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Bro. Otis Fisher
1 Peter, the fourth chapter, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Let's take the first part of that, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh.
David, if Christ hadn't done that, would we have had to suffer in the flesh? He says arm yourself likewise, but he says with the same mind. Now what does he mean, Joy? For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, because he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
Well, that refers to who, Dennis? We're still sin, so he that has suffered in the flesh ceased from sin. That's Christ only. David, you said we suffer in the flesh, but do we? Alright, where is the suffering?
In your flesh or in your mind? So first, we suffer in our mind. My body undergoes the repercussions of it. He said be like, be of the same mind. He didn't say be of the same body, don't be of the same flesh.
Be of the same mind. What's the difference, David? Well, that's pretty good. Be of the same mind. Christ suffered for us in the flesh, so I don't have to suffer in the flesh. I can't suffer in the flesh unless I suffer in the mind.
For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Christ ceased from sin. Christ did not have to suffer in the flesh anymore. Greg, do you have a Bible? Well, you open that Bible and turn to Romans 8 .31.
8 .31, alright? My, what a verse. What a verse. God was for me on the cross. He has been for me in this world. He is for me in the world to come. Now, Dennis, what do you think of when you say somebody is for somebody else?
Alright, there's another meaning to the word for. Greg, what other meaning is there? Alright, there's another meaning, Joy.
Alright, substitution, and that's what it means in Romans 8 .31.
What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us in substitution, who is against us in substitution? So, going back now, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, substituting for us in the flesh, he suffered.
Be of the same mind. We are to be of his mind. His mind was on the Heavenly Father. His mind was not on the suffering. Yes. Yes, but our suffering is in the mind, as he points out. So, our attitude towards sin should be that of a saint, not a sinner.
Yes. If we can spiritually have this mind, is this saying that we have to live this? And if we have lived all of that suffering ourselves, and it is true that the person who has suffered is born again the person who has suffered, then it's blessed that we live before the experiences of life, and we do that.
Now, say that again. We're talking about a Christian. You're not a law. That's right. As he goes through the experiences of life, God takes the fruit of the battering, the bugging, the death, and he benefits from that, and he's in the flesh.
He doesn't do the same sin he did, even as our suffering was in the flesh. And to the extent that it would cause the person to be more holy than we have to, and that's fine, as if we had gone through the same suffering, but we didn't go through it.
That's right. So that's why the next person, we don't have to live.
What is our suffering due to, Greg? Our suffering is due to our not sinning. Can you make sense out of that, Joey? Yes. All right, let's start all over. Our suffering is due to our not sinning. Sin is in the mind only.
The only place you sin is in your mind. Now, Jesus suffered physically. Did he not? Did he suffer mentally? All right. There's another great instance in which he suffered mentally. That's right. He was forsaken of God.
Now, that's as much as you can... That's right. That's the ultimate sin, is separation from God. Jesus underwent that. So, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, we don't count flesh anymore, arm yourselves with the same mind, the mind that he had, while on the cross.
For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Christ did that. And then in Romans 8 .31, we have that wonderful verse. Our attitude towards sin should be that of a saint, not a sinner. I wonder how much of our life we spend as a saint.
I think too much of it is spent as a sinner. We don't realize that the sin is in the mind. Also, my compatibility with God through Christ is in my mind. And that's where sin is, in the mind. Is sin...
Let's see if I can get this right. Is sin when you are walking with Satan? What? Well, when is sin? David? Alright. When we decided. At the very instant you decided. Now, you don't decide. I know you don't weigh things one against the other.
But when you sin, it's the leaving of the walk with Christ. Not the walking with Satan. When you leave Christ. Now, fortunately, we have the Holy Spirit. We'll come back someday, I hope. If you don't, you're not saved.
Our suffering is due to our not sinning. Not sinning causes you suffering. Mentally. Verse 2. That he no longer should live the rest of his life. The rest of his time in the flesh. To the lust of men.
But to the will of God. This is the saved person. You're no longer living in the flesh. We find that any suffering we do in the flesh. Causes to want to cease the sin. Alright. That's true. This is only natural.
If we cease from sin, we grow slowly toward being sinless. The more sin you can cease from. In the mind. The more you grow toward Christ. Is that right? That's right. The will of God. Is the will of God being done?
All the time. Do you realize what you just said? I'd like to meet him. Alright. All of this happens. God's will is being done all of the time. I can't explain it. I don't know. How he ties everything together.
But he's using evil to further his purpose. But we have to recognize it. If we do not recognize his will being done. Then I'm attributing to Satan. I don't know that. But that's what I'm doing. It's when I realize his will is being done in my life.
Now, does that limit God to only those times that I realize it? No. To not do so is to live a miserable life. Can you imagine? A born again Christian. Not studying. Not coming to church. Not reading his Bible.
What a happy life he has. Now. David, you grow physically. You're watching some young boys grow physically. Do we, in living the Christian life. Do we grow physically? Alright. That's exactly what we're doing.
You grow spiritually. That's where the growth is. If the worship is spiritual. If the study and understanding of his word is spiritual. Then you're growing spiritually. Dennis, what does it mean to grow spiritually?
Alright. Alright. You understand things of his word that you didn't understand ten years ago? You understand things this morning you didn't understand last week? All growth is spiritual. All blessings are spiritual.
All worship is spiritual. Verse three. For the time must be. For the time past. Let me start over. For the time past of our life. May suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. When we walked in lasciviousness.
Excuses of wine revelings. Banquets. Abominable idolatries. All of this. You have done enough of. In fact, everybody does enough of that before they're saved. Now, does Christianity suffer today? David.
