Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to 1 Peter chapter 4 and reading from our text verse 1. For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 1. Peter the penman of this epistle was a personal witness of Christ's sufferings. his life, his time in ministry, what he suffered at the hands of the Jews, what he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, upon Calvary's tree, before Pilate. He was a witness of those sufferings. He also himself suffered for his faith. In the ministry of the gospel, they were cast into prison, They were persecuted, they were reigned before rulers, Peter put into prison, wondrously delivered, though James was slain with the sword, but then later on he was himself to be martyred. So he speaks of one that had seen Christ's sufferings, but had also himself taken up the cross and followed in those same steps. He would have heard the Lord say, if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? He had heard the Lord foretell of how he should glorify God in his death, in Peter's death, he comes to us as one that is able to speak of these things. And though we would remember that all the Word of God is the inspired Word of God, the Lord used those that had experienced the truth, and that's why Like with Cornelius, it wasn't the angel that was to preach the gospel, it was to be Peter. It was to be those that need the same saviour, need the same salvation, have the same trouble with sin, and they are to set before others that way of salvation. I want to look then this evening, firstly, our text speaks, our text divides itself quite easily into three points. Firstly, if Christ suffered for us in the flesh, for as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. So look at those sufferings, what the Lord has suffered for us. And then secondly, armed with the same mind as Christ. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. And then lastly, a great statement. This statement, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. And what that means, what He set forth there. But firstly, our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us in the flesh. God Himself, God on His throne, He cannot suffer, He could not suffer. He could not redeem, He could not save a people justly and righteously without being made flesh and dwelling among us. There's a vital aspect of redemption, of God's plan of saving, that the one that He sends is able to be a substitute that is a near kinsman that is the seed of the woman. And so when we read here, we don't just read that Christ has suffered, but suffered in the flesh. He that is truly God and truly man came to this world and the purpose, the reason why he came was to suffer. He testifies when he comes to go before the rulers, brought to the judgment and then to the cross, for this cause came I into the world that I might bear witness to the truth. God's people, God's chosen people, fallen in the fall with all mankind, incurred the wrath of God under the sentence of death, literal death and eternal death. And that sentence could not be just disannulled and taken away. We have a little picture of that in two parts of the Word. One in the Book of Esther, where Haman had brought about that the Jews were under the sentence of death. The laws of the Medes, the Persians, the laws of that land were that that altereth not. If it was sealed with a king's seal, even the king that made that decree could not change it, could not reverse it. He could make another decree. He could make one that disannulled it in a sense that he did, giving the Jews authority to rise up against them that sought their lives and to fight for their lives. The sentence was still there. But the difference was now, instead of the king being against them and with their adversaries, he was with them and against their adversaries. We have the same with Daniel. When Darius made the rather foolish law that any calling upon another god apart from him in 30 days would be to cast into a lion's den, then he could not go back on that. And so Daniel had to go into the lion's den. We must die. We must die the first death. That cannot be changed with us. But it can be that that death is to be changed to a victory, where we are delivered from sin, from death, from hell, and wrought to be in glory. But if that is to be the case, we need one to bear the wrath of God in our place, to bear our sin, to stand in our place, to take away the sting of death, to be the one that suffered in our place. And so he must be made flesh. and he must endure the wrath of God, and he must die, and he must overcome death. These things the Lord Jesus Christ has done. What a statement. Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. Not for every man, woman, and child. He says, I lay down my life for the sheep, He says to the Jews that would not hear his word, ye are not of my sheep, therefore ye hear not my word. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for his people, for those that were given by the Father to him to redeem, those that were loved with an everlasting love, those that are chosen in him before the foundation of the world. It is those that the Lord Jesus Christ died to redeem. Our text then states what Christ hath done. In every ordinance of the Lord's Supper, the baptism, it states what Christ has done. It's one great testimony of the Church of God. that Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. He came to this world, trod this earth, breathed the air we breathe, ate what we ate, endured the contradiction of sinners against himself. He died a death that he did not deserve, but endured that. for the sake of his people. And this is always to be set forth before the people of God. Christ's work, Christ's finished work. This is why Paul says, I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. If Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, Peter then goes to a second statement, or because Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, we come to our second point, that we are to be armed with the same mind. as Christ. