Arm Yourselves w/the Mind of Christ #1

Introduction: The Heart's Engagement with God's Word

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, September 12, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bible to 1 Peter chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4, as we continue our consecutive expositions of this letter, 1 Peter chapter 4. I shall read in your hearing the first 11 verses. For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. For the time past may suffice.

1:09 It is nice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revelings, carousings, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that you run not with them into the same excessive riot, speaking evil of you. Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead? For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead. That they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit.

1:48 But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be of a sound mind, and be sober unto prayer. Above all things, being fervent in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one to another without murmuring.

2:10 According as each has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speaks, speaking as it were, oracles of God. If any man ministers, ministering as of the strength which God supplies. That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

2:36 Whose is the glory and the dominion forever. And ever. Amen.

2:44 Well, let us pray as we begin our studies in this new chapter. That God by the Holy Spirit will be present to instruct us. And to cause us to feel, and I use the word deliberately, to feel the impress of the word upon our hearts. As God enlightens our minds.

3:03 If what happens to you this morning stops between your ears. You've stopped 18 inches short. The avenue to the heart. The heart is the mind, but it's never the terminus of God's intention in bringing his word to us.

3:17 God is not in the business of swelling your noggin or mind with more knowledge about the Bible. He's in the business of engaging your heart. By means of his truth that must first of all come by way of spirit wrought enlightenment to the mind. But God have mercy on us.

3:36 If for one Lord's day we're content. That the actions. He stops here. That's the first step to apostasy.

3:46 May God help us never to forget it. I preach it to myself at my desk week by week by week. For many a preacher is gone from the pulpit to hell. Because he began to traffic in the Bible with his noggin.

4:02 And not be determined that his Bible would first of all deal with his heart before he ever sought to bring it to the minds and hearts of others. Let's pray. Let's pray that God will help us.

4:17 Our father. We are sobered by the horrible thought. That what we do in the next hour. Could only increase our damnation.

4:30 Father I am sobered that what I do in this pulpit. Unless it is an expression of love to you. And results in my own progress in grace. Could simply increase my damnation.

4:44 Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon us. We beg of you our father. That not a one of us sitting here.

4:53 Would be content. With a mere cerebral exercise this morning. Come to us Lord. Invade our hearts with truth.

5:03 Lay hold of our hearts with truth. And in so doing Lord. By your grace. We will respond in faith and love.

5:14 And desire that you would have more. More of us. And that we would glorify you as we ought. Speak to us then we plead.

America's Pantheon: The Pressure of Idolatry

5:22 In Jesus name. Amen. I want to begin this morning by asking a question. And I'd like you children to engage your minds with that question as well.

5:37 Do you know what a pantheon is? That's not a kind of snake. The kind of snake is a python. But do you know what a pantheon is?

5:48 Well a pantheon is a temple built. As a house to all of the gods. The word pantheon comes from two Greek words. The word for all.

6:00 And God. A pantheon is a temple. A pagan temple built to house pagan gods. And I want you to imagine with me two men who go to the local pantheon.

6:16 Where all of the representations of the various gods are there. Arranged in that pantheon. And the one man chooses the twelve gods that are his special gods. And he renders to them whatever the priests of the gods say devout worshippers should render to those particular gods.

6:37 Part of his worship might even be consorting with a temple prostitute as an act of worship to one of the gods. And his neighbor is there worshipping his twelve favorite gods. And though they have differing preferences. And they don't worship the same dozen gods.

6:57 Each of them worships his gods within the pantheon. They happen to meet on the way out. And as they walk home they are discussing their worship experience. And the one speaks to the other about his gods.

7:11 And why he has chosen them to be the peculiar objects of his devotion. And the other expresses why he worships his god. And they get on fabulously well. As long as each of them is free.

7:24 Free to worship the gods of his own choice. But now a preacher comes to town. And begins to proclaim the gospel. A preacher such as the apostle Paul.

7:35 Who came to such a town. Named Athens, a city. And found an array of gods. Not in the temple but in an open place.

7:44 That was dedicated to the worship of the gods. And one of these men is marvelously converted. He comes through the preaching of the word. To see that there is no god.

7:54 But the one true and living god. And that god is spirit. And has no body. And that god is demanded.

8:01 That no one seek to make a representation of him. Out of wood or stone. Or any other material substance. And he comes to discover that that one true god.

8:11 Is savingly revealed in Jesus Christ. And repudiating all that is called god. And embracing the one true living god. And his son Jesus Christ our lord.

8:23 He is marvelously converted. And he meets his neighbor the next day. And he says well George. When are we going up to the temple to do our thing?

