Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

We are beginning a new chapter this morning in our ongoing study of 1 Peter

So please take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 4

Today we are looking at the first 2 verses as Peter teaches in verses 1-6 about “Arming Yourself Against Unjust Suffering”

So that you have the entire passage in mind, I am going to read verses 1-6

Read 1 Peter 4:1-6.

We are in a spiritual battle

We entered that battle when we were saved

Prior to our salvation, we were engaged in the will of Satan

He, as he is called in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is the “god of this world,” who had blinded our eyes to the gospel

But God opened our eyes and drew us to Christ and released us from the bondage we had to Satan and made us His own

Now we are slaves of Christ and therefore slaves of righteousness

Revelation 1:1 refers to believers as “His slaves”

Romans 6:18, “and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

As belonging to Christ, we live our lives to please our heavenly Father

That means our lives are marked by obedience to Him

1 John 2:3, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

As we have been learning in 1 Peter, suffering for righteousness can be God’s will

It was His will for Jesus to suffer

According to Acts 2:23, Jesus was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, [and] nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men[who] put Him to death.”

Since He suffered, so can and will we

Jesus said in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’

If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

4 times in 1 Peter he gives direct reference to Christ’s suffering and death (1:11; 2:21; 3:18; 4:1)

And now Peter continues his theme of suffering and tells his readers that they are to arms themselves too

He begins verse 1 with...

LESSON

I.

The Example (v.1a)

Who is our example?

“Christ”

He says, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh”

“Therefore” refers back to 3:18 where it says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”

The entire section that begins in 3:18 and runs to verse 22 refers to the triumphant suffering of Christ

Peter brings that forward in chapter 4

Christ’s death was triumphant because it brought us “to God” by providing physical and spiritual atonement for our sins and it was triumphant over the “spirits now in prison” and Satan who tried to prevent it

Peter says that between His death and resurrection, He made “proclamation” or proclaimed His triumph to them

So when Peter says in 4:1, “Since Christ has suffered in the flesh,” he is referring to Christ’s death on the cross

That leads us to the main verb in verse 1 which is a...

II.

The Command (v.1b)

Peter says to “arm yourselves also”

Just as Christ armed Himself, you need to arm yourself too

The verb “arm” (hoplizo, aor.mid.imp.)

occurs only here in the NT

It is a military term that speaks of preparation for battle

The noun form of this word (hoplon) is used in 2 Corinthians 10:4 to speak of “weapons”

Another form is used in Ephesians 6:11 translated “armor”

The verb literally means “to arm oneself with weapons” or “to put on as armor”

Where else are we told to put on armor?

Ephesians 6:10-17.

This verb occurs in the aorist tense and calls for an act that demands resolution and determination

They needed to be resolute and determined to “arm” themselves for the battle

That’s the preparation they needed to make

This verb also occurs in the middle voice which tells us it was their personal responsibility to pursue this action

So this is a call for a “disciplined readiness to carry on their Christian mission” (D.

Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter, 257).

So as Christ suffered and died, you need to prepare yourself for suffering and ultimately death if God wills it so

Peter already gave how they were to imitate Christ in their suffering in 2:21-23 by not committing sin, or having any deceit in their mouth or reviling when reviled or threatening when threatened

Just as Jesus “entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously” (2:23), you need to do the same

So Peter says, “Your're in a battle and you need to be armed with this ultimate weapon.”

What is it?

It’s an...

III.

The Attitude (v.1c)

Peter wanted them to “Arm [themselves] also with the same purpose”

The word “purpose” (ennoia) is translated “attitude” in the NIV and it means the “same mind, the same idea, the same principle, the same thought”

You need to arm yourself with the same principle that was manifest in the suffering of Christ

Philippians 2:5, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”

The “attitude” that Paul talks about here is the mind of humility

He “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil.2:8)

Jesus was “willing” to die for our sin

We too must be “willing” to die like Christ when we suffer

That is the ultimate of persecution

Instead of trying to escape persecution, we must willingly accept it

Even if it means we die

But even in death, you can triumph like Christ did

Christ was willing to die and you need to arm yourself with that same idea, that you too are willing to die, because you understand that in dying, there is triumph

The only alternative is to recant by denying Christ

Peter wants his readers to understand that some of them are going to be martyrs, so they needed to arm themselves with that same thought

They needed to be willing to die for righteousness sake, because it can be triumphant

The potential for death marks the Christian life

We have been reading and praying for the persecuted church and what have we been learning?

They are being martyred and they are willing to be martyrs for Jesus

Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24, “23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

What does it mean to “take up his cross daily” but to be willing to die

Paul said he died “daily” in 1 Corinthians 15:31.

He said in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, “4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; 9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”

In Acts 16:22-24, he was “beaten with rods” and “struck…with many blows” and thrown “into prison”

He referred to this in 1 Thessalonians 2:2 as suffering and mistreatment

In chapter 3, he talked about being hindered by hostile men from “speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved” (v.16)

He said this hindrance was from Satan (v.18)

Ultimately he was beheaded

Prior to that he said in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

He was ready to die

He said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

This is the greatest weapon you possess

The worst anyone can do to you is kill you