Welcome Suffering as a Part of Life: Preparing for War on Two Battle Fronts - 1 Peter 4:1-6

1:37But one thing is clear in the Bible: God wins this war. God's will is going to dominate the spirits of his people, and they in turn will dominate the earth, a new heavens, and a new earth. The original creation, man was given dominion. He was given dominion over the earth. And he was reflecting in his dominion that image that had been created in him. God has dominion. And so man, being made in God's image, also will dominate his world. And God gave him that. But then man forfeited his dominion to the usurper, who took him prisoner under the lie that you shall be governed by your flesh, by what you see is right, what you think is good, what makes sense to you. That is how you are to govern yourself.

2:44And that is to trump what God has to say. In other words, the usurper came along and told Adam and Eve, listen to your own desires, to what you want. And so that. Imprisoned man. And that is the world that now is, a world that is controlled not by the influence of God's desires, but by the influence of man's desires. And this is the world that we have created as this is played out. But all this is going to change. Christ will be revealed. His people will be revealed for who they are.

3:33Christ will put evil under permanently. In 1 Corinthians 15, 26, the last enemy that is going to be abolished will be death. And in verse 28, when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. In other words, Christ, having all things subjected to him, will then in turn give everything over to the Father, and man will have dominion as originally designed upon the earth, and God will have dominion over man.

4:15Man will have dominion. Man's spirit will be dominated by God's Spirit, and man will never again give himself over to the usurper. Such is the day that is coming. Yet, while we are waiting for this day, we have to live in this world. And God has a purpose for us being here. And the will of God collides with the desires of man through his people. That's where the collision happens. We are the instruments that God is using to collide with this worldly system with the hopes of awakening lost souls so that they will be convicted, so that they will turn and they will understand God, and that they would embrace him.

5:14But God has set us on course with a collision, and that's going to produce some battle lines. And Peter knew this, and this is what his people were experiencing. And so he sought to prepare his readers for the spiritual and physical confrontations that they were already facing and would soon face again. And this is what our passage is about this morning. 1 Peter 4, 1 through 6. Let's just read it here. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live there. Rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached, even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

6:46So there's a context here. One of the principles of good Bible study is to understand what I call the bridge principle. That is, pay attention to what happened before and what happens right after your passage. If you look at the passage this morning, it opens with the word, therefore, that is looking back to what has just been said in light of Christ's suffering and the subsequent glory that was given to him. In light of that, think about what I'm about to say. And then go into 4:7. The end of all things is near. So there is this bridge. In the middle of this is our passage this morning. In light of Christ's suffering, Suffering, and in light of the fact that the end of all things is near, I want you to pay attention to what is being said.

7:39In light of the fact that the world is passing away, in light of the good news of the resurrection, good news that is to come, how should one spend the rest of her days, his days or her days? In light of all that's been said and all that's coming, how should one spend the rest of his or her days? That's the question. And the answer is very simple. Verse 2: We are to live how God wants us to live. Look at it for at the end of verse 2:4 the will of God.

8:13Remember Jesus' prayer? Pray that thy will will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven. And the idea here is that in order for God's will to be done on earth, it must first be done in our hearts. And if anything a follower of Christ is, it's someone who welcomes the will of God into their lives. And that is the kind of people that we should be, that we are. If you are in Christ, fundamentally, you are a person who welcomes the will of God into his life.

8:54And I'm talking his pleasing desires. But, very simple concept. Although it's not going to be easy, and it's going to involve suffering. It's going to be an ongoing war of simply living out your days for the will of God. And God's goal is to equip His readers for just such a life. They are going to encounter battles. And that is what He is equipping Him for. So let's just start walking through this passage. 1 Peter 4:1. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose. This whole theme of suffering is picked up again. If you're involved in our memorization of 1 Peter program, you will know that our passage this week was 1 Peter 2, verses 21 through 25. That was very much in line with this whole suffering theme. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ has suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow exactly in his footsteps. He didn't do anything wrong, yet he was reviled, persecuted, and yet God had a purpose for that. And then coming into 3 and verse 14, it says, Who is there to harm you? In verse 13, if you prove to Zealous for what is good, not many people, but in verse 14, there are going to be some who have to suffer for the sake of righteousness. In some cases, it's going to be God's will for you to suffer for the sake of righteousness.

