Psychologists tell us people want to be known. Some people want to be known for their work as an actor, a singer, or other want to be known as a culinary artist. Others just want to be known. Some people take the need to be known to the extreme. A Jamaican man set a distance record of 23.11 miles in just over twelve hours on June 22, 1997. With a POGO STICK. Ashrita also holds the Guinness World Records for brick carrying and underwater rope jumping are some of his other records. Rob and Joe from California made the world largest skateboard. It measures over 36 feet in length with wheels that are almost nine feet in width! By comparison, the Chevrolet Suburban is around nineteen feet long. Eric from Sweden was able to keep nine yo-yo’s spinning at once. And Nick from New York drank 46 once ketchup at a local community college while friends watched. He calls himself the “Human Ketchup Drinking Machine.”
How others view us is a powerful motivator. For example, I don’t wear certain clothes in order to be seen as fashionable. Most of us all are powerfully motivated by ensuring others will be like us. Today, I want to talk with about how to find pleasure. I want to talk with you about how your known and the pleasure we find by being known. We find great pleasure by going with the flow. We find great pleasure by not standing out in the crowd. Yet, I contend that the greatest pleasure is not found in what others think of me, but I find my greatest joy… Our greatest pleasure in God Himself. Be Resolved to find Your Greatest Pleasure in Jesus Christ Despite Opposition for You will Give an Account of Your Life.
“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. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but 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 judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does” (1 Peter 4:1-6).
Peter explained in the last part of chapter three that suffering is not a sign of weakness. Instead, Christ’s pathway to winning was His suffering.
1. Be Resolved
Peter points out to us in verse two that we have a choice: We can live for God’s will or for human passions. Living for human passions today is respectably called hedonism. It’s the idea that only pain or pleasure motivates us. One vacation club calls this “the sandbox of your inner child.” Most of us do not give living for pleasure a name such as hedonism. Instead, we instinctively live to please ourselves. This isn’t all bad as God has hard-wired us to live for pleasure. Only He wants us to pause to consider what real pleasure is and the source of where real pleasure comes from.. Peter again tells us that we have a choice: to live for God and endure suffering during this lifetime to enjoy the greatest pleasures in the next life… or… follow our hedonistic pleasure now where the blueprint is to eliminate suffering from our worlds. In essence, Peter is calling on us to pursue pleasure. But it’s not human passions that he wants us to pursue. If we find our pleasure in “doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry…” then our pursuit of pleasure is too weak (1 Peter 4:4).
Most of you think of pleasure as enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee in the morning… Women may think of the company of an intelligent, witty, and handsome man… Teenagers may think making the all-star team in baseball where their name is called out before everyone else. Professionals will seek the notoriety of being the best in their profession. Yet, Peter says this pursuit of pleasure is not wrong but just too weak. Listen to what Blaise Pascal has said: “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different [ways they try it], they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both…. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness other than in God (Jeremiah 2:13). This is the essence of sin. The Bible actually commands us to delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). Jesus teaches us to love God more than money because our heart is where our treasure is (Matthew 6:21). Paul wants us to believe that gaining Christ is worth the loss of everything else (Philippians 3:8). And the author of Hebrews exhorts us to endure suffering, like Jesus, for the joy set before us (Hebrews 12: 1-2). So you have a choice in front of you: Should I pursue the short-term pleasure described in verse four? Or should I pursue an eternal pleasure by pursing God? The question is answered by you when you determine which is your greatest pleasure. The early Christians that read this letter answered the question. They stiff-armed the passions of the flesh for the ultimate pleasure found in God. They abstained from popular forms of entertainment. Whether it was the Roman theater with its risqué performances… The chariot races… Or the gladiatorial fights with their blood and gore… No matter, the early Christians were resolved. They refused to burn incense to the Roman emperor, which was a gesture of civic gratitude much like pledging allegiance to the flag is for Americans today. Only, they refused because their Caesar was Lord. For this they were hated by others. Yet, their lives are a memorial than suffering a little pain in this life.
