Pilgrim Living: How we Persevere in a Fallen World - I Peter 4:1-6

Pilgrim Living: How we Persevere in a Fallen World

I Peter 4:1-6

Introduction:  Peter wrote this letter to “God’s elect, strangers in the world…” Even though they were chosen, he makes it clear in 1:6 that “…for a little while, you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials…” It’s only for a “little while,” relatively speaking because we were created for eternity, and the future that God has planned for us is better than we can possibly imagine. We’ve called this series “Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World” because the idea of living in the world as an exile and foreigner, and the likelihood of suffering for our faith, has come up in almost every paragraph, certainly every chapter.  Jesus suffered willingly for us, we should expect suffering if we follow Him.  I am not a salesman. If I were trying to “sell” the Christian faith, I might have emphasized other aspects of the blessings that come with knowing God.  But Peter is reflecting the approach of Jesus when He called His disciples: “If anyone would be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” As we grow in our knowledge of God and our understanding of the gospel our thinking and our living will be changed. One thing that will happen is that we’ll desire others to know Him more than we desire our own comfort and security. It is not all about us, it is about Jesus, and His glory. In this passage we see that believers may suffer in this life as Jesus did, but even so, we choose to live for Him and share the Good News while there is time.

The Maine* Idea: As surely as Jesus suffered to bring us to God, believers may suffer as we seek to bring the Gospel to the world. Even so… we go!

I. Pilgrims “Arm themselves” to think like Jesus (1-2). In an election year when, once more, there will be an issue on the ballot concerning the “right to bear arms,” Peter uses that language to describe one means that Christians are to “arm themselves,” and that is by thinking like Jesus and by following His example…

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,  ² so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

Think like Jesus – The word “suffer” in verse 1 is where we get the word “passion,” as in the passion of Christ. He endured such treatment for us, to address our sin problem – He was willing to suffer if necessary (1).

       “Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body…” Peter immediately connects when he is saying here with the previous context. Remember in 3:18, “Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous…” Remember before that in 2:21 he had said that “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Christ suffered to the point of death—bearing our sins in His body on the Cross. Jesus had already said, “Greater love has no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends…” That sacrificial love, that Servant attitude is what we are called to as followers of Jesus.

       As believers in America in the 21^st century, it is not easy for us to make this kind of connection between discipleship and suffering. We don’t risk our life when we name the name of Jesus. Rarely does our faith result in that level of persecution. Throughout the history of the church, in many places on the earth, to identify yourself as a Christ follower meant that you were putting your life on the line. Yes, at this moment, in this country, that kind of persecution is something of an anomaly. Elsewhere it is happening. We read stories about what it cost the Christian believers in Syria who were forced by Islamic terrorists at the point of a sword: renounce Christ or die. Or worse, renounce Christ or watch your children die. Such hatred! That is what Christians through the ages have often experienced. America, for the last 200 plus years, has been a momentary reprieve for a few years, for many of us at least. Many, but not all.

       I’ve told you before the story of my conversion experience which involved being a juror on a murder case. The accused killer had murdered his wife, strangled her, and then dumped her body in a field. She had become a born again Christian, and her talk about heaven and hell, about sin and forgiveness, about Jesus and the Gospel, drove Him “temporarily insane” he claimed, and he killed her.  He was convicted of his crime, but was sentenced to a relatively short time in prison.  Years later, in a church somewhere in New York state I was sharing her story, and someone came up to me after the service and said, “I knew Carol Dubek. We [her friends] were worried about her, because her husband had threatened her several times [that never was mentioned in the trial].” Carol had told her friends, “Don’t worry about me, if anything happens to me it will all work out for the glory of God.”  She trusted Jesus, her hope was in Him. And in her case, her faith cost her life. We get so defensive, so afraid to speak the truth. What will people say? What will they do?  Maybe they’ll laugh at me, maybe they’ll stop being my friend. Would you want one of your friends to say to God on the day of judgment, “No one ever told me about Jesus! No one ever asked me to believe!” What’s the worse they can do? Remember what Peter said in 3:13-17…

¹³ Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?  ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,  ¹⁵ but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;  ¹⁶ yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.  ¹⁷ For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 

Who can harm us is we are doing God’s will? And even if they do, we will ultimately be blessed. As Carol Dubek said, “It will all work out for the glory of God.” So we remember Jesus, what He endured, and we try our best to share Christ with those around us who need to know Him.

       “…for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…” I don’t think Peter is saying that a believer, especially a believer who is suffering, will never sin. The point is that we are not in bondage to sin, we don’t live under the control of our sinful nature.  Paul put it this way in Romans 6:10-12…

"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions."

That is Paul’s meaning in Galatians 2:19b-20 where he said,

“I have been crucified with Christ.  ²⁰ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus redeemed us, He paid for our sins, once for all, the Just for the unjust. Because, by faith, we are united with Christ, our sins have been nailed to the cross, and we live a new life, empowered by His resurrection.

Live like Jesus – Not to satisfy the flesh, but to do God’s will (2).  That is what Peter is talking about in verse 2, the believer chooses to live his life seeking to walk according to God’s will, not guided by “human passions.” If we are seeking God’s will, we are essentially asking, “What would Jesus do?” We know what He did. He was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for His sheep. He said in that same chapter, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down His life for his friends.” And he did. He showed his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Believers may suffer in this life as Jesus did, but even so, we choose to live for Him and share the Good News while there is time. As surely as Jesus suffered to bring us to God, believers may suffer as we seek to bring the Gospel to the world. Even so… we go!

II. Pilgrims love God more than they love sin: they have turned from their old way of life to God (3-4). Where do you find greater pleasure, in God, or in sin?

