1 Peter 4:1-6: The Great Reversal

1 Peter 4:1-6: The Great Reversal

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Peter, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Peter 4:1-6. It says,

1 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, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 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. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re told that there are different kinds of soils on which the seed of your Word falls—thorny soil, rocky soil, soil on a path, and good fertile soil. And it’s only when the seed falls on that last kind of soil that it actually produces fruit. So, please, help us to be that fertile soil this morning, so that the seed of your Word can take root and bear fruit in our lives. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.One thing I think just about all of us can agree on is that middle school and high school are an adventure. And this is obviously oversimplifying things a bit, but you’ll typically find two groups in any middle or high school you go to—the cool kids and the not-very-cool kids. The cool kids are typically athletic, good-looking, adept at navigating social situations, and often tend to engage in behaviors that might at first make them seem more grown up than others, such as having a boyfriend or girlfriend earlier on, going to parties, consuming alcohol, and, unfortunately, being sexually active. By contrast, the not-very-cool kids are often more much oriented around schoolwork than they are around athletic activities, they may not be quite as good-looking, they’re often more on the introverted side and may not be as adept in navigating social situations, and they often don’t engage in many of the seemingly “grown up” behaviors in which the cool kids often engage. 

However, even though cool kids may be on the top of the world in middle and high school, a study published not too long ago shows that they often don’t do as well afterwards. This study defined cool kids by many of the characteristics I just listed and determined that, by their mid-twenties, these cool kids were using 40% more drugs and alcohol than their peers and were 22% more likely to have run into trouble with the law. The study also sought to quantify how socially competent they were as adults, using metrics related to how well they got along with friends and acquaintances and romantic partners and discovered that these cool kids—now in their mid-twenties—actually received social ratings that were 24% lower those who were considered less cool. And finally, the cool kids, on average, had also obtained a much lower level of professional success and were much more likely to be working in a relatively menial job. 

So, if you put it all together, it would seem that the cooler you are in middle and high school, the less likely you actually are to be doing well in various areas after high school and into your mid-twenties. One person even suggested that this study be titled “the revenge of the nerds.” It certainly is a very interesting reversal. Many of those who were once on the top of the world, so to speak, end up going to the bottom, and many of those once considered to be toward the bottom actually end up rising to the top. 

And the reason I’ve spent so long talking about this is because this is quite similar to what we see here in our main passage of 1 Peter 4:1-6—only we see it in this passage on a much greater scale and with far greater consequence. This passage points to what we might call a great reversal. And it does so in order encourage Christians who are suffering for their faith. So, the main idea of this passage is that Christians can persevere through suffering by remembering the great reversal that God will one day bring about. Again, Christians can persevere through suffering by remembering the great reversal that God will one day bring about.

Look with me first at verses 1-2. Peter writes, 1 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, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 

The word “therefore” in verse 1 directs our attention to what Peter just wrote toward the end of the previous chapter. In 1 Peter 3:18, he reminded his readers that “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous….” So, since Jesus suffered in the course of his earthly ministry, we too should expect to suffer. Our goal, after all, is to pattern our lives after Jesus. And if we’re faithful in doing that, we can expect to encounter the same kinds of opposition and even persecution that Jesus encountered. Jesus himself also warned us about this in John 15:18-20. He told us this would be the case.

So, that’s what we should expect. And that’s also what Peter’s referring to in our main passage. He writes, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking….” In other words, expect to suffer as Jesus suffered. Adopt that expectation as a part of your “way of thinking.” And notice that Peter says to “arm yourselves” with that way of thinking. The Greek verb translated “arm yourselves” is quite similar to this English translation in that it has pretty clear military connotations. Just like soldiers would prepare for battle by arming themselves with armor and weapons, we need to prepare for suffering by arming ourselves with a certain “way of thinking.” 

The implication is that, if we don’t, we’ll be left vulnerable and, in all likelihood, won’t emerge from seasons of suffering in a very good spiritual condition. Perhaps you’ve known Christians for whom that’s been the case. Instead of being drawn closer to the Lord through their suffering, they’ve been drawn away from the Lord—because they weren’t spiritually prepared. So, just like soldiers prepare themselves for battle, it’s critical that we prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually to face suffering—and that we do so before we find ourselves facing it so that we can emerge from our experience of suffering spiritually intact. 

In addition, the “way of thinking” with which Peter tells us to arm ourselves is a “way of thinking” that not only expects to face suffering but also recognizes God’s purposes in suffering—or, at least, some of the general contours of those purposes. Just as Christ’s sufferings had a purpose—which was redeeming us from our sins—our sufferings have a purpose as well. They actually have multiple purposes. 

