City Life Church San Diego

1 Peter 4:1-6 Holiness Looks Like Rebellion Against Your Own Desires

• Dale Huntington

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What if the parts of you that feel most contradictory are the very places God plans to build something strong? 

We sit with the hard truth that transformation invites friction. Old crowds get confused when you stop saying yes to the flood—unrestrained behavior, lust, drunkenness, idolatry—and sometimes they push back. Through vivid analogies (from “cat brain” instincts to the tadpole becoming a frog), we explore why holiness is not grim self-denial, but a reordering of desire. Sobriety, fidelity, simplicity, and generosity don’t shrink life; they expand it. Stories from everyday choices—turning down the hotboxed ride, swapping haunted houses for bright community events, choosing service over status—show how trust in Jesus reshapes what feels good and what truly is good.

Then we zoom out to the larger story. The temple sacrifices were an X-ray pointing to a better cure: a perfect Priest, a true King, and the Lamb who would carry our guilt. Isaiah’s prophecy and the Emmaus-road moment tie Scripture’s arc to Jesus’ rescue plan. That plan doesn’t just save us from; it saves us for—so we become people who read to serve, pray to love, and go where God sends, whether across the street or across the world. Expect misunderstanding. Expect grace to outlast it. And when the chance comes to speak, offer a reason for your hope with gentleness and clarity.

If you’re tired of survival-mode living and ready to breathe different air, press play. Share this with someone who needs a new start, subscribe for more teaching in our Peter series, and leave a review with the one habit you want to trade for real freedom.

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SPEAKER_00:

The apostle Peter was born with his foot in his mouth. Rash and outspoken, he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. One time, he actually cut a dude's ear off. He was brave and he was a coward. Peter was a contradiction. He walked on water with Jesus, he healed the sick, and gave sermons to thousands. And after his worst moment, when he had abandoned Jesus, he was restored by his loving Savior. Jesus actually gave him the name Peter, which means rock. And Peter was stubborn like a rock. As he grew old, the stubborn Jesus follower gained wisdom. Wisdom which he shared with God's church in his letters. He was still imperfect, but God used him. Doesn't that give you hope too? To know this very flawed man with a foul mouth was used by God in powerful ways. Peter's words come from a man who soaked up the presence of Jesus. A man covered in the dust kicked up by his teacher's sandals. His letters are challenging and must be wrestled with until we fully understand. Peter was a contradiction. Peter suffered, betrayed his best friend, embarrassed himself, and eventually grew into a wise teacher. If you are sometimes abrasive, sinful, or broken, you'll find hope and solace in Peter's words. They echo the heart of Jesus and they challenge us to suffer well, stand up for goodness, and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior Jesus. So open your Bibles, open your minds, and let's learn together as we continue in our series, Peter the Rock.

