Arm Yourselves: Part 1

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Arm Yourselves: Part 2

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Today I'd like to speak to you about, I've taken from the text, Arm Yourselves.
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This will be part one of a two -part series. The Lord willing, it may go to three,
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I don't know, but we'll see how far we get. So please open your Bibles with me to the epistle of 1
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Peter. We'll return back to our study. 1 Peter chapter 4. As we now continue our study through this wonderful epistle, he speaks much about holiness.
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You can see this throughout his epistle. He's very practical in his applications, his doctrine.
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Not quite as systematic as the Apostle Paul, but he gets the point across through the
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Holy Spirit. So chapter 4 basically gives to us a full summary of what it means to live for God.
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Much to be said here on sanctification means to follow Jesus Christ.
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What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ? And he actually unpacks this. It's a wonderful chapter.
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A wonderful chapter. So we only have just this chapter and chapter 5 to go.
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The Lord willing, we'll be going to 2 Peter. But this chapter, the
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Apostle speaks about instructions and righteousness to God's people and how they are to live godly.
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The Bible tells us much about how to live godly and how to live godly in a hostile, filthy world.
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We have the influences of the world outside of us and we have our sin to deal with within us.
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As Brother Keith mentioned this morning. Let me read to you these first 6 verses.
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There's more verses that follow, but we're going to stop at verse 6.
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Hear the word of the living God. Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with this same understanding.
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Because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin. In order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God's will.
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For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the
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Gentiles choose to do. Carrying on an understrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.
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They are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of wild living. And they slander you.
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They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead.
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So that although they might be judged in the flesh according to the human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God's standards.
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Stop right there and let's pray and ask God to help us. As we go before His word and ask
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Him to cleanse us and wash us and do a sanctifying work within each and one of us. Father, you have blessed your word.
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Father, we thank you that you have blessed it. You've honored it.
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And Lord, as we hear it, give us ears to hear, O Lord. And give us a heart to perceive.
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Father, how utterly dependent we are upon you today. And every day that we live.
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Help us not take these moments for granted. Lord, as we come to you in Jesus' name, we ask of your help through your blessed
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Holy Spirit. Give us the understanding. Understand your truth.
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Father, we know who the true teacher is. Surely is it this preacher. But it's your spirit.
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The spirit of truth, our teacher be. Showing us the things of Christ to me.
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Father, I would pray that you would search our hearts through your precious word.
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Your word, Father, reads us. It's living. It's powerful. It's effective. It's sharper than any two -edged sword.
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Penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit and joints in the marrow.
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And Lord, you said it's able to judge the very thoughts and intentions and motives of our hearts.
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It judges us. It judges us. So, Lord, as it turns judgment and light beams upon our own sinful heart, may we just look to the one that's able to cleanse us and wash us in his precious blood.
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As John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world.
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Father, we thank you for Jesus. May we see his beauty this morning through the pages of Holy Writ.
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And we ask these things in the name of Jesus and for your glory. Amen and amen.
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It was the Apostle Paul's prayer in Romans 7, 24. And then he cried out and says,
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Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?
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The question is who, not what. Not a program, not a technique, not something
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I can do, but who, who shall deliver me?
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He cries out for deliverance from this body of death. So then it's not the cry, is not this the cry,
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I should say, of every believer in Jesus Christ to be delivered from this body of death.
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Verse 25, verse 24 gives us the question, verse 25 gives us the answer.
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Paul gives to us this answer by the Holy Spirit. It's profound, but it's simple.
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Matter of fact, I think people get so caught up in the web of complications and confusions that we've lost the simplicity in Jesus Christ.
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But actually that he, Jesus Christ, is the answer. And that's what Paul said. Thanks be to God.
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He gives thanks. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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Our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself am serving the law of God, but he says, my flesh, the law of sin.
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So there he gives the answer. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the answer.
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He's the answer to any struggle or conflict that we have this morning.
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Reminds me also in the Old Testament, as you well know, the Old Testament provides for us ample examples for our admonition.
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You could turn with me there, but 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 6 through 11. Let me read that to you.
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And this tells us the examples that is given to us through the Old Testament scriptures.
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It gives us warnings, by the way. Warnings that we need to take heed to.
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Verse 6, now these things took place as examples for us, the apostle includes himself, for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.
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Don't become idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to party.
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Verse 8, again he says, let us not commit sexual immorality.
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First he says, do not become idolaters. Now he says, do not commit sexual immorality.
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And by the way, sexual immorality is idolatry. It's idolizing something else.
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It's idolizing self. And he says, do not commit sexual immorality as some of them did.
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And in a single day, 23 ,000 people died. God judged them. 23 ,000.
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Verse 9, let us not test Christ as some of them did. Now he talks about testing
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Christ. Test Christ as some of them did and they were destroyed by the snakes, by the serpents.
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Verse 10, then he says, and don't grumble, don't complain as some of them did.
