Verse 1, Peter writes, 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. Christ, you know this very well,
suffered for us, and that us is his elect. He suffered for
his elect in the flesh. The eternal Son of God was made
flesh. so that he could suffer as a
substitute for sinners who were born flesh. And he was the perfect
man. Yet he suffered hatred. He suffered
reproach. He suffered physical torture.
He suffered being made sin. He suffered the curse of the
law. He suffered the wrath of God for us, for his people, for
the sins of his elect. Now, Peter says his Christ has
suffered for you, for you believers. You'd be ready to suffer for
his sake and his cause. Now, we're not going to suffer
for sin, to pay for our sin as Christ did, but we may be called
on to suffer persecution for the gospel sake, for Christ's
sake. But whatever it is that we may be called on to suffer,
I guarantee you this, it's nothing in comparison to what he suffered
for us in his flesh. And when we're called on to suffer
in this way, Peter says, now here's what you do. You arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind. Arm yourself, fortify yourself
with the mind of Christ. That'll see us through. Christ
suffered for you. Now you be prepared to follow
his example and suffer in the same way. Well, how did he suffer? He suffered patiently, submitting
himself to the will of God, to his Father. You'd be willing
to suffer denial, self-denial for the good of others. He suffered
for the good of others, for the good of his people. We should
be called on, be willing and we're called on to suffer for
the sake of his example. Likewise, just like the example
of our Lord Jesus. 4 Peter says, he that has suffered
in the flesh hath ceased from sin. Now there's two meanings
to that statement and both are true because Christ and his people
are one, so both are true. First, this is true of Christ
himself. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. He suffered and he died to destroy
sin, to put away sin. And now those sins that were
imputed to Christ are gone. They've been washed away under
his blood. So now Christ is free from that
sin that was imputed to him because he put it away. He's free from
the condemnation of that sin. He already suffered for it. And
all of God's elect are free from that sin in him. And God sees
us in Christ as holy as if we'd never sinned in the first place
because those sins were put away. He ceased from sin. Now, this
is true of Christ, and it's true of every believer who's in Christ. We were crucified with Christ.
We are buried with him, and we rose again in him. That's what
we studied at the end of our lesson last week, the picture
of baptism, confessing Christ, being crucified with him, buried
with him, and risen with him. Well, since we're in him, Scripture
says, as he is, he's ceased from sin. He's free from sin. As he
is, so are we in this world. Well, how is he? Well, he's ceased
from sin. then so have you, if you're in
it. You've ceased from sin. You're righteous. Now, we're
not free from the presence of sin, are we? No. We're not free. We've not ceased the battle against
sin. We certainly haven't ceased that.
You start that battle the moment the Lord reveals Himself to you.
The moment He reveals Himself to you, you haven't ceased from
that battle of sin. You never fought it before. Now you've
taken up that battle. And you're not going to cease
it until this flesh gets put to the ground. So we've not ceased
the battle of sin. We've not ceased from the effect
of sin in this body. But we have ceased from the bondage
to sin. We've ceased from the guilt of
sin. We've ceased from the curse of
sin because Christ suffered those things for us. So we've ceased
from sin. And he says, and Peter says in
verse two, that he no longer should live the rest of his time
in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. Now, the Lord has a people. He's
called them out. He's redeemed them. He's converted
them. But they're still in this world.
They're still in the same world they were in before he converted
them. But after the Lord saves a man or a woman, they are a
changed person. Scripture calls them a new creature.
And they're not the servants of sin anymore. They're not living
to fulfill the lusts of the flesh anymore. They're the sons of
God, the daughters of God. And they live a godly life. They're
motivated by the love of Christ. But in order for that to happen,
in order for that to be true about a son of Adam, that you
live a godly life, that you live a life motivated by the love
of Christ, a great change had to take place. I mean, a great
change. Because we're not born into this
world with a mind and a nature and a will that loves God. We're
just the opposite. We're born with a nature that
hates God, that is opposed to the will of God. So he says in
verse 3, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have
wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness,
lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banqueting, and abominable idolatries. Now look over at Ephesians 2.
