Good morning. So glad you're here. I truly hope that as we sang that song that Christ has been

so near to you this weekend. I wanted to just share and quick. I didn't plan this at all, but I

thought it might exhort you and encourage you how Christ was near to me this morning just

driving here in a very personal way that I hope it happens to you so often.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, I can't really place it. I just felt down and discouraged. I don't

know what it was. I think Saturdays there's just a lot of spiritual warfare in my life, honestly. But

this morning driving to church, I was just reminded through a song. Called crucified in Christ.

That man we have been buried with Christ and raised with him. That He is in US and we're in

him and he's coming back for us. And so, I just hope that this weekend you experienced the

nearness of Christ and that you experienced that same thing here this morning at church.

As I was writing my message this week, I had a fond memory of a childhood movie called The

Sandlot. This was a movie from my childhood. And Scotty Smalls moves to a new

neighborhood, and he doesn't have any friends. One day his mom comes in his room and he's

in there tinkering and playing and building all kinds of Playsets and things. And she says,

Scotty, hey, I know you're smart and I'm proud of you, but have you made any friends yet? And

he goes, no, no friends yet. He was sort of playing it safe, staying inside his room, staying inside

the safety of what is comfortable and what he knows. She says something so interesting, which

is sort of this famous scene, she says. I want you to run around. I want you to scrape your

knees. I want you to get dirty, climb some trees, hop some fences, get into trouble for crying

out loud. But not too much trouble. Do some dangerous stuff like get out of the safety of your

room the safety of our house and go make some friends, do something dangerous, and risky

stuff.

The reason I was reminded of that is because I really think the church in the West is playing it

safe. We are sort of staying inside the house, hiding, keeping the gospel to ourselves. We are

so prone to avoid risk and discomfort. That comes with discipleship to Jesus Christ. And I'll be

the first one to raise my hand and say I love safety. I love ease and comfort. Like my flesh is just

naturally drawn to those things. We are trained to pursue a life of safety, trained to build lives of

comfort. I mean think about our houses that we build nowadays and the cars that we drive and

the heated and air-conditioned seats. Just the other day when it was cold, I turned on my seat

heater, my seat warmer on full blast.

Just going to enjoy that 15-minute drive where you are just roasting in the seat. I love that

experience and it shut off! That thing broke because I drive a 2011 and I'm just hanging on to

that truck for dear life. I am. I love a comfortable, safe life. We build houses and cars and

technologies to create safe and comfortable and easy lives. Now, there are certain things that

are just good gifts from God. Like it's good to have dead bolts on our doors. That's a great gift

from God that we can have safe, safe doors. It's great to have air conditioning and heating

especially if you're where I'm from in Texas where it's already 90° this coming week. It's nice to

have these things.

But when it comes to discipleship to Jesus Christ, safety and ease and comfort are no longer

things that we pursue. We pursue faithfulness to the Savior who saved us, Jesus said. The

foxes have holes, the birds of the year have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his

head. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow

me. When you and I believe in Christ and we publicly and cosmically declare that faith in

baptism, like we talked about last week, what you're doing is you're entering a life that is, yes, it

is the most joyful, happy life and fellowship with the Trinity There is no greater life.

There is no other true life than this fellowship with God the Father, Son and Spirit.

And yet at the same time, you're entering the hardest life on earth that you could possibly live, A

life marked by suffering and opposition and persecution and temptation like you've never

experienced before. I think that largely we've misinterpreted versus like no weapon formed

against me shall prosper. We think that means nothing. No harm will come to us in this life That

no suffering will come to us in this life because God is on our side or verses like if God is for us,

who can be against us We take that to mean, hey, no one can truly oppose us in this life.

Nothing bad will happen to us for actually following Jesus. But that's not what it means. We've

misinterpreted these verses to think that Christianity becomes a life of ease and comfort and

safety just because we have Christ on our side. But that is not true It's not true at all. Being

baptized into Christ, Jesus guarantees for the convert that danger and discomfort and suffering

is coming for the gospel, for the name of Jesus.

