Latest / Mount Eaton Church / The Word - God Said - “Dead To Sin, Alive To Christ” - 1 Peter 4:1-6

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The Word - God Said - “Dead To Sin, Alive To Christ” - 1 Peter 4:1-6 · Mount Eaton Church

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And we're only going to be going through chapter
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4, 1 through 6. Before we get started, let's
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pray. Father, I want to thank you so much that
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you are so good. Lord, I do praise you for this
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day that we celebrate moms. and how you have
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called us as your people to be a holy people.
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Lord, I do ask that you would bless the moms
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who have little ones and bless the moms who have
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lost sons and daughters. Bless the moms who have
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seen their kids grow and move out of the house
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and start their own families and bless the daughters
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who are now moms. And Lord, we ask for not only
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grace for moms to accomplish what you have called
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them to do, which is to lead the kids in righteousness,
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to learn of you, but that you would also bless
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them as they are a support and a partner in life
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to their husbands. We thank you and praise you
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for your goodness, for your wisdom. We thank
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you and praise you that you have knit together
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in this secret place children. And because of
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that, you have desire for godly offspring. And
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through your wisdom, you have done that through
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the womb of a woman. We do praise you and we
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thank you. We ask that you would give us your
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wisdom as we open up your word. In Jesus' name.
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Amen. So I'm going to read verse 1 through 6.
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Before I do 1 through 6, I'm going to particularly
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read 1 Peter 3 .18 because verse 1 through 6
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is really the continuation of what Peter is saying
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here. You guys know that Peter is writing a letter
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to the dispersed believers. Throughout the area.
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They have been dispersed due to heavy persecution.
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They're living in caves. And so Peter is really
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challenging them to live holy in a very difficult
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time. And in reality, I think it's kind of fitting
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for today, though. As we're going through this
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letter. Because we live in a very... depleted
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moral country. It is sad to see the post -Christian
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nation that we've become. And I can't help but
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think that there are several different things.
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One, the joy of, or not the joy, the absolute
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desire and excitement to lavish and debauchery.
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It's crazy. But it's also this missingness of
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holiness. Of what does it truly mean to be a
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believer? And then lastly, The reality of what
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is missing in the pulpit of the church today,
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which is chapter 5. So I'll just build on that
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as we move into chapter 5 two weeks from now.
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But it all really stems from this understanding
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of how I should be living out the glory of God
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and the holiness of God in my life. And this
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is really verse 1 through 6. So in chapter 3,
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verse 18, it says, For Christ also suffered once
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for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
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that he might bring us to God, being put to death
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in the flesh and made alive in the Spirit. So
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Christ suffered once for sin, the unrighteous
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for the righteous. And as we get into chapter
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4, 1 through 6, I'm going to read these verses.
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And I want you to kind of pay attention. Hear
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how Peter is really pulling us in this direction.
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for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer
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for human passions, but for the will of God.
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For the time that is past suffices for doing
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what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality
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and passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties,
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and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they
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are surprised when you do not join them in the
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same flood of debauchery. They malign you. But
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they will give an account to him who is ready
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to judge the living and the dead. For this is
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why the gospel was preached even to those who
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are dead, that though judged in the flesh the
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way people are, they might live in the spirit
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the way God does. So as we're reading this, there's
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some things you're like, what does he mean by
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preaching even to those who are dead? We will
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address that. First principle, I hear a bird.
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I'll take it. I'll take it. But it's definitely
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a phone issue. How can we who died to sin still
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live in it? Do you not know that all of us who
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have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
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into his death? Romans 6, 2 -3. That's principle
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number one. We were baptized into Christ's death.
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We were buried with him. And if we have been
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put to death in Christ, our sinful nature has
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been put to death in Christ, then why should
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we live in sin? It's really the question. Romans
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6, 5, it says, for if we have been united with
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him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
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united with him in a resurrection like his. The
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fact that the perfect one, the holy one came,
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put on flesh, became sin for us as the scripture
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states. He who knew no sin became sin so that
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we might become the righteousness of God. And
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if our sin has been crucified and buried with
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him, why should we continue to live in it? That's
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really what he's saying here. So in 1 Peter 1
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and 2. 1 Peter 4, 1 and 2. Since therefore Christ
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suffered in the flesh, meaning bodily, arm, equip
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yourselves with the same way of thinking. And
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this word, same way of thinking, is thought or
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purpose. And that's an important understanding
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here. It's not that I think this way. It's that
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my purpose is this way. So if we have been, if
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Christ has suffered in the flesh, then we should
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equip ourselves with the same purpose. Whoever
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has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
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What's the point of Christ's return? Why did
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Christ come the first time? To do away with sin.
