Finished With the Old Way of Living

Finished With the Old Way of Living

“Finished with the Old Way of Living”

(1 Peter 4:1-6)

Series: Strength Through Adversity

 Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

  • Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Peter, chapter 4 (page 816; YouVersion).

 

The very first word in the passage, “Therefore,” is a gate that swings in two directions: it swings back into the passage preceding and forward to that which follows.  So we often say, “When you see a ‘therefore’ in the text ask what is the ‘therefore’ there for?”  Like a gate it swings backward and forward.

To help us understand what follows, we swing back and recall from the preceding paragraph, chapter 3 and verse 18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”  And Peter talks about Christian baptism, how it pictures our uniting in Christ’s death and resurrection.  As believers in Noah’s day were saved by being “in” the ark, so believers today are saved by being “in” Christ Jesus.

Christ suffered for doing good.  Remember that Peter had said in 1Peter 3:17, “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”  Jesus suffered for doing good.  He lived a perfect life for us and died a perfect death for us.  Jesus suffered for doing good.

And Peter then comes back to this matter of Christ’s suffering as the gate swings forward now in the first verse of chapter 4, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind,” or the same thinking.

So you also arm yourselves, Christians, arm yourselves, prepare yourselves for the same thing.  Prepare to suffer for doing good.  Purpose to suffer and don’t be tempted to avoid suffering by giving into sin.  That’s what Peter teaches next.

  • Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 

2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 

3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 

4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 

5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

  • Pray.

Introduction:

My preaching friend Hershael York told about a time he had gotten up early one Sunday morning to go over his sermon before preaching at the historic Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington.  He had risen early, showered, got dressed, and put on an old pair of comfortable shoes that he wore around the house.  They were an old pair and ugly and, not a pair you would wear out in public, but they felt comfortable and so he wore them around the house.  His wife, Tanya, hated them and had tried to throw them out once but Hershael found them in the trash and dug them out and hid them so he could wear them around the house in the morning.

So this particular Sunday morning he had put on these old shoes as at other times.  Later, when time came to travel to the church to preach he had gotten his stuff together and drove to the church building.  And it wasn’t until he was standing on the platform and preaching that first service that he happened to look down and he saw those old ugly shoes were still on his feet.

Imagine how he must have looked: standing there in a nice new and pressed suit, clean, starched shirt, beautiful tie, and an old raggedy pair of ugly shoes!  The shoes didn’t match what he was wearing.  They seemed out of place.  They didn’t suit him.  He should have put them off and put on his new shoes.

It’s a bit like Paul’s metaphor of the Christian life being about “putting off the old,” putting off the things of the old lifestyle, and then “putting on the new,” clothing ourselves with new attitudes and behaviors in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-13).

Christians have died to the old way of life.  That is pictured in Christian baptism, going down into the baptismal waters pictures death to the old way.  Coming up out of the water pictures resurrection, rising to walk in a new way of life.

Similarly, in our passage this morning Peter says in verse 2 we should “not longer live the rest of our time in the flesh for the lusts of men.”  In fact, he says in verse 3, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime doing the will of the Gentiles (unbelievers).”  We are to put the old lifestyle to death, get rid of it.  Put off the old and put on the new.

We are finished with the old way of living.  We are different now and we’re to live in the world differently.

Sometimes a Christian will ask a pastor or a teacher, “What kind of stuff can I do and still be a Christian?”  In other words, “How close can I get to sinning, but still be sure I’m saved?”  You know, “We live in the world and some things aren’t ‘black and white,’ where there are gray areas, so how much can I do?  Where’s the line?  How close can I get to that line and still be okay before God?”

And often these questions concern things like smoking, drinking, going to the casino, playing the lottery or whatever.  “As I live in the world, where’s the line?  How close can I get?  How far can I go?”

And our answer to that kind of questioning should be something like this: “Look, we live in the world, true enough.  But we’re to be in the world living as much like Christ as we can.  We’re not to be in Christ, living as much like the world as we can.”  Let each person deal with that principle on his or her own: “We are to be in the world living as much like Christ as we can.  We’re not to be in Christ, living as much like the world as we can.”

We’re finished with the old way of living.  And if ever we fall back to that old lifestyle, engaging in some of the behaviors of our lives before Christ, it’s out of place with who we now are.  It’s as if we’ve gone to the trash can and dug out an old, raggedy pair of ugly shoes that we’re trying to wear.  It doesn’t match who we now are.  It doesn’t suit us.  We’re finished with the old way of living.

