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1 Peter 4:1-6

Well, we’re finally turning the page from 1 Peter 3 to 1 Peter 4. And I can assure you that although you think you’re glad to finally be moving on, I’m all the more relieved to see 1 Peter 3:18-22 in the rearview mirror, for the time being. So, take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 4. While you’re finding your spot, I want you to listen to this statement by Dr. Mac Brunson, pastor of Valleydale Church in Birmingham, AL. He said, “You’ll never drift your way into a direction.”

Drifting is interesting. As many of you know, I like to fish and one of the boats that I use is a kayak. Drifting is almost imperceptible, especially if there’s no wind. You move, but you just don’t know that it’s happening. That happens in life, too, you know. In fact, a lot of people think that they’re moving in a particular direction when what they’re actually doing is drifting. It happens so slowly. It’s not purposeful. We don’t set out to drift, but it happens. And it happens in every area of life.

We drift in our educational pursuits. Not really knowing what we want to do, or what we’re gifted at doing, or what God wants us to do, we drift. We can drift in our relationships. There are some of us here, today, (myself included) that allowed our marriages to drift apart. We didn’t set out to do it. It just happened. Or maybe there’s a special friendship that comes to mind. You just drifted apart. Work can become a drift. You can become so routine in what you do that you never think about it, and slowly but surely you begin to drift. It happens theologically and biblically. A lot of churches and denominations have drifted biblically and theologically. Maybe your own spiritual convictions have drifted. Some of you – in talking with friends and family – have noticed that either you or they hold convictions today that you would’ve never held 5, 10, 15 years ago. And you wonder what changed? Somebody drifted. It’s what happens when we don’t pay attention.

Peter is going to talk about that, this morning. What causes us to drift today is what caused some of those in the church of Asia Minor to drift. It was the culture. We can drift on the current of the culture and wake up and find ourselves in places we never dreamed of. Follow along with me, as I read 1 Peter 4:1-6.

1 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. 3 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. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 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.

“Again, O Lord, we look to You for the proper interpretation and application of this text. After all, You are the ultimate Author of sacred scripture. In the Bible, we hear Your voice, and we see Your expectations for us. We bow before it not because we adore paper and ink, but because we know it to be the veritable Word of the Living God. So, help us again, this morning, as we turn the page to a new chapter in this epistle. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

We’re in the midst of a culture war. I know that doesn’t surprise most of you, but what might be surprising is that what we’re experiencing was written about over 30 years ago. In 1993, Dr. Samuel Huntington, an American political scientist, adviser, and Harvard professor wrote a Foreign Affairs article titled “The Clash of Civilizations,” and listen to one of the things he said, “It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new [post-Cold-War] world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nations…will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.”

We’re in a culture war, and Peter comes to these first-century Christians (and by extension, you and me) and he says, “You don’t fit into this culture.” That’s why we constantly clash with the culture. That’s why we clash on social media. It’s why we clash with what’s on the TV and the constant news cycle, and all the rest. It’s because we’re believers in Jesus Christ. It’s because we consider ourselves Christians. It’s because we seek to live by and orient our lives around the things in this Book (the Bible). As Christians, we are aliens and strangers in the culture (or we should be). We’re called to imitate Christ, not the culture. And the more we imitate Christ the more that our culture will clash with us.

Billy Page wrote a song in 1964 that was originally recorded by Dobie Gray called “The ‘In’ Crowd.” Anybody remember that? (Peggy?) Here are the lyrics:

I’m in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes
I’m in with the in crowd and I know what the in crowd knows
Anytime of the year, don’t you hear? Dressing fine, making time
We breeze up and down the street, we get respect from the people we meet

They make way day or night, they know the in crowd is out of sight
I’m in with the in crowd, I know every latest dance
When you’re in with the in crowd, it’s so easy to find romance
Any time of the year, don’t you hear? If it’s square, we ain’t there

We make every minute count, our share is always the biggest come out
Other guys imitate us, but the original is still the greatest
Any time of the year, don’t you hear? Spendin’ cash, talkin’ trash
I’ll show you a real good time, come on with me and leave your troubles behind

I don’t care where you’ve been, you ain’t been nowhere
Till you’ve been in with the in crowd

Listen, you can either be “in” with the in crowd or you can be “in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 5:17) but you can’t be both. That’s what Peter is saying to us today. And the first thing that Peter says is there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Life

I hate it when a new chapter begins with a “therefore.” Obviously, the original letter wouldn’t have included the chapter and verse markings. So, the “therefore” is connected to what we saw last week. It’s calling for a conclusion predicated upon something earlier. What Peter has been talking about is Christ’s victory over sin, suffering and ultimately over everything. And in light of what Peter has just said about Jesus dying for our sins, he comes and says, “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.”

