Living for God | 1 Peter 4:1-6 | Pastor Andrew Coleman | 02/15/2026

If you're new to us, I want to encourage

you to put on the seat belt that is

there in the pew um that you see around

you because you're about to go on a ride

with us. We uh love the word of God. We

dive into it and uh we ride it wherever

it goes and um it is a glorious and

wonderful thing. We are a message 28 in

this little tiny letter of first Peter.

And we've found it to be rich and real

to us in this present day and time.

Indeed, this morning I'm going to be

looking at something that where I I

think about this a lot

as a young man and many young men and

women began asking this question.

What is God's will for my life?

What is God's will for me?

What does he want me to do?

Now, the main reason that young people

start asking that question is because a

lot of people ask them, "What are you

going to do? What do you want to do?"

And that parents and grandparents and

school teachers and administrators and

culture

poses that question. What will you be?

In fact, when you were a small child, a

lot of people asked you, what would they

ask you? What do you want to be

>> when you grow up? How many of you said a

fireman? Okay, somewhere along the way,

I probably said a fireman.

But you know, we

we ask this question, and it's not only

for young people.

The older you get, the more you realize.

What does God want me to do with the

rest of my life?

What is his will for me about this

house? What is his will for me about my

parenting? What is his will for me about

my job?

What is his will for me about

retirement?

what is his will? So, we often are

asking I think that a wise person asks,

"What is God's will for me?" Now, some

of you are completely clueless to that

question. Some of you, by God's grace,

you've come in off the street. You've

come in out of the world of South

Florida or New York or wherever you're

from, maybe South America, and you're

here because a friend invited you and

you've never really thought about this

question. What is God's will for my

life? You're just trying to figure out

what is your will for the life.

>> What do I want to do? Much less what

does God want me to do

this morning? When we look at this

passage,

we're going to see God's will for us.

You want to if you're wondering what is

God's will for you, this passage is

going to answer it.

And so this morning it is a important

thing. Let's look and see where we've

been. Um the last time that we were

studying here we looked at a deep dive

on our our work. So we need to go back

to the sermon title from uh the

beginning. There you go. Thank you. A

deep dive on our hope in Christ. 1 Peter

3:es 18-22 was this deep thick passage

and we dove into it because Peter dives

into why has God called you to live

faithful to him. Here is everything that

God has been doing through salvation

history. That was from two weeks ago.

Last week we looked at leadership in the

life of the church. But two weeks ago we

did the deep dive with Peter on first

Peter chapter 3:18. But this morning we

see the title of the message is living

for God. Living for God. And I want us

to overview see the overview and the

context of this. So there on your

outline where it says overview and

context. The apostle Peter is writing to

Christians who are being what?

Persecuted for their faith. So, if

you're new to us, this little letter is

right is written to Christians all over

the Mediterranean world where

Christianity had began to grow and they

were being persecuted by the Roman

Empire. They were being persecuted by

the established religion of Judaism at

the time. Um, so many of them were

Jewish uh people who had heard of

Christ. They had come to believe that he

was the Messiah. And then not only the

Romans maybe turned on them, but their

own kinsmen turned on them and they were

being persecuted for their faith and

their belief in Jesus. Look at the next

one there. Peter calls them to live a

does anybody remember a holy life. He

calls them in the midst of their

suffering to live a holy life. He's we

see through this letter he's saying,

"Yeah, not only you're being persecuted

by God, but don't live like the world.

Don't respond like the world. Don't act

like the world. Act like those who have

been saved by the grace and the holiness

of God.

Look at number three. In our previous

message, he does what we just said, a

deep dive on Christ's suffering for our

salvation. That's a big part of that

deep dive on the who was Jesus? Well, he

was the one who suffered for us.

And so, we saw that God saves his

people. This is number four. that he

saves his people not from judgment, but

he saves them, how did we say it?

>> Through judgment.

Did Noah leave the earth while there was

a flood? No. Noah was called to build a

boat. Noah was called to build an ark.

And he would be safe in that ark while

all others perished.

And that picture of God's salvation

points to Jesus Christ. That there would

be those who are when they are in Jesus

Christ, they will go through the

judgment of a fallen world, but when

it's all said and done, they will be

saved.

And so that is the picture of God's

salvation. Time and time again, we do

see that wide is the road that leads to

destruction, but narrow is the way that

leads to life. Yes, in Noah's day, there

were many, many, many who perished, and

there were but a few that were saved.

This was the Let me remind you, God

would be just in not saving anyone.