SPEAKER_01:

And so at my house, I have a tree up with leaves, Thanksgiving leaves, and Thanksgiving ornaments. I'm yep, because I'm trying to make Thanksgiving a thing in my household. We have papers up in the house with our picture on it of our family. What we used to do is write what we were thankful for. This year we're trying something new, and we put up the people in the family and we're writing what we're thankful for about that person. And I've really enjoyed it so far, getting to tell people what a blessing they are. Also, uh the last two years I've written Thanksgiving songs with the hope of like, I'm like, I don't have enough Thanksgiving songs to listen to, so I'm gonna start writing some. So I've been doing that. Um and I think that there's no better way though to than uh to celebrate our thankfulness than to give to the food pantry. And I just want to say it's been really beautiful the way that I've seen more people taking from the pantry, but more people giving. And the great thing is that it's not just you guys, it's other churches calling me. It's I have relatives calling me, like, hey, can I bring you something? I have uh friends calling me, can I bring stuff? Like I had a a trunk load of masa today because somebody wanted to just bless our community. And they were like, Well, we're Mexican, we want to give masa because there's gonna be Mexicans that need it. So like I just love that kind of stuff. Um, and I think that's kind of the heart of Thanksgiving, right? Is like not only recognizing what we have, but being uh not only being grateful, but being generous. And so I hope that we continue that season together. Um and uh I am indeed grateful for you, and I'm glad that you're here today, and I think that God has something to teach you, just as he's been teaching me this week. Um, so today we're in 1 Peter 4, 1 through 6. I hope you're there with me. Um, anyone have a physical Bible that's uh that's bound? Oh, love seeing those. I just think they're beautiful. So um I know people are like, a phone is physical, not bound. All right, but I'm not mad at you for having your phone. I just love the physical Bibles that are bound. All right, here we go. First Peter 4, 1 through 6. Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, now there is more therefore. Um, and anytime we see a therefore, we gotta look what it's therefore. Okay, because Jesus made his sacrifice on the cross, rose again, is now in heaven, sitting on the throne above all things. That's what the therefore is coming from earlier in Peter. Um, you gotta remember, like Peter didn't say chapter two, you know, it was just a letter. Okay. So um continuing. Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding. Because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin, in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God's will. For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do, Gentiles meaning non-Jewish people, um, carrying on an unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of wild living, and they slander you. They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason, the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God's standards. If you have that perfectly understood already, um you can come teach. But for the rest of us, we're gonna work through this, okay, together. All right. So would you pray with me? Father, uh, we come before you as just selfish people, focused on our own needs, uh, selfish creatures devoted to our own devices. Like even when we do the right thing, Lord, you know that a lot of times we want to be seen doing the right thing. And we only suffer for others so much before we go back to being selfish again. And yet you were willing to give everything for us. Not some small token of your love, but everything. A gigantic gesture of your boundless love, a sacrificial gift that costs you everything. And so just this morning we come before you, we say thank you. Thank you, Father. We ask that you would teach us this morning to be more like your Son. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this all in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen. See, the dark world, this world casts a critical eye on the family of God. Like there is a microscope on the church. Possibly because the church has had a reputation that is sometimes deserved. But we can respond by shining a bright light in a loving community. We can outdo each other in showing honor. We can choose unity by focusing on the big things we have in common rather than the relatively small things we have in our differences, and we can reflect the light of God by sharing with the world how Jesus lovingly saved us. That's a lot of what we were talking about last week, okay? But I want to say that before we move into our three points on trials, gifts, and questions that come with being saved by Jesus. Three points on trials, gifts, and questions that come with being saved by Jesus. And our first one is this Jesus gave himself for something greater so we could too. Jesus gave himself for something greater so we could too. Verse 1 said, Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding. That's like a military term. Because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God's will, it says. See, Jesus suffered and died so that we might glorify God. So some might glorify God on the day of his arrival. That's a few verses prior. In the same way, we no longer need to live for our sins. We no longer need to live selfishly for ourselves. One author says we can arm ourselves with the intent to suffer. Now, the Bible says in Romans 6 that we are buried with Christ and baptism and we're raised to walk in newness of life. It's in lots of places in our Bible, actually. But this means we don't just sort of walk with Jesus, do we? And and hope that it turns out okay. No, no, no. That's a waste of a new life. This means we don't give$5 to the person who's struggling and we're suddenly good with God. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. God wants so much more than money. This means we die and we're raised up with Jesus to become a holy new person. It doesn't mean you're not going to still have some struggles, but it means that they have lost the ultimate victory against you. You're going to start to change. I know some of you in the room have started to change that you have rejected some things that are very difficult, but you've been changing, and I've seen it. You start to enjoy things you never enjoyed. I mean, guys, some of you, if somebody said to you 10 years ago, like, hey man, let's go to church, like you would have been like, uh, what? That's not even funny. But now you enjoy things about church. Like now we dislike things we used to like. Like we allow our enemies to strike us without striking back. And we don't do that because we got grit, we do that because God helps us and even changes our hearts to be cool with that. Like we willingly go through trials because Jesus did.