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That was his purpose. He didn't think about it.
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He did it. So this idea of a way of thinking
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is, it's really the way of life. It's what I
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should be doing with my life. And he clarifies
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this thought by whoever has suffered in the flesh
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has ceased, has been released or to cause to
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stop from sin. And we know what this means. We
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get it because What we have read in the scripture
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is that we have been freed from sin. We're no
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longer slaves to sin. We have been released,
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not only of the debt of our sin, which is a debt
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we could not pay, but we also have been released
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from the slavery of sin. And that sin, Christ
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has caused us to come to a stop from sin. So
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why do I do the things I do not want to do, but
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the things I hate, I keep on doing? Yes, that
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does exist. But the reality is, we aren't mastered
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by sin anymore. Christ is our master. So in verse
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2, it says, so as to live for the rest of the
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time in the body or in the flesh, no longer.
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Make a tea. Or make a tea is another way to say
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it. So as to live life for the rest of the time
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in the body, never again for human passions is
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really what this term means. It's not no longer.
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I think it could have been a little bit better
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of a translation in the English instead of no
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longer. How about never again? Never again implies
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some very important things here. That we are
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not to strive for human passion, for the desire
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for the forbidden. And we talked about the sacred
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last week. Do we really seek the sacred or do
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we seek the forbidden? And we can't help but
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look at what's happening in our world today and
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go, there are so many seeking the forbidden.
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Even among those who claim they seek the sacred.
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What is the sacred? The will of God. So let's
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clarify this a little bit simply. We must live
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the rest of our lives never again for the desires,
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for the forbidden, but for the will of God is
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really what Peter is saying here. What do we
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seek? What do we desire? What do we give our
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mind and time and money and effort to? There's
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not a call among the faithful brothers and sisters
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to obedience anymore. It's more about... God
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loves you and you have to have a wonderful relationship
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with him. But Jesus clarifies what that relationship
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requires. And this has been something we've been
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talking about for almost two years now. And there's
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no way to avoid it. It's on every page practically.
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Obedience is the key. Not that we obey in order
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to be saved, but we obey because we are saved.
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I want to obey you because I want to please you.
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You saved me. That's what I want to do for you.
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And that's exactly what Jesus says. If you love
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me, you will obey me. And you've heard this a
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lot. Being united with Christ demands that we
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live like him in holiness. If we are united with
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him, then we must live as he has lived. And we
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must walk as he has walked, as Peter said previously.
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In Ephesians 4, 20 through 24, but that is not
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the way you learned Christ, assuming that you
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have heard about him and were taught in him,
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as the truth is in Jesus, to put off the old
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self, which belongs to your former manner of
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life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
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and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.
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And put on the new self created after the likeness
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of God in true righteousness and holiness. There
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it is again. It does not matter how many places
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you turn. The reality of righteous and holy living
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requires obedient heart. And in 1 Peter 4, 3
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-6 it says, For the time that is past suffices
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for doing what the Gentiles want to do. And what
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he's saying is, eh. It is what it is with the
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pagans. Because that's really what the word term
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here, Gentile, can be Gentile, meaning of the
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nations, the ethos. Or the pagans, those who
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lived and worshipped false idols and did things
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that they shouldn't be doing within these temples
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of false idols. And that's what Peter is talking
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about here. For the time that has passed suffices
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for what the Gentiles want to do. They do what
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they do. Living. They perpetrate. That's what
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this word living means. It's not the word Zoe.
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It's not life. It's literally perpetrating. It's
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what they do. They perpetrate sensuality. And
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sensuality is debauchery. They perpetrate. Passions,
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meaning the desire for the forbidden. They perpetrate
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drunkenness. And that's just something that we
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must be mindful of as believers. It's not an
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option here. Orgies. Drinking parties. Now this
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is an interesting term. Because you think about
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drinking parties. I don't know why they would
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say drinking parties because drinking parties
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is part of carousing. It's just one way to carouse.
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Carousing would have probably been a much better
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term here. Because it's like, don't get drunk,
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but don't go to drinking parties. Or English.
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It's more carousing. And I can't help but think
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about carousing in our day. When we think about
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carousing, we think about the riots that happen
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throughout the cities. The noisy, obnoxious riots.