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. What is that same mind of Christ? And really, he is writing to the scattered strangers, he's writing to those that have already been quickened by the Spirit and directing them how they are to walk. Right through the Word of God we are told of the miraculous work of the new birth, the quickening from the dead to spiritual life, but we don't have it set before us as those that automatically Do everything right, think everything right. There is many things that are done immediately, but then there are those things that are learned. They shall all be taught of God. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. If a baby is born naturally, When it is born, if it is whole, and of course there are exceptions, but there it has everything there that in process of time it will grow and grow into an adult. And as that baby grows, all the time it is learning, learning, learning. Reminded of that when we see the grandchildren, when we see them born, And in the first months of life, how much they are taking on board, how much they are learning, how much they are copying and following all that they see and all that they hear. And in one sense here, the apostle will say, here is Christ, you that are born again, you that have an ear, Either have Christ mean something to you, what Christ has done, you're drawn to that, you need that, you feel your sinnership, you need it. Here is one to imitate. Here is one to learn from. Here's one to follow in his steps. Just the same as a baby and a small child growing up. is all the time copying and imitating. Sometimes you might have seen those things shown that really emphasize this, that you get a parent that maybe is acting in a wrong way, speaking wrong things, and that child is imitating all of that which is wrong. And a blessed thing it is if we are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, so we're copying that which is right and doing that which is right. Well, that in a natural sense, that cannot give grace. We may copy God's people, walk in their ways, but that alone does not give grace. Where the Lord does give grace, then there will be an added aspect to the pathway of that person, and that is that they will know for the first time what really sin is in them, to really realise the reason why Christ came to this world. We can learn about sin, but it's a different thing to actually feel it inside and to feel it bubbling up. The Apostle Paul He was a Pharisee first, and the Pharisees could not see their sin, they spoke of their good works. But when the law of God came, he says, sin revived and I died. And it is through the shining in of the law and those things that God brings into our lives. With Joseph's brothers, we don't know, but it appears that for 20 years, They just dismiss the fact that Joseph was gone. But then when Joseph starts to deal hardly with them, then their sin is brought to their remembrance. And Joseph listens to what they are saying one to another, that these things are coming upon us because of our sin. And there's nothing like present troubles, trials, difficulties, to bring us to really search, and we go back years, why? Why are these things coming? And we're like in Ezekiel, turn again thou son of man, thou shalt see greater abominations than these, and sins that we thought we'd forgotten years ago, they're brought to remembrance, and we loathe ourselves in the sight of God. And so if we are to be armed with the same mind as Christ, there's several aspects that really mark out, and in themselves they are tokens as well, if we by grace are brought to walk in it and to receive the Word. These aspects, one of them is the willing mind. The Lord was willing to come to this world. Send me, Isaiah was one that had that same spirit, to do God's bidding, to do his father's bidding, and to follow where he leads. That's a great thing, to be armed with that mind of Christ. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? That was what Paul saw the farces when the Lord began with him in almost his first utterance. As it were, casting away his own designs and own way, he wanted to know God's way. I wonder how many of you here, that is your desire and prayer, Lord, show me thy way. Show me what I have to do. Make me willing to do what thou wouldst direct and guide me in, not only asking for the way, but willing to walk in it. There's a most solemn account in Jeremiah 42, where the Jews there, they asked Jeremiah to go to the Lord and ask, should they go to Egypt or not? And they tell in most solemn professions that they will do whatever God says they will do. But the Lord was silent with Jeremiah for 10 days, and afterwards he comes, he said, you dissembled in your minds. You'd already decided to go down into Egypt, you just wanted a rubber stamp on it. And then they accused him of just being an ambassador for another king and not speaking the Lord's word at all. But there's one thing that God will do when he calls a sinner, and that is make them honest. And when they're asking petitions and desiring things of the Lord, it is with an honest mind. Though if we're armed with that same mind, have a willing mind. Also we think of our Lord's path. The Lord came because of sin, the sins of his people. We're exhorted that we might crucify the affections and the lusts, that we are to hate sin and that we mortify through the spirit the deeds of the body. we called upon to expect sufferings, expect a warfare, expect an opposition from our own heart and from Satan and from the world, and to expect those things, to have that mindset. When our Lord came into the world, he expected that he would be rejected. Isaiah says, he's a root out of dry ground, no form of comeliness that we should desire. And with those things that the Lord has said about what is done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry, if they persecuted me, they'll persecute you. We are to expect that. We have the same mind of Christ. We're not to think, well, Christ came into this world how he was received, and his sufferings, his death, they were all a shock, a surprise. He never thought that that would be the case. Far be it that that should be the case. He knew what was before him. