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1 Peter 4:1-6 ESV

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 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.

I. MINI-ME AND JESUS (1-2)
A. Jesus chose suffering rather than sin and as His disciples we choose to copy His life.
B. Suffer in these verses is something we inflict on ourselves, rather than something done to us by others.
C. Instead of sin we pursue the will of God out of love for God.

II. BREAKING UP WITH SIN (2)
A. To live for the will of God we must break up with sin.
B. It is not enough to hate sin. We must replace it with something better.
C. We beat sin by seeing the truth that Jesus is better & more satisfying than our sin.

III. LIVE AS IF YOLO IS A LIE (3-4)
A. We have all already had enough time to do all the sin we wanted and look where that got each of us.
B. YOLO and sin are liars. They leave us going deeper into sin and misery instead of joy.

IV. STICKS AND STONES (5-6)
A. Breaking up with sin means breaking up with people, too, which means name calling.
B. That’s ok. The last word about us is not spoken by any human but by God on Judgment Day.
C. Suffering the death of our flesh now means we live forever with Jesus for eternity.

NEXT STEPS:
1. Choose suffering over sin.
2. Make the rest of your life count.