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For what? Living in such a way that you carouse
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and that you are noisy and obnoxious and you
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just want to create problems. Go to the mall.
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I guarantee you're going to see some 16, 17 year
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old loud and obnoxious. They just can't help
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themselves. That's what he means by carousing.
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And I'm not picking on teenagers just to pick
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on teenagers. I was one. I was a carouser. Not
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a good thing. And then you see this term and
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lawless idolatry. Now you would think lawless,
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which means lawlessness. And forgive the typo.
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It's supposed to be a K, not an H in wicked.
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Not witched. So I apologize about that. That's
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me typing. But really this idea of lawless idolatry
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means the wicked worship of false idols. Because
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that's what lawlessness means or lawless, to
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be wicked. And that's what Peter is saying here.
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Because if you understand why he's talking this
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way, the cities that some of the people were
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living in had pagan idol temples where they would
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go and they would do carousing. And orgies and
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all the other things they shouldn't do. So he's
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saying, don't be like them. In verse 4 he says,
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with respect to this. With respect to what? With
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respect to this list I just gave you. With respect
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to the way the pagans lived. And you used to
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live. Right? With respect to this, they are surprised.
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They're astonished. They're shocked. They think
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you're strange if you don't join them. Of course
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they're going to think you're crazy. Why? Because
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they're running headlong over a cliff and you're
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like, I'm not doing that. That's crazy. Like,
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come on. We're having a party. It's fun. And
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I know a couple of gentlemen that deal with this
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on a regular basis. This idea that these guys
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who call themselves men, who are actually little
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boys, act foolish and disrespectful and they
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talk nonsense and they talk about stuff they
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don't know and they act like they know everything
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and in reality they don't know nothing. Because
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they're just puffed up in pride and they just
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want to fulfill their desires. And that's what
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we see. And they're surprised that you don't
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join them. Like, why aren't you joining us? Why
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aren't you running with us? Why aren't you flocking
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together? After all, birds of a feather flock
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together is really what this means. I like this
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term here that he uses. Why aren't you joining
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them in the same flood of debauchery? Isn't that
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interesting? The word flood he uses here. It's
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really a tsunami is the idea, I think. But what's
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interesting about this word flood, it means a
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wide stream. Not a narrow stream, a wide stream.
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And we know what that is. Wide is the road that
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leads to destruction. And wide is the road and
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wide is the gate that leads to destruction. Many
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go thereof. And that's exactly what Peter is
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implying here. He knows that term because Jesus
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spoke that term to him. And he's really sharing
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the same thoughts. They think it's strange that
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you're not doing the same thing and joining them
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in the same wide stream of debaucherous living.
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So what do they do? They malign you or malign
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you. They insult you. They slander you. They
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defame you. They curse you. They make fun of
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you. But that's okay. Why? Verse 5, because they
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will give an account to him who is ready to judge
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the living and the dead. He is already on the
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throne. The judgment is going to come. He's ready.
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There's nothing that will hinder him from judging
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anything when he is ready. He is ready. And they
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will give an account. One way or another, they
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will give an account. Though the wicked prosper.
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They might seem like they're prospering now,
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but they will only prosper in this world that
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they live. And when they die, they realize how
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much their prosperity has brought them, especially
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to all our fun prosperity preachers. Listening
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to Justin Peters the other day, he's talking
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about a preacher who was bragging about people
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calling him up and giving him million -dollar
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checks. Interesting. Oh, brother, when you die,
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because you had not a heart of the gospel of
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Jesus Christ and the truth and the reality of
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the resurrected Savior, you are in so much trouble.
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I would not want to be that man. For this is
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why the gospel was preached. Why was the gospel
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preached? Because of the list. that he went through
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because they demand that you join them in debaucherous
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living. That's the reason why Christ came. He
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came to deal with sin, to wash away our sin,
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to take away our sin, to make us the righteousness
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of Christ before the Father. We are free, and
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this is important. And this is why he has commanded
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us in Matthew 18, Matthew 28, 19, and 20 to preach
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and to teach. This is why the gospel was preached
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even to those who are dead. Now, there's two
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thoughts on this. This could be what he was talking
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about in chapter 3 where he went and he spoke
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to the spirits of the time of Noah who were...
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Locked away in prison. Or he's talking about
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the walking dead. I lean a little bit more towards
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where. A lot more actually. I lean a lot more
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towards where. John Piper stands on this. And
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that is. Those who are dead are the walking dead.