But he saves those who have cursed his

name. He saves those who have not lived

according to the way that they should

because all have sinned and fallen short

of the glory of God. Every single one of

us, including Noah,

including Abraham, including Moses,

including David, including Gideon.

God perfection is not what God saves.

God saves his children as he gives them

faith to believe and to obey in the Lord

Jesus Christ, his Messiah. And so faith

in God is what brings us to salvation.

And we see that it's through Christ's

suffering that was God's plan to save

us. Look at the next one there. We saw

that God's, excuse me, we identify

ourselves with the death of Christ. We

die to self so that we may also identify

identify ourselves with the life of

Christ. This is how salvation works. We

come to Jesus and we die to self and we

become alive to him. This is a work that

he does. This happens by faith and as we

come to him and we identify in his

death, he brings life to us through his

resurrection. And that's exactly what we

represent. Every single time somebody is

baptized, the picture is they are laid

down in the water. They're saying, "I

have died to my old life and now I now I

live into Christ's life." That's what a

Christian does.

Notice the last line there clarifies. We

do this through faith in Jesus,

not what?

not ourselves. We do this through faith

in Jesus, not ourselves. You see,

religion says, "Have faith in yourself.

Do the right things and God will save

you. God will forgive you. God will will

accept you into heaven if you do the

right thing." The Bible makes very clear

that there is there is no way that a

sinner can save himself. The only way a

sinner can be saved is through faith in

the Messiah, the one who paid perfectly

for our sins. So, um, the central

thought of this passage that we're about

to read is is very important. In fact,

let's read the passage and then we'll go

back and we'll look at the central

thought. So, let's go first go up to the

box on the top of the page um and let's

see this um and then we'll we'll dive

into it and explain it. Look at number

one, verse one. Since therefore Christ

suffered in the flesh. So it's looking

back to the section before. Since means

look back and remember what was just

said. And what was just said is that

Christ suffered for us. Since therefore

Christ suffered in the flesh, 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. Can you underline

that? For the will of God.

Verse three,

for the time that is passed suffices for

what? for doing what the Gentiles want

to do, living in sensuality,

passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking

parties, and lawless idolatry. Verse

four, with respect to this, they are

surprised when you do not join them in

the same flood of debauchery,

and they malign you. Verse five, but

they will give an account give account

to him who is already who is ready to

judge the living and the dead. Verse

six, for this is why the gospel was

preached even to those who are dead

through or excuse me, that though judged

in the flesh the way people are, they

might live in the spirit the way God

does.

So what is this passage talking about?

Well, let's look and see the central

thought because Christ suffered and

that's what we studied last time.

Believers must decisively identify with

him in look at these two words. What are

they? Say it out loud. In mindset and

lifestyle. So, the way you think and the

way you live. The way you think and the

way you live. And what is that mindset

and lifestyle?

rejecting former sinful patterns. So

these p sinful patterns for the believer

are to be former not present.

For a true Christian, we walk away from

the former sinful patterns

and living consciously for the will of

God and glory of God. And then look at

the last line here. even when we're

misunderstood

or even maligned.

And that's what Peter is saying here.

He's calling us to live a holy life even

when

the people around us misunderstand it

and they attack us. So this passage

moves from Christ saving suffering. So

that was what we studied last time, how

he saved us to what we studied this time

is the believer's

sanctifying suffering.

So it goes from Christ saving suffering

to our sanctifying suffering. You say,

"Well, that's a big word." What is the

word sanctifying mean? It means that

it's the process of becoming more like

Jesus.

that in this life the goal of a

Christian is to live more and more as

the decades go on. If Jesus doesn't come

back first or he doesn't call you home

first, the plan is this is that you

would live more and more and more to

become like Christ. That means you lose

your temper less. That means you you

lose the whole ideas and the

preoccupations with lust. You do that

less and less and less. You lose the

temporal thinking about the here and

now. You lose lose the issues of fear

and worry and anxiety. As time goes on,

those things go down and faith and joy

and righteousness go up. It's called

it's what we call being on the upward

path. Now, you're not saving yourself.

You're simply acting more and more like

Jesus because you're growing in faith.

That is the goal of the Christian life.

Jesus didn't save you to leave you where

you are, guys.

He saved you to call you higher.

That's what God has called us to do. His

way is the best way. There's no other

way that even compares. The wide is the

road that leads to destruction. Already

said that. Narrow is the gate that leads

to life. How about this? There's a way

that seems right to a man, but in the

end it ends in destruction.

So when we are doing with what just

seems right to us, we are destroying our

lives. When we are doing what God has

called us to do, we are finding his life

and his life is far better. Notice the

next one here. This passage moves from

Christ saving suffering to the believer

sanctifying. Look at this. Peter moves

from theology

and to application.

