In Light of the End (Part 2) – 1 Peter 4: 7-11

• September 11, 2022
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1 Peter 4:7-11

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 4. Last week, I mentioned that I had to cut this sermon in to two parts. And you’ll notice that the title of today’s sermon is really rather creative. Just slap a “part 2” on there and you’re good to go. Well, that’s what I did last week. But, in reality, as I was finishing today’s sermon and working over things again, it occurred to me that a better title would’ve been “Vital Signs.”

Medical people talk about our vital signs. We have several medical doctors and nurses in our congregation – for that I’m grateful – and I’m sure that they could rattle these off without any difficulty, but I think you’re supposed to be breathing (that would be helpful), and there should be a pulse there somewhere (that’s good too), that your eyes have some movement to them is a good thing. But whatever those vital signs are, in the same manner there are vital signs to show that the Body of Christ is alive. And those vital signs, according to 1 Peter 4 are: prayer, love, hospitality, service/ministry, praise/worship. We covered the first two last time, and I hope to cover the last three today. But before we do, let’s read these verses together:

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

“Gracious God, we pray that in the silence and the stillness of this hour that it may be Your voice alone, which we hear. You recognize the needs of our hearts – varied as they are – and, therefore; You are the only One who can apply the Scriptures to our lives, just exactly as they require. So, together, in speaking and in hearing, we look to You, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to speak Your Word into our lives. For it’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.”

The last time we were together I explained to you that this little phrase in verse 7, “The end of all things is at hand…” had several possible interpretations. And I offered the three classic interpretations to you, and I said that I believe the best is to understand Peter as giving a warning to his audience (and by extension, you and me) that each of them could indeed die at any moment. We have to remember that this letter is being written to Christians that have been scattered throughout the Roman Empire – mostly as a result of religious persecution. So, that warning would have been rather real for them. And while our context is different today, the possibility of our death is always at hand.

So, that’s all I’m going to say about that. If you want to hear more about the classical interpretations of verse 7, then you can catch that on our website or YouTube Channel. However, I wanted to remind us of my understanding of verse 7 and the way that we’re operating, because we won’t appreciate the commandments and encouragement that Peter offers in the rest of the verses if we don’t realize that at any moment our lives could end.

Last week, we noticed that in light of the end we need to pray seriously. We can’t allow the trivial communication and conversation and dialogue of our day – our texts, our tweets, our posts – to hinder us from serious prayer. And also, in light of the end we need to love one another wholly. I also clarified for us that “loving one another earnestly, since it covers a multitude of sins” does not mean that we can redeem ourselves or make atonement for our sins by being nice and loving other people. That’s what the world teaches. That’s not what the Bible teaches and it’s not what this verse is teaching. We’re saved, we’re redeemed, we’re cleansed from our sin only by the blood of Jesus Christ. So, this verse doesn’t say we can cover our sin by loving others. No, what this verse is encouraging us to do is be more concerned about loving one another, and, in so doing, letting petty grievances and wrongs go.

And it also doesn’t mean that we just sweep sin under the carpet – that we close a blind eye to sin. It doesn’t mean “love one another earnestly, since love closes its eyes to murder, or adultery, or abuse, or…” (fill in the blank). This verse doesn’t say that. This verse doesn’t say that we no longer preach against certain attitudes and behaviors and lifestyles. We still call sin what it is – sin. In fact, just a few verses earlier (v. 3) and a few verses later (v. 15), Peter does just that. He calls out certain sins and lifestyles. So, this verse is encouraging us to focus on loving one another as wholeheartedly as possible, and when we do that, we find that we’re more prone to let go of little sins and minor offenses.

The third thing that Peter says (and our first point today) is that…

In Light of the End: Welcome Cheerfully

Verse 9 says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” “Hey, pastor, I noticed that you didn’t label this point: show hospitality. What gives?” Well, the reason is because our understanding of the word hospitality is that everybody in the Bible study wants to have a covered-dish dinner, but they can’t find anywhere to do it, so you finally say “Ok, we’ll do it at my house.” Then somebody says, “Oh, they have the gift of hospitality.” It’s a little more than that.

The Greek word that Peter uses is philoxenos (philos – a friend or someone dearly loved [i.e. beloved] and xenos – foreigner, stranger, alien, guest). So, one could translate this term as “befriend strangers” or “love foreigners.” And yes, I believe that we should be willing to open our homes to aliens and strangers, but that’s not the immediate application.

Incidentally, also remember who Peter’s audience is. It’s the church. It’s individual Christians in local community with one another. So, when he says, for example (v. 8), “Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sin” he’s not primarily telling us to do that with the outside world. Now, don’t misunderstand me. Certainly, we’re called to show and share the love of Jesus with those outside the church, but that’s not Peter’s primary audience. His primary audience was the church, and so verse 8 is specifically directed to Christians loving other Christians. Now, obviously, that should overflow to the outside world, so the application isn’t limited to the church, but that’s certainly where it starts.

And since that’s the context, it seems strange to me that we would automatically change our course here and have Peter saying (v. 9) “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” and think that this is primarily to folks outside the church. And yet, that’s what I think we do because of the way that we use the word “hospitality.” Again, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t be welcoming to people outside the church or open our homes to non-believers. We should. I’m simply drawing our attention to the fact that Peter is writing to Christians, and so the first point of application should be that we welcome one another cheerfully as we gather in this place. If there’s anywhere we should do this, then it’s at church.

The first-century Church didn’t have nice sanctuaries like we do. In fact, many of you know this, the first-century Church met in people’s homes (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2). So, it’s only natural that they would hear this and make application among themselves. Think about it. One of the very first things that people look for in a church is whether or not they feel welcomed. Sure, we might be looking for “good” sermons, or sound doctrine, or active ministry, but before any of that gets considered, people are already making their decisions based on their sense of a warm welcome. That’s why one of the most important ministries of this church is something that all of us can do – lift our heads up from our telephones, look somebody in the eye, and introduce ourselves. Make people feel welcome. Show hospitality.

Another application would be the natural reading of this text – open our homes to one another and to complete strangers. Granted, with the availability of modern hotels, motels, Airbnb’s, and such, we aren’t called upon as much as previous generations to do this. But I remember (and I’m sure that most of you do too), it used to be that people in the church were called upon to open their homes for visiting missionaries or other vocational ministers. For most of us that might mean simply offering our homes for various groups within the church, or even outside the church.

Now, I know it’s a radical thought, but it’s possible that God is preparing the heart of someone here today to reach out and connect with some Ukrainian refugees, or Afghan refugees, or Hispanic immigrants, or international students, or kids in the foster care system. No, I’m not suggesting that you must do this, and if you don’t then you’re being disobedient and therefore sinning against God. I recognize that there are legitimate security and safety concerns today. But, as I was preparing today’s sermon, I couldn’t help but think about Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares,” and whether or not some of us have passed up such a blessing.

And just in case you’re sitting there “hemming and hawing” (internally, of course) about the preacher suggesting something as silly as opening up our homes or offering to take someone to lunch, notice that we’re supposed to welcome people cheerfully – actually the text says to do this “without grumbling.”

The Greek word is goggusmos. It’s an onomatope. You remember what that is, right? It’s a word that sounds like what it means. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, it’s a term “meant to imitate the cooing of doves.” I’ve always been conflicted about whether or not to share all of these Greek words with you. After all, most of us have difficulty with English, much less adding Greek to the mix. But I definitely like the word goggusmos, and I figured that you might try using it in two months, at your next Thanksgiving Day meal. “Hey, would you men stop all the goggusmos!”