8:32 And George says well my friend. I am no longer going to the temple anymore. To do my thing with you. Well why not?

8:39 Do you be disappointed in the way the gods have treated you? Try my gods. They are treating me well. He said no.

8:46 I have come to the place where I realized. That all that I did in that temple worship. Was to support a worship. That had behind it the very power of the devil himself.

8:57 I was blinded. I was duped. I was deceived. And he gives his testimony.

9:02 And you know what happens? Suddenly his neighbor is no longer kindly disposed to him. His neighbor feels a deep sense of resentment. That he has dared to insult his many gods.

9:15 Because the thing that George insists upon. Is that not only are those things they worship no gods. But that there is only one true and living God. And furthermore.

9:26 That that God demands the worship of his neighbor. And George tells his neighbor. That unless you repent of all your idol worship. And embrace my God as your God.

9:40 You will be forever banished from the presence of the living God. In the day of judgment. And he begins to feel what it is. To bear reproach and suffering.

9:53 And mockery. And possibly in some pagan societies. He will begin to feel social and economic pressure. Because in the language of 1 Thessalonians 1.

10:06 He has turned from the worship of false gods. To serve the living and the true God. And to wait for his son from heaven. Well you say.

10:19 Pastor. That is an interesting little scenario. A little bit of let's pretend. What does that say to us?

10:25 Well it says this. America has its pantheon. I don't know of any physical pantheons. But American culture is one vast pantheon.

10:42 And American society worships the gods of its choice. For some it is the god of sensual pleasure. Bacchus and Aphrodite are America's gods. Anything to titillate the nerve endings with anyone anyway.

11:00 So long as they are titillated that god will be worshipped. Others the god of material possessions. His worship constantly being forced upon us by consumer driven pressures. Creating need by the sights flashed upon the eyeballs.

11:18 And the messages dimmed in the ear to say. We need more and more and more. Worship me. Worship me.

11:26 And I will bring you fulfillment. Then there is the horrible god of spectator sports. Before which millions of our fellow countrymen will worship today. Why do they have the finals of the men's in the U.S. Open on Sunday?

11:44 Because that god gets more worshippers on Sunday. Why do they have the fourth round of all the golf tournaments on the Lord's Day? Because that god knows he can get more worshippers. The day that the true and living god is marked out for his worship.

12:03 Multitudes excited. Been checking with their bookies and looking for that place in the newspaper every day this week. To see what the betting odds are as the NFL season opens today. And dozens of millions of our fellow countrymen will be worshipping the god of spectator sports today on God's day.

12:25 And so we could go on and on. The god of physical beauty. Seeking her worshippers from the time little girls get their first Barbie. When they grow up then and have their face lifts and their tummy tucks.

12:40 And their silicone boobs. And their liposuction for their cellulite. Dear people. Our society is a massive pantheon.

12:52 And just as surely as George repudiating the many gods in his literal pantheon. We'll feel the pressure. Of the idol worshippers around him. Here in polite cultured America.

13:08 You and I determined to worship the one true and living god. And hear me carefully now. Insist that every idol worshipper around us ought to worship our god. We too will feel the pressure of suffering for Christ's sake.

Suffering for Christ: A Universal Christian Experience

13:26 And we come back to my little ditty. Even in our country. At one time or another. In one way or another.

13:37 To one degree or another. Every true believer will suffer for Christ's sake. And as we come to this section of first Peter again. I trust there's not a one of us who says.

13:52 Well this would be fine if you were living in China. Where the Christian faith is officially banned by the state. Or in some Islamic state. Where it is illegal to speak of Christ.

14:04 But surely pastor. All of this preaching about Peter's doctrine of suffering. What relevance does it have to us? I tell you if you're thinking that way.

14:13 I doubt you're a true Christian. For you have known. Sometimes subtle. Sometimes not too subtle.

14:21 What it is to suffer. For the sake of the Lord Jesus. And as I've emphasized continually. Since beginning to expound chapter 3 and verse 11.

14:32 We're in this section that forms the heart of Peter's letter. To those provinces there in Asia Minor. The part of his burden is to enlighten. To strengthen and encourage the people of God.

14:47 In the light of both present and future sufferings. For the sake of Christ. Chapter 3 verses 11 to 17 is what I call suffering 101. Peter lays out some of the foundational perspectives.

15:01 Of how a believer is to respond to suffering. For the sake of Christ. And then in verses 18 to 22. He sets before us Christ as the perfect sufferer.

15:13 And in a passage that has some very real difficulties. Yet I trust each of us now realizes has some rich instruction. Peter sets forth the Lord Jesus. In his person and in his work.

