God's Will For Our Church

Read that for us first, and then he's going to teach us what it's all about.

So, thank you, Dan.

Morning.

If you'd like to have 1 Peter open to chapter 4, we're going to continue our worship by

looking at God's Word and seeing what it has to say to us today.

God's Word is as relevant to us today in the year 2019 in Karageline as it was to the people

to whom Peter was writing 2,000 years ago.

So, let's have a look at 1 Peter chapter 4.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

We're going to do something that's a bit of a challenge for a preacher, which is to do

an entire chapter in one sermon.

So, we'll see how we get on.

Verse 1, Peter writes,

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude,

because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires,

but rather for the will of God.

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do,

living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless while living,

and they heap abuse on you.

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead,

so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body,

but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

The end of all things is near.

Therefore, be alert and of sober mind, so that you may pray.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others

as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,

so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you,

as though something strange were happening to you.

But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,

so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed.

For the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler.

However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed,

but praise God that you bear that name.

For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household.

And if it begins with us,

what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

So then those who suffer according to God's will

should commit themselves to their faithful creator

and continue to do good.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Father, as we continue our worship through the ministry of your word,

open our hearts, open our minds to receive the food of your word.

Plant this truth deep in our hearts, Lord.

May your Holy Spirit enable us to understand what your servant Peter is saying.

Help us to apply it to our own particular situations.

And above all things, Lord,

may we do everything for your glory.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Maybe you've wondered, like I have,

what's God's will for my life?

Fairly common question.

And we tend to mean it in terms of things like this.

Should I marry this person?

Should I buy this house?

Should I apply for this job?

Should I be in full-time ministry?

Should I shave off my beard?

Someone once asked me, was that God's will for his life?

That's a true story.

Should I serve my guests apple pie or lemon meringue pie?

If you're inviting me over, by the way, either of those is fine.

I'm not fussy.

These are all fairly basic human type questions about what our lives should look like.

But when the Bible talks about knowing God's will,

it talks about something different.

It's not about whether you should own something or marry somebody or work somewhere.

It's so much more than simply making a choice about something.

Simply put, it's doing what God would have us do by what he's revealed in his word.

2 Timothy 3.16 says,

All scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for the servant of God to be complete

and equipped for every good work.

We don't need to go into a trance

or try and have some kind of a dream or a vision or something like that.

It's all here in God's word.

So with that in mind, let's take a look and see what God's word tells us.

And we're going to see that Peter tells us three things.

There are God's will for his church, God's will for you and me.

If you have the notes, you have these.

If not, feel free to write them down.

To stop living for yourselves or ourselves.

To start living for others.

And to remember that Christ lives in us.

So God's will is that we stop living for ourselves,

start living for others,

and remember that Christ lives in us.

So let's kick off.

Verse 1.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body,

arm yourselves also with the same attitude,

because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

Jesus was completely without sin.

Never had an unkind word.

Never had an irreverent thought.

Never had a sinful impulse.

And if we're honest, we can't even imagine that.

In our current human condition,

we cannot imagine someone who is completely without sin.

Who had a total absence of sin.

But this was what enabled him

to be the perfect sacrifice

to atone for the sins

of all those who believe.

See, in the Old Testament,

all the gallons and gallons of blood,

of goats and sheep

and bulls,

all of that wasn't enough to accomplish

what Jesus did

as the perfect sacrifice.

And so he defeated death

with his own death

and resurrection.

And think about this.

If the Son of God himself

had to die

to pay

for your sins

and for my sins

and the sins of everybody

who would believe,

what does that say

about how we ought to live our lives

in light

of that sacrifice?

Peter tells us

at the end of verse 1

and into verse 2,

have a look at it,

whoever suffers in the body

is done with sin

and they do not live

the rest of their lives

for their own desires

but in pursuit

of the will

of God.

Now remember

when Satan went into the wilderness

for 40 days

and along comes Satan.