In light of the fact that the end is near – either our end, or the end of all the world – we need to welcome people into our church and our homes cheerfully for the purpose of sharing the gospel, for the purpose of glorifying God.

The next vital sign, the next thing that Peter says we ought to do in light of the end is…

In Light of the End: Serve Selflessly

Verse 10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Then, in verse 11, Peter offers two examples of what he means: namely, speaking and serving. Now, the first thing that I must say is this – if you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you have a spiritual gift that was given to you by the Holy Spirit. It’s not a matter of “Do I have a gift?” You have a gift. You may not have tons of gifts. You may not have all the gifts that you thought you should have, but you have gifts. The question is: “Are you using your gift for God’s glory?”

You say, “I don’t know how to use my gift for God’s glory.” Well, Peter says one way that you can use your gift for God’s glory is to serve others – not ourselves. One pastor put it this way, “The gifts of the Spirit are not given as toys to be played with, and not as banners to be waved, but as tools to be used.” When we serve other people, rather than ourselves, we’re using our gift for God’s glory.

If there was ever a person that deserved to be served, then it was Jesus. But that’s not what he says, is it? “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). Of all the people in the world that could have served Himself, it was Jesus. But He came not to be served, but to serve. Don’t you think that glorified God? You bet your bottom dollar. So, whatever gift(s) you have, use them to serve others and you’ll glorify God.

Notice the last part of verse 10, “as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Some of your translations might say, “manifold grace” or “multi-faceted grace.” The Greek word means “many-colored.” It’s the word from which we get our English word variegated. Those of you that are gardeners and enjoy working in the yard, you know there are all kinds of variegated plants and flowers. And God has a tremendous ability of putting all kinds of colors – in this case, gifts – together for the purpose of displaying His glory.

Just by way of information, if you’re curious to make a note in your Bible on this verse, you can write down Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. In each of those chapters, you’ll find lists of variegated gifts: preaching, teaching, serving, encouraging, healing, helping, administering, giving generously, etc. The only way that Mountain Hill Community Church will be anything of significance for the glory of God is if each of us here uses our variegated gifts to serve others.

There’s a ministry of Jesus that no one but you can do as a mom, as a single person, as a dad, as a student, as a businessperson, as a wise person, as an intelligent person, as a creative person. Whatever it might be, come to grips with it and realize that you’re only a steward of it, and you should be using it for God’s glory by serving others. So, serving others with the strength that God provides, for the purpose that God intends, leading to the glory that God deserves.

In Light of the End: Glorify God Endlessly

Peter says when you pray seriously, when you love wholly, when you welcome cheerfully, when you serve selflessly, then look at the end of verse 11, “…in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” There’s supposed to be a flow through effect. So, if you were warmly welcomed at the door, then the flow through should lead you into spiritual worship. When you pray seriously it should flow through into words of praise. When you love wholly… When we’re loving rightly… When we’re doing this loving earnestly thing and we find that we’re letting go of minor offenses and our relationships with one another are being greased with the oil of His grace, then there’s a flow through effect where God – because of Jesus’ work in our lives – receives glory.

Some of you may recognize the name Harry Emerson Fosdick. He was a very influential minister of the late 19th and early 20th centuries – first as a Presbyterian pastor, later as a Baptist pastor, and finally as the senior pastor of the newly-erected non-denominational Riverside Church in Manhattan (a church built by friend and former church member, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.). He rose to fame, if you want to call it that, during the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy that split the Presbyterian denomination in the 1920’s. But in addition to serving as pastor, he also wrote a number of hymns and one of those was God of Grace and God of Glory, in which he writes this verse:

Lo, the hosts of evil round us
scorn the Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us
free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.

May we . . . understanding that the end of all things is at hand, pray seriously, love wholly, welcome cheerfully, serve selflessly, and glorify God endlessly in the living of these days.

“Father, You are so majestic that we don’t even begin to comprehend the depths and riches of that majesty. Everything that we experience in this world has a quality of existence that passes away, that undergoes mutations, that changes from moment to moment. We have nothing to refer to the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But, O Lord, Your eternal glory is what sustains us and assures us of the life to come – a life in Your presence that will not end. So, in light of that eventual end, may we pray seriously, love wholly, welcome cheerfully, serve selflessly and glorify You endlessly. For we offer this prayer in the name of You Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

In Light of the End (Part 1) – 1 Peter 4:7-11

• September 5, 2022
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1 Peter 4:7-11

Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 4. Peter is writing to a church that has been scattered into various places in the Roman Empire because of their faith. As a result of their beliefs, as a result of their views, as a result of their values, the early church was being persecuted and had fled to other cities to find refuge. And Peter is writing to these first Christians and offering them hope in the midst of their exile. In fact, Peter calls them aliens and strangers, and he continues to use this language that reminds them that because of their decision to follow Jesus they ARE different from everyone else (or, at least, they should be).

So, Peter writes this letter as a message of hope, a message of encouragement, especially in the face of persecution. It’s like the coach’s halftime speech: spurring the team onward, calling for endurance, reminding the other coaches that we’re all in this thing together. The end goal for them, as it is for us, is to be faithful and obedient to who God has called them to be in Christ Jesus, and to show and share the love of Jesus (making disciples) until He calls them home or He returns – and we’ll talk about that in just a moment.

I’ll be reading from 1 Peter 4, beginning in verse 7 and continuing through verse 11:

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

“Again, our Father, we look to You as the Author of all truth. We bow before the depth of the riches of Your knowledge and of Your grace, being overwhelmed by the love that You have poured out to us. Even as we have experienced that love, we pray that we may be vessels and conduits to communicate that love to each other. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Just a moment ago, I said that the goal for Peter’s audience is the same as it is for us – to be faithful and obedient to who God has called us to be in Christ Jesus, and to show and share the love of Jesus (making disciples) until He calls us home or until He returns. Now, the reason that I said that is because of this little phrase at the beginning of verse 7, “The end of all things is at hand…”

Today’s sermon is titled “In Light of the End.” We won’t be able to appreciate today’s message and properly understand and apply the things that Peter has to say to us if we don’t understand what he means by, “the end of all things is at hand.” (By the way, you’re going to get part 2 next week. I just couldn’t get it all in this week).

The End of All Things

Classically speaking, there have been three ways this verse has been interpreted and understood. The first is that Peter is saying the end of the world is near, and with the end of the world is the end of all things (as we know it). The second possibility is to understand Peter talking about the end of all things Jewish. Indeed, we know, as a result of human history, that Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., and perhaps that’s what Peter has in mind. Perhaps Peter is saying that the end of everything Jewish is at hand: the end of worshipping in the temple, the end of Jerusalem (at least as they understood it) and thus the end of all things was at hand. The third possibility is that Peter is speaking individually – that he’s acknowledging the fact that at any moment those receiving and hearing the content of this letter could die. And the same is true for you and me.

While each of those interpretations is possible (they all have their pros/cons), I believe the last one is the best. I think Peter is saying, “Listen up, folks. It’s possible that we could die at any moment; therefore, let’s not waste the time that we have. Let’s seize the day. Let’s make the most of every opportunity to live for Jesus.”

