Arm Yourselves: Part 2

Back to you on part two, arm yourselves, arm yourselves. I'm praying that the Lord would minister to us as we bless Him and continue our worship, but we now continue our study of 1 Peter. It's a wonderful study, isn't it, to encourage persecuted Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, and we're looking into the Word of God, discussing the subject that is on the Apostle Peter's heart by the Holy Spirit.

Namely, he is speaking in this chapter in which we're looking at, chapter four, how to deal with our personal sin. We're talking about sanctification, it's very practical. And not only how to deal with sin, he also encourages us how to deal with suffering.

So really, if you look at it, it's a double, two-edged sword, it's one side of the coin to the other, sin and suffering. And if you look at those two great doctrines in Scripture, you could take it all the way through Scripture.

And the reason why there is so much suffering is because of sin. Sin is the primary problem that we are confronted with. John Owen, the great Puritan, also said this, I've been reading him in the past weeks, and he said this, quote, "'Sin in the believer is a burden which afflicts him "'rather than a pleasure which delights him.'".

Sin in the believer is a burden which afflicts him rather than a pleasure which delights him. So true is that. So every believer in Jesus Christ lives in a constant, a tremendous battle, don't we, between the desire of the unredeemed flesh and the compulsions of the new man.

We read that in Romans chapter 7, the new nature, like the Apostle Paul says, we love the law of God, we delight in the law of God. Inwardly, because of our new birth, the inward man delights in God's law.

Yet the battle of the law, the principle of sin, though there is something deep within us planted there by the Spirit of God Himself in a glorious and marvelous miracle of the regeneration, that new birth, there is a new life principle, and that's the Spirit of God that's within us that longs for what is right, for what is true, what is good, what is pure, what is wholesome, what is honorable, what is noble, what is holy, and I crave for that, don't you?

I mean, I desire that, but we have a battle. That's that unredeemed flesh. I heard MacArthur preach a whole sermon on this, that unredeemed flesh that, like Lazarus, being resurrected and he was bound, and his sisters said, Lord, by now he stinks.

Well, that's that unredeemed flesh that stinks, and that is so true, in which that newness is incarcerated, in a sense, is inside, and therefore the battle is raging. The battle's real, isn't it? We face that battle every day in our life, but the battle is very, very real.

Question I'd like to set before you this morning, we're gonna look at this question in our text, and I'd like to pull it to the application at the end of the message, but also at the beginning of the message, I'd like to set it before you because it's a good question.

How are we to deal with that warfare? How are we to deal with that personal conflict within us? How are we to face that stark reality of that conflict and know the path of victory? Now, you gotta understand, as you read in Scripture, we can have that victory, but we will never have a complete, a complete overloading, I guess you could say, a fullness of victory until we reach the other side.

And what I mean by that is, sin is so ever with us. It's kind of like pride. We think we can really defeat it in this life, but we never will, and I know that sounds negative, but it's reality. And I remember listening, years ago, A .W. Tozer preached on this, and he said, the only thing that's gonna knock pride out of you is the grave, the cold grave.

I thought, what in the world is he talking about? And I understand. As a new convert, I thought, can't you gain the victory? Can't you get victory? We can make victorious strides toward it, but we're not gonna get that complete, full victory until we reach the other side.

Now, a lot of people disagree with me, theologically, on that. There are some churches that believes you can absolutely have sin eradicated completely here on this earth. Well, I haven't seen a completely eradicated, perfect, sinless person yet.

I haven't seen it. And if they say they are, they're lying, you know, so it's not going to happen. You got a lot of people that believe that, and it's sad, but I've grown in Christ, and as you have grown in Christ, we all know.

We can strive, we can get victorious in Jesus Christ over sin and practicing those things that come our way and heeding to the temptations of the flesh. But not until we're glorified, not until we're glorified, we're gonna see a completion, and we are arrived in heaven.