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And were killed by the destroyer. God hates complaining. God hates grumbling. Verse 11, these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our instruction on whom the ends of the ages have come.
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Now that's an eye -opener, isn't it? Well, beloved, let me say this.
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Remember this one truth. And we're going to be looking at this in 1 Peter chapter 4, but it speaks about sanctification, how we could live godly lives.
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One commentator said it this way, casual Christians always become casualties. I want you to think of that.
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If you're casual, you're in trouble. Casual Christians always become casualties.
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We've all been there. Let's be honest. Stagnated water stagnates.
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Steel water stagnates and it draws parasites, doesn't it? It stinks.
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Casual Christians always become casualties. Makes me think of an example,
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King David. King David's a good example here. Man after God's own heart. Brother Keith brought us a psalm of repentance, the joy of forgiveness last
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Lord's Day, and I really appreciate that message. Thank you, Brother Keith, for exalting the
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Lord in that. Those 11 verses of how we can find joy of forgiveness in God.
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But 2 Samuel chapter 11 verse 1 gives us a great commentary and it's insightful.
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Let me read it. You could go there. In the spring when kings marched to war.
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That's interesting. Springtime. This was a time when kings marched to war.
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David sent Joab. Here's the first mistake he does. He sends
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Joab with his officers and all of Israel. They had victory.
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Scripture says they destroyed the Ammonites. Besieged Reviah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
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There you have the text that tells us some insight of David's mistake that led to sin.
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He remained in Jerusalem. Sage Spurgeon in his commentary on this says something very insightful.
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Let me give you Spurgeon's notes here. David remained in Jerusalem. David never refused to go to battle while he was harassed by the adversary
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Saul. So long as he was hunted like a partridge on the mountains, David's character is spotless.
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His zeal is unraveled. But now, a stealthier foe is lurking in the ambush.
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While the devil assails us on the right hand and on the left, we will hardly be able to rest on the couch of carnal security.
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The dog of hell, by barking in our ears, keeps us awake. But when he ceases his howling, our eyelids will grow heavy unless divine grace prevents it.
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That's good. Spurgeon goes on to say this. When we are no more driven to our knees by furious assaults from hell, we will have good cause to cry out,
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Lord, let me not sleep like the rest, but let me stay awake and be self -controlled.
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The Christian has got to stay to say, I'm sorry, now I am saved. I have no doubt about it.
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But the crown of my salvation encircles my head. But the next temptation will be this.
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Soul, take your ease. The work is done. You have attained.
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Now fold your arms. Sit still. We must be careful, he says, when we have no doubts.
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Whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. 1 Corinthians 10, 12.
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Pride sets in. Spurgeon goes on to say, now thank God for our full assurance.
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But nothing, but nothing but careful walking can preserve it.
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This is the temptation of assured believers, Spurgeon says, to sit down on the throne and say,
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I will sit in my glory forever and see no sorrow and need no longer go to fight the
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Lord's battles. End quote. Do you see that? Complacency is a deadly foe.
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Being casual will bring casualties. Complacency.
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Let us beware of complacency. It's deadly. We must be on guard.
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We must be ready. And always watching, always watching and praying.
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Jesus said that many times. He just didn't say pray. Prayer is very important.
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But the watching, that's where the fall comes. We're not watching.
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We're not in the battle. Amos chapter 6, verse 1 says this,
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Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria.
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The notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes.
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In one sense, as I was studying this, there's a word ease. It's healthy. It's good. It's really good in the biblical context.
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Because even the invitation that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to those who were under the strain and the burden of the law under the
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Pharisees, which was a heavy burden. He desired to release them from that heavy burden of trying to keep the law.
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Jesus gave them the invitation in Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me all that you're weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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You're a burden. I will give you rest. Rest for your souls. Now, in that sense of the biblical context, ease is good.
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We need to rest in the Lord, right? But there is another rest and another ease that's not so good.
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And that is the ease of carnality. The ease of fleshly security.
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The ease of letting back and backing off in the battle. And folks,
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I'm telling you, we're seeing this today by the droves. And we're seeing people fall by the wayside because they were easing up.
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They're easing up. It's a carnal, fleshly security of easy believism and cheap grace.
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It's bringing people down. The kind of ease that hides sin from his own eyes, thinks he's concealed it from God, is hiding from God as Jonah tried to hide from God in a boat.
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But this kind of ease and peace of one who has grown callous, hardened, even stupid, and careless, and who has fallen asleep while the enemy comes in on a
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Trojan horse. We see this happening. And surely this will bring anyone that falls prey to this casual kind of Christianity, so to speak, shall make, could even make his bed in hell.
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I'm telling you how I know this. And the language I know I'm saying is strong, but all you have to do is read the book of Hebrews.
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The book of Hebrews is an epistle of warning. And I've been reading commentary from John Owen, the
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Puritan on Hebrews, and it's been absolutely awesome. I tell you, it's changed my life.
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But time and time again, there's warnings. There's warnings. Take heed. Take heed. Constantly.