What might those be? Well, Peter identifies one of them in the second half of verse 1. He says to “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” Peter then continues in verse 2, “so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” In other words, suffering has a sanctifying effect in our lives. Just as fire purifies a precious metal, suffering purifies us from sinful habits and tendencies. 

Of course, Peter’s statement that “whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” doesn’t mean that it’s possible for us to completely stop sinning on this side of heaven. That would conflict with other verses in the New Testament such as James 3:2 and 1 John 1:8 that teach that believers will continue to struggle with sin to at least some degree throughout their earthly lives. So, Peter isn’t referring to a total cessation of sin but simply to a major and significant cessation of sin. A good way to paraphrase his statement here is that the Christian who has experienced suffering has also been sanctified or made holier through that suffering. I mean, just think about the Christians you know who seem to have the godliest character and the deepest faith. It’s no accident that many of those Christians are the very same ones who have also suffered the most. “Show me the Christian,” Peter says, “who has suffered in the flesh, and I’ll show you one who has—to a significant extent, at least—ceased from sin.”

And to sort of sketch out for you how that often works, there are several ways in which suffering has this effect in our lives. I’m sure we could come up with several more, but here are a few that I came up with. Three ways suffering has a sanctifying effect on us. 

First, suffering demolishes our prideful self-sufficiency. When life is easy, we’re able to live under the illusion that seems to be hard-wired into our hearts that we have the resources within ourselves to do just fine. Sure, we might benefit from God’s help here and there like if we’re interviewing for a job we really want or if we find ourselves in a difficult financial situation. But for the most part, we think we can pretty much handle things on our own. 

Of course, as Christians, we’d never actually say that out loud, but that’s nevertheless the mentality in which we often function—a mentality of prideful self-sufficiency. But suffering makes it clear to us just how misguided and simply out of touch with reality that mentality is. Suffering knocks the legs out from under our pride and brings us to our knees in humble dependence on God. 

This leads us to the second sanctifying effect of suffering, which is that it propels us into a relationship of deeper delight in God. When we come to the end of our prideful self-sufficiency and begin to develop a deeper trust in God, that leads us to a closer relationship with God in general. And we realize—perhaps to a greater degree than we ever did before—just how desirable and delightful God is. When we’re left with no other option but to cling to God, we discover that he’s enough, that his grace is sufficient for us, and that he’s actually all we need in order to be truly satisfied. 

I love the way Jeremiah says it in Lamentations 3:24. As he’s sitting in the ashes and rubble of the fallen Jerusalem with pretty much everything he’s ever known and loved having just been destroyed, he writes, “The Lord is my portion.” “The Lord is my portion.” In other words, “God’s everything I need. All I need to be full and satisfied is found in God.” Many times, we don’t really understand that until we experience suffering. You might say that, quite often, we don’t realize God is all we need until God is all we have. 

And, finally, a third way suffering has a sanctifying effect on us is that it clarifies what’s truly important. Many times, we just get way too wrapped up in the cares and concerns of this world, and we begin to think of certain things in our lives as being much more important than they actually are. And a lot of times, it’s not until those things are taken away from us that we realize they actually weren’t all that important anyway—or at least not as important as we thought they were. 

Instead, we realize that what’s truly important are the things God tells us to focus on, such as a having a closer relationship with God, developing a more Christlike character, and serving God more faithfully. We already know from the Bible that these things are important, but suffering has a way of reinforcing their importance and reminding us of just how important they are. In many ways, suffering can serve as a wake-up call and reveal to us that perhaps we’ve been focusing on the wrong things in life. 

All of this, of course, leads us to live holier lives—lives of greater conformity to God and devotion to God—or, in Peter’s words to “cease from sin” to very significant degree. So, the next time we encounter suffering, hopefully we can recognize, even in the midst of the pain, that God’s doing beautiful things. By chiseling this off over here and that off over there, he’s sculpting a masterpiece. 

Peter then continues to encourage his readers in the midst of their suffering in verse 3. After reminding them in verses 1-2 of the way in which suffering helps them cease from sin and begin to live not for human passions but for the will of God, Peter explains why this is such a valuable thing in the subsequent verses. Look at verse 3: “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.”