So our text, really, before us, helps us answer these questions that I've mentioned to you. So in saying that, please turn with me to 1 Peter chapter four. Aren't you so glad we have the revealed word of God before us that sanctifies us?

This is a sanctifying chapter, and chapter four, as we looked at last week, we're continuing this. We're just gonna look at six verses, and that's gonna be enough for us in this one. I wanna recap a little bit from what I mentioned last week, but we're gonna go on to the end of the six verse.

So hear the word of the living God. Apostle Peter, by the Holy Spirit, 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, in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for the human desires, but for God's will.

For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do, carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of the wild living, and they slander you, they malign you.

Verse five, and 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, 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.

Amen. May God richly bless the reading of His holy word to our hearts this morning. Let's pray. Oh God, oh God, our Father, my prayer is this, very simple. Speak Lord, speak Lord, for thy servant listens.

And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen and amen. There's a wonderful book that was written back in 1669, and it's called The Plague of Plagues. The Plague of Plagues. A man by the name of Ralph Venning, a very godly man, a very God-fearing man, he wrote this paragraph about sin.

And please hear it out as we hear this man's heart, as he speaks about the horrible, terrible devastation of sin. He says this, quote, in general, sin is the worst of evils, the evil of evil, and indeed the only evil.

Nothing is so evil as sin. Nothing is evil but sin. As the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us, so neither the sufferings of this life, nor that to come, are worthy to be compared as evil with the evil of sin.

No evil is displeasing to God or destructive to men, but the evil of sin. Listen very carefully to what he says here. Sin is worse than affliction, than death, than the devil, than hell. And affliction is not so afflictive, and death is not so hellish as sin is.

This will help us, help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness, especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man. Then he continues, and he says this, he said the four evils I have just named are truly terrible.

And from all of them, everyone is ready to say, good Lord, deliver us. Yet none of these, nor all of them together, are as bad as sin. Therefore, our prayer should be more to be delivered from sin. And if God, hear no prayer else, yet as to this, we should say, we beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, end quote.

It's a powerful paragraph, isn't it? It's a very eye-opening, unique way in which he puts the words. But Ralph Venning is so true. It's so, he is so correct about the evil of sin. It helps us understand the terrible, terribleness of the evil of sin.

It's worse than affliction. It's worse than death. It's worse than the devil. It's worse than hell. Very sobering words. Yet it's so very, very true. Sin is the worst thing. How horrible it is before God that he would place and allow Jesus, the perfect son of God, to take the sin of the world.

And that's why he came, to be a sin offering. He that knew no sin became a sin offering, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Perfect son of God who knew no sin. Something to think about.

And our cry should be some as the same, I should say, as the Apostle Paul, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Who?

That's the question. And the answer is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus Christ, our Lord. The one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, last Lord's Day, we saw the commitment that we are to have as a believer in verse one and two.

And Jesus was committed to suffer. He was committed to suffer and to die. And so should we as his followers be committed to follow him and to suffer for his name's sake. And that's what Peter is actually teaching here.

Jesus preached and taught and commanded that everyone would come after him, must take up his cross daily and follow him. And actually he spoke many times about what cost there is and taking up that cross daily and following after him.

There is a great cost. And that cost will cost us everything. Taking up the cross meant that you were absolutely committed to Jesus Christ and that not looking back. And then the apostle Peter by the Holy Spirit says, arm yourselves, arm yourselves.

That's battle language. We're in a battle, aren't we? The world, the flesh and the devil is ever about us. And then he says with the same understanding, with the same mind, with the same attitude, with the same attitude, many of us are defeated in a sense in our battle against sin because we refuse or we're not willing to sacrifice everything in that battle.

And in the battle, we have to sacrifice. We have to discipline like a good soldier. We must fight the good fight of faith. Paul spoke of that in the language as a Christian that we are to fight in this battle as a good soldier, to be disciplined.

We only want victory if it comes easily to us, but victory doesn't come easy. But Jesus called us to have that same kind of attitude that he had, the kind of attitude that would sacrifice the battle against sin.

