Orerific Christianty
THE 52 GREATEST STORIES OF THE BIBLE • Sermon • Submitted
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I don't know how much you've thought about this or not, but your life hasn't worked according to your plan. Last week didn't work according to your plan. From the look of some of you, today didn't work according to your plan. Your story is being written but by someone else. I know that your life hasn’t worked according to your plan. I know another thing...that you're always trying to figure your life out. It is an intensely human thing to do.
I don't know how much you've thought about this or not, but your life hasn't worked according to your plan. Last week didn't work according to your plan. From the look of some of you, today didn't work according to your plan. Your story is being written but by someone else. I know that your life hasn’t worked according to your plan. I know another thing...that you're always trying to figure your life out. It is an intensely human thing to do.
This is the sixth message in our series on 1 Peter: "Living Bold in Tough Times." Peter wrote this letter to encourage believers to live a life of courage in spite of the hardships they faced: poverty, oppression, persecution, slander, abandonment, loneliness, and so on.
This is a very, very, very stark and powerful statement. It has mostly to do with the relationship of truth to life. One of the things that’s so interesting is, on the one hand, Peter assumes the Christians who are listening to him have spent plenty of time in orgies, plenty of time in debauchery, plenty of time in idolatry. He assumes it.
Everyone in this room, whether you realize it or not, is a theologian; everyone in this room is a philosopher. Everyone in this room is an archaeologist who digs through the mound of his existence in order to make sense out of his world. Maybe the most significant question for a believer is this: What in the world is God doing, right here, right now?
Then he turns around and says, “Now there’s going to be a war not just of the wills, but now there’s a war actually of sanity. To the world, the way in which you behave will not just look different; it will look crazy.” It says, “They think it strange …” It’s a word that’s really quite a strong word. They will consider you absolutely bizarre. You will be looked upon as extremely strange, going against nature even, in many ways. As a result, you’re going to have lots of abuse heaped on you.
From the beginning, Peter makes it clear that we will experience many different kinds of trials. Just as Jesus said, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust," everyone goes through hard times. It's inevitable. It's inescapable. The question is: How will you respond? In today's text, Peter prepares us to answer that question. He begins this chapter saying, "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose" (v. 1). He's saying, "Get ready. Jesus suffered. So will you." Things get rough from time and time—there's no getting around that—but you can prepare yourself for the difficult days ahead. Peter shows us what we need to do to; it's what we'll look at today.
Prepare your mind.
Prepare your mind.
However, Peter calls them and says, “Just the fact that the whole world thinks you’re strange, everybody thinks you’re bizarre, everyone is heaping abuse on you … Don’t let that bother you.” He says, “You live according to the will of God.” The question immediately arises … How do you do that? How can you live a life like that in the face of not just a kind of abuse, but really, a war of plausibility structures?
If you had a pencil and a piece of paper and you were going to write an answer to that, what would you write? My aim this morning is not to help us answer that question but to ask and answer this question; how am I to respond to what God is doing?
How to get ready for a rough ride? There are three things you need to do. First of all, prepare your mind. Listen again to Peter's words: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin" (v. 1). I like the fact that Peter used the word purpose. It reminds us that there is a reason for our suffering. As we saw in chapter one, our problems have a point. Your hard times are not just random events that occur in your life. They can serve a purpose—if you allow them to.
That means that inside the Christian faith, inside the truth, you can see how obvious it is we should live this way and we should live this way. But outside of the Christian truth, the world has a whole different plausibility structure, a whole set of assumptions. Therefore, the way Christians act looks absolutely berserk, absolutely bizarre, strange, and crazy.
Story of my mother and father: “What in the world is going on?”
Have you ever experienced a moment when you could not make sense out of what God was doing....one of those moments where it seems like God is distant, His plan seems unclear, where you're in a moment you never thought you would be in. And you say, “God where are you? God what are you doing? God, what is this about? I thought you were love; I thought you were mercy; I thought you were grace. God, I don't understand.” I want you to hear what I'm about to say, “You cannot make sense of that moment without eternity, you can't.”
Of course, since Christians will always be the minority every place, how is it that you’re able to live like this? The answer, I think, is really in verse 1. “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
Peter said, "He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin." He's not talking about sinless perfection here—not exactly. He is talking about the fact that when you have the strength to endure suffering, temptation loses its power in your life. When you have endured suffering, you become aware of just how much power you have in Christ, and you become aware of just how little power Satan has over you.
It's only from the perspective of eternity that those dark moments, those painful moments, those moments of despondency, aloneness, surprise, and discouragement become moments of grace and glory and moments of rest. It’s only when I look at them from the vantage of eternity that those moments get transformed into something different.
In the past, my tendency to give in to temptation was most often based on the misconception that the sin is stronger than I am. I would think, I can't control my temper. Why try? I can't love the unlovable. Why try? I can't consistently say no to pizza. Why try? Let me tell you what I've learned. The more you suffer, the more you make it through hard times, the easier it is to say no to temptation. Enduring suffering gives you a sense of fearlessness, a sense of confidence—not in yourself, but in God's power at work in your life.
Verse 2 tells us, as a result of what you do in verse 1, you’ll be able to live right. So verse 1 must be the key. If you really read it properly, it’s saying, “Since Christ suffered in the body; therefore, arm yourselves also with the same attitude.” That’s the proper translation. “… because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” What do we learn? What are the secrets here for living a life in spite of abuse? What is the secret for enduring in spite of the war of plausibility structures that goes on between what happens inside the church and the way it looks outside? The answer is right here. Let me show you.
First of all, we learn the very relationship of truth to life. Life is always based on truth. For a minute, let’s not talk about what it means to arm yourselves. Let’s look at the word therefore. This word therefore is so important. It has been so important in my life. Years ago, when I had only been a Christian for a year or two, I went to a conference in which a woman named Barbara Boyd taught me how to study the Bible. I’m forever grateful to her. She’s still alive and living, believe it or not, over in Summit, New Jersey, somewhere.