Think about that for a second.

What a moment that must have been.

The Son of God

in the wilderness

in human form

and along comes Satan

who is the

ultimate antichrist

if you will.

And Satan says,

you look hungry.

What are you hungry for?

You're the Son of God.

Why are you hungry?

Make yourself some food

out of these stones.

And you know what Jesus said,

man shall not live

by bread alone

but by every word

that comes from the mouth of God.

He was really saying,

I'm not here, Satan,

to satisfy my own cravings

and my own desires.

I didn't come down here

to do my will.

I came down here

to do the will

of the Father

who sent me.

And the Father's will

was that the Son

would come

and be the suffering servant.

Not the destroyer

of the Roman army

but the destroyer

of death

and sin.

Not to live for himself

but to live for us.

So we ought not

be living for ourselves,

taking our opportunities,

making the most of life

for our own advantage

and our own gain.

And maybe you've heard

things like this.

I was just thinking

some random thoughts.

Maybe you've heard

things like this

or maybe even thought them

or said them.

Who's it going to hurt?

Nobody will ever find out.

Have a few more drinks.

You deserve it.

Well, if I don't take it,

somebody else will.

It's just sex.

It's not even

these things themselves.

Do you hear the attitude

behind them?

It's all about me.

It's all about what I want.

If it feels good,

I'll do it.

I am the master

of my fate.

I am the captain

of my soul.

Don't think like that,

Peter says.

Verse 3,

you've spent enough time

doing all these things.

You're done

with all these things.

And now,

some of you,

if not most of you,

are sitting there thinking,

but Dan,

I do sin.

I sin every day.

And so do you,

in fact.

We're not done

with sin.

Well, you're right.

We do still sin.

But here's the point.

A Christian

doesn't love their sin.

A Christian

doesn't revel

in their sin.

The Apostle John

actually says this.

I think this is in your notes.

But the Apostle John

says this.

If you've been born again,

God's seed

actually lives

in you.

And you cannot

go on

in a lifestyle

of sin.

It's a theological

impossibility

to go on

in the lifestyle

of sin.

And think about it

this way.

I'll illustrate this.

Maybe this will help.

Suppose I was late

getting here.

Like,

I don't show up

until half past 12.

So,

90 minutes late

and Johnny's

preaching comeback

starts early.

And you say to me,

Dan,

you're 90 minutes late.

Don't you care

about this church?

Don't you care

about coming here

to preach the word?

Don't you get

how much we're trusting you

and we're inviting you

here to minister to us

and to preach to us?

And I respond

by saying,

oh well,

I'm sorry,

but on the way here

I got a flat tire.

So I stopped

on the side of the road

and then,

for some reason,

I walked out

into the middle

of the road

and along came

a double-decker bus

traveling 100 kilometers

an hour

and ran over me

full force

and knocked me

into the river

and that's why

I'm late.

You're going to

conclude one of two

things about me.

Either I'm a liar

or I'm certifiably

insane.

And you'd be

absolutely right

because how could I

possibly have an encounter

with a double-decker bus

going 100 kilometers

an hour

and then walk in the door

90 minutes later?

Now suppose it's not

a double-decker bus.

Suppose this is

God himself.

If God reaches down

and takes up

residence inside me,

how could I possibly

look the same

as before that happened?

You talk about

a double-decker bus,

God is billions

upon billions

upon billions

of double-decker buses

going billions

of miles an hour

invading your heart

and invading your soul

and taking up

residence inside you.

It's why Jesus said

you will know them

by their fruit,

the external proof

of an internal

change of heart

and change of mind.

In fact,

that's what repent

means,

to change your mind.

And people might

mock you for this.

They usually will.

Might call you names,

poke fun at you,

call you a holy Joe.

someone once referred

to me as Ned Flanders.

A few people

aren't laughing

because they've never

seen The Simpsons,

but that's okay.

But I don't answer

to those people.