See, if you only understand this as talking about the end of the world, then we’re tempted, because of the amount of time that’s already passed to just brush off these verses. “It’s been 2,000+ years since Jesus was here. Yeah, yeah, I know He’s coming back, but I ain’t in no hurry to get on with these things. There are other things I want to do.” See how that understanding can influence our reception of Peter’s message. And if we only understand it as being the end of the Jewish age, then again, we won’t appreciate these verses as having anything to say to us. “It meant something to them, but that time has come and gone. It doesn’t mean what it used to.” That’s the position of liberal theology – it meant something then, but it doesn’t mean anything today, and IF there is any meaning today, then it’s detached from the meaning of the original author.

No, I believe the first thing we need to be reminded of today is that at any moment you or I could pass from this life to the next. I don’t want to sound morbid or come across as fearmongering, but from time to time we need to regain and appreciation for the brevity of life. Seriously, any one of us could die of an aneurism or massive heart attack, right now. When we leave and head home, none of us is guaranteed that we won’t be involved in a fatal auto accident. With the ever-increasing cases of gun violence, there’s no way to know that we won’t be killed at Wal-Mart or school or our places of business this week.

See, when we stop and truly think about how much control we actually have over our lives, then Peter’s words in these verses are so much more valuable and meaningful to us. All of a sudden, we’re no longer looking through the lens of time to an apostle we never knew and a people we never met. All of a sudden, we’re not reading a story that sounds like that novel on the bedside table that begins with the words: “Once upon a time…” No, God, through the pen of the apostle Peter, is talking to us right here and right now. It’s real. It’s relevant.

In Light of the End: Pray Seriously

Verse 7 concludes by saying, “therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” So why did I list this point as “pray seriously,” rather than “be self-controlled and sober-minded?” Because serious prayer is ultimately what Peter is calling for. The ESV uses terms like “self-controlled” and “sober-minded,” but some of your Bibles use the phrases “be alert,” or “sound judgment,” or “earnest,” or “clear-minded,” or “disciplined.” The Greek words that Peter uses speak of having a God-controlled perspective and living in God-defined balance, for the purpose of our praying.

So much of our day-to-day thinking and mental engagement is wasted on mindless things. All of us are engaged to some degree with social media and/or the internet. Maybe it’s Facebook. Maybe it’s Twitter. Maybe it’s Tik Tok, or Snapchat. Maybe it’s just plain old texting or e-mailing with friends, or just scrolling through the news feed on your cellphone or computer. If we were completely honest, a lot of it is junk. No wonder, when we bow our heads in prayer and we seek to talk to Almighty God we can’t seem to make any headway.

The apostle Paul would say, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” In light of the fact that the end could come at any moment, our prayers need to be serious and should have a God-controlled and God-defining perspective to them. And the reason that Peter draws their attention to this is because Satan will use anything and everything, he can to distract us from doing it.

Every time I go to pray, Satan begins to throw things into my mind: “You need to be doing this, you need to be doing that. Did you hear that? Somebody just came in. You need to go check on it.” Satan will fight you tooth and nail to distract you from praying. Do you know why? Because once that prayer leaves your heart and your mind and your lips, there’s not one cotton-picking thing he can do about it. In light of the end: pray seriously

In Light of the End: Love Wholly

Verse 8 says, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Let me begin by dispensing with one understanding of this verse. This verse does not – in any way, shape, fashion, or form – suggest that we can somehow atone for our sin, or make provision for our sins, or cover up our sin by loving others. That is a form of works-based salvation, and the Bible rejects any form of merit that we might perform. There’s only one atonement for sin (past, present, and future) and that’s the blood of Jesus Christ.

Well, then, what is this verse talking about and why does Peter place such an emphasis on it by saying “above all” do this? This verse is talking about what every family knows, intuitively, and we’re the family of God. It’s talking about bearing with one another. It’s talking about putting up with one another. It’s talking about loving someone in spite of those little foibles and weaknesses that they have.

Now, we need to be careful here. Peter isn’t excusing sin. We aren’t saying that since we’re not perfect and everybody sins, then we just sweep it under the rug as if it never happened. No. There are some sins that are serious and significant enough that we simply cannot cover them up. For example, I don’t know of a Christian denomination that isn’t wrestling with sex abuse scandals of one nature or another. And in many of those cases, churches attempted to cover up the sin(s) of others by not reporting and investigating and calling attention to the situation. That’s not what this verse is calling for. It’s also not calling for us to overlook and ignore lifestyles and behaviors that are obviously opposed to the Bible.

Rather, what Peter is saying that we choose not to take offense at every little thing. Some sins are not worth confronting. Personal slights. Snide or ignorant remarks. Minor annoyances. All of those things can be easily forgiven for the sake of love.

Ok, but that doesn’t answer the question of why Peter places such an emphasis upon it. Remember, we’re thinking about this in light of the fact that the end is near. I believe he prioritizes it because of two reasons: 1.) Jesus ultimately covered our sin by the greatest act of love known to mankind – His death on the cross, and Peter wants us to practice this kind of love and forgiveness as a testimony to the gospel, and 2.) while there are many things that can kill a church, none is more bitter and hurtful and putrid that legalism – spending all our time seeing who can catch the other in more failures and sins. When we love wholly, we’re more prone to overlook minor offenses, tolerate provocations, and forgive sin.

As we prepare to gather at the Lord’s Table, let me conclude with this story. Way back in history class, you might have a slight recollection of a man named Charlemagne, or Charles the Great. He was King of the Franks (from 768), King of the Lombards (from 774) and was crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day (December 25) in 800 A.D. All of modern Europe is a result of what Charlemagne did in his quest for power and expansion. Charlemagne also met the Saracens (that’s the medieval name for Muslims) at the river in Vienna and turned them back to the east. If he hadn’t, we might be worshipping in a mosque, today.

There’s a story that’s told about a portrait of Charlemagne. He had recently fought at the Battle of Vienna, and as a result of that battle he received a rather nasty cut on his face. Well, apparently, he was supposed to sit for a royal portrait soon, thereafter, and people were afraid that the artist would capture the cut and diminish the king’s image. The painter was a strong supporter of Charlemagne and recognized the concern. So, he had Charlemagne pose with his sword held up, so that it would cover the wound.

That’s what Jesus wants us to do with each other. We’re called to love each other so much that our flaws are hidden by the love of Christ. That actually happened at the cross of Calvary. We were covered in sin and shame. We were wounded by the world and our sin. According to the prophet Isaiah, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6, NIV). But God, in His great love for us, covered that sin, covered that shame, covered that rebellion in the blood of His Son. And now, for those that have confessed their sin and repented of their rebellion and cast themselves upon the mercy of Christ Jesus, are seen by God in light of His amazing grace.

“Father, give us that kind of love – a love that simply refuses to be petty, that is quick to cover weaknesses, failures, shortcomings, even sins of our brothers and sister. As You have covered us so graciously with the righteousness of Christ, let us extend that same mercy to those around us. And now, O Lord, as we come to Your Table, we ask that the reality of this love be made manifest to us, as we meet with You. For we ask it in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.”

Culture War – 1 Peter 4:1-6

• August 29, 2022
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1 Peter 4:1-6

Well, we’re finally turning the page from 1 Peter 3 to 1 Peter 4. And I can assure you that although you think you’re glad to finally be moving on, I’m all the more relieved to see 1 Peter 3:18-22 in the rearview mirror, for the time being. So, take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 4. While you’re finding your spot, I want you to listen to this statement by Dr. Mac Brunson, pastor of Valleydale Church in Birmingham, AL. He said, “You’ll never drift your way into a direction.”