Peter, like Paul (in Ephesians 6:11), says that we need to arm ourselves with the full armor of God. We’re in a spiritual battle. And notice the Peter calls for a specific kind of weapon: “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.” Peter wants us to have the same “mind” that Jesus had. Again, it sounds a lot like Paul, doesn’t it. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). What Peter is saying here is that we ought to be thinking through everything that the culture throws at us. And the way that we should think through it is the way that Jesus did.

How are we to understand marriage today? Is it a man and a woman? Is it a man and a man? Is it a woman and a woman? How are we to understand gender? Boys? Girls? Is a biological boy that identifies as a girl a boy or a girl? And vice versa? Is it based on feelings or biology? How are we to think about it? What about racism? We’re supposed to think about these things the way Jesus did? You say, “Well Pastor, how did Jesus think about these things?” It’s in here (the Bible). Listen, if you’re not reading and studying and praying and meditating over the Word of God, then never expect to think like Jesus. We must be spending time in God’s Word daily. Why? Because I want the mind of Christ. I don’t want the mind of the culture.

Look at what he says, “for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…” Now that doesn’t mean that we no longer sin. That doesn’t mean that we’re completely and utterly holy. That doesn’t mean that we’re sanctified through and through. Well, what does it mean? Keep reading, “…so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” It means that we want to do the will of God. It means that we desire to pursue the will of God.

One of the things you learn when you read the Bible is that Jesus was always doing the will of God. What did we pray just a minute ago in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Who told us to pray that way? (Jesus.) In John’s gospel we read this, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. [I] can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me” (John 5:19, 30). Near the end of Jesus’ life, we hear Him say, “Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36).

Jesus’ way of thinking was to always seek to live and breathe and do in accordance with the will of the Father. And if we live with that kind of mindset, that kind of biblical view of life, then we’re going to be at war with the culture. It’s going to happen in the dressing room, and the bathroom, and the bedroom, and the classroom, and the boardroom. Secondly, Peter says there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Sin

Nobody talks about sin anymore (except the pastor at Mountain Hill Community Church). Sin? You can’t grow a church talking about sin. Look at verses 3-4 again, “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.”

The verbs that Peter uses here for “doing what the Gentiles want to do” and “living in” these lifestyles speak of the enticing nature of sin. Doing what the Gentiles want to do is the single Greek verb katergazomai (katá = down, ergázomai = work). So, literally, it’s “working down to the endpoint.” It speaks to the enslaving nature of sin. That habit you can’t break. That passion you can’t shake.

The next verb is translated by the ESV as “living in.” Your translation may be “enjoyed” or “walking in” or “having pursued.” It’s a Greek word that means “to peruse.” It’s what I try to do when I go into Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops. Guys, it’s what you do at the hardware store, or the knife and gun store. Ladies, it’s what you do at the antique store or the mall. You’re walking around looking at things, picking things up, debating about whether to buy it or not. Peter says, “That’s what you’ve done with sin.” You’ve walked around it. You’ve toyed with it. You’ve tried out this, that, and the other thing.

Now, I don’t have time to go into each of the sins that Peter outlines here but I do want you to know that there are 3 for drinking, 2 for sexuality, and 1 for idolatry. We might think it should be the other way around, but no. And I thought about that, and isn’t that just like our culture. Think about when you were a teenager. Think about when you went off to college. What was the first thing that you were introduced to? Alcohol. He hits what most of us think are the little sins – little beer, little wine cooler, little liquor. Just loosen things up a little, ease the tension. Then, when you’re out with your girlfriends, when you at the frat party – guys, those of you that were in the military, when you finally got leave and end up with a few too many drinks – what comes next? Sex. Sometimes with people you don’t even know. And before you know it the party lifestyle is the only lifestyle. It’s become an idol. Now Peter’s list isn’t just limited to these specific sins. “Doing what the Gentiles want to do” is a catch-all term. So, none of this thinking that I’m home free.