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Dr.

SPEAKER_01:

Tony Evans, he sums it up. He says, believers are to have the same attitude towards suffering that Christ had. We are to live our remaining days for God's will. Guys, only Jesus gives freedom from death's uh sentence, from sin's death sentence. There's the word. Um, but because of Jesus, we no longer have to live for our selfish flesh. Like, is there anyone here who still leaves lives for their selfish flesh? Yes. Like, I get it, but you don't have to anymore. You don't have to anymore. Like, um, let me ask this question Is there anyone in here who really loves cats? Like, it's okay, cat lover, cat lover, cat lover. You guys are great. Like, bless your heart. Um, but today I'm gonna use cats as an example, so sorry. Um cats are a great example of living in the flesh, okay? Like, they're animals with animal brains, okay? The cat has a brain the size of a walnut. All right, um, much of their lives are devoted to seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. That's what a lot of what cats do. And that's why they're not dogs, but no, no, no, no, no. So cats are devoted to seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Um, in Mount Hope, the cats loudly seek pleasure around 2 a.m. around my house. I don't know why, but they do. Um let me ask this: do cats love us? Maybe. You know, I've had some really great cats in my lifetime, especially one named Shadow. Um, loved that cat. Do cats love us? I maybe, I think so. Um, but cats are always going to be in survival mode, okay? Like they focus on pleasure and avoidance of pain. That is what life in the flesh looks like. But you Christians, you Christians, you believers are finished with that. You no longer live for human desires. Now, or cat desires, whatever you want to say. But now we have this like limbic system in our brain. I'm gonna I'm trying my best to study this, so I hope I got it right. But that limbic system in our brain is very similar to a cat's brain, okay? Um, specifically the part of it called the amygdala, okay? Now, that amygdala, from my understanding, um it it processes emotions like fear, um, sexual attraction, things like that, like eat, poop, survive. That is what the amygdala is helping with. And replicate yourself, pass your DNA on, find another attractive cat in the alley, make loud noises to find a mate at 2 a.m. For humans, we call that karaoke. Now, the animal part of your brain tells you that you need a mate with you need to mate with lots of partners, okay, uh, to ensure the survival of your species. That's what an animal brain is like. It's a good survival instinct that we sometimes have that runs amok. And this this amygdala sometimes drives us to pornography, it sometimes drives us to strip joints, multiple partners, sex before marriage, all sins that we might justify, but we're not cats. Yes, God tells us to be fruitful and multiply, but it gets messed up along the way. We listen to the survival brain, to the flesh, rather than listening to the spirit. And then once you have children, guess what? It's still going on. Your brain is going to tell you that your children are the most important children. Because your survival is telling you to keep your DNA moving along, and it's just part of a God-given instinct in us, like protect our DNA. Okay? But for many of us, so long as our kids are good, we're good. Like, I'm alright. But then here's the the insidious part of it our desire to keep our DNA going and protect our kids, um, we see it as selfless. We see it as selfless, but sometimes it's actually flesh. Sometimes it's us just trying to keep our DNA going. And and a lot of times I know that when I see another kid and I say, not my problem. Not my problem, that's flesh. And and we no longer live for our human desires anymore, do we? It says that we live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires but for God's will. Guys, only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence, but he also gives us freedom from selfishness, from a cat brain. So, how do we live according to the spirit, though? Like we talked about it last week. It's not just working hard, right? You're like, man, I just gotta try harder and I'll be like a cat. But a lot of it is just trust. Like trusting God's plan for us is good. And I promise you guys, there are many times in the last few weeks that I've had to say to God, I guess I trust you. I'm gonna have to trust you. I I don't want to trust you because I'm looking at what's in front of me and I don't want to trust you. But but I understand that he's good. I understand that my emotions are not necessarily about um his kingdom, but they're about my survival. Guys, this is trust, and we have to trust that God has a good plan. Trusting unselfishness is right, no matter how hard we no matter how bad we feel. Trusting that loving our enemy can change the world, that is from God. Now Romans 6 7 says, a person who has died is free