15:27 As the one to whom believers are to look in the midst. Of their suffering. And now beginning in chapter 4. Peter is going to move into a section.

The Structure of 1 Peter 4: Exhortation Based on Christ's Suffering

15:37 Of that which is primarily exhortation. Based upon primarily the teaching of verses 18 to 22. In the previous chapter. For you see that chapter 4 begins with the word.

15:51 Therefore. The little Greek particle un. Which is a connective. It is telling us that what he's about to say.

15:59 Is connected to what has gone before. And here in these two paragraphs. Verses 1 to 6 and 7 to 11. Which obviously ends this section.

16:10 Because Peter concludes it with an amen. Before moving into another area of concern. Related to suffering. Basically what he is doing is this.

16:20 In verses 1 to 6. He is telling these believers. That if they are to face their sufferings as they ought. They must be equipped.

16:28 With a right attitude of mind. Toward those sufferings. For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh. Arm yourselves with the same mind.

16:40 And that's the heart and soul of verses 1 to 6. And then the heart of verses 7 to 12 is this. While animated by hope. But the end of all things is at hand.

16:55 They are to live fruitful Christian lives. In the fellowship of the church. In the midst of their sufferings. They are not to retreat from one another.

17:05 They are not to turn inward upon themselves. But Peter says. In the midst of your sufferings. Armed and nerved with hope.

17:15 The end of all things is at hand. In God's scheme of redemption. The next great event. Is the voice of the archangel.

17:24 And the trump of God. And the parting heavens. In the light of that. In the light of that reality.

17:29 Spurred and nerved by hope. You are to live fruitful Christian lives. In the fellowship of the church. And so duties are laid before us.

17:40 That have to do primarily. With the fellowship of the church. The people of God. As the suffering community.

The Foundational Fact: Christ Suffered in the Flesh

17:48 Now our focus this morning will be. Just upon verses 1 and 2. Verses 1 and 2. Which I've entitled.

17:56 The mindset of Christ. That equips us to suffer for Christ. The mindset of Christ. That equips us to suffer for Christ.

18:11 Now as we seek to understand. And apply this section of the word of God. Note with me first of all. What I'm calling the foundational fact.

18:20 Reasserted. The foundational fact. Reasserted. For as much then.

18:27 As Christ suffered in the flesh. Now some of you may have a translation. That says suffered in the flesh. For you.

18:38 Some for us. There is some manuscript evidence. For the inclusion of the words. For you.

18:46 For us. But it is not strong enough. To warrant its inclusion. Probably a carry over.

18:52 One of the copyists. Seen that terminology. Earlier in the letter. Peter writes to these people.

18:57 For as much then. As Christ suffered in the flesh. He comes back to this foundational fact. Hence I've given this heading.

19:03 The foundational fact. Reasserted. Peter has not grown weary. Of focusing the attention of these believers.

19:07 Upon the sufferings of Christ. He did it first of all. In chapter one. In verse eleven.

19:11 Spirit of the Lord. The Lord is with you. And with you. And with you.

19:15 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:19 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:23 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:27 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:31 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:35 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:39 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:43 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:47 And with you. And with you. And with you. And with you.

19:51 And with you. And with you. And with you. and then again in chapter 3 and verse 18 because Christ also suffered for sins and then he's going to do it two more times chapter 4 and verse 13 inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings chapter 5 and verse 1 I am a witness of the sufferings of Christ you see the very terminology the sufferings of Christ was obviously a precious phrase to Peter now think with me for a minute that's an amazing reality sufferings of Messiah who was the one who had nothing to do with the idea of the suffering Messiah earlier in his life it was Peter remember in Matthew 16 thou art the Christ the son of the living God Peter had no problem with the Messiah who was God the son a Messiah who would accomplish God's messianic purposes a Messiah who went on to say I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Peter had no problem with a Messiah who was son of God a Messiah who would have a conquering messianic kingdom no objection but when the text says from that time on

21:19 Jesus began to tell them how he must suffer and die Peter said Lord this will never happen to you suffering Messiah didn't enter his theology but now that the suffering Messiah has died and risen from the dead and the spirit of God and the instruction of Christ has brought Peter to see that it's only through his sufferings that Messiah accomplishes his saving work in his people Peter loves the terminology sufferings of Christ and so he reasserts this message this foundational fact at the beginning of this section for as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh that is in a real true humanity he suffered in the flesh his suffering is not a notion around which we gather theological concepts his suffering was real suffering in real flesh this foundational fact is reasserted but then notice notice secondly the central exhortation issued having gone back and pointed to that foundation here now is the central exhortation issued by the apostle it is this for as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with the same mind

