We must Arm Ourselves for battle!
1 Peter 4:1-6
Introduction
I read this news article on the internet as I was preparing this sermon this is exactly what the article read:
When 53-year-old Danny Anderson was feeding his horses Monday night, a 5-foot rattler slithered onto his central Washington property.
Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it sitting under a pickup truck.
"When I reached down to pick up the head, it raised around and did a backflip almost, and bit my finger," Anderson said. "I had to shake my hand real hard to get it to let loose."
His wife insisted they go to the hospital, and by the time they arrived at Prosser Memorial Hospital 10 minutes later, Anderson’s tongue was swollen and the venom was spreading. He then was taken by ambulance 30 miles to a Richland hospital to get the full series of six shots he needed.
It turns out a snake can still strike for an hour even after its head is cut off.
If another rattlesnake comes along, Anderson said he’ll likely try to kill it again, but said he’ll grab a shovel and bury it right there.
Satan is a defeated foe. Like the head of a dead snake, we face the danger of the world, the flesh and the devil. Although defeated, these forces can cause damage.
Like taking a shovel to a snake, 1 Peter 4:1-6 calls us to arm ourselves for battle.
The apostle Peter provides us as believers with four perspectives motivating us to be strong when living out our Christian lives.
Read Scriptures: 1 Peter 4:1-6
I. I must have the attitude of Christ.
Vs. 1 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin”
Therefore obviously points back to what Peter wrote in last weeks passage, that at the Cross Christ endured His greatest suffering, dying under divine judgment as the just for the unjust.
The apostle Peter in this verse tells us, “Since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude.” We are told in scripture to have the mind of Christ.
What was Jesus’ attitude in life. He came to seek and save that which was lost. He loved people, He was involved with people, He sacrificially gave himself for people.
If the church is going to make a difference in this world, we will need to have the attitude of Christ. We will have to put self aside. You might say well I’m pretty comfortable with my life, and what I do. I try to give, I try to witness, I try to read my bible, I try to come to church as much as possible.
Be honest with yourself, do you really try? Is being Christ like that important to you? Then why is it that we are not doing more to reach the lost. Why is it that we are becoming more and more closed off to others, we are not investing time in others to do personal discipleship. Do we really want to make a difference in this community. If this church had to close its doors, would this community notice it? Peter says, to be strong in this life we must arm ourselves with the attitude of Christ.
II. I must know the Will of God for my life.
Vs. 2 “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
In this world that we live in we are being pulled to live like the world lives, to fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Peter is telling believers to arm themselves with a commitment to do the will of God and abandon their former sins.
One of the main questions that I hear, is how can I know what God wants me to do in my life? Well there are some non-negotionables, every believer is given the mandate to give of there time, talent, and money. Every Christian is given the mandate to live a Holy, descent, quiet life. Every Christian is given the mandate to share there faith with others. Every Christian is given the mandate to study the Scriptures. Every Christian is given the mandate support the local church with attendance.
Jesus says, “if you were not faithful in these things, how can I give you anything else”.
Those are non-negotionables, which means that according to the word of God, this is something that every believer is explicitly told to do, we have no option. The problem is too often we want to pick and choose, and we wonder why we are so easily thrown off course by the enemy. Peter says arm yourself with a commitment to do the will of God.
George W. Truett said: “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge! To do the will of God is the greatest achievement!”
III. I must understand that I am not who I was.
Vs. 3-5 “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 think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, 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.”
Before we come to Christ, we live to please ourselves, with is really our sinful nature. This list of things that Peter laid out that the lost go after, that’s what we did. Maybe some of you in here this morning would say I am lost, and I do live to please myself. Well in a few minutes you will have the chance to change that and come on over to the other side.
Peter is telling us as believers, don’t go back into that lifestyle, you have spent enough time there. You have spent enough time spitting in God’s face. Remember you are not who you used to be, you are bought by the blood of Christ, so live like it.
H. A. Ironside told the story of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was purposefully slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning fiercely and coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river the day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have understanding as to what could be done.
He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it.
As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror, “Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?” The leader replied, “My child, the flames cannot reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has been!”
What a picture of the believer, who is safe in Christ!
On Jesus Almighty vengeance fell, which would have sunk us all to hell.
He chose to bear our sins on the cross, and by doing so He became our Hiding Place.
The fires of God’s judgment burned themselves out on Jesus, and all who are in Christ are safe forever, why? Because like the story we are now standing where the fire has been. We are not who we used to be, God is not our enemy and neither are we God’s enemy.
IV. I must understand that I have a genuine hope and reality of eternal life.
Vs. 6 “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.”
God has promised us that through death we will overcome sin, escape final judgment, and enter eternal heaven in holy perfection.
Peter’s point is that believers, even under unjust treatment—including death—should be willing and unafraid to suffer, knowing that all death can do is triumphantly bring their eternal spirits into everlasting life in heaven.
Just as Christ was crucified but was alive in spirit and raised from the dead, believers may suffer physical death but their spirits will remain alive and enter into the promise of eternal life.
No pressure from enemies of the gospel and no unjust persecution by an ungodly world can steal believers’ victory. We have a true hope and reality of eternal life in heaven.
Conclusion
If we are going to arm ourselves for this life and be successful in God’s sight, then we must have the attitude of Christ, do the will of God, live as a change born again believer, and look forward to the reality of heaven.
However long you have been a Christian, whether it is 10,20,30,40,50,60 years, can you look at your life and honestly say yeah this is what a follower of Christ should look or act like after following Him for however many years.
If you are a lost person, meaning that you have never surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, by repenting of your sins, and receiving the forgivness of your sins and the reward of eternal life in heaven when you die, then you need to listen again to verse 5 “But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” Life is short, God is ready to judge you, are you ready to give and account, I submit to you if you have never turned to the Lord Jesus (not religion, not church membership, not baptism) then you are not ready, but the beauty of it all is, you can be ready if you will come and let me share with you from scripture how you can be saved today.
(Thanks sermoncentral contributors, preachers sermon and outline bible)