from sin. I almost didn't want to use this verse because it said 6-7, and I was like, oh wait, most of the kids will be in uh in the big kids when I say that, but no, I see some of you guys here. I already saw, I was like, 6-7, dang it. I was like, I wasn't gonna use this verse just because it said Romans 6 something says that a person who has died is freed from sin. If you remember us talking about this idea, when a person is dead, nobody shows up at the grave and starts yelling at it and says, You owe me. Give me my money, or I'm killing you in smoky. No, it doesn't happen. No, no, someone shows up at the grave and says, Dang, lost my money. Dad is what happens. When somebody when when sin seeks us, we know that sometimes we can be enticed with sin, but when sin looks to find us, like it finds no condemnation, no condemnation that's found in Christ Jesus. No longer can that person work off the debt because they died. We have died to sin. We belong to Jesus now. So, guys, even if you fall back into sin, when you repent and continue to seek the Spirit of God, sin cannot condemn you anymore. Your sin was nailed to the cross with Jesus when he died for you. Now, Thomas Schreiner he says the commitment to suffer reveals an intention to live a new life, a life that is not yet perfect, but remarkably different from the lives of unbelievers. So, what we're saying, church, what we're saying is when you live your life for other people, and let me say this that is maturity. I've talked to enough people that think if I just know more Bible, which is good, you want to know the word of God, if I can just do this, this, this, this, and this, guys, I tell you the mark of maturity is unselfishness. That is a mark of maturity. Okay? So when you live your life for other people, not just your desires, not just your DNA family, you go against the animal part of your brain or your flesh, and you tell the world that Jesus is bigger, that Jesus is worth it. Because only Jesus' freedom gives uh free So I can't say this line and I have it repeated the entire sermon. I'm gonna have to work on this. Only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. I don't know why it's hard for me. Do you guys know what asceticism is, though? Asceticism is this idea that you almost like die to every feeling. Now, a lot of times you'll see like Buddhism with this idea that like if you could just relieve all feelings, if you could just not do anything, stay away from any pleasure, then maybe you will find uh nirvana or truth. But the problem with asceticism is it's really just grit. It's not truly seeking God. And I would encourage you to understand that denying the ways of our flesh are not always suffering. Uh to make sacrifice for others is not always bad for us, even. So, friends, to have one partner is not suffering. Okay? To not get drunk, to not overeat when we are hungry, like I have absolutely loved waking up, not hung over. I just tell you this. It's a great feeling. I also love that I don't have extra calories from over drinking um in the same way as well. Like, I love waking up um without uh without being hung over and without having an extra belly from beer. Like, that's not me suffering, okay? That's actually me understanding that God has a better plan for my life. Um, I love waking up to the to the same woman for the last 21 years. That is so much better than waking up to who knows who and what kind of diseases, friends. It keeps getting better because God keeps teaching us how to die to ourselves and love each other better, but it's even for our blessing. You see, like we get it wrong a lot, but it's a better way, and we don't have to worry about communicable diseases anymore. Okay, so so we see that it's a better way to live according to the spirit. Um, but when we live in the spirit, will things always get easier. Heck to the no. And that's why we get our second point that um they mock us when we no longer enjoy sin the same way. They mock us when we no longer enjoy sin the same way. Verse 3 for there are has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles, remember that's the non-Jewish people, um, choose to do carrying on and unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you don't join them in the same flood of wild living and they slander you. Guys, have we not learned by now the things that satisfy those who are far from Jesus are not ultimately satisfying? Like, like we have people around us drinking salt water, and and and they're like, this is great. And we're like, but we know actually, we actually know how this ends. For those of you who still go out and get drunk, I ask you, does it ultimately satisfy you or does it leave you broke, overweight, hung over, depressed? I know that there's addiction and you feel like you need it, but God's spirit can deliver us. And sometimes God's spirit can deliver you to a place that we can have you stay there until you get clean. But for those of you who are sleeping with someone