Before the Lord saved us, before the Lord saved any of his people,
we were heathen, just heathen, just with a nature like all the
rest of the heathen, just like them. In Ephesians 2 verse 1,
And you hath he quickened, who were at one time, this is the
way you were born in this world, dead in trespasses and sins,
dead, stinking, rotting flesh. Wherein in time past, because
you had this nature, you walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." That's
the way all of us were. That's the way every man comes
into this world, heathen, lawless, completely lawless, living in
unbridled lust, excess of wine and Excess of anything else you
can get your hands on. That's our nature. Just take
it to excess. No restraint whatsoever. And
I'll tell you this is true too. Wherever God found us, wherever
He found you, He found you as an abominable idolater. And you
may not have been out there bound down to a wood statue somewhere,
but you are still an idolater. You and me both. Worshipping
the God of our imagination. You don't have to be bound down
to a statue of Mary down here in the Catholic Church to be
an idolater. You can be an idolater sitting right in these chairs,
worshiping the God of our imagination. That's what we'll do unless God
performs a miracle of grace in us. But after the Lord saves
you, He converts you, and things are changed. All things have
become new. Now those things that you used to love, you hate. You just detest them. And we
don't look back on those things with fond memories. Boy, wasn't
that fun? Like, I don't have any fun now.
Boy, I used to. No, you don't look back at that
fondly. Oh, I sowed my wild oats. You know, you'll brag about the
things that you hate. Brag about the things that now
make you ashamed. I had a good friend, very, very
good friend. And he constantly was just grieved
and tormented. about his past when he was a
young man growing up and he first, you know, went out into the Navy
and he grieved about the things. He never told me what they were
because he shamed of them, but he grieved about them just almost
every day. He'd just grieve and say he's
so ashamed of those things. That was wasted time. I wish
the Lord would have called me earlier. I wouldn't have wasted
all that time, he'd tell me. And yes, that was a waste of
time. Whatever it was, I'm sure he should have been ashamed of
it. Because we all should be that way. But don't dwell on
it. That's my advice for what it's
worth. Don't dwell on it. Because this is what I can promise
you. The Lord didn't call you too
late. And He didn't call you too early. He calls His people
exactly the right time. When the appointed days come,
He calls His people. And those past sins, we're ashamed
of them? But they can't ruin your peace with God. Christ put
those sins away in His blood. He made peace through the blood
of His cross. Those sins cannot ruin your peace
with God. Well, then don't let them ruin
your peace of mind. Don't let them do that. Just
forget them. Leave them in the past. Look
at Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3 verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Leave those things in the past,
both good things or bad things that you think you've done and
things you thought were so good. Forget them all. Leave them all
in the past. and keep looking to Christ, pressing
toward Him. Just leave them in the past.
Now, an unregenerate person doesn't understand you. They don't understand. Your friends that you've known
for years, they don't understand. This change has taken place in
you. You don't look any different to them, but something's different.
And they don't understand it. And I'll tell you why they don't
understand it. It's impossible to understand
the effect of the new birth if you've never been born again.
That's so. Look in verse 4. Wherein they
think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excessive
riot, speaking evil of you. Now the Lord's made a new person
out of you. Now you're walking after Christ. Not walking after
the lust of your flesh anymore. And that's always a change for
the better. Always. Yet your old friends,
they don't appreciate this change for the better. They don't like
it. They liked you better before. They liked you better before
the Lord saved you. They don't have any appreciation of this
new change for the better. And they don't understand, why
don't you enjoy those things that you used to enjoy? We used
to have so much fun doing this. Now you don't enjoy it anymore.
Because you're a new man. That new man has new taste buds.
Those things that used to taste sweet or sour don't taste good
anymore. You have new desires. You don't
desire those things anymore. You have new loves. You love
something new. You love a person, a new person. Henry said in his outline, he
said this, They don't understand you, but you understand them,
for you were once just like them. And we do well to never forget
that. To never forget what the Lord
saved us Now don't be grieving over them all the time, but don't
forget it either. Don't forget what the Lord saved
us from, because it'll keep us humble. It'll just keep us in
our place. And remembering what we were,
who we were, what the Lord saved us from, will make us a compassionate
person. Compassionate on our brethren.
