EverGrace Church

Dennis White: Finally, we can say good morning. I am Pastor Dennis here with EverGrace Church, and we're really excited to open our Bibles. If we could open to 1 Peter chapter four, and we're going to read verses 1 through 11. It's a big chunk of Bible to read. I've always found it really hard to read so much of the Bible in the epistles because as you're reading, there's so much we could sit and dwell on.

But we do want to encourage you to dwell on it at home also. Have your own personal Bible study. But today we're going to be looking into as Christians, how are we to live? As Christians, how are we to live? Peter deals with this very specifically here in this passage. Let's just read.

"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 in doing what the Gentiles wanted 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. The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for us being able to have this miracle that we can be here. We never take it for granted. We ask today that as we open our Bible, that we could hear your words loudly. There are so many loud voices in our life: our own voice, others speaking to us, the world speaking to us, the devil speaking to us, family speaking to us, all of it contrary to what the word of God says. We just ask today that we can hear your voice.

If there's any burdens in your life, anything right now that is on your mind, just take a moment and give it to God. That way, for these few moments that we open our Bible and we seek the Lord, that you can hear him clearly. Lord, we ask again that you will speak loud and clear through these passages. May they be words from heaven, not the words of men. In Jesus' name, amen.

There's a lot being said here. It's hard for me not to stop at the first two verses. It's hard for me not to lean in on the last two verses because these are verses that we have memorized and they become a major part of our life, don't they? I think about love covering a multitude of sins and how much could be said about the grace of God. I also think about us being stewards of the varied grace of God and how that functions in our life. There are so many different areas that we could be stopping in on, and I encourage you at home to study some of these verses very closely here.

For today's intentions, there's one thought really that is pervaded in this passage, and that is that there is a difference between the way I live my life as a believer and the way that an unbeliever would live his life. Very simply, we could say the message could be this: that as a believer, I live my life sheltered inside of the grace of God. Amen? Because isn't it the grace of God that covers my sin? He doesn't come out and say, "Hey, you know, this is your sin that you performed, therefore you are not worthy to be here on Sunday in the presence of God."

God doesn't take our laundry and show it before everyone, but he covers it. I mean, if I were to think about my week this week, there are many things that could be uncovered. Amen? We could sit here and each one of us have a long list of why we should not be here and, actually, maybe if we're spiritually minded, they are reasons why we should be here. But we could beat ourselves over the head and say, "Well, these are the reasons why I don't even want to show up to church because of all these things that are happening in my life." But because as a believer, we are covered by the grace of God.

But there's another message here. It doesn't say that God uncovers the sin of the unbeliever, but it says here very simply that an unbeliever or a Gentile, the way that they used to live or the way that they are living now, is not the way that we should be living. They are living a certain kind of lifestyle and they will have to give account for the way that they are living. That word is not to say that God is going to bring out the laundry and show everyone the dirty laundry and now you're going to be judged, but actually it's saying that God is going to be standing before you and he's going to ask you a question and you're going to have to give an answer to the question that he asks.

Very interesting. That's what that phrase means, to give an account. It means to give word back for the word that was given to you. I love that. Has God not given the word of God today to us? Yes. Actually, if you dig even deeper, it says that every man, every woman will stand before God without excuse, as it says in Romans, and they will have to give account for the word of God that they received.

Very, very interesting. But before we even go there, there's a couple things that inside of our heart as a believer that we have to settle. Because we're looking at the effect here in this passage of our belief system, the first thing that we have to settle is: what is it that we believe? It's actually a great book that we use a lot in China and in other places helping to disciple people into their faith. It's by Paul Little. It says, *Know What You Believe*. Another great one is *52 Major Bible Themes* by Lewis Sperry Chafer.

What happens is it helps a simple believer like me dive into different things that I believe about God and it helps teach me. Now, have you ever asked yourself that question: what is it that I believe about God? I look in the room today and I understand that all of us are Christians and that we believe in Jesus Christ died on the cross and he paid for our sin and that way we can enter into heaven one day. It is beautiful. But our life goes deeper than that.