If you wish to join these early Christians by pursuing the greatest pleasure then Peter has solid words of counsel for you. He tells us that to pursue the ultimate pleasure in God, you must expect to suffer in the life. Because “Christ suffered in the flesh”, anyone who follows Jesus Christ should expect to suffer as well. To say someone suffered in the flesh is an odd expression for us but the even a quick read of Peter’s letter shows the word “suffer” is one of his favorite words. Peter has spoken about Christ’s suffering over and over in his letter. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:23-24).
The word “arm” in verse one is widely used in the time of the New Testament. In places, the word describes arming yourselves for battle for battle whether that means grabbing a sword for protection, equipping one’s chariot prior to battle, or taking a weapon to go on the offensive. It can also be used to describe the preparation necessary before setting off to sea – such as, preparing the ship’s tackling. Like a soldier, Christ followers are commanded to prepare themselves for suffering. And what are we to arm ourselves with? “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…” (1 Peter 4:1). We are to arm ourselves with “the same way of thinking” as Christ thought. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus … made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him…” (Philippians 2:5-9).
Jesus’ ultimate suffering was the cross. Jesus didn’t enter the cross as an accident, swept up because of events out of His control. Instead, we learn: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18). Jesus choose suffering as His vocation and He calls on us to take our crosses to follow Him. So we are to copy the mindset of Christ. In his book One Hundred Prison Meditations Richard Wurmbrand, who spent fourteen years in prison as a Romanian pastor, wrote: “I have accepted this proposal. Christians are meant to have the same vocation as their King, that of cross-bearers. It is this conscience of a high calling and of partnership with Jesus which brings gladness in tribulations, which makes Christians enter prisons for their faith with the joy of a bridegroom entering the bridal room.”
Christ saw pain as an opportunity for greater pleasure. Christ saw enduring pain for doing what is right as a door for His greatest delight – God Himself. We are to arm ourselves with this same mindset. Suffering today is painful yet if I suffer for doing what is right, this will only lead to greater joy when I am with my heavenly Father. Don’t miss that. This mindset is an important piece of armor when you are in the foxhole of suffering.
My father would teach me a lesson about being prepared when I was a young man. My father was A Vietnam Veteran and he would tell the story about being in a foxhole fighting the North Vietnamese. The guy in the foxhole with my father asked if he had any ammunition for his gun as he had none. My father always told me that I was to be prepared. I was to have enough for myself and the guy next to me who wasn’t prepared as he should have been.
Peter is telling you something similar. Arm yourself with this mindset now before suffering comes. You will not be taken off guard when suffering comes: “…for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…” (1 Peter 4:1b). Peter’s point is not that by suffering for doing what is right, we can achieve sinlessness. Peter’s point is that by enduring mockery and scorn, we have refused to go along with the crowd in their sinful ways. We have decisively broken from the old sinful patterns of the way we used to live.
2. Be Resolved Despite Opposition
The Pacific Campaign of the Second World War has fascinated many of us. In many ways, it seemed like a nonsensical series of battles between the United States and Japan. As the Americans sought to curtail Japanese aggression in the East, they fought their way across the Pacific Ocean, moving slowly and deliberately from island to island. Tiny, seemingly insignificant pieces of rock, jutting from the midst of the ocean, hundreds of miles from the nearest mainland, became fierce battlegrounds. For example, Wake Island is only twelve square miles. By comparison, Cuba is over 40,000 square miles. It has no place for farmland and only has twelve miles of coastland. Yet, as many 1,000 Japanese lost their lives attempting to wrestle this small island away from the United States during WW II. These islands were far more important than their size may have indicated, for they were able to serve as air bases from which strikes could be launched against other islands, and eventually against Japan itself. The insignificant islands were crucial stepping stones across the vast Pacific Ocean. Little things lead to big things: “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you” (1 Peter 4:3-4)
The opposition Peter has in mind is the mocking and the slandering done to Christians. Because you will not join in on the fun of living as if you have no moral restraints, you are maligned. Mockery and shame are powerful tools. Those of you who have good memories may remember that I told you the story of Jeff Lasater when I preached on 1 Peter 2:4-8.