I don't answer

to anybody

except God.

And you know what?

They will too.

One day,

we will all answer

to God

who will

ask what we thought

of his son.

And then,

depending on our answer,

how did you live

in light of the fact

that you say

you knew my son?

Verse 6,

the same as the believers

who are now dead,

their flesh might have

been judged

by human standards,

but now

they've been judged

according

to their faith

and the fruit

of their faith.

So we have to ask ourselves,

are we living

for ourselves?

Is our spare time

taken up

pursuing comfort?

I read an article

that was

from

The Examiner

talking about

the secret codes

to unlock

all the Christmas movies

on Netflix.

Are we spending

our time

pursuing entertainment,

filling our belly

with whatever

particular cravings

that we have,

literal or otherwise?

Do we think

we're entitled

to a certain way

of life

because we live

in the West,

in this country,

in 2019?

or,

do we follow

the example

of Jesus

who didn't use

his position

to his advantage,

Philippians 2 says,

but became nothing,

became like one of us,

emptied himself

of everything

but love

and then

suffered death

so that we

might live.

God's will

was that God

himself would die

so that we

would die

to our sin.

The will of God,

friends,

is for his church

to stop

living

for ourselves.

Secondly,

God's will

for his church

is that we would

start living

for others.

Look at verse 7.

The end

of all things

is near.

Therefore,

be alert

and of sober mind

so that you

might pray.

I don't know

how often

you think

about the end times.

We're starting

a series on it

in Middleton soon

but basically

there's two kinds

of people

when it comes

to the end times.

They're the ones

who can't get into it

and there's the ones

who can't get out of it.

The ones who never

want to talk about it

and the ones

who want to talk

about nothing else.

Questions about

when it happens,

what happens,

what the signs

will be,

all things like that

but really,

whatever your view

on the end times is,

the question

is the same.

Jesus is coming back.

Are you ready?

And the writers

of the New Testament,

just like Peter here,

they certainly exhorted

people to live

every day of their lives

as if the next person

they met

was Jesus.

He's coming back,

Peter is saying.

Therefore,

be alert,

be ready,

be sober,

not taken up

with the things

we just looked at

and this is interesting,

look at the end

of verse 7,

so that you may pray.

Now,

no matter where you are

in your walk,

if you've been a Christian

for 20 years

or for six weeks,

you probably figured out

you can't walk

this journey by yourself.

None of us can

because we all have ups

and we all have downs.

That's the nature

of this life.

It's the main point

of Peter's letter.

It's easy to be a believer

when things are on the up,

when things are going well.

But what happens

when things go badly?

You see,

a lot of us

are like the prophet Elijah

because even though

he had great victories,

including defeating

the prophets of Baal,

the very next thing

that happened

was he ran off

into the wilderness,

he was alone,

he was depressed

and he was even suicidal.

And the angel of the Lord

appeared to him

with some food and water

and said,

Elijah,

eat something

because the journey

is too great

for you.

You can't do it alone,

Elijah.

You can't do it alone,

Peter.

You can't do it alone,

Dan.

You can't do it alone,

Karageline.

The journey

is too great for us.

And without prayer,

this is just

a social club.

A nice Sunday morning

with tea and coffee.

We need the power

of God in our lives,

friends,

and we get that

through prayer,

through his word,

through fellowship

with one another.

And we do this,

verse 8,

because we're to serve

one another.

Love one another,

verse 8 says.

Verse 9 says,

offer hospitality

to one another.

Because Jesus died for us

and because Jesus

is coming back,

God's will

is that we should live

for others.

Serve one another.

And to do this,

look at the end

of verse 9.

This is profound.

The end of verse 9.

To do this

without grumbling.

Now the Greek word

is interesting.

It doesn't really mean

loudly complaining

about something.

You know,

such a terrible day

today with the rain

and traffic

and whatever the case

might be.

It actually means

something more subtle.

Muttering.

Murmuring.