You've heard the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (). For some of us, these words would be a proclamation of faith. For others, as it was with Paul, these words are a proclamation of testimony. Paul wasn't merely talking about the future; he was mostly talking about the past. He was saying, in effect, "I have been through good times and bad, and I know from experience that I can do all things through Christ. This is my testimony, and because of this, I face the future with confidence."
Turn if you would in your Bibles, to love it because Peter is writing the gospel to people who are suffering. Peter’s writings are beautifully balanced between uncomfortable honesty, the kind that makes us squirm, and comforting hopefulness. I want to call to your attention this morning verses one through nine of I Peter.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
These verses in I Peter, have what I would call a “then-then-now” construction. This passage is meant to be a story summary. It literally wraps its arms around the entire plan of redemption. It's an amazing passage. It looks to the ‘then’ of the past. It looks to the ‘then’ of the future, and it focuses on the now-ism of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the reason it does that is Peter understands he can't possibly understand this moment that we are in, unless it is connected to the history of God's work and the future of God's work. You must always look at the present in the light of the whole plan of redemption, because, literally, what's happening is the whole magnificent plan of redemption is actually being played out in this moment.
These verses in I Peter, have what I would call a “then-then-now” construction...a “then- then-now” construction. This passage is meant to be a story summary. It literally wraps its arms around the entire plan of redemption. It's an amazing passage. It looks to the ‘then’ of the past. It looks to the ‘then’ of the future, and it focuses on the now-ism of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the reason it does that is Peter understands he can't possibly understand this moment that we are in, unless it is connected to the history of God's work and the future of God's work. You must always look at the present in the light of the whole plan of redemption, because, literally, what's happening is the whole magnificent plan of redemption is actually being played out in this moment.
When you endure suffering, it can become your testimony, too. The more you endure, the more you understand how powerful God's presence in your life is. Peter said, "Prepare your mind for suffering, because this gives you power over sin."
She used to teach, and one of the things she said to us was, “Whenever you’re studying a passage, whenever you’re studying a text, whenever you see the word therefore, always ask what it’s there for.” She says, “Never go by the word therefore without asking what it’s there for.” What is there? Because it immediately tells you a major truth. Cause/effect. One of the most wonderful things about the whole Bible is the many places where the word therefore shows up. The word therefore in the Bible means, “What I’m about to tell you about how to live is based on the nature of ultimate reality.”
This moment isn't isolated; this moment isn’t abstract; this moment isn't somehow unique and cut off. This moment that your in is connected to the historical plan of God. It’s connected to the future plan of God, and it must never be isolated or separated. You will never understand the present work of God, the present grace of God, the present plan of God, when you detach it from the whole plan of redemption.
Everyone goes through hard times—especially every Christian. In certain areas and during certain generations, some Christians suffer more than others, but we all suffer to some extent. Here's what I have noticed about some American Christians: We tend to think that our money and our freedom gives us an exemption from tough times. But how many of you have already learned that tough times are about more than financial hardship and political oppression?
In fact, if you read Paul’s letters, very often they completely divide into two parts hinged with a therefore. If you read , it’s all doctrine, high doctrine, about the nature of God, the relationship of God to history, the relationship of God to contingent events, the sovereignty of God, the deity of Christ, the nature of humanity, the nature of human nature, and the nature of sin, all these high doctrines. Then verse 1 of chapter 4 says, “Therefore …” “Because of the nature of ultimate reality, here’s how I want you to live.”
I could buy and sell Bill Gates if I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me, "How could this happen to me? How could a loving God allow this in my life? Doesn't he want me to be happy? What did I do to deserve this?" And so on. Tough times are able to blindside us, because we think that we should be exempt from suffering. But no Christian has such an exemption.
I Peter aims to help Christian’s understand; What in the world is God doing? And, why in the world is He doing it. He begins by embedding his teaching in the past and the future. Now his real focus is the here and now. However he's got to attach for us. It’s the vitality of theological connectivity. You can't ever view a moment in your life as disconnected from the larger plan of God. It is vital that you live with theological connectivity.
Then Paul goes on and says, “Here’s how I want you to treat one another. Here’s how I want the sexes to relate to each other. Here’s how I want husbands and wives to relate to each other, parents and children to relate to each other.” All the rest of chapters 4–6 is practical exhortation, but it’s all based on doctrine. The Bible never, ever, ever tells you something to do as busywork. Busywork is what my eighth-grade algebra teacher used to get me to do. Why? To keep me off the street, keep me busy. That’s what busywork is.
The Bible never, ever, ever gives you busywork. In fact, let me just break this down for a minute. The Bible never tells you what to do except what comes after a therefore, and before the therefore is something to do with ultimate reality, doctrine, the nature of God, the nature of the world, the nature of reality, the nature of Christ, the nature of sin.
Listen to what Peter said: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation" (v. 12-13).
Now, notice what he does first.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Now, I don't know how you understand those words, but I just want to encourage you to think that Peter is doing more than celebrating new birth. He is doing that and he's saying, “Don't you understand you've been born again?”
These words are more than celebratory, they are observatory. “Don't you understand you've been born again?”
For example, it’s very ironic to me that in a place like Manhattan so many people believe the reason they’re not Christians is because they’re too thoughtful. They think too much. They ask the hard questions. They’re too skeptical. They’re too rational. They understand there are a lot of people who believe in orthodox Christianity, but they see that basically as sort of a feelings-oriented person who just likes the feel of it and just has made this leap of faith. The typical person says, “Well, I’m a rational type. I’m a hard-thinking type.”
Do not be surprised; this is nothing new. We all must suffer. Prepare your mind for this reality.
What an amazing thing! Peter is celebrating the wonder of new birth. The gracious act by which God breathes spiritual life into your dead spirit. Yet is saying so much more. He is observing everything that has occured from before the foundations of the earth until now.