Jeff Lasater was 14 when he took his own life (October 20, 2008). A student in Las Angeles’ Acton High School, Lasater had been the target of boys throwing chili on him in the school lunch line… while others pulled his pants down. It was reported that the young man was the target of other students’ bullying and teasing since he was in middle school. All of this reached a tipping point on Monday, October 20, 2008. As other students scurried to class, Lasater went to the school’s restroom and pulled out a handgun in order to take his life. At 6’6” and 275 pounds, he had begun to perform well on the football team. Nevertheless, his passive nature and large size was a continual target for others kids. In the end, it was just too much. How others perceive us is a powerful motivator to all we do.
In verse three, you see people living life with no seat belts. You see people jumping from the bridge with no bungee cords. Jumping from plans with no parachute. It’s more fun that way. Why? Because sin itself is fun for a limited period of time. Why else? Because you do it because others are doing it. And you don’t want to be isolated. You don’t want to be mocked or maligned. So you jump from the plane without a parachute not thinking about landing in just a few moments. You forget that little things lead to big things. This is as true in warfare as it is in the hearts of men and women. Every sin, whether large or small, is a declaration of war against God. Adam and Eve did not commit adultery and did not murder – they merely ate a piece of fruit that God had told them not to eat. This may seem only a small sin, but it is a sin that has made all the difference.
I have been challenged in my life to guard against the small sins – those sins that seem so small, so insignificant. Small sins soon lead to others. They are but the beginnings of much greater sins. Each and every one, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is a declaration of war against the Creator. And if I do not guard against these sins, soon island after island will be conquered and only the mainland will remain, weak and unprotected. Thanks be to God that He provides the strength and the power to re-conquer and reclaim islands that have already fallen to the enemy. He has won battles, but by the grace of God he will be pushed back, further and further from the mainland, and will not win the war.
For crew chief, Tim Shutt, it was a small adjustment that could make a big difference. Sure, it was against NASCAR rules, but almost everyone else was doing it. So Tim crawled under the No. 20 car of Mike McLaughlin, who races on the NASCAR Busch circuit. “Joe [Gibbs, team owner] is adamant that we don’t cheat,” said Shutt, a relatively new believer who encountered Christ at a Christian retreat for participants in the racing industry. “Most teams figure that as long as you get away with it, it's not cheating.” “I said to Mike that morning in practice, ‘If we're no good in practice, I’ll put this piece — the illegal piece — on. Probably thirty other teams are doing it.” Shutt was justifying it: “I got up under the car, I got halfway through putting it on, and that verse, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God,’ came flashing in red in front of me, and whoa, that was it. I said, ‘I’m leaving this up to you, God.’” Shutt didn't put the piece on the car. Still, McLaughlin won the race and it was Talladega, one of the biggest races of 2001. “When we won, the first thing that came to my mind was that verse,” Tim says. “God wanted to show himself to me.”
Opposition will come: “…and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word…” (Matthew 13:21). Jesus said opposition comes because the word is in you and the Word causes conflict in your life. If you are a new believer, one of the struggles you face is facing temptations from your unbelieving friends. Just like this young man in the NASCAR race team, you will face opposition. Yet, be resolved.
Today, department stores do not sell clothes, they sell fashions. The very name shows us how short-lived particular styles of clothing are. We do not want to be seen not wearing the latest fashion. We don’t want to look old-fashioned or odd. So when opposition to doing right comes, we bow like a reed in the wind. We succumb to peer pressure. Peter tells us not to waffle and not to bend in to pressure from others. When others mock, remember that you have sinned sufficiently.
“For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3). “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance…” (1 Peter 1:14).