We looked at this verse here, but Matthew 5, 29 through 30, the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest message, the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus said this about repentance. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.

He's talking in hyperbole. He's not saying literally do this, but this is speaking about a besetting sin, a sin that is causing you to sin. And he says, you've got to gouge it out and throw it out from you, throw it away.

For it's better than you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Strong language. Pluck it out, gouge it out, stop it, repent. And if your right hand, now he talks about the hand first, it's the eye, now he says the hand.

Notice he didn't say the left, he says the right, something that we use most of the time. Something that we use as power. If your right hand causes you, again, he says the word causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

For it is better than you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It's serious. And if there's a besetting sin that causes us to sin, we need to deal with it, right?

Well, you go back to 1 Peter 4, verse 2, the apostle says, in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for the will of God. We are to live for God's will. Now, Peter gives, actually, two time references that are helpful in the right attitude.

We looked at that in the following Jesus Christ. The first one is the words no longer. No longer, in order to live, in other words, we no longer should live in sin. And we should answer every temptation and simple impulse with the reply, no longer.

I am resolved to give it up for Jesus' sake. If you go with me to Romans 6 very quickly, let's look at Romans 6. I'd like to read a few verses here. The apostle Paul brings this out in his letter to the Romans, but he deals with this.

I think this chapter needs to be preached more often, especially among the reformed camps, because there's so many that's taken the grace of God and turned it into a license to sin. Dieter Bonhoeffer called it cheap grace, but Paul deals with this.

Romans 6, notice what the word of God says. What should we say then? It begins with a question. Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply or abound? Some translation says, God forbid. God forbid, absolutely not.

It's almost like there's a holy anger as he pinned this down. Absolutely not, God forbid. Paul was radically against cheap grace. How can we who died to sin live in it? Notice the death to sin, the first thing he brings out.

Notice in this chapter how many times he talks about dying to sin, dying to sin. We're dead to sin. Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Spiritually speaking, no water is implied here.

He's talking about the baptism within the body of Christ. Then he says this, therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so that we too may walk in newness of life.

For if, if, that word if is there. If we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. Let me stop right there and comment. There is no likeness of His resurrection until there is likeness into His death.

And Jesus said to His disciples, are you willing to be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized of? In other words, are you ready to suffer like I am going to suffer? That's what He's actually asking the disciples and they basically say, oh yes we're ready and you know what happened.

They all forsook Him. Paul goes on to say, for we know, we know, I love that word know, that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body is ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may be no longer be enslaved to sin and since a person who has died is freed from sin.

Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For the death He died, He died to sin once for all time.

But the life He lives, He lives to God. So you too consider, count it done in other words, count it done by faith, yourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Dead to sin and alive to God.

That's the key.

In Christ Jesus. And I'll stop right there. The glorious, glorious truth of the gospel. That's the heart of the gospel. The death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And how we are in His likeness.

A glorious, glorious truth that is found in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. And faith in Him alone. And the Apostle Peter is basically speaking this same kind of truth here. But first of all, like I said, Peter speaks about no longer are we in order to live, no longer should we live in that sin.

But we also, secondly, he says we should be carefully considered how to live the rest of our time here on this earth. There's a way we should live. We should live holy. And notice throughout this book how many times the Apostle Peter speaks about holy living.

He's constantly bringing up, you are a peculiar people, you are a holy generation. You are holy unto the Lord. Be ye holy, for I am holy. We are to live holy, separated from the world. In the world but not of the world.

Peter says we should carefully consider how to live the rest of our time. Remaining, our time remaining in the flesh. The believer chooses to live the rest of his time for the glory of God. Now that's what we live for now, right?

We don't live for ourselves. We live for the glory of God. Rather than for the gratification of sensual appetite. And right here, as I was pinning down some notes and everything, I couldn't help but think of old C .T. Studd's great old poem.