He is saying, “Don't you understand what God has been doing? He's harnessed the forces of nature; He's controlled the events of human history because He's marching this broken world to this point where the Son of God would come, live a perfect life, die an acceptable death, rise and conquer death, so that you would know new birth. All of history has been marching toward the grace of new birth. This is your history.
I challenge that completely. The Christian lifestyle is always based on ultimate reality, whereas for the modern, secular person, all of the ethical appeals have no basis at all. In other words, there’s no thought behind it. It’s all feeling. Let me give you an example. When the Bible says racism is a sin, it always comes after a therefore. “Therefore,” the Bible says, “in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile. There is no slave or free. Therefore …”
Prepare your soul.
Prepare your soul.
If you want to see some of the things that come before the therefore before racism, you go to , for example, where Paul is preaching to the Athenians. He says a couple of things. He says, for example, all human beings have come from one stock. All human beings have descended from one set of parents. Therefore, we’re all brothers and sisters. Besides that, he says, every nation and every race has its appointed place in time, appointed by God.
Second, prepare your soul. "The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer" (v. 7). I like the way this verse is rendered in the New Revised Standard Version: "The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers."
Listen, when you read the Old Testament, you're not just reading the dusty details of saints of the past, you're reading your spiritual biography--because every judge and every king in every situation, every provision, every victory, every prophecy was for you because God had chosen to work history so, at some point in time, you would receive new birth. If that doesn't excite you, I'm in trouble.
And then he looks to the ‘then’ of the future.
Here is a powerful two-step approach for improving your prayer life. First, take it seriously. Realize that when you talk to God, you are talking to the Creator of the universe. Stop for a moment and think about what an incredible privilege that is. Have you ever had a brush with greatness? Ever had the chance to speak to someone famous or powerful? It's an amazing feeling, isn't it? Well, each and every day we have a chance for a brush with greatness: our great God will listen to our prayers. How could it be, then, that we so often avoid it, or simply go through the motions? We need to get serious. We need to remind ourselves of the awesome privilege that prayer is.
It’s very interesting. On the one hand, Paul says our understanding of the origin of the human race and the fact that we’re created in the image of God and we’re all created from the same stock means, to some degree, racial differences are relative. We’re all human beings. On the other hand, he says, racial differences are part of God’s plan. God has appointed the differences between the races to show forth the multidimensional glory he put into the human heart, because we’re made in the image of God.
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
You have a spiritual trust fund that cannot be touched. And just about when you’re celebrating that, it says this, “kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Number two in this two-step approach is to discipline yourselves. I have gone through times in my Christian life when my prayers were effective, and times when my prayers were ineffective. The distinction between the two has always been consistency. When I pray often—when I approach prayer on a daily basis—my prayers get results. Do you want to become effective in your prayer life? Discipline yourselves to do it daily. You will find that the more you pray on a daily basis, the more strength you will have to face whatever life brings you way.
Therefore, racism is wrong because we’re all in the image of God. To assault any human being is to assault God. That’s what it means to say … When the Bible talks about the image of God, it means we’re made in his likeness. For example, if your mother died … Your mother was a wonderful woman. She loved you and gave herself for you, and she made you what you are today. You put a painting of her up in your home to honor her, and somebody comes up and says, “Oh, who’s this?” You say, “Ah, well, this is a picture of my mother.”
And just about when you’re celebrating that, it says this, “kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The person says, “Oh really?” They get out a magic marker and start drawing moustaches on it and little gaps in her teeth and things like that. You get very upset, and they say, “What are you talking about? It’s just a picture. You know, canvas and paint. I’m sorry if I’ve ruined it for you. I’ll reimburse you for it.” You say, “That’s not the point! When you assaulted the image of my mother, you assaulted my mother.” That’s the whole point behind why the Bible says racism is a terrible thing.
This is mind-boggling! Imagine your investment person not only guarding your inheritance, but saying, “I'm going to guard you. I’m going to give you the best dietitian; I'm going to give you the best physician; I’m going to give you the best security guard; so that you will be healthy and well and ready to receive the inheritance when it comes due.” God is not just guarding your inheritance, he's guarding you.
Peter tells us to prepare our souls for tough times by being serious minded and disciplined in our approach to prayer. And he talks about something else. In order to prepare yourself, you have to be willing to take a long hard look at yourself. You cannot endure hard times if you're not ready spiritually, and you can't be made ready spiritually unless you are willing to get your eyes off everyone else and focus on what is happening in your own life.
Now, ask the average secular person in Manhattan who says, “Well, I really don’t know about ultimate reality. There may be a God. There may not be a God. I’m not really sure if there’s life after death. We may just be animals. We may just be a chance collocation of molecules. I don’t know anything about ultimate reality. In fact, I don’t think anybody can know anything about ultimate reality. But racism is wrong. Not just impractical; wrong.” You say, “Come again? Why is racism wrong? How do you know?”
Peter is creating for us theological connectivity because what he's actually interested in is ‘now’. Notice where the next verse goes,
Peter said, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God" v. 17). That means we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves. When Bob Dylan began writing protest songs in the sixties, he had a special name for them. He called them his "finger-pointing songs." These were songs in which he blasted the establishment for everything that is wrong with it. He spoke and sang and wrote with an air of superiority and judgment. Do you remember?
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
“In this you greatly rejoice though”, “now”-that's his topic of interest, and before we look at ‘now’, I want to look at verses four and five again, verses four and five point you to eternity.
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Look at verse seven, verse seven points you to eternity.
“Well, everybody knows it.”
Look at verse seven, verse seven points you to eternity. So here's what Peter's doing; he has created for us theological connectivity. But he has done something else. In the midst of that theological connectivity, what he wants to do is have you look at “now” through the particular lens of eternity. So he's bracketed verse six with four and five-- eternity; seven and beyond--eternity. Do you get what the passage is doing? Salvation past, salvation future, salvation now, looking at “now” through the particular lens of eternity; there is your passage.
Some Christians think that this is what we are supposed to do, too, that we're to criticize all that is wrong in the world and we're to tell everyone about every bad thing they do. Some people think if a preacher doesn't talk about how awful things are, they haven't heard a sermon.