The third verb that he uses in these verses is xenizó. It’s the Greek word that means “shocked, surprised, and offended.” The culture is surprised. They’re shocked that we don’t run into sin with them. By the way, the Greek word for “join them” or “run with them” is the word suntrechó. When most of us were growing up, our parents would say, “Hey, who are you running with?” We knew they weren’t literally asking us who we were going on a 5K with. They meant, “Who are you spending your time with? Who are your friends and what are they getting into?” Now, you didn’t have to actually commit the crime or the sin, but it was bad enough being associated with those that did.

Listen to me, church, that’s exactly where the culture has many Christians cornered today. It’s not that the culture wants us to participate in the sin with them, they just want us to go along with the sin that they’re already involved in. This is where a lot of Christians stand, “Well, it may be okay for you, but it’s not okay for me. If that’s what you want to do, then you go ahead. If that’s the way you feel. If that’s your truth.” And a lot of churches have drifted biblically and theologically where we okay sin in the lives of other people, and by extension, the culture at large.

Peter isn’t afraid of reminding us that it’s time to be done with that stuff. Peter isn’t afraid of calling out certain behaviors and lifestyles that are sinful, that a morally wrong, that are incompatible with those that claim to follow Jesus. Peter isn’t afraid of talking about sin and calling things what they are. Do you know why? Because Peter doesn’t want the church to drift. Peter doesn’t want his readers to drift. When we stop talking about sin, when we close the door to sermons about sin, when we no longer have a place in our study for sin, then we begin to embrace it. We’re in a war with a culture that doesn’t believe in sin. Finally, Peter comes and says there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Judgment

The culture doesn’t accept that reality. The world doesn’t believe in a day of final judgment. When the Church says, “Hey, folks, there’s coming a day when every single person that’s ever been conceived in the womb of their mothers will face the great Judge of all the earth,” they hate it. The idea of judgment is so repulsive to our culture that you’ll suffer for believing it. Look at verse 5, “but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” You don’t die and come back as another person or an animal or anything else. The overwhelming testimony of sacred scripture is that when we die, we stand before the Judge of all the ages. No purgatory. No intermediate state to think things over. No second chance to get it right. No, you die and then the judgment.

The other part of this is Philippians 2:10-11, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” There are at least two things that I know for certain: we’re going to die and then there comes the judgment, and when we hear the name of Jesus Christ – I don’t care who you are, Putin, Trump, Biden, Xi, Un, Zelenskyy, whoever – we’re going to bow to Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. And the only question that remains is: are you bowing in worship or are you bowing in utter defeat and domination?

Let’s end with verse 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.” Quickly, let me explain this. This verse is not saying that we need to go outside to the cemetery and preach to the dead. And it’s not supporting the idea that when you die, the gospel of Jesus is preached to you just in case you never heard. What Peter is saying is, “Hey, you know those friends and family members that have been killed for their faith? You know those Christians next door who were recently rounded up by the Roman government and executed? They heard the gospel. They believed the gospel. And although they died at the hands of evil people (i.e. the flesh), they’re alive in the Spirit.”

Man can’t do anything about that. The government can’t do anything about that. Communism can’t do anything about that. Listen, radical atheistic secularism can’t do anything about that. They can do to me whatever they want, but they cannot take away my faith in Jesus. And if you know Jesus, then there’s nothing in this life: not losing a child, not losing a house, not losing a 401k, not losing the election, nothing can separate us from the love of God if we’re in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Paul said, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Come to Jesus, and let’s get out of the culture.

“O God, we’re in a war, and we know it. Yet, for many of us, we’re unprepared. We left our armor in the closet. We’re fighting with our own intellect, with our own logic, with our own strength and charisma, and as a result we’re drifting – farther and farther away from You and Your Word. Others may be here this morning, and you’re not drifting, you’re sinking. You don’t know Jesus. You’ve never been told to have the mind of Christ. You’re sinking in sin, and you need to trust Jesus. You need to confess your sin and put your faith, as little or as big as it is, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Father, in these moments, make what’s difficult to do easy to do. For we offer this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.”