So in the other one, he's dealing with a

lot of theology about how Jesus do it.

Now in this passage that we're studying

this morning, he's applying it. So it

moves from what Christ did to how we now

live.

That's what these verses are about. Last

time we studied what Jesus did to save

us. Now we study what we do to live in

light of what he did for us. And the

first command is seen up there. Look at

the top in the box. Look at verse one.

Look what it says. Since therefore

Christ suffered in the flesh, so that's

what he did.

[snorts] Circle these two words. Arm

yourselves. That's the first command

that is here. Arm yourselves with the

same way of thinking. So the same way of

thinking like Christ. So Roman rule

number one is arm yourself with what?

The mind of Christ. He says with the

same way of thinking. Arm yourself to

think like Jesus thought. And Jesus

suffered in the flesh. So we too are

called to suffer in the flesh. So this

is letter A, the foundation. This is the

foundation for your life. Christ

suffered in the flesh. This is what you

stand on in your salvation and in your

view of what is important. Peter roots

his call to you in redemptive history.

So he's calling you. He's calling me and

he's saying all of this goes back to

what Jesus did. Christ suffering was

substitutionary. He died in our place,

the righteous for the unrighteous. It

was bodily and it was real. There are

some people who say, "Well, the true son

of God, if he really was God in the

flesh, he would have never died on the

cross. There is no way." In fact, that

is part of Muslim theology. Muslim

theology would say that if he was truly

the Messiah, he would not have died upon

the cross. In fact, it is a belief in

Islam that Christ didn't actually die on

the cross. He was removed from the cross

before he died. That's false. That's

patently false. came from Muhammad. It's

wrong. It's not true. And then, isn't it

interesting that some of the main most

important things to believe are the

things which are distorted

um by Satan. He wants to distort the

most critical things. And so, here's one

of them. And there's there's many people

that would say, "Well, there's there's

no way that somebody would die and come

back from the dead." Well, that that's

God's whole point. You're right. In

yourself, that is completely impossible.

But in me who created the whole world, I

can cause that which is dead to live

again.

>> And that's the that's the whole mindset

of how God saves us. And so we come to

see that salvation is from God. So Jesus

really did in the body and very real in

the flesh. He died for sin. How about

this? He was victorious. He his victory

over sin and death is what brings your

salvation. If Christ be not raised, then

we are still in our sins is what first

Corinthians says that Christ because of

his resurrection, we are set free. So

Jesus's suffering, this is an important

point, especially since classical

liberalism of about a hundred years ago

came out of Ivy League institutions. Um

there were many um a hundred years ago

from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, various

other centers of learn learning. They

were uh believing less and less of

orthodox Christianity of of of true

biblical doctrine. And they began to

say, well, it's not so much that Jesus

died for your sins. It's really that

Jesus was a noble example.

Now, was Jesus a noble example?

>> Yes. But his noble example would mean

nothing if he did not die for our sins.

And so this is fill it in. This is not a

mere example, even a noble example, but

it is saving accomplishment. That's what

Jesus did on the cross. He accomplished

the

mission for which God had sent him. So

letter A, foundation. That's Christ

severed. Letter B, page two. The

command. Here it is. It's the command.

Because of what Christ did. Arm

yourselves. Look up there in the box at

the top of the page. Number one, since

Christ suffered in the flesh, arm

yourselves with the same way of

thinking. For whoever has suffered in

the flesh has sees from sin. Let's look

and see what this means. First of all,

the command, arm yourself. This is

military language. This is military

language. This is

>> a call to arms.

So when you think about our military, it

is a fighting force. It is a s it is a

force that is meant to win conflict

because if they just want to get out

there and fight and not win, that's not

very good. But here we see that military

and any military that has any real sense

of mission seeks to win. It is

deliberate. It's prepared. And look at

that. It is resolved. That's what Christ

calls us to live like to live in a

resolved manner for him. You're

wondering what his will is. His will is

that we would arm ourselves with the

mind of Christ.

So the Christian life requires a

conscience

settled mindset. The same way of

thinking of Jesus. Jesus had set his

mind to the cross to fulfill the

father's will. Notice this. the mindset

that embraces obedience

even if it leads to suffering. Now, I

did not put this as a scriptural example

here, but I just want you to remember

with me what happened in the garden of

Gethsemane after the Lord's supper. So

they had observed the last supper, the

last Passover supper [clears throat] and

Jesus led them into the garden of

Gethsemane. [cough]

And what was going to happen there?