Begrudging.

We know all about that

in this country.

Begrudging.

What's our attitude

in serving one another?

This is the point.

When we're serving

one another

and living for one another,

what are we thinking?

What are we feeling?

So maybe I'm working

on a sermon

during the week.

Am I just going

through the motions?

Because I have a deadline?

Sunday?

Quarter to 12?

Or am I filled

with gratitude

to God

who gives me

the opportunity

to come and preach

his word?

Or how about this?

When there aren't

enough Sunday school

teachers

or musicians

or whatever,

tea and coffee servers,

and we find ourselves

on the roto

week after week

after week

after week,

are we bitter?

Do we get resentful?

Or do we honor God

in our lives

by killing our pride?

Forgetting that

it's not about us

and being gentle

with other people

in our service?

Or how about this?

And I'm preaching

to myself

on this one too.

When we're trying

to meet up

with somebody

to encourage them,

someone who's suffering,

maybe isolated,

to encourage them

and to minister to them

and they keep postponing

and they keep making excuses

that can sound

made up

or whatever.

Do I quit?

Do I give up?

Do I harden my heart

against them?

Or do I pray to God

that I love that person

the way God loves them?

In other words, friends,

are we joyful

as we live

for one another?

Not viewing it

like a chore

or something

we have to do,

but as a way

to participate

in the work

of Christ

who is the chief

servant

of all.

verse 10,

use whatever gift

you have received

to serve others

as faithful stewards

of God's grace

in its various forms.

One of the beautiful

things about the church

is that we're all different.

We're not all robots.

Alex read from Romans 12

earlier.

Later on today,

have a look at

1 Corinthians 12.

The amazing picture,

we won't look at it now,

but it's an amazing picture

of how the church

is one body

with many parts

and we all look different.

We all have

different nationalities

and speak different languages

and we all have

different gifts

that God gives us

to serve one another.

Paul says,

by one spirit

we were all baptized

into one body

to serve one another.

And some of you,

verse 11,

some of you have gifts

associated with speaking,

preaching,

teaching,

Sunday school,

leading Bible studies,

that kind of thing.

Things that tend

to be quite public.

And still in verse 11,

towards the end,

some of the rest of you

have gifts

that Peter broadly calls

serving gifts.

Setting up,

tearing down,

making and bringing food,

sound control,

administration,

things that aren't

necessarily public

in the same way,

but things which impact

people

in very tangible,

visible ways.

You're all good

at something.

You know what

better than I do.

But regardless

of what it is

you're gifted at,

the Spirit

gave you

those gifts

in order

that you might

live for other people,

not for yourself.

I've been doing

public speaking

since I was

four years old.

Started off

doing school

fesh,

then going on

to drama

and debating

and public speaking

competitions

and all that

kind of thing.

I could always

do that,

but it wasn't

until I became

a Christian

that those gifts

that I had,

God changed my mind

so that I would

use them

to give God glory.

Not to win

the next debate,

not to win

the next argument,

but to glorify God

and to live

for other people.

And we do this

not by our own efforts,

but by the power

of the Spirit.

And that's why,

friends,

if you've ever wondered,

that's why we pray

for God's will

to be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Because only God

will accomplish

God's will.

And we want it,

if we want to be

a part of that,

if we want to see

God's will done

as we live

to serve one another

and live for one another,

then we have to be

prayerful.

Because otherwise

all the things

we just talked about,

being resentful,

getting hard-hearted,

bitter,

all these things

are going to come back.

We need to be prayerful

so that we can be

humble,

sacrificial.

In both our service

and in our prayers,

we need to mimic

Jesus who said,

the Son of Man

did not come

to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom

for many.

And in the same way,

when we serve

sacrificially,

when we live

for one another,

what we're actually doing

is we're lifting up

Christ and saying,

here he is.

This is a picture

of what this looks like.

Because we're saved,

friends,

so that we can point

other people to Christ.

