Self-Indulgence Vs. God's Will 1 Peter 4:1-6

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Ok, I hope you heard some of that.
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Doing what you want, when you want. That's what hedonism is. It's the pursuit of pleasure.
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And this morning as we continue our sermon series through 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter, as he writes to the churches in Asia Minor, he tells them what the goal of their life should be, and he tells us as well.
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So this time I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to 1 Peter 4. We'll be looking at verses 1 -6.
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And if you don't have a Bible, we do have those red Bibles. And this sermon is titled
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Self -Indulgence vs. Godly Living. Self -Indulgence vs.
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Godly Living. And I'm going to begin by reading these verses.
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1 Peter 4 -1 -6 Since therefore
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Christ suffered in the flesh, 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.
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For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
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With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.
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But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
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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
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God does. Here's our big idea. Live to save your life, not destroy it.
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Live to save your life, not destroy it. And we're going to see five disciplines how in this text, but before we jump in, let me give you a little recap of where we have been.
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It's been a couple weeks since we've been in 1 Peter. Two weeks ago, Doug preached from Jude, and last week we had the
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Harvest Service where I preached the parable of the sower from Matthew 13.
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Three Sundays ago, when we were last in 1 Peter, we looked at 1 Peter 3, verses 18 -22.
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And in that passage, we saw that the Lord rescues His people through judgment.
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We were pointed to the ancient flood that the Lord sent on the earth where only eight were spared.
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The ark was the shelter that the Lord provided for Noah and his family.
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What Peter explained is, just as the ark saved Noah and his family from the waters of judgment, so anyone who finds refuge in Christ is spared from the judgment of God's wrath as Jesus bore the full fury of God's wrath when
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He went to the cross. Now this leads us to our text, once again, that we've already read, but now we will zero in on.
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I'm going to begin by zeroing in on verse 1 where Peter interestingly says, he says, Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
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When this letter was written, there were no chapter breaks. The chapters in Scripture were added in the
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Middle Ages and then the verses after that. And we're so blessed to be able to navigate the
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Bible with those chapter breaks and verses. But sometimes it can be confusing because he's continuing his thought from the previous chapter.
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So Peter is going from the end of chapter 3 where he writes about Christ's suffering on the cross as He paid the full penalty for sinners, and he keeps describing
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Christ's suffering in verse 1 as Peter writes that Christ suffered in the flesh. What Peter does, as he has already done in this letter, is he presents
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Jesus as the ultimate example for sinners. He is the ultimate example.
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The example he gives is that Jesus was willing to suffer for others, and He did suffer for others when
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He died on the cross for sinners. Those who are willing to suffer for the glory of God show something very important about themselves.
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What they are showing is that sin doesn't have a hold on them any longer.
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It doesn't mean they don't sin, but there's a clear difference here. It doesn't have that hold, that power that it once had.
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One author writes this. Peter's point here is that when believers are willing to suffer, the nerve center of sin is severed in their lives.
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Although believers will never be totally free from sin in this life, when believers endure suffering for the sake of Christ, they show that their purpose in life is not to live for their own pleasures, but according to the will of God and for His glory.
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Once you become a Christian, the focus of your life is not I'm going to do what I want, when
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I want. The focus is on, Lord, my life is for You.
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I want to live my life for You. The Apostle Paul writes about this in 2
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Corinthians 5, verses 14 and 15. The love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died, and He died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.
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The entire goal of your life changes when you become a Christian.
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You are willing to do the hard things as you follow Jesus. Pleasing the Lord becomes your aim in life.
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Now Christians need to grow to be prepared to suffer where we will follow
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Him even when it costs us much. Not just a little, but much. This is one way you know you are growing in the faith.
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Are you willing to do things at a great cost to yourself? Are you willing to put yourself out there for Christ knowing that you will get pushback?
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Are you willing to make a sacrifice that's hard to make? Every Christian has a little bit of this in them that they live for the glory of God.
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But all mature Christians are willing to put themselves on the line for Christ.