Our salvation covers every area of our life, but as we open the Bible, there are many other areas of things that we should believe, right? In a theological context, in my relationship with God, the things that I believe have to be settled. We already talked about that one question: am I saved? If you can't answer that question, you have to decide, do you believe that Jesus is your savior? But actually, we could go on and on to different types of doctrines that are in the Bible and we could ask ourselves: what do I believe about these doctrines?

For us in this church, some of those doctrines include eternal security. Do I believe once I am saved that I can keep my salvation eternally? And how is it that my salvation is kept? Now, this is a doctrine that is very controversial throughout church history, not only now, but throughout church history, and it stems from: what do you believe the Bible says about it? And that comes from a list of Bible verses that you have studied and you have learned and you have come to a certain belief system.

What does that do? That produces the second thing: how do I then live? These two things go hand in hand. The way that I believe about something will produce how I live about what I believe. Isn't that amazing? Very, very simple actually, but very, very profound because we see that in our lives, there are some things that in my walk with God are not complete, they are not certain in my own heart. And therefore, it produces a certain way of living.

I was reading a story this morning about Desmond Doss. Anyone know that name? Yeah. Comes from the movie that you might know even more, *Hacksaw Ridge*, about a Seventh-day Adventist man who was drafted for World War II and he said, "I will not fight. I cannot hold a gun and I cannot kill anyone." So he volunteered as a medic. If you've seen the movie or if you know the story, he ends up in Okinawa, Japan, on this cliff, and the Americans or British, whatever, they are losing that battle at that moment and he is convinced by God that he is there to save people.

So one by one, he straps in a wounded soldier and lowers them down the cliff to where they can get help. And he does that for 75 people in that one battle. Lowers them down. Not only people on his side, but also the enemies. He was lowering down Japanese. And here is a man who actually, there was a conviction inside of his heart, there was something that was completely certain in his heart that he knew, that he believed, and therefore he acted upon it and nothing could sway him.

Now, how many of us in our life are like that? Are there things that we believe and therefore we act upon them? I would say that in our life there are many things that we think we believe, but they're not certain. Therefore, we do not act certainly upon the things that we believe.

Now, in this passage, Peter very slyly references one major world event that has never happened again, only happened once so far in human history, and that is the flood. Let's open our Bibles to Genesis chapter five, and we're going to read a handful of verses. But we see Peter make mention of this in 1 Peter chapter three, also in 1 Peter 4:4, where he mentions that word "flood of debauchery." Why did Peter say that? Well, he said it in reference to Genesis chapter 6:5.

If you can read that with me, it says: "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." How's that for a memory verse to have on your heart? Someone asks you this week, "What's your memory verse or what has God put on your heart?" "Oh, God put on my heart Genesis chapter 6:5, that man was continually evil."

See, Peter is referencing a stage in human history where man's continuous way of living was based on their belief system where they always did that which was debauchery, Peter says. I mean, it was horrendous, it was gross. I mean, so much so that God decides that he is going to flood the earth.

We see that in verse 14 of the same chapter, Genesis chapter 6:14. He tells Noah, he says: "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch, for I am going to destroy the earth." See Peter here, he's talking about that there is a judgment that all unbelievers are going to face, and he references Noah. He says that Noah was living on the earth and that all of humanity had to face a judgment and they had to pay, they had to answer for the way that they lived. Every single thing that they did, everything that they said, everything that they said, everything they did, that they were going to have to answer for that.

Peter says that they will have to answer, they will be judged. But I love verse 8 right smack dab in Genesis chapter 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of God." If you study this verse very carefully, you'll see there's lots of arguments of: what does it mean that Noah found grace? Was he good enough? Was he pure in his DNA so that way he could be restored to continue the line of the Messiah?

I mean, honestly, there's a lot of discussions and I don't think the Lord brings it very clear, but I think the clarity is brought not in who he was but in what he did. I say that very carefully because this is not a works program, but look. Look at what Noah did. The first thing that we have to understand in this historical narrative is that it has never rained ever on the earth. And Noah's being told that it's going to rain.

And what is Noah's message? "Hey, it's going to rain. Get on the boat." Amazing, isn't it? That is something that he heard from God. Did he believe it? Absolutely. For 120 years, give or take, probably take, some scholars say, but for 120 years, what did he do? He built a boat. Could you imagine? It's never rained and you're saying, "Hey, it's going to rain." Not only is it going to rain, but it's going to flood.