Drifting is interesting. As many of you know, I like to fish and one of the boats that I use is a kayak. Drifting is almost imperceptible, especially if there’s no wind. You move, but you just don’t know that it’s happening. That happens in life, too, you know. In fact, a lot of people think that they’re moving in a particular direction when what they’re actually doing is drifting. It happens so slowly. It’s not purposeful. We don’t set out to drift, but it happens. And it happens in every area of life.

We drift in our educational pursuits. Not really knowing what we want to do, or what we’re gifted at doing, or what God wants us to do, we drift. We can drift in our relationships. There are some of us here, today, (myself included) that allowed our marriages to drift apart. We didn’t set out to do it. It just happened. Or maybe there’s a special friendship that comes to mind. You just drifted apart. Work can become a drift. You can become so routine in what you do that you never think about it, and slowly but surely you begin to drift. It happens theologically and biblically. A lot of churches and denominations have drifted biblically and theologically. Maybe your own spiritual convictions have drifted. Some of you – in talking with friends and family – have noticed that either you or they hold convictions today that you would’ve never held 5, 10, 15 years ago. And you wonder what changed? Somebody drifted. It’s what happens when we don’t pay attention.

Peter is going to talk about that, this morning. What causes us to drift today is what caused some of those in the church of Asia Minor to drift. It was the culture. We can drift on the current of the culture and wake up and find ourselves in places we never dreamed of. Follow along with me, as I read 1 Peter 4:1-6.

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

“Again, O Lord, we look to You for the proper interpretation and application of this text. After all, You are the ultimate Author of sacred scripture. In the Bible, we hear Your voice, and we see Your expectations for us. We bow before it not because we adore paper and ink, but because we know it to be the veritable Word of the Living God. So, help us again, this morning, as we turn the page to a new chapter in this epistle. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

We’re in the midst of a culture war. I know that doesn’t surprise most of you, but what might be surprising is that what we’re experiencing was written about over 30 years ago. In 1993, Dr. Samuel Huntington, an American political scientist, adviser, and Harvard professor wrote a Foreign Affairs article titled “The Clash of Civilizations,” and listen to one of the things he said, “It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new [post-Cold-War] world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nations…will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.”

We’re in a culture war, and Peter comes to these first-century Christians (and by extension, you and me) and he says, “You don’t fit into this culture.” That’s why we constantly clash with the culture. That’s why we clash on social media. It’s why we clash with what’s on the TV and the constant news cycle, and all the rest. It’s because we’re believers in Jesus Christ. It’s because we consider ourselves Christians. It’s because we seek to live by and orient our lives around the things in this Book (the Bible). As Christians, we are aliens and strangers in the culture (or we should be). We’re called to imitate Christ, not the culture. And the more we imitate Christ the more that our culture will clash with us.

Billy Page wrote a song in 1964 that was originally recorded by Dobie Gray called “The ‘In’ Crowd.” Anybody remember that? (Peggy?) Here are the lyrics:

I’m in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes
I’m in with the in crowd and I know what the in crowd knows
Anytime of the year, don’t you hear? Dressing fine, making time
We breeze up and down the street, we get respect from the people we meet

They make way day or night, they know the in crowd is out of sight
I’m in with the in crowd, I know every latest dance
When you’re in with the in crowd, it’s so easy to find romance
Any time of the year, don’t you hear? If it’s square, we ain’t there

We make every minute count, our share is always the biggest come out
Other guys imitate us, but the original is still the greatest
Any time of the year, don’t you hear? Spendin’ cash, talkin’ trash
I’ll show you a real good time, come on with me and leave your troubles behind

I don’t care where you’ve been, you ain’t been nowhere
Till you’ve been in with the in crowd

Listen, you can either be “in” with the in crowd or you can be “in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 5:17) but you can’t be both. That’s what Peter is saying to us today. And the first thing that Peter says is there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Life

I hate it when a new chapter begins with a “therefore.” Obviously, the original letter wouldn’t have included the chapter and verse markings. So, the “therefore” is connected to what we saw last week. It’s calling for a conclusion predicated upon something earlier. What Peter has been talking about is Christ’s victory over sin, suffering and ultimately over everything. And in light of what Peter has just said about Jesus dying for our sins, he comes and says, “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

Peter, like Paul (in Ephesians 6:11), says that we need to arm ourselves with the full armor of God. We’re in a spiritual battle. And notice the Peter calls for a specific kind of weapon: “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.” Peter wants us to have the same “mind” that Jesus had. Again, it sounds a lot like Paul, doesn’t it. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). What Peter is saying here is that we ought to be thinking through everything that the culture throws at us. And the way that we should think through it is the way that Jesus did.

How are we to understand marriage today? Is it a man and a woman? Is it a man and a man? Is it a woman and a woman? How are we to understand gender? Boys? Girls? Is a biological boy that identifies as a girl a boy or a girl? And vice versa? Is it based on feelings or biology? How are we to think about it? What about racism? We’re supposed to think about these things the way Jesus did? You say, “Well Pastor, how did Jesus think about these things?” It’s in here (the Bible). Listen, if you’re not reading and studying and praying and meditating over the Word of God, then never expect to think like Jesus. We must be spending time in God’s Word daily. Why? Because I want the mind of Christ. I don’t want the mind of the culture.

Look at what he says, “for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…” Now that doesn’t mean that we no longer sin. That doesn’t mean that we’re completely and utterly holy. That doesn’t mean that we’re sanctified through and through. Well, what does it mean? Keep reading, “…so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” It means that we want to do the will of God. It means that we desire to pursue the will of God.

One of the things you learn when you read the Bible is that Jesus was always doing the will of God. What did we pray just a minute ago in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Who told us to pray that way? (Jesus.) In John’s gospel we read this, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. [I] can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me” (John 5:19, 30). Near the end of Jesus’ life, we hear Him say, “Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36).

Jesus’ way of thinking was to always seek to live and breathe and do in accordance with the will of the Father. And if we live with that kind of mindset, that kind of biblical view of life, then we’re going to be at war with the culture. It’s going to happen in the dressing room, and the bathroom, and the bedroom, and the classroom, and the boardroom. Secondly, Peter says there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Sin

Nobody talks about sin anymore (except the pastor at Mountain Hill Community Church). Sin? You can’t grow a church talking about sin. Look at verses 3-4 again, “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.”

The verbs that Peter uses here for “doing what the Gentiles want to do” and “living in” these lifestyles speak of the enticing nature of sin. Doing what the Gentiles want to do is the single Greek verb katergazomai (katá = down, ergázomai = work). So, literally, it’s “working down to the endpoint.” It speaks to the enslaving nature of sin. That habit you can’t break. That passion you can’t shake.

The next verb is translated by the ESV as “living in.” Your translation may be “enjoyed” or “walking in” or “having pursued.” It’s a Greek word that means “to peruse.” It’s what I try to do when I go into Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops. Guys, it’s what you do at the hardware store, or the knife and gun store. Ladies, it’s what you do at the antique store or the mall. You’re walking around looking at things, picking things up, debating about whether to buy it or not. Peter says, “That’s what you’ve done with sin.” You’ve walked around it. You’ve toyed with it. You’ve tried out this, that, and the other thing.

