Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. doing God's will is not always easy. Three important keys then. and doing God's will. Number one.
Do the will of God. Be prepared. suffering. Do the will of God, abstain from immorality. Here's the last one: do the will of God.
Tell others about Jesus Christ. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, Senior Pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. What's the most important thing in your life? The answer cuts to the heart of everything we do and every choice we make. Today on the verdict, John challenges us to examine our priorities and discover what it truly means to make God's will our number one pursuit.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with today's message: The Will of God. Christians come in all shapes and sizes. But over the years I've discovered that one of the characteristics of the true follower of Jesus Christ is that he or she desires to do God's will. I don't mean that we always do God's will. But we have that desire.
Followers of Jesus recognize That Christ is not only our Savior, the one who forgives our sins, He's also Lord. The command is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved.
Now that our sins are forgiven, And we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, there is this holy desire in us to please God. to do his will. Of course, this is not always easy. Peter addresses this in the opening verses of 1 Peter 4. Let's learn more about doing the will of God.
Question to all of us. What is the most important thing in your life? Bill Shankley is the former manager of Liverpool. Uh football club. In uh England.
And the famous story is that someone said to him that football is a matter of life and death, that is soccer. He lived and breathed football. And so they said to Bill Shankley, Isn't it true that football is a matter of life and death? And he said, it's more important than that. For a man who was totally absorbed with this beautiful sport of football.
That was life. to build Shankley. That was the most important thing. in his life.
So what's the most important thing? in your life. Francis Ridley Habergal said. Doing the work of God is a great thing. But doing the will of God is greater.
For those of us who are authentic followers of Jesus Christ, that's not just a matter of saying a little prayer. In VBS or in Sunday school or at our home when we're five or six, and then saying, Well, I'm saved, and that's all there is to life. That is not the Christianity of the Bible. Yes, it begins. with a prayer of confession.
A prayer where we receive Christ as our Savior, but for the true believer, for the authentic believer, this becomes our number one priority. This is life for us to do the will of God. of God.
So graduates. Whatever you have in front of you. Always this. Be number one. to do the will Yeah.
That's not easy for us because when we think of that, we have a tension. Uh we have attention between our will, our own will, and the will of God. We have a tension between our what the Bible calls our flesh our human desires And also What the Spirit of God has for us. We're just saying it's a. I who live, but Christ lives in us, but we also have the flesh living with us.
And that creates attention. There's also a tension between the world we live in and the world which is. to come. Attention. Between our own kingdom as we want life to revolve around us.
and the coming kingdom. of God.
So Paul writes to Romans. In Romans chapter 12 verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, the good and acceptable. and perfect. I believe that God's will is good.
For the Christian, it is acceptable. And it is perfect because this God Knows everything about everything, and this God. always leads us in the paths of righteousness. And as we come in our study of 1 Peter, We're going to stand and read 1 Peter 4. Let me ask you to do that.
Sand. And we're going to read the first six verses of 1 Peter chapter 4. Peter. is giving wise counsel Not only to the first century readers, but to us. And he's giving very wise counsel to our graduates.
Let's read the word of God. Together. 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 has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. Living in sensuality. Passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
With respect to this They are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery. and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached. even to those who are dead.
That though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit. the way God does. Thank you. Please please see that.
So I want to say three basic things from this passage on the will of God. Number one. God's will, and this is a difficult one for us. God's will is that you accept. Suffering.
You say, well, that's a very negative way to begin.
Well, that's what Peter is saying. God's will As we follow Christ. is that we are prepared to accept Suffering. And if you've been following the study of 1 Peter, you realize that one of the themes of 1 Peter is suffering. And to help these first century readers and to help us, Peter gives the wonderful, the perfect example of our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered.
Luther said, no one ever suffered like Christ. And notice how he begins, chapter 4, verse 1. He says, Sins, therefore, Christ suffered in the flesh. Takes us back. To the great verse in chapter 3, verse 18, where Peter says, Christ suffered for sins once.
Yes, our Savior suffered so much. that he was put. to death. This expression suffered in the flesh, or suffered in his body, as some translations have it. refers to the suffering of Christ in his humanity.
The eternal God comes into time and space, he becomes man, he becomes a servant, and he committed himself to a life of suffering. He suffered, Paul says. And we began with that wonderful prelude based on Philippians chapter 2. Where Paul tells us that our Lord Jesus came and he became obedient to death, even death on a cross. And our Lord, in coming into this world, knew.