The truth is, he never promised us promises to deliver us in a temporal sense. But he does

promise to be with us. And one day when Jesus Christ comes and raises us from the grave, he

will deliver us fully and finally, but in this life, if we walk the path of Jesus. If we walk with Jesus

If we abide in Jesus, as the song we just said, we will share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ for

his namesake That if they have called the master of the house be eligible, how much more the

members of his household So in light of that Since suffering and persecution and hardship

will come to you, and it will come to me for Christ 's sake, what does it mean to think like Christ

in this world?

What Peter does here in our passage this morning is he says, Christ suffered the righteous

for the unrighteous to bring us to God. Christ is the one who, from birth to death, He faced

suffering. He was marching towards the cross. He was suffering for the will of the Father. And

then he said,

Therefore, we need to think like Christ. And my question is what does it mean from first Peter

chapter 4 to think like Christ? Look with me at first Peter four and I'll read the passage starting in

verse one. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh in the body, arm yourselves with the

same way of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin 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 has passed 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.

If you look at verse one, the main operative command in this passage that that governs this

whole passage is since Christ suffered in the flesh. He says, arm yourselves or equip yourself.

This is battle language. This is preparing for battle. This is military language. Armed or equip or

prepare yourselves with the same way of thinking. Now in my simple language, I would just say

what Peter is saying is think like Christ. Think like Christ, the one who suffered for us, the one

who suffered in his flesh for the salvation of the world, the righteous for the unrighteous.

Now to really get into this text, we need to be reminded of the pervasive theme of suffering in

his letter. In chapter one, verse six, we will be grieved by various trials. Chapter 2, verse 12, we

will be called evil doers. Chapter 2, verse 19, Believers will experience sorrow and unjust

suffering. Chapter 2 verse 20, We will suffer for doing good, verse 21 We have been called to

suffer for doing good. Chapter 2:23 Jesus who never sinned suffered for our sin. Chapter 3:9.

We will see, chapter 3:14. We will suffer for righteousness’ sake. Chapter 3:16 We will be

slandered for a godly life. Chapter 3:17. It's better to suffer for doing good if that's God 's will.

Chapter 3:18. Christ suffered the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. In verse one

it says therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, think just like him, take on his perspective,

take on his attitude, take on his focus in life. Once we are believers and we are baptized, we are

declaring allegiance to Christ and we are appealing to God for a clear conscience. We are

pledging allegiance to the King of Kings who has all angels and powers and authorities subject

to him. We are transferring from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God's beloved Son

in the Kingdom of light. And so now, as baptized believers, we are to think like Christ.

Four ways that Peter wants us to think like Christ.

1. Thinking like Christ means preparing to suffer. It means mentally and spiritually preparing

ourselves to suffer, to be ready to suffer. And that's what he says in verse one. If Christ suffered

in the flesh, you yourselves need to think this way. You need to prepare for the suffering. You

need to set your mind to be willing to suffer for the glory and the name and the will of Jesus

Christ. Like this is unavoidable in this life. It is unavoidable if you're going to live a godly life in

Christ Jesus. You will be opposed. You will be hated the entire world The unbelieving population

is animated by Satan himself. It is animated by the powers of darkness. And if we are children of

light, children of the Son of God, children of God S Kingdom, then we will be opposed. It's

unavoidable. And so when we wake up in the morning, we are to love the world and love

our enemies and love those who oppose us.

But we are to be mentally prepared, spiritually prepared in our prayer life, to suffer for the sake

of Christ and oh what a privilege it is In the book of Acts, when they came together after being

persecuted, the apostles were preaching and they gathered for a prayer meeting. And they said,

Lord, grant us continued boldness to speak your word without fear. Grant us boldness and

courage. They didn't, they did not even say protect us as far as we know. They just said give us

more boldness in the place in which they were was shook by the power of the Holy Spirit. Are

we a church that's praying for boldness and courage rather than safety and comfort and ease,

but faithfulness and boldness and courage Setting our corporate church mind to suffer for the

great name of Jesus Christ.

