A PILGRIM'S CHOICE

Alan Pihringer

Progressing as Pilgrims • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

1 Peter 4:1–6

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Notes

Transcript

Introduction

-[1 Peter 4]

-Today I want to talk about making a choice on what lifestyle you will choose to live today and hereafter. We all know that life is full of choices, and even some of the smallest choices that we make will have profound effects on the direction that our life heads.

-Consider the life of Lot. Although Lot is called a righteous man in the Bible, the choices he made turned his life into a great big mess with a dysfunctional family. When his servants argued with Abraham’s servants over grazing land for their livestock, Abraham gave Lot a choice and Lot chose to take the more bountiful land that would place him right at the doorstep of the wicked Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Lot decided that merely living on the outskirts of those wicked cities wasn’t enough, so he chose to move himself and his family into the city. But being a mere citizen of the city wasn’t enough, so he chose to become somewhat of a leader and really steep himself and his family into the culture of Sodom and Gomorrah.

~The two angels came to get Lot and his family out of there, but then the citizens of the city wanted to use and abuse those angels, and Lot chose to offer his two daughters in their place (which, let’s face it, is messed up but demonstrates how the culture influenced his choices). Lot was so ingrained within the culture of the city, he didn’t want to leave and had to be practically kicked out. After finally escaping, Lot’s wife chose to look back to the cities (probably with yearning in her heart for the luxuries they enjoined) and was turned to a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters escaped to a cave where the daughters chose to get Lot drunk and impregnate themselves from him—choices that were a result of the culture of those wicked cities being ingrained in their hearts. All of these problems and dysfunctions because of his choices.

-There are choices put before us today. Will we trust God and obey His commandments? Will we align ourselves with His purposes and Word? Will we go with the flow with a culture that is opposed to God—celebrating what they celebrate, or will we mourn over sin as God does? We have choices in which direction that our life can go.

-Peter writes in 1 Peter that this world is only a temporary layover for us—we are merely pilgrims. We have been given new life in Christ, and so the world holds nothing of eternal value for us. Will we choose to live in light of these truths? What Peter tells us specifically in today’s passage is that Christian pilgrims are called to choose a life of holiness even if it results in suffering. The question is: Will we choose to live in light of this, or will we cave to the pressures of living according to the world’s standards?

1 Peter 4:1–6 NET 2nd ed.

1 So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, 2 in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. 3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries. 4 So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. 5 They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 Now it was for this very purpose that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh by human standards they may live spiritually by God’s standards.

-[pray]

-Let’s take some time today to answer the question: what lifestyle choices can we make that reflect and encourage the holiness of our new life in Christ?

1) Choose the priority of God’s will (vv. 1-2)

-I want you to look again at vv. 1-2

1 Peter 4:1–2 NET 2nd ed.

-Just before this, Peter had been talking about living in the midst of the world’s hostility and the suffering that might come with it. He now tells us to consider Christ’s own suffering which includes His death. Peter emphasizes what we might call Christ’s thinking process that led Him to the cross, and Peter tells us that we are to arm ourselves like a soldier with that same attitude. He wants us to consider that Jesus could have avoided His suffering and death if He had only played the game that the world and culture and religious leaders wanted Him to play. If Jesus would have just kept His mouth shut and let people live for themselves and worldly pleasures and not confront them with the truth and with the gospel, they would have left Him alone. But then the world would have been stuck in its sin and come under God’s judgment.

-But Jesus constantly said in His ministry that God the Father sent Him for a purpose, and He would do the will of His Father, not conform or consent to popular opinion. And just as Jesus was fully committed to doing the will of the Father, Peter says in v. 2 that we are to SPEND THE REST OF OUR TIME ON EARTH CONCERNED ABOUT THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT HUMAN DESIRES. Our top priority is what God wants, not what we want or what the world wants. And we have a choice as to whether or not we are going to live in this manner.

-You see, Jesus’ priority was the will of the Father, and He chose to follow it, and following God’s will led to His suffering and death. Nevertheless, He lived for God and obeyed God and fulfilled what God had sent Him for to begin with—salvation for those who believe. And the Bible says that He receives His inheritance because of His obedience—and we are the inheritance. And now, we are given the choice of following God’s will, and if we will do so, even if it means suffering on this earth, we will receive blessings later. So, even if it means that life goes down a very bumpy road, will you choose to follow God’s path anyway, or does your will take precedence?

