Sermon Tone Analysis

Stewards of God’s Grace

4 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

1.

What verse from stands out to you the most?

Why?

2. There are times when looking back at your life would be wrong, because Satan could use these memories to discourage you.

But Peter looked back ().

Read also and , what do all these verses tell you about good reasons for looking back on your life?

There are times when looking back at your life would be wrong, because Satan could use these memories to discourage you.

But Peter looked back ().

Read also and , what do all these verses tell you about good reasons for looking back on your life?

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

I think looking back at certain times in our life keeps us humble in the fact that we have lived in sin before and that God has changed our life.

3. What does it mean to be alert and of a sober mind ()?

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38 This is the great and first commandment.

39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

When people realize the nearness of Jesus Christ, they are bound to commit themselves to a certain kind of life

The reason given for being sane and sober is for your prayers; the plural suggests specific, individual prayers throughout each day.

The idea is not simply ‘so that you can pray’ (NIV), but ‘in order to pray more effectively, more appropriately’, Christians should be alert to events and evaluate them correctly in order to be able to pray more intelligently.

The reason given for being sane and sober is for your prayers; the plural suggests specific, individual prayers throughout each day.

The idea is not simply ‘so that you can pray’ (NIV), but ‘in order to pray more effectively, more appropriately’, Christians should be alert to events and evaluate them correctly in order to be able to pray more intelligently.

Peter’s words also imply that prayer based on knowledge and mature evaluation of a situation is more effective prayer (otherwise there would be no relationship between being ‘sane and sober’ and one’s prayers).

What this verse teaches could well be put into practice when reading the newspaper, listening to the news, travelling to work, and so on.

(1) He says that we must be steady in mind.

We might render it: ‘Preserve your sanity.’

The verb Peter uses is sōphronein; connected with that verb is the noun sōphrosunē, which the Greeks derived from the verb sōzein, to keep safe, and the noun phronēsis, the mind.

Sōphrosunē is the wisdom which characterizes someone who is supremely sane; and sōphronein means to preserve one’s sanity.

The great characteristic of sanity is that it sees things in their proper proportions; it sees what things are important and what things are not; it is not swept away by sudden and transitory enthusiasms; it is prone neither to unbalanced fanaticism nor to unconcerned indifference.

It is only when we see the affairs of earth in the light of eternity that we see them in their proper proportions; it is when God is given his proper place that everything takes its proper place.

(2) He says that we must be sober in mind.

We might render it: ‘Preserve your sense of self-restraint and control.’

The verb Peter uses is nēphein, which originally meant to be sober as opposed to being drunk and then came to mean to act soberly and sensibly.

This does not mean that Christians are to be lost in gloomy joylessness, but it does mean that their approach to life must not be frivolous and irresponsible.

To take things seriously is to be aware of their real importance and always to be mindful of their consequences in time and in eternity.

It is to approach life not as a huge joke, but as a serious matter for which we are answerable.

(3) He says that we must do this in order to pray as we ought.

We might render it: ‘Preserve your prayer life.’

When people have a frivolous and irresponsible approach to life, they cannot pray as they ought.

We learn to pray only when we take life so wisely and so seriously that we begin to say in all things: ‘Your will be done.’

The first requirement of prayer is the earnest desire to discover the will of God for ourselves.

4. Why do conversions to Christianity surprise nonbelievers ()?

4. Such behaviour was part of the normal life of these Christians before their conversion, for their neighbours are surprised that you do not now join them in the same wild profligacy.

The phrase join them is literally ‘running with them’, an expression which vividly reflects the frenetic pace of their continually disappointing search for true pleasure.

The same wild profligacy is literally ‘the same rapid pouring out of unrestrained indulgence’ or ‘the same torrent of debauchery’ (NIV: ‘that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation’).

The word translated profligacy (asōtia) refers to uncontrolled indulgence in the seeking of pleasure (the same word is used in Eph.

5:18, and the related adverb is used of the ‘loose living’ of the prodigal son in Luke 15:13—it suggests wastefulness, perhaps both of money and of life).

The whole picture is one of people rushing headlong toward destruction.

The fact that unbelievers are ‘surprised’ that Christians do not join in their profligacy suggests that Peter’s readers included not only many who had been converted from Judaism, but also many won from a Gentile background, for there would be no surprise involved if former Jews, who had previously led a morally upright life, did not participate in pagan life.

But when Christians did not join in sins of unbelievers, the result was not just surprise.

The unbelievers became hostile, for Peter says they abuse you.

It is primarily verbal abuse and slander that are intended, for the term means ‘speak evil of, defame, injure the reputation of someone’ (so in Matt.

27:39; Luke 22:65; 23:39; Rom.

3:8; 14:16; 1 Cor.

10:30; Titus 3:2; 2 Pet.

2:2).

Why did this happen?