Peter talks about all of this in relation to Christian suffering.  His point here in these verses is: “Look, there will be times the world will ridicule you because you’re different.  You look different, you act differently, and the world will heap abuse upon you and insult you. The world will invite you to live as they do, to live in sin.  And they’ll ridicule you if you don’t join them.  But don’t join with them.  Live for God.  Suffer rather than give in to sin.  Christ is worth it.  Suffer and one day you’ll be glad you did.”  That’s what this passage teaches.  Let’s look at it together.  Verses 1-2:

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 

2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

 

Okay, write this down, number one:

  1. Purpose to Live for God and His Glory (1-2)

 

When you suffer for doing what is right–and the suffering Peter has in mind in these verses is suffering the verbal abuse of non-Christians–you will face the temptation to please them rather than to please the Lord.  So in essence Peter says, “Purpose in your heart to please God rather than man.”  Live for God and His glory.

Peter reminds us in the beginning of verse 1 that, “Christ suffered for us.”  So you, look at that phrase in verse 1, “Arm yourselves also with the same mind,” or the same purpose.  Be ready to suffer as Christ suffered.  They ridiculed Him.  They will ridicule you.  Arm yourselves, get ready, be prepared to suffer ridicule just as your Lord suffered ridicule.

The New Living Translation puts it well.  Listen to this: “Since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too.”

Be Ready!  One way to be ready is to remember what He did for you when He suffered.

My friend Paul Brantley forwarded me a video clip of marathon runner Ryan Hall.  When Ryan Hall ran the Boston Marathon two years ago he gained the distinction of running the fastest marathon ever by an American.  Ryan Hall is a committed Christian who, in this video clip, shared about how he would visualize the sufferings of Christ as a motivation to keep running.  Whenever he felt pain while running, he remembered the pain Christ suffered for him and it spurned him on to keep moving forward, to keep going.

That’s something like what Peter is talking about here.  When you face ridicule remember they ridiculed your Lord, too.  Remember what He did for you and it will motivate you to keep going.

Don’t be surprised when you suffer for Christ.  Jesus said it would happen.  Jesus says to His followers in John 15:18-19:

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Purpose not to live for the world by giving in to sin, but live for God and His glory.  Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking as your Lord.  You have died to sin.  It doesn’t mean you’re perfect, but it means you have made a break with sin as that which rules your life.  Rather than sin and the world ruling your life, Christ rules your life.  So when you endure suffering you show others that you are not living for the passing pleasures of this world, but you are living for God and His glory.

Think about that statement: Arm yourselves.  If you have ever set a burglar alarm at your house or at your work, you are making certain before you leave that everything is ready when trouble comes.  So Peter says, “Arm yourselves.  Be ready when trouble comes.”  Purpose to live for God and for His glory and not for the world.  Number two:

 

  1. Better to be Ridiculed than Live like the World (3-4)

Paul says in Romans 8:18, “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory” to come.

Whatever you face, whatever you endure, however you suffer in this world as you live for Christ, that suffering will be majorly outweighed by the glory o ne day revealed to us.  Better to be ridiculed than live like the world.  Don’t forget it.  Suffering for Christ is worth it.

Look again at verses 3 and 4:

 

3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles (the non-Christians)—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries (things haven’t changed much, have they?).  Verse 4:

4 In regard to these (these old behaviors), they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

 

Here’s a paraphrase: “Hey, Johnny.  We’re going out drinking tonight.  Come run with us.”  You say, “No, thank you.  I’ve given my heart to Christ and I just can’t do that.”  Response: “Johnny, you’re an idiot.  You’re a prude.  You’re a hypocrite.  Who do you think you are, anyway?  I’ve seen the way you’ve lived in the past.  Sorry you’re just too good for us–Christian!”

See what Peter says in verse 4, “In regard to these, they think it strange you do not run with them, speaking evil of you.”

They’re saying, “Come run with us.”  When I was a parole officer I used to counsel my parolees about their “old running buddies,” the folks they used to run with.  I would say, “Don’t run with them anymore.  If you run with them, they’ll run you right back into prison.”

That phrase, “Run with them,” suggests an ongoing, frenetically, fast-paced search for pleasure.  It also suggests that those who run never ultimately find what they are looking for, always disappointed and needing to run again. Some people live their entire lives that way, week after week, running after things that constantly elude them.  It reminds me of a song popular when I was in high school:

 

Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend

Everybody wants a new romance

Everybody’s goin’ off the deep end

Everybody needs a second chance

 

Just running week after week, living for the weekend, hoping to find pleasure, purpose, and meaning.

Does that describe some of you?  Just living for the weekends?  Looking for love in all the wrong places?  Can you relate to these behaviors in verse 3, “lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties,” and so forth?  Are you self-medicating with behaviors you know in your heart are wrong?

Peter says to Christians who used to live that way, he says to them in the beginning of verse 3, “We have spent enough of our past lifetime doing the will of the Gentiles (non-Christians), we’ve spent enough of our past lifetime living in ungodly ways.  The stress is, “Enough!”  Whether you lived a long time that way or you came to know Christ as a young person, Peter says, “It is enough!”  You needn’t wonder whether you missed anything.  Long time or short, it is enough.  You don’t live that way in Christ.