-You see, you could choose to do your own thing, but then, like Lot, you suffer the consequences for it—sacrificing the joy and peace and hope of being in the middle of God’s will. As a pastor, I have seen so many people choose to live selfishly and choose to live for the world, and then they can’t figure out why they’re so miserable. I have also seen people choose to follow God’s will and suffer greatly for it, but down the road see God bless their obedience. It may have been years or decades, or for some it came with their death and going to glory—but in the long run nobody ever regrets following God’s will. And yet, so many choose to do their own thing.

-There’s a story about an old Scottish woman who went from house to house across the countryside of Scotland selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times in the air. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked. "Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!

-I wonder how many of us pay lip service to doing the will of God, but when it comes down to it, we just are going to do what we want anyway? So many people who name the name of Christ do just that—they read their Bible saying they want to follow God’s will, but then do what they want no matter what the Bible says. Some live like that because they want to follow the crowd. Some live like that because they don’t want to face the opposition that would come from doing God’s will. Some do it because they don’t really know God.

-But, if we want to honor God, we have a choice TO SPEND THE REST OF OUR TIME ON EARTH CONCERNED ABOUT THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT HUMAN DESIRES. We have another choice:

2) Choose the practice of rejecting past sin (vv. 3-4)

-Let’s look at vv. 3-4 again

1 Peter 4:3–4 NET 2nd ed.

3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries. 4 So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you.

-Peter tells his readers that since they are now in Christ, the time is long gone for them to live like unbelievers. The time to live for self and the world is past. They used to live that way before they knew Christ, but now that they have new life in Christ, they aren’t to live that way any longer. He goes on to list many vices that were common to the pagan world of the Roman Empire (and, not much has changed). This is the way that that the typical citizen of the Empire would live—lots of drunken, sexually charged parties that appealed to the flesh and served as the idols of their lifestyle on top of the literal idols that they would worship.

-Peter recognizes that the churches he wrote to had people who used to live like this. They were immoral pagans that lived according to the world and flesh. And those things can sink deep claws into a person’s heart and mind. But when they came to Christ, they had a complete change of lifestyle. They were no longer immoral pagans—they belonged to the King. They had been saved out of that life and given a new life in Christ. The old had passed away, all things had become new. Now they had to make the choice not to return to the old.

-The change that came with life in Christ turned their desires away from those things. However, they were still in the flesh and sin still resided within them, so the pull to return to those things was strong. It’s just like any addict who kicks a habit, sometimes the yearning is still there. But when that happens, a choice has to be made. They could either choose to return to old habits and suffer the consequences, or choose to live in the newness they experienced in Christ. And we have the same choice. We may not have been saved from those same vices, but everyone has a tendency toward some vice in some way. Peter says it is no longer the time for that—it is time to live for Christ in holiness…in the newness that is ours.

-And Peter says that the change in lifestyle is so radical that the people around them and the people that they used to go out partying with are astonished that these Christians don’t run out and jump into the same flood of wickedness that these pagans still pursue. And because they no longer went out clubbing with the gang, Peter says the Christian is vilified, blasphemed, called every name in the book, because they choose to honor Christ by not returning to that lifestyle. So many people can testify that Christ so changed their life that they lost friends because they wouldn’t do what they used to do. And that’s OK, because it’s better to live for Christ than muddy yourself in sin. And being rejected for living holy merely reflects what Christ went through Himself—rejected and smitten by mankind. As Jesus told us:

Luke 6:22–23 NET 2nd ed.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

-But it’s not only on the individual level, the church as a group was also rejected by the culture at large because it did not live according to the world’s standards. In Peter’s day, living the way that he describes in v. 3 was the societal standard. Living for the weekend parties and participating in this immoral lifestyle was expected, and those who did not do so were rejected socially—they were marginalized and made the center of the anger of the mob. The citizens of Rome could not figure out for the life of them why these Christians weren’t participating in their parties and lifestyle. And so society rejected the church and looked down at the church and smeared the name of Christ and the church because the church would not fall into line with what the culture expected. The church did not believe like the culture, so the culture did all it could to neutralize the work and message of the church. Unfortunately, some caved to the pressure and gave in to the culture’s demands. But some stayed strong, rejected their old lifestyle, and withstood the persecution for the glory of God.