A daughter complained to her father about how hard things were for her. “As soon as I solve one problem,” she said, “another one comes up. I'm tired of struggling.” Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen where he filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second, eggs, and in the last, ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After a while, he went over and turned off the burners. He fished out the carrots and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He poured the coffee into a bowl. Turning to her he asked, “What do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich flavor. She asked, “What does it mean?” He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity — boiling water — but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg was fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. By being in the boiling water, they changed the water.
So Peter says when you face the slander of others, do arm yourself with the mindset of Christ. Jesus knew what life was about because He had seen the other side of life before He came to Bethlehem. He had lived in heaven before coming to earth. He knew better to be satisfied with meals out of trashcans when a real banquet awaited Him. Don’t succumb to the pressure of others who mock you. Instead, change the water around you. Remember that Little things lead to Big things. And soon all your chances of real joy are gone.
Five of the six sins Peter mentions in verse three are self-destructive tendencies that show a lack of self-control. They show an unrestrained desire for sex, food, and drink. There’s no real pleasure in these. You may find great pleasure in the wind through you hair as you jump from the plane, but remember you must land.
Remember to Be Resolved Despite Opposition Don’t be duped by thinking pleasure is found in jumping from planes and bridges without a parachute or a bungee cord. There is no lasting pleasure in this. You thirst for pleasure is not wrong, it’s just too weak. Your desire for pleasure is not ultimately quenched in the pursuit of such pleasure. The sin in verse three promises to quench your thirst. It quenches your thirst like sea water when you drink. You’re only more thirsty. Instead of pursuing the pleasure of idolatry, pursue the lasting pleasure of God. Find your greatest delight and affection in God Himself.
3. Be Resolved for You will Give an Account of Your Life
As Rick Warren writes: “This life is not all there is. Life on earth is just a dress rehearsal before the real production. You will spend far more time on the other side of death–in eternity– than you will here. Earth is the practice workout before the actual game; the warm-up lap before
the race. This life is preparation for the next.”
“…but 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 judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does” (1 Peter 4:5-6). Probably one of the ways that the adversaries were maligning the Christians was by saying: “Ha! You say that you have such good news. You say that you escape judgment. You say your God is great and saves you and gives you joy. Well, all we’ve got to say is: you are missing a lot of parties and you die just like everybody else. So if you die and go to the worms, and we die and go to the worms, we say, ‘Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die!’” When you suffer for righteousness’ sake, you need to remember Peter’s words in verse five: all will give an account to God one day (Romans 14:12). When we hand over our case to God like that, our judicial sentiment cries out for some assurance that justice will be done. That is what Peter is giving here in verse 5: They will give account someday. Nothing will be swept under the rug. Nothing will be forgotten. And the judge will be God. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)=
Our lives are different because we are faced with a temptation or a task, we ask ourselves: “How will this effect eternity? How will it affect my eternity and the eternity of others?” In the movie Casualties of War, Michael J. Fox plays Private Erikson, a soldier in Vietnam who is part of a squad that abducts and rapes a young Vietnamese girl. He didn't participate in the crime. Afterward, as he struggles with what has happened, he says to the other men in his squad: “Just because each of us might at any second be blown away, we’re acting like we can do anything we want, as though it doesn’t matter what we do. I’m thinking it’s just the opposite. Because we might be dead in the next split-second, maybe we gotta be extra careful what we do. Because maybe it matters more. Maybe it matters more than we ever know.”
In Colorado, you can find a sign that marks “Continental Divide.” On the right side of the sign was the word “Pacific” and on the left side was the word “Atlantic.” If you stand there watching rainwater fall, you soon realize two raindrops falling side by side could end up in different oceans. If one raindrop landed on the eastern side of the ridge, it would drain toward the East into streams and rivers that would take it eventually to the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic Ocean. Yet the other raindrop that fell just inches away on the Western side would have a different destiny. It would flow westward into streams and rivers that would eventually take it to the Pacific Ocean. Jesus Christ is like the Continental Divide – people can go through life side by side, but they can end up in totally opposite destinies determined by their response to Jesus Christ.