10:45And he goes on in verse 17: it is better if God will it that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. Then he launches on into this whole idea of Christ's suffering. Christ also died for sins, and the word there is suffered for sins to death once and for all. And he's saying, Now you likely pick up this theme of suffering. Then he goes into the whole idea of baptism and what that pictures. That pictures a death to self and a resurrection to Christ, the will of God. True baptism involves a spiritual immersion into the death of Christ. In fact, the verb there is the baptism that is now saving you. We can think of baptism as a picture of what has taken place in justification. That is that act where God justifies you, he saves you, he puts you into he you are united and joined with Christ into his death. And so that the penal substitution that was due to you. Has now been paid in Christ, and you have been raised up so that you can now live the rest of your life in union into the for the will of God, in His resurrection life. But it is also a picture of the ongoing salvation in sanctification, that we are being saved. The Bible talks of us as having been saved and being saved, and that we will be saved. And baptism is an emblem of all this: that we, as we grow in Christ, are daily leaving our old world behind. We are dying to sin, we are joined to Christ, and we are living to righteousness, and that one day we will be glorified in his presence. And all this, all this bears on what Peter goes on to say: as Christians, we are in union with the one whose mindset, disposition, and intent and purpose was to suffer for the sake of righteousness, even to the point of death.

13:10This is who you are baptized into, this is who you are in union with. And so, don't be surprised if you're called to suffer for righteousness' sake. Key verb there: therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves. Arm. Take up arms. Military term. And it's used only here in the New Testament. It's an imperative. It's the only imperative. This is what you must do as a result of who you are and the culture and the world that you are in. You must take up arms.

13:49It's the picture of putting on a good defense and even a good offense. It's the picture of a soldier taking up his shield, putting on his armor, taking up his spears, javelins, swords, and helmets or whatever. Take up arms, but the arms that Peter has in mind is not of a physical sort. Look back. The weapon that Peter has in mind is a mentality. Arm yourselves also with the same purpose. Word for same purpose, literally the same thoughts. It involves the same attitude, the same thinking, or the same principle. Let yourself have this same thought process and intent, same purpose. Have the same purpose that drove Christ to suffer.

14:45Have the same mentality. So, what Peter wants us to do is he wants us to be armed and ready for battle. And the best weapon for the kind of confrontations that you are going to be. To encounter is a mentality just like Christ. And the only way to be ready for the battles that you are going to face is to be armed with a Christ-like mindset. In fact, part of the process of becoming like Christ is to think like Christ. And that is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to set us apart, to conform us into the image of Christ. And one of that key aspects is to think like Christ, especially in regards to sin and righteousness. So let me give you the logic flow here of verses 1 and verse 2. Therefore, see that first word, therefore, in light of what has been said about the sufferings of Christ and your union with Him, therefore, since Christ has suffered for you, in light of the fact that your Lord suffered for righteousness' sake, arm yourselves with the same purpose. Think like Him, act like Him.

16:08Sow that. Verse 2, you will have the rest of your life. You will live the rest of your life no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. Therefore, since, arm, sow that. Now, if you're looking at the text, you'll notice I skipped a little parenthetical comment there. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose, parenthetical comment, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. The word ceased from sin is in the perfect, and it speaks about a permanent condition, one that is free from sin. And you can imagine that this has brought about a lot of discussion. Such a verse. The question is, how does one get there? He's talking about a permanent condition, one free from sin. How does one get there? Well, the answer is the one who has suffered in the flesh is the one who has ceased from sin. So then the question is, what does suffered in the flesh mean? Well, there's a number of interpretations that see this he as a reference to Christ. Well, that doesn't make any sense because Christ never was a sinner, so he doesn't need to cease from sin. So it's definitely speaking about the one who suffered. And the one option, one option is the one who suffered refers to physical death. That suffering refers to physical death. And that death, and this makes sense because death is used synonymously with suffering in this letter, though not exclusively. The person who had suffered for the sake of righteousness to the point of death had surely entered into eternity where sin shall no longer have influence over him. So, if you die in Christ, as some of these people did, that they were then moved into a state of eternity where sin could no longer touch them. And certainly this is true. I mean, if you die, you cease from sin if you're in Christ. However, I think that that is certainly a true observation. However, I think that there is an application that is not just limited to those who had died, that there's some hope in this lifetime given in this passage for you and I to be able to have mastery over sin. And so that brings up a second option.