"And what is this thing you're building, Noah?" "This is called a boat." Never seen one, never needed one, and you're building a massive boat for 120 years. And you know what? For 120 years, he believed God when he said that it was going to rain. For 120 years, he believed in God when God said, "Build a boat." Not only did he do it, but he also preached it. And at the end, who else was on that boat? Just Noah and his family.

One convert? No. One person on that boat besides his family? No. Yet for 120 years, he was completely certain that what God said was absolute. For 120 years, he was completely certain what God said was absolute.

See, here's a correlation that Peter is making. He's saying that God said something and it was settled in Noah's heart, therefore he acted upon it and therefore he lived a certain way. The opposite is also true. For 120 years, mankind heard the message that it's going to rain, it's going to flood, but it's okay because God is going to build a boat and there's room on it for you if you desire. But for 120 years, what did humanity do? They lived in complete certainty what God said was absolutely wrong.

See, this message goes both ways. Not only can I be completely certain on what Christ says is true, I can be completely certain on what Christ says is absolutely false. It's the same thing for us when we go out, like yesterday, and we talk to people in the neighborhood or we talk to strangers on the street and we say, "Do you know Jesus?" and they will say, "No, I'm good. I'm good."

But it's also the same for believers here today that when we learn the Bible, we don't learn it with conviction, we don't learn it with completeness, we don't learn the heart of God clearly. Therefore, it produces a certain kind of action where we are actually mediocre in the way we live for God. And this is not a condemnation message that we need to get up and go do something great for God, but this is something that is saying that there is a greater damnation than that of Genesis chapter six.

There is a greater damnation that is coming that is different than the flood. That's found in 1 Peter 4:7. Let's read what it says. "The end of all things is at hand." This is amazing to me. Actually, we were talking the other day on the phone with another believer, you know, anyone ever hear someone recently talk about, "Hey, end times is here"? Yeah. I mean, I hear it every week. Do I believe it? Yes. Do I believe it? No.

Because if we look at history, if we're students of history, we see times where there is much more debauchery, as Peter would say, than there is right now. You go outside, is the world evil? Yes. But you know it's going to be much worse when the end times are really here. Could we be living there? Absolutely.

And this is what Peter is doing. He's saying, you know what? These people that live without Christ, they're going to have to answer. He's referencing a judgment where they have to answer to God. But then also at the same time, he's referencing the second coming of Christ. He's referencing both at the same time. Meaning that in our hearts as believers, we are fully prepared to live in this world without Christ coming again. We are fully prepared for that.

But we're also fully prepared that at any moment Christ could come and take his church home. And that is how he is directing his church. He's saying that there is something greater than the flood coming as a second coming of Christ.

Now, I want to stop right there because I want to ask you this one simple question. Is there something in your life that you are lacking complete certainty in Christ? It's okay to be a little introspective in church because often what God does is he comes in with his word and he purifies our hearts and he touches some areas in our life that need growth, that need correction, that need him to heal us.

And one of those questions today is: is there something in your life where you fail to have complete certainty in Jesus? Now, I trust God for my salvation, but I'm going to raise my hand and I mean, we all could, right? That there are areas in our life where we lack certainty in God. There are areas in our life where we lack certainty of God.

How do I know that in my own life? Well, in my own life, that will come out through anxieties and fears. If you want to know where you are lacking in your certainty in Christ, the first place to stop is: where do you have your anxiety? Because that shows that's a area where you are not trusting in the Lord. Now, it's okay, but at the same time, that is an area that I need to learn to give to God.

I could go through my life and I could look at different areas. The second kind of marker is not only my anxiety but also the way that I function, the way that I act. Just like Desmond Doss, he had a conviction in his heart and he refused to pivot, he refused to be moved, and he lived a certain way. He says, "No, this is the way I'm going to live." He acted that way. In my life, I can say is there any anxieties, is there any fears? And sometimes the answer is yes. But even through those fears, I can still live the way God would want me to live, right? Why? Because ultimately, I do trust him.

But oftentimes I will find out that I have a fear and then I do not live in a certain way that God would have me to live. And Peter says we are not that way. That's the way we used to be. And now our friends, our old friends, our ex-friends, they are living that way and they're inviting us to these things. Right? That's what's happening in the church.