The Central Exhortation: Arm Yourselves with the Mind of Christ

22:48 this is the only imperative in this paragraph there is no other imperative in verses one to six this is the central exhortation given by the apostle as we try to understand it note with me first the imagery employed and then the equipment needed what is the imagery in the word arm yourselves now it's another one of those words that is found only here in the new testament and I've had occasion to comment in expounding this letter people talk about an ignorant Galilean fisherman who had a tremendously rich vocabulary he has any number of what are called hapax lagomenos that means words found only once in the new testament and this is one of them and when it was used in the secular world it's the word that would be used when someone told the soldier to strap on his armor or when a farmer was told to take up and furnish himself with his tools or his implements for farming and while it would not be a good thing to do it would not be legitimate to press the military imagery and say it is necessarily bound up in the word because of the analogy of faith and the dominance of the military imagery in the letters of Paul taking up the whole armor of God

24:15 that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil most likely Peter is thinking in terms of an imperative that has to do with taking up something taking up something taking up something taking up something that will function in the spiritual realm as armor and weaponry functions in the military realm Peter is saying you are to be prepared for suffering and for the spiritual conflict that it entails by outfitting yourself with the right armor that's the imagery employed now what's the equipment needed he describes it as the same mind arm yourselves also with the same mind now this word mind is found only one other time in the New Testament what does it mean it's found in Hebrews 4.12 the word of God is living and active sharper than any two edged sword piercing through the dividing asunder of soul and spirit joint and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and it's used in the plural and the intents of the heart the thoughts and the intents of the heart so you see it's more than just the concept of a notion that's floating around in the cranium it refers to insights

25:38 that have gelled into internal mental resolve the word of God discerns the very thoughts and the intents the mindset the insights and perceptions as they have gelled into purposes as they have gelled into purposes and resolutions of the heart and Peter is saying in his central exhortation if you're to be prepared for suffering you must do something that is akin to what a soldier does when he straps on his armor and your armor is to be the same mind that is the same mind that was manifested and operative in the Lord Jesus when he suffered when he suffered in the flesh now what was that mind of Christ in the midst of his suffering well surely it was this as the divinely appointed and anointed Messiah and Redeemer doing the will of God was the obsession of our Lord's heart and mind you remember in John 4 he said my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to do the will of him that sent me and to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work Hebrews 10 lo I come to do your will oh God and that came to its most heightened focus

27:06 you remember in Gethsemane when everything in the holy sanctified humanity of Jesus had an aversion to the drinking of the cup and had Jesus not had an aversion to the drinking of the cup it would have shown that he was not truly man or that he was not truly in fear and dread of his God for the holy sinless son of God to do anything other than tremble at the thought of being abandoned by his father would have been inhumanity or impiety but bless God neither of those is true of him and in his true perfect humanity the thought of the shame and the pain and the agony that lay before him and above all the thought of being abandoned by his holy father when sin is imputed to him and he vicariously bears our damnation everything in his holy humanity recoils and he says oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me suffering is to reach its apex at Golgotha but what is the mindset of the Lord Jesus? here's his mindset nevertheless

28:31 not my will be done but thine not thy will be done upon me as though I will passively submit but thy will be done by me by me as incarnate deity who in real holy humanity has an aversion to the horrible suffering that awaits me but in my holy humanity in the integrity of my person of my person as the appointed redeemer thy will be done by me even if it means the horrible crucible of forsakenness and abandonment and hell vicariously born for as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourself with the same mind the insight that saw through suffering there is salvation for my people through suffering I come to my messianic throne and vindication the will of God is my obsession though suffering of the intensest kind may be my portion no dread of suffering could derail him from embracing from the heart the revealed will of God that's the mind that was in him

29:58 now Peter says for as much then as Christ as Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves you saints there in Asia Minor who've begun to feel the social pressure of your former sinning buddies and girlfriends and companions and neighbors and I'm about to tell you that more is to come a fiery trial is coming upon you what you need as you face suffering is this above all else you need to gird yourself you need to have as your armor this same mind so the central exhortation is this put on his armor the very mindset that was operative in the Lord Jesus when he suffered before leaving this head I want to underscore that this exhortation calls for obedience it is an imperative arm yourselves with the same mind it calls for decisive obedience the tense of the verb points to obedience that is resolute and decisive it is an heiress imperative marshal all of your spiritual faculties before this imperative and know that it demands a response from you

31:26 and it is to be personal it's a middle voice put on for yourself put on for yourself and the emphasis on you is placed forward in the original there's an abnormal construction you people there to whom I'm writing you must decisively personally as an act of obedience you must furnish yourself with the same mind so we have looked at the foundational fact reasserted Christ suffered in the flesh the central exhortation issued arm yourselves with the same mind now we come thirdly to the underlying principle stated.