Compassionate on the lost. As we pray for them, as we preach
to them, it'll keep us compassionate. And we need that compassion. Because those old friends, they're
not going to be compassionate. They're not going to like you
anymore. They'll speak evil of you. They'll do evil things to
you. And when it happens, Scripture
tells us, leave them alone. Just leave it alone. The Lord
will take care of them. Look in verse 5. Who, these ones
who are speaking evil of you, shall give account to him that's
ready to judge the quick and the dead. Look over Matthew 25. people, in that day of judgment,
are going to have to give an account. They'll give an account
to how they treated God's children. Matthew 25, verse 41. Then shall
he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels. For I was in hunger, and ye gave me no meat. I was
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me not in. He clothed me not. Sick and in prison, you visited
me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when
did we see you hungry, or thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick,
or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer
unto them, saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did
it not unto one of the least of these, you did it not unto
me." They're judged for how they treated God's children. So just
leave him alone. The Lord will deal with him in
his time. And this time of judgment, Peter says, is at hand. He's ready to judge. That makes
it sound like it's soon he's ready to judge. Now, believers
of every generation, ours included, have looked for and hoped for
the coming of Christ. Every generation thinks He's
coming in my lifetime, in my generation. And because everybody
thinks that, I think the opposite. I think he's not. Just because
that's what everybody thinks, I think the opposite. Look over
at Jude 14. I'll tell you this. I don't know
when it's going to be, but it's near. Jude, verse 14. And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints. to execute judgment upon all,
and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their
ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all
their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of the coming of Christ.
Well, if the seventh from Adam was looking for him and prophesied
of him, it's a whole lot closer today, isn't it? He's coming.
He's ready to judge. And to the unbeliever, when I
said that, I saw a bunch of smiles. You look forward to that day.
That is a day of joy to the believer. But to the unbeliever, it's a
day of judgment, condemnation. But to the believer, there's
no fear of that. Because Christ has already been judged for us.
And in Him, you are not guilty. If you've ever sat in a court
of law and the bailiff comes in and says, Rise, here comes
the judge. Well, the innocent people don't
get scared when the judge comes in the room because you're innocent.
You're not guilty. And to the believer, we're not
scared when the judge of all the earth shall appear. It's
a day of joy. Now, verse 6, he says, for this
cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live
according to God in the Spirit. Now the gospel was preached to
Old Testament believers who now are dead. And that gospel that
was preached to them, same gospel that was preached to us today,
was effectual. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob,
David, Isaiah, these were men in the flesh. Men just like us,
we read in the scripture, they make the same mistakes we do.
because they have the same passions that we do. They're from the
same cracked clay pot that we're from. But by God's grace, a difference
was made. These were men of faith. They
lived for the glory of God. They walked a walk of faith. Now, they are misunderstood when
they are judged in the flesh by their contemporaries and hated
by their contemporaries in most cases. You think at 120 years,
Noah was building that ark. His neighbor would go home and
sit down for dinner and look at his wife and say, I talked to that
crazy old man Noah today. He's a nut. I mean, just you
think of the things that were said about him. But he's faithful
every day, building that ark. Faithful. Faithful what? Misjudged,
mistreated by his contemporaries. But now that crazy old man is
justified. His faith was justified. And
the same spirit that called Noah. Same Spirit that gave Noah life,
the same Spirit that gave Noah faith, the same Spirit that gave
Noah the grace to walk a faithful walk of obedience to the Lord.
It's the exact same Spirit that calls you, that calls His people,
that gives you faith, that gives you grace to walk a life of faith,
to walk after the Lord Jesus Christ as you walk through this
sinful world. It's the same sinful world Noah
walked through. Now, verse 7, he says, but the
end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore sober and watch
unto prayer. Now, I don't want to go around
carrying a sign, you know, the end is near, the end is near.