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And oh how there are so many warnings from God, from the pages of Scripture. We see, we hear
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God constantly saying, Take heed. Watch and pray. Jesus told
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His disciples before they fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, At least you enter, watch and pray.
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At least you enter into the temptation and fall prey to the enemy. And of course, they fell asleep in the most critical moment in Jesus' ministry.
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And that's when Jesus prayed hardest. And as you know, when
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He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, His prayer became so, so strong and so powerful, in the sense that His sweat became blood.
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That's praying. We know nothing of that kind of praying, folks.
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Now in saying this, we go back to our text, to chapter 4. And that's the light in the introduction
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I'd like to give in this, because it's speaking of how we are to follow Jesus Christ, how we are to serve
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Him, how we are to live before God. And Peter gives attitudes.
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The attitudes that he gives is godly attitudes, that we're to have and be faithful in our living before God.
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You know, that's really what true Christianity is. Our living is before men. Men are watching us.
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But ultimately, our living is before God. Before the face of God.
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Because God is our judge. God is the one that takes note of everything, our motives, our thoughts.
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And you all know as well as I do, we're not perfect by a long shot. We fall short of that, don't we?
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But Jesus never had an impure motive. Jesus never had an impure thought.
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Jesus, everything He did was absolutely perfect, perfectly pleasing before God. And there we have the act of obedience of Christ.
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And that's what we lean on. We lean on the act of obedience of Christ, in which is our righteousness comes.
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Because our righteousness is filthy rags before God. So everything that we do must be in Christ and in the
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Holy Spirit, right? This chapter is a wonderful sanctification chapter.
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And let me say this, buckle your seatbelts, because there's some strong words coming. That's just the introduction.
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Well, we'd have to be faithful before God. Look at verse 1 and 2.
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Verse 1 and 2 is an attitude of commitment. An attitude of commitment. This is the attitude that we as believers are to arm ourselves.
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Notice the language, to arm ourselves with. And in verses 3 through 6,
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Lord willing, we'll look at that next week. We'd arm ourselves with the attitude of wisdom, wisdom.
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There's true heavenly wisdom in how to live. But first of all, today, we're going to look at verse 3 through 6.
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And I just have one point. It's a simple point. We are to arm ourselves with commitment, commitments.
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Let's be committed. Let us have a full commitment before God and Jesus Christ.
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Verse 1 and 2, therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding, because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin.
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Verse 2, in order to live in the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for the will of God.
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First of all, note, there is a therefore. Therefore is there for a reason, right?
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We always know when there's a therefore, always go to your previous verses. So we get the right context.
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As we all know, context is king when it comes to interpreting the text. Therefore is there for a reason.
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Obviously points back to what Peter has written, has already wrote, I should say, in the preceding passage.
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And what he's speaking of, as we looked at in our last time, there's suffering.
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He goes on to, who then will harm you if you are devoted to sin? To what is good, but even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed.
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I'm reading verse 14 of chapter 3. Do not fear them or be intimidated. But in your hearts, sanctify
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Christ as Lord, as holy. Be ready at all times to give a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you.
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Yet do this with gentleness and reverence. What a beautiful combination. Gentleness, meekness, but do it in the fear of God and reverence.
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Keep in a clear conscience, a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.
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But it is better to suffer for good, for doing good, if that should be God's will. Then he talks about God's will once again, then doing evil.
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For Christ also, he's the example for suffering. Jesus the master suffered for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.
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He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in the past were disobedient.
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When God patiently waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in it a few, a few, that is eight people, were saved through water.
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Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.
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Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and power subject to him.
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And then you have it, therefore, see he brings the light of the context.
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In other words, what he's saying, because of what Jesus did at the cross, he endeared the greatest sufferings and the greatest agony known to any person on the entire planet, because this was the
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God -man dying under the divine judgment, the wrath of God, Jesus died, the just for the unjust, and yet it was there
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Jesus also accomplished for believers, his people, his sheep, his elect, that his greatest triumph over sin and its condemning power over the very forces of hell itself and over the very power of death.
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Only Christ did this. Don't we want to shout that to the world? Don't we want to say this is the victory in Jesus Christ, even our faith in Christ?
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John MacArthur says in his commentary, the cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate proof that suffering can lead to victory over the forces of evil.
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Therefore, therefore, that's why the therefore is therefore. Since Christ suffered in the flesh, aren't you glad for that?
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He suffered. He went all the way. He suffered for you and me.
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He suffered before God. He suffered in our place. He was our substitutionary sacrifice so that we may have eternal life.
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Arm yourselves. Arm yourselves. Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves.
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The battle is not over. Now, Christ won the battle. He's won the victory.
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But we're still here on this earth and we're still under a battle. We're still in war.
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The battle language means literally to prepare yourselves. This could be interesting.
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And what's he talking about, prepare ourselves? We'll look at that. Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, here we have the commitment that God calls us and it's nothing short of what
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Jesus Christ, that he set the example for us and we are his followers, to follow in his footsteps.