Now, I don’t have time to go into each of the sins that Peter outlines here but I do want you to know that there are 3 for drinking, 2 for sexuality, and 1 for idolatry. We might think it should be the other way around, but no. And I thought about that, and isn’t that just like our culture. Think about when you were a teenager. Think about when you went off to college. What was the first thing that you were introduced to? Alcohol. He hits what most of us think are the little sins – little beer, little wine cooler, little liquor. Just loosen things up a little, ease the tension. Then, when you’re out with your girlfriends, when you at the frat party – guys, those of you that were in the military, when you finally got leave and end up with a few too many drinks – what comes next? Sex. Sometimes with people you don’t even know. And before you know it the party lifestyle is the only lifestyle. It’s become an idol. Now Peter’s list isn’t just limited to these specific sins. “Doing what the Gentiles want to do” is a catch-all term. So, none of this thinking that I’m home free.

The third verb that he uses in these verses is xenizó. It’s the Greek word that means “shocked, surprised, and offended.” The culture is surprised. They’re shocked that we don’t run into sin with them. By the way, the Greek word for “join them” or “run with them” is the word suntrechó. When most of us were growing up, our parents would say, “Hey, who are you running with?” We knew they weren’t literally asking us who we were going on a 5K with. They meant, “Who are you spending your time with? Who are your friends and what are they getting into?” Now, you didn’t have to actually commit the crime or the sin, but it was bad enough being associated with those that did.

Listen to me, church, that’s exactly where the culture has many Christians cornered today. It’s not that the culture wants us to participate in the sin with them, they just want us to go along with the sin that they’re already involved in. This is where a lot of Christians stand, “Well, it may be okay for you, but it’s not okay for me. If that’s what you want to do, then you go ahead. If that’s the way you feel. If that’s your truth.” And a lot of churches have drifted biblically and theologically where we okay sin in the lives of other people, and by extension, the culture at large.

Peter isn’t afraid of reminding us that it’s time to be done with that stuff. Peter isn’t afraid of calling out certain behaviors and lifestyles that are sinful, that a morally wrong, that are incompatible with those that claim to follow Jesus. Peter isn’t afraid of talking about sin and calling things what they are. Do you know why? Because Peter doesn’t want the church to drift. Peter doesn’t want his readers to drift. When we stop talking about sin, when we close the door to sermons about sin, when we no longer have a place in our study for sin, then we begin to embrace it. We’re in a war with a culture that doesn’t believe in sin. Finally, Peter comes and says there’s a…

Culture War Over A Biblical View Of Judgment

The culture doesn’t accept that reality. The world doesn’t believe in a day of final judgment. When the Church says, “Hey, folks, there’s coming a day when every single person that’s ever been conceived in the womb of their mothers will face the great Judge of all the earth,” they hate it. The idea of judgment is so repulsive to our culture that you’ll suffer for believing it. Look at verse 5, “but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” You don’t die and come back as another person or an animal or anything else. The overwhelming testimony of sacred scripture is that when we die, we stand before the Judge of all the ages. No purgatory. No intermediate state to think things over. No second chance to get it right. No, you die and then the judgment.

The other part of this is Philippians 2:10-11, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” There are at least two things that I know for certain: we’re going to die and then there comes the judgment, and when we hear the name of Jesus Christ – I don’t care who you are, Putin, Trump, Biden, Xi, Un, Zelenskyy, whoever – we’re going to bow to Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. And the only question that remains is: are you bowing in worship or are you bowing in utter defeat and domination?

Let’s end with verse 6, “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.” Quickly, let me explain this. This verse is not saying that we need to go outside to the cemetery and preach to the dead. And it’s not supporting the idea that when you die, the gospel of Jesus is preached to you just in case you never heard. What Peter is saying is, “Hey, you know those friends and family members that have been killed for their faith? You know those Christians next door who were recently rounded up by the Roman government and executed? They heard the gospel. They believed the gospel. And although they died at the hands of evil people (i.e. the flesh), they’re alive in the Spirit.”

Man can’t do anything about that. The government can’t do anything about that. Communism can’t do anything about that. Listen, radical atheistic secularism can’t do anything about that. They can do to me whatever they want, but they cannot take away my faith in Jesus. And if you know Jesus, then there’s nothing in this life: not losing a child, not losing a house, not losing a 401k, not losing the election, nothing can separate us from the love of God if we’re in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Paul said, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Come to Jesus, and let’s get out of the culture.

“O God, we’re in a war, and we know it. Yet, for many of us, we’re unprepared. We left our armor in the closet. We’re fighting with our own intellect, with our own logic, with our own strength and charisma, and as a result we’re drifting – farther and farther away from You and Your Word. Others may be here this morning, and you’re not drifting, you’re sinking. You don’t know Jesus. You’ve never been told to have the mind of Christ. You’re sinking in sin, and you need to trust Jesus. You need to confess your sin and put your faith, as little or as big as it is, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Father, in these moments, make what’s difficult to do easy to do. For we offer this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.”

Victory Over Trouble – 1 Peter 3:18-22

• August 22, 2022
• Pastor
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1 Peter 3:18-22

I hope you have your copy of God’s Word with you this morning, because you’re going to need it. You need it, first, because that’s what I preach from around here. As helpful and entertaining as books and blog posts and magazines and newspapers and Twitter feeds might be, none of them is the veritable Word of God. The second reason you’re going to need a Bible is because we’re going to be looking at several verses that you won’t believe are in the Bible, and I want you to see these verses for yourself. I’ll put them on the screens, but there’s something about seeing them in your Bible that makes it more personal. So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 3.

As you’re finding your spot, let me also take just a moment and tell you that unless you like to listen to sermons in your spare time, it’s quite likely that you’ve never heard a sermon from 1 Peter 3:18-22. There are many of you here this morning that have grown up in church, and you’ve heard hundreds, if not thousands, of sermons in your lifetime, and yet I’m certain that there haven’t been many (if any) from 1 Peter 3:18-22. Some of you might be new to church. Some of you might be visiting today. If so, you’re dropping in at a very special time.

Put a star beside today’s date and hold on to the bulletin, because I can assure you that you won’t hear many sermons from this text. And that’s because 1 Peter 3:18-22 is probably one of the three most difficult passages in the entire Bible. It’s not just hard to understand theologically, but it’s hard to understand structurally and grammatically. Hopefully, you’ve found your spot. If not, just follow along on the screens:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.

“Our Father and our God, as we always do when we look at Your Word, we do not stand upon our own devices or our own abilities, as fragile as they are, but rather, we seek Your help. We pray that You would grant us the Spirit of Truth to illumine these difficult passages for our understanding. Again, we ask that You would guard us from error; and if I should preach anything that is in error, that it may not cause harm to Your people but that it would fall into the sea of forgetfulness. At the same time, Lord, I pray that I might speak the truth of Your Word and that You might use it to quicken our consciences and our souls. For we offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Some of you may be familiar with a statement that’s used in church circles, whether it’s the less formal local church Bible study or the more formal theological training of seminary, that goes like this: “When you read the Bible remember, the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things!” The idea behind that statement is that we shouldn’t get too preoccupied by the parts of Scripture that we may never fully understand until we meet the Author face to face, but rather focus on the parts that are clear.