Now, in most contexts, the word “Gentiles” is an ethnic designation that simply refers to people who aren’t Jews. Anyone who isn’t a Jew is, by definition, a Gentile. Yet, in this context—just like in 1 Peter 2:12---the word “Gentile” isn’t an ethnic designation but a spiritual one. It refers to those who aren’t Christians. This is consistent with the numerous comparisons Peter’s been making in his letter between Israel in the Old Testament and Christians in the New Testament. And he says here in verse 3 that “the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do.” In other words, you’ve already spent more than enough time chasing after sinful things. Peter then lists the kinds of sins in which his readers once walked—behaviors that should now make them sick to their stomach just thinking about. 

Peter then states in verse 4, “With respect to this they [the Gentiles or non-Christians] are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.” To be maligned is to be mocked and scorned and slandered. That’s how Christians are often treated by those who are committed to a sinful lifestyle. And the reason for this verbal abuse is that, many times, non-Christians feel uncomfortable in the presence of Christians because they know, deep down, that the way they themselves are living is wrong. 

R.C. Sproul tells a story from the 1970’s of a leading professional golfer playing a round of golf with Gerald Ford, who was the president at the time, Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. After the four of them had finished the round of golf, a friend came up to this professional golfer and asked, “Hey, what was it like playing with the president and Billy Graham?” The golfer responded with a lengthy string of curse words and said in a disgusted manner, “I don’t need Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat.” He then turned on his heel and stormed off toward the practice tee. 

This angry golfer’s friend then followed him to the practice tee as the golfer took out his driver and started to furiously whack ball after ball in order to blow off steam. At the end of it, after the golfer had taken out his anger on the golf balls and had settled down a bit, the friend said gently, “Was Billy a little rough on you out there?” The golfer then acted a little embarrassed and said, “No, [Billy] didn’t even mention religion. I just had a bad round.”

Isn’t that interesting? Billy Graham hadn’t even said a word about Jesus or the Bible or anything religious, and yet this golfer came away from that game complaining of how Billy had supposedly tried to shove religion down his throat. So, what happened? Well, Billy Graham didn’t have to say a word or even give the golfer a single sideways glance in order to make him feel uncomfortable. Billy Graham was so associated with Jesus in this golfer’s mind that simply being around Billy Graham made the golfer feel uncomfortable. 

Now, you and I might not be Billy Graham, but there can sometimes be a similar dynamic at work. I think I’ve mentioned before how Becky and I have some neighbors living a couple of houses away from us who refuse to speak even a single word to us. Even when we’ve said “hi” to them on numerous occasions from ten or twenty feet away, they’ve acted as if we weren’t even there. And I’m not aware of anything we’ve done to offend them other than simply being Christians and them finding out, I think, from other neighbors that I’m a pastor. 

And maybe you’ve experienced something similar—especially from people who knew you before you became a Christian. Maybe the people you used to hang out with before you became a Christian and with whom you did the kinds of things non-Christians often do were shocked when they first found out you had decided to follow Jesus and no longer wanted anything to do with you and perhaps even, as Peter says, began to malign you. 

Understand that people do things like that not because of you but because of who you represent to them. You represent Jesus, and that makes them feel very uncomfortable because they know the way they’re living is wrong. Their own conscience testifies against them, and so the last thing they want is for anything to stir their conscience and cause it to testify against them even more. Jesus explains it quite well in John 3:19-20, when he says, 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 

However, as we see back in 1 Peter, people can run, but they can’t hide. Look again at verse 4 and this time going into verse 5. Peter says, 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. In other words, these non-Christians might malign you. In some cases, they might even persecute you—as was the case for Peter’s original readers. And yet, Peter essentially says, you can rest assured that no one is ultimately getting away with anything. These same people will one day have to “give [an] account” of their actions to God. Much like a financial advisor or money manager has to eventually give an accounting for the money that’s been entrusted to their care, all of us—and, in this verse, specifically non-Christians—will have to give an account for the life and breath that God’s entrusted to them. They’ll have to answer to God for the way they’ve lived. 

And notice that God’s described in this verse as “him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” So, even though people might feel judged by us—which sometimes leads them to malign us—they’ll one day actually be judged by God. And according to Peter, God’s “ready” even now to inflict that judgment.  

This judgment is described quite dramatically in Revelation 20:11-15: 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

So, the day’s coming when everyone who’s not a Christian will stand before this “great white throne” spoken of in verse 11. And the one seated on that throne will be so fearfully majestic, this verse says, that even the earth and sky will try to flee away, though unsuccessfully. And if there’s no escape for the earth and sky, how much less possibility of escape will there be for those who are standing before the throne and are the actual subjects of God’s inquiry?