And oh, what a privilege it is to suffer, even to the point of death for the name of Jesus Christ,

Peter himself was told by Jesus when you were a kid you went where you wanted. You wore

what you wanted to wear when you were old. They will take you and they will dress you and

they will stretch out your arms and put you where you do not want to be on a cross.

According to church tradition, he was crucified like his Lord, but he wanted to be crucified

upside down. As far as I know, in church tradition his wife too was killed in the same way. And

when she was being killed and he was being killed, he cried out to her and said remember the

Lord, remember the Lord. What a privilege. Peter considered it to suffer for the name of Jesus.

Would we? Would you? Would I consider that a privilege? What I would suffer for the gospel, an

opportunity for boldness and opportunity to represent the enemy loving Jesus, who died for his

enemies Me, his enemy, he saved me. Is that an opportunity or is that a tragedy? That's an

opportunity. We must prepare to suffer. And first Peter, Chapter 2: 21 -25. “For to this you have

been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so you might follow

in his steps.” Verse 22, “He committed no sin, neither did was deceit found in his mouth. When

reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued

entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that

we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

I love Philippians 2:8, “Jesus was obedient to the Father's will, to the point of death, even death

on a cross for you and me, for his enemies, for rebels, for guilty people, for people who deserve

wrath and hell and judgment. Did you forget? Have I forgotten who I once was in rebellion

against God, with my fists raised against this holy, loving, gracious, good God? And Jesus

Christ? Knowing my rebellion, knowing my wickedness, knowing the hardness of my heart, laid

his life down for me . He suffered for you and for me to the point of death on a cross.

Paul says In the Garden of Gethsemane he cried out. Not my will, but yours be done, he

suffered. Hebrews 12;1-3, verse, “Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of

witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. Let us run with

endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated

at the right hand of the throne of God. And then he says, consider Christ. Who endured from

sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint hearted.

Consider Christ, who endured the cross, who suffered in the flesh, Who for the joy that was

coming, the joy of resurrection, the joy of redemption, the joy of ascension, the joy of being

seated at the right hand of the Father, the joy of buying back sinners and souls for God and

building his church. Because of the joy that's coming, he endured the cross We have glory

ahead. We have salvation ahead. Christ is coming for us, Peter says. Fix your hope completely

on the glory that's coming to you at the return of Jesus Christ and you can suffer well Comfort

and Christian discipleship are incompatible That's like saying war and peace are incompatible

It's like saying Android users and iPhone users are incompatible.

When I moved here, I bought a new computer, and I went to buy a PC. I'd been a Mac guy, an

Apple guy for a long time, and I had that PC for about 12 hours. And then it was returned

straight back. Me and that PC were incompatible. We could not get along. It's awful. Like if you

use a PC, God bless you, God bless you.

Incompatible comfort and Christian discipleship are incompatible realities.

When you're trying to eat well, when you're trying to get back into working out, you have to pre-

decide. You have to pre-decide before you walk in the grocery store. What am I going to buy?

You have to pre-decide what I am going to eat when you walk in the kitchen. You have to

wake up early in the morning to get that workout in because you're trying to discipline your

body, you have to pre-decide before the alarm goes off at 5:00 AM and you wake up and you're

like man, it's super warm and comfy in here. You have to pre-decide. I'm going to discipline

myself to work out in the same way as you are baptized into Christ . As you wake up each day

and go into the world to represent Jesus, you have to mentally pre-decide by the power of

God 's Spirit that you will suffer well for the name of Christ that you're willing, willing to be

slandered and opposed in any way for the name of Jesus. And what a privilege it is. When

you're baptized, you get a target on your back. Expect enemy, enemy fire. Arrows and darts will

fly at you like never before. They will fly at us as a church like never before.