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The ones who are dead in their trespasses and
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sins. That all of us at one time. did not know
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Christ were dead in our trespasses and sins.
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We did not have life. That though judged in the
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flesh, the way people are, they might live in
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the spirit the way God does. And I know that
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there's some debate among the theologians, our
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theologians in this area. But I can't help but
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think, That the ones who look at this particular
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scripture relate it very well to chapter 6 of
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Romans. That the reality of the gospel being
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preached, he preaches it to those who are on
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the earth dead in their trespasses and sins.
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So if you will, turn with me to Romans 6. And
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this fits so well in verses 1 through 6 of 1
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Peter chapter 4. We're only going to go through
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1 through 11 in chapter 6. But pay attention
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to what Paul says here. What shall we say then?
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Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
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You guys know my... My coined phrase, grace is
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not the license to sin, but the power to do what
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is right. This is an important principle to understand.
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When grace abounds, it abounds to you that you
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may be obedient, not continue in sin so that
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you get more grace to be disobedient. By no means,
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verse 2, how can we who died to sin live in it?
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Do you hear that? If we have died to sin, as
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Peter states also in chapter 4, how can we continue
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to live in sin like the Gentiles in 1 Peter chapter
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4? Do you not know that all of us who were baptized
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into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
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That baptism is not immersion into water, but
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really immersion into Christ. We were baptized
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into Christ Jesus. And if we were baptized into
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Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death.
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And that the baptism of a believer, the picture
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of being crucified with Christ, being buried
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with him, is this association. We were buried,
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therefore, with him by baptism into death. By
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immersion into death. Did Christ die? Yes. Was
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he crucified on your behalf? Yes. Were you with
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him in his crucifixion as the scripture implies?
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Yes. Which means that you were buried with him.
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Through baptism into death. Through immersion
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into Christ. We are in him. He is our substitutionary
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atonement. That's what this means. Not that I
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personally, physically died. I am not the Savior.
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But he did it on my behalf, figuratively, that
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I am dead with him. And he raised me to new life,
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which we'll read in a minute. We were buried,
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therefore, with him by baptism into death in
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order that just as Christ was raised from the
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dead by the glory of God the Father, we too might
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walk in newness of life. So my association, my
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being into Christ, means I am associated with
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his death and his resurrection. For if we have
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been united with him in a death like his, we
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shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection
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like his. And he promises that, does he not?
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That we will receive. A body like his. 1 Thessalonians
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chapter 5 and 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's
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keep reading. We know that our old self was crucified
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with him in order that the body of sin might
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be brought to nothing. Do you see that? So that
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we no longer So that we would no longer be slaves
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to sin. And there it is. Remember that release?
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The unshackling? There it is. To cause, to stop.
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Now, verse 8. If we have died with Christ, we
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believe that we will also live with him. We know
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that Christ, being raised from the dead, will
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never die again because death no longer has dominion
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over him. And death does not have dominion over
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you. That's why for the believer, when we no
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longer are animated, we sleep, the scripture
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says. He raises us from the grave out of our
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sleep, the scripture implies. And that term is
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interchangeable. So when we read it and we go,
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he raises us from the dead, that understanding
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for the believers, he awakens us. Remember what
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he said concerning Lazarus? He stinks. No. He
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will be alive. He's alive. Read that story. It's
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an amazing story. Verse 10, for the death he
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died, he died to sin once for all, but the life
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he lives, he lives to God. Do you see that? So
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if the death he died, he died to sin once for
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all, and the life he lives, he lives to God,
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and we have been crucified with Christ and buried
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with Christ and been raised with Christ, are
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you living to God? Are you living for yourself?
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So you also must consider yourselves dead to
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sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. It's not
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by a coincidence or an accident that we are dead
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to sin and alive to Christ. My challenge to you
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is, Are you living that way? Father, I want to
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thank you so much for your goodness and your
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faithfulness. Thank you, Lord, for your word.
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Help us, Lord, to really walk in newness of life.
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I am so thankful for your people here in Mount
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Eaton and the consistency of their living. Continue
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to challenge us to become, to walk, not become,
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but be. the bright light on a hill. We do praise
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you and thank you for your faithfulness and your
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goodness. And we thank you that we have life
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and have it abundantly. And our abundance is
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not in the things of the earth, but in the righteousness
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of God. We thank you and we praise you. In Jesus'
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name, amen.