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Peter's has created for us theological connectivity. He is helping us to see now by looking at eternity past and eternity future. He is giving us a spiritual eyes to see what is happening now.
In fact, sometimes I am asked, "Why don't you preach against sin more often?"
Now, notice what it says,
“Well listen, there are plenty of places where everybody knew some races were bad and needed to be exterminated. You can’t just say, ‘Everybody knows it. All of my friends know it. Everybody in my neighborhood knows it.’ That’s not good enough. What if I just know you’re trash and start to treat you as trash? Give me a basis.”
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Peter uses three words to describe life in the here and now. These three words often repel not compel people towards Christianity. Here it is: Grief, Trial, and Test.
In fact, you push the person, and you will find if you really ask them what they believe about the nature of humanity, the nature of human life, the nature of God, the nature of reality, they basically believe we’re all accidents. They basically believe we’re no different than the animals or the trees or the rocks, and yet we’re supposed to treat human beings as if sacred. They are completely feelings-oriented in all of their ethical appeals.
My response is, "Don't you ever listen?" I preach against sin every week. Last week I preached against the sin of speaking evil, and the sin of not doing good, and the sin of refusing to live at peace with others. I would venture to say that every person in this room struggles with one—if not all three—of these sins.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now, think about what Peter does. When Peter begins to move to explain what it is that God is doing in the “here and now”, of all the descriptive words that are available to him in the human language, he chooses these three descriptive words. Here it is: Grief, Trial, and Test. Grief, trial, and test--just the three words you don't want in your life.
There is no basis. There’s nothing before the therefore. There is no therefore in front of “Don’t be a racist.” It’s completely arbitrary. Totally arbitrary. In other words, Christianity says, “There has to be a thoughtful basis. There has to be an integration of thought and life, of truth and life.” Frankly, the people who come against Christianity and say, “A lot of this stuff you believe is strange” … Ask them, “What do you think is right and wrong and why?” They can never say anything about ultimate reality.
But usually when people ask "Why don't you preach against sin," they don't mean their own sin. They mean sins like abortion, homosexuality, and watching MTV. Many people don't want to be challenged to face their own sin. They just want to hear about how wicked the rest of the world is.
No one here has prayed this week, “Lord, I think my life is a little too easy; if you loved me, you would send some trial my way.” No one prayed, “I really need to be more holy, and so suffering is an instrument; why don't you just send some suffering my way?”
Now don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. No one here has prayed this week, “Lord, I think my life is a little too easy; if you loved me, you would send some trial my way.” No one prayed, “I really need to be more holy, and so suffering is an instrument; why don't you just send some suffering my way?” What is it about the nature of the Redeemer, the eternal zeal of the Redeemer, that makes these words such important descriptors of what it is that God is doing in the “here and now”—grief, trial and test?
But Peter says, "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God." This doesn't mean that we move from criticizing the world to criticizing the church. That's missing the point. When he says "It is time for judgment to begin," he is talking about your life. You need to take a long, hard look at yourself. I need to take a long hard look at myself. It is time for judgment to begin in the house of God, and each member of the household is responsible to God for where he or she is spiritually.
See, Christianity goes this way. Christianity has an integration of truth and life. Christians speak this way. “I believe in Christ.” Why? “Well, Jesus Christ was a man who lived 2,000 years ago, or so, claimed to be God, claimed he could rise from the dead, hundreds of people actually saw him raised from the dead, and as I looked at the evidence, I found that as hard as it is to believe he’s the Son of God, all of the alternative views are less credible as long as I don’t come in with a built-in bias against the miraculous and the supernatural.
What is it about the nature of the Redeemer that makes these words such important descriptors of what it is that God is doing in the “here and now”?
If your Christian life consists primarily of taking notice of what everyone else is doing wrong, you will not be ready when the rough ride begins. Prepare you soul. Get serious about prayer and take a long hard look at your spiritual life.
If you can't answer that question, you don't understand the present plan of God. And because you don't understand the present plan of God, you have moments where you're confused, moments where you'll be tempted to doubt His goodness and doubt His love, moments when you look over the fence, and you are tempted to envy the life of someone else because you don't actually understand what God is doing. And because you don't understand what God is doing it's very hard for you to be on God's agenda. You're on your agenda and you sort of wish God would get on your agenda because you don't really understand what God is doing.
As long as I don’t come in with a built-in bias, as long as I don’t try to sneak an unfair premise into my open-minded look at the evidence, I have come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Because he’s the Son of God, because he taught what the Old Testament had taught and then he himself continued that on and moved it on, I believe his will is now the guide for my life, because if he’s the Creator, then he created me, and he knows how I operate best.”
Well, Peter uses a very picturesque, a very descriptive word picture to help us. It's the picture of mining or metal work. When a miner or a metalworker mines a metal, digs it out of the ground, he finds it in an ore state. Ore is not very attractive. Ore is not very usable because ore has imperfections in it. And ore, those imperfections, rob that metal of its strength and rob it of its beauty.
Prepare your heart.
Prepare your heart.
Let me just go one step further here. Christianity is not the only religion that gives you a coherent basis for life. I’ll just come right out and say it. Judaism does it. Islam does it. Lots of other religions do. What do they say? They say, “Because of the nature of ultimate reality, because God is this way, because humanity is this way, and we have seen it in the revelation of God …,” whether that’s the Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, or the Qur’an.
Peter uses a very descriptive word picture to help us. It's the picture of mining or metal work. When a miner digs metal out of the ground, he finds it in an ore state. Ore is not very attractive. Ore is not very usable because ore has imperfections in it. Those imperfections rob that metal of its strength and beauty.
Third, prepare your heart. Peter says. "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers multitude of sins" (v. 8). Whose sins is Peter talking about? Whose sins get covered by love? He's not talking about the question of our sins and our guilt before a holy God. He's talking about our sins and how they affect our relationship with other believers. And it works both ways. When you love someone, you tend to overlook their sins, and when you love someone, they tend to overlook your sins.
