Daily Living for God
Sunday July 02, 2000 A.M.
1 Peter 4:1-19
1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning.
2 And you won’t spend the rest of your life chasing after evil desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
4 Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you.
5 But just remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.
6 That is why the Good News was preached even to those who have died—so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in the spirit as God does.
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
10 God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.
11 Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
13 Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world.
14 Be happy if you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God will come upon you.
15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.
16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name!
17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God’s own children. And if even we Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed God’s Good News?
18 And If the righteous are barely saved,
what chance will the godless and sinners have?”
19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.
The Christians to whom Peter writes are engaged in a furious spiritual battle.
They are being afflicted by the onslaughts of the enemy. In chapter one, Peter describes what they are going through as fiery trials.
1 Peter 1:6-7
6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
Children of God must depend on God for all of their needs, He is the only one that will truly help us in our time of need.
Just like it said in the 19th verse,
1 Peter 4:19
19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.
God created the entire universe and has managed to handle it since the very beginning, so don’t you think that He can see us through anything that might come up in our lives?
Sometimes real living for God is not much different. But glory to God when satan sends those line drives, if we are truly a child of God, God is there to lift us up and see us through!
It is important for a person to develop the mind of Christ and to become like Christ!
A believer living with the attitude of the world toward sin is a powerful weapon in the hands of Satan.
Let’s read what it says in,
Romans 12:2
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
When the world thinks someone is strange, it begins to pressure him or her to live differently.
When that happens, that is when we need to call upon the Lord with all of our hearts, and ask Him for the needed help!
Non-conformity is threatening.
The world may try to shame us back into our old way of thinking and living, but God is always there waiting for us to call upon Him for help.
The world seeks to desensitize us to morality.
The world seeks to get us accustom to sin.
Instead of opposing sin we end up getting used to it.
Peter encourages us to wage spiritual battles armed with the mind of Christ.
Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:1-2
1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning.
2 And you won’t spend the rest of your life chasing after evil desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
Do you know, some people will do anything to avoid pain.
As followers of Christ we should be willing to do God’s Will and to suffer a little for Him, after all look what He did for us.
Sin loses it’s power to defeat us when we are suffering for the Lord if we will call on Him.
The closer that we live to God the pulling power of sin will grow less and less.
The key to winning spiritual battles has to do with how well you arm yourselves before the battle begins.
Victory comes through developing sound strategies before battles transpire.
Let us look at what Jesus said in, Luke 14:31-33
31 “Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him?
32 If he is not able, then while the enemy is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace.
33 So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.
The battles of life are fought and won in our minds.
Battles are won as we develop the mind of Christ and speak the words of God.
Our attitudes are our weapons for Christian warfare.
Weak or wrong attitudes will lead to defeat.
Let’s look at what it says in, 1 Peter 1:13-16
13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.
14 Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be Holy in everything you do, just as God
who chose you to be His children
is Holy.
16 For he himself has said, “You must be Holy because I am Holy.”
To develop the mind of Christ will enable you to serve Christ with the strength that God provides you.
You may not be able to keep people from speaking bad about you but if you will keep your life Holy in front of them and hang right on to what the scripture teaches us then they will become embarrassed when they do say anything about you.
But on the other hand if you live just like they do when you think that you are out of the sight of the preacher or other members of the church you deserve just what you get!
When we yield our thinking to Christ’s way of thinking it not only helps us to develop a mind set against sinful thoughts but it helps us to live a life that can be free from sin.
We need to become as it says in Matthew 5:48
48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
1 Peter 4:11
11 Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.
The physical wars of the Old Testament reveal to us spiritual truths through earthly realities.
They allow us to view earthly struggles from heaven’s vantage point. We find such a battle in 2 Kings.
2 Kings 18:19-20
19 Then the Assyrian king’s personal representative sent this message to King Hezekiah:
“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?
20 Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Which of your allies will give you any military backing against Assyria?
And look at what it says in 2 Kings 18:36
36 But the people were silent and did not answer because Hezekiah had told them not to speak.
And then in,
2 Kings 19:1
1 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the Temple of the LORD to pray.
He also sent some of his people to talk to Isaiah, he was ready to get some answers!
2 Kings 19:5-7
5 After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah,
6 the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers.
7 Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a report from Assyria telling him that he is needed at home. Then I will make him want to return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’ ”
God’s power for victory was discovered as Hezekiah yielded himself to God.