outside of Christian marriage, do you ever wake up fully satisfied? Now, Kenyan pastor Dr. Sicily Mora Maruthi, he says, instead of being drawn into a whirlwind of passions, believers are now to have only one focus, living solely for the will of God. Now, this is one time I really like this pastor. I'm gonna push back on him a little bit. So I'm gonna read to you what he said, and I'm gonna push back just a little bit. And I know what he means. So um, instead of being drawn into a whirlwind of passions, believers are now to have only one focus, living solely for the will of God. Now, the only pushback that I would I would give uh to Dr. Maruthi is this. Um believers can be drawn into greater passions for God. Greater passions for God. He is slowly changing our desires, but we can still be passionate about our faith. I am more of a passionate person now than I was before I knew Jesus. Now, Peter mentions several behaviors here, unrestrained behavior. Uh a lot of times this is like referred to as addiction, um, things that control you where you don't even think about it in some ways. Um, so for me, sometimes my unrestrained behavior is with this thing uh where my wife's like, Hey, can you uh check that text message or that link? And she's like, 30 minutes later, like, what are you doing? I'm like, I uh like I'm unrestrained, I don't even realize what I'm doing. Um there are other things that are uh talked about unbridled lustful excess would be another way that someone would refer to it. Um I think you know what that means. There's evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, lawless idolatry, making other things more important than God. Um see, Peter shows that when we stop these things, though, people will get mad. They'll even make up lies about you, but people won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us. See, when you stop going to the club, when you stop drinking with them, when you stop returning booty calls and you block that person, maybe you get a completely new phone. Or uh, if some of you were in my era, you would get a completely new pager. People are going to instantly feel judged by you, though. Some will call you antisocial, friends. Some will call you antisocial, but it's okay because you can have true joy in Jesus and you can have a family in in the family of God. Now, maybe you've decided to stop showing booze on your Instagram because people think you might be getting drunk. Someone is going to come at you for that. Okay? Maybe you've stopped putting lyrics that are dirty on your Instagram. Like, people are going to judge you for that. Maybe you serve others in church instead of taking so much. People are going to call you Ned Flanders. They're going to say you are silly. But I tell you, it doesn't matter what our culture thinks about us when we're doing the right thing. But you know what's funny about our culture, you guys? It's perfectly acceptable to do some things for others, right? To a point. You know that? Have you noticed that? Like, Peter says not to live like the Gentiles. Let me tell you how the Gentiles, let me tell you how the Americans live. We love to help people on Christmas and Thanksgiving, right? Like, oh my gosh, let's do something on Christmas and Thanksgiving. We forget about them the rest of the time. But if you decide that you want to serve the poor every day, people are going to judge you and they're going to slander you. If you drive a crappy car because you would rather help others than drive the nicest, newest car, people are going to slander you. If you choose to eat out less or go to fewer movies because you want to use that money to help other people, they're going to think you're going too far. If you choose church things over sports, you are a fanatic to people. Which is funny because what do we call a big sports fan? Fanatic. Fan, fanatic, right? But here's the thing: if you choose to follow God with your life and put God before sports, people will call you a religious fanatic, a religious zealot, a weirdo. Isn't that funny? Like we we use fanatic two different ways. When it when it comes to sports, awesome. If somebody moves to a foreign country where they'll be killed for their faith, that's a religious fanatic. Crazy nut bar. To be a religious fanatic who sacrifices their loves, their lives for others, that person is nuts. To be a sports fan that has been to every baseball stadium, people are like, wow, that's really cool. To be a sports fan who has gone to every single raider game you missed your mom's funeral, people are like, that's a diehard. But but to be a fan of Jesus to where you sacrifice everything so his name would be glorified. Religious fanatic, crazy. We're gonna slander him. Guys, only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. And people won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us, but that's okay. Now many of you guys know because I talk about it, that I was once in a punk band. You can also tell that