When you're driving you get on that road and if you're a good driver you expect something to go

wrong. My father-in-law is a professional driver. He drives basically town cars, and he drives

high profile clients. I said to him one day, “how have you never gotten in a wreck before of all

these hours and all these miles on the road?

And he said to me, “You always must expect the unexpected,” and he said it kind of with pride,

but he's like you have to expect the unexpected and that's the idea. Like we have to pre-decide

that we will suffer for the name of Christ. If a soldier goes into battle, he or she expects to be

shot at. I played baseball in high school, and we went to the playoffs. We went to a rival field

called Flower Mound High School and they were known for big crowds and strong opposition in

the crowd. There were thousands of people at this playoff game, and we were heckled and

trash talked the entire game like we expected it and it was kind of fun. It kind of energized us.

But it was an expectation that as the pop-up flies in the air to me at shortstop, it's an expectation

that everyone in the crowd is saying you are horrible, you're going to drop it like you.

Trash talk is coming. We expected it. Are we expecting suffering for the name of Jesus? Are we

prepared mentally to suffer like our Lord How much of your thinking? And my thinking is focused

on comfort, safety and ease.

When my mind is focused on preserving self, I don't open my mouth around unbelievers about

Jesus. I keep it to myself. I want to be safe. I want to be liked. I want to preserve my reputation

and my honor in society. We get embarrassed. We get ashamed of the gospel. But Jesus is

saying, man, open wide your mouth, open wide your life and say, you know what, I'm

unashamed of Jesus Christ. There's nothing shameful about Jesus Christ. What could be

embarrassing about Jesus Christ? And we have to be willing to take the heat for that. We have

to be willing to lose our reputations for that and be hated for that sake.

The first thing tis o think like Christ means to be prepared mentally and spiritually.

Secondly, thinking like Christ means living for God 's will, no matter the cost. Let's look back at

the passage in verse 2. 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 has passed suffices. It's enough for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living

in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With expect

to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they

malign you. Notice in verse two and three, he says, If you have believed in Christ and been

baptized, transferred from darkness to light, your goal is to live verse 2 the rest of the time in

your body, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. Your old life is over.

As I was driving here this morning, that's what I was reminded of. Your old life is over. Your new

life in Jesus Christ has begun. You're dead to sin Chad. You're alive in Christ Jesus to God. You

have a new heart, a new life, a new family, a new community, a new identity, a new position, a

New Hope. And the past life, it's over. The past life of rebellion is over. The new life in Christ has

come to no longer live for us and for our pleasure and for our comfort and for our self-

preservation. But for the will of God Christ from death, from birth to death, lived perfectly for the

Father's will. Peter says you've ceased from sin. He's talking about repentance. Like through

faith, and then expressing it in baptism, in the passage before our life of rebellion is over, we

have ceased from sin. Our focus is now the glory of God and the will of God. How many times

do I fail when I Pursue sinful pleasure or human approval, human approval or sinful pleasure.

But in Christ Jesus were saved and redeemed. We no longer live for sinful pleasure.

We no longer live for the praise of men and women. We no longer seek human approval.

Rather, as Paul would say in Galatians chapter one, I love this verse, he says, Man, if I am

trying to please man, I am no longer a servant of Christ, He goes. Am I still trying to please

people. Because if I was trying to please people, I am not a servant of Christ Jesus. I'm not a

disciple. See what he's saying. The direction of your life before Christ was for you. Please

people, please self-indulge your flesh!

But in Christ Jesus raised with Christ saved by his mercy. Now the whole aim of the believer’s

life is to please Christ, glorify Christ, live for his will. There's one audience in mind. One thing in

mind in every moment of our lives is, does this glorify Christ who redeemed me? Does this

glorify Christ who saved me. In the back hallway when you're whispering with a friend is this

conversation pleasing Christ, with an unbeliever in your neighborhood? We're starting to meet

the neighbors around us. Many unbelievers like this does the way in which I relate to them

Please Christ, like, am I going to open my mouth at some point and say, hey, I want to tell the

greatest news I've ever heard? I want to tell you what Jesus has done to save me and my my

soul and how he died to save your soul. Like, am I going to open my mouth or am I going to

preserve myself That's what Peter 's getting at. I love Hebrews 11:24. By faith, Moses, when he

was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be

mistreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin He considered the

reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures. Of Egypt. For he was looking

to the reward. I love that verse. He chose to be mistreated with God 's people than to enjoy the

fleeting pleasures of sin. Is there pleasure in fleshly sin? Of course there is. It's fleeting though.