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Reminds me of what 1 John 2, 3 -6 says. This is how, I love that, underscore this.
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This is how we know that we know him. How do we know that we know him? If we keep his commands.
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That's underscore that. That's obedience. Our obedience to God.
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Now, that's outward, but the outward obedience basically is giving place of what has happened already in your heart.
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First, there's regeneration, then there's conversion, right? And that's what he's talking about. So, keep his commands.
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And then he says this, the one who says, we have a lot of people that says a lot, don't we?
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They say, James picks up that quite often. The one who says
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I have come to know him and yet doesn't keep his commands is a liar.
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That's strong language. Where do liars go? They don't inherit heaven.
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I challenge any person that's a so -called Christian, contradict that because those who practice a lie will find their selves in the lake of fire and brimstone.
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If we live a lie, that's strong language. So, a person could say, oh,
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I've come to know God. I've come to know Jesus Christ and yet doesn't keep his commandments. He doesn't obey
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God. The truth is not in him. That's the word of God.
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The truth is not in him. Did you get that? He doesn't have it in his heart.
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And then he says this, but whoever keeps his word, truly in him, the love of God is made complete.
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This is how we know him, that we are in him. And the one who says he remains, he abides in him should walk just as he walked.
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We are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. And this is what Peter is saying. Jesus suffered. Jesus is our example of the great sufferer.
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And basically what Peter is saying, don't be surprised that you're suffering too. And that's the way it is.
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You talk about this in the churches today and they look at you crazy and they think, suffering?
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You've got to be kidding. You can't even get people to come to church. That's the easiest thing in the
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Christian life. And then you start talking about suffering? Here we see obedience to God's commands constitutes a test.
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And that's what John is talking about. There's a test of genuine fellowship. There's genuine fellowship, the test of obedience.
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Obedience, which gives us the visible proof of salvation of what has happened on the inside of us.
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And you can read this in your devotion on top. We've already went through the book of James, right? James chapter 2. That whole chapter deals with that.
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The primary weapon here calls for an arming believers.
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Arm yourselves. Prepare yourselves. Prepare yourselves with the same understanding, the same attitude, the same purpose, the same principle that's manifest, that was manifest in Christ in His sufferings and in His death.
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It's almost as Paul is saying, have this, when Paul says it in Philippians chapter 2, have this attitude in you, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
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And you remember in that chapter 2, he's talking about unity among the believers.
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And then he starts talking about within that unity, we're to think as Christ thought, the way
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He would think. And then he speaks about how can you have unity? The unity is humility.
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You cannot have disunity with humility.
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Because when there is true humility, there is unity. And I'm talking about unity, not of just peace, but unity in truth.
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Because that's where the Scripture takes us if you read John 17. Jesus prays that. That they may be one as I and the
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Father is one. Wow, so our attitude is to have the mind of Christ in this, which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2.
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And so the same understanding Peter gets at here is the same attitude. It's an attitude. That's convicted.
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I've got to have this attitude. This has got to be part of me. This has got to be in my daily walk. This has got to be in my thought line.
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It's a principle. So this is a willingness and a commitment to die to self.
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Brother Keith touched on that. Christians know, true
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Christians know that death produces the greatest victory. Because out of death comes life.
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That's the way the principle works. And that's what people are bucking up against when they hear this.
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This is strong, but let me get right to the heart of it and where Peter heard this and where James heard this and where the apostles heard this and they're basically bringing commentary on it.
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But the principle is what the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, taught His disciples.
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Luke 9 .23, positively He says this, If anyone wishes or desires to come after me.
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And basically what are you saying? Okay, I'm the Master and you are desiring to follow me.
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He must deny himself. Did you hear that?
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As Jesus talked to Nicodemus, there was a must there. Must. It's got to happen.
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You must deny yourself and take up His cross daily. And follow me.
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Now there you have it. That's what it takes to follow Jesus. Negatively, He said that in Luke 9 .23.
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Then negatively, He says, And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
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That's strong language. And he who has found his life,
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Have you ever heard of people, How can I find my life? Jesus flipped that over.
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He says, you don't find your life. He says it right here. He has found his life, will lose it.
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So yeah, these people out there wanting to find their life, Just tell them, if you want to find your life, you're going to lose it. Lose it.
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Then they may look at you and say, I'm trying to find it. Then you can take them right to the text here.
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And Jesus said this, And he who has lost his life for my sake will find it. Jesus flipped it over.
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You've got to lose your life to find it. See, that's the gospel.
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As Leonard Ravenhill says, We know one thing about a man who leaves with a cross. He's not coming back.
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He's going out to die. That's what Jesus meant. Why is people playing games?
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Because they're being carnal. And they want Jesus for themselves. They want Jesus in a bottle, a genie,
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That they can whip up and get what they want. But Jesus says, you've got to die to yourself. Folks, what
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I'm telling you here is just ABCs of the gospel. When Jesus spoke of taking up the cross,
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His listeners knew exactly what he was talking about. The cross stands for execution.