Yes, by our words,

but also by our actions.

The way we live,

not just our own

personal holiness,

but the way we live

for one another

and serve one another.

Just like it was

God's will for the Son

to die for the church,

it's God's will

for the church

that we should live

for one another.

Thirdly,

and finally,

God's will for the church

is to remember

that Christ lives

in us.

Verses 12 to 14.

Dear friends,

don't be surprised

at the fiery ordeal

that has come on you

to test you,

as though something strange

were happening to you.

But rejoice

inasmuch as you participate

in the sufferings

of Christ,

so that you may be

overjoyed

when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted

because of the name

of Christ,

you are blessed.

For the spirit of glory

and of God

rests on you.

This is the theme

that runs all the way

through Peter's letter,

from start to finish.

When things go wrong,

when bad things happen,

where is God?

Has he forgotten about me?

Have I done something wrong?

We won't turn to it,

but think all the way back

to the very beginning,

if you can,

of Peter's letter.

The very first sermon

I ever preached to you.

Peter told us

that this suffering

is like a refiner's fire

that you use on gold

to weed out

all the impurities

and to clean it up,

to make the gold pure.

And he's saying,

don't be surprised

when the fire comes

because it's not

something strange.

It's not something unusual.

It's not something

out of the ordinary.

Suffering is something

that God allows us

to go through

to develop

our Christian character,

to see what is our response

to this suffering,

to learn to trust him,

to rely on his own strength.

Not my strength.

When I got the phone call

one morning

and my sister

had hanged herself,

was I going to rely

on my own strength

in that moment?

There's no way.

This is so that

despite what life

throws at us,

whether it's people

mocking us for our faith

or suing us

because we won't

bake a cake

for their wedding

or bullying at work

or school

or sickness

or unemployment

or whatever it is,

you still,

verse 13,

rejoice

that we participate

in the sufferings

of Christ.

Christ.

And if it's all ourselves,

we can't do that

because this is the key.

Christ lives in you.

God lives in you.

We don't do this ourselves.

We didn't wake up one day

that we had all this faith stuff

figured out

and decide that we were just

really smart

and made ourselves believe

the right thing.

Ephesians 2 says

that we were dead.

Not sick.

Not unconscious.

Dead.

Dead in our sins

and our transgressions

and that God

made us alive.

And he didn't just

bring us back to life

and then say,

off you go then,

figure things out

for yourself,

but he actually

took up residence

inside us.

I don't know

if many of you

have the King James.

I'm a bit of a

King James aficionado.

And Galatians 2.20

says this,

I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless,

I live.

Yet,

not I,

but Christ

liveth in me.

And the life

which I now live

in the flesh,

I live by the faith

of the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself

for me.

I am crucified

with Christ.

Nevertheless,

I live.

Yet,

not I,

but Christ

lives in me.

Friends,

if our faith

is in Christ

and we suffer

in this life,

even though we're

doing nothing wrong,

like Sam was talking

about this morning,

even if we're doing

nothing wrong,

Christ

still

lives

in us.

God's will

is that

we remember

this

in the good times

and in the bad times.

You might say

in sickness

and in health.

For richer,

for poorer,

this is a covenant

that God

himself

has made with us

by taking up

residence

inside us.

Christ

lives

in you.

Is there anything

that ought to cause us

to praise God

more than this?

That Christ

lives in us?

Verses

15 and 16.

Don't suffer

because you break

the law

or you gossip

or you meddle

in other people's lives

because all of us,

believer,

unbeliever,

just as I was saying,

we're all going to answer

to the king of the ages

one day

and we're going to have

to give an answer

as we stand

in that judgment.

Even the righteous,

you know,

the people who always

seem to do the right thing,

people who always

seem to do the good thing.

Peter says,

even they don't have

an easy time of this.

It's almost impossible

for them,

so imagine what it's like

for the unrighteous.

And I was thinking

how to illustrate this.