Judas would come and betray him, betray

Jesus. But before Judas came to betray

them, they were there praying in the

garden because Jesus knew what was about

to happen. The weight of the world, the

weight of the sin of the world. The

weight of the sin of all God's people

was on his shoulders, Old Testament and

New Testament. All of those who would be

saved from the wrath of God is upon

Jesus. He's about to go to the cross.

And this infinite perfect God man is

going to take on the billions, the

trillions of sins of people against a

holy God. And he feels the weight of

that.

And what does he say? He says, "Lord, if

there is any way, father, if there's any

way, let this cup pass from me." But

then he says what?

Nevertheless, not my will but your will

be done. So Jesus is living out

obedience to the father's plan as we

have called to live out obedience to the

father's plan. So notice this this

mindset that embraces obedience even if

it leads to suffering. And that is

certainly where Jesus is where Jesus's

path was leading. And in Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, have this mind in yourselves

that was yours in Christ. That's a very

important passage to go and look at

that. We mention it almost every Sunday.

Look at Romans 12 verse 1 and 2. Paul is

Romans 12:1

speaking and look what he says. I appeal

to you brothers, therefore brothers, by

the mercies of God to present your

bodies as a living sacrifice. That's

what Jesus did. He presented his body as

a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable, which is your

spiritual worship. Do not be conformed

to this world, but be transformed by the

renewal of your mind. See, this is a way

of thinking. Arm yourselves with the

thinking of Christ. We see it not only

in Paul's writing, but we see it in

Peter's that we studied this morning.

That by testing, that by testing you may

discern what is what?

The will of God. If you want to know the

will of God, the will of God is

discerned by obeying

Christ.

And here's what you can find is that

which is good and acceptable and

perfect. What we're finding here is that

the will of God is for you to live a

holy life in faith in Jesus following

Jesus. That's more important than if you

become an engineer or if you become a

nurse or if you become a pilot or if you

become an insurance guy. It's more

important than any of those decisions.

is what is the will of God? For you to

know Christ,

follow Christ, obey Christ, identify

with Christ. That is the great will of

God. Look at Hebrews 12:es 2 and 3.

Consider him. You see, this is of the

mind. If you're considering, that means

you're thinking about it. Consider him

who endured from sinners such hostility.

That's what he did. He gave his life

that we may live. Charles Haden

Spurgeon, one of my favorite pastors

from 150 years ago, said this,

"Suffering

sharpens the believers." What does it

say there next?

>> Separation from the world.

>> I have felt this in my own life.

I have felt this and I've seen it felt

by others. You're kind of bumping along

through life and you say, "Wow, I think

God is kind of calling me to be a

Christian." And so we start to respond

to him. We take the step of faith. We in

we turn to Christ in faith. We we maybe

make that public. Maybe even are

following in baptism. And we're

thinking, man, I think God is at work in

my heart. And um man, what a what a

great privilege this is to know God now

and for things to be different. and he's

forgiven me and we're kind of buzzing

along

and we have faith.

But I remember that as I started to walk

with the Lord as a senior in high

school, I stopped doing some of the

things that all my friends were doing,

whether it was the way we talked to the

way we thought to the things we went,

the things we did, where we went, what

we did. And I just more and more started

to pull back from that

and I started to be ridiculed for that.

They would make fun of that. They would

say, "Oh, you're too good for us now."

You know, "Oh, this and whatever." And

I've shared with this church before that

I came home from South Broward High

School one afternoon after school,

pulled up in my driveway, got out of the

car, went checked the mailbox, and I

remember reaching up in the mailbox by

the front door, pulling out the mail,

and there were three gift card or not

gift cards, there were three greeting

cards in the mail. I opened up each one

of them, and I thought, "What are

these?" They were addressed to me.

And I read it and one of them was a

sympathy card.

and said, 'We so sorry for this new way

that you've chosen and um you know when

you get over this

we're right where you left us.

Another one was a get well card. a get.

My friends had gone down to Eard Drugs

or whatever it was at the time and they

had bought greeting cards and they sent

me sympathy cards and getwell cards

saying when you get over this we are

right where you left us.

And you know something strange happened

at that moment.

I really wasn't sad about it because God

had already started doing such a work in

my heart. I was sitting there kind of

like, "Yeah,

fine. Bring it on.

This is what I've chosen."

I remember that. Look at Spurgeon's

quote.

Suffering sharpens the believer's

separation

from the world. Did it hurt to have

friends mock me? Yes, I'm sure it did.