"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.  ⁴ With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you…"

Our old way of life “in the world” (3). Do Peter’s words sound familiar? We have some of the same language in Galatians 5:19-21,

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,  ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,  ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."  

That is the way of the flesh, the way of the world. The kind of living Peter describes and that Paul speaks of here, are the attitudes that guide fallen humanity. Paul spoke to the Corinthians and said,

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God..." (I Cor 6:9-11).

God is holy, he hates sin. There are absolutes of right and wrong, God is the creator and He has given us His Word to discern right from wrong, truth from error. And when we trust Christ as Savior God begins a process or changing us, of transforming our heart and mind, and our actions.  It all starts in the heart! If we know God and love God we’ll desire, more and more, to live in a way that pleases Him. To the scattered believers in Asia Peter says “enough is enough,” in the past you lived like the world, but the time has come to make choices that honor God, to act in a way that shows our respect for His authority.  That kind of conduct will evoke a response from the people around us…

Abuse may come from rejecting a pagan lifestyle (4).  Suddenly our old friends may be surprised when they see us acting differently, when we don’t join them in their partying and immorality… and many will, as Peter says, “malign” us, speak evil about us, maybe mock us, because we are acting differently.  A young girl who had recently become a Christian asked the famous Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, “Do I need to give up my friends now?” Spurgeon replied “You do not have to give up any of your friends, though some will give you up soon enough!”  He told her the truth! There is tremendous pressure that we all experience: we all want to be liked, we want to fit in. No one wants people to think of you as “weird.” That pressure hits as at all ages and in many situations, and we know it by the two-word phrase, “peer pressure.” Let’s live in a way that we turn that around!  I recently heard a story about a high school football player who was a Christian. He was a big fellow and a great athlete. He led his team to the best season they had ever had and won many awards. He was being interviewed and the reporter asked him this question…

“You know you have the reputation of being a devout Christian. Isn’t it hard o be a devout Christian with all the peer pressure you face?” And he said “Ma’am, I am the peer pressure.”
     I don’t care how old you are, everyone faces some degree of pressure. But Christians should be so courageous, so unashamed, so distinctive in standing up for Jesus Christ that others are attracted to Him, not repulsed. Life with Jesus means being willing to be distinct from the world!

If we are consistent, standing for the truth while not disrespecting people, some at least will respect our opinion. Better still, a few might be intrigued enough to ask us about the difference in our way of life.  And yes, it could be that some are just waiting, wondering if God is real, if we can know Him. With the Evangelism Explosion ministry that I was involved in thirty years ago, we would first converse with people about their secular life, before moving the conversation to “spiritual” things. A few times people would say, “I was hoping you would get to that!” The soil was ready! Listen, believers may suffer in this life. Jesus did, so we shouldn’t be surprised!  But even so, we choose to live for Him and share the Good News while there is time. As surely as Jesus suffered to bring us to God, believers may suffer as we seek to bring the Gospel to the world. Even so… we go!

III. Pilgrims are different, because they are on a mission: Pilgrim Living means urgently proclaiming the Gospel while there is time (5-6).

…but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  ⁶ 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.

A day of judgment is coming. “…but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge…” God is going to judge. There will be a day of accounting, God will not leave the guilty unpunished.  The very people who would mock our faith or speak against our stand for morality, if they persist in their unbelief, will one day stand before the holy judge of the universe and answer for their sins. We are sent to them by God to warn them, to urge them to be reconciled to God.  We can go through life and do our best to “fit in.” Maybe no one around us will ever know that we are a Christian. God is calling us to take a stand and risk rejection, knowing that we are God’s missionary, we are “on assignment,” we have been entrusted with the “Word of Life.”

We preach “good news” to the living, while there is time.  Verse 6 is alluding to the fact that “it is appointed unto men once to die, after this the judgement.” “Those who are dead [now]” were preached to when they were alive! We don’t know how much time anyone has. Whether it is an accident, an illness, or the return of the Lord, time is short. Have you seen the bumper sticker, “Life is hard… then you die.”  I would add one more phrase, “Then what?”  Are you ready?

       No more popularity contests. It’s not about how many “friends” we have on Facebook. It won’t be about the car you drive or the neighborhood you live in, or the designer of your clothes. We are going to stand before God. Either we’ll be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, because we trusted Him as our Lord and Savior, or we will stand there in the filthy rags of our sinful life, without excuse, guilty. While there is time, while it is day, we have a mission to carry out. God has planned your life. He has sovereignly and strategically placed you where you are and He has placed a small number of people on the “front burner” of your life. These are people you see regularly, people you rub shoulders with. Experts tell us that for most of us, at any point in time, there are between eight and fifteen of them that we see regularly.  You are already witnessing to them, with your life. Some may be believers that have fallen away from church attendance, others may have not yet put their trust in Christ. What would God have you to do?

What is God saying to me in this passage? Believers may suffer in this life as Jesus did, but even so, we choose to live for Him and share the Good News while there is time. As surely as Jesus suffered to bring us to God, believers may suffer as we seek to bring the Gospel to the world. Even so… we go!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Next Sunday we have a church breakfast and a special service geared toward our visitors. We are calling it our first “Friend Day.” By now, I hope you have made a list of people that God has place in your life, friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, relatives. A few of them are not attending church regularly, some probably don’t know the Lord. If you haven’t written those names down yet, that is part one of your homework assignment!  Writing their names down reminds you to pray for them, daily. Next Sunday is one opportunity that makes it easier to invite one or more to come with you, enjoy breakfast, meet some other Christians, and hear the Gospel message.  Will you pray for God’s leading, then take a chance and invite someone to come? Let’s see what God will do!  Amen.