We'll call this

a preacher's story.

You can read into it

what you will.

A preacher once

went to visit

an elderly woman

in the hospital

and she was near the end

and the preacher

said to her,

when you stand

in front of God,

what will you say?

What will you do?

And she said,

I'll tell him

that I've raised

eight children

and that I worked

these hands to the bone

and I'll lift up

these hands

and I'll say,

I didn't have any time

for church

or for Jesus

or for any of that

sort of stuff

but I did my best

and I'll just hold up

these hands.

And the preacher replied,

you're too late, dear.

Somebody beat you to it.

Somebody got in line

in front of you

and he already held up

his hands

and God has no eyes

for anybody else.

If we think

we can convince God

that because the way

we lived our lives

or reacted to our circumstances

makes us righteous,

makes us right in his lives,

then frankly,

we're on a hiding to nothing.

unless those things

were the proof of a heart

that believed

that God raised Jesus

from the dead

and confessed with our mouths

that Jesus is Lord.

That it is only

the righteousness of Jesus

that makes us righteous.

And because once again,

Christ lives in us.

As we finish,

let's think about this.

Do we know these things?

Do we really know

that God's will

is for us to stop

living for ourselves?

For that next pint?

For that next bit of gossip?

For that next bit of comfort,

entertainment,

whatever the case?

To be holy

as God is holy?

To take our new selves

and not to live for ourselves,

but to throw ourselves

into living for others.

And doing all these things

because Christ

took up residence in us.

Not because we want

to be really good people,

although we do,

but it's because Christ

took up residence in us

and his righteousness

lets us stand

before the Father

and be counted as righteous.

Remember that we have

this rock-solid assurance,

what Peter called

in chapter 1,

this living hope

that we'll never die

because of the work

of Jesus on the cross

who said,

it is finished.

There's nothing else to do.

In verse 19,

with all these things,

it's simple.

Let's commit ourselves

to the one who created us

and continue to do good.

Because it's all about him,

friends.

This isn't about us.

It's not about

our families

or jobs

or careers,

whatever the case might be.

It's about him.

Because life will be hard.

Life is hard.

But let's keep going.

Let's keep loving one another.

Let's keep bearing

one another's burdens

and weeping with those

who weep

and rejoicing

with those who rejoice

and living for one another.

Remember that it's only

by Christ's strength

that we keep going.

Don't try to do this

by yourselves.

Submit yourself

to the Lord in prayer.

Come to the fountain

that never runs dry

and drink

from the living water.

Let's remember that

whether it's the land of plenty,

whether it's the barren desert,

whether we're on top

of the mountain

or in the valley

or the noonday sun

or the pitch of black,

God

came to earth

and took up residence

in you

and in me.

And those

whom he draws to himself

will never

be brought out of his hand.

They will be lifted up

on the last day.

Let's remember the words

of the old hymn.

King James,

old hymns.

I'm on to old stuff today,

apparently.

The old hymn,

I hear the Saviour say,

Thy strength indeed is small.

Child of weakness,

watch

and pray.

Find in me

thine all

in all.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Gracious Father,

we give you praise

for what you've done for us.

It's not always easy,

Lord.

It's not always easy

in this world of sin,

death and decay

to

declare

boldly

the praises of you

who brought us

out of darkness

and into the light.

We ask you,

Lord,

for help.

Lord,

we know that you live in us.

We don't often feel it.

Help us to be aware

of your presence in us.

Give us strength

day by day

to simply keep going.

To love one another

as you love us.

To serve one another

as you came to earth

to serve

and become a ransom

for many.

Give us the strength

to keep going.

Whether you give

or whether you take away,

help us to do everything

for your glory.

And as we come to a close

and finish in song,

help us once again

to elevate our

voices

and our hearts

to commune with you,

to enter into your

holy of holies

and to

get a tangible sense

that you do indeed

live in us.

Be with us, Lord.

All for your glory.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.