But what I remember in the long run is

not the pain, but I remember the

strengthening, the sharpening that came

from that. Now, this isn't a story about

Andrew, the hero. I don't mean it that

way at all. I just want you to know that

I've experienced that. And I know that

there's many other believers. There were

believers in North Africa that they were

they knew if their family found out that

they had become Christians that they

would really be persecuted. And it was

funny that for a while there that was a

fair amount of fear for some guys. But

then they would become bold and they

would finally go and they would tell

their family and then they would very

often go through suffering, great

suffering. And what we would often see

is that after that time of great

suffering, their faith would be stronger

than ever before

>> because they were like, "No, I've

decided

though none go with me. I have decided.

Notice this. Not only the command but

the result.

The result. What is the result? It's a

break with sin. And so whoever has

suffered in the flesh has ceased from

sin. Now this is not something called

sinless perfection. That you there's

some people Charles Finny back in the

day believed in sinless perfection. That

that is not true. Sinless perfection is

not real. Click the slide. Thanks. look

at that. But instead, it's a decisive

break in your allegiance.

That's what it is. It's not about

sinless perfection, but it's about

decisive break in your allegiance to

sin.

Peter's point is this. The believer who

is willing to suffer rather than sin

demonstrates that sin no longer reigns.

Circle those last few words. Sin no

longer reigns. You see, when someone is

willing to go through the mocking, the

ridicule, the financial hardship,

whatever it is that their faith is going

to bring about, it indicates that they

that they would rather stay with Christ

than then go through the blessing of not

staying with Christ as in not the escape

of suffering.

So look at Romans 6:es 1 and this is

really only verses 1-4 though you could

go all the way to 14 and I hope you'll

do that later today. But look at this.

Look what it says. What shall we say

then? Are we to continue in sin that

grace may abound by no means. Other

versions say may it never be.

How can we who died to sin? You see that

idea of death to the old life, living in

in the new life in Christ? How can we

who died to sin still live in it? Do you

not know that all of us who have been

baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized

into his death? We were buried therefore

with him by baptism into death in order

that as Christ was raised from the dead

by the glory of the father. Read it out

loud together, we too might walk in

newness of life. This newness of life,

we've been given a new life.

Friend, I want to say to you, if you're

struggling with sin, you're struggling

with how am I going to deal with this? I

mean, either a morality issue or a

substance issue or an attitude issue,

whatever it may be, I want to say to you

that Christ is gently and lovingly

calling you to a new life. He can set

you free from that. That's why he died.

That's why he overcame the death of the

crucifixion and the tomb was to set you

and me free from this. Galatians in

Galatians 2:20, Paul says, "I have been

Galatians 2:20

crucified with Christ." You see, he saw

that life in Christ is death to sin and

living unto God. Look at Colossians 3:es

3-5. For you have died and your life is

hidden with Christ in God. So the old

Andrew is dead. The new Andrew is alive.

When Christ who is your life appears,

then you will appear with him in glory.

Read verse five with me out loud. So

here is his his command in this. Look at

verse five. Read it out loud. Put to

death therefore what is earthly in you.

Sexual immorality, impurity, passion,

evil desire, and covetousness

which is idolatry. You see idolatry.

These are worshiping something besides

God. All these things are called

idolatry. If you're holding on to your

sexual immorality, if you're holding on

to what you watch and it's all smut and

garbage, if you're holding on to your

evil desire for more stuff, more

materialism, if you're holding on to

your love for the things of the world,

covetousness, and the things that other

people have, all of those things this

verse is saying is idolatry. The

Christian is to let those things go.

To put those things to death.

That's what true life in Christ is like.

You cannot do it yourself. The only way

that you can do that is by running to

Jesus saying, "God, help me." [snorts]

This is the only way to overcome our

addiction to the world.

John Calvin said it this way.

Suffering [snorts]

often fortifies

the sincerity of repentance. So as you

repent, as you turn to the Lord, if you

suffer, sometimes it does nothing but

strengthen this way. That's what this

whole section is about,

that we are fortified through our

suffering. How about Roman numeral

number two? And we see it in verses 2

and three. Here it is.

We live for the will of God, not the

passions of men or the passions of

humanity or the passions of the world.

You could say we live. So look what it

says in verse two and three to live for

the rest of time. No longer for human

passions, underlined it up there, but

for the will of God. That's what we're

called to. You see the will of God

versus the passions of men. here are two

opposing masters

and you will serve one or the other.

God is calling you to serve him as the

master. Now, part of what this is saying

in verse three when it says, "For the

time that is passed suffices for what

the Gentiles want to do," here's Paul's

point, is that your former life is

enough. Letter A, your former life is

enough. And he's saying the pagan

pursuits. We read them out loud.

