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Don’t Waste Your Death

Jonathan Sarr
Selected 1 Peter
2009-09-30
one28 Wednesday worship

Turn with me to 1 Peter 4:1.

 

1 Peter 4:1-2  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.

 

Whatever anyone can do for you that helps you to live…for the will of God should be seen as a favor.  Whatever it is, whether prayer or affliction, if it helps you to cease living for human passions and helps you live for the will of God, you should be grateful for it. 

 

If our thinking is like Christ, when we are treated as He was, we cease from sin.  We cease living for human passions, but rather for the will of God.  

 

Imagine that you were writing a letter to a Christian friend who you knew was about to undergo intense persecution and suffering because of his identification with Christ.  What would you say?  What reminders, challenges, exhortations, and encouragements would you give?  This was the situation for Peter, but his was an easy decision.  He gives them a five-chapter pep talk.

 

As is often the case, understanding the context is critical to our understanding.  In this case, I mean the historical context. Written just as a season of intense persecution of Christians was starting to heat up under Emperor Nero, this letter is full of perspective- aligning reminders to the faithful in Christ who were reading it.

 

Imminent death has a certain way of aligning perspective.  When death could come at any time, or when it is certainly coming shortly, that understanding has a powerful, clarifying impact. 

 

And the fact that a person is facing death makes what he has to say more interesting.  Most of us have been touched by death closely, and have valued the life lessons and the clarity of vision that people have when they are facing death.  Regrets are far more intense when a person looks as his life as a wasted opportunity and there is nothing he can do about it.  Almost nobody is concerned with temporal, fleeting joys on his deathbed, because those things matter so little. Rather, his heart is beginning to prepare for immortality and the next life as his physical death is imminent.  Their minds are appropriately directed to the things that are eternal.  Relationships with people become more important. 

 

That needs to be our perspective all the time.  Death is imminent; we should live like it.  This will have a powerful impact on our relationships with one another and the world. 

 

Peter does not exhort his Christian readers to have fun, live it up, horde lots of possession, etc. in order to impress as many people as possible.  The preservation of their earthly lives, pleasures and comforts are never his concern in this book.  The name of Christ and the testimony of His body are the focus, along with his reminding them where they stand in before Christ. 

 

They’re facing affliction and possible death, and this gets Peter all fired up!  I can almost hear him saying, “This is what we’ve been waiting for!  This is our greatest opportunity to impact the world for Christ! Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for yourselves for being persecuted.  Do you really think they’ll treat you better than your Master?  No!  This is the time to look to Christ and get ready for the life to come…the full revelation of your salvation that won’t happen until you die!  What do you have to lose?”

 

And you have to consider the source.  Peter was a guy who got it.  He was among the apostles who were arrested, warned not to preach the gospel of Christ, humbly but boldly refused to comply with the order (insisting on preaching the gospel), were then beaten and released.  And “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts. 5:41).  He knew that times of persecution and suffering are tremendously powerful times to influence our persecutors. 

 

It’s hardly a surprise, then, that the dominating theme is hope and encouragement.  This whole letter has an underlying, bubbling theme of enthusiasm and excitement.  When we are faced with suffering and even death our platform for ministry and our testimony are enlarged in a ways that are not possible otherwise.  How believers face suffering gives evidence of the work of Christ in them while demonstrating their own certainty that they are going to heaven.

 

You can read Peter’s epistle then, to these believers who were suffering unjustly for Christ’s sake and see what Peter has to say.  He does not advise them to defend themselves, retaliate or retreat.  Rather, he urges them to follow the example of Christ (2:21; 3:18-22; 4:1-2; 4:10-10).

 

I doubt there is a better way to learn how to live on unseen things than to have the seen things around you gradually stripped away. Stated another way, when all you have are unseen things, it is easier to live on those.

 

Before we get into the text then, I would like to offer several reasons for us to study First Peter, and this will serve as our outline tonight. 