The Underlying Principle: Suffering and Cessation from Sin

32:12 For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. The underlying principle stated. Now I must tell you at the outset that this is a very difficult part of the text.

32:30 Very difficult. In the 20 commentaries that I've consulted, they're just about evenly divided as to what Peter means. Is he referring this to Christ? That is, is this a description, a further amplification of the mind that they are to furnish themselves with?

32:52 Arm yourselves with the same mind, that is, the mind Christ had, namely, that he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Or, is it referring primarily to the believer in general?

33:12 Do this, arm yourself with the same mind because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin? Or is it a very distilled, almost cryptic reference to the teaching fleshed out in full in Romans chapter 6 in particular of the union of the believer with Christ so that when Christ died, the believer died in him and with him. And he is to reckon himself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in union with Christ. And I say, the commentators, just differ on precisely what Peter is saying.

33:45 Well, remember what we did in chapter 3 when we faced two of those difficult passages. We said three things that we must constantly keep before us. No understanding of the passage is the right one if it does violence to the language. Secondly, if it introduces novelties not taught in the rest of the Bible, or if it is indifferent or violates the context.

34:08 And as I wrestled many hours with this matter, not settled in my own mind, crying to God, Lord, what did Peter mean? What was he saying? I found that in terms of the first two tests, it was a toss-up. And I saw why the commentators were just about evenly split.

34:25 As far as the language is concerned, one can go either way. As far as the rest of the teaching of the Bible, no novel doctrine is imported. Some just see in this a distillation of a doctrine fully taught in Romans chapter 6.

34:40 But it was the matter of context that tipped the Bible off. It tipped the scales in my judgment. What is the context? The context is not general teaching on the Christian life.

34:50 It is specific exhortation for saints who are facing suffering. And as I sought to let the pressure of context be felt in my own mind, the scales tipped in my mind to about 52% for the understanding that I'm going to propose. I don't propose it dogmatically. I don't say if you pick up one of those commentators who takes a position differing from my own that you should write them off as being heretics or unsafe guides.

35:21 No, not at all. I offer this explanation. And we start with what obviously it can't mean. Look at the text.

35:30 As this underlying principle is stated that has a logical connection to what precedes for he that has suffered in the flesh is ceased from sin. What does it not mean? What it cannot mean? Well, it certainly does not mean that all suffering in the flesh results in sanctifying the sufferer.

35:50 It can't mean that. Why? Because the Bible in human experience shows us that some people suffer in the flesh and they sin all the more. If you doubt this, just read Revelation chapter 16.

36:01 You have the description of God pouring out plagues upon men in their flesh. And what do they do? Rather than ceasing from sin, they augment their sin. And the fifth poured out his bowl, Revelation 16.10, upon the throne of the beast. And his kingdom was darkened and they gnawed their tongues for pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and they repented not of their works. Ah, but Peter says, he that has suffered in the flesh is ceased from sin.

36:35 Then the Bible must be full of contradictions. No. The text does not mean that suffering in the flesh of any kind under any circumstances results in the cessation of sin. Nor does it mean that suffering in the flesh among true Christians results in the eradication of sin.

36:57 Some would take the text and say, well, it says, he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. And they'd look up the word in the lexicons and in the concordances and say, well, this word ceased means cease. After Jesus rebukes the winds and the waves and, there is a calm all of the tumult. It was done.

37:17 It was over with. So the text is saying, he that suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. It says it. It must mean it.

37:24 Well, that's the question. It says that. But what does it mean when it says that? And we know from the general teaching of the Bible that it cannot mean that all suffering in the flesh results in a sanctifying influence or that all true Christians through suffering will have sin eradicated.

37:42 Well, what does it mean? Let me be more modest and say what it appears to me according to my present life to me. All right? This is what it appears to me that it means.

37:56 And this does no violence to the specific words in the original nor to the grammar nor to the analogy of Scripture nor to the context. This is what I believe Peter is saying. Here he's just told these believers to consider afresh Christ as the great sufferer for as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh. Furnish yourself with the same mind for and here's a principle Peter says I want you to understand that will help motivate you to embrace this directive to see the wisdom of God in it and to give yourselves to doing the very thing I'm commanding you to do. And here is the principle. The one who as a professing Christian endures a specific situation of suffering for righteousness sake makes it evident in that endurance of that suffering that the dominion of sin has been broken in his life. And without giving you a Greek lesson that's the only way I can understand the text to do justice to the heiress participle he that has suffered.