However, there is a place and a time to wrestle with passages like this, and although church may be the place, I want you to know that today’s sermon isn’t the time. But I’m reminded of humorous remark by a dear mentor of mine, Dr. Alistair Begg, who said, “Having said that I’m not going to get into it, let me get into it enough to let you know that there’s something to get into, and to let you know that I’ve gotten into it enough to be able to get into it if you want to phone me up at the office.” Sounds a little bit like Abbott and Costello, doesn’t it?

Seriously, before we plunge into the thickets, we need a map. First, I want you to note that the passage begins and ends with Christ’s resurrection. If you read v. 18 and skip down to v. 22, then you get the familiar sequence: Christ suffered, died, was raised, and ascended to sit at the right hand of God. Sounds remarkably like a creed, yeah? Well, Peter wants to use this sequence as an encouragement to Christians when they suffer. So that’s where the argument is headed: Christ suffered for sin, but Jesus won victory over sin, death, and the grave . . . and that should be an encouragement to us in our times of trouble. I believe that’s the point of the entire text. And I want us to pick it up with verse 18 and just walk through it together until we get to verse 22. Verse 18 illustrates Christ’s victory over sin.

Victory Over Sin

Can we have victory over our sin? Yes, we can. How do we know this? Because Christ gives us victory over our sin. Verse 18 is one of the great verses of the New Testament to memorize in order to share the gospel with others, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Jesus didn’t die because of His sins. He had no sin. The Bible says (in 2 Corinthians 5:21) that, “God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” It’s very clear. Jesus died for our sins. That’s how Peter starts this off. Jesus suffered for me. Jesus suffered for you. And the word that Peter uses there for “suffering” is the Greek word epathen. It’s the root word for another Greek word, pathos. It refers to the heavy emotion, the passion, the strong feelings associated with Jesus’ death. So, what he’s doing is describing the process of Jesus’ death and not just the event. Peter is reminding us that Jesus’ death wasn’t some instantaneous, simple death. Jesus was in absolute agony, and horrendous pain – suffering. Why? Because of our sins.

Also notice that it was sufficient. “For Christ also suffered,” what’s the next word? Once. Peter’s audience and many of you, if you’ve read your Bibles or been to church often enough, would be familiar with the Old Testament Jewish system of sacrifice – how the priests were constantly offering sacrifices for themselves and for the sins of the people. And that’s why the Jews looked forward to the day when the Messiah, the Lamb of God, would come and take away the sin of the world once and for all.

Flip to your left, over to Hebrews 9. The writer of Hebrews is intent on showing how Jesus is superior to everything. He begins in chapter 1 talking about how Jesus is superior to angels. Then he talks about Jesus being superior to Moses. Then he moves and talks about Jesus being our Great High Priest, even better than the Old Testament high priest, Melchizedek. In Hebrews 9, let’s pick up with verse 24, “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:24-28).

Flip over to Hebrews 10 and we’ll pick up with the latter part of verse 9, “He [Jesus] does away with the first in order [speaking of sacrifices] to establish the second. And by [God’s] will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:9-14).

Now, I want to be careful here, but I also want to tell you the truth. Please understand that I’m not seeking any division or disharmony in any way with what I’m about to say, but rather that we might appreciate Christ’s victory over sin. Many of us have friends that are Catholics. Perhaps you grew up in the Catholic Church, yourself. There are many areas of theology and doctrine that Protestants and Catholics agree upon, but there are some areas where there remains a divide and this is one of them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (p. 344), paragraph 1367, which quotes directly from the Council of Trent (1545) reads as such:

The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.” “And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner . . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.”

Loved ones, make no mistake about it, the Bible does not teach an ongoing, perpetual sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the Cross was sufficient for all time and the value, and significance, and merit of Jesus’ suffering on the Cross was so infinite that to repeat it is to demean it.

Lastly, and then we’ll move to what you really came for, notice that Jesus’ death was successful. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God…” Now, the way that sentence is translated could convey a sense of doubt, but let me tell you; in the Greek, it’s a purpose clause with the Greek word hina. Hina is a subordinating conjunction that means “for the purpose of” or “in order that” or “so that” He would bring us to God. There’s no doubt, whatsoever, that the price that Jesus paid on the Cross of Calvary was successful in providing victory over sin.

Now, let’s move to verses 19-20, which is the real reason that many of you are here today. If not, if you’re visiting with us, then it’s certainly one of those verses that causes you to ask, “What in the world does that mean?” Well, it demonstrates Jesus’ victory over suffering.

Victory Over Suffering

Verse 18 ends with the reality of Jesus’ death, “being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” There’s nothing confusing there. According to the Bible, when we die, our spirit will continue to live. If it didn’t, then there wouldn’t be any support for heaven and hell. Why have a destination if there’s no being, no essence, no spirit to inhabit it? Jesus died, and after His death His spirit still lived. That’s all that’s being said there. Now, some of your Bibles might have Spirit with a capital ‘S.’ That’s okay, too. Romans 1:4 and 8:11, both give indication that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that resurrected Jesus from the grave.

It’s this next part where things get interesting, “in which [that’s a reference to His spirit] He [Jesus] went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison…” Let me tell you, there are more interpretations of this little verse than I can share with you today. However, very quickly, let me offer to you the three classical views.

1. That Jesus descended into hell and preached a message of redemption to those people that died in the flood at the time of Noah. [In this view, the term “spirits” is seen as a reference to human people, His “preaching” was a message of redemption, and “prison” is seen as a reference to hell.]
2. That Jesus’ Spirit – that is, the Holy Spirit – preached a message of redemption through the person of Noah to those people that died in the flood. [This view is like the first, except it wasn’t Jesus Himself, but rather the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit – working in and through Noah that proclaimed the gospel – a message of redemption to the people of Noah’s day.]
3. That Jesus descended into the depths of the earth/hades and proclaimed a message of victory to fallen angels/demons. [In this view, the term “spirits” is seen as a reference to fallen angels, the “preaching” or “proclamation” is not a message of redemption but rather victory, and “prison” is not strictly used as a reference to hell.]

Now, part of the pastor’s job is to offer instruction and clarity on these types of matters. But, when it comes to the task of preaching, which is what I’m doing now, it’s incumbent upon the pastor, through prayer and study, to be convicted in his spirit as to what the passage is saying and to offer it to the congregation. I’m going to show you why and make my application, and then we’ll move on, but I believe that the best interpretation is number 3 – that Jesus descended to the depths and proclaimed a message of victory over sin and suffering to the fallen angels. Now, this is why you need your Bibles.

First, flip over to 2 Peter 2. Peter’s second epistle; just a few pages to the right. Starting at verse 4, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Tartarus] and committed them to chains/pits of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials/temptations, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority” (2 Peter 2:4-10). Now, we read that because Peter is more specific in his second letter that these “spirits” were angels. And I want you to note how verse 10 ends, “especially those [angels] who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority,” because I think that description connects with another verse, we’ll see in just a moment.

Now, flip over to Jude – a little one-chapter book before Revelation. We’ll begin with verse 5, “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day – just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 1:5-7). Jude, likewise, speaks of angels that sinned. They didn’t stay within their position of authority. They rebelled against God, and they left their dwelling, and now they’re kept in chains until the day of judgment. Isn’t this fun?

