Cole Ragsdale: If you've got a bible or you've got your worship guide, I invite you to open it to first Peter chapter four. We're gonna continue our study this morning as a church family through Peter's epistle. We'll be in the fourth chapter and we're gonna look at the first six verses of this fourth chapter. So if you've got that bible, worship God. Let's read God's word together.
Starting in verse one, God's word says this, 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, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. 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. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
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. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for sacred moments like this where your people are gathered around your word. And father, we do thank you for your word, that you have preserved it for us, for these thousands of years.
And God, pray that it would be more than just black ink on white pages, but through your Holy Spirit, these words would come to life and these words would give us life. And so if you would in your seat, would you pray even for just a moment that God would speak to you this morning through his word? And if you would, would you pray for me, that I would be helpful, and clear this morning? And so, God, I pray now that my words, they would they would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but your words would remain and they would change us. And we pray these things, father, through your strong son and by your sweet spirit.
Amen. Well, my two and a half year old, Tate, has this habit that anytime I go put on a particular pair of shoes, he kind of puts his head to the side and goes, dad, go to gym? Or if I put on a collared shirt and I make my way to the door, he'll kind of move his head to the side and, dad, go to work? Tate has picked up on something that what I wear reveals where I'm going. That Tate's realized that what I put on reveals what I'm preparing for.
That what I put on reveals my purposes. Now this is exactly what this passage is going to command us to do today, is to put something on, outfit, not a pair of shoes, but an attitude, an aim, a purpose, and it's that of Christ. The first Peter chapter four verses one through six only has one command. There's only one exhortation. There's only one imperative And we find it in verse one.
Let's actually look at it together. The first verse says, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. If you are a notetaker, you got a pen, pencil, crayon on the ground, if you wanna circle that arm yourself and maybe then underline with the same way of thinking, That I can imagine that as Peter is pinning these words to the first century church that he is just he he's pleading with them, would you arm yourselves with the same way of thinking because this is the very thing that our friend Peter needed to hear in his life of following Jesus. Now these are the very This is the very thing.
This is the the tension point that Peter himself experienced as he was walking with Jesus. I'm actually gonna read it to you. Matthew chapter 26 or 16, which is probably Peter's most famous encounter with Jesus. We see this in verse 21. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed.
And on the third day, be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me.
Now, don't miss this last sentence. For you are setting your mind on the things of not on the things of God, but on the things of man. That Peter is showing us that we can be with Jesus, but be without the attitude of Jesus. That we can be following Christ, but be without the aims and the purposes of Christ. And that even to Peter's shame in Matthew chapter 26, we're given this account as Jesus is being led away to his crucifixion.
And Peter sits around a charcoal fire and and a and a young slave girl comes up and says, oh, aren't you with him? As he goes to the cross and as we know, and Peter denies Christ. And it's there in that moment where the rubber meets the road that the boots hit the ground, that the hot bake or the bacon hits the hot skillet, that Peter crumbles like a or he crumbles like a lawn chair. Because he is has an attitude of man, but not an attitude of God. He has the purposes of man, but not the purposes of God.
And so it's here in first Peter four that we see, arm yourselves in the same way of thinking. That it was in those moments for Peter that he had a choice, suffer or sin? Christ or self? And the same proposition is proposed to us, whom will we follow when the rubber meets the road? Who will we come to when life gets real?
I need this passage this morning because it is possible for me to say that I followed Jesus without the very purposes of Jesus being in my heart. I need this passage this morning because if I'm honest, I'm not dressed properly to follow him. I'm dressed popular or properly for the ways of the world but not the ways of God. And so my prayer for us as a church this morning, for this 09:40 gathering of Redeemer Community Church is that we would walk out of these doors in the next like forty five minutes with the aim of Christ. That we would be armed, we would be equipped, we would be putting on the aim of Christ.
That we would have his attitude as we go into a lost and dying world that desperately needs him. And as we make our way through these six verses, I'm gonna propose that we have three looks. The first one in verse one, I'm gonna encourage us to look to Jesus as our savior and as our example. We're gonna look to Jesus. Our our second look is gonna be in verses two through four where I think the call of this passage is for us to look distinct in a lost and broken world.