Sensuality, passions, drunkenness,

orgies, drinking parties, lawless

idolatry. The Okay, you used to do that.

It's enough. It's done. It's over. You

see, this was common Roman pagan

culture. This was the way the Romans

lived. Well, surprise, surprise. It's

also the way the Americans live.

I mean, we we are obsessed with

basically the same things. American life

some sometimes is a little whitewashed.

Our Judeo-Christian values from our

founding make some of these things a

little more cloaked,

but you don't have to go very far from

Bickl Avenue to see that it's

everywhere.

And you don't have to go very far from

the front page of your Chrome or your

Google or your Firefox or whatever

browser you use to know that it's all

right there.

We have a pagan culture.

We have a very pagan culture in the

world in which we live. And this pagan

culture, look what it does. It it's it

leads to emptiness.

It leads to destruction and it leads to

death. It led to that in the Roman

Empire and it leads to it in Hollywood,

South Florida, Miami Dade, Broward

County. It leads to it right now. You

see, the world that we pursue

and all of the garbage of it still

leaves people empty. That's why it steps

up and steps up and steps up.

But the great news that this passage is

showing us is that there is freedom.

There is freedom in Christ. You don't

have to live that way. You don't have to

act that way.

And it's not about moral superiority.

It's not about now you're moral. Whereas

before you weren't, and you can look

down your nose at everybody else. No,

this is about grateful deliverance. The

sign of a true true Christian is, "Oh

my, I'm glad I'm not like that anymore."

The sign of a true Christian is this. I

am so grateful to God. He saved me from

that.

>> You see, it was the Pharisee that was

praying in public that would look down

at the tax collector in the synagogue.

Jesus told the parable or the story of

one Pharisee that is there and there is

a tax collector there. There's a sinner

there. And the tax collector goes in

there and he finds a corner of the

synagogue and he beats on his breast and

he says, "Lord, forgive me. I'm a

sinner." Whereas the Pharisee stands in

his prayer and prays this, "Lord, I'm

thankful that I'm not like that man."

You see, there's a lot of people in

Baptist churches that can look down

their nose at the culture and say, "I'm

thankful that I'm not like those

people."

as opposed to saying, "Dear God, but for

your grace, I would be right there."

[applause]

>> We are called to compassion

for those who are struggling deep in

sin.

We are called to have a heart that Jesus

would save them, too.

And Peter is saying in all of this,

Christian,

you don't owe sin

another hour.

>> Be done with it. High schooler, be done

with it.

Run to the Lord to honor him. This is

God's will for your life.

You know, on that point just above that

about grateful deliverance. I was with

two guys this week in our church.

One of them was hopelessly addicted to

heroin

and really really in bondage, had been

through rehab after rehab after rehab.

Had had people reaching out to him and

seeking to help him. Um folks that

sacrificed to help him. And he just

there was no deliverance

until one day there was

when he came to the Lord Jesus and God

broke through in his life and God set

him free

>> through faith in Jesus. Well, he was

sitting there

with another guy

and there was another guy that lived on

the same street here in Hollywood for a

short period of time. And one of those

guys was hopelessly addicted to alcohol.

He was through rehab after rehab, no

hope. And after being kicked out of yet

another

place where he could live, a group home

where he could live, kicked out because

he came home drunk again.

He was there and he saw this former

heroin of the addict kind of dressed a

little bit differently than he normally

would be because he was a little bit

little bit dressed up. And he saw him on

the street and he said, "Where have you

been?"

And the former heroin addict said, "I've

been worshiping God at church." It was a

Sunday afternoon.

And it was that afternoon that that guy

bound in alcohol, nowhere to live once

again said,"I need that.

That's what I need. Whatever you have is

what I need." And do you know that phone

call was made, two or three guys met

together, they went over to Dalvo's

Pizza. And at Dalvo's Pizza for two

hours, they explained the gospel to this

guy that was just desperate. And he

said, "That's what I need. They stood

up. They went out of the restaurant.

They stood in the parking lot and a

prayer was prayed. Lord God, set me

free. Help me

with those men. And he was saved.

He's now been walking with the Lord.

He's been growing in the Lord. These two

brothers, the heroin guy and the alcohol

guy, work together. They serve the Lord.

They're here in this room right now.

There's

>> they're thankful to God for what God has

done in their life. Amen.

>> Praise the Lord. [applause]

You know, I needed to hear their

testimony Monday. I I mean, we'd had a

great Sunday the day before last week

and it was encouraging, but you know, we

all have burdens. We all have things

that we deal with. And I sat there and

listened to their testimonies on Monday.