39:11 He has experienced a specific experience of suffering and as a result it is clear that he has ceased from sin a perfect of this verb the only time it's used in a perfect something has happened and the consequences continue and it's most likely a perfect passive. He has been brought to cease from sin. In other words his suffering and his triumphant endurance of that suffering the one who has suffered who has entered a set of circumstances where he either had to choose suffering which is contrary to all the inclination of the flesh either had to endure suffering or he had to choose sin. The only way to choose righteousness was to go down into a crucible of suffering. Now he who has thus suffered and triumphed demonstrates he's free from the dominion of sin. He is Christ's free man. Sin's domination has been broken in his life.

40:21 His attachment to Christ is no phony attachment. It is real. It's been thrown into the fiery crucible of temptation and opposition and persecution and it's come out as the pure gold of the real thing. As Hebert states so helpfully I quote him He who in loyalty to Christ and in the power of Christ has steadfastly endured persecution rather than join in the wicked practices of the pagan world has demonstrated that the pursuit of sin in his life has been ended.

41:00 And it's interesting Peter says he that has suffered has ceased not from sins plural but from sin. Sin generically. Sin as Lord. Sin as Master.

41:13 And that fits the whole teaching of the Bible that in every true believer sin's dominion has been broken. That's Romans 6. You were the slaves of sin but having been made free from sin you have your fruit unto holiness in the end everlasting life. Romans 6.22 It's what Peter had already affirmed in chapter 2. Look at it. Verse 24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died unto sins might live unto righteousness. Peter's already asserted this truth.

41:52 Now he is saying when you have faced suffering and you have endured suffering rather than sinning you make it evident this is not how you become a Christian this is what manifests that you are indeed a true child of God. Since Christ suffered in the flesh Peter says you're not alone in your suffering. Look away to him as the great sufferer and as you look at him what will you see? You will see that as he suffered he was governed by a mindset.

42:27 It was a mindset that chose suffering rather than disobedience to his father. Put on as your armor the same mind where you are determined with Christ in your eyes and in the strength of Christ that no matter what suffering comes in the way of obedience you will be furnished with the mind that says oh God if at all possible not this nevertheless there's something more important in my comfort it's your glory manifested in my obedience out of love and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

43:07 Am I making sense or am I talking to myself?

43:11 Now I offer that as an explanation that is true to the language that doesn't introduce a doctrine that isn't taught elsewhere and that to me is far more compatible with the context. He's trying to furnish these believers to face the fire and what better way than to say the fire will simply validate you're the real thing. Isn't that what Jesus taught in the parable of the soil?

43:37 Remember the stony ground here? Jesus interprets it. He said the person blossoms up seems to be the real thing but the sun rises and withers the plant and it dries up. He said, these are they who receive the word with joy but when what?

43:51 Tribulation or persecution arises because of the word they fall away.

43:59 He who refuses to suffer in the flesh but would rather sin than provoke the frowns of his buddies or lose his job or have a few tee-hees and ha-ha's that person shows that the root of the matter was never in him. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life. Untried profession of Christ is worthless because it may well be bogus but that which is thrown into the fire and comes out is gold is precious. The trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes.

The Goal of Exhortation: Living to the Will of God

44:41 That's the underlying principle stated. Now we come very quickly to the goal of this exhortation described. Verse 2 We've looked at the foundational fact reasserted for as much as Christ suffered in the flesh the central exhortation issued arm yourselves with the same mind the undergirding principle stated he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin now the goal of the exhortation described in order that or that you should no longer live to the rest the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of men but to the will of God. You have a construction that points to a purpose clause.

45:23 Ice tall would be infinitive for you Greek students. It points to purpose and it's my judgment shared by most of the expositors that this second verse should be connected with the first half of verse 1 and regard the principle he that has suffered in the flesh is ceased from sin as a parenthesis. Notice how it reads. For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves also with the same mind that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of men but to the will of God.

