What's Wrong with You?!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I almost killed a 5 year old girl
What’s wrong with you?!
YouVersion: What’s Wrong with You?!
We’re in 1 Peter 4:1-11
This is the last message
Skipping chapt 5 - about elders
Just covered in 1 Timothy
Our next series will be Daniel
Counter-Culture
6 ways to tell if there’s something wrong with you
Actually, there’s something wrong with all of us!
1 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.
Something’s wrong if:
Something’s wrong if:
1. You never suffer for Christ
1. You never suffer for Christ
Christ suffered first
We are NEVER asked to suffer more than Jesus
I think we need to keep eyes open
I’m not an “end of days” guy
We could easily go 200-300 more years
But it may only be 3 more seconds… nope!
Things definitely seem to be going a direction
As things get closer, harder to be Christian
We need to prepare - to train for trials
Although we’re free, trials still come
Do you live by faith in trials? Or by fear?
Chris Stefanick (Catholic speaker): He didn’t suffer so we wouldn’t have to, He suffered so we’d know how to.
A lot of us lose our battle with sin
We only want easy battles
We quit when things get hard
Instead, there should be some suffering!
There is a spiritual battle all around us
In WWII, many countries chose to remain neutral
Had trade agreements, divided opinions, whatever...
No matter what, they tried to avoid the suffering of war
They wanted to maintain some idea of comfort
Countries like Denmark, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands...
So what happened? They were invaded!
As a Christian, you cannot remain neutral to Jesus
30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
If you get in the fight, you’re gonna get dirty!
In WWII some neutral countries weren’t invaded
Why? No one cared about them!
They were focused on the countries that mattered!
What does that mean if Satan isn’t going after you?
Maybe you don’t matter...
You’re no threat to Satan, so he’ll focus on those who are
Christians should approach suffering with same attitude as Jesus
Endure it willingly
Look beyond the suffering to God’s purpose
This has an effect that you should see:
2. Your view of sin hasn’t changed
2. Your view of sin hasn’t changed
Suffering changes our view of sin
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.
We have spent more than enough time on sin
Sin is a waste of valuable time for a Christian
George Bernard Shaw: Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
Look at this list
Sensuality - means “unbridled lust”
Passions - “desiring the forbidden”
Drunkenness
Orgies - “carousing”
Think college parties
Sex, drinking, breaking things, bothering neighbors...
Drinking parties - more of the same
Lawless idolatry - “criminal practices, for money or against God”
We haven’t changed at all!
Same sins for 2,000 years!
And the same thins that Peter says applies to us
It’s time to grow up and move on from sin!
But sometimes we don’t want to move on!
Why don’t you try a harder difficulty next time?
Because it’s hard, I want comfort!
When people get saved:
Do I have to stop swearing?
Do I have to stop living with my girlfriend?
Do I have to stop sleeping around?
It’s not a list of “You have to stop...”
It’s seeing your sin for what it is and desiring a change
A desire to please God that grows bigger than desire to please yourself
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
A lot of people want to be Christian, but they don’t want to change
As humans, we will continue to sin
But we should NEVER be content in that sin!
Every sin we see, we should be trying to eliminate
Not because we’re trying to earn something
But because Jesus has shown us a better way!
If you’re saved, He has cleansed you
And that should prompt a response
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
You are not a slave to sin anymore
Sin will always try and take you back
But you have the power of Christ in you!
John Piper explains this way:
Nobody sins out of duty
Nobody: “Man, I need to get some sinning done today”
We sin because Satan and our nature deceive us
We believe our sin will give us pleasure, satisfaction or fame
Holiness, on the other hand is a superior pleasure!
There is a degree of willpower, but just willing for holiness will fail
There is an all-satisfying pleasure in knowing Jesus
What else is a sign something is wrong?
3. The world accepts you
3. The world accepts you
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.
Expect the world to hate you
If the world accepts you, there’s something wrong
People say “Only God can judge me”
Usually because they’re sinning
They don’t take that judgment seriously
God’s Not Dead:
I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God.