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Crucifixion. The cross symbolizes death to self. And we suffer.
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And there's execution. And actually, that's what Peter is speaking of in chapter 4. Listen to A .W.
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Tozer. A .W. Tozer in his editorial,
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He wrote on the old cross and the new. I just got an excerpt here. It's one of my favorite devotions from Tozer.
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I read this back when I was right after my conversion in Bible college. And I read this and I said, I have got to eat
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Tozer's books. And since then, I've got a collection. I eat up Tozer's books. And because he was so focused on the old cross and on Jesus Christ and Him crucified in the doctrines of grace as well.
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But the old cross is a symbol. This is what he said, quote, The old cross is a symbol of death. He stands for the abrupt, violent end of the human being.
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The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said goodbye to his friends.
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He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended.
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The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing. It slew all the man completely and for good.
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It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel.
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It struck hard. And when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
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End quote. That's what the cross does. It puts the end of Adam's selfish desires in flesh.
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And this is exactly what it means when Jesus says, You want to follow me? You must deny yourself first.
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Not self -love as Brother Keith brought out this morning. An excellent devotion. And Jesus basically says,
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It's the opposite of self -love. You must lose yourself. You must die to yourself.
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And Jesus set that example. Listen to the Apostle Paul. We go to Scripture.
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Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 4. Look at 7 through 12.
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I love these words of the Apostle Paul. And by the way, 2 Corinthians Paul has to make a defense of his apostleship.
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Because of false teachers that were slandering him. Paul was a false teacher.
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So Paul had a tough time with this. Here's a man that's dead to the world. Dead to himself. And he has to make a defense for his own apostleship.
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And he speaks a lot of times in the third person, so to speak. But here, because he doesn't want to put himself on a platform by no means.
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So he speaks in that way. But here he says, Now we have this treasure. In verse 7, chapter 4.
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We have this treasure. Aren't you glad? Jesus Christ is that treasure. Jesus Christ is that pearl of great price.
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And clay jars. So that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
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That's the Apostle speaking. The power is in and of us that we have some special holiness.
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As Peter said in Acts. Then he says, We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.
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We are perplexed, but we're not in despair. We are persecuted, but not abandoned.
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We are struck down, but not destroyed. We are always carrying the death of Jesus in our body.
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So that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death.
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For Jesus' sake, so that Jesus' life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.
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And then he says this, So then death is at work in us, but life in you.
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You see the principle. Out of death comes life.
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Eternal life. And that's what he was talking about. Peter, arm yourselves.
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Arm yourselves with the same mind. Arm yourselves with that same attitude. To what?
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To die. Basically says you are to prepare yourselves to suffer.
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I was reading this and I said, This is so convicting to my own soul. Because I'm thinking, Am I really preparing myself to suffer for Jesus' sake?
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Am I ready to just not go to jail and lose all that I have if it's for Jesus' sake?
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Am I ready to go to the electric chair? Am I ready to be executed for His sake?
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Well, the martyrs felt that way. Before we can die outwardly, we must die inwardly.
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To the sin and the hell within us. And that's what he's saying. You see this in Hebrews chapter 11.
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Go to Hebrews chapter 11. Don't you love the book of Hebrews? Look, you know, these prosperity teachers, these false hirelings, these heretics, these shysters, they love this chapter.
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But I never heard one of them go to this end chapter. They always camp on verse 1.
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Now faith is the reality, the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. The proof of what is not seen.
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They always camp right there because they draw attention to themselves to have their own faith, to have a
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God that they can serve. And by the way, the God they have is not the God of the Bible. But the
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God of the Bible calls us to suffer. And we can prove it here because all the people in Hebrews 11 lived and died by faith.
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And they suffered by faith. What do you mean suffering? Well, here it is. Look at here, verse 32.
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What more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Japheth, and David, and Samuel, and the prophets by, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength.
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Gained strength and weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight. Oh, so far we see deliverance.
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We see God's mighty in battle. Women received their dead, raised to life again.
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Other people were tortured. Others were tortured. Now, that's where the faith teachers stop, folks.
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But this is what the Bible says. They were tortured, not accepting release so that they might gain a better resurrection.
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Others experienced mockings and scourgings as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned.
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They were sown in two. Sown in two. They died by the sword.
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They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. And then
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Scripture says the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts, on mountains, caves, and hiding in caves, and holes in the ground.
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These are godly men. These are godly people. All these were approved through their faith.
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But they did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us so that they would not be made perfect without us.
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And then, all of a sudden, He makes a transition. Therefore, take that therefore and read the preceding verses of one of the verses
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I just read. Since we also have such a large, a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, all those martyrs, all those men and women of God who died in their faith, let us lay aside every hindrance.
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Arm yourselves, folks. Listen to this. This is how you arm yourself. You lay aside every hindrance. Anything that hinders you from this walk, and going with God, and that sin that so easily besets us and ensnares us, let us run with endurance the race that lies before us.