We then read in verse 12 that books will be opened. These books contain a written record of everything these people have ever done, every word they’ve ever spoken, and even every thought that’s ever gone through their minds. Imagine what that would be like! Imagine being in an enormous courtroom with God as judge and all the host of heaven assembled to observe the proceedings. And imagine video evidence being displayed on a massive screen showing in vivid detail every sin you’ve ever committed—even the sins you assumed were secret such as the evil and vile and just awful thoughts that went through your mind during your earthly life. Every thought, word, and deed displayed up there on that screen. 

I dare say that, if such a video were displayed on these screens up here, you’d be so mortified you’d probably never want to come back to this church again. And that’s just the way you’d feel if the video were displayed to fellow sinners. Imagine how much more unbearably shameful it would be to have that video displayed in the manifest presence of a holy God. Now understand, that’s not just some theoretical possibility. It’s more or less what Revelation says will happen. Books will be opened with a detailed record of everything you’ve ever done and said and thought against God. And you’ll be judged by what’s written in those books. 

And the result of that judgment will be, as this passage says, you being sent to the lake of fire—with no possibility of relief or escape. There won’t be any parole for good behavior. That’s the future of those who live apart from God. This is in striking contrast, of course, to Christians who, as Revelation goes on to describe, will inherit eternal life in heaven. 

And that’s the great reversal. The great reversal is that those who suffer as Christians in this life will one day enjoy eternal life, while those who might often seem better off now and who might like to think of themselves as being above Christians now will one day be judged by God and sentenced to eternal suffering. So, Christians might suffer persecution now, but they’ll be rewarded in the future. By contrast, non-Christians might seem better off now and even seem as though they’re on top of the world, but they’re actually headed for eternal punishment. That’s the great reversal. Jesus says it this way in Matthew 20:16: “[T]he last will be first, and the first [will be] last.” 

So, those who persist in living a sinful lifestyle in the present might seem to have it all. They might seem—on the outside, at least—to be happy and successful and as if they’re having the time of their life. And in some ways, they might very well be having the time of their life. But all their worldly happiness and all the good times they might seem to be having will prove to be incredibly short-lived. In reality, they’re no better off than people on the Titanic who never made it onto a lifeboat. I’m sure many of those people traveling on the Titanic were having a wonderful time. They were probably singing and dancing and having the time of their life. Little did they know, however, that calamity was just around the corner. In just a few short hours, their lifeless bodies would lie at the bottom of those frigid ocean waters. Likewise, in many ways, that’s the situation of those who are having the time of their life now but who are living apart from Jesus.

However, if that’s you this morning, please understand that that doesn’t have to be your future. Returning to 1 Peter, look at the final verse of our main passage, 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.”

Now, when Peter says that “the gospel was preached even to those who are dead,” understand he’s not saying that the gospel was preached to them after they had died, as if they somehow had another chance after death to embrace the gospel. Rather, Peter’s simply saying that the gospel was preached to people who are now dead back when they were alive. They were alive when the gospel was preached to them even though they now have died. As a result, Peter says, “though [they’re] judged in the flesh the way people are”—that is, physical death—“they might live in the spirit the way God does”—that is, in eternal life in heaven. 

So, this is the hope God offers to us—the hope of the “gospel.” The word “gospel” here literally means good news. We’ve already looked extensively at the bad news in verse 5, but praise God there’s also good news! And this good news that we call the “gospel” is that God is not only just but also merciful. And in his mercy, he’s provided a way for us to be rescued from the punishment our sins deserve. God did this by sending his own Son into this world as a human being—fully God and fully man—in order to live a perfectly sinless life in our place—a life, we might say, that merited heaven on our behalf—and then eventually die on the cross in our place, taking on himself the punishment our sins deserved. Yet, of course, Jesus didn’t stay dead but rather was triumphantly raised to life three days later. That’s the good news of the gospel. 

And it’s not just good news in general but good news for us because God now offers us forgiveness of our sins and eternal life in heaven. He doesn’t want us to be condemned but yearns for us to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4 describes God as one “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And 2 Peter 3:9 says that Jesus “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

So, if you haven’t yet done that, you have an opportunity this morning to repent and turn to God and put your trust in Jesus for rescue. God loves you, and he invites you to do that. There will indeed be a great reversal in the future, but you have an opportunity right now to make sure you’re on the right side of that great reversal rather than the wrong side of it. You have an opportunity to get out of a terrible situation before it’s too late. It’s like you’re in a house that’s on fire. This is your chance to escape from that house before the whole structure collapses and is consumed.