“This is what it says. This is how we live. This is why we’re not racist. This is why we believe this and that. This is why we have the beliefs we have.” That, frankly, all makes sense, but to say, “I know that racism is a sin, but you can sexually do what you pretty much feel is right,” is a completely arbitrary thing to say. It has no basis at all. There’s no therefore in front of it. Whenever I see a therefore, I always ask what it’s there for. The Bible says the nature of ultimate reality.
Ore is the natural state of all jewelry. The metalworker knows that it would be an act of irrationality and futility to mine this metal and leave it in its ore state. So the metallurgist adds a catalytic agent and white-hot heat and liquefies this metal, so boiling out of it, its imperfections, it's ‘oreism,’ so it reaches a higher stage of strength and a higher state of beauty.
The Christian life is not about finger pointing. It's about mercy and compassion. It's about tolerance and acceptance. It pleases God for us to get along together. Do you have kids? Doesn't it make you happy when they get along? This is how God feels about us. "How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!" ().
When you come to Christ by His rescuing transforming grace you are an ‘orerific’ Christian; I didn't say horrific. You are an ‘orerific’ Christian. You have ‘orerism’ in you. And what that ‘oreism’ does is it robs you of your beauty, and it robs you of your strength. It would make no sense whatsoever for God to mine you from the mass of humanity by His powerful transforming grace and leave you in your ‘oreism.’ How ridiculous would that be?
Now, let me just go a step further on this. I’m not saying I think Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all equally fine. No. I’m trying to say at least they give you an integration of thought and life. But unbelief, the idea you can make up your own mind about what is right and wrong, that you can take a look at your own thoughts and your own feelings to decide what is right and wrong, that means all ethical appeals are baseless. You are going totally on your feelings.
God couldn’t possibly be a faithful Redeemer, He couldn't be the Divine Metallurgist, and leave you in that state. So God, in the grandeur and glory of His relentless love, will boil you. Here's the principle: God will take you where you haven't intended to go, in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. You know what that's called— grace! Grace! Grace!
If you want to be ready for tough times, begin today to practice the habit of loving others. How? Peter is very practical on this point. He tells us to:
That’s what’s so ironic. What’s so ironic is, by and large, Christianity across the centuries has always been the religion of hoi polloi. It has not generally been the religion of the intelligentsia. The intelligentsia has hated the lack of control Christianity gives you to your own life. As a result, it has been a religion of the poor. It has been the religion of the masses for years. It still is. Yet to reject the idea of a God and a God who speaks in the Word of God gives you a completely feelings-oriented life and no base to any of your ethical appeals.
God knows how sturdy our self-righteousness is. He knows how reliant we are on our own strength and wisdom. He knows how attracted we are to the things of the world. He knows how easily satisfied we are, thinking we’re grace graduates when we’re not. He knows how much we are able to shift the blame and make excuses, how much we are able to swindle ourselves.
Not only that, the therefore also teaches you … This is a frightening thing to say. Actually, I mentioned it before, but now let me pull it open. It means that whenever God tells you, “You must do this,” he is not giving you busywork, and you are not doing him any favors to obey. He is telling you this ethical prescription … “Do not lie, do not be bitter, do not have sex outside marriage, don’t spend all your money on yourself” … all the things the Bible says are not just busywork, they’re not arbitrary; they reflect ultimate reality, which means if you break them, you break you.
Accommodate others. "Be hospitable to one another without complaint" (v. 9). What can you do to make others feel more welcome? This is a question every church body—as well as every believer—should ask. How can we be hospitable? How can we make our guests feel more at home? How can we share our resources with others? That's one way of showing love.
Serve one another. "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (v. 10). You were given certain skills, abilities, and gifts for a specific reason: to help people. If what you have and what you do doesn't benefit others, you are wasting your resources. Look for opportunities to put your gifts to work.
And so, in grace, He will take us beyond our wisdom, beyond our strength, beyond our plan, beyond our righteousness, to places we would not have ever chosen to go, so that we do the thing that we desperately need to do. We reach out in hands of helplessness and hope and say, “I need your grace," because grace is only for the broken; grace is only for the weak; grace is only for the poor; grace is only for the diseased; grace is only for sinners; and unless you're there, you don't desire grace.
There’s a therefore before the prescription. The therefore says, “Because of the way nature is, because of the way the human heart is built, because of the way God is, because of the way reality is, therefore, you must do this.” When God says, “Therefore, you must do this,” if you break that rule you break yourself. When I tell my little kid, “Don’t put a fork in the electrical outlet,” the ethical prescription is based on the nature of human physiology and the nature of electricity and how the two relate to each other. It’s not just busywork.
God wants you there. Those moments of desperation are not God forgetting the plan, or God ignoring the plan, or something in the way of the plan, those moments of desperation are the plan. So brothers and sisters, we better quit naming those moments as signs of God's unfaithfulness and inattention, because if you're God's child, those moments are sure signs of his covenant love. Those moments are not God moving away but the faithful, ever-present Redeemer moving closer.
It’s not saying, “Please go up to the blackboard and write 500 times, ‘I will always say thank you when somebody gives me something.’ ” That’s busywork. God never gives busywork. If you go against his Word, in the long run (or sometimes in the short run), you go against yourself, because you go against the nature of things. That’s really one of the more frightening things the Bible has said anywhere. That word therefore is so pregnant. Now let me move on a little further.
Encourage one another. "Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God" (v. 11). Here's how the New Living Translation says it: "Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you."
Again, as he has so many times throughout this letter, Peter comes back to the subject of how we use our words. He challenges us to speak the very utterances of God. You remember the WWJD phenomenon. The question "What would Jesus do?" is often hard to answer, but the question "What would Jesus say?" is much easier. Have you ever noticed that? An even easier question to answer is "What would Jesus not say?"