I used to be in a punk band because anytime you ask me a question, my my response is always, huh? What? Speak up. When I was in a punk band, there was a time that we were a Christian punk band, and I had some guys that wanted to play with me, and our band broke up, and I had some guys that wanted to play with me, and they said, We don't want to be a Christian band with you. We just want to be a band. You can be a Christian and sing lyrics and stuff, as long as you're cool with us not being Christian. I was like, I decided to do it. I was like, maybe I can have a good, you know, relationship with these guys. I love them. It'll be great. I remember the day that we went to guitar center together to pick out some stuff for the band, and then we drove home and they hotboxed the car while we were driving home. And I remember having to sit down with them and say, guys, I can't do this. I can't participate in hotboxing cars anymore. I can't participate in the things that like that used to be okay. I can't participate in drunkenness at our shows. Like, and the thing is, is that they made fun of me a lot. And I would say at that season in our lives, they hated me. And they will hate you if you disagree. They will hate you if you choose a better way. And I felt bad because I loved them. I remember getting on my knees and actually saying, I pray that you would forgive me because I I didn't try to do this to you. I just can't be a part of this anymore. Things changed for me. Things have changed for me now. Like, guys, you would laugh at me if uh I would laugh at me if I saw us doing chunk or treat with no scary costumes, just candy and bright lights. Back in the day when we put on uh our haunted houses, we got the cops called on us all the time because they thought there were real bodies. Like the way that God has changed me. I I can't even watch scary movies anymore. Guys, I'll watch a comedy that's a little bit scary, and I have nightmares now because I don't mess with any of that stuff anymore. It's crazy. Things have changed. Like, I just want to tell our community about the love of Jesus now. Uh that's all I want to do. So, guys, there's times then you're not gonna fit in anymore. People won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us. But as we seek to live holy lives, our hope may overflow with life to some that are dead. This Christian that we talk about, this new person that was dead and is now alive. Like, I think a bit like a tadpole. Like when tadpoles hatch from an egg, they have tail. I'm so worried there's someone in here that's like a biologist and they've just got a whole list of all the things I've said wrong. Uh, my bad. Let me know. When tadpoles hatch from an egg, they're like, it's not called an egg, it's called a I don't know. The tadpole has tails, they have gills, and they eat only plants. They live comfortably underwater and they just come up for air occasionally. That's like some of you guys in the room. You're still in the world, but you've been coming up occasionally, which I'm pumped. Like, I love that you're trying to seek air. Maybe like a church service, or maybe you like read your Bible, or maybe you go to a city group occasionally, maybe you're watching us online with a bottle of jack next to uh your your bed right now. I love that you're seeking some air, but I'm telling you, God is not trying to make us good people, he's trying to make dead people alive. So as a dead, as a tadpole develops into a frog, the gills disappear. Lungs appear, the tail is gone, front and back legs grow, it starts to eat meat. Now the tadpole becomes a frog, but they don't like to live in that water anymore. Suddenly the water is not the same to them anymore. They don't swim around the the way they used to, they can't process it with their lungs in the same way, they just need air. Friends, that is how it goes with our faith. Like, weed doesn't hit the same way anymore. You start to realize that sex and sexual content isn't out good, isn't as good outside the beautiful covenant of marriage anymore. You're starting to change, you're dying to sin. You realize God wasn't ever trying to harsh your buzz, was he? No, God wanted you to thrive, he wanted something better for you. The things God wanted for you was to protect you. Sometimes he's trying to protect you from thinking you're the smartest thing out there. Sometimes he's trying to protect you from selfishness, but he's trying to protect you. Friends, you won't always understand, but you'll follow. That means your friends are definitely not gonna understand. Guys, you are not committed to one person in marriage because God says so, but because he wants something awesome for you. You aren't part of your church because you don't want to go to hell. You study, you worship, you serve others because it's how God designed you to be. It gives you joy, it's how you were made. But they won't understand until they come to a crossroads because sometimes it's a rock bottom. But