But the end is near. It is. And I don't know when
Christ is coming, but it's near. It's near in relation to how
long the earth has stood. The earth's been here since Adam,
6,000 years. It's 6,000 years closer than
it was. It's much nearer than it used to be. And like I said
a minute ago, I don't know when Christ is going to return, but
He's going to return soon for His people. Like I say, everybody
else thinks the Lord's going to come in their lifetime. I
don't. But if things go the normal course of life in about 30 years,
Less time than I've been here now. It seems like so short.
Less time than I've been here now. The Lord's going to come
for me. Maybe less time than that. You don't know. It's just
a few short years. Because this life is a vapor. I mean, a vapor is nothing. There's no substance to it. And
it just vanishes. You can't grasp it. And it just
vanishes. And you don't even know how.
You don't know how it appeared. You don't know where it went.
It's just gone quickly. It's a hand breath. Just very
short. And if we truly understand how
short the time is, we'll live our lives accordingly. As Peter
says, be sober. Be serious about matters of eternal
life. Be serious about the gospel and
the glory of Christ. But don't carry that to the extreme. and be a Puritan, going around
with a black hat and just, you know, down the mouth all the
time. Don't be Eeyore, just down in
the mouth all the time. Yet, don't be a fool all the
time either. I thought of this last night,
I was going over my notes. I believe this story happened,
I'm almost sure this happened at a funeral visitation. And
we were there, I was sitting on a couch talking to Ruth and
Ann Atkins. And Ruth starts cutting up with
Am, and you remember how she was. She laughed real big, and
she made some big joke. And she looked at me, and she
said, now, she said, young Frank, she said, maybe this wasn't appropriate
to do this here. She said, but you just got to
play the fool sometimes and laugh. And Am looked at me and said,
it's good for you. Laugh. He said, laugh with your
wife. He said, it's good for you. So
I'm not saying don't ever laugh. Don't have a good time. But keep
these things in their perspective. Be serious and reverent when
we call on God for mercy. For ourselves, for our children,
for our grandchildren, for our community. Be serious about these
times of worship. All these are precious gifts
of God. That He gives us a time where
He'll speak to us through His Word. And there's only a few
left. Just a few. Even if you have
them two or three times a week, for how many years you've got
left, it's just a few. And just keep these things in perspective.
We remember the time short, the highs and lows, and they'll be
up and down or nothing compared to the eternal weight of glory
that awaits us. And be in prayer about things,
all things at all times. Look over a page at 2 Peter 3.
2 Peter 3, verse 11. He says, But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Now seeing that you understand this, that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelt
righteousness." Seeing these things are so, this is the way
we will live our life. Now verse 8, back in our text. And above all things, have fervent
charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude
of sins. Now love is the royal command
of the gospel. The whole law of God is summed
up in this, love. Love for God and love for people. In a profession of faith, a profession
of religion, without genuine love is a false profession. That's so. So Peter says above
all things, have fervent love for one another. Now he says
this, have fervent love above all things. Because love is the
true evidence of the new birth, that you've been born of God.
It's the evidence, love is the evidence of true discipleship.
And love is the gift that will last through all of eternity.
What did Paul say? Now buy us these, faith, hope
and love, these three. But the greatest of these is
love. Well, faith is a great gift, isn't it? But one day,
faith's going to give way to sight. We're going to behold
him, see him as he is. Hope is a great gift. How did
you get through this life without hope in Christ? A good hope through
grace. That's a great gift. But one
day hope is going to give way to possession. But love. The gift of love. Not going to
be replaced by anything. It's going to last through eternity.
So put it on. Put it on now. Have it now. And
not just love. Peter says fervent love. Intense. That word is intense. An intense
love for one another. Because love overlooks the faults
of people that we love. Love makes us truly forget, forgive
and forget when someone we love does us wrong. You forget it
if you love them. Love makes us see one another
in a good light. Love covers a multitude of sins. It just keeps whitewashing it.
It just keeps covering it. And love brings peace. Look in Proverbs chapter 10.