18:48You can see how in 4:1 that there's an ongoing view of life because he who has suffered in the flesh, in the flesh, has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of his time in the flesh seems to be an ongoing picture of life. And a second option, and this would see this as sort of a truism, a statement of reality, kind of like a proverb almost, but a stating the obvious. He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. He who has died in the flesh has ceased from sin.

19:31And I think that, yeah, he's saying this as a parenthetical. But the idea is suffering isn't always a reference to death in 1 Peter. Sometimes suffering is just suffering for a number of reasons. In fact, Jesus' whole life was one of suffering in many aspects. He was called the man of sorrows. His death was kind of that final gulp of suffering. In fact, in 4:13, he's going to talk about sharing in the sufferings of others. But in this case, suffering relates to those who are ready to suffer for righteousness to whatever degree necessary, even to the point of death.

20:18And so the issue comes down to, okay, sinless perfection. And that's where many people, if you take this position that the word ceased, is talking about a permanent condition. And can we, by arming ourselves with the mentality of Christ, ever be totally free from sin? And my answer is, you probably won't ever arm yourself completely with the mind of Christ. So I'm not worried about you guys going off and be sinlessly perfect. But what I think this is saying, are certainly. A right application of it is that the degree to which a person has the mindset of Christ will be the degree to which he or she will have ceased from sin. Let me say that again: the degree to which a person has the mindset of Christ will be the degree to which he or she will have ceased to sin.

21:21And so the challenge for us is always going to be putting on the mind of Christ. And if you will think perfectly like Christ, you will have mastery over sin. Our difficulty in our fallen nature is to ever really think like Christ completely and totally. But as you do grow in that way, you will grow in victory over sin. However, you take this, either option, it's very clear that the exhortation is to suffer for righteousness' sake, even to the point of death.

21:55And those who have armed their minds in such a way will have victory over sin. In fact, a good picture of this is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You remember when they would not bow down, worship the statue that Nebuchadnezzar made? They said, This, Nebuchadnezzar, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or we. Worship the golden image that you have set up. These people were free from sin. These people were ready to go and suffer to the point of death, and in this context, sin had no mastery over them. So let me again come back and read the logic flow of this passage.

22:54Therefore, verse 1, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose. Verse 2, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. Every person is in the midst of this war between the desires of the flesh and the will of God. And arming oneself with the mind of Christ is the only way to victory. You want to know how to go about living the rest of your life for the will of God? You need to arm yourself with the mentality of Christ and be ready to suffer, even to the point of death.

23:36And that's the way to victory. And that's what Peter is telling this body of believers that are scattered. So following up on this command, Peter elaborates on two specific arenas where his readers are going to see combat. And we can think of these as two primary battlefronts where every Christian will see war. You will see battle. On these battlefronts, and in order for you to be victorious, you need to arm yourself and prepare yourself for victory. And so, what I want to do with the rest of our time this morning is look at these two battlefronts where you are sure to encounter combat so that you are going to be prepared for victory. So, the first battlefront that all of us are going to encounter as we are preparing for war on two battlefronts: the first is the internal battlefront. Look at verse 3. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desires of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable practices or idolatries. Look that the time already past is sufficient. Verse 3, it's over. It's a perfect verb. It has completely passed you by. Like water under the bridge, the time is gone. And if you are in Christ, you have already spent enough time carrying out the desires of the flesh.

25:11Having already pursued a course, that is, you've already gone after in some degree or another. You have lived according to the pattern of this world. So that time is over. And this is what he's saying to this congregation. He lists six terms that really define. To a large degree, the Roman society in which they were in. The first is sensuality. And this is sort of an introductory word that covers the whole list. And it involves various acts of unbridled lusts and a disregard for any moral restraint. Sensualities.

25:50Unbridled lusts. Disregard for any restraint. Sensualities, plural. And he goes to the second one: lusts. Lusts speak about evil desires or corrupt passions. Like this is what Jesus talks about in the parable of the soils, that seed that fell among the thorns, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires, there's that word, the evil, corrupt desires for other things, choke the word. Next term, drunkenness. And this expression is kind of a funny one. It means bubbling over, like a bubbling over brook. So drunkenness is someone who's overflowing with wine. And it describes a pattern of intoxication and even can refer to any other mind-altering drugs, but bubbling over with intoxication, a pattern of it. Another term, carousing. And this refers to the excessive feasting, dancing, partying, and drinking of the time. In fact, I love how this one author or this one language expert puts it. He defines this term based on Homer, Herodotus, and Greek writings, that this carousing is a nocturnal and riotous procession of half-drunken and frolicsome fellows who, after supper, parade through the streets with torches and music in honor of Bacchus, that's the Roman god of wine, or some other deity, and sing and play before the houses of their male and female friends. That's carousing. Okay?