Needs to be put in a song, I think. But I want to just give you a few verses. There's many, many verses to it. But listen to what he says here. It's called, Only one life to a sin be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes, only one life. Soon will be fleeting, hours be done. Then that day, my Lord, to meet and stand before his judgment seat. Only one life to a sin be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore. When Satan would a victory score. When self would seek to have its way. Then help me, Lord, with joy to say. Only one life to a sin be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Oh, let my love with fervor burn. And from the world now let me turn. Living for thee and thee alone. Bringing thee pleasure on thy throne. Only one life to a sin be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes, only one. Now let me say, thy will be done. And when at last I'll hear the call. I know I'll say to it's worth it all. Hallelujah. Only one life to a sin be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

We need to let that ring in our hearts and our minds. And say this is only one life that will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. We need to, in the remaining of our time, on this earth, in the flesh, live for the glory of God.

Now verses 3 and 6, 3 through 6, I'm sorry. The believer is to have not only a commitment, his attitude of a commitment, but he's also to have an attitude of wisdom.

Wisdom.

I think that's a good word, because the word here, wisdom, is heavenly wisdom, and it speaks about wisdom. We know what Scripture says about wisdom. The only way you can get wisdom is the fear of God.

Matter of fact, Scripture says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And the book of Proverbs begins by saying this in chapter 1, verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

So of true knowledge. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of who we are. And then he says this. Fools despise wisdom.

Fools.

And discipline.

Well, look at verse 3 in chapter 4 of Peter. Peter says this. For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do. Carrying on an unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousings, and lawless idolatry.

Listen to all those sins that he names. Beloved, if the goal of the Christian's life is freedom from sin which comes at death, then he should live the remainder of his life on earth pursuing holiness, and the fear of the Lord, and the will of God.

Rather than ungodly lust of the flesh, we should and by no means be partakers with that. But unfortunately, there's many God's children that fall too often and pray to the lust of the flesh and the passing pleasures of sin, which is only for a season.

We know the pitfalls. We know the snares. The devil's very cunning. He always baits the hook according to what he's going to catch. You know, if I'm going to go out bass fishing, I'm going to put a lure on there for a bass.

Now, if I'm going to go out cat fishing, I'm going to go put some liver on it and go after the catfish. Because I know most of the time, a bass don't care about liver if catfish does. The devil's very careful and he's cunning.

And we're not ignorant of his devices,.

Of the way he baits the hook.

But we need to be aware. 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 through 17 says, Do not love the world. Listen to that command. That's imperative. Do not love the world. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If anybody loves, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's straight to the point, isn't it? For all that is in the world, or everything that is in the world, what is it?

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of one's life, pride of one's possessions, another translation says, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof.

But the one who does the will of God abides forever. He remains forever. It's the will of God. The will of God. The will of God. We're here for the glory of God, and for the will of God. So, we'll go back to 1 Peter.

The Apostle Peter is writing to some believers here. Before their conversion, they had lived in all of the immoral corruptions of the Gentile world. And he knew that. So he comes here graciously, and he warns and gives heed to them, and gives us warnings.

You know, so they would not be casualties. And most of the time, as I've already said, a casual Christian will be a casualty. Isn't that the truth? But Peter exhorts them. He admonishes them,.

And he says,.

There's been enough time wasted in your life for these things. Don't waste your life now. It's too short. Eternity's too long,.

And you've got...

We're not to live for the indulgences of the flesh. Now, as regenerated and redeemed believers, there were new creations in Jesus Christ. Old things passed away. Behold, all things become new. But yet, there's that remaining sinful flesh.

That body of sin that is still wrestling. And he knew that. So, he exhorts them to live the remaining years of their life to the glory of God, and not to waste their time in immorality. Look how many times the epistles, and all the...