We need to teach, admonish, encourage, and comfort one another with the theology of uncomfortable grace, because this side of eternity, God's grace often comes to us in uncomfortable forms. We spent most of our time asking the the grace of release or seeking for the grace of relief when what we really need is the grace of refinement. There is coming a day of relief and release but for now we need refinement.
First of all, we see the relationship of truth to life. It’s a complete relationship. It’s a total relationship. It’s a completely integrated relationship. Now let’s go one more step to what it tells us about how you can use the Scripture in your life. This is just, I think, a wonderful thing. It says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude …”
Here's the challenge: In speaking to one another, we need to get in the habit of saying that which we believe Jesus would say, and we need to get in the habit of not saying that which Jesus wouldn't say. Learn to speak, as it were, the utterances of God.
But ultimately, hear what I'm going to say: Release is coming; relief is coming; what you actually need right now is refinement. That’s what you need. That's what I need. And perhaps if there are moments in your life where you're crying out, “Where is the grace of God?”...(and you're getting it,) but it's not the grace of release; and it’s not the grace relief; it’s the uncomfortable grace of refinement. You already are getting the grace that you're crying out for, you’re getting it.
This word attitude actually is the word thought. I understand why the translators said attitude, but it’s just the word for thought. The same thought must mean the fact of Jesus suffering in the body. So what it’s telling us is, “Arm yourself with the knowledge that Jesus suffered for you.” Arm yourself. Don’t just believe it; arm yourself. Now this is a wonderful word. It shows you there’s a whole lot more to living the Christian life than believing something.
You cannot treat this moment as a destination. The purpose of this moment is not for it to be as comfortable as it could possibly be. God is not actually working so that you would wake up every morning with a big smile on your face and say, “I love my life!” That’s not what he is doing, because, there is, in you, greater need than that; there is in you ‘oreism.’
If you've played sports on a team that was united and a team that was divided, you undoubtedly know the difference between playing on a winning team and a losing team. It is difficult, if not impossible, for a divided team to win consistently. That's why Peter tells us that if the church expects to endure hardship, we must be unified. We need to be committed to one another, doing all that we can to live peacefully together.
Let me be blunt. If you have a weapon in your room and you say, “I have a weapon,” and now suddenly some enemies have assaulted you, it doesn’t help you if it’s in the bedroom and you’re in the living room. You have to arm yourself with it. When you become a Christian you get all of these facts. You may believe them, and you may even rejoice in them, but it’s another thing to arm yourself with them.
This event is not destination but preparation for a final destination. You are being prepared. For what? To be a person that God chooses to spend eternity with.
What does it mean? Well, let’s talk about it here for a second. Realize what he’s saying. He is saying, as a result (remember at the beginning of verse 2?), you will be able to live according to the will of God in spite of opposition, in spite of anything that comes your way, if you’ve armed yourself with the truth. Let me give you a couple examples.
It's a matter of the heart. Prepare your heart to love and serve and minister to others. Doing this prepares you for whatever life brings your way.
Look at the end of
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Christ has a plan for us that is more glorious than anything you could ever desire for yourself. It is glorious beyond anything you're able to conceive. That moment will be amazing beyond your amazement and right now you are being prepared for that moment.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Why do we struggle with trial? I’ll tell you why: because we think life is about our glory, the glory of our good decisions that plan our life without problems, the glory of comfort, the glory of pleasure, the glory of success, the glory of acceptance, the glory of achievement.
You may know God loves you and that his approval and his approval alone is all you need. Yet if you face criticism, if you face rejection, do you lash out or get terribly depressed? Then you may know God approves of you, but you haven’t been armed with it. If you were armed with it, you could respond positively. You could respond peacefully. Let me give you another example.
Suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. We must do what we can to prepare. This means that we need to prepare our minds. See suffering for what it can accomplish in our lives: "He who has suffered has ceased from sin." We need to prepare our souls by getting serious about prayer and taking a long, hard look at our spiritual lives. And we need to prepare our hearts by serving one another in love.
Fast forward three days, your tent has taken on smells you don't understand. You've got all the downed wood within a half mile circle, and now, it's getting hard to find wood; you're back is hurting because you have an air mattress, but you put it over a rock and it punctured. You open your cooler, where you are supposed to keep the cold food, and the steaks you've been saving are now floating in water. It’s got this gray color, and it’s oozing this purple liquid. And all of a sudden, you begin to long for home.
You may know God is powerful and wise, but if you are anxious, if you’re just dying with worry, if you’re just eaten up with worry, you may know God is wise and powerful, but you’re not armed with the thought. It’s in the bedroom, and the worries are grabbing you in the living room, and they’re tying you up, and they’re gagging you. You say, “Why is this happening?” Because the thought is in the bedroom in the top drawer instead of being with you. That’s the image. It’s a beautiful image. It’s an amazing image.
We want to bask in all of those physical temporal created glories. We would rather have momentary glory than to be part of the larger glory of God. And so when God challenges those glories, very often we’re tempted to question His faithfulness, question His goodness, question His love.
You could say it this way: We need to stop judging others and start judging ourselves, and we need to stop serving ourselves and start serving others.
Now, that makes sense to me. I’ve camped, and I always appreciate home more, but in the modern world people camp in these great big huge luxury RVs. They are more luxurious than home. It's got a widescreen television, a satellite dish, the luxurious kitchen of a chef. You're camping vehicle is better than home. That's missing the point!
Actually, the rational emotive therapists have kind of gotten onto something about this years ago. They noticed, for example, that people under the same circumstances will have different responses. So here’s Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C. Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C are all told by somebody, “You’re lazy. You’re a lazy worker.” Mr. A responds depressed. Mr. B responds angry. Mr. C responds positively and peacefully. Why? The rational emotive therapist says, “Because their emotion is not really a response to what was said to them. Their emotion is a response to what they’re telling themselves about what was said to them.”
Be honest with me for a moment. When was the last time you brought God in the court of your judgment? When was the last time you really questioned whether He was faithful, wise, good, true? When was the last time you looked over the fence, and you envied somebody else's life who seemed to be having it easier than you?