46:01 Peter said you want to know the goal of my exhortation that you arm yourself with the same mind the mindset that Christ had in his suffering here's the goal that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh that is in your presence human experience to the lust of men but to the will of God. In other words Peter said my goal in exhorting you to arm yourself with this mind is both negative and positive. We see that again and again in the biblical structure. Negatively no longer live the rest of your time that is your allotted time on earth in the flesh not in the flesh as a moral and ethical thing but in real human experience as Christ suffered in the flesh that is in his real human experience so in your real human experience whatever time is yet before you I'm telling you arm yourself with this mind that no longer do you live to what? You no longer live to the lust of men that is allowing your life to be shaped and molded by the cravings of sinful humanity. It does not necessarily mean here the gross or form of those lusts he will identify those in the next verse and he uses six words that underscore the grossest manifestations of the lust

47:30 of the flesh but this is more generic it is the lust the desires of men that is unregenerate men as those desires come to expression covertly and patently and subtly and not so patently wherever they are this admonition Peter says I have given to you to this end that your life might not be shaped and molded in any way according to the lust of men but positively that you would live the rest of your time in the flesh to the will of God to the will of God now what aspect of the will of God we've learned in our adult class there is the will of God's decrees he works all things after the counsel of his own will that's the will of his decrees his will known only to him and apart from that which finds expression in clear prophecy where what God has decreed he has pre-informed us in prophecy the decrees of God are none of our business so it can't mean living according to the will of his decrees then there is the will of his providence providence is the exegesis of God's decrees in the affairs of life in its particulars we have nothing to do to order that we are to simply embrace it as it unfolds all things are working together for good and everything seems to be working together for evil in the midst of it I say God I believe it

48:59 I don't have a clue how it's true but you said it's true I embrace the will of your providence but Peter's not talking about the will of God's decree or the will of his providence he's talking about the will of his precepts that's God's will revealed in his word that's God's will unfolded in the scriptures and Peter says the goal of this exhortation that you furnish yourself with this same mind that Christ had as he faced his sufferings is this negatively no longer live your life in any way shaped by the lust of men but conversely positively in every facet of life shaped and molded and governed by the will of God so that in everything you're able to ask these two simple questions and I found this in one of the comments and I've said to myself more times in preparation you dummy why didn't you ever see it and state it so clearly not the commentator I've said to myself you dummy didn't call him a dummy two simple questions we ask question number one when I'm contemplating doing anything going anywhere associating with anyone watching a given TV program indulging in a certain entertainment appetite etc simple question may I do this may I do this may I do this

50:25 does God's revealed will and his word permit me to do it if not I don't need to pray about it I don't need to seek counsel about it I don't need to think about it I need to know it's out of bounds for me does the revealed will of God permit it if the revealed will of God does not permit it I'm not even to contemplate may I do it you need never sit and ponder and pray about whether you should commit adultery or whether you should murder or whether you should steal God's revealed will forbids it and a host of opposites you need never pray Lord should I indulge in this gossip today on the phone no because God forbids gossip so you ask the simple question may I do this does the revealed will of God permit it second question is ought I to do this does the revealed will of God demand it ought I to do this ought I to do this ought I to do this ought I to do this ought I to do this that is does the revealed will of God demand it ought I to love you yeah because the Bible says I'm to love my neighbor as myself ought I always to be patient and forbearing with you yes because love is patient kind not easily provoked ought I always to be ready to forgive anyone who comes asking my forgiveness yes because the word of God

51:54 says be kind tender hearted forgiving one you see what I'm doing you see what I'm doing you see what I'm doing you see what I'm doing you see what I'm doing two simple questions may I do this that question is resolved by this issue does the will of God revealed in scripture permit it if not it's out of bounds ought I to do this does the revealed will of God demand it then I ought and I must do and Peter's saying to these saints in the context of present and future saints sufferings arm yourself with this mind it was in Christ the mindset that said suffering will not deter me from the will of God if the will of God leads into the deepest crucible and fiery furnace of affliction and suffering I'm committed to doing the will of God and not to sinning armed with that mindset with Christ is my example in Christ is my strength this is the practical result that will be secured I'll no longer be the little lackey of the desires and standards and perspectives of godless men all around me I will be Christ free man to do his will to his glory blessed freedom

53:22 blessed freedom blessed freedom what miserable bondage to be a slave of every passing fad intellectual social fashion fads what a horrible misery that when somebody at the citadels of dictating fashion says you gotta widen your tie a quarter of an inch or you're out of step to stick your tongue out and says who are you to tell me what I've gotta do and when it's fashionable to prove you're cool kids please God's given us a rich language don't get into the cool to death mentality I'm so sick and tired of cool cool I thought cool was something the opposite of hot didn't you everything cool cool cool cool we've got a wonderful rich language don't fall prey to verbal fads God's a communicating God you don't pick up his bible and he says it's cool man cool man do this and it's cool man cool man do that and it's cool man cool God speaks in richness in his word be like God you can be world be in your patterns of speech yes you can and why some of you do it because you don't want to bear any reproach society has said you've got to talk in cool