That in order for us to be saved, he's going to suffer, not only to suffer, but to the extent of dying on the cross. Notice his argument. In verse 1 then, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh. Arm yourself with the same way of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
We are to arm ourselves. The analogy is one. of the soldier putting on armour. And in order to do that, I'm to look to Christ. Because Christ provides the great motivation as well as the example of suffering.
We are consciously and deliberately to learn from the example of Christ. I keep saying, and I'll continue to say. Read the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Yes, read all of the Bible.
but saturate yourself with the Gospels. And you see our Lord Jesus Christ. in his life.
in his teaching. Yes, and in his passion, in his suffering, and in his glorious resurrection. And we are to arm ourselves with the same way of. Same thing. opposing the culture.
Opposing sin in our life is not easy. And when we do that, we experience opposition. One thing I guarantee graduates. Whether you go to college going into the marketplace. your community with your friends.
you will experience Opposition. Out there. There is the great temptation to adopt the sinful lifestyle, the sinful thinking of our surrounding culture. We are tempted by sin, we are tempted by the world, we are tempted by the Enemy, and so we are to arm ourselves with a way of thinking of Christ, the perfect man, the perfect God, who suffered for our redemption. I am to arm myself with the same resolve as Jesus did who suffered on the cross.
Are you surprised when suffering comes into your life? It's your idea of the Christian faith. That if you follow Jesus Christ, life is going to be wonderful. Yes, it is going to be wonderful, but I can guarantee. you will experience suffering.
Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2: Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier knows about the enemy. It's the whole point of being a soldier. A soldier requires bravery, requires suffering, realizes there's an enemy that they are against, and therefore we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are going into an ungodly culture. We're not just keeping into our own little spiritual cocoons, I hope.
No, we're perfect. Penetrating the pagan culture, and when we do that, we experience suffering. Think of Paul's uh Peter's readers. They're experiencing persecution. They're experiencing suffering.
If you are an authentic follower of Jesus Christ, expect. and accept suffering. Anyone suffering here? Find it difficult going, being a follower of Christ? I think many of us do.
The will of God involves suffering. When you experience opposition because you're a follower of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God is telling us today: don't resent God. Don't be overcome by self-pity. Doing the will of God according to the teaching of Scripture involves hardship. Be a good soldier.
Be strong. Be courageous. There will be misunderstandings. There will be temptations, tribulations and suffering. Leaving home depends on your personality, I suppose.
Leaving home can mean loneliness. Certainly is going to mean new temptations. Failure? Doubt. Anxiety.
Many things are going to come into your life. and into our lives as we continue to follow Christ.
So number one. Following Jesus. And doing his will does not mean that your life will be problem-free. God's will, number one. is that you accept Suffering.
It comes to us all. and all kinds of shapes and sizes. But certainly when you leave home. And to be a strong follower of Jesus Christ is going to mean opposition. Be strong.
Being a Christian, doing God's will involves suffering. Number two. God's will is that you abstained from an immoral Lifestyle. Notice at the end of verse 1. 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. Notice the contrast? I once lived this way, now I'm going to live another way. Doing the will of God means saying no to self, denying self. That's what Jesus taught.
If you're going to follow me, first thing, deny self. Self. Peter is saying the same thing in another way. Put sin behind you. Whoever has suffered in the flesh, our earthly life, has ceased from sin.
or done with sin, or finished with sin. This does not mean Being done with sin does not mean that we are sinless, that we're perfect Christians. No. But we have ended our sinful lifestyles. What's the point of being a follower of Jesus Christ and living no differently from those who don't believe you around you?
This prov provides a conflict, doesn't doesn't it? Between God's will and their own passions. That's what he's saying again in verse 2. Live the rest of your time in the flesh. no longer for human passions, but For the will of God.
You have your sinful passions. You have your desires. Do you have your fleshly temptations? You are to say no to them and you are to do the will of God.
Now the first century believers Formerly lived very sinful lifestyles, we know that. The Romans. What are very decadent, a very immoral People. Think of their love of the gladiators, for example, with the blood and the violence. And the refusal of Christians in the first century to party like the Romans who were idolaters And the refusal to bow to Caesar caused opposition and persecution.
Here's a Roman lifestyle. And to be a Roman city, was a great citizen, it was a great privilege. It was the superpower. And it had much to commend itself with his army, with its roads, with his wonderful laws. spreading across the known world.
Ah, but the follower of Christ. has a different king. We don't bow to Caesar. We can't live as we once lived. I have to put that.
Way of living behind me, and now I'm to do the will of God.