What the apostle wrote to the churches, and to the people there, and he sends these letters to the elders for them to read. The apostle Paul, and the apostle Peter, and the apostle James, and the apostle Jude, and the apostle John, and all the apostles, and everything they're focusing on is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

But notice how many times they warn them against falling into traps of immorality. Especially Corinth. The Corinthian church. The church of Laodicea. Being lukewarm. Well, you see this time and time again, and there's a reason why God is, by His Spirit, speaking through the apostles about warning people against these sexual sins.

Because He knew.

He knew that this was a great temptation for them. And it's a great temptation for us as well. Especially in the wicked world in which we live. Notice the sins He speaks of. The sins of sex. The sins of liquor.

The sins of false religion. Sexual appetites out of control.

Liquor.

Peter says the Gentiles choose to do this. Carrying on an unrestrained behavior. They're unrestrained.

Evil desires.

Ludeness. Unrestrained indulging. Indulgence. Primarily in sexual sins and sexual immorality. Commentator Hibbert says this.

Quote,.

This denotes excesses of all kinds of evil involving a lack of personal self-restraint. The term pictures sin as an inordinate indulgence of appetites to the extent of violating a sense of public decency.

End quote. Don't we see this around today? And dare we just say the world, the world's going to unlock the world. What about the Christian world? What about people in the church? Look at the failures and look at the pitfalls and look at the leaders that have fallen prey to immorality.

The devil never changes his strategy.

Drunkenness.

What about the sin of drunkenness? That's a whole sermon. Giving oneself over to the control of intoxicating beverages, a strong drink. And now you got Christians going around saying, I can drink in moderation, blah, blah, blah.

And next thing you know, just a little here and a little there. And next thing you know, they're consuming it and it's taking hold of them. They think they're strong enough.

Oh, I'm strong.

What does Scripture say?

You think you stand?

You're going to fall? Stay away from it. Now, this is another sermon. I understand, you know, in other cultures, but we've got to understand the background and the backdrop of cultures of water that was polluted.

There's a reason why light wine without alcohol was used. But we're talking about alcohol. We're talking about a strong drink that distorts the senses and reason is taken out. But he speaks about drunkenness.

Giving oneself to the control of intoxicating beverages without the resulting, the weakening of the willpower to resist temptation. And notice there's a close link between the sexual sins and the strong drink.

Always you see that. The partying. Notice in the text that he talks about partying and then orgies and the sexual sins and the drunkenness. Drinking and sex. Drinking and sex. And look about the world today.

But yet what is so sad, you see the Christians doing the same thing in the name of God. And how does God think on His throne such blasphemy against His holy name? Listen to the Apostle Paul's admonition to the church of Corinth.

And tell me what you think. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, look at verse 9 through 11. And this is one verse and chapter here you can really deal with, and especially in the world today, and people who call themselves Christians.

The Bible, Paul the Apostle makes it very clear. He that names the name of Christ, let him depart from iniquity. Let him depart from it. Don't blaspheme God's name.

He says this,.

Don't you know that the unrighteous, he starts all those who are unrighteous and then he starts breaking it down. And he shows us how unrighteousness looks like. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God's kingdom?

Now we're talking about getting into the kingdom of God. He gives a list, and the first thing he says, do not be deceived. Deception. That's where Satan comes right there.

Deception.

He's not going to come and present the sin all of a sudden, and oh wow, yeah, we see it as it is. J .C. Rowe said this, the devil never comes to present the sin as it is. It comes in a very nice way. See, it's fruit that's luscious.

Sugarcoated. Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived.

Deception.

Don't be deceived. No sexually immoral people. Idolaters, adulterers. One translation says effeminate, or males who have sex with males.

No thieves.

Greedy people. Listen to this list. Greedy people, drunkards, revilers. You know what that word revilers means? Verbally abusive people. People who verbally abuse people. Swindlers will inherit God's kingdom.

Now that's the word of the Lord. And then he says this in verse 11. Don't you love it? And some of you used to be like this. You were certainly like this. But you were washed. Don't you love that?

You were sanctified.

You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. That's a change. That's a transformation. Powerful, powerful truth. Spurgeon. I looked at Spurgeon's notes on this.