That is all motivated by self-glory. You never understand what God is doing unless you understand there's a glory war being fought on the turf of your heart. And God is zealous to deliver you and me from our obsession with our own glory so that we will be caught up in the only glory that will ever satisfy our hearts: the glory of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And some of us are so focused on making sure that “here and now” is as easy, predictable, comfortable, and pleasurable as it is. You have no ability to take in the glory of uncomfortable grace because one thing you have determined is: “My life will not be uncomfortable.” Well if you are there, you are way off God's agenda. He will take you where you haven't intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve in your own.
For Your Reflection
For Your Reflection
So, you see, Mr. A hears the person say, “You’re lazy,” Mr. A says, “That’s just what my mother always told me. It’s right.” He gets depressed. Mr. B is told, “You’re lazy,” and Mr. B says, “You’re telling me I’m lazy? I know something about you.” So he gets angry. Mr. C is told, “You’re lazy,” but Mr. C says, “You know, I used to be, and this is the data on which this person has been drawing his conclusion, but I’ve changed. I don’t have to feel bad about this even though he’s absolutely right.”
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
“Though you have not seen Him, you love him.” Isn’t it amazing that one of the most powerful acts of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He plants in our hearts the love of God? Sinner human beings aren't innately motivated by love of God. The DNA of sin is selfishness, and the idol of idols is the idol of self. If there is love in your heart this morning for God, it is because you have been visited by His transforming grace.
And then he says, “You rejoice with joy that is inexpressible…obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of souls.” Hear this: you can have deep and abiding joy even in the moment of trial and tests and grief because you understand that that trial is actually delivering to you the thing that your heart craves, the salvation of your souls. You're getting what you prayed for: salvation.
Personal growth: How has this sermon fed your own soul? ___________________________________________
Now, what's the purpose of all of this? The purpose of all of this is the salvation of your soul.
In other words, the reaction comes on the basis of what the people are telling themselves. How you react is not so much to what is happening to you but how you’re filtering it, what you’re telling yourself. You can say, “I am suffering. I am worried. I am bitter.” Why? “Because of what she did. Because of what he did. Because of what’s happening to me.” The answer is no. It’s because of how you are meeting the circumstance, with what thoughts, with what truth.
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And then he says, “To the praise and glory of Jesus Christ." You will never understand the human existence; you'll never understand your creation in the image of God; you will never understand the plan of redemption; you'll never understand the future of eternity, unless you understand that you have been given physical life, and you have been given spiritual life for the glory of another.
It's not about you. You will never be in the center of the story; the stage lights will never be on you; the plot will never write in your magnificence because it all is meant to display the magnificence of the Lamb, the Savior, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Emanuel, Jesus Christ--that's the plan! You see, you must live with vital theological connectivity; you must live with eternity as a lens on the here and now; you must learn to celebrate uncomfortable grace; and you must say, "How could it be that I would be chosen to be prepared for such amazing, eternal glory, how could it be?"
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Peter says, "Don't you know in these dark moments what is happening? You're getting what you prayed--your salvation.” You are being saved. Yes, you have been saved, and, yes, you will be saved, but right now you are being saved. He's talking about the sanctification sense of the work of God. You're being saved.
Brothers and sisters, I mean this, when you're going through those moments, when you're marching through that kind of confusion, darkness, and disappointment, you need to be saying to yourself, “I'm being saved; I'm being saved; I'm being saved; I'm being saved; I'm being saved; I'm being saved; I'm being saved. Praise God! I'm being saved.” Don't say, “Where is God? Why would He do this?”
If somebody says, “You’re lazy” and you’re a Christian, do you immediately think, “Just what my mother always told me. Oh my gosh! It’s true”? Or do you say, “The bad news is I’m a more wicked, terrible, and evil person than I ever dared believe, but the good news is I’m more loved and more accepted and more cherished in Christ than I ever dared hope”? Do you use the gospel on yourself or not? Are you armed with the gospel? If you cannot handle what comes to you, you may know these things, but you’re not armed with these things.
Skill growth: What did this sermon teach you about how to preach? ____________________________________________________________________________
You say, “How do I arm myself with them?” Well, actually it’s a discipline. Here’s my suggestion, though. If you read the Bible in the morning, it’s one thing to read it, to know it; it’s another thing to arm yourself with it. Ask yourself a couple of questions. You read a passage and you say, “That’s great.” Ask yourself, “Why has God shown me this today?” Try that every day this week. God is very efficient. “Why am I reading this today? Why do I need it this week? What wrong emotions and wrong thoughts will I have today if I forget this?”
Listen, you are either everyday preaching to yourself the true gospel of Jesus Christ or you’re preaching to yourself an anti, false gospel that deepens your despondency and your discouragement.
Exegesis and exposition: Highlight the paragraphs in this sermon that helped you better understand Scripture. How does the sermon model ways you could provide helpful biblical exposition for your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________
And in these moments, preach the true gospel to yourself. “This is part of the glorious, eternal, salvation plan of my Redeemer-I'm being saved! Praise God, I'm being saved!”
Theological Ideas: What biblical principles in this sermon would you like to develop in a sermon? How would you adapt these ideas to reflect your own understanding of Scripture, the Christian life, and the unique message that God is putting on your heart? ____________________________________________________________________________
Those are application questions. We’ve talked about this in the past. You have to take questions and ask yourself things about that text and see how it relates to what has just happened in your life and how it’s going to happen in your life. You have to take it and pray it in. You have to soak it in. In some ways, meditation on the Scripture is a lot like trying to start a fire with a magnifying glass. You don’t have total control over it. Sometimes you have a cloudy day.
Outline: How would you improve on this outline by changing the wording, or by adding or subtracting points? _____________________________________________________________________
It's not about you. You will never be in the center of the story; the stage lights will never be on you; the plot will never write in your magnificence because it all is meant to display the magnificence of the Lamb, the Savior, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Emanuel, Jesus Christ--that's the plan! You see, you must live with vital theological connectivity; you must live with eternity as a lens on the here and now; you must learn to celebrate uncomfortable grace; and you must say, "How could it be that I would be chosen to be prepared for such amazing, eternal glory, how could it be?"