They're being invited to drunkenness. They're being invited to orgies. "Hey, guess what we're doing this weekend, guys?" And they're like, "Yeah, I'm going to be at church." "What? But I got this great party. Ton of people are coming over. It's going to be weird." "No, my life now is different. I live a life that is different."

But in my life, those things are not always lining up with the way God thinks. So for me as a believer, I am looking at this and I am saying, where in my life am I lacking certainty in God? Where in my life do I need the thoughts of God to come in and purify me? Where do I need Christ to be active in my life? Where do I need God? And that is a great question to ask.

Because we see here that we live out what we believe. Isn't that amazing? For the unbeliever, we read in verses 3 through 5 that they're going to live out what they believe. But the way they live has consequences. They will have to answer to God. That's the same word, actually, that's related to the word for Jesus. It's the same word, Logos, right there.

But for the believer, right, we have actually, it says here, 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." Meaning saying here as a believer, how do I live my life? Am I being judged? As a believer, am I judged? Here he says, no.

The writer Peter says you are not judged now because your sins were judged at the cross. The only judgment you have is the fact that you will one day die. That is the only judgment that is left for you. That because of you living in this world and living a physical life, the only judgment that you have is death. But what happens with death? We then enter into what? Life. Life with God.

That word life is Zoe life and I mean, there's all kinds of ways to define this and look at this, but it really can be defined as vitality. Not just life like you are alive, but you have vitality in your life. That you have some zeal, you have a relationship with God, that you have some grit in your walk with him. That there is something happening in your life that is established there by the Holy Spirit living inside of you and now that you have life.

Jesus says it this way, that "I have come that you may have life and also have life more abundantly." Not just to have a normal life, not just to go up and go to work every day and come home and sit on your couch and have no excitement, have no nothing hitting your heart. No. I have come that you can have life, that I can come into your life and that I can touch your heart on a daily basis. I can touch your heart moment by moment.

And what is the fruit of me coming into your life and having it? Well, as you finish the passage, right, it says that, hey, we are living self-controlled, we are living sober-minded, and we have prayers, we have love, we have hospitality. But I love verse 10. 1 Peter 4:10. You could wrap all these different things that are the way that a Christian lives and why are we living that way? Because Christ has come and has given us life and we are fully convinced of that.

Verse 10 wraps it all up saying that we are stewards of God's grace. You are a steward of God's grace. How do you steward it? You steward it by the way you love the person sitting next to you, behind you, in front of you. You steward it by the way that you minister to your family. You steward it by the way you live your life in the workplace. You steward it by the way that you speak. Because on the other side, we see the opposite being true: that they did not steward the gift of grace well. They steward it in debauchery and they have to give account.

That word to give an account is very interesting because it's used several times in the Bible. Once it's here for the actions that they were doing that were so evil. And we might think, oh, I don't do those things, so I don't have to worry, I don't have to give an account for those evil things. I don't do those. I live a good life. Jesus uses the same exact word when he says that you will have to give an account for the way that you even speak.

Meaning that our negative communication and evil debaucheries are brought to the same level. That either way, the unbeliever will have to give an account for those things. And for us, we get to take the great amazing things that we do as Christians, but we also get to take the simple prayers, the simple words of encouragement that we have. They are on the same level. And both of them are actually being used to minister grace. Isn't that amazing?

Yesterday we had a good crew door knocking. It was a lot of fun. Very scary, actually. I got bit by a chihuahua. I found actually this morning I got two little bite marks on my leg from the chihuahua. Yeah. I didn't kick it. It's what I wanted to do. But maybe you weren't there, maybe you didn't do that. Maybe you could fill in the great works of amazing missionaries or amazing ministers of God: pastors, leaders.

What are great things that we can do for God? Oh, we can knock on doors, we can feed the homeless, we can start organizations, we can do, we can do. Maybe that's not you. But over here, what am I communicating? Am I communicating the life, the grace of God? See, both of them are being a steward of God, a steward of God's grace. It's not just the amazing great feats that we do and how we serve God so wholeheartedly.