And when they got done, I felt like I

was ready to go run a marathon.

Peter's point is, Christian, you don't

owe sin another hour. Leave it behind.

Letter B, you have a new master. And

what is that new master? The will of

God. And it is a good master. He is a

good master. He's not an evil master of

destruction, but he's a good master of

life. You see, living for God is not

vague spirituality. It is submission to

his revealed will

his will. That's what Peter wants us to

know. That's what Peter wants us to

live. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, "This is

1 Thessalonians 4:3

the will of God,

your sanctification." Do you remember

what we said? Sanctification means being

more like Jesus. You're wondering what

God's will is. Far more important than

the next deal, the next house, the next

job, the next thing is to to be more

like Jesus. You say, "That's just so

vague." No, it's not vague.

It is very clear.

Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to

Matthew 7:21

me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom

of heaven." You know what it goes on to

say? But those who do the will of my

father,

you see, it's God's will that you obey

him. Look at John 14:15. Jesus said, "If

John 14:15

you love me, you will what?

>> Keep my commandments." This is God's

will for you.

And his commandments are not too

difficult.

You see Roman numeral number three we

should expect misunderstanding and

rejection from the world and that's what

Peter says to us with respect to this

that is you don't enter into all those

things with respect to this they are

surprised and they malign you so they're

surprised that means they don't

understand and they malign you that

means they're rejecting you

see the world is not confused confused

because you sin. The world is confused

because you don't.

You're like, "Why don't you do that?

Why don't you do this? Why don't you go

with us on this? Why don't we watch

this? Why don't we drink this? Why don't

we smoke this? Why don't we talk like

this? Why don't we When you don't do

those things, they go, "What's wrong

with you?"

And what's interesting, many times your

holiness

is a silent rebuke

>> to them

without even looking at them and saying,

"Well, you really shouldn't use the

f-word in every sentence. In fact, you

should never use the f- word." Amen.

>> Well, you really shouldn't use the

Lord's name in vain.

>> You know, I want to just say this. You

know, when you say, "Oh my God,"

then it's real common for Christians to

say, "Oh my God,"

that is using the Lord's name in vain.

>> You should not say, "Oh my God."

You can say beans.

You can say Shazam.

You can say, you know, I don't know

what,

but

oh my god, it's a bad idea.

Friends, I want to just say when we

start to live our lives in a way that's

holy to the Lord,

there are people that are re like my

friends in high school, they were like,

"What are you better than us?" And I'd

say, "No, I am not better than you.

The the only hope I have is Christ, and

I'm just trying to honor him." And you

can learn to do that in love. And you

don't need to be holier than thou. You

need to be grateful for his grace in

your life.

Look at John 15. This is so beautiful.

If the world hates you, know that it

hated me before it hated you. This is

Jesus speaking. Verse 19. If you were of

the world, the world would love you as

its own. But because you are not of the

world, but look at this. I chose you out

of the world, therefore the world hates

you.

Remember the word that I said to you, a

servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also

persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will keep

yours also. So, there's going to be some

who reject you and persecute you. And

there's going to be some who listen to

you and receive your word. And that's

what Jesus is saying here.

If they kept my word, they will also

keep yours. Some are going to come and

believe. And so, you can rejoice in

that. Look at 2 Timothy 3:12. All who

2 Timothy 3:12

desire to live godly lives in Christ

Jesus will be persecuted. So, don't be

surprised.

In fact, in his very first sermon, Jesus

said this. Matthew 5 11-12 says,

"Blessed are you when others revile you

and persecute you and all and utter all

kinds of evil against you falsely on my

account." You see, all these things line

up together. He says verse 12, "Rejoice

and be glad for re your reward in heaven

is great. For so they persecuted the

prophets who were before you.

So misunderstanding and rejection of the

world is not something to be feared. It

is something to be celebrated

um in the most humble and joyful way.

Peter's point is this. Expect suffering.

It is a mark of your union with Christ.

If everybody just thinks you're great

and they think you're great just like

you are, you may wonder.

What is your witness like to them? Roman

numeral number four, remember the coming

judgment and living hope. Look at these

verses in verse 5. He says, "But they

will give an account to that. They will

give account to him who is ready to

judge the living and the dead. For this

is why the gospel was preached, even to

those who are dead, that though that

though judged in the flesh, the way

people are, they might live in the

spirit the way God does. [snorts] Letter

A is God will judge.

He is the only true consistent judge. He

will judge and no injustice ever escapes

him. No injustice escapes him. Acts

Acts 17:31

17:31, because he has fixed a day on

which he will judge the world. That is

coming. You can stick your head in the

sand and hope it doesn't, but it's

coming. Romans 14 says, "So then, each

of us will give an account of himself to

God."