And then our third look is gonna be verses five and six, probably my favorite, is we're going to look ahead to the final word of the Lord. Look to Jesus, look distinct, and look ahead. With that, let's study first Peter four one through six together. Let's look at that first clause. It says, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh.
Now, this since therefore is pointing us back to Peter's previous argument in chapter three and in chapter two. If I was to be even very particular, I think he's pointing us back to first Peter three verse 18, where we see this beautiful summation of the gospel that we know that for Christ also suffered for sins. The or the godly for the ungodly, in order that he might bring us to God. It's this beautiful picture that God gave his body for your body. That God gave his life for you to have life.
It's this gospel beauty of Jesus's perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his victorious resurrection that whoever would trust in him would have eternal life. I even think he's pointing us back to chapter two verse 24 where he says, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. That this chapter four is us living in the shadow of the cross. And these first two words, since therefore Christ suffered, it's almost like Peter is saying to us, hey, like in light of everything that we know about Christ, in light of his life and his death and his resurrection, here are some concrete practical Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. Now this Greek word arm, it could be translated as to equip, or to make ready, or to put on.
In much Greek literature, when this verb would be used, you could picture a Greek soldier making his or her way out into the army with a large shield and a large javelin, that this was a true preparation for battle. Now I think it's important for us not to miss what Peter is doing implicitly By him telling us to arm ourselves, not just to put on clothing, but to arm ourselves with the way of thinking, Peter is reminding his first audience. The spirit is reminding us that we are in a fierce battle for our souls on foreign soil. I don't know if you feel that, but like right now, as you sit in your seat in June 2026, you are in a fierce battle on foreign soil that we have a true enemy. We have a true enemy who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.
But not only do we have a real enemy, I don't know about you, but I have some real instincts and some real desires and some real cravings that are opposed to a holy God and honestly are really bad for me. That there is the flesh in me that hates God and loves sin. There is or even as Peter would say in first Peter chapter two, I believe it's verse 11, I urge you sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which what? Wage war against your soul. And I, pastor, have desires and instincts that are waging war against my soul.
And Peter is saying, arm yourselves with this way of thinking. But it's not only our accuser, it's not only our flesh, we also live in a world, we live in a current that is heading away from God. And so Peter's first command is, y'all, we must look to Jesus. Yes, as our savior. Gosh, the gospel was good news, but we also must look to him as our example, as our rabbi, as our teacher of how do we suffer well, how do we go through this world and experience pain.
That Peter is saying, as a soldier prepares for battle, so the Christian must prepare to live. Or even to put it at more like pointed for this passage, as a soldier prepares to fight, so the Christian must prepare to suffer for the purposes of God. I mean, this picks up on Paul's language in second Timothy chapter two where he tells him to to fight the good fight, you know, to to be a a faithful soldier who who doesn't get tripped up in the affair civilian affairs, but whose only aim is to please the one who has enlisted him. Which then leads us to, okay, I'm supposed to arm myself. What is this way of thinking that Jesus has shown us perfectly?
I think John chapter six verse 38 sums it up. Jesus says, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. That Jesus has come to earth not to hang out, but for a purpose. He has an aim. And this attitude, this aim is to accomplish the will of the father which is to reconcile and redeem all things back to himself.
And Jesus's face is set like flint in order to see this purpose accomplished. And this purpose won't be accomplished through a sword, but through sacrifice. Not through gaining power, but by laying it down. Not through power, but through weakness. And it's this this example that we look to Jesus as our example as a savior and the one in whom we follow.
May may be a way to think about this. I don't know about you guys. My senior year of college, I was not near as spiritual as the majority of the college students that come here. You know, we we got to take We took 60 students to the Dominican Republic, took a group of 14 to Budapest, Hungary this summer. I went on a cruise.
So, specifically, the Krusty Carnival. It was the cheapest boat that Carnival has ever made, but for a college student, it was a blast. And can I tell you what the purpose of that trip was? Pleasure. I mean, was about comfort, convenience.
It was vacation. I mean, like steak and eggs for breakfast for a 21 year old, like, yeah. Unlimited ice cream machine, like, it it was a blast. But like the aim of that boat, We weren't going anywhere. We're just cruising around.