27:38It's that late-night revelry. Then there's those drinking parties. By the way, I like to tell my kids: you know, there's not much that happens after 9 p.m. that if you miss, you're not going to be the worse for it. I mean, it's maybe a couple of things, but as a general principle, if you're in bed by 9, you're not going to miss a whole lot. Well, then there's these drinking parties. You might miss some of these. The purpose of these parties was to provide the opportunity for intoxication. This is why they gather. Their purpose was to get drunk, to be able to, or to provide the opportunity of excessive drinking, provide the opportunity for somebody to go overboard, and then participate in all the other excesses of indulgences that would accompany. Such a scene. This is where provision for the flesh is made. Then there's the detestable idolatry, and this involves the immoral worship and practices of the false gods, such as, as I already mentioned, the Roman god Bacchus, who was also known as the liberator. And in worshiping this deity, one would drink heavily. There was a lot of music, ecstatic dance. And what he would do, what the worship would do, would free the followers from any self-conscious fear or care. It would remove the restraints that were considered oppressive. So, in the worship of Bacchus, it was this idea of being liberated. Let yourself go, let it go type thing. Let it go. But the idea here is just a release. And that all these parties and all this association and revelry that is described here really has two things in mind here.

29:38It has the drinking and the excessive partying, mind-altering drugs, intoxication, and all the things that went with it. Usually the sexual immorality that accompanied it. Much of this whole battery of Sensualities listed here. Deal with that. And he goes on to say, such were some of you. This is characteristic of many of the former practices of whom Peter was writing. But the gospel had reached them. At some point, these desires, these practices had gripped the hearts of Peter's audience in some degree, some way. The main point is not the degree to which they participated, but the fact that the time to participate was now over. You are in Christ. You have left that world behind, like Noah on the ark. That world's gone for you. And you are in Christ.

30:48And that time is past, which brings up the emphasis here: what Peter is saying. How should you spend your time living for the will of God? He basically is saying you have already wasted enough time. Time spent pursuing the desires of the flesh is wasted time. Time doing the things that you want to do, when you want to do, because you want to do them, is wasted time. These people had participated in sin that no doubt was still on the conscience of some of them.

31:26We don't forget sins necessarily. We could never be condemned for them if we were in Christ. But there is a painful reminder within sin squandered time. I think God leaves us a memory of those so that we can look back and remember squandered time. But if you are in Christ, you have had enough time for carrying out the desires of the flesh. Don't be a poor steward anymore. Then he goes on to talk about time that is left. He's already said in verse 2: live the rest of the time, not for the flesh, but for the will of God. You don't have much time left. The end, verse 7, of all things is near, or your end is near, whichever comes first. And the reality is, some of you have less time than others.

32:28And some of you think you have a lot of time left, but you really don't. You do not know when your day will be your last, but we do know that it's near. So don't live any longer for the flesh. Don't waste any more time, but live for the will of God. But be encouraged about this. Those of you who think you have just A little time left, you still have enough time to do God's will. So, at verse, he has left you so that you will live the rest of your time for the will of God.

33:15And so, that's Peter's exhortation: arm yourself, live for the will of God. So, this battlefront, this internal battlefront, is the battles that you're going to face because of the internal desires of your own heart that are enticed by worldly desires. You're going to have those battles within because you are enticed to pursue worldly desires. And Jesus has some very aggressive words speaking about this. And Peter seems to echo them. Jesus says, in Matthew 5:29, if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, throw it from you. For it is better to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

34:17Read an article about a man who got his hand caught in a corn harvester. He tried to remove a corn stalk and it grabbed his glove. He couldn't get free. Then a fire broke out, and he saw very quickly he was going to die. And he did the unthinkable. He cut off his arm in order to free himself. And he said, This: I told myself, I'm not going to die here. I think that's the way we are to see sin. It is like it gets you caught.

34:56Don't live for the desires of your flesh, it will catch you, it will entrap you. Peter's exhortation here is to adopt a manner of thinking and a disposition to life that prefers suffering to sin. In other words, be ready to suffer for righteousness' sake, even to the point of death if necessary. It's preferring to take a knife to your throat before you allow your body to break its marital vows to your spouse. That's the kind. It is preferring blindness to a diet of sinful images.