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When suffering comes your way, you don't mope that the suffering is preventing you from your selfish pursuits.
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Rather, you see all of your suffering as being under the will of God. What you realize is that all of it is by His design to strengthen your faith and to glorify
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His name in your life. True believers have the right attitude when it comes to suffering.
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This suffering comes in all kinds of ways. But chiefly, in this context, he's talking about persecution.
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These churches that Peter is writing to, these churches in Asia Minor, they're facing persecution. And he's saying
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Christ suffered and you need to have the same way of thinking in your suffering.
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It's not about selfish pursuits. It's about living for God. If you are willing to be persecuted for Jesus, you are showing that your life is not all about your own dreams, your own selfish path.
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And we saw this one week ago in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. In that parable, we saw four seas and four soils.
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The second seed is planted on soil that looks soft, but under the surface it's rocky.
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Because of the softness on top, this seed looks like one that is going to be successful.
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But since it has no deep root, it falls away. What Jesus explains is that this person falls away from Christ at the moment when opposition from the world comes.
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Once this person realizes that following Jesus in this world is living life upstream, this person no longer wants to be a biblical
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Christian. But what Peter describes in the second half of verse 1 in our text are people who fit in the good category.
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Peter is describing the fourth seed and the fourth soil. Sin doesn't lead this person away from God, but rather the
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Spirit's presence in this person's life leads one to follow the Lord. One evidence that this person has crossed from death to life is a person's willingness to follow the
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Lord no matter what life throws at you, including the opposition that inevitably comes.
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The willingness to suffer for Christ shows the genuineness of this person.
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So, as we've seen in this first point, live to save your life, not destroy it. And the first discipline, how? It's through making yourself willing with God's help to suffer for Christ.
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Making yourself willing with God's help to suffer for Christ. The second discipline, how?
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You're to live to save your life, not destroy it. It's by living for God's desires, not sinful passions.
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And as you can see, this one ties in with the previous point. So let's look at verses 2 and 3 where Peter once again writes,
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So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God.
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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 idolatries.
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Now at the end of verse 1, Peter describes ceasing from sin. Last week
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I shared the quotes that I've heard that are very helpful to me in understanding what the Christian life is supposed to look like.
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It's not the perfection of your life, but it's the direction of your life. It's not that you are sinless, but you do sin less.
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Believers will fight with sin until the day you die, but a day is coming when you will no longer sin in thought, word, and deed.
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That day is when Christ returns or you die. Once a believer enters the presence of Christ, you will be sinless.
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And this is something you should know about me. Maybe it's not that important, but I'll tell you anyways.
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My favorite line of any hymn is this line from the famous song, Come Thou Fount. Oh, that day when freed from sinning,
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I shall see thy lovely face. Clothed then in blood -washed linen, I shall sing thy sovereign grace.
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Come now, Lord, no longer tarry. Take my ransomed soul away. Send thine angels now to carry me to realms of endless days.
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He's describing this longing. One day, you'll be without sin.
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Because you know what sin does? It hinders our fellowship with God. The best thing we can do in life is have fellowship with God.
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And it's hindered because of our sin. Even the sweetest moments we have with God are hindered. But a day is coming when that will be removed.
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That day will come for the believer. And with this in mind, let's understand verses 2 and 3.
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So what Peter is saying is as you follow Jesus, life is not about living for selfish pursuits.
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It's about living for Him. Which includes the willingness to suffer for Him.
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He says it this way in the remainder of verse 2, as you live in the flesh, you no longer live for human passions, but for the will of God.
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Peter writes that the Gentiles live for human passions. And you are not to live this way.
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Gentiles here is figurative to mean unbelievers. Because in the Old Testament, the
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Gentiles were not God's chosen people. That was Israel. And most Gentiles were not followers of the
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Lord. As Peter is writing to these churches in Asia Minor, there certainly would have been Gentiles in this group and they would have understood what he's talking about.
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He's not pointing to them. They're following the Lord. He's just saying, don't live like unbelievers.
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What Peter writes is that living like these pagan unbelievers should be in their past.
