has a voice here, but when we suffer for Jesus, we inevitably show what we believe about eternity.

And what we believe about eternity moves us to speak of the good news of Christ.

Demonstrating our faith by thinking like Jesus and living for God brings suffering.

Yeah, it may not be constant.

You may not have experienced it yet, but it will come.

That faith in Christ is founded in part on the realization that judgment comes for sin.

That's why some of you came to Christ in the first place.

It's because the reality of hell became very clear to you.

The judge of all the earth is ready to exercise judgment against all who have died and all who are still living.

Now those who have come to Christ recognize that they've sinned.

They've confessed that human effort cannot change their status.

Only Jesus can.

Only Jesus can take our judgment.

Those who suffer for Jesus now recognize, though, that while there might be suffering now, there's no more judgment for eternity.

Any suffering that I experience is temporary.

We don't join in the sin of this world because we know that it brings God's judgment and we have been purchased out of that, Peter says.

And knowing about God's judgment, knowing God's time is short, I don't know how much time I have left.

He may return today, he may return tomorrow, he may return next year, it may not be for ten years, we don't know.

But the time is short.

Knowing what comes next, the judgment of God moves us to tell others about the good news.

Because God's children desire to rescue others out of their sinful ways so that they might be united with Christ and rescued to live for Him.

That's why we proclaim the gospel.

That's why Christ comes first.

The gospel has been proclaimed to people who've already died.

Now that's what this passage means.

It doesn't mean that the gospel is preached to dead people.

It means that the people who are already dead have had the gospel preached to them.

We proclaim the gospel today.

We have sung the gospel.

We have prayed the gospel.

We are hearing the gospel from the Word of God.

We proclaim it today, we will proclaim it tomorrow.

Why?

Because we know the time is short and we know that judgment is coming.

The reality of judgment, though, becomes clearer to us when we suffer for Jesus.

And through that, our faith is strengthened, and our proclamation becomes clearer.

In all of this, Jesus is our example.

He's our role model.

Think like Jesus and live for God because your time is short.

Now the common saying is that there are two inevitable realities: death and taxes.

But for the Christian, there should be an additional reality.

Death, taxes, and the return of Christ.

Not only must we think like Christ, we must be motivated by his soon return.

The end of all things is at hand.

James echoes this statement in James chapter 5, verse 8.

James 5:8

He says, Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

James relates that to the family of God.

Immediately after that statement in James 5, he says, Do not grumble against one another.

Why would he do that?

Why would James say that the end is at hand, so don't grumble at each other?

Well, James knew that the oppressive conditions in this world can cause us to turn on one another.

Outside pressures can move us to nitpick at each other.

James encourages us to remember that Jesus is coming back very soon.

Therefore, that reality ought to impact our treatment of one another.

Now, what Peter says is very similar.

The first six verses of this chapter address our relationships to outsiders, to non-Christians.

But the next five verses in chapter four speak to our relationships with one another in the body of Christ, how we relate to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And he says to us, understanding and living in light of Christ's return needs to motivate you.

Needs to impact the way you live, the way you operate.

Well, how should it impact us?

Well, he gives us five simple ways.

First, Jesus' return should motivate us to focus on our spiritual growth.

The end of all things is at hand, he says in verse 7.

Therefore, because of that, as a result of that, with that in mind, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Now the unsaved people in verses 3 and 4 are the immediate contrast.

We are to be the opposite of that group of people.

Why?

Well, in part, we will not be in a position to grow spiritually or even to pray.

If we are living in sensuality, if we are indulging in our passions, if we are living intoxicated or seeking the next high, or giving in to every urge or desire that fulfills us.

Debauchery does not lead to prayer.

Giving in to sin does not lead to spiritual growth.

Now, in some ways, Peter's repeating himself.

He said back in chapter 1, verse 13, therefore, because of all that God has done for you in salvation, prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded, setting your hope fully on the grace that will be revealed to you at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your time is short.

Don't live for yourself, live for God.

Direct your attention to the areas of your spiritual life that need growth, that need to be aided and fed to be healthy and mature.

Keep progressing in your devotion to Christ.

That is our vision here.

Is to feed you and feed all of us the Word of God so that we might be growing in our following of Christ, becoming mature and devoted followers.

That's what we are seeking to do together, just what Peter tells us to do.

Secondly, Jesus' return should motivate us to focus on forgiveness.

Above all, he says, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

This is one of those verses that I just wanted to camp on for a week or two.

Who knows?

We might finish 1 Peter and come back and do that.

We'll see.

Now, at first glance, we could perhaps say that the focus in that verse is on love.

Keep loving one another earnestly.

And of course, love is important.

But if we dig a little deeper, we begin to see there the reason that love is needed.

The reason love is needed is because of the multitude of sins in Christians.

Yes, we are hypocrites.

It's true.

Because we've not been rescued out of this sinful flesh yet.

We still live in a sin-cursed world.

So we're going to sin.

And there's a multitude of sins within us and in this body.

We sin a bunch.

We sin against one another.

So the aspect of love that is highlighted here is forgiveness.

We are a sinful bunch of people exhibiting a multitude of sins.

In that way, we're not much different than the rest of the crowd in verses 3 and 4.

Our sins might be a little bit different, but we still sin.

The difference in God's people is that our sins are paid for.

And because our sins are paid for, we can receive forgiveness from God's grace.

And then in turn, forgive one another.

We will be destroyed from within if we refuse to lovingly forgive one another.

A tomato off of my tomato plant.

Just bear with me.

You'll understand why I use a tomato as an illustration.

Tomato looked really good.

First tomato of the season.

You know what that flavor is like.

Except for those of you who hate tomatoes.

Sorry about you, but I know you exist.

I forgive you.

Cut up that tomato, and it's a big hunk of black flesh on the inside of it.