In 2016, SNL parodied “God’s Not Dead 2”
Christians were up in arms
Phil Cooke: If Christians get so offended at every little slight, what do we possibly have to offer the world? If we have so little backbone when the going gets tough, why in the world would anyone seek our help when they experience times of trouble?
Why do we get angry when the world rejects us?
We should EXPECT them to reject us!
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
What’s scary is when we start looking like world…
We think, “Times have changed, so we need to change”
Or, “The Bible is more like guidelines than actual rules”
That’s not what Scripture says!
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
It’s one or the other...
We have a problem with falling down stairs...
Tash has nightlights all over the house
If one stopped shining, what do you do?
Our house was build in 1949 - outlets are valuable!
If there’s no light, you throw it away!
Our goal is to shine bright in a dark world
If you are just as dim, you’re pretty useless!
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.
Mentioned this in chapter 3
Not for 2nd chance...
This fulfills their 1st chance - Abraham’s bosom
Watch the sermon video from 2 weeks ago to catch up
This shows the importance!
The gospel is so important, even the dead need to hear it!
If it’s that important, what should that change?
4. You can’t find reconciliation
4. You can’t find reconciliation
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.
A lot of honing is done through prayer
Lysa TerKeurst: The reality is, my prayers don't change God. But, I am convinced prayer changes me. Praying boldly boots me out of that stale place of religious habit into authentic connection with God Himself.
Prayer helps to keep us in tune with God
Makes sense!
When we communicate to a God we have been reconciled to...
He causes us to reconcile with others
This passage speak to our being peacemakers - Mat. 5:9
Let me ask a hard question:
Now that COVID-19 is fading (not saying it’s over)
Has the church done a good job of loving?
Billboards saying COVID is God’s judgment
Breaking laws to take what we want
Claiming persecution when we’re treated like everyone else
Honestly, we’re a bunch of whiners!
Notice Peter mentions “without grumbling”
We always want to complain about things!
Sadly, Christians are known for criticism
Don’t do this, don’t do that, God is watching, is that what you wanna be doing when Jesus comes back?!
We’re so bent on those around us not matching our idea of holy
Brant Hansen, Un-offendable: Quit trying to parent the whole world. Quit offering advice when exactly zero people asked for it. Quit being shocked when people don’t share your morality. Quit serving as judge and jury, in your own mind, of that person who just cut you off in traffic. Quit thinking you need to “discern” what others’ motives are. And quit rehearsing in your mind what that other person did to you.
Reconciliation starts with humility and ends with grace
Your role is to show the world the grace you’ve received
So make every effort to keep peace
Last one!
5. You aren’t using your gifts
5. You aren’t using your gifts
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.
Odds are, you know your gifts
Can take a spiritual gifts test too
Bible lists at least 20 different spiritual gifts (maybe there are more?)
Varied grace means “many colored”
Makes you think of a rainbow
As if the church makes a beautiful picture
We each make up a different stripe
Is there anything more annoying that a bad pixel on a screen?
If you’re not using your gifts, you’re a burnt pixel!
God is about more than just gathering a bunch of us up
He wants to paint a beautiful picture
God designed the minds of Einstein, Hawking and Edison
Also designed Poe, Picasso and Jagger
God is a God of form and function
We each have gifts that accomplish one or both of those things
Bugs me when we think our gifts don’t count
There’s a side effect: we’re not good at everything!
Greg Laurie says he volunteered for everything
He learned what he was good at and stuck with it!
Now he’s shared the gospel with millions
He also learned where he wasn’t gifted
He doesn’t work in the nursery, lead worship or anything like that
Just because you like to sing doesn’t mean you should
Just because you want to teach doesn’t mean you can
Just because you have money doesn’t mean you’re generous
Learn your gifts, and use them for God’s glory!
Closing
Closing
At the end here, we learn there’s always something wrong
We’re never going to get this all right!
John Wooden: It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
In light of this, let’s remember Peter’s story
Peter went through a journey
Full of mistakes
But he spent 3 years walking with Jesus
Then a lifetime learning what that meant
Then he wrote this letter
Full of wonderful lessons for us to learn!
Your life in Christ works that same way
You will fail, you will fall, but if you trust in Christ, you will learn
It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress
That’s what we learn from PETER