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It should be in the rear -view mirror of their life. As he writes this, the time that has passed suffices for doing what the
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Gentiles want to do. It's in the past. It should be in the past for the
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Christian. Then he lists their human passions. This is how unbelievers live.
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He gives a sample list here. He says, sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, lawless idolatry.
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And you might think this is describing 21st century America. This is what the world is like.
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This is what the world was like before the flood came. This is what the world was like 2 ,000 years ago when
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Christ walked the earth. This is what it's like today. And it might even be worse as we move toward the return of Christ.
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This is what the world is. Work hard during the week so you can get to the weekend and party.
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Now that's not everybody, but that's quite a few people in this world. Now I grew up in a conservative
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Christian home. This doesn't mean I was kept from every vile thing.
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But what I found out in my early to mid -twenties is that I was kept from quite a bit. As many of you know,
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I worked as a sales representative for a running shoe company, the brand Brooks. And that's when
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I met Mark. Brooks, there we go. It was meant to be. And twice a year, we were required to attend sales meetings, and honestly,
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I felt filthy even being there. In the old days, I remember going to my dad's parties at his work.
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And his workplace, while secular, was mostly family friendly. Brooks Sports, on the other hand, was far from family friendly.
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It was much more like Sodom and Gomorrah. At these meetings, there was swearing, crude joking, heavy drinking.
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The women were immodest. And there were probably worse things that happened that I didn't see. I was a
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Christian who felt out of place. And here's a little story here too.
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I used to dread going to these meetings, and I'm like, Lord, show me one
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Christian. Because I was thinking, if there's a rapture, nobody's going to know it. There's no Christians here.
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So I said, Lord, show me one Christian. And I prayed before one of these meetings, and I went. And they had assigned seating.
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And at these tables, there's this guy sitting to my left, and I'm like, I like this guy. And every meeting, every gathering we had, we would connect, and we really hit it off.
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And I think it was like three nights in, I discovered he was a Christian. The Lord answered my prayer.
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And it was amazing too. On the plane ride, I'd have a Christian. And I was like, okay, the Lord provided, because he knew
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I needed that encouragement. But at these meetings, it was awful. And it was a godless environment.
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And I remember one of these meetings I went to, I got on the plane on the way home, and I just needed to be cleansed.
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And I remember opening up my Bible and reading 2 Timothy. And I felt like water was coming over me as I read it.
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This filthiness is what the world is like. I've heard it said that when you come to faith in Christ, you are either saved from this or saved out from it later on.
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Before my dad became a Christian, in his late 20s, he was in this environment. And he wanted out, and it was at this time that he came to know the
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Lord. Living for one's own sinful passions feels good for a time, but how empty it is.
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The alternative to living for human passions is to live for the will of God, as Peter writes at the end of verse 2.
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When we hear that phrase, the will of God, we need to understand what Peter's talking about. He's not talking about what's God's plan for your life.
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In this text, that is. He's not talking about God's will for human history. Other places in Scripture talk about that.
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What he's talking about here is living out the moral will of God. You could summarize it as the two greatest commandments.
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Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. That's what he's talking about. Living for His will.
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His righteous, moral will. This means thinking, talking, and acting like Jesus.
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As we read earlier in 2 Corinthians 5, when you come to faith in Christ, a change happens. You no longer are to live for selfish desires, but you are to do what
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God wants you to do. Sin no longer has dominion over you as it once did, and you can actually live your life for the first time for the glory of God.
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And this increases over time. It's supposed to. That's God's design for your life. He rules your life.
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When you become a follower of Jesus, you join the greatest mission this world has ever known. This mission has simply been defined as being and making disciples of Jesus Christ.
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It is no longer to live it up like the world. It is so much better than that.
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It is the mission of being a soldier of the cross. It is following Jesus yourself and calling others to follow
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Him. It is a life of helping others grow and calling people to come to faith in Christ from the darkness that they find themselves in.
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So the plea from Peter to his readers and to us is to no longer live like the world.
