GROWING IN CHRIST
1 PETER 4:1-11
V:1. "Forasmuch 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."
A. The purpose of
Christ first coming was to suffer for us in the flesh.
1. When Christ
step down out of heaven, He had a view of the cross.
2. When Christ
step down out of heaven, He had full knowledge of our sins.
3. When Christ
step down out of heaven, He knew what it would take to redeem us
out of the
world.
4. When Christ
step down out of Heaven, He knew He would be persecuted by
leaders of His
temple.
a. Christ
knew that leaders of His temple would try to protect their self interest
by
falsely accusing Him and nail Him to the cross.
5. When Christ
step down out of heaven, it was His divine plan to shed His blood
on the cross.
B. If they did it to
our Lord and Savior, they will do same to us.
1. We have to
arm ourselves with the knowledge that an
important part of our
experience
in this life is trials and tribulations.
2. An athlete
has to train himself to endure the strain of running the race.
a. In the
race, an athlete has to strain to cross the finish line.
3. Likewise, we
who believe in Christ Jesus, must arm ourselves with His Word to
endure this
Christian race.
C. It is purpose of
God's Word to point out our sins and arm us with power to resist
the desire to sin.
V:2. "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."
A. Armed with God's
Word, we can easily identify the lust of our flesh and the means
to our sin.
1. With indwelling
of the Holy Spirit we are well equipped to live this life according
to the will of
God.
2. We got the
"I will power" and the "I want power."
a. I will
follow God's commands.
b. I want
follow the ways of the world.
d. I will seek
the righteousness of God.
e. I want
follow the desires of my flesh.
B. The most joyous
time in life is under God's commands.
1. The most
peaceful time in life is the peace we have with Jesus.
2. The most
comfortable time in life is the comfort we find in God's Word.
V: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, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. "
A. We all got a past
life in the world.
1. We use to do
some stuff that was not pleasing to God.
2. We use to do
everything that pleased our flesh.
3. We talked like
the world, walked like the world and were glad to be apart of
the worldly scene.
4. It was our
desire to be in the "in crowd" because we did not want to be left
out.
B. Thank God for His
grace and mercy.
1. Thank God that
He saw fit to call us out of the world.
2. Thank God that
He showed us His light so we could recognize how deep in the
dark we were.
3. Thank God that He
changed our appetite for darkness to an appetite for His light.
4. Before Christ
we had no choice but to walk in darkness, because we knew no
better way.
a. Thank God,
He gave us a choice through His Son, Jesus Christ.
V:4. "Wherein they think it strange that ye run not
with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you."
A. The world, the
crowd you used to run with, can't understand the change in your
life.
1. The world
can't understand the joy you have in serving God.
2. The world
can't understand how you can drop them for a life with Christ.
3. The world
can't understand why you don't want to enjoy the good times with
them.
B. Because you want
run with them, the world will turn against you.
1. They will
point out your faults to show that you are no better than them.
2. The world does
not have anything good to say about your
walk with Christ.
C. We have to arm
ourselves with the hope in Christ to keep from being brought down
by the evil of
the world.
V:5. "Who shall give account to him that is ready to
judge the quick and the dead."
A. God could put an
end to this world and judge the living and the dead.
1. The quick (the
living) are those in Christ.
2. The dead are
those in the world without Christ.
B. We will all have
to give an account to God for all of our deeds.
1. God keeps up
with what you do.
2. You can't hide
anything from God.
C. In the End Time,
God will judge the world according to their sins and cast them
into the lake of
fire.
1. God looks over the sins of believers because they
have been covered
by the blood
of Jesus.
a. Believers
will be judged according to their good works and crowed for their
position in
heaven.
2. While the world
looks at us with a frown, God favors us with His glory.
V:6. "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."
A. Jesus died for the
sins of the whole world.
1. His death on
the cross makes atonement to the Father for every ones sins.
2. God has made
the Gospel known to the whole world.
a. The Gospel is preached in Churches
around the globe.
b. The Gospel
is in the airwaves of the world.
c. The Gospel
is available on the internet which reaches around the globe.
B. God caused His ministers to preach the Gospel so that
everyone would have
opportunity for
salvation.
1. The dead in
Christ are judged by the world, but glorified by Christ.
a. Absent from
the body, but present with God in the spirit.
b. Weather dead
or alive, we still are in the spirit with God.
2. The dead
outside of Christ will have their day in hell.
b. Absent from
the body and absent from God in the spirit.
V:7. "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye
therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."
A. Two thing are sure;
death and taxes.
1. We don't know
the time, but there will be an End Time.
2. This present
Church age will come to an end.
B. The Lord says, the
End Time is at hand.
1. God is no
respecter of time. To God, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand
years is a
day.
2. It is not our
job to worry about the time.
a. It is our
job to be alert and watchful of the time.
b. We need to
always be ready for the return of Christ.
c. We need to
pray without ceasing lest we forget that End Time is at hand.
3. The train is
coming, Christ is your ticket to board
a. The
destination is heaven, no baggage is allowed.
V:8. "And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."
A. There are some
recommended preparations for the second coming of Christ.
1. Love is
recommended.
2. We need to
love the brethren as we love ourselves.
3. It is
recommended that we strain ourselves to extend goodwill to others.
4. We need to
ensure that we do good to those in the body of Christ.
B The reason to love
is that it covers a multitude of sins.
1. Love allows us
to overlook the sins of others.
a. Love
allows us to serve others without being concerned with how they see us.
b. Love
allows us to see the person and not their issues.
c. Love
forced us to be concerned about needs of others.
2. The mercy of
God overlooks our sins.
3. What goes
around comes around.
4. When we love
others, that same love will be returned to us.
A. Another
recommended preparation for the End Time is to be hospitable.
1. We ought to
be careful to entertain those in the body of Christ.
2. God has
equipped us with ability to be helpful to others.
3. Some of us are gifted with a heart to
share ourselves with others.
B. Some of us are
gifted to visit the sick.
1. Some of us
are gifted to entertain others in our homes.
2. There are
many ways to be hospitable to others.
V:10. "As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God."
A. We are all
ministers of Christ.
1. Our job is to
minister to others.
B. God has gifted
each of us with spiritual gifts.
1. We have an
obligation to be good stewards of God's gifts.
2. What ever God has gifted us with, we should
be actively using to serve
in the body
of Christ.
3. Nobody in the
body of Christ at anytime should be unemployed.
a. We ought
to always be employed doing good and serving others.
V: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. Amen."
A. We have only one
conversation that is important.
1. The Word of
God should be the center of all our
talking.
2. Any advice we
give should be according to the Word.
3. Any
consolation should be according to the
Word.
4. Any
encouragement we give should be according to the Word.
B. We are all God's
ministers.
1. The Word of
God is the source of all ministering.
2. The Holy
Spirit, our teacher should guide our ministry.
C. The object of any
ministry is to give God the glory.
1. God should get
our praise and honor.
2. We should
never take credit for ourselves but give it all to God.
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