for me, I didn't even have the rock bottom. I just was curious. And I met people who love Jesus and they said, Come, come check this out, come check out this Jesus guy. And in that moment, consider Peter's words from last week in chapter three, where he said, Be ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you. Guys, only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. People won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us, but as we seek to live holy lives, our hope may overflow with life to some that are dead. God did not rescue us to make us strangers in a strange land only. God did not rescue us only for ourselves, God rescued us to make us rescuers in his power. If we are frogs, we got to keep going back to the pond and telling the tadpoles about how God uh decided from the beginning of time to save them, to make us all whole, to make us new creatures in Him. And this is our third and final point that God's rescue plan was. Always the plan. This is not something where God pivoted. Verse 5 says, They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason, the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead. Although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God's standards. What do we call people who are alive but do not belong to Jesus? Dead. How can we preach to those who are dead? Listen to this. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath, as the others were also, but God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ. We are no longer tadpoles, we are no longer cats. Even though we were dead in trespasses, we are saved by grace. He also raised us with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. So the Bible says that if you do not belong to Jesus, you're God's enemy. It's bad news for some. Says we belong to the domain of darkness. It means you are part of the devil's army. In the past, God's covenant with his people, though, meant you had to be perfect as he was perfect. God could not be in a perfect relationship with someone who wasn't holy. Someone who destroyed his creation and pronounced themselves sovereign over it while burning it down could not say, I belong to God. God was not a part of that. And because you weren't perfect, you needed to make sacrifice. We needed to make sacrifice. The Jewish people needed to make sacrifice because justice had to be served. Someone had to pay the bill. But it was meted out upon sacrifices of lambs and pigeons and goats. Blood ran through the temple in great waves. But it wasn't enough still. It wasn't enough. Still, we found ourselves on the wrong side of justice, on the wrong side of the battle, on the wrong side of sin. It was almost as if the first way was there to show us that it was impossible to live up to God's standards. Like God had already decided to show us that it was impossible to live to his standards without God's intervention and help. It was an X-ray. It showed us something was wrong, but it was not the solution. Yes, we had a high priest who made sacrifices for us, but homeboy needed to make sacrifices for himself. He was not good enough and he didn't live forever. Yes, we had earthly kings, but they were often selfish and cruel. Yes, we had a temple, but it kept being destroyed. See, God knew we would need to be rescued, and he knew it from the beginning. We needed a perfect high priest. We needed a just king forever. We needed a perfect Lamb that would sacrifice himself for our sins forever. And it was always the plan. Thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, God was revealing this to us in his scripture. Seven hundred years before Christ's birth, the prophet Isaiah said this about the coming Messiah. He himself bore our sickness and carried our pains. But we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep. We have all turned our own way, and the Lord has punished him for an iniquity of us all. Friends, remember a crying church and a dying church, right? We love the sound of kids. They are a blessing, they're always welcome. So, friends, this was always the plan. This was always God's good and perfect plan. It was the plan for you to save you from the domain of darkness, but you still have to say yes to his plan. When Jesus had died but had been resurrected in Luke 24, he met some of his students on the road toward a place called Emmaus. And he explained to them how the Old Testament, all that stuff, it was all about him. Basically, I'm gonna paraphrase a little bit. Like he walks up beside them and he's like, Why are you guys so sad? And they're like, Are you serious? Have you not heard the news of Jesus, the guy that we thought was the Messiah? Did you not hear that we had put all our hopes on him and he died? He was killed, he was murdered. Why are you even like, why you got your head up? Look at us. We have dirt all over us. We're sad, we're broken. Why are you happy about this? And then Jesus responded, now I will quote him. He said, This How foolish