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That time has passed, and you know how empty it is. Don't go back to it.
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Live for Christ and His kingdom, and God will be glorified through your life, and you will forever be satisfied.
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We are to live like that. So live to save your life, not destroy it. And the second discipline how is through living for God's desires, not sinful passions.
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The third discipline how you are to live to save your life, not destroy it, is by recognizing that the world sees you as strange.
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We'll see this in verse 4. As the world lives this way, pursuing every selfish desire, they look at you like you are from outer space.
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With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.
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So he writes, they're surprised. These hedonistic people, these pleasure pursuers, these people don't get it.
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They don't get why you don't follow the same course that they are on. These people think that they have discovered the meaning of life.
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That pursuit that Solomon described in Ecclesiastes 2. That meaning is to live it up.
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It is not to deny yourself of any pleasure. The goal of life is self -indulgence.
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The belief is don't worry about tomorrow, just have a good time. When people get drunk, this is what they do.
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They drink, drink, and drink, and they don't want to think about how horrible they will feel in the morning.
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People who have sex outside of God's design don't think about the consequences. And there are all these diseases that come when sex is not done
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God's way between one man and one woman in marriage. When it's not done in God's way, it destroys families.
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But they do this because it is self -indulgence without thought of the consequences. People who do drugs don't think about the consequences, but rather to satisfy their lusts, their instant gratification.
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And what happens is their lives are in peril. Now in verse 3,
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Peter described heinous sins like drunkenness and orgies, but he also says lawless idolatry.
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Lawless idolatry is a general sin. It is when one worships the wrong things.
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Think about our culture. Think about Taylor Swift. Everybody's talking about her.
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She's the big name. She's become an object of worship in our world.
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And Brianna has told me they call her mom and whoever she's dating, every six months she has a new boyfriend, whoever she's dating, dad.
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It's like a cult. She becomes an object of worship. And it's interesting. If you look at what the devil did to Jesus, he says
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I will give you all the kingdoms of the world. Think about how many people Satan has done that with down through history.
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He picks someone out, makes them famous, people worship that person. But when
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Jesus was offered that, he said nope, not taking it. He knew what the will of God was.
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He would reign one day. But this is what the devil does. He picks people out so that people will worship.
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That's lawless idolatry is what it is. And it's something that is everywhere in our culture.
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Lawless idolatry can also be good things like your favorite hobby. It can be making good things idols.
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But one's heart is not focused on Christ and therefore one's life is full of idolatry.
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Those who live for their idols, whether the most heinous kind or even good things that become one's worship, they are not living for eternity.
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In 1967 there was a song written by the singing group The Grassroots titled Live for Today.
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And the chorus of that song says Sha la la la la live for today and don't worry about tomorrow.
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Some of the people here remember that song. Half of the song is true. We shouldn't worry about tomorrow.
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Jesus said that. We're supposed to trust in him and not be anxious. But the idea of let's just enjoy life, not worry about the consequences, not worry about our responsibilities, let's just get the most pleasure we can possibly get, that's not
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God's plan for your life of course. And when we don't live this way, when we live for the will of God instead, the world thinks it's strange.
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They wonder why we wouldn't join in. Remember, they falsely think that's what life is about.
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This life is just to have a good time. Make the most of it. And when they see you reading your
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Bible, going to a Bible study, going to a Sunday service, spending time with other
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Christian friends, even evangelizing people to become a Christian, and as you spend time with these
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Christian friends, there's no alcohol present, they think it's strange. You can have a good time without beer?
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When Brianne and I were planning our wedding, we made the decision not to have alcohol. And we had people there who thought that was madness, to have a wedding without alcohol.
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But we and many others, guess what? We had a good time. And when people look at one man and one woman in marriage, they look at that as boring.
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One person for life? And this is why some men and women don't want to get married, but rather be serial daters.
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They think, let's have the fun of dating, the thrill of dating, without the responsibility, without the difficulty that comes with marriage.
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People think that going to church on Sunday, going to Bible studies is boring. But when you haven't tasted that the
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Lord is good, as Peter writes in 2 .3, you can see why they think this way.