35:42It's preferring that your fingers and hands be cut off before you ever send an email that would harm, deceive, or lead a brother or sister into sin. That's the kind of radical departure from sin that Jesus talks about and that. Peter talks about. Look, I'm not saying that you need to go out and maim yourself. There's a lot of other alternatives to do away with sin before you get to that point. But the exhortation here is: whatever it takes, have the mind of Christ.

36:26In fact, Hebrews 12, 3 says, This, for consider him who endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. There's a lot more you can do. And if you're going to live for the will of God, you must develop and arm yourself with the mentality that whatever it takes, I'm going to flee from sin. I'm going to do whatever is necessary.

36:59Well, that's the internal battlefront. I wish that were it. But there is the external battlefront. And this, I want you to see the source of this conflict. It's different. Verse 4, and all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you. The source of this conflict is in other people. It doesn't spring from within you, but it springs from without. In the hearts of others.

37:34I mean, why were the believers being persecuted anyway? I mean, they just adopted a different lifestyle. Why should that cause such an uproar? I mean, just because you choose to live your life one way and somebody else wants to go another way, why should they hate you? Where does persecution come from? And why does it arise? Well, he gives us the answer here. Verse 4, in all this, they are surprised. It's literally the word, they are astonished. You're bewildering them. They are astonished at the novelty and the strangeness of your behavior. Wow, what are you doing? This is strange. Same phrase is spoken about when Paul was preaching in Acts 17 about Jesus and the reconsurrection. And the Epicurean and the Stoic philosopher said, Man, this is strange stuff. But come here, we want to hear this. What you're saying is very strange. It's the same idea here. These people are watching the behavior of believers in Christ, and they're like, this is strange. Your morality, your way of life is just strange. Surprise. Shocking. It's kind of the idea. Well, what are they surprised at? Look at verse 4. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same Excesses of dissipation. It's literally the participle there means to run together with. It's the picture of the crowds when they saw Jesus going across the lake. They ran to him. They were gathered to run to him. Same term is used. Except they're not running to Christ. It's the excesses of dissipation that they're running to. And the word excess refers to an overflowing river, like a river that's gone outside its banks. They are surprised that you are not taking the plunge with them into the river of sinful and wasteful living. That's the idea. They are surprised that you're not running down the bank with them to jump into this river of dissipation, wasteful living. You see, Jesus said, the world hates me because I testify that its deeds are evil. You see, Jesus's presence brought conviction. Why aren't you doing it? Why aren't you running with us? Are you judging me?

40:10I hadn't said a word. That's the idea. And the result, look at the end of verse 4, they malign you. The word malign comes from the same word as blasphemy, meaning to slander with the intent to harm. They are slandering you with the intent to harm, and it's a present ongoing part. It's a present verb. They are maligning you. It's a present reality that these believers were experiencing because they were not running into the excesses of dissipation and sinful and riotous living that their culture was, that their culture hated them for this reason and saw them as the enemy. And this was the root and source of the conflict. Their presence awakened a conviction, an unwillingness to go with the flow of the culture.

41:07I remember when I was a freshman, went to Baylor University, and I remember those freshman years, you get there and you don't know anybody, and there's a little bit of a longing for home. And somebody that was back home told me that another girl from my high school, who I didn't really ever even know, was at Baylor as well. So great. Anything reminding us of home? Both were kind of in that phase. Let's talk. Let's get together and go do something. So we're talking on the phone, and we're all happy. Wow, yeah, we can talk about Los Alamos and our high school. We can go, we can spend some time.

42:01What do you want to do? She said, Let's go get a beer and kind of go down the bar-hopping scene. At least that's what I understood her to say. And of course, I had a little different thing. I thought, you know, there's a bear pit down there, there's a big bear, you know, and go see the bear, and they got this ice cream shop, and I think they had turtle track, you know, something along that line. And I said, Well, I didn't know you're, I didn't really know that you were a beer drinking, bar hopping. And I never will forget her words. She said to me, Tom Baber, you don't do those things?

42:43I mean, I wasn't trying to offend her, and she certainly didn't persecute me. That was the last time she talked to me. So we never made it to the bear pit, never. But this external conflict, every believer is going to face. And what it is, it's an outward hostility because of your inward convictions. It's an external pressure that will cause many to abandon the faith or abandon the will of God and embrace the desires of man. You believe what?