So for the Christian There must be a radical change of life. Is that true of you? Notice what Peter says. He's saying, in a sense, you've sinned long enough. Verse 3.
suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. Living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. You've had enough to do with sin, he says. There must be a break with it. If you're an authentic follower of Christ, Sin should offend you rather than delight you.
Christ, he says, suffered in the flesh because of your sins. Your sins and my sins put Christ on the tree. And you want to enjoy these things? You want to pursue these sins, these very sins that Christ died for? No, doing the will of God.
Means You are to abstain from a life of self-indulgence. A life of human passion. Don't conform. to the values. of the society around you.
You go onto a campus. Which which does all kinds of activities and you have a choice to make.
Now if you're not careful. You know what happens to most of us?
Well like fish Going downstream, aren't we? We just drift around. And unless we make a conscious and deliberate choice that we are going to do the will of God, we conform to the surrounding culture, we just fit in. It's so much easier, isn't it? We don't need to think, we just go along with it.
The Christian is to be different. The Christian marches to the beat of a different drum. God calls us to be different. Peter has told us that God, in chapter 1, God has called us to holiness. And as I read verse 3, did you notice the prominence of sexual and alcohol-related activities?
What's the first one he mentions? In verse 3, Sensuality. That's extreme immorality and passions. This is sexual excess. This is sinful desires.
This is immorality, this is unbridled debauchery. You see, our sex saturated and our pornographic society is not new. This is the first century. The Romans were very immoral, they were very sensuous. They indulged their Mm-hmm.
Sexuality. Peter is saying that kind of lifestyle is not for you. Do you hear me, graduates? That type of lifestyle. is now for you.
Common on the campus? Yes. But we are called to be different. The next one. is drunkenness.
Orgies and drinking parties. That sounds kind of like a fraternity in a college, doesn't it? Drunkenness, orgies. Drinking parties. Can I say very bluntly?
Drunken parties are not God's will for you. Have nothing. to do with them. Lawless idolatry.
Some of the sexuality and drunkenness may have been connected with pagan religious practices. Good, and I have a had friends, their daughter went off. To university. Professing follower of Christ coming from a strong Christian home. She got involved with some very nasty People We're into their seances.
Calling up the dead. And you're involved. in all kinds of stuff. lawless idolatry. Sensuality.
Once you get caught up in that, it's very difficult to get out of it. You're into a dark world. A world which is the very antithesis of following Jesus Christ. That lifestyle. is clearly contrary to the will of God.
Don't go. to any parties where there's alcohol and sexual activity. Don't compromise your values and standards. You'll be invited to them. Hopefully not in a Christian school, but I don't know.
But I guarantee if you go to a secular college, Even if you don't among your friends. among the culture. This is the way that people have a good time. And you have to make a decision. Am I going to follow Christ?
Am I going to do the will of God? Or am I just going to blend in? And people who participate and that kind of lifestyle. They want you to join in. They don't like it when you say no.
The person who is drinking wants others to drink with him. And they sometimes Peter is saying here, they may criticize you and abuse you. He says they malign you. And at College. When we say no, we may experience rejection and ridicule.
This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. and the first part of a message titled The Will of God. John will continue this important topic tomorrow, so be sure to join us. What does it really mean to live according to God's will? As John reminded us today, it's not always the easy path, but it's always the right one.
When we're willing to suffer for righteousness, abstain from sin, and boldly share Christ with others, we're walking in step with the purposes of our Heavenly Father. we deepen our understanding of the will of God when we better understand His plan of salvation as revealed in Scripture. That's why we're excited to offer you John's powerful resource for the time is near. This straightforward guide to lessons in Revelation will help you develop a biblical big picture and help you reshape your perspective and your priorities. Discover how biblical prophecy isn't just about the future.
It's about transforming how you live today. Get your complimentary copy by visiting theverdict.org. And when you partner with the verdict through your financial support, you're helping people around the globe discover God's will for their lives. Whether you can give $25, $75, or any amount, your generosity extends our reach to seekers who desperately need biblical truth. Take a moment right now to make your contribution at theverdict.org.
Finally, we'd love to meet you in person. If you're near Charlotte, North Carolina, come experience worship at Calvary Church, home of the Verdict. You'll find us at the intersection of Highway 51 and Ray Road, or you can join our Sunday services through our live stream online. For worship times and more information, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well What's your verdict? I know you desire to do the will of God. How has this looked over the last several months? We can't just do the will of God when it is easy for us and when our path is on the mountaintop under blue sky. Life could be difficult.
Yet, through the suffering, I pray that you will do God's will. In a sleazy world, may the work of the Holy Spirit be evidenced in your life. Join me next time. As we continue to think of this all-important subject of the will of God. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