It's a cruise ship. Now let's contrast that with a warship. What's the purpose of a war ship? The purpose is is mission. And how does that warship accomplish its mission?
Through sacrifice, through serving its commanding officer, in accomplishing the purpose at hand. So here's the question for us this morning. Would you describe your Christianity as a cruise ship or as a warship? Are you living cruise ship Christianity or warship Christianity? Is the purpose of your following of Jesus simply to make your life better, easier, more convenient, less painful?
Or is your following of Jesus that you have been so captured by the grace and mercy of God that your purpose, your aim, your attitude, your way of thinking is to see the purposes of God accomplished in your lifetime? Cruise ship or a warship? Here are some maybe some diagnostic questions that I have not liked asking myself this week, about whether or not I am living cruise ship Christianity or warship Christianity. The first one was, what's your prayer life look like? One, do you have a prayer life?
Two, are your prayers about making life more convenient, easy, accessible, reducing pain, Or are your prayers marked by the mission of God and your desire to see the spirit of God move through the people of God into this city that it would become the city of God? Other diagnostic question, don't like this one, so not perfect here. What is your what is your bank statement look like? Where are you spending the money that God has entrusted to you? Are you spending on comfort, convenience, pleasure, or is it on the basis of sacrifice, service, and mission?
What are you doing with God has entrusted to you? And in this, we are to look to Jesus as savior and as example. I think I would be remiss, in this particular context to move past this, that Peter is speaking to a group of people who are suffering and who will most likely endure physical suffering. In particular, suffering is not like a side quest in first Peter. In fact, suffering is mentioned over 16 times in this short epistle.
It's a primary theme And Jesus is saying, hey, like I am the suffering servant. I am the suffering Messiah and if you were going to follow me you will also suffer that Jesus embraces and endures suffering. I mean, even in the beautiful opening scripture that we read today, it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross. And that even after, crazy here, after Jesus tells Peter, you're thinking like a man and not thinking like the ways of God, what is what is Jesus tell him? He goes, and if anyone wants to follow after me, let him take up his cross and deny himself and follow me.
That baseline Christianity is one of suffering. That we are to embrace and to endure it just as our savior has. And the good news for us is that God is so good in his glory and his plan that God will never waste our pain, and God will never waste our experiences. That in his cosmic plan, he is using and redeeming the things that we maybe hate most for his most glory. And how and why and all, I don't know.
But I do know that God never wastes our pain and he never wastes our experiences. Or even this makes me think, first year of seminary, I'm sitting, in cowboy chicken in Denton, Texas across from a lifelong missionary. And like a classic first year seminary student, I'm like, you know, if you could if you could go back and talk to your 22 year old self, what would you say? What would be your piece of wisdom? What would be your piece of advice?
And I'll never forget what Duane told me. He looked me dead in the eye over my rotisserie chicken. He said, Cole, embrace the pain. I was like, what? Like, it's like, what?
I didn't I didn't need you to tell me like, chase your dreams. Embrace the pain. And then he said this sentence. It's a little strange. He said, Cole, pain will carve the key that will open the door to your destiny.
Destiny part was weird. I'll admit. Mister Duane was right. And when I look back on my life, God has used pain to carve the key, to shape and mold me into the person that I am. It's the man, husband, past, like, all of that.
And I believe the same for you as well, that we are to look to Jesus in our suffering as our savior and as our example, that God can take the worst thing in human history like God's blood shed on a cross and make it in such a way that we would call it Good Friday. That God never wastes our pain and he never wastes our experience. So a few questions for us to consider as we look at just verse one, as we look to Jesus, is what is your aim? What is your attitude? What is your way of thinking?
Is it the way of man or is the way of God? Is it the aims of the world, or is it the aims of our Lord Jesus? And if I was gonna give like something super practical to do, I don't know what moment in the day you feel like your day starts, whether or not it's like alarm goes off, or if you're pouring your Folgers coffee, or if you're like a chem x pour over person because you're fancy. Like whatever part of your day it starts, what would it look like for tomorrow for you to name the aim? To be like, today, I'm going to embrace the way of Jesus.