In the same way, sometimes you’re praying and reading the Scripture … And when I say a cloudy day, I mean you do your duty, you do what you’re supposed to do, you read the thing, you pray, and no fires start. But if every day you bring out that magnifying glass and you really say, “Hey, I’m going to take time. I’m going to give thought. I’m going to be open to the possibility of what this thing is saying …”
We read the Bible through filters. “It couldn’t mean that. It mustn’t mean that. It can’t mean that.” Just say, “Lord, do you mean that?” Then to say, “Why do I have it now? What is the purpose of it? Why do I need it in my life? How could possibly the problems I’m having right now be ameliorated by grasping and arming myself with this text, with this truth?” That’s taking the magnifying glass every day, bringing it out there, and putting it between you and your heart. It’s the magnifying glass. Take the text, put it between your heart and God, and some days you will catch fire. Some days you will come out armed to the teeth.
Application: What is the main application of this sermon? What is the main application of the message you sense God wants you to bring to your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________
Just one more thing, but it’s so important. Let me just read you this, especially as we’re going to the Lord’s Table now. Notice what doctrine he uses. This is an amazing text. In fact, until I started studying this thing, just in the last couple of weeks, I had no idea what he was saying. I just missed it. He says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same [thought … the thought of Christ’s suffering], because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.”
Illustrations: Which illustrations in this sermon would relate well with your hearers? Which cannot be used with your hearers, but they suggest illustrations that could work with your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________
I have to be brief. I can’t give you all of the steps in understanding this. I’ll just bring you the conclusion. Don’t forget, he is talking about people who are suffering in the body. Remember the context? This whole letter is written to people who are going to suffer, and suffer grievously, and in many cases suffer physically. He is saying suffering does not automatically change you. Suffering very often makes you very, very bitter.
Credit: Do you plan to use the content of this sermon to a degree that obligates you to give credit? If so, when and how will you do it?
There’s nothing in the Bible that says suffering automatically makes you a better person, a stronger person, a more compassionate person. Heck, no. Look around and see. Look at how suffering has twisted you. Look at how suffering has twisted other people. Oh no. It will only turn you into something great if you go into it armed. He says, “If you suffer thoughtlessly, you will die, but if you suffer armed with the knowledge that he suffered for you, you will be done with sin.”
Steve May is a speaker, author, and missionary living in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has served as pastor of churches in Oklahoma, California, and Tennessee. He is author of several books, including Preaching Through the Year.
SCRIPTURE:
This is one of the neat things. This does not mean you’ll never sin again. Everything in the Bible tells us again and again that anybody who thinks they have stopped sinning is self-deluded. So what could this mean? It means the way for you to want to have nothing to do with sin, the way for you to not just stop sinning but to hate the sin, to have the sin lose all power over you, to have the sin lose all ability to attract you, the way to kill its power over you, is to think about what Jesus did for you on the cross. It’s as simple as that.
Let me read you this from somebody. It says, “What this means is that the death of Jesus Christ, when understood, comforts me profoundly when I have fallen, but it can never, never, never lead me to temptation. To the one who is considering disobedience, Jesus cries out from the cross, ‘I did all this and completely so you would die to sins and live to righteousness. How, then, can you do this sin?
Will you put your own hands around my throat? Have I not been struck enough by those who broke my skin open with fists and said, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Will you hit me one more time? Will you account what I have done of so little value that you will do this to me? Will you design to frustrate and disappoint the very goal and aim of all my suffering for you?’ How can you deeply grieve somebody who has done this for you?
There is no more powerful motivation to avoid sin, to endure temptation, to stick with holy living through the dry and tough and disappointing times, than if you look at how he dealt with the dry and tough and painful and stuck with you. See, the incentive to live a holy life isn’t based on fear; it’s based on his love. It’s not that his love is weak and conditional and look out you might lose it. No, it’s because it’s infallible and voluntarily set on you at incredible cost that a real Christian finds the thought of aggravating his pain fills you with such grief that sin loses all power over you. There is no more powerful incentive for righteousness than that.”
John Owen, the great Puritan, said, “If you take your sin to Mount Sinai …” In other words, when you say, “I have to do something about my sin. I’m doing something wrong. It’s bad.” If you go to Mount Sinai … In other words, if you say, “Well you’d better stop because God will punish you, because people will find you out, because you’ll be rejected, because troubles will come,” he says expect the sinful desire to get more powerful, because there’s a perversity in us. Paul says, “I find it to be a law that when I most want to do good, evil lies closest at hand.”
John Owen says if you try to deal with the power of sin simply by beating yourself up or saying God is going to beat you up, you’re going to find you’ll actually make it stronger. But if you want to be done with it, if you want to have sin lose all of its power over you, take it not to Mount Sinai but to the cross. Arm yourself with this thought: Jesus dying so you wouldn’t do it. Think of him saying, “You’re going to hit me one more time?”
The thing, of course, is that when we go and disobey, we never think of it as slapping the dying Jesus across the mouth, as throwing his blood back on his face. No, we say, “I can’t help it,” or something like that. Of course we do it that way, but the cross is here to help you come to your senses, to show you what you’re really doing.
If you see what it means that he died to sins so we might live to righteousness, any sensible person will look at what he did and say, “I will not only not do things I know violate the teachings and wisdom and will of Jesus Christ; I will not do anything that remotely could trample on him. Would I do something that might kill somebody but probably won’t? No, I wouldn’t do anything that would even possibly kill someone. Therefore, I will not do anything that could even possibly be one more slap on his face.”
Arm yourself with the knowledge of what he has done for you. If you want sin to lose its power over you, just realize how much he loved you. Don’t think how much he can get you; think of how he has said, “I won’t get you, because I will die for you.” “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires [that’s epithymia, over-desires, inordinate desires], but rather for the will of God.” Let’s pray.
Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.