2 Corinthians 5:10, for we must all

2 Corinthians 5:10

appear before the judgment seat of

Christ to that each one may receive what

is due for what he has done in the body,

whether good or evil.

We will give an account before God.

Peter's point is this. Believers can

trust the sovereignty and justice of

God.

We can remember that. And the beautiful

part of all this is that the gospel

triumphs over death.

The good news of Jesus triumphs over

this. That though judged in the flesh

the way people are, they might live in

the spirit the way God does.

God triumphs over this. You see likely

this is likely referring to believers

who have died physically. They've died.

Though condemned by worldly courts or

subjected to physical death, they live

eternally. There was the belief in this

day and time that once you died, the

gods could never me could no longer mess

with you. So there was a little bit of

relief that okay, after you die in the

Roman world, the gods are done with you.

Well, that's a lie. Um when it comes to

the one true God because he said, "Don't

fear those who after they've killed the

body have done all that they can do.

Instead, fear the one who after after he

has killed the body can cast it into

hell. There is a great big judgment that

comes after your death.

And the life in Christ is the only thing

that has triumph over that through

Jesus.

And so what we see here is that Peter is

dealing with that. And he's saying that

there have been some that have died. And

those who are in Christ, they have

nothing to fear. They're going to live

on in him in the grace of Christ. But

those who have died in sin, they will be

awakened to another judgment.

John 11 chapter 25 or 11:es 25 and 26 is

when Jesus is speaking to Martha outside

of Lazarus's tomb.

She was upset with him and she looked at

Jesus and she said, "Jesus, if you had

come, this wouldn't have happened.

Lazarus wouldn't be dead.

And Jesus took this moment and look what

he says to her.

I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me, though he die,

what does it say?

>> Yet shall he live. Verse 26, read it out

loud together. And everyone who lives

and believes in me shall never die. And

then he asks her, do you believe this?

You see, that's the issue. Do you

believe

Romans 8 very similarly, although the

body is dead because of sin, the spirit

is alive because of righteousness?

In 2 Corinthians, same idea. We don't

lose heart. The outer body is wasting

away, but the new body in Christ is

being raised. And look at this. Look at

verse 18. And as we look not to the

things that are seen, but to the things

that are unseen. For the things that are

seen are transient. That means they're

going away. But the things that are

unseen are eternal.

>> So Peter is calling us to remember all

that is eternal.

You see, all this ties back to 1 Peter

1 Peter 3:18

3:18. Christ was put to death in the

flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

Yes, he died for our sins, but he rose

again. True believers follow the same

pattern.

That's what Peter wants us to remember

that there is triumph over death in

Christ.

So this morning as we wrap up, I want to

just ask you to think about these things

this afternoon. And maybe at lunch you

would talk about this or maybe this

evening before you go to bed as a family

you could ask these questions. Questions

to think about this week.

How are you sometimes tempted to live

for God as a moral reformation?

Are you sometimes tempted to say, "Well,

I go to church, so I really need to

clean up my act."

or I want to please God, so I need to

clean up my act.

You see, there's there's should we clean

up our act? Yes.

But the reason that we do it is very

important. What we've been seeing this

morning is we do it out of gratitude.

We don't do things that are right

because we want to be saved. We do them

because we are saved. And there's a very

big difference. We need to be very

careful about a moral reformation

in seeking to

be something in our own strength.

How about this? How is living for God in

grateful identification with a crucified

and risen savior different than a moral

reformation? You see, one is one is

looking to Jesus as the hope. The other

one is looking to ourselves as the hope.

And Peter is calling us to live a holy

life in the midst of our persecution,

knowing that good things are going to

come from it. Amen.

>> Let's stand together as we pray.

Father in heaven, I pray that you would

help us to live for you in light of what

we've heard.

I pray that we would not fear suffering

for the name of Christ, but that we

would embrace it.

I pray that we would see that the will

of God

is to live for the kingdom of God and

not our own.

Lord, I pray that even right now [music]

that we would evaluate our own hearts.

Have we been building our own kingdom in

even our own

moral reformation

or are we living in genuine

gratitude

for what you have done? So much

gratitude that it changes our language.

It changes

the way we view the world, the way we

[music]

watch

and live

with people around us.

Father, how I pray this morning that we

would live for Christ

with all the right motivations.

Thank you, God, for your word that calls

us to live for you,

to [music] deny ourselves, to take up

our cross, the cross that you took up,

and that we would follow in that way. In

Jesus name [music] we pray. Amen.