54:51 language and dress cool to be cool I want to rear back in my hind legs and says who says cool is going to be my God I've got a different God and he doesn't tell me being cool is what he wants me to be he wants me to stand erect as a noble man he wants me to stand erect as a noble woman and reflect God's image in how I dress and how I speak and how I relate to people and I don't reflect God's image shuffling around my head down my hands in my pocket my britches falling off my butt mumbling cool man cool what a horrible thing to be so enslaved it's wonderful to be free to be free isn't it are you free no longer living the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of man but to the will of God and what is that will it's good and acceptable and it's perfect it's liberating some of you sit there and say the crazy old man actually believes what he's saying you bet your butts I don't and I've proven it for 47 years three or four times longer and some of you breathe God's air and everything God promises to be to his people he understands it it's more glorious

Call to Freedom: Have You Ceased from Sin?

56:20 than even what his word says that's the purpose the goal of the exhortation the rest of our time spent in the flesh not to the lust of man but to the will of God well I'd hope to bring four lines of observation and application they're too crucial to just pass over them give you the heads so I'll either have to preach them next week or bump them to tonight I don't know I have to make a decision that's the mystery of this matter of preaching usually four pages of closely handwritten notes is an hour's preaching but not always I trust that just the exposition has had sufficient application that it's caused you to see how good and kind and gracious God is not simply to say be willing to suffer for my name's sake but he draws near to us and after pointing to Christ beginning in verse 18 of chapter 3 Christ also suffered showing him as the great sufferer as the one who in the uniqueness of his sufferings has died for us the Christ who is the Christ of his people in all of their suffering and all circumstances now draws near and says for as much as he suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with that same mind for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin you should no longer spend the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of men but to the will of God let me ask you

57:50 have you ceased from sin in the sense of this text has sin's dominion been broken in your life in the faith of the Christ crucified and in union with that Christ by the Holy Spirit have you ceased from sin has sin's dominion been broken I'm not asking you to sin every day and you need forgiveness every day if you said no John says you're a liar and the truth is not in you but is sin your master if it is my friend there's no way to get out from under that horrible tyranny but to go to the one who said the spirit of the Lord is upon me he has anointed me to open the prison to those that are bound to set at liberty the captives what a wonderful thing to be set free by Christ if you're not free go to Christ clanking with your chains and telling oh Lord Jesus my life is shaped and molded by the lust of man that is the desires of unregenerate Christ denying God rejecting men it's what they say about what's important what music I ought to listen to what ought to govern my appetites and passions and goals and am blessed and I'm ambitious Lord I'm tired of being a slave set me free into the ocean of the freedom of being a liberated child of God and he'll set you free you go to him

59:19 whom the son sets free is free indeed Pentecostals used to sing a chorus my mother reminded of it this week when I called and I'm not a Pentecostal and I don't sing choruses not in church I sing them at home in my devotions and it goes like this brother are you free are you brother are you free brother are you free ask the question then goes on to assert that Christ can set you free Christ can set you free Christ can set you free shouting hallelujah Christ can set you free if you're bound Christ can set you free and if you're free so that studying this portion this morning everything in your renewed being rises up to the word beyond the mere head that says oh yeah I'll buy that that sounds good that's good that was nice pastor opened up the passage that's good now I can friend have you gotten beyond that have you gotten beyond that have you gotten beyond it I'm not spending myself for that the more important things in life to do than that has your heart risen up and said oh Lord Jesus that's what I want wherever I'm living according to the lust of men Lord show me that isn't what you saved me for

60:48 that isn't why you went before me in the path of suffering with a mindset that said the will of God no matter what the cost anything but sin holy father that's what I want when you fix Christ in your eye feed upon him pray that by the power of the spirit you be transformed more and more into his likeness let's pray our father how we earnestly pray that these things will indeed go beyond the mere shelf draws and categories of our minds and that our hearts would coalesce with the truth that we find our hearts yielding to the impress of truth even to him who is the truth the Lord Jesus we thank you for this portion of your word and pray that as we meditate and reflect upon it it would have its desired effect upon all of our lives we pray for those who sit here this morning in the horrible miserable slavery of the lusts of men whose lives are shaped by what men say they ought to do and be and think and desire to be and think and do Lord you know if we could we'd come

62:17 and we'd cut them loose from their slavery but we cannot but you are able oh God make them jealous to know what it is to be free to cease from sin as their vicious master oh God may they come under the yoke of him whose yoke is easy and his burden is light seal your word we pray that it may bear eternal fruit in every heart for our good and for your glory amen amen