Today, I'm going to live the aim of God's purposes. Not my purposes, God's purposes. For you to name the aim before you start. Before you start a meeting, before you start that next phone call, before you I don't know what it is, but for you to name the aim. Our first look as we arm ourselves with the aim of Christ, as we look to Jesus as our savior and our example.
But then in verses two through four, we see that we don't just look to Jesus, but we also are called to look distinct. Let's look at the next phrase. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to no longer live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. Now this for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin could be challenging. Because it's like, okay, so if I suffer, does that mean that I like I turn sinless?
I think what Peter is getting at here is that when we have made the decision to arm ourselves with the attitude of Christ, that umbilical cord that's connecting us to sin is severed. That I'm no longer guided or given life by this sin. Instead, I have a new attitude. I have a new aim. Or maybe another way to say it, I heard Alistair Begg say this, that when we come to Christ, sin loses its reign as in its control, but sin still remains.
It's still there, but doesn't have its reign in our lives. I think that's what's happening there, but Peter is saying, okay, you've ceased from sin. You have this new mentality, so you were to live the rest of your time in the flesh, the rest of the time in the body. And then he gives us two aims, for human passions, before the will of God. Now he contrasts these two from the get go, but then he begins to describe what the wants of man or these human passions look like.
He says in verse three, 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. Now what he's describing to us here, so Gentiles think non Christian, non believer, is that they are acting simply out of what they want to do. That they are acting out of their desires, their instincts, their cravings, that basically, if I feel it, I do it. And we're seeing these disordered desires and these disordered practices that are marked by excess. In all of these things which were markers of the day, Peter is saying, hey, your life before Christ, you've had plenty of time to engage in those things, but you have a new aim now.
You have a new purpose. You have a new mentality. I do think it's pretty pretty compelling in verse three as we get this list, that y'all like humans be humans, that like this list of things is still happening today just in different forms. Look at the pornography industry. Look at the online betting industry.
Like like you can like do your own cultural analysis that, man, we have gotten a lot smarter, but we haven't gotten any better. And these are the same things that rise up to the surface in us because when we live by our human passions, we will chase whatever feels good, looks good, no matter the cost. And Peter is saying, enough is enough. And now it is time to be guided not by your desires, but by the word of God. Or or maybe think about it this way.
I think this passage is reminding us that our lives are meant to be like a magnetized compass. Think about, you know, a compass, the needle will point north because its nature is drawn towards that North pole. You know, a compass doesn't point north because it's trying really, really hard not to point south. It's it's not how it works, but there's something in it that is drawn, that is pulled to this different direction. And in the same way here, Peter is reminding these people, hey, your affections, your attention, your aim has changed.
It's no longer towards just getting what you want and it's not just about trying to suppress these desires. Instead, we've replaced it with something far more beautiful and far more glorious, the purposes of God. That this being distinct, as we look distinct in a lost and broken word, hear me out loud, this does not mean be a weird Christian. This doesn't mean like like be annoying or even try to be distinct. But instead, as we set our aim on God's desires instead of our own, we will be distinct.
That this is great news, that when we came to Christ, the old coal died. Like the old you is dead and the new you has arrived. And because of that, the compass of our heart points in a different direction, that we are meant to look distinct. Alright. I do think I have time for this.
There's a part of this passage that God like blew me up with this week. It's not entirely Peter's main thrust, but I'm gonna go there. Verse two and three, the emphasis of the time. So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what Gentiles want to do.
And what I could not get over this week is God reminding me that we are all living on the clock. That there is a time that God has appointed for us to live and there is a time that God has appointed for us to die. That there is no season two of Cole Ragsville on planet earth. There's only season one. And so maybe just like a couple questions at this that just those two words that kind of gripped me with this week is, man, what are you doing with your life?
Like actually, like, you be able to just to say like, with the time God has entrusted to me, I am pursuing the purposes of God or I am simply living to do what I wanna do? Maybe another question in that is like, who are you becoming? Based on the decisions you make, the habits you have, the rhythms and patterns of your life, who are you becoming? Because we never know how long we have. This life is short.
We never know how much time we have to give our lives away for what matters most or for us to waste our lives on things that don't matter at all, like living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parlays, lawless idolatry. What are you doing with the time? So a few questions to consider as you process verses two through four. Do you look distinct? Not are you trying to be distinct, but do you look distinct?