As we go we find that we need to develop a lifestyle like Christ had.
Peter was concerned about Christians retreating into the world for safety in tough times. But one thing that we must remember, safety is not of this world!
Tough times may turn Christians back into seeking the old lifestyles they lived before becoming a Christian.
Peer pressure from the world may make retreating appealing. Although I don’t know why.
Drawing the line in a new life will antagonize former friends.
They may find our new life in Christ strange and threatening. Let’s read1 Peter 4:1-5 again,
1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning.
2 And you won’t spend the rest of your life chasing after evil desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
4 Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you.
5 But just remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.
We must remember that the basis of our salvation like is says in
Acts 16:31
31 They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household.”
But then we must also remember that the basis for our judgement is how we have lived! Jesus will be the final judge as it says in John 5:22
22 And the Father leaves all judgment to his Son,
1 Peter 3:20-22
20 those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.
21 And this is a picture of baptism, which now saves you by the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is an appeal to God from a clean conscience.
22 Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers are bowing before him.
There are three major perspectives seen in the act of baptism.
There is the past, present and future.
We must live focused clearly on each perspective.
First, baptism reminds us of our death with Christ. Peter is calling on us to remember the past life to motivate us to shun sin.
Baptism reminds us that our death with Christ was death to sin. That death we experienced at baptism reminds us that we are through with sin.
"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."
There are two ways to live.
The way the pagan lives or by the will of God.
Those who have died with Christ will look at the former lifestyle that swept them away with fear and revulsion.
How many times have you wished you could erase those wasted years from memory?
But you can’t. But we now have a new life with Jesus Christ and Peter reminds us that there is no turning back.
Second, baptism gives us a clear perspective on the present.
We have died to sin and are alive with Christ.
We are in the process of putting on the life of Christ.
Paul said, Romans 13:14
14 But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires.
Romans 12:9
9 Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good.
Our death to evil human desires naturally brings suffering as we seek to die with Christ.
However, death to sin is proof that we live with Christ. Having died to sin makes us alive to God.
Dying to sin doesn’t mean that sin no longer presents a problem for us.
But once we have died to sin we have the liberty to seek to live for Christ.
1 Peter 2:1-3
1 So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing.
2 You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk,
3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
Third, baptism gives us hope for the future. We must live the rest of our lives seeking to do the will of God. "As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God."
Romans 6:8-12
8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life.
9 We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
10 He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.
11 So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires.
The greatest challenge Christ has for each of us is the call to die with him.
When we refuse to give way to sin we make a decisive choice to die with Jesus Christ.
When we make that decision, it is a decision to suffer with Christ.
The decision to suffer with Christ renders us dead to sin.
It is essential that we preserve our sanity in tough times.
Difficulties have a tendency to cloud our thinking and judgment, which affect the way we live.
When our thinking is clouded, we may seek to work things out own our rather than seeking God’s help.
Clear thinking allows us to see what is important and what is unimportant.
It allows us to look beyond the instability of emotions as we plot a steady course to Christ.
Steadfastness is accomplished when we view our activities in light of eternity.
Developing Our Mind for Prayer
The suffering difficulties bring have a tendency to alienate us from God.
We begin thinking we are strange because strange things are happening to us. Feeling like a stranger tends to alienate us. Peter writes, 1 Peter 4:7
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
Earlier Peter admonished husbands to live with their wife according to the knowledge of God so their prayers would not be hindered.
1 Peter 3:7
7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. If you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.
Romans 12:11-12
11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.
12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.
Prayer requires clear thinking and alertness.
Prayer is not a cold rational exercise.
No doubt Peter remembers when he slept in the garden when Jesus charged him to pray.
Peter knew something of the agonizing prayer of Jesus Christ.
Jesus kept a clear mind of what was required of him as he prayed.
Matthew 26:36-46
36 Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go on ahead to pray.”
37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress.
38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with me even one hour?
41 Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”
42 Again he left them and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done.”
43 He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went back to pray a third time, saying the same things again.
45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Still sleeping? Still resting? Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Up, let’s be going. See, my betrayer is here!”
Responding to a question about time spent in prayer, George Mueller said that he prayed for hours every day, but he went on to explain that he lived in the spirit of prayer.
"I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise," he said. "The answers are always coming.
Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered.
The great fault of the children of God is that they do not continue in prayer.
They do not go on praying. They do not persevere."
The continual awareness of God’s presence is not reserved for great prayer warriors like Mueller.
All of us can have this moment-by-moment fellowship.
When we "live in the spirit of prayer," the lines of communication are always open. Let’s read what it says in,
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always be joyful.
17 Keep on praying.
18 No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Developing Our Minds for Relationships
Peter admonishes us to maintain loving relationships in difficult times.
The easiest thing to do when difficulties come is to become anxious and irritable.
When this happens we have a tendency to take it out on those closest to us.
1 Peter 4:8
8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
How we maintain relationships in difficult times gauges the depth of our love for Christ.
Living for Christ is a community experience. It is the fervency of our love for one another that binds us together as God’s people. The love of Christ is enduring because it is a deep love.
Ephesians 3:16-21
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.
17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.
21 May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
Christian Love covers a multitude of sins and prevents grumbling.
We do not love others if we grumble against them and find fault with them.
Proverbs 10:12
12 Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers all offenses.
Love stretches our abilities to overlook the wrongs of others.
Our love can forgive when it is willing to pay the price Christ paid for our sins.
Christian love manifests itself in hospitality.
Hospitality manifest itself when we greet one another as well as when we visit in one another’s homes.
The church also shows hospitality as we greet our visitors.
Hospitality opens a person’s heart to be receptive to Christ.
Hospitality reveals itself in service to others.
Peters says that we have received our abilities from God to serve others with them.
Our abilities are found as we endeavor to serve.
It is in humble service that we discover the abilities we have.
1 Peter 4:10-11
10 God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.
11 Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.
A wealthy woman was interviewing an applicant for a job on her household staff.
Do you know how to serve company, she asked?
Yes, ma’am, either way, replied the young girl.
And what do you mean by `either way.
Why, so they will come back or so they won’t.
We must become effective managers of God’s grace.
When we serve out of our love for Christ we discover the strength God provides for ministry.
If God is to be glorified in service, it must be a service enabled by his power.
We must not only serve in the name of Christ, but we must also serve with the spirit of Christ.
When we serve for the purpose of bringing praise to God through Jesus Christ, God empowers us.
It is easy to begin a work for Christ and then begin to take the glory and honor for yourself.
Motivation for Persevering
We can rejoice when we participate in the suffering of Christ.
Keeping our minds clear requires knowing that the glory of God rests upon us when we are insulted for the name of Christ.
This gives us reason to rejoice as we participate in the suffering of Christ.
1 Peter 4:12-14
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
13 Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world.
14 Be happy if you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God will come upon you.
After enduring some heartbreaking experiences, a missionary was asked by a friend how he could remain so cheerful through adversity.
He replied, Suppose someone sent me on a journey and warned me that I would come first to a dangerous crossing over a river and then to a forest filled with wild beasts.
I would feel a sense of satisfaction when I actually encountered these obstacles, because they would prove to me that I was traveling the right road.
The same is true in the Christian life.
The Lord told His disciples that they could expect tribulation.
When difficulties come, therefore, I find encouragement, for I know I am walking the narrow path of God’s choosing.
We must remember that judgment begins at the house of God.
In the book of Revelation John reveals God’s judgment against an evil world.
In John’s revelation God’s judgment began with the seven churches in Asia.
It began with the house of God.
1 Peter 4:15-19
15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.
16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name!
17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God’s own children. And if even we Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed God’s Good News?
18 And
“If the righteous are barely saved,
what chance will the godless and sinners have?”
19 So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.
In Africa there is a certain tribe that elects a new king every seven years, but upon the installation of the new king, the old one is killed.
During the seven years of his reign, the king has absolute rule and enjoys every possible comfort and abundance in life.
One thing he cannot do, however, is to change the custom of the old king being killed after his seven-year reign.
One would think there would not be very many candidates wanting to become king.
Nevertheless, there are always plenty.
There are those who prefer seven years of absolute rule with abundant enjoyment of everything that life can offer in spite of the end that comes to it all after seven years.
Although we are surprised at such a custom, we too accept it.
Without realizing that we are like those kings who want temporary enjoyment of power and pleasure regardless of the tragic end that comes at the conclusion of that period of time.
We want to enjoy life here and all that it can offer us without even thinking of what the end of life will be.