you are, how slow to believe all the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. See, guys, the Old Testament is a love letter to you about Jesus. Jesus was always the plan. Jesus' great rescue plan existed before the world. To those of you who have not given your lives to Jesus, I'm pleading with you, give your life to Jesus, he can be trusted. When it's time to take communion, come up to the front and pray with me. Give your life to God before you take communion. For those of you in the room who have been rescued from the domain of darkness, I want to challenge you. God has ransomed you and saved you from death for something, for others. Not so you can go fat with knowledge, not so you can have more friends and community only. Although those things can be good. God has saved you and brought you into an army, not a physical army that fights, an army that fights in unique, kind, and loving ways. We fight by dying to ourselves, by putting others first, by loving our enemies. We treat all children like they are our own. We sacrifice so others might eat or hear the gospel. Some of you may uh be sent off to another country to bring glory to God's name. God may send you to one of our public schools, to your workplace to preach the gospel with words and actions. See, friends, the world needs to know God's plan. There was a God out there who planned to save them from the jump, a God whose heart breaks and bleeds for them. How do our hearts not bleed the same way? Death without Jesus is an eternal death sentence. This should be severe in our hearts. But life and death with Jesus means something far greater than we could ever ask or imagine. If you belong to Jesus, I'm challenging you, read your Bible. But not so that you will understand God alone, but so you can sacrifice yourself better for others. But you will understand the ways He wants to use your hands and feet for everyone you meet. Guys, when you pray, it should grow you closer to God. But it should also cause your heart to break for the people around you. It should cause you to grow closer to the people who need Jesus. How can anyone I know spend time with me without knowing God's rescue plan for their life if I truly love them? This rescue plan that was written before creation. They must know, but who will tell them? Who will love them well so they can hear this good but hard truth? That's you. God wants to use you to speak to them. He's sending you. And they won't always understand, and they might tease you and they might slander you, but they will know you love them. Because only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. People won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us, but as we seek to live holy lives, our hope may overflow with life to some that are now dead. Guys, I have plenty of friends who know what I stand for on certain issues that we would be divided over. It's um it's antagonistic with what they believe. What I believe is antagonistic with what they believe as secular humanists, as people who belong to this world, but I tell you, they know I love them. Because I love them and I pray for them and I seek to find ways to serve them. Not because I'm awesome, but because I've been saved from so much. I was in their place, and now I desire to share with them. I talked to the guy at my dental office this week and my cable installer about Jesus, not because I'm a super Christian, but because I am the opposite. I know how much I have been saved from, I know how much I deserve, and it's nothing. And so how can I not tell every person I'm around? And I tell you, it comes up, and it doesn't come up where I'm not necessarily bringing it up. It's crazy. But the rescue plan of God needs to cause our hearts to break for the people around us, for the immigrant, for the ice agent, for our neighbor, for Antifa, for the Crips, for the Bloods, for the neighborhood, for Brims, for Lincoln Park, for Skyline, for Nortenos, for Serranos. If God is not breaking our heart for these people, we still don't understand his rescue plan. His rescue plan that was decided before the creation of the world. Only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. People need to know. Now, if you're still carousing and struggling with addiction to drink or anything else, if you're still having sex outside of Christian marriage but you want to stop, I have good news. Jesus is ready to help you and forgive you now. If you've been living for yourself, want to give your life to Jesus today, stop waiting. Stop waiting. Come and die with us. Um, let us pray for you up here and let us pray with you before you take communion. And believe with us that you can walk in new life, the resurrected life of Jesus. So, City Life Church, and guess only Jesus gives freedom from sin's death sentence. People won't always understand our victory over things that used to control us. But as we seek to live holy lives, our hope may overflow with life to some that are dead. Let's pray.