Is there a is the compass of your life pointing in a different direction than the nonbelievers in your life? Because if the needle of your compass is pointing in the exact same direction, then that's a red flag. Second thing to consider, even as we see this, in verse three, that the time that is past suffices for doing whatever you want to do. Where in your life do you need to say, enough? Where in your life do you need to say, the time that is past is enough for doing what I wanna do?
That that is a part of the old me, not the crucified and risen me with Christ. Where do you need to say enough? Now, this looking to Jesus and this looking distinct, it does come with a cost. Look what the passage says. They're gonna be surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery.
I've been mispronouncing that word for my entire life, until the 8AM service, debauchery, and they malign you. This could be translated as abuse, and afflict. That is gonna come with a cost. But Peter encourages them to stand firm by our third look, look ahead. Because what will happen?
Verse five, but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. That y'all we serve a loving father who is also a just judge. That each and every person will give an account before a holy God of their life. This judgment, it is comprehensive, it is total, and no one is exempt. And what Peter is encouraging believers, how he's encouraging us this morning is that, yes, the world speaks now, but the Lord speaks last.
And when the Lord speaks last, for those of us who are in Christ, this is a word of life. How do I know that? Verse six, for this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh, they are the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. That there is a judgment coming of the living and the dead in which God will give an account, in which he will settle the score for sin once and for all. And it's for this reason that the gospel was preached.
Specifically, Peter says it's preached to even those who are dead. I don't think this means that Peter was walking around cemeteries being like Christ's sacrificial death and victorious resurrection like over over dead bodies, but instead it's those who are now dead. That at this time, it was like, well, what good does Christianity do for me if I'm still going to physically die? And Peter's response is is that, yes, like even though they are judged in the flesh the way that people are, that they might live in the spirit the way that God does. That while they may die physically, they are very much so spiritually alive.
And there is coming a day in which God will reconcile all things and they will live in fullness. This is why the gospel was preached that the world speaks now, but the the Lord God speaks last and it's a word of life. And so church, we look ahead, not to new political candidates, not to a certain number in our four zero one k or when kids finally get out of diapers or they move out of the house or we pay for college or we get out of debt. We don't look ahead to those things. We look ahead to a world that is as real as this one in which there is no sin, death, or dime, or tears, no anxiety, or fear, or depression, or mental illness in which we will dwell in the presence of the most high forever.
And we look forward to that day not because we purchased it on our own but because Christ purchased it on our behalf and we will be with him. We look ahead. What we wear reveals a great deal about where we are going. So church, are you armed with the same way of thinking of Christ? Are you wearing his purposes and his aims?
And so as we prepare to take communion and leave from this place, are we would we this week look to Jesus, yes, as savior, but also as example. May we look distinct. May the compass of our hearts be pointed at something different and may we look ahead. Though the world may not understand, we look to our final destination, our true home of eternity with God. We need to be reminded of these things.
We need to remember the hope of this gospel. And this is what brings us to this table today as an opportunity for us as a church family, to take this spiritual meal, to remind ourselves of what Jesus has done on our behalf. That on the ninth that Jesus was betrayed, as they're dining with his disciples, he took bread and he blessed it. He broke it. He said, this is my body.
Eat. Then he took the wine, took the cup, blessed it and said, this is my blood. It's the blood of the new covenant, for the forgiveness of sins. Drink. And so we partake in this meal to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
And thank goodness, this God, he will come again. And so as we take this family meal together today, we're gonna Well, from an order standpoint, we'll take it the way that we typically do. We'll start, with the balcony. You guys will make your way down through these center aisles, and make your way around, the outer aisles. As always, the altar open for you to pray, for you to confess sin.
If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, and don't feel like you're in a place to be able to receive this table, not a baptized believer, we'd invite you to still make your way down and just pass by the elements and return to your seat. But I'll pray for us and then our our those who will be administering will come down and we'll start with the top. So let's pray together. Our father, I pray that as we take of this holy meal together that we will be reminded that Christ suffered in the flesh, that he gave his body for our body and for this body. And as we take of this bread and drink of this wine, may we be reminded of your sacrifice and the feast that we will one day enjoy with you.
And we pray these things through the son and by the spirit. Amen.