“We’re to be in the world living as much like Christ as we can.  We’re not to be in Christ, living as much like the world as we can.”

People will ridicule you for living for Christ, especially those you knew before you really started living for Jesus.  Listen to New Living Translation:

“Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.”

When I was in high school I was in the marching band and the first year I was in Band Camp they taught us about marching in-step. You have to be in-step with everyone else, marching to the same tune.  The person to your left put his left foot first, you do the same, and everybody is in-step.  If you’re not paying attention or dancing to a different tune, then you’re out-of-step with everyone else and it looks funny.

In the Christian life, It’s okay to be out-of-step with the world.  It’s okay to be out-of-step with the culture.  It’s okay to swim against the tide, to go against the flow, to stand for Christ against the world. That is, in fact, what we are to be doing.

One of the problems of the modern church is that it is trying desperately hard to be “in step” with the culture, so much so that many modern churches look more and more like the world and less and less like the Lord.  Especially in our culture, many contemporary churches are doing their best to mimic the things of the world.  Consequently they are producing professing Christians who really don’t look or act very differently than non-Christians.

So Peter’s statement in verse 4, “They think it strange you do not run with them” doesn’t really apply.  Who thinks these Christians and their churches are different from the world?  Who finds these Christians and their churches strange in the way they live?  Answer: Very few because they really are no different than the world.

We are to stand for Christ against the world, not in a high and mighty, arrogant way, but with loving conviction.  And when you do that, be ready to suffer ridicule.  They will, last part of verse 4, “speak evil of you.”

Watch what happens when you take a stand for Christ.  Watch what happens when you share with worldly people that you believe sex outside of marriage is wrong.  Share your convictions about the sin and destructive nature of adultery, or homosexuality, and be prepared to suffer ridicule.  Share your conviction about Christ being the only way to heaven and be prepared to suffer ridicule.  In fact, take a stand against any sin and be ready to suffer for doing good.  Peter says, “They will speak evil against you, they will slander you, Christian.”

Why do they slander you?  Ever thought about it?  Why do non-Christians speak evil, or slander or, as the NIV puts it, “heap abuse on you” when you refuse to run with them?  Why?

Listen to one commentator (Wayne Grudem):

“Why…? No doubt because silent non-participation in sin often implies condemnation of that sin, and rather than change their ways unbelievers will slander those who have pained their consciences, or justify their own immorality by spreading rumors that the ‘righteous’ Christians are immoral as well.”

In other words, when a lost person stands in the light, he sees his own dirt.  It’s convicting.  So rather than repent, it’s easier to heap abuse on the one whose righteous living condemns us.  It’s easier to ridicule others than face up to our own sin.

Yet, watch this now, Peter says that unbelievers cannot escape responsibility for their actions.  A judgment day is coming.  Look at verse 5:

5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

A Judgment Day is coming.  God will judge both living and the dead.  That’s a way of saying, “No one escapes the judgment.”  You can’t escape judgment by dying.  Death will allow no unbeliever to escape judgment.  They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge everyone, the living and the dead.  All people will one day stand before their Creator and face the judgment.

 

Peter mentions the judgment to encourage Christians who face ridicule for living for the Lord.  He says to them, and this is our final point, number three:

  1. Look to the Future When All is Made Right (5-6)

 

You may suffer now, you may face ridicule today, but look to the future when all is made right.  Judgment Day is coming and those who ridicule you will one day face their Creator.  So leave your suffering in God’s hands.

This is similar to what Peter wrote back in chapter 2 about Christ suffering for us to leave us an example that we should follow in His steps who, “when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (1Peter 2:21-23).”

So when others ridicule you and it seems like they’re getting away with murder, remember they’re not getting away with it.  Leave it to God.  Put it in God’s hands.  Look to the future when all is made right.  God will judge the living and the dead.

Then, Peter encourages the Christian to remember his own future.  Verse 6:

6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead (those who believed in Christ and later died), that they might be judged according to men in the flesh (that is, Christians will die just like non-Christians), but live according to God in the spirit.

Here’s a paraphrase of verse 6: “The Gospel was preached to Christians who have died to save them from eternal judgment.”

So, even though Christians will experience physical death–that’s what the phrase means–“judged according to men in the flesh,”–even though Christians will experience physical death, Christians who have died, will “live according to God in the spirit.”  That is, Christians will live on, they live on in heaven right now, living in the spirit,” saved from eternal judgment.

 

Conclusion:

Christian, it’s better to be ridiculed than to live like the world.  Look to the future when all is made right.

“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).”

Suffering for Christ is worth it.

 

  • Stand for prayer.

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