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The world thinks that pursuing these sinful passions is what it's all about. They think they are the ones getting the most out of life.
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Not you. You're wasting your life. We're the ones having the good time.
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Look what you're doing. But I say this all the time. My favorite time of week is gathering with the people of this church.
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I love Wednesday night Bible study. It's the only time of the week, they call me a reverend, by the way.
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The moment I walk out that door on Wednesday night, I'm Pastor Seth again. So come to Wednesday night and you'll experience the fun we have.
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I love men's breakfast. We had a great breakfast yesterday. Keith made a great meal and we just had a great time of fellowship and learning.
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And that's always a blast, every single month. And I know the ladies, what a hit Friday morning Bible study is.
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People drive by here on Friday morning, why are there cars? Why is the parking lot packed every Friday morning?
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It's because the women are coming. They enjoy that time together, that rich study and that rich fellowship. And most of all,
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I love Sunday mornings. This is when we all gather together. We all gather to worship the
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Lord and to grow together. And as you experience these gatherings, you get it.
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But the world who doesn't understand this richness because they haven't tasted that the Lord is good, thinks it's strange that you don't join in with them.
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They think it's strange and as the end of verse 4 says, they malign you. The unbelieving world mocks
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Christians. They call you a Bible thumper, a pew sitter, a religious person, and they don't realize the life they're missing out on.
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They think that living for their own selfish desires is life. But how greatly mistaken the world is.
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Live to save your life, not destroy it. And the third discipline, how, is through recognizing that the world sees you as strange.
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The fourth discipline, how, you are to live to save your life, not destroy it, live to save your life, not destroy it, is through understanding that the godless will be judged for their wicked ways.
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Now we get to the tragic end of those who pursue this hedonistic life. In verse 5 where Peter writes, but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
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Judgment day is coming for those who live for their own sinful passions.
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As Peter says, they will give an account and the one to whom they will give an account is the one who sees all things.
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We've talked about this before that at the final judgment there will be no need for a jury.
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The one that everyone stands before is the living God, is Christ in fact, as scripture says.
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And he knows everything. He knows every detail from every person's life.
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He knows every wicked thought, every evil deed, every evil thing spoken, everything neglected that was supposed to be pursued.
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He's going to know everything. Everyone is going to give an account one day.
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And there are two judgments described in scripture in which every person on earth will be present. One is the judgment seat of Christ described in 2
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Corinthians 5 .10. This is the judgment for all believers. This judgment is not about whether or not someone gets into heaven.
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This judgment is about one's rewards for the age to come. Those who are the most faithful in this life will receive the greatest rewards in the age to come.
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Some Christians will not have much reward but will still experience the sweetness of heaven.
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The other judgment is the great white throne judgment. This is described in Revelation 20 verses 11 through 15.
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And the hedonistic people described in verses 2 through 4 of our text will be at this judgment. And this is such a sobering passage.
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I'm going to read it here. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
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And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. The books were opened.
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Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.
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And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
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Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
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And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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So as we see here, these people described in verses 2 -4, these hedonistic people, this is their end.
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Verse 5 says, they will give an account. Their selfish pursuits lead them ultimately to the lake of fire.
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And what we learn is that no one gets away with their sins. The one who lives for self -indulgence will pay the ultimate price in hell where they will be under God's judgment forever and ever.
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So live to save your life, not destroy it. And the fourth discipline, how? Is through understanding that the godless will be judged for their wicked ways.
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And here's the fifth and final discipline, how? You are to live to save your life, not destroy it. And that is through realizing that the deceased believers are alive through Christ.
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Now this next verse is one of those verses where you're like, what in the world is he talking about? But this is what he says in verse 6.
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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
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God does. Now when you first look at this verse, it sounds like Peter is affirming post -mortem salvation.
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What is post -mortem salvation? It's the belief that when you die, you get another chance.
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You stand before Jesus, and Jesus says, okay, you rejected me in this life, do you receive me now?