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Keeping our eyes on the martyrs? No. They set the example, but then He says this.
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Keeping your eyes on Jesus. Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.
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He's the pioneer. He's the perfecter of our faith. And who for the joy that lay before Him, He endured what?
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The cross. The cross. Despising the shame, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself so that you won't grow weary and give up.
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You won't be encouraged? Look to Jesus. If you get weary, feel like giving up?
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Look to Jesus. Look to what He endured. That thing should encourage you.
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That encourages my soul. So every believer should expect to suffer for Jesus' sake. Turn with me to John 15.
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Let's hear it from the words of the Master Himself. Oh, don't you love
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John 15, John 14, John 15, John 16, the whole book of John, right? All of it.
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I like what R .C. Sproul says. Somebody asked him, what's your favorite verse in the Bible? He said, all of it. I said, amen.
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John 15, look at verse 18. If the world hates you, this is
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Jesus speaking, understand that it hated me before it hated you. He gives the reason why they hate
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Him. Listen to this. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. You're not part of the world, right?
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He says, however, because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out from it, out from it.
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You don't like the world. You don't love the world. The world hates you. Remember the word
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I spoke to you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
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If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name because they don't know the one who sent me.
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And if I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of the sin.
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That's the reason why they hate you. Jesus comes to expose their sin, our sin.
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And now that they have no excuse for their sin, the one who hates me also hates my father.
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And if I had not done the works among them that no one else had done, they would not be guilty of sin.
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Now that they have seen and hated both me and my father, but this happened so that the statement written in the law might be fulfilled, they hated me for no reason.
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Talking about the truth here, right? Jesus is truth. He's absolute truth.
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People don't like to hear absolute truth. Have you noticed that? They don't like to be exposed.
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They want to stay in their sin because they love their sin. And that's soul searching to us as well as Christians, even on a sanctified walk.
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And we walk with the Lord. God cuts our heart open. He fillets it open and turns the searchlight on and searches the reins of our hearts and our motives.
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And we think, wow, I did something with the wrong motive here. I was trying to be seen and pray to be heard.
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And I was... Are you with me? I've been there. He exposed you and says, no, you pray in secret.
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You're not to be seen. This is not about you. This is about my glory. That's what he's talking about.
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Arm yourselves. Be prepared to suffer. Be prepared to suffer for Jesus' sake. Endure persecution for Christ's sake and be ready to suffer for Him.
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And He will meet you. You know, Spurgeon said this. There's living grace and there's dying grace.
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And he said, don't you worry about that dying grace until the time comes and God will meet you. And you look at the martyrs.
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He faithfully met with the martyrs, didn't he? Here's another question.
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Are you finished with sin? Are you finished with sin? Have you made a break with it?
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You know what I look at in this text? If you go back to 1 Peter 4, it's sin or suffering.
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There you go. Sin or suffering. Which one will it be? On one hand, you know, we can choose to live like the world, like the unsaved, like everybody else that's going to hell.
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A lot of people have no problems with that, do they? They say, well, at least I'll party in hell and see my friends in hell.
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Friends, it's not like that. It's weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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It's punishment that's unbearable for all eternity where the wrath of God is poured out on the lonely soul forever.
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That's why we compel people to come to Jesus. People is, as we saw yesterday, and so much of the world is in their sinful pleasures and they enjoy their sin, right?
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The scripture says that they enjoy sin, but for a season. Avoiding persecution, avoiding the truth, or the person can live in purity and godliness and choose to suffer for Christ's sake, bearing the reproach of Christ, and suffer at the hands of wicked men.
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But the difference is one's only temporary and the other one's eternity. There's a huge difference.
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And this is what Peter's talking about. Every time we open this
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Bible, eternity's in view. Every time. You don't set your mind on things of this earth.
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You set it in heaven where Christ is. You know the way
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I look at it? Pick your suffering. Pick your suffering. Here as a believer, number one option, as a believer, to suffer for Jesus' sake, which is temporary, for His name's sake, bearing
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His cross, which is only for a short time in comparison to eternity. And by the way, if you suffer here for Jesus' sake, there's a great reward.
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Hallelujah. And Jesus says when you're suffering for Christ, for His sake, rejoice because a great reward's waiting for you on the other side.
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Now this is why Christians are looked at like crazy. Why do we do these things?
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Because we see things in the light of eternity. Before God, we've already seen,
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Luther said this. He said, I live, I got a two -day calendar, today and judgment day.
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I like that. So we suffer now for Christ's sake, which is only a speck can compare to eternity, or later in eternity, forever, suffer the wrath of God for on and ever and ever and ever in the lake of fire and brimstone with the devil and angels and millions of others.
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I tell you what, suffering becomes, Paul says this, all those sufferings is nothing in comparison to the glory that waits.
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You see, he got a glance, a vision of heaven and Christ and God.