 

1.    First Peter addresses believers who are facing certain suffering.

 

The first century Roman Empire was polytheistic and dominated by gross evils.  This was a long time before Rome was converted to Christianity, and the psychopathic Emperor Nero was on the throne when Paul wrote this.  His rule saw the deaths of multitudes of Christians, including the apostles Paul and Peter, in part for Nero’s own amusement.  The government in Rome itself was endorsing and carrying out Christians’ persecution, and that persecution was extending to the far reaches of the empire unchecked by any governing powers…including to Asia Minor where we find the provinces addressed in this letter in 1:1.  That means at the point when this letter was being written, people could do pretty much whatever they wanted to Christians without any interference from Rome largely because this persecution of the believers began there with Nero himself.

We can’t relate to this.  This kind of persecution is so far removed from the thinking or perspective of 21^st century American believers.  We are privileged and self-centered.  We are spoiled and weak. 

 

I think Peter would pity us.   He was a guy who would take suffering for Christ while honoring him over a life of self-sufficiency anytime.  Saints like this are on the decrease today, and we do well to learn from those who have the mind of Peter and a biblical perspective.  People like John Bunyan, for instance. J

 

These believers were being stripped of their earthly possessions and distractions, and that is a tremendously enlightening thing.  And Peter offered them encouragement in the face of it. 

 

If they could honor God with their lives, can we?  

 

2.    First Peter aligns our perspective.

 

As I mentioned before, staring death in the face can clarify a lot in a believer’s life.  In this letter, Peter is heavily-focused on the next life, and appropriately focused on this life.  What does this sound like to you? 

 

READ 1 PETER 1:3-10.

 

He reminds his believers that suffering for Christ is completely normal in 1 Peter 4:10ff.  If that’s true, what does it tell us that we are missing a normal element to the Christian life? 

 

He reminds the believers of who they are in Christ (2:9ff).

 

Peter is living on unseen things and is helping his readers to do the same.  He is excited about his salvation, the salvation of others, and the imminent reality that he will soon see Christ. 

 

3.    First Peter teaches us how to glorify God.

 

When faced with persecution, we are more likely to trust God.  This was the case for David, Hezekiah, Peter and the other apostles, you and me.  God loves to answer the prayers of His godly ones, and when we are comfortable, we are less likely to pray.  Since He likes it so much when we pray (largely because it helps us to obey His command to do so), it shouldn’t really surprise us much that He may ordain difficulties, causing us to depend more on Him. 

 

4.    First Peter teaches us how to impact a dying world while dying ourselves.

 

This book is full of advice for Peter’s readers regarding how to have a powerful spiritual impact in the world around them.

 

              I.     “Be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

 

This is a generally helpful piece of advice.  Don’t sin.  If you want to impact the world around you, don’t sin.  Let your conduct be holy.  This is the standard that God has set forth, and the requirement for heaven.  “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1:16). 

 

This is about having a good name, and a good reputation.  Your holy character will serve as a Teflon suit, so that when people fling slanderous remarks your way, nothing will stick. 

 

           II.     “Love one another” (1 Peter 1:22).

 

Peter was among the disciples who were instructed to love one another in John 13.  Christ said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

 

I suppose there are lots of ways that people should be able to tell we are Christians, but high on the list is our love for each other.  And Peter’s command is to love each other earnestly.  This love is to have an intentional, serious nature to it.  It’s not a flippant, superficial friendship, but one patterned after the example of Christ.  Peter is even intentional about his own language here, because he uses the same verbiage again in 4:8: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 

 

Christians’ love for each other is a completely natural outflow of their love for Christ.  This is because if we love Christ, we are going to love His body, the church. 

 

         III.     Clean up your conversation (1 Peter 2:1).

 

READ 1 PETER 2:1

 

I would argue that these attitudes and things to put off most often surface in our conversation.  Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander come out in our conversation.  The default actions of the flesh result in these sinful elements, and if we want to impact the world, we need to put them off. 

 

         IV.     “Abstain from the passions of the flesh” (1 Peter 2:11).

 

These passions are elsewhere translated lusts (epithumea).  In this case we know them to refer to physical desires, as they’re called passions of the flesh.  But read on. 