I mean, it's amazing. I wish all of us could be out there door knocking and getting bit by chihuahuas. It'd be great. But you know what? It's also those phone calls and the words of encouragement that also change people's lives. It's also the gifts of compassion that some people have to live out their Christian walk for those that are hurting so bad, for those that are down and out and need help. It's helping someone move, it's giving someone a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus.

See, it's amazing the way that we live our life should be an outflow of the grace of God that he has given me. Because it says that we are stewards of the gift. You're not a steward of something that you've manifested. You're not a steward of something that you worked hard to do or to achieve. You are a steward of something that God has given you. What has God given you? Well, in this passage, he's given you forgiveness. In this passage, you have been given life. Therefore, we steward those things well.

In this passage, there is a couple things that I would like you to take home today. Number one is that I would like you to build a conviction on things that you believe. I would like you to get real in your relationship with God. Very simply because time is short. I only have so much time to invest on this earth my relationship with God.

If you knew of a great financial investment and did not take advantage of it, you'd be considered a fool, right? It's the same thing speaking eternally, like there is a great opportunity for us to invest into eternal things and we don't take advantage of it. Why? Because of all the foxes that steal, because of all the distractions that keep us away from God. Build a conviction about what you really believe.

Second thing I want you to take home is this: be a good steward of that conviction. As a pastor, I can have people that come up and they have a lot of good ideas for what the church should do. And they'll ask, "Why doesn't the church do this?" And I remember one pastor telling me the reason why that the church isn't doing it is because you're not doing it.

Meaning this, that if you have a conviction of God on something that the church should be doing or something that God has put inside of your heart, that means that that is something God has asked you to be a steward of. If it's the coffee, if it's the chairs, or I don't know what it is, a ministry of some sort, if that is a conviction that God has put onto your heart because of you settling that issue in your relationship with God, then be a steward of it.

And the last thing is to live out your convictions. Number one is to build your conviction on what you believe. Number two is to be a steward of your conviction. And number three is to live out your convictions. And I don't want us to think big here. Start small. Start with the question: does God love me? And build on that conviction. Start with the question: am I eternally saved? And build on that conviction.

See what happens when we build on these little building blocks that are actually essential to our foundation, our walk with God, our lives will grow drastically. If we start on the big things, what's going to happen is actually our foundation will collapse because it's not built on the person of Jesus Christ. So first, build your convictions on the person of Jesus and then grow from there.

It is amazing all the stuff that good people can do in church, but you know what? First, be at church. That is the greatest conviction that you can have because it is here and you can meet God. I mean, you're a believer, priest. You can meet God at home, you can meet God in the garden, you can meet God at an amusement park. You can meet God anywhere and you can have great fellowship with him. That is absolutely true.

But it doesn't make untrue the call for us to gather together all the more as the day approaches. It doesn't negate that, but actually all the more it solidifies how important the body of Christ is. We need each other, don't we? We need to hear the word of God often, don't we? This is amazing.

So yes, let's build our convictions, let's steward the conviction that we have built, and let's live in the convictions that we are stewarding. Amen? Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this afternoon, this morning. It's not even afternoon yet. Wow. What are we going to do with the rest of our day? Lord, when we think of this passage, in one hand, it can be hard for us to hear because there is a deep call to action. But God, you don't call us to live as Pharisees where we are told to do without actually having Christ inside of us where we can be.

Lord, we thank you for these few moments here in this sermon where we were able to be with you and we were able to hear your voice. We just ask that you will be our motivation. We want to be motivated outside of works or anything else. We want to be motivated by the grace of God. We want to be motivated by what you have done for us. And Lord, help us to see that time is short and to live our life fully for you.

For each one of us, that will mean something different. But we ask, Lord, that you will prick our heart nonetheless. Maybe it means very simply for me to be a better steward of my house and the relationships I have there. Maybe it means for me to share the gospel with someone at work that or a friend that is hurting. Maybe it is pricking my heart that I should pray more. I mean, for each one of us, this message is going to hit us differently.

But Lord, we pray that nonetheless, it will hit us that as we leave here today, we will say thank you God for touching my heart. Thank you God for provoking me. Thank you God for what you have done on the cross. Thank you God, thank you, thank you, thank you God. We just thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.