Does Christianity suffer today? Well, that depends on whether it's mental or physical. Yes. If you suffer for Christ, mental. Now, that may bring repercussions of physical. You may be torn apart, staked out on an anthill, whatever.
That's physical. But you suffered mentally. I hope this morning we can divide the two. You cannot get run over by a car and claim that that was suffering for Christ. The suffering is what takes place in the mind.
Christianity doesn't suffer. The practice of Christianity does. Not only in the foreign governments attacking us, but right here in our own country. We tend to think that all sin comes from other countries.
Not true. Our greatest sin is lack of obedience to God. There must be a day of accounting. Why? Well, Joy? That's true. That's not really the answer. But why must there be a day of accounting? Because there's never been one.
There shall be one because there's never been one. Because God has made man an accountable creature. Think about it. He's made us accountable for what we do. He can give and therefore he shall give an account of his actions for he has a principle of reason to know what he does and a liberty to do it.
It is so strange, I say that from my viewpoint, it's so strange that God controls everything yet man is held accountable for what he does. The two don't go together, but they have to. They rule to direct him what to choose and consequently the actions proceeding from that choice just and shall be accounted for by that man.
Dennis, you think in your mind every day, you get up, you go to work, you do this, you do that. You make decisions. In doing all of that, you're working God's plan unknown to you unless at times you think about it.
That is an awesome, awesome thought that this account must be given to Christ, the supreme and universal judge, both of the quick and the dead, as Joey says, partly as a fitting reward for his grace and humiliation and suffering and partly that the world may see what a great, excellent person he was who came to visit them in great humility and partly to give advantage to the future judgment that God has appointed a man for our judge who in flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, one that is sensible of our follies, temptations, and perfections of mankind and understands them and will make favorable allowances for them, one that is God as well as man from whom we may expect all the goodness of a God and all of the tender accomplishments of a man in their utmost perfection so that no man need fear such a judge.
We have a judge. We are admonished in this lesson to be of the same mind that he was. It's pointed out to us that he ceased from sin. It's pointed out to us that if we, as we live for him, in reality, we will suffer mentally.
Now, you may suffer physically from the mental suffering.
Now, let me go a little further. Yes, from not sinning. That's what I said.
Well, all of your personal suffering has been mental, and it's been because you didn't sin. Let me see if I can help you. Let me go back to it. Our suffering is due to our not sinning. The joy you got up this morning and times that you didn't sin, you were worshiping God, you got ready, you came, you looked after Fred, whatever it was he needed.
Greg, you did the same thing, only you didn't look after Fred. All of us did the same thing. We came. We got ready. We came. Now, I did not sin while I was doing that. Let's see if I can get it on. Let's take my neighbor.
We go about our work. He goes about his work. He sees that we are strong in the Lord, and he makes fun of it. He tells us so. Now, I suffer because of that, and that's not sinning. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Our born-again nature brought the suffering.
That's right. That's right. You want to say something, Joey? That's right. He said, Remember, if they hate you, they hated me first. They hated Jesus. Everybody admits there's a God, but very few admit there's Jesus.
That's right. So, as we go about our daily life, and somebody ridicules you for it, you suffer mentally for that person. You don't suffer for the good life. All blessings are spiritual. All growth is spiritual.
All suffering is spiritual. Or was I? That's right. The only suffering Paul did was mental. Now, that carried over to the physical and suffering physically. That's an evidence of your suffering. And man has looked too long at the physical suffering.
The suffering we do is spiritual, mental. Verse 4. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them, to the same excess of rioting, speaking evil of you, that we be not moved with the enemy's perverse and slanderous judgments.
Our judgment of us. Now, that we not move, be not moved with the enemy's. The person said something, and I'm not going to let that bother me. Perverse and slanderous judgments of us. And they will do that.
Whether they be then found living or were dead before shall escape it. Those that suffer in this life. Now, it's hard for, well, I guess you can, only he wouldn't recognize it. A dead person, the world can still slander him, but he doesn't know it.
The world can curse him, can hold him up to ridicule, but he doesn't know it. Would you say that was true, Dave and Greg? Somewhat? Oh. All right. Are you not dead in Christ? Then it should roll off of us as though we were dead.
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead? Those that are already dead and those that are living will someday stand before him, acknowledge him, and be punished for their evil doing.
Now, again, a dividing point. I've said so many times that you're spiritual. Is that true? The real you is the born-again part, the part that he recalled, the part that's going home, is spiritual. Is not the physical, is not the seed of Satan the same way?
Is not the seed of Satan spiritual? Spirituality, evil, all of that is spiritual. Now, they will give an account to him that is ready to judge the dead and those that are alive. Makes no difference to him.
One more verse. For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, preached to them when they were alive, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but have according to God in the spirit, but live according to God in the spirit.
For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but alive according to God in the spirit. The Christian's life is a banquet, but it's no picnic.
The Christian's life, it's hard to teach suffering physically, I mean mentally, when we're really not being charged with a lot of it. I think we are, the more we become aware of Christ, the more we live the Christian life, the more it's not just coming here on Sunday, far be it.
We meet here to study, to share our thoughts and grow. How do you grow, Dennis? You grow spiritually. How do you suffer, David? Mentally. Greg, why do you suffer mentally? Well, it's because his life in this world is spiritual.
It's a mental thing. How do we worship God? In the spirit. What did you say? In the mind. In the spirit. In the mind which goes into the spirit. Peter's going to be a great book. I think we could go over the same lesson next week.
Dennis dismisses, please.