You do it once, y u want more, you do it again. You're back for more the fleeting pleasures of

sin, the vanity of the praise of men. Like when I preach up here, I want to serve you. I want to

bless you. I want to be of service to you in some way. I want to play my small part in the body of

Christ. But I do not want to preach to please you. I do not want to preach to please men and

women. I do not want to live to please my neighbors and impress them and satisfy them. I want

to please Christ.

I want to love people and I want to please Christ Becoming a Christian, therefore, is enlistment

in the ranks of Christ You could say your public ceremony of baptism is your public enlistment in

the armies of Christ Jesus He's the Lord of hosts, of angelic hosts, but he's also the Lord of his

church That when you were baptized into Christ Jesus, you were enlisting in his ranks,

identifying with him and his Kingdom I don't love this metaphor, but I've heard it many times and

I think it's helpful The faith and baptism Into the church means you're being baptized into a

battleship, not a cruise ship. My wife and I went to Cancun before kids, three different times.

One was for the honeymoon. We loved it so much we went back a few more times while we

could still travel and have a life of our own, which is no longer the case. We would go to resorts

with the all-inclusive package, and if you've never had the all-inclusive package, man, you're

missing out. It's unbelievable. You just walk into places, sit down, and start eating stuff and you

just walk out whenever you want. It's awesome I'm afraid that that my mindset, your mindset

could 9 on certain days be more of the Cancun resort mindset with church.

Like if we go into churches and say what do they have to offer? Is this like the all-inclusive

package for me. We have the resort. Christianity mindset. But we've joined a battleship. We've

not joined a cruise ship. We've enlisted in the ranks of Christ. We are his holy people, set apart

unto him to represent him to a world that we love, but a world that's hostile to us Is that your

mindset Because Christ has taken you to himself You belong to him. You're loved by him,

you’ve been purchased by Him and you're sent out into the world with holy boldness, with the

power of the Spirit. You will be my witnesses, says Jesus. You will be my witnesses. You, not

Chad, you guys. We are His witnesses. We are His army. We are his representatives. And as

Galatians one says, are we still trying to please man, or are we trying to please Christ, who

bought us with His precious blood? Are we living in the church with this resort mindset, or are

we living as people baptized publicly. Before the nations and angels to say I belong to Jesus

Christ and his army Verse 3. Peter says the time has passed, that suffice is for doing what the

Gentiles do. Partying, licentiousness, debauchery, evil, wickedness. I love that. How he says

this. The time passed. That's enough. Like there was plenty of that. The old man is dead. The

new you in Christ is alive. And then he says in verse four, your friends and your family, those

who know you with respect to this, they're surprised when you don't join them in this behavior,

when you don't party with them anymore When you don't get drunk with them anymore. When

you don't indulge in sexual sin with them anymore. When you don't gossip with them anymore.

When you don't hate, hate other people on the other side of politics anymore. When you don't

hate and rage in other people, they're surprised. When you no longer act like they act and live

like they live, they're surprised that something now, namely Jesus Christ, has come between

you guys.

There's a distinction now between darkness and light, and they are surprised by this. And in

verse four, at the end of verse four, he says, they malign you for it.They will turn on you. They

will mock you. They will slander you; they will revile you, just like Jesus Christ. There's this great

song. So before I became a believer, I loved rap music, and this was in high school. And so

when I became a believer, I love, like the actual art of rapping. So the percussive nature of it,

the art of it. So if I find a good rapper who’s very skilled in rapping, I find that for some reason

the word plays in the percussive nature of that. I'm just drawn to that kind of music.