Now, as if this hasn’t raised a whole bunch of questions, let me invite you to turn to Genesis 6. One thing I know for sure; lunchtime conversation is going to be lively. I can hear it now, at the Fuller house, Steve says, “Janet, I think Pastor Lee was on drugs today.” Genesis 6:1-4, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.’ The Nephilim/giants were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” And immediately after this awkward exchange we get the account of the flood. Now, there are multiple interpretations of these verses as well but, in the Old Testament, every time that the phrase “sons of God” is used (Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7) it refers to angels – in this case, malevolent angels/demons.

Let me offer one final reference, and then we’ll quickly conclude. Colossians 2:13-15, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities [a.k.a. malevolent angels/demons] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the cross.”

So, I believe all these scriptures support the idea that what Peter is sharing with us is that Jesus, after His death, made a proclamation of His victory over sin and suffering (as Colossians says) to sinful, malevolent angels/demons. And, if you think about it, this makes sense. What have we seen since we started looking at Peter’s letter? He’s writing to suffering and persecuted believers and offering them a word of hope, a word of encouragement amid a chaotic and alien and hostile world. And, in Peter’s mind, there’s nothing more encouraging than to be reminded that when Jesus died, He went a proclaimed His victory to all those that rebelled against Him, didn’t believe in Him, and rejected Him. So, too, if we persevere in the face of suffering and persecution and trial and hardship and keep our eyes on Jesus – the Author and Perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) – then our suffering will end in victory to the praise and glory of the Father.

I would love to talk about what Peter says regarding baptism, but our time is short, so let’s drop down to verse 22 where we see that this victory is supreme.

Victory Supremely

Where is Jesus in verse 18? He’s on the cross. Where is Jesus in verses 19-21? Proclaiming His victory over sin, death, and the grave to all those that mocked Him, all those that scoffed at the gospel, all those that refused to believe. Where is He in verse 22? He “…has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.”

It’s extremely hard in our day not to get caught up – to one degree or another – in all the commentary and rumination and opinion surrounding politics and Washington, D.C. Who’s the President? Who’s going to win this race or that race? Which party is going to be in majority control or no control? Maybe politics isn’t your cup of tea. Maybe you’re focused on business or career or education – climbing the ladder, working toward that corner office on the top floor, studying for another degree, hoping to be awarded tenure. Never forget that Jesus ultimately holds every title, every position, every authority, every rule, every dominion, every power, and indeed every breath of every man, woman, and child alive. He . . . is the title-bearer and the title-giver, and He is victorious and authoritative over the affairs of life and time.

Do you know this Jesus – the One who is victorious over sin, suffering and the grave, the One who is the Supreme Victor, the One who hold
your very life in the palm of His hand? Have you had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross of Calvary for your sin? Have you recognized and acknowledged your sinful state and, in total surrender, thrown yourself upon the grace and mercy of Christ? Do you know that you have victory in Jesus?

I heard an old, old story
How a Savior came from glory
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me
And I heard about His groaning
Of His precious blood’s atoning
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory

That’s our text in song, right there. That’s 1 Peter 3:18-22 set to music. I’m going to pray and then we’re going to close by singing Victory in Jesus. When we sing that song, that’s your invitation. Invitation for what? Invitation to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Just come down here and see me, and I’ll walk you through it. Maybe you’ve already done that, but you need to take this invitation as a time to recommit your life. Maybe you’ve been attending services here, enjoying the fellowship and discipleship and you want to commit to becoming a member. Maybe, just maybe, there’s someone here this morning that’s feeling the call to vocational ministry. It happened to me, and it could happen to any one of you. However, the Lord is dealing with your heart this morning, when we sing, then you come.

“Look upon us, gracious Father, I pray, in these final moments of our morning worship. As you see our hearts – an open book before You – grant to us grace, wherever we are on the spiritual pilgrimage of our lives that we might know the reality of what it means to enter into the benefits of Christ’s victory over sin, suffering and the grave. Help us to trust in You, and You alone, for our eternal hope. For we offer this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Homecoming Service – Part 2

• August 16, 2022
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*NOTE: Our AV team had an issue with the recording.  The service was captured in two (2) segments, and we missed the offertory trio.  This is the second half of the service.

Homecoming Service – Part 1

• August 15, 2022
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*NOTE: Our AV team had an issue with the recording.  The service was captured in two (2) segments, and we missed the offertory trio.  This is the first half of the service.

Dawn Smith Jordan in Worship

• August 8, 2022
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Dawn Smith Jordan is a Christ-follower who began her relationship with Jesus at 9 years old. She is a Christian speaker, singer/songwriter, recording artist and published author. A former Miss South Carolina and 2nd Runner-Up to Miss America, you may have seen her on various TV programs including the Billy Graham Crusade Classics, Forensic Files, or her family’s movie on Netflix.

She is the mother of 2 grown children, and as an empty nester, makes her home in Columbia, SC. She loves Jesus, family, friends, sushi, Hallmark movies, and the beach. She is a simple southern woman who is passionate about sharing the message of hope God has written into her life.

In the Midst of Trouble – 1 Peter 3:13-17

• August 1, 2022
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1 Peter 3:13-17

Well, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 3:13-17. If you’ve been reading along over these several weeks, then you know we’re getting ever closer to one of those mysterious passages – the one about Jesus going to proclaim or preach to spirits in prison. What’s that all about? Well, come back for our Homecoming service on August 14 and that’s when I’ll be preaching that text. Next week, we have the wonderful opportunity to hear the testimony and music of Dawn Smith-Jordan.

This morning, we’re going to continue to be encouraged, by Peter, to take a stand in the midst of our troubles. As we’ve noted previously, this is a letter that’s being written to Christians that have been scattered across Asia Minor in the midst of an ever-increasing persecution by Rome. The people receiving this letter, the churches that are circulating this letter are feeling like aliens and strangers in this world, and we sympathize with them. We, too, feel like aliens and strangers in our world and our country and perhaps even our own communities this morning. Our values, our principles, our passions, our worldview is so different from those around us and we’re finding encouragement in what Peter has to say. Follow along with me, now, as I read our text:

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

“Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept Your Word. Silence in us any voices but Your own, so that we may hear Your Word and, in hearing it, that we may also do it; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

How are we, as a Christians, supposed to live in a culture, in a society with a government that’s growing in its antagonism toward our beliefs?

Right Response to Undeserved Trouble

A lot of the trouble that we face in life is not deserved. It’s not fair. It’s not just. But let me tell you something; sitting around and whining about everything being unjust and unfair won’t do us any good. And that’s why Peter offers this rhetorical question, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” Some people say that Peter sounds an awful lot like Paul, right here. Remember Paul’s statement in Romans 8:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? Who is to condemn? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39).

Ultimately, nobody can harm you. If you’ve trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation, then every day is a win/win proposition for you. If you die, you win. You go to be with your Lord and Savior. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23b). If you continue living, you win. You’re able to fellowship with family and friends. “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account” (Philippians 1:24). Now, that’s how some people understand what Peter is saying here.

But there are others that read Peter’s words and, understanding the context in which he’s writing, say, “Peter? Come on! There’s an entire world out there that can harm me. Nero is killing Christians by the hundreds because of their refusal to call him Lord. There are people in 21st century America that would like nothing more than to physically harm a Christian for their beliefs. Have you seen the vitriol and violence towards Christians since overturning Roe vs. Wade? Peter, you’ve got to be kidding.”