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And that's what we need. That's what the church needs. That's what I need. That's what you need. Thomas Watson appeared and said it well, what fools are they who for a drop of pleasure would drink a sea of wrath.
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Doesn't that shake you? Doesn't that shake you? What about the scriptures?
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Hebrews 11, 24 through 26 says it best. By faith, Moses. I'm going to just take one example,
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Moses. Moses, when he had grown up, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
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He made a choice. He did. He chose to suffer.
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It says it in the Bible. He chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin for a season.
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Hallelujah. He got, what did
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Moses get a hold of? God got a hold of him, that's what. And then it says this. He considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater riches, greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt.
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He knew it was all going to perish, but not the treasures in heaven. And since he was looking ahead to the reward, just as Jesus for the joy that was sent before him.
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And beloved, that's what it's saying to us. That's how God graces us to deal with any sufferings.
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Keep your eyes on Christ and for the joy that's sent before us. Hallelujah. Because our time here is a shadow, a vapor.
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We're here for only a small, small moment in comparison to eternity.
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And God has purpose. And when we start looking at suffering becomes a vocation and a purpose.
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I'm preaching to myself here because no one likes pain. No one likes to be hurt. But folks,
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God has a comfort. He's the comforter. He comes to help us. He's a helper.
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He's a comforter. And he takes us alongside as a father taking a child and says, I'm going to hold you.
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I'm going to take you through. Praise God. I tell you, it's glorious.
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When you open up this Bible, it's glorious. One martyr said this. His name was James Guthrie.
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Guthrie, right before he was hanged publicly for Jesus' sake.
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This is what he said. This was his last words. Dear friends, I pledge this cup of suffering as I have done before you, before your sin, before your sin.
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And for sin and suffering have been presented to me and I have chosen the suffering part.
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Then they hung him. And then it was glory. Was it worth it?
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Was Jesus worth it? Look at Jesus. That's the creator.
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Became flesh. I was trying to tell people that yesterday. And they look at you like, what?
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You mean to tell me because of a man on a cross? You looked at it as fools and foolishness.
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But it's worth it. But it's the power of God unto salvation to us that believes. It's everything.
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It's everything. The cross. Well, I need to give some application here.
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God calls us to repent, break from sin. Are you finished with sin? And let me say this real quickly.
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It does not mean that sinless perfection is perfect. Brother Keith mentioned about eradication.
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We know that sin will not completely be eradicated in this life. What he's talking about is that total victory on the other side.
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But we pursue victory over sin. And why
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I'm saying this, there is a group of people out there that do teach a second blessing that somehow you can arrive to walk in complete sinless perfection.
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That's impossible. Look at Paul. That's why I started. Paul says, oh wretched man
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I am. If that's the apostle Paul, where am I? First John 1 says this.
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If we say we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves. And the truth is not in us.
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We do have sin. But what he does mean is this. That the power of sin in his life has been broken.
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He's finished with it. He doesn't practice it no more. He hates it. Even though he does slip and fall, as a righteous man gets up.
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Seven times he gets up and he keeps getting up. And he perseveres and he goes to God.
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And he says, Lord wash me, cleanse me. I repent daily. Jesus said it.
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John 8, 34, 35. Jesus responded, truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin, that means practices sin, is a slave to sin.
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He's enslaved to it. He's in bondage to it. And a slave does not remain in the household forever,
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Jesus says. But a son does remain forever. Aren't you glad you're a son?
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And if the son, then Jesus speaks of himself. If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
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In other words, you're going to have victory. But Jesus has to do it. Can't do it by performance.
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But there is sanctification. Work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling.
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So a man suffers because he refuses to sin, right? And he's no longer controlled by the will of the flesh.
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Verse 2, in order to live in remaining time, Peter says, in the flesh, no longer for the human desires, but for God's will.
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For God's will. My time is about gone. Let me hurry it up. What the apostle
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Peter is saying here, by the Holy Spirit, is that during the remainder of his life on earth, as a believer in Christ, he is not to be controlled by human passions.
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He's not to be controlled by the lust of the flesh. But the one desire that the child of God has is to do the will of God.
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Look at this in Scripture. Look at how Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke of the will of God.
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He that does the will of God. In other words, what he says, you can hear everything that I'm saying. The greatest sermon ever preached.
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And Jesus said, you could basically, there's two foundations. He ends the conclusion. And that foundation, one's going to be on sinking sand, and the other one's going to be on a rock.
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That's going to be stable. When the storms of life come, one's on the rock, one's on the sand.
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And both the storms come to both houses. We are like that house. It's our life.
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It's like that house. And when the storms of life comes, and pressing down on us, the persecutions, the only one that stands is the one that's built on the rock.
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And what Jesus is saying, the one that builds his life on me. You build your life on me, he said.
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And also the teachings of the apostles and prophets, of course. But Jesus is the chief cornerstone.
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Well, in our time, our little short time, in our journey through this life, when we suffer for Christ's sake, in the remaining of time, there should be one thing that we should be concerned about more than anything else, and that's the will of God.