43:22You say what? So, how do you win on such a battlefront? Well, arm yourself. With the same purpose as Christ. Consider the cost of building the tower. This is going to happen. And you're not going to have to go out of your way. As these people were not going out of the way to meet with societal confrontation, it found them simply because they had found a new way of life, a life that was subservient to the will of God. And those around could tell it was very different and it made them feel uncomfortable.

44:04So Peter goes on. He says, he tells them, dig, arm themselves, get ready to suffer, but he also encourages them. And the way he encourages them is through God's judgment, the unbelievers. First, he's going to tell them, don't sweat because of the unbelievers. Verse 5, they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Those who malign, persecute, and harm the followers of Christ are going to give an account for their actions. Everyone, living and the dead, will be judged by the one who judges. Christ makes distinctions. Don't let anybody kid you. He is the judging God. He makes distinctions and he prefers righteousness over sin. He not only prefers righteousness, but he punishes evil.

45:00And they will have to take things up with him. So Peter's audience doesn't have to respond in kind. They can just leave the judgment up to God. But he has also an encouragement here for the believers. Verse 6: For the gospel has for this purpose been preached, even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. Now, this verse has a universe of differing interpretations throughout the centuries. But if you just follow the vein of thought, big picture and little picture, the message is very clear. This verse, the dead are best to be taken as the physically dead. He's talking about the living and dead in verse 5. So we're not talking about the spiritually dead, we're talking about the physically dead. The content of the message was the good news, which was very different from what he proclamation he made to the spirits who were in prison in chapter 3 and verses 19 and 20. The time of the preaching would have been during their lifetime, and they had responded favorably to the gospel. They were judged in the flesh as men, but they live in the spirit according to the will of God. These dead were judged in the flesh by human courts, probably as enemies of state, and they were. Martyred, yet they are alive and will reign.

46:36So, this isn't teaching about a second chance or a purgatory state or a spirit place where you can expect one day to hear the gospel if you reject it here. No, the message is clear: this gospel was preached for the salvation of those who were once enslaved to the desires of man, and that proclamation happened in their lifetime as the Word of God went forth and as they saw and witnessed these believers who were willing to die for their faith. The time of the proclamation of the good news is now. That's the time we're in. Now is the time for a favorable response to the truth of God.

47:19In fact, this is the only realm such a response can happen. This is the only time when you can really respond in faith. So hear his voice. And if any of you want to talk some more about that passage, I assure you, I'm ready to talk to you about it. But Peter's exhortation, bringing this home, arm yourself with the same purpose. Be ready to suffer, like Christ suffered in life and suffered in death. Suffer on the internal battlefronts, suffer on the external battlefronts. Battlefronts.

48:02And as I put this into perspective, I realize that Peter's teaching no doubt resulted in many deaths. People following the advice of this letter, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions through the ages have looked back at this and have taken their stand and been willing to face whatever suffering came. And I think some so this message is responsible for a lot of death, but it's also responsible for a life, for a lot of life, because the gospel went forth.

48:45People heard, people understood, people really understood the gospel because people really hear what we're saying. Let me say it like this: what we are willing to suffer for says a lot about what we truly value or what we truly believe. And as those early Christians were ready to suffer and die for their faith, it spoke volumes about the veracity and of the truth of the gospel. And so many and many throughout the ages, because of the martyrs, the sincerity of the martyrs has come to have come to Christ. So the message, Christ. Is drawing people to himself through the witness of his people. Arm yourself. There is a world out there that is totally conformed to the desires of man.

49:44And for a brief time, it overlaps with this world that God has put in you in our midst, a world that is dominated by the will of God. And it is evangelistic. Suffering even harshly for righteousness' sake is evangelistic. The truth that God loves you and desires a relationship with you is manifest in the gospel. And it is manifest in those who are willing to do whatever it takes to pass that on. So the message: if you do not know Christ, come to Him today.

50:31If you do know Him, arm yourself with the same purpose as your Lord. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks again for your word, for the message, for the exhortation. And God, we recognize that there's no way that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and even begin to obey this command. And so we call upon you, Lord, to Do a work in us that would allow us to respond and be like Christ. Draw us continually so that we may truly be men and women after your own heart who think like you.

51:17We thank you for the glorious gospel, Father, that though we were sinners and apart from you, you loved us, suffered for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.