When I became a Christian, I was so bummed because all the rap I listened to was awful, just

completely wicked. I didn't want to listen to that anymore. And then I found that there was

Christian rap and there was some decent Christian rap. One of the most famous Christian

rappers you've probably heard of is Lecrae. Lecrae has this song for back in college, I would

walk around campus just loving this song. And this song is called indwelling sin. And the song is

so creative. What he does is, is his indwelling sin that still remains in him as a believer. His

indwelling sin is tempting him and taunting him, and he is speaking back to his flesh, speaking

back to his indwelling sin. So there's this argument and this conversation between the old man

and the new man In Christ Jesus, an indwelling sin in the song is constantly saying, hey man,

can't you just have like Jesus and sin. Like, can't you have Jesus and partying? Can't you have

Jesus and sexual immorality? Like, what's the big deal? Like, we used to be pals. We used to

be buddies. Like, why are you so distant now? Why are you so different now? Do you think

you're better than us now?

That's what our friends and our family are going to say to us who don't know Christ. When we

break away from sin and we turn to Christ, they're going to ask like, hey, do you think you're

better than us now? Why can't you have Jesus and our lifestyle. There comes the centrality of

our loyalty to Christ. They will malign you.

And then in verse 5 here introduces the third thing, that thinking like Christ means Thinking like

Christ means remembering that vengeance is the Lord 's. Remembering that vengeance is the

Lord 's. Verse 5 But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead .

Vengeance is not ours. If we are slandered, if we're mocked, if we're hated, if we're maligned, if

we're mistreated. If they lay hands on us, If one day they find us, if they, if they take our

property. And in this passage in verse 6, Even if they kill us one day, like 60 years from now, 30

years from now, like if you're across the world or even America for some reason and someone

lays hands on you and punishes you for being a Christian. Vengeance does not belong to us. It

belongs to Jesus Christ. If they slander, we don't slander back. If they hate, we don't hate back.

If they oppose us, we don't oppose them back.

We do not repay evil for evil. Why? Because vengeance belongs to Christ. I love verse five. It

says he is ready to judge the living and the dead. Jesus Christ is not getting ready to judge the

living and the dead. Jesus Christ is ready to judge the living and the dead. Acts, Chapter 17.

Paul 's preaching And he says God has appointed Jesus Christ as the judge of the living and

the dead, and He has assured all by raising him from the dead At the resurrection

and ascension of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, right now in heaven, at the right hand of God,

stands ready to judge the living and the dead. He is coming quickly, He is coming soon, and he

commands everyone everywhere, to repent and believe in him. He offers forgiveness. He offers

mercy to the worst of sinners. Because Jesus Christ is coming to judge the living and the dead.

He is ready. And so vengeance is the Lord's. When our enemies oppose us, we don't repay evil

with evil because Jesus Christ will judge. Not us and we also remember Jesus Christ dying for

us, his enemies. That if we remember two things, that if we remember that vengeance is Jesus

is not ours. And man, if we remember that we were enemies saved by grace, how could we hate

our enemies Like his mercy towards us sinners and enemies of God reconciling us through

the death of his own Son and a vengeance belongs to Jesus Christ, then all that we have left is

love and blessing for our enemies. Jesus dying on the cross.” Father forgive them for they know

not what they do”. Stephen being martyred. Steven saying don't hold this, Lord Jesus, against

those who are killing me, don't hold this against him. Because they realized vengeance is

Christ 's. And Christ saved me his enemy So all that's left for me to give is love and mercy and

to pray for my enemies and those who persecute me. The gospel shapes our relationships with

our enemies then lastly, fourthly, thinking like Christ means remembering the gospel gives us

life beyond death, remembering that the gospel gives us life beyond death

Verse 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 Is

Peter offering a second hope of salvation to dead people Is Peter saying that that unbelievers

who have died, that we can preach the gospel to them and they have this second opportunity

even after they died to be saved? No. We know that's not biblical Once you die as an

unbeliever, if you don't repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ, once you die, that's it. There is

no other hope. There's no second preaching of the gospel. After that comes judgment. What

he's saying is there are some believers who heard the gospel, believe the gospel of Jesus