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God's will is God's desires. Amen? God, what God desires for us, what God purposes for us, what
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God has for you and me, the purpose that God has for you and me. This is commitment.
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And this is commitment that Christ calls for. He no longer should live in the rest of his time here on this earth for himself.
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He lives for the will of God. Peter gave us two time references here, and I'm going to give them real quickly. That's helpful to have a right attitude in following Jesus Christ.
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The first one is the words, two words, no longer. That's key.
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In other words, we should live unto God, and we're not to live in sin.
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And we should answer every temptation and simple impulse with the reply, no longer.
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Now, if you read it, read Matthew 5 and Matthew 6, and there
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Jesus talks about what real repentance is. And he talks about, in old times, the scripture says, have you not heard that thou shalt not commit adultery?
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Now, notice what Jesus does here. The law says thou shalt not commit adultery outwardly. That's the law.
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That's the standard. Then Jesus says this, and then he gets to the heart. He says, but I say unto you, if you look on a woman, and to lust after her, to desire after her, you've already committed adultery in your heart.
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So what he's saying is, he's getting to the motive of why people are committing adultery.
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And then he gives the answer, and he says, the eye, your eye is single. And if that eye is giving you problems and making you go into that sin, cut it out.
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It's hyperbole, folks. He doesn't mean literally to pull out your eye. He says, pluck it out, cut it out, pull it out.
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In other words, do something about it. Stop it. Cut it off. Now, you preach that in churches today, they look at you, you've got to be crazy.
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But you know something, that's the heart of the gospel. Jesus says to repent. Doesn't that convict you? It convicts me, because why do
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I sin? Why do I commit adultery? Why do I take God's name in vain? Why?
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Jesus talks of it. He says, it's because of your heart. The heart is desperately wicked.
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We don't know it until the Word of God fillets it open.
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And that's why we need God's Word, amen? Not because I'm saying it. We need this in churches and all in this land to preach, thus saith the
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Lord, and let people's hearts be filleted open, and repent, and then we'll see revival, folks.
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I'm telling you, it happened, and God can do it. But the Word of God's got to be unleashed.
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The lion's got to be let loose. That's what Luther said. He said he didn't do nothing in the Reformation.
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He said, all I did was write a few things, and the Word of God did the work, like a lion.
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That just let him out of the cage. Second, we should carefully consider how to live the rest of our time that God has appointed in our days on this earth.
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It's like a shadow. It's like a vapor in comparison to eternity when each of us must answer to God, give an account on the day of judgment.
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Jesus even said, you're going to give an account even every idle word, careless word that you speak of.
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That makes me tremble. He takes note of everything. Well, didn't the psalmist say this?
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In Psalm 90, Moses teaches the number of days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Spurgeon, let me close with Spurgeon.
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What does it mean to live in the remaining time for God's will? This is encouraging to you because it meets us where we are, folks, for God's will, for God's will.
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He says this, I do not know how much time remains, but it cannot be long for even the longest -lived person.
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We must not forget that while we are talking about the rest of our life, it is already passing by.
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Even every moment that we are here, we are traveling and an immense rate is speeding onward to the great goal of death.
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And we must be in earnest for while we are making up our minds to be earnest, our time is slipping away.
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Spurgeon knew how to put it in words. And the way he says to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little.
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A little, stay busy with the little. Then he says this, the way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that we will do everything.
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Isn't that the truth? Hebrews 10, 35 to 39.
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So don't throw away your confidence, which has a great reward for you need endurance that after you have done
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God's will, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, a little while the one coming one will come and not delay.
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But my righteous one will live by faith. And there's the key right there. You live by faith, stay faithful in the mundane.
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And if he draws back, if he draws back, I will have no pleasure in him. And then he says this, but we are not those who draw back and are destroyed.
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But those who have faith and are saved. Praise God, let's pray.
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Our Lord, Lord, these are heavy words. This is a heavy message from my own heart.
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Oh God, help us. Oh for grace, help us to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil.
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Lord, we cannot do this in the arm of flesh. We cannot do it within ourselves and our own power. It takes your spirit.
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It takes your Holy Spirit to help us. Oh God, help us to arm ourselves with the same mind that Peter and Paul and the apostles spoke of and what
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Jesus spoke of. That we're willing to die, to suffer if the time comes to it.
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But Lord, we know that there's victory in you. There's victory in Jesus. Praise your name.
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So Father, we pray. I pray for each and every one of us here. As the psalmist said,
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Oh God, we long for your salvation, Lord. And your instruction is my delight.
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Let me live and I will praise you. And may your judgments help me.
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And if I wander like a lost sheep, seek your servant for I do not forget your commands.
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As the song says, Let thy goodness like a fetter, Lord, bind, bind my wandering heart to thee.
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Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart,
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Lord, take and seal it for thy courts above. May this be for each and every one of us here today and for your people.
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And we ask this in Jesus' name and for your glory. Amen and amen.