Love brings peace. There's a good reason to have
this fervent love. Peace. Proverbs 10 verse 11. The mouth of a righteous man
is a well of life, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Hatred stirreth up strife. But love covereth all sins. Love brings peace. But if someone's
constantly stirring up strife, and strife seems to follow them
everywhere they go, it's because there's a lack of love. You write
that down. Look in Colossians chapter 3. Colossians 3 verse 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness and longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things, put on charity, love, which is the bond of perfectness. If we truly will attempt to love
as Christ loved us, What will we do? We'll love people when
they don't deserve it. We'll love people who need forgiveness,
who've done something wrong to us. We'll love people and truly
desire what's best for them. If we truly love people, we'll
overlook their infirmities. Christ didn't just overlook our
infirmities. He healed all of our infirmities, put them away
by taking them into himself. So love each other, but not just
us right here, all the brethren. Look what he says in verse 9
back in our text. 1 Peter 4. Use hospitality one to another
without grudging. Don't just be generous and loving
to our little clan and keep outsiders out. That's kind of like a hillbilly
thing to do. That's the way we do. Just keep
everybody in our little clan. But show this hospitality to
others, To other believers you might be traveling through. Paul
said in Hebrews 13, thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
You just don't know. Now, I got a perfect example
of this verse from our conference this year. There's a couple came
to all services in a conference from Athens, Ohio, about an hour
and 45 minute drive each way every day, hour and 45 minutes
back and forth, you know, each way. And Tara figured this out. And she told him, she said, don't
do that. She said, next time you come, she gave him her phone
number. She said, call me, and you can just come stay with us.
That way you can be rested. They have a little garage the
girls can play and things. And you can just stay with us.
You don't make it so hard. That's exactly what this teaches.
Exactly. Use hospitality one to another.
And don't be grudging. Don't invite somebody to stay
with you and then complain about all the towels you had to wash
because they're all in here. Don't do that. Aren't you glad the
Lord doesn't complain about what a burden we are? He bore all
our burdens. So give, and give cheerfully,
because the Lord loves a cheerful giver. The Lord gave it to you
freely, now you give it to others freely. In verse 10 he says,
Now every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same
one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Now, every believer has received some gifts from God, many different
kinds of gifts because they're from the manifold, many facets
of the grace of God. Everyone has received gifts,
different kinds of gifts, different degrees, but everybody's received
some gifts. Well, be a good steward of the
gift that God's given you and use it to minister to others.
That's what he's telling us here. to help other people. Stir up
the gift that God's put in you. And whatever gift He's given
you, you use it with all of your might. Don't just sit on it.
Use it to the best of your ability. Now, it may be ministering spiritual
things. Or it may be ministering temporal
things. But whatever it is, both help people. Don't think, well,
I'm not a preacher, so a gift I have is not important. Don't
ever think that. Whatever gift you have to minister
to somebody, you use it. You know, someone may be out
of work and they can't pay their electric bill. If you can pay
it, you've helped them. Don't think it's not a gift now.
I've been there. Don't think it's not a gift.
Be a good steward of the gift that God's given you, whatever
it is. Because He says in verse 11, if any man speak, let him
speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him
do it. as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and
dominion for ever and ever." Now, if you do teach and you
preach, speak as the oracles of God. Speak the word of God,
the infallible, God-breathed word, because you can't go wrong
with it. That's the sheep's food. And
preach the whole word, the whole counsel of God, and just like
any other gift, you've got to work hard at it. Work hard in
seeking the message and prayer and studies. Work hard at it.
And preach according to the ability that God's given you. I learned
this. It didn't take me long to figure this part out. I can't
be Henry Mahan. That didn't take me long to figure
out. I can't be John Chapman. I can't be Todd Nyberg. I can't
be Don Ford. These men are gifted and I can't
be that. But the Lord didn't call me to
be them. He said, according to the gift God's given you. And
that's enough. Whatever gift He's given you,
it's enough to do the work He's called you to do. It's not our
skills and our talent and our oratory skills that blesses people
anyway. It's not sheep. It's the Word. It's the Spirit that blesses
it. And the same thing applies to ministering physical needs.
You minister according to the ability God's given you. To help
people, the poor and the sick and the widows. Use the ability
God's given you. It's enough. It'll be enough
for the work God's called you to. Don't wait on somebody else. Do what you do. And do it for
the glory of God. Out of a thankful, grateful heart. Alright. May the Lord bless you.