 

1 Peter 2:11-10  Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  ¹⁰ Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

 

Peter is concerned again that his readers live lives that are above reproach.  So that “when they speak against you as evildoers…” he says.  He also says in chapter 3:16, “when you are slandered.”  We must expect to be the recipients of slanderous remarks.  It will happen if we are living wholeheartedly for Christ.  We are a threat to the enemy.

 

Perhaps this is part of why Peter says in chapter 4:10-16…

 

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  ¹⁰ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.  ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.  ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:10-16).   

 

This is common!  This is normal life for the believer.  It doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing something wrong if you’re ruffling feathers.  On the contrary, if you fit in well in this place, that’s a possible cause for concern.  This world is not our home. 

 

So, we must live like, it, and part of that involves abstaining from fleshly passions. 

 

           V.     “Be subject…to every human institution” (1 Peter 2:13).

 

This sort of advice goes against our natural tendencies.  Today we would say, “Stand up for yourselves!  Join forces, and make a stand!”  Rather, Peter urges his readers to “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (2:13-10).  “Submit to the emperor!  The emperor! The one who is dipping your brothers and sisters in wax, impaling them on stakes, and using their flaming bodies to light his garden.  Yeah.  Submit to that guy, because he was appointed ultimately by God, and that will glorify Him.” 

 

         VI.     Endure suffering for doing good (1 Peter 2:20-23).

 

The example of Christ here is profound.  He lived a sinless life and was hated and ultimately killed for it.  We expect better treatment than that, though Peter is teaching his readers that His example is the one we ought to follow.

 

      VII.     Have sanctified marriages (1 Peter 3:1-7).

 

This one particularly interests me.  I think we tend to underestimate the testimony of the godly family.  Is it significant that Peter would make a point to include this piece of instruction?  With limited space, he was certainly careful about the words he used, and yet he makes a point to teach his readers that having a godly marriage relationship offers a powerful testimony. 

 

    VIII.     Be tenderhearted toward your oppressors (1 Peter 3:8-17).

 

This one is more confusing to me, largely because it encompasses so much of the book in one paragraph.  He says that our mindset, our attitude should be one of grace such that we will be able to rightly respond with a word of testimony whenever evil is spoken of us.  “When you are slandered” he says in verse 16, “those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”  It is inevitable that this should happen. 

 

         IX.     Arm yourselves with the thinking of Christ (4:1-2).

 

I don’t know if I call this a theme passage of the letter or not, but I do think it gets to the heart of why Peter is exhorting his readers as he does.  That is why I started tonight with this passage.

 

READ 1 PETER 4:1-2. 

 

Suffering sanctifies.  Peter sounds here like he’s almost grateful for the persecution they’re experiencing because it is helping them to live “no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

 

As I mentioned before, whatever anyone can do for you that helps you to live…for the will of God should be seen as a favor. 

 

5.    First Peter teaches us to look beyond this world for our strength. 

a.    1 Peter 1:13  Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

b.    1 Peter 1:18  knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

c.    1 Peter 2:21-24   For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  ²² He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  ²³ 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.  ²⁴ 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.

d.    1 Peter 3:18-20  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,  ¹⁹ in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,  ²⁰ because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

e.    1 Peter 4:10-10  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  ¹⁰ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

f.     1 Peter 4:19 – 5:1   ¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. 

 

If you’re not living your life in such a way as to merit persecution, then you won’t be able to relate to Peter’s message here. 

 

I mentioned earlier that an effective way to learn to live on unseen things is to have the seen things removed from your life.  They tend to obstruct our vision and lead us to sin.

 

As we approach the coming months and a study of First Peter, I’d challenge you to consider how you can apply Peter’s message to your life.  How is your life and your testimony representing Christ, and what message are you portraying to the dying world around you?

Hi there. I had no idea that you were delivering sermons on a regular basis. I’m sooo proud of you. I love Peter’s writings and you did a wonderful job. Keep up the good work. I love you, Mom

Hey Uncle Johnathan, Wow I did not know you were a sermon, That’s so cool. That was a great speach, you couldn’t have said it better!