Listen to what Spurgeon says.

On that text.

Some of you used to be like this. Now that sounds hard and it is hard truth. But there's a graciousness behind this too. This is a reminder, Spurgeon says, a reminder that illustrates the great power of the gospel.

And the gospel can affect the salvation of all sorts of sinners. Even the most degraded. And he goes on to say this. However depraved and fallen they may be, they cannot have gone beyond the reach of the gospel.

And the Lord saves such great sinners to glorify His gospel. And He also saves them to magnify His mercy. Don't you love that? To glorify His gospel and to magnify His mercy. He also saves them to magnify His mercy.

For the worse the sin, the worse the sin, the more is the Lord's pity. And He does it also to compound self-righteousness. I love that part. He compounds the self-righteousness. The religious people that sit back and think they've got it all together.

And He says,.

For He said, as Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5 .32. I love that.

Gracious.

God's grace has more power than all the sin. Well, let's go back to 1 Peter. Look at verse 4. And then Peter says this,. And they are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of the wild living.

Don't be surprised. You don't be surprised that they persecute you, but they are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of wild living and they slander you for it. Well, another verse describes this as common experiences.

I'm sorry, another commentator describes this as a common experience of those who are saved from lives of outward corruption. And the commentator says,. Their former friends are surprised, offended, and resentful because of the Christian's lack of interest in ungodly living.

Now, I compared this translation with the NASB translation. It says,. NASB says,. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them. You don't run with them in the same excesses of disputation and malign you.

The word disputation, that's a hard word, refers to the state of evil in which a person thinks nothing else. And I think what Peter is saying here is that it's like the picture is being used here is of a large crowd of people running together in a mad dash, in a wild frenzy, confused, pursuing sin, and eventually into the abyss.

They're crazy, they're depraved, and it's almost like they're possessed with it. And notice that's the way the world is. It's on the broad road of destruction, Jesus said. That's the road that they're on, and they're all just falling off a cliff.

In a mad frenzy, just going together into an abyss. And our heart melts because of this. The next verse 5, notice where he says in verse 5,. They will give an account. Now he goes right to the judgment.

They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge, the living and the dead. Very similar passage there, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 4 .1, and he charges Timothy. He says, I solemnly charge you before God and Jesus Christ, who is going to judge the living and the dead.

It's going to happen.

There's no escape.

And because of His appearing in His kingdom, beloved judgment is coming.

There's no escape in it.

Everybody's going to be at the judgment one way or another. Judgment is coming and all will be there. Let me give you some verses and let the word of God speak. Hebrews 9 .27, and just as it is appointed, it's appointed for people to die once, and after this, the judgment.

Ecclesiastes chapter 12, 13 and 14. When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this. Fear God and keep His commands because this is for all humanity.

And then he says this,.

For God will bring every act of judgment, including every hidden thing,.

Whether good or evil,.

Even the hidden things. Jesus said that. 2 Corinthians 5 .10, the apostle Paul says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each man will be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether they're good or evil.

Notice what Peter says, they will give an account. They will give an account. They will give an account. The verb actually means to pay back. There's an old sermon that Robert G. Lee preached. It was a powerful Baptist preacher, and he preached a lot different back in those days, but what he preached was, Thus saith the Lord, and he preached a message called Payday Someday.

You can find it on your phone sometimes, and it's a good one to read. Payday Someday. People have pursued a course of lewdness. Verse 3 of chapter 4. And they slandered, they maligned the believers in verse 4, and will be paid back.

And they will be spending an eternal hell paying back for their sins. That's a terrifying thing to think of.

Terrifying.

Terrifying thing to fall in the hands of the living God. Knowing that millions of souls are perishing. God give us a burden for souls. Romans 14, 11, and 12. For it is written, listen to the Apostle Paul, and he's speaking of what Isaiah said.

It is written,.

As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. There is a judgment. Even for the believer. The believer just doesn't have the condemnation judgment.