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Lord says of his people, I've given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. And where to expect that? Let him expect that. Expect suffering. We're to have a determined mindset. We think of our Lord when he was going to Jerusalem, that his face was set to go unto Jerusalem. He wasn't indifferent, he wasn't at it without a purpose. When that set time was come, he was to go that way. And if we have the same mindset, it's not just half-hearted, it's not just a Sunday religion, it is with a real mindset and determined to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Determined to go on pilgrimage, determined to seek Him, determined to walk in the Lord's ways. We are to have the mindset of being prepared for trials and persecutions for the Word's sake. That is what follows on in this passage here. And some of us have proved that, proved this in our workplace. What it is to be reproached for the name of Christ. They speak evil, but the Lord says of us, on your part He is glorified. as a painful path to actually walk. The devil. Our Lord came and he was tempted of the devil. He resisted the devil. We are exhorted the same. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We have no power and no mind against him, but the Lord has. The Hymn writer says Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. And if we have the mindset of Christ, when Satan comes in, do this, command these stones to be made rare bread, do this, do that, if you're a child of God, you do that, you do this, but we're not Satan's slave. They're God's servants. And so our Lord always resisted with the word of God. What a lesson for us, if we have the same mind, of Christ, we resist the adversary with the word of God. As if to say, I'm not going to bring my words, I'm going to bring God's word. I'm going to bring a word with authority and power, that word that our Lord used, the same word, that we'll have the same mind to resist in that way. The same mind concerning the world. The Lord said, I, if I be lifted up above the world, will draw all men unto me. I am not of the world. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I have chosen them out of the world. It struck me recently how many times through scripture is emphasized that Abraham comes out of Ur of the Chaldees. The children of Israel come out of Egypt to go to Canaan. Then they brought down because of their sin into Babylon, they come out of Babylon. And again and again through scripture, it's picturing a people that has been mingled with others but are brought out. And in New Testament, come ye out from among them. Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. You shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. A separated people unto the Lord. and to have that mindset to not be ashamed of being called different and weird and strange and that we think strange things and walk in strange ways and meet in strange assemblies. It's part of the path that to have a mindset that this is what the God's people are called not to go into monasteries or things like that, but to walk in the way, which we read here, verse four, wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. And it speaks of a difference there, verse three. The time past of our life may suffice us when we walked in all those sins and evils and ways of the Gentiles or ways of the ungodly. So it is to have that mind that is a different mind. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Willing to be a true disciple or follower of the Lord Jesus. In John chapter 8, verse 31, the Lord says to those that believe on him, if ye continue in my word, then shall ye be my disciples indeed. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. May this be a token to us that the Lord has given us a mind, a mind that loves him, that seeks after him, and desires to walk in his ways. I draw your attention to the end of Romans 7. This is the chapter where the Apostle Paul speaks of being brought under conviction, and then desiring to do that which is good, but he couldn't do it, and the evil that he would not, that he did. And he says this, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Then he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Now that doesn't mean to say that true religion is just in the mind and not in the heart. But what it does state is that he is being given the mind of Christ. He is being given that desire after the things that are pleasing to the Lord. and he has that same mind that Christ had while he was in the flesh. I want to look then at our last point. This great statement that is here, he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. What does that mean? might help first to think what it does not mean. It is not a freedom, it is not a ceasing from the being and indwelling of sin in us. May we always remember this, that in God's plan of salvation, God's people through this world, the most godly, have always had sin indwelling in them. Even when they're called, they still have sin. In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. When it says that we've ceased from sin, it does not mean that we are delivered from the burden of it. Sin will still be a burden to us, a trouble to us. It would be a solemn thing if we were still sinners, but sin was not a burden. Upon my heart the burden lies. Past offences pain my eyes, says the hymn writer. And it does not mean when it says cease from sin that is a ceasing from a continual war with it in us. Because if we are at peace with being sinners and there's no opposition and no war, that is not the mind of Christ. And it does not mean either that we'll be exempted from slips and falls and even into it. We think of David's sin, we think of Moses' sin, you think of Peter's sin. Those that knew and loved the Lord, they still sinned, even openly, even in major ways. They found they were given repentance, they were given forgiveness. David was a man after God's own heart. And so there are those things that when we read, he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, it does not mean these things. It does not mean that even in our most solemn and religious services, that there is sin mixed with it, pride. The word declares that all, to some, all, Our righteousnesses, that is all our good works, are as filthy rags. And that applies to all of God's people, those that have the mind of Christ as well. But what does it mean? What it means is this, it is ceased from the guilt of it. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A realisation that Christ has suffered and paid that debt. A realisation that he has given us a hatred to him that takes away the guilt from it. That verse I referred to later on in this chapter, when teaching the young people when I was 23, 24, and I was teaching those that were probably 19, and they blasphemed, they ridiculed, they tempted me, and I was so tried that their sin was my sin, because I was their teacher, that I was responsible for it. And it caused many errands to the throne of grace, many cries to the Lord. It was only in front of them one day that the Lord spoke so clearly to me. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. The Spirit of God, of glory and of God resteth upon you. And this was the part that was so impressed on me. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. The fact that I hadn't been able to control them, and the same with our inward sin, the fact that we're not masters over it, that we cannot completely subdue it, that we have to say with Paul, the good that I would, I do not, the evil that I would not, that I do. That takes away, the statement is here. A cease from sin, a cease from the guilt of it. He says, it is no more, Paul says, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It is also a cease from the obligation to punishment by it. By faith, the children of God can say, Christ hath borne punishment for that sin. He hath endured it. I think it was Luther that said, if Satan came, brought a whole catalogue of all his sins and said, they're all your sins. And Luther said, yes, they are all my sins, but right on the bottom of it. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. In other words, the debt is paid. There's nothing to be paid. In the book of Philemon, the runaway slave, Anesimus, Paul sends him back to Philemon. If he oweth anything, put it on my account. Don't let anything let to his account. Don't make him pay it. I will pay it. Those with the mind of Christ. This is this statement that is made, he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. Ceased from the servitude and dominion over him. Sin shall not have dominion over you, For you're not under the law, but under grace. It will annoy, it will grieve, it will try, it will trouble, it will trip you up, but it will not have dominion. And it is all because of Christ's death. Because of what, the Lord? If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. There's another reason, just briefly, another meaning. If we suffer death of the body for the sake of Christ, those are the martyrs, Stephen, and we suffer in that way. He that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. As soon as this body dies, we cease from sin. We're delivered from it. Those Hebrew children were able to clearly say to Nebuchadnezzar, even if he threw them in the fire, the Lord would deliver them out of his hand, and it would be delivered through the means of death. And so in that sense, he that has suffered in the flesh, he that dies, has ceased from sin. and no sin beyond the grave. The glory of the people of God looks forward to that time. The whole creation, we read in Romans 8, groaneth together until now. And even the people of God groan, not that they would be unclothed, but clothed upon. Not that they'd be just a disembodied spirit, but they hope for the day of resurrection and we shall be given a new body What an amazing thing that that will be. Here below, for the people of God, they have a mind, they have a spirit, they have the soul that is new from above, and it has got a constant conflict with the flesh. The animal fleshly desires and corrupt and fallen nature, we know that right through our lives, but to picture In the resurrection, there shall be none of that conflict. We'll have the body like we have now, but no sin, no conflict. We cannot comprehend ourselves or a world without death, without suffering, without the consequences of sin. And yet that is what awaits the people of God. and the nearest we get to it here below is in our text. When through the grace of God we're armed with the same mind as Christ, and that we have that conflict, hating sin, mortifying it, looking unto Christ and valuing his sufferings, his death, and looking for that day. when we shall cease from sin eternally. But the apostle here is speaking in the present sense. He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Do we suffer because of our sin? Do we suffer because of following after Christ? Are we grieved with those things that years ago we never were grieved about? never troubled about, never mindful of. But now it is our burden, and now it is our trouble. Bunyan would say with his pilgrim, there was a time he was in the city of destruction, he had no burden, he had no trouble. But then there was laid on him the burden, the burden of his sin. And that is what drove him on pilgrimage, and to seek that relief from that sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And may we have that blessing that is in this text, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Amen.