Christ, repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ, and then they were killed for the gospel. And

though Peter says they were judged in their body, in their flesh, though they were condemned

by unbelievers in their bodies, they live in the spiritual realm According to God 's power,

they go on living in paradise. Remember in First Peter 318. And 19 where it says Jesus was

killed in the flesh, and then part of that sermon was he was made alive in the spiritual realm.

And he went and he preached to spirits in prison, and he went to paradise and all the rest .

Peter uses the exact same structure in the exact same words. He's saying that if you're killed for

the gospel, if you die and you suffer in this life, but you hold fast to Christ, you may be

condemned and killed in the flesh, but you will live on in the spiritual realm. You will go on

beyond death, into paradise, into the very presence of Christ himself, and you and I will await

resurrection from the dead on the last day that there is so much hope in the gospel beyond

death That it is better to live with Christ Jesus than to be in this body It is better to be in the

presence of Christ, Paul says. He says this for to me to live is Christ. To die is gain. If I live in

the body, that means fruitful work for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard

pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account and another place, Paul says. I

would rather be out of the body and in paradise, at home with the Lord And so we go from

death, believing the gospel in death, to paradise And from Paradise, when Jesus comes to

judge the living and the dead, we will be raised with him to immortal glory forever and ever and

ever. This is how much hope is death, and resurrection gives any Sinner who repents that death

is not the end. Death is a servant to the believer. Death is a doorway into paradise. Death is a

doorway one step closer to paradise and resurrection with Jesus Christ. That death is no longer

your master, my friend. In Christ Jesus, death is a doorway into the very presence of your

Savior. Death is a servant. Death no longer master’s us because Jesus rose from the dead

never to die again. Do you feel this in your bones I think we forget that Jesus really is alive, that

the gospel really does save us The Paradise. We are on the verge of paradise being with Christ,

and we will wait from that moment to the resurrection of our bodies when Christ comes back. Do

you have this hope? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? You may have sat in church your entire life

and never repented and put your hope in Christ. Do it today Do it today Death is your servant

now Death is a doorway In closing, you can feel the weight and the hope of the gospel

Especially at funerals There's no other place on earth than a funeral service where you feel the

hope of this gospel My cousin died at age 21 in a motorcycle accident. He died as an

unbeliever. That was the first funeral I was ever asked to officiate. It was gut wrenching. You do

not recover from an experience like that. There was despair in my heart. There was absolute

despair for him. I preached the gospel to those who were living, but in my heart for him there

was no more hope. But I've had family members and friends die in Christ Jesus. Those funerals

are not despair. Yes, there's grief. Yes, we miss them. Yes, there is sadness. Yes, we lose so

much. But they and their death gain everything. They gain Christ. They won the prize. The

reward. Jesus Christ. and now all they have to look forward to is fellowship with God and

resurrection of their body from the dead. The gospel is a gospel of life and hope. Let's pray

Lord, we love you. We need you. We praise you, the living God That Jesus Christ died and rose

for us, that he lives forever to intercede for us. We have a great High priest Lord we oh man Or

we want to be free from these bodies of death. We want to be raised with Christ We want to be

in paradise with him We want to live so free from the fear of man. We want to live so free from

trying to please people. We want to love people. We want to forget ourselves. Or this is how

Christ lived. Christ has given us the life and power to do this Were raised up with him by mercy

and grace. So help us to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions

But for the will of God help us to arm ourselves with the same way of thinking to have the mind

of Christ to embrace the path of the cross as we are so, so close to being with Him when he

comes again. Thank you that at the final judgment through Jesus and His sacrifice, we will be

found righteous. We will be found blameless and spotless before him at his coming. Because he

is faithful, He will do it. We praise you in His name. Amen