To those folks, Peter writes verse 14, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled…” This is a third-class conditional sentence, which means this is the most likely outcome. You could read it as “since you are going to suffer.” Peter says, since this is most likely going to be a reality for you, have no fear and do not be troubled. Prove yourself zealous, prove yourself to be passionate about what is good. Don’t acquiesce to evil. Don’t stoop to the level of the world. Don’t give up on righteous living. If there’s one thing that Satan wants from us, it’s to be less and less passionate about Jesus Christ.

This is what Satan has been after since he fell. He wants to take worship away from God. He wants to take worship away from Jesus Christ. He doesn’t care what you worship or what you’re passionate about or what you’re zealous about, so long as it’s not Almighty God. He’s doing everything he can to get you to re-route your passion for other things. Satan’s goal is to take praise away from God the Father. He wants us to become so frustrated, so bored, so aggravated in our Christian journey that we begin to pour that energy and passion for God’s Word and right living into other things: golf, fishing, politics, family, an Alma Mater, it doesn’t matter.

And Peter’s encouragement is since this is most likely going to happen, don’t forget that you’ll be blessed. Have no fear of them and don’t be troubled. In the midst of trouble, in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of people wanting to harm you, live in such a way that they will be compelled to ask you where your hope comes from (v. 15).

“Why are you like this? Why don’t you just break down and cuss me out? What don’t you just break down and lose your temper and get red in the face and scream at me? Why don’t you just act hateful to me, since I’ve been acting hateful towards you? What in the world is going on inside of you?” That’s the whole reason that we live this way. Every single trouble we face is an opportunity to share the witness of Jesus Christ.

Recount Your Blessings in the Midst of Trouble

All I could think about was that old hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr. titled Count Your Blessings. That’s essentially what Peter is saying right here in verse 14, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” Put your finger there and go back with me to John 15 for just a moment. Let me take you to that Upper Room with Jesus and the disciples and listen to what Jesus says only a few hours before His death. John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” Then down in verse 21, “But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” Jesus says that if we’re truly following Him, then we’ll suffer for righteousness’ sake.

You may not suffer imprisonment and torture like they do in other parts of the world. You may not suffer threats to your family’s safety like they do in other parts of the world. You might not even have your property taken or family members separated like other parts of the world. But you might be ridiculed. You might be overlooked at work or school. You might have people roll their eyes or shake their finger at you. You might have someone write some hurtful comments on your social media accounts. You might hear something via the grapevine – the best way to hear about something.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Recount the blessings of your life. God has blessed every single one of us financially. We’re all financially blessed. We’re among the top 5% of wealth in the world. Nobody in this place (today) lives in a shack made of reclaimed tin or tarps. There’s not a single donkey tied up in the parking lot – oh sure, that 4×4 might ride like a mule and you might call it a bad name, but none of us rode livestock or walked to get to church today. God has blessed us educationally, vocationally, and in so many other ways, but don’t forget that not all blessings are physical or financial or visible or tangible. We have blessings that are being stacked up in heaven.

Listen to Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…” That’s eternal. That house you live in is going to burn up one day. That car you drive is going to rust out one day. Those clothes you’re wearing will become threadbare one day. But you have eternal blessings in the heavenly places when you have Jesus Christ. Nothing can touch that.

Reaffirm Your Commitment to Jesus

Look at verse 15, “[B]ut in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” Now this doesn’t have the impact that it’s supposed to have if we don’t keep it connected to the end of verse 14, which reads, “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled…” We need to stop acting as though we’re afraid of everything. Who’s going to be President. Who was President? What are they going to do in Congress? When is the economy going to collapse? Stop being afraid. There’s no need for fear. “How do I do that?” Honor Christ. Fear God. Don’t be afraid of the interest rates, or gas prices, or groceries. I’m not saying those things aren’t important and that we can (or should) insulate ourselves from having conversations about them. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m simply saying don’t live in fear.

“[S]anctify the Lord God in your hearts” (NKJV). Fear Him. Honor Him. Commit your life to Him. Re-commit your life to Him. Dedicate yourself to Christ. Because, let me tell you something, He’s the One who ultimately secures and stabilizes your life. He’s the One who keeps you. He’s the One who provides for you. Set Him apart from everyone and everything and recognize His holiness and recommit your life to Him supremely. Worship Him. Honor Him. Sing to Him. Pray to Him.

Peter says, “[B]ut in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” and he says, then you’ll “have a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (v. 16).

Many of you know that I’m a student of history. I really enjoy reading history and studying history. I’ve confessed my obsession with Wikipedia many times, and yes, I’m aware that it’s not 100% accurate, but this is true of any human endeavor. Anyway, one of the biographies that I just finished reading was Doctor Sangster.

William Edwin Sangster was born in 1900 into a humble home in Shoreditch, London, the son of Anglican parents. In a fragment of autobiography, he wrote: “I believe that I was born to be a minister. I cannot recall a time in my life when I was without a sense of holy vocation. It did not derive from any conviction in the mind of my parents, who had never so much as entertained the thought. But I felt the pressure of a directing hand upon me from my tenderest years. [In] my teens, seeking what I came to regard as a deeper and more personal experience of God I drifted from the church of my baptism and early training and associated with the people called Methodist, and when the time came for me to join the army on my eighteenth birthday, I was already a local preacher. [A]rmy life tested me and deepened me. The strange Man upon the Cross haunted and held me all the time. I came out of the army convinced that His was the only way and I offered myself for the Methodist ministry. I had four years training in college and was put on sound lines of scholarship.”

He ministered in Bognor, Colwyn Bay, Liverpool and Scarborough, attracting large congregations in each place. In 1936 he was called to succeed Leslie Weatherhead at Brunswick Church, Leeds. It is a sufficient tribute to his power as a preacher that he should have been selected as the successor of the most popular preacher in the Methodist Church.

His longest and most memorable ministry was at the Central Hall, Westminster, where he succeeded the veteran Dinsdale T. Young. Sangster had the largest Sunday evening congregation in London, filling the 2,500 seats in the Hall. That’s Sunday night, folks! And they did that for 16 years.

During World War II, when the bombing began, he threw open the vast basement of the Central Hall to the homeless. They say he had a little red light on the pulpit that would illuminate whenever the Germans would start bombing. When that little light would come on, he would stop preaching and usher everyone downstairs to the bomb shelter. It’s reported that during the Blitz (on London) they served over 500,000 people. For five years he and his family made their home there and William and his wife slept in the men’s restroom. (Ladies, be thankful you’re not sleeping in the men’s restroom.)

He lived through a lot of trouble. But the greatest trouble in his life was at the end, when they diagnosed him with ALS. This is what he said when he received the word:

1. I will never complain.
2. I will keep my home bright.
3. I will count my blessings.
4. I will try to turn it to God’s gain.

In other words, when I get to the place in my life where the trouble is so great that all I can do is take that one muscle, that one finger and point it to God, that’s what I’ll do. That’s what we do in troubled times.

“Lord, we reaffirm our commitment to You this morning. One of the ways that we do that is by coming to Your table. One of the many blessings that is ours by virtue of Your grace is the reminder that You died in our place. You died for our sin. You died in order that we might be restored to a right relationship with our heavenly Father. So, God, as we come to this table, we ask that You visit us anew by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order that we might be renewed and transformed in spirit and mind to reflect the love of Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.”