-A now, here we are in the 21st century, and the world cannot understand why we don’t live like it does or believe like it does. As the culture celebrates sinful lifestyles this month, and we lovingly point out the error of their ways, they call us names and threaten us that if we don’t embrace their lifestyle they will do whatever to us. And so, thinking that they are being loving, there are some who cave in to the pressure. And I’m not talking about corporations, but churches or individuals who claim to be Christian that celebrate sin with the world. I saw on Christian artist Plumb’s social media that she celebrates that lifestyle. I also saw where cast and crew of the Chosen series embrace and celebrate that lifestyle. Yet Peter says that it is no longer time to live like the pagans if you are made new in Christ.

-So, you have a choice. You can embrace the sin and vice of your past and live for the world, or you can live like new and astonish the pagan world that surrounds you. You may be rejected by mankind, but remember that you are beloved of God. And there’s another choice:

3) Choose the path of rejoicing over eternal life (vv. 5-6)

-Look at vv. 5-6 one more time

1 Peter 4:5–6 NET 2nd ed.

5 They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 Now it was for this very purpose that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh by human standards they may live spiritually by God’s standards.

-Peter talks about the eternal positions that really are based on the previous choices. There are those who do not want to follow God’s will for their lives, there are those who do not want to believe in Christ, there are those who want to remain in the pigsty of sin all of their days, and Peter gives them a very sober warning. THEY WILL FACE A RECKONING BEFORE JESUS CHRIST WHO STANDS READY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. Peter does not sugar coat the truth because he wants this truth to awaken them to their need for Christ. If you do not repent and believe in Jesus as is the will of God, then you will face the day of His reckoning.

-There will come a day when those who vilify Christ and His church will have to stand before Christ as their judge. The Bible tells us that He does not show partiality in His judgments, but judges rightly according to His holy standard—and you will receive the recompense for your choices. And yet no one wants to listen to this truth.

-There’s a story that a circus was going on at an arena somewhere. A fire broke out backstage of the arena and people needed to evacuate. They owners of the circus sent out a clown to inform the public of the fire and to evacuate. But because a clown made the announcement, the audience thought it was a joke and just laughed and applauded. The clown repeated his warning and shouted even louder. They laughed up to the point when the flames consumed them.

-That’s how the world listens to the warnings we give in the gospel. It’s nothing but a joke, and their lifestyle reflects that they think its a joke. But then there are those who heed the warning and believe. In v. 6 he talks about the gospel preached to those now dead—it’s talking about Christians who were physically dead at the time of the writing. It says they were judged in the flesh by human standards. First, this means that they fell to the consequence of sin that everyone falls to—which is death. No one can escape that reality.

-But it’s also talking about the fact that unbelievers judge believers thinking that the gospel is not true since believers die just like everybody else. They mock Christianity because believers seemingly face the same fate as them. But that’s not where the difference lies, because Peter says that believers live spiritually by God’s standards. Believers are alive spiritually and will not face the judgment that unbelievers face because the judgment fell on Christ.

-There’s a story about some pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning and was coming toward them rapidly. They had just crossed a river the day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have understanding as to what could be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon that burned space. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror, "Are you sure we won’t all be burned up?" The leader replied, "The flames cannot reach us here, because we’re standing where the fire already has been!"

-Believers won’t have to face the fire of judgment because Christ took that fire for us, and when we believe in Him we’re standing where the fire already has been. But then we have to choose to live like it.

Conclusion

-Christian, you have a choice of lifestyle—live for Christ in holiness even if it means suffering for Him, or you could choose to live in compromise with the world and face the consequences that come with it. Come to the altar and pray that God strengthens you to live for Him.

-But there are some here upon whom the fires of judgment still stand. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved and enjoy eternal life with Him today.