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And who's going to say no to that, right? It's either, okay, heaven or hell. I mean, that's not how it works. The Bible does not teach post -mortem salvation.
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Hebrews 9 .27 says, it is appointed for man to die once, and then comes judgment.
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In our context, in verse 5, Peter just got done telling us that those who pursue self -gratification will stand before the judge.
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And I explained the great white throne judgment that says that they will be thrown into the lake of fire.
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What the Bible teaches clearly is that right after death, people enter either heaven or hell.
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And all people will either be designated as the cursed or the blessed for all eternity.
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So if Peter is not describing people having a second chance after death, what is he saying?
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We need to first understand the identity of the dead. Peter says that the gospel was preached past tense to the dead.
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The dead are those who once lived, but live no longer. These dead are those who had that the gospel preached to them, that Jesus died a substitutionary death on the cross for their sins.
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These people, during their life, believed that He died and rose again on their behalf. In the middle of verse 6, they are judged in the flesh the way people are.
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What Peter means by that is that they die physically. Even though believers face no judgment, as Romans 8 .1
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says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Even though this is true, because believers live in a fallen world, they still experience the curse of physical death.
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Just like animals face the curse of physical death. Think about that. Animals don't die because of their sins.
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They die because of our sins. Because the earth is cursed because of our sins.
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Now, when a believer dies, we don't face any punishment the moment we come to faith in Christ.
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The punishment has been completely removed. Which means that even physical death for us, it's not judgment like it is for the unbeliever.
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It's the transition from this life to our future home with the Lord. That's what death is.
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But we still experience it because it's a part of the curse of the fall. So that's what
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Peter means when he says that they're judged in the flesh the way people are. They die physically.
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But as a believer dies, this wonderful transition takes place. A transition described at the end of verse 6 where Peter writes that these believers might live in the
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Spirit the way God does. When a believer dies, he or she lives in fullness of joy in the presence of the
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Lord. And at first, it's with the Spirit. Anybody who dies before the rapture, their spirit leaves their body.
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They enter the presence of God who is also Spirit. And they remain there until the day when
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Christ returns. And when Christ returns, what Scripture says so clearly in so many places is that the dead in Christ will rise and the believer's spirit will be reunited with their body and they will receive a glorified body that will never decay but will be indestructible forever.
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A body like the body Jesus has. The body that Jesus has, he's had for 2 ,000 years ever since he rose from the dead.
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That's the kind of body we're going to have. And it will never die. This is what
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Peter's saying here. You enter this intermediate state first with the
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Spirit. Because humans are made of body and spirit. And then one day, you'll be reunited with your body.
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So, to bring all of this into conclusion, live to save your life, not destroy it.
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And in this text, we've seen five disciplines how? Through making yourself, with God's help, willing to suffer for Christ.
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Living for God's desires, not sinful passions. Recognizing that the world sees you as strange.
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Understanding that the godless will be judged for their wicked ways. And as we just saw, realizing that the deceased believers are alive through Christ.
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They are alive through Christ. Now, next Sunday, Peter focuses on the blessing that the
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Lord calls us to be to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And specifically in the context of the local church.
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So, I look forward to looking at that with you. But as we saw today, when you learn of Christ and come to him, you understand that following him is the path of joy.
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And the worldly hedonistic path is only the path to death. At this time, let's bow our heads in prayer.
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Father in heaven, we do thank you for your word. And what it teaches us every single week.
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And Lord, we see how empty, how destructive this pursuit of pleasure is apart from you.
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And truly Lord, when we follow you, we are truly the ones pursuing pleasure. Because Psalm 1611 says, in your presence there is fullness of joy.
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At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. And my prayer, Lord, is that everyone here would understand it.
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Everyone here would live by that. Everyone here would be on that course and growing and being more like you and less like the world is, which pursues these sinful passions.
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And help us not to care what the world thinks. They think it's strange. But help us not to care, but to truly be strange to them and live a godly life,
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Lord, where you are pleased. And that would be what we care about. In Jesus' name, Amen.