It was being destroyed from within.

That's what a lack of forgiveness within the body of Christ does.

It eats away from the inside out.

If we refuse to forgive one another, we don't need to worry about suffering for Jesus because we're simply going to destroy one another.

Too often we make it easy for Satan.

If he can set us at odds with one another, all he needs to do is sit back and watch the fireworks.

See, forgiving one another in the body of Christ undermines the work of Satan in the church and moves us closer to maturity.

We need to remember chapter 2, verse 1.

Put away all malice and all deceit and all hypocrisy and all envy and all slander, because those actions and those emotions and those thoughts have no place in children of God.

We are to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

The reality of the Lord's soon return ought to motivate us to forgive.

Some of you are holding grudges against one another in this church.

The time is short, don't hold a grudge.

Some of you are irritated by what somebody else here has done or said.

The time is short, don't be irritated.

The time is so short, you don't want to envy, you don't want to slander, you don't want to talk negatively, you want to forgive.

Don't let the judge return while you are acting deceitfully.

As you anticipate the Lord's soon return, be sure to focus on your spiritual growth.

Make forgiving one another a key part of who you are in the body of Christ.

And then begin to focus on others.

Here he says, be hospitable.

Verse 9, show hospitality to one another.

Without grumbling.

Wonder why you'd add that.

Hospitality originally meant loving strangers.

Many scholars believe it originated within the church from the lack of hotels and inns along ancient roads.

Those that did exist were not places that Christians would want to spend the night.

So as Christians traveled, they would seek out the homes of other Christians to spend the night in.

Thus, the command to host strangers who were fellow believers in Christ because of your love for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Be hospitable.

Love strangers who come into your home who are brothers and sisters.

Over time, though, loving strangers came to mean more of what we mean today.

To bring others into your home in a loving way.

That is likely true here when Peter points out that we are to show hospitality to one another.

Now, of course, there's a sense in which we are all strangers to one another, isn't there?

We may know some more than others, but we may not know everything about one another that we might like to know or maybe should know.

But when we when we love one another enough to forgive, to cover one another's sinfulness, knowing that we all sin.

When we love each other that much, then we can safely open our homes to one another, can't we?

Because we become a safe place for each other.

It doesn't matter if I sin because I know you know Christ has covered that and you can forgive me.

So we are hospitable.

Maybe that's for worship and a time of prayer, maybe it's simply food and fellowship.

But in Peter's time, that could be dangerous.

If you hosted Christians in your home, you would be identified with them.

That would make you a target for more persecution, for more suffering, and that may eventually even happen in our world today.

But that should not hinder us from being hospitable to one another because Jesus is returning soon.

We ought to be motivated to be hospitable to one another.

Even more, Christ's return ought to motivate us to serve one another.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.

As each has received a gift.

Every person who comes to faith in Christ has received a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Opening myself up to you here.

So we're going to need your forgiveness.

Practice time.

I detest them.

But that's for another day.

But one of the reasons is because it focuses on me.

It focuses on who I am and what I do.

But when God gives a gift to a person, it's so that you can use it for somebody else.

God's gifts to all of his people are for the purpose of others.

To serve one another.

The gift is not for you.

It is for others in the body of Christ.

Now the gifts are not detailed in this passage.

Peter refers to them in areas of service to Christ.

He says, so there are areas of speaking, there are areas of serving.

But his emphasis here is twofold.

First, gifts are given to serve one another.

And they are given so that you might be a good steward.

Each day that we go about our business is a day closer to the moment of the Lord's return.

How are you using the spirit-enhanced ability given to you to serve your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Are you being a good steward of God's grace to you?

Are you even using what God has given you for the benefit of others in the body of Christ?

If the answers to those questions are in any way negative, if the answer is in any way, uh, I'm not sure, no, then you must stop and ask yourself what those obstacles are in your life that are keeping you from serving.

And then you need to determine if the Lord Himself sees those reasons as acceptable reasons to not be serving your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because the master will soon return and demand an accounting for how we are managing the spirit-empowered and spirit-given gifts to serve others in the body of Christ.

Finally, the fifth way to be motivated by the Lord's return is to do everything to glorify him.

He says, all of this, specifically the gifts, but he summarizes all of this.

Verse 11.

Here's the purpose in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

When Peter, James, and John went up on the mountaintop with Jesus and suddenly saw the glorified Christ, it became immediately clear to them that life was not about them, it was about Jesus.

The same will be true of us when we see Jesus.

And that day is coming soon.

Seeing Jesus in all of his power and all of his glory and all of his might will wipe away every sense of pride and personal glory and idolatry existing in us once and for all.

But until then, we must fight against the innate desire to make life about ourselves.

See, Satan wants us to build our own kingdoms.

He wants us to make life about ourselves, to fulfill our own dreams, to fulfill our own passions.

But the duty of the Christian is to remember that Jesus is coming soon.

Make sure, therefore, that everything you do builds up Jesus and not yourself.

Work for his kingdom because your kingdom is destined to crumble, but his will endure forever.

And you are part of his kingdom if your faith is in him.

Your time is short, beloved.

Live for God.

Acknowledging to you that we fail.

We live in idolatry, we build ourselves up, we establish our own kingdoms and we set walls around those kingdoms.

Lord Jesus, I ask that you would come and you would tear those down.

First, by the work of your spirit in us to humble us, humble us to the point where we recognize that we are living for ourselves instead of you.

Mature us.

Cause us to grow in following you, and seeing you as our example, as our role model.

But we also pray as we are commanded to at the end of this glorious book of the Bible.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Rescue us from all that is evil in this world.

Rescue us and take us home where we belong to be with you.

In the meantime, fulfill your promise to give us your spirit, to empower us to be your people, to be a light on a hill for your glory.

Amen.