There are two spirits in life, two ways we can go. Before we are Christians, we have no option but to follow our own wills. But when God comes inside, He makes it possible for us to go the right way, to live in accordance with His will. And in case there is any doubt about what is the right way, He will make it abundantly clear.
When we are examining our situation in life, we are either following God’s will or the opposite – our own will. You could say there is no neutral position. It’s either God’s will or the enemy’s.
Peter is very specific about the fact that at one time the people were like this; now they were following a completely different pathway, because they had now a totally different source. It’s clear cut.
The epistle was being written to Christian people who were under growing persecution. It would mean a lot to make a stand as a Christian. It would mean a lot for someone to put up their hand and admit to being a follower of Jesus Christ and determined to do His will. Peter wanted the people to realise that no matter what mocking or strife might come, they needed to make a stand.
1 Peter 4:1-2
There’s an alternative at the end of v2. Previously you lived in the flesh, now according to the will of God.
1 Peter 2:21-24
There’s a big difference in living a life as unto God, doing His will, determining that your choices – about career, university, partner – will be based on what He wants. 1 Pet 4:1 says that if people are being persecuted, it’s because they have become a Christian. The power of sin has been broken. They are not governed by sin.
I want to point out what the difference is between living in the flesh (non-Christian) and living in the spirit (Christian).
Romans 6:6-10
I am crucified with Christ. He took the penalty of my sins and broke the power of sin in my life, and it’s as though I were crucified with Him on the cross. I have the potential for sin, because I don’t have a glorified body yet, but I am no longer under the power of sin. The power has been broken. I now have the freedom to choose not to sin. Prior to that, you have no option, and sin leads to death. There has been a severance of the power of sin.
Romans 6:7-11
Reckon – take stock of what has happened. Don’t let sin reign in your body. It doesn’t have power over you. As a Christian we have the freedom to go God’s way. Before I am a Christian, I am under the power of sin. There is no option, and I fail God’s law. Now, Peter was saying, these people were Christians and had been set free from the power of sin. True they didn’t yet have a glorified body. Each day I am recognising the fact that God has set me free from sin. I’m dead to it. It doesn’t have power over me. I can give in to sin and temptation, but I have the power not to.
Romans 6:12-14
I can yield to sin, but I don’t want to do that. I’m free to go God’s way, and I want to do so, and I will do so. It’s His righteousness inside me. I’m identifying with Christ all that way through.
Romans 6:17-18
Inside you as a person, when you became a Christian you obeyed God’s calling inside you, which let you know the state you were in and the solution He provided. Your state was that you were fed up with sinning. There were habits which dominated. I’m not standing in judgment. But before you’re a Christian you have no option. Sin dominates, and sin leads to death eternally. Obeying from the heart means you identify with the fact that God pointed out your need of a Saviour to save you from the power of sin and the fact that you have sinned. God’s law is there. We can’t keep God’s law in our natural life. We are born in sin. A time is coming when God will judge the world. He has provided a way where you can live clean and free form the power of sin. It happened by the Word of God through the Holy Spirit, and it happens when you obey from your heart the truth.
The truth is that the cross we have here on the wall is an emblem of the fact that you can live clean. He took into Himself what you did wrong, the power of sin. He broke that power. Because of what He did on the cross, you no longer have to be dominated by sin. You have different desires and want to go God’s way.
Peter was saying there were two spirits in the world, one going God’s way and one very definitely not going that way. There is no middle ground. And these verses in Romans make it clear whether we are alive to God. You’re either a servant of sin unto death, or a servant of life unto righteousness.
1 Peter 4:1-3
That’s the way it is before you’re a Christian. It’s a dismal, lonely life. At times you think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could live right for longer than I do?” You try to fill up the emptiness, but you always come back to the point where you are sick of it.
If God has brought you to the position of being sick of what you are like on the inside, it is indeed the work of God, of His Spirit, because naturally we wouldn’t think the way.
1 Peter 4:4
Maybe you work in an office, and suddenly you no longer want the same things. And for some, this brings out sniping. But then one day someone will ask if they can have a chat with you because you are different. “In the past that was the way you and I walked,” says Peter. And some of the people who witnessed the change speak evil of you. But :-
1 Peter 4:5
There is a judgment coming.
Now we have been going through this letter sequentially, but the idea does recur that God is speaking to some of you here. You realise, as the choir sang, that you need to draw a line in the sand. The reason you’re able to do that is because God has brought you to that position. God has been faithful to you. He is working in your heart and drawing you to Himself. You’re in a position where God is faithfully pointing things out to you, so that in your heart, you’re saying, “Lord, I need you to sort me out, to break the power of sin in my life. I need you to come inside and change me.” He’s been faithful.
1 Peter 4:6
There are those who have passed on. They made a stand for Christ. And despite the fact that men were making judgments of them, they were living their lives unto God.
God seems to have a way of picking things up where He left them last time, when He speaks to you. It’s His love which knows where you were the last time ... and here we are again.
1 Peter 4:7
“Be of sound mind, therefore, and be calm and collected in spirit, with a view to giving yourselves to prayer.” There’s a peace inside an individual who is a Christian – the peace of God. You can’t replicate that in this world. There is peace, and the power of sin is broken. It’s a peace which this world cannot reproduce.
I’ve been talking with people who are facing decisions that they want to get right. I want to encourage you, with some verses which point out how careful God is that you do get things right :-
This is a principle as to how someone in tune with God will be guided :-
Isaiah 30:21
This is a person – a Christian – who is trying to go the right way. You aren’t static. The voice will speak when you turn the wrong way. If you’re trying to establish God’s will, try different avenues. He’ll make it clear if you take the wrong way. You don’t have to go wrong to go right. But it’s easier to be steered if you’re moving. Don’t be static if you want to know God’s will for your life.
Ephesians 2:10
There is a pathway for my life already prepared, and if I am open before God and ask His Holy Spirit to come inside and sort me out, there’s a way prepared for me. I want to fulfil your purposes as long as I am on this earth. He listens and answers. He doesn’t make things difficult for you. He’s prepared the things for you to walk into.
Philippians 2:13
When I am asking for guidance, I can have confidence that my thinking process will be affected by God wanting me to go the right way and do what pleases Him. I need to make sure that when I ask for guidance, I want His will, and am not trying to lay down restrictions. He’s faithful and will answer.
Hebrews 13:20-21
If you are open before God and want His will, He’ll make it apparent. We each have different personalities and God works in different ways with us. How will God guide you particularly? He will guide you so that you will know for sure what He wants you to do. And there will be peace inside, because it is the God of peace who will make us perfect in every good work. There will be a peace inside.
Can’t the enemy mimic peace? No – not in the way I’m talking about. Not in the way when an individual is completely open, and realises that because Jesus was crucified and rose, I am free to go the right way. God will make it clear. There’s nothing mystical about finding out what God wants for your life.
1 Peter 4:7
That’s for everyone in this room.
Now is the time for you to be obedient the faithful word that God has brought to you.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
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