Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

I Peter 4

Christ’s Example to Be Followed

I Peter 4:¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

I Peter 4:² that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

• To live in a sinful world while doing the will of God is a recipe for suffering. And yet, there is a reward so great it cannot compare to the suffering.

I Peter 4:³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

I Peter 4:⁴ In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

I Peter 4:⁵ They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

• Satan has given mankind a credit card for sinning. The more you use it, the higher the limit goes. Taste porn and discover a foreign appetite. Illegal drugs can take you on a one-way trip. Petty crime – federal prison.
  
  Sin is like a mole of underground destruction, digging its own grave.
  
  To resist temptation is to lengthen one’s days in time and quality. At the great white throne judgment every credit card will be called in. Every Sin has an End, exposed and accounted for. It will be a time of heavy rain leaving men trembling. Happy is the man whose sins are paid for.
  
  No other religion has paid for the sins of men. There is no other way except the cross of Jesus.

I Peter 4:⁶ For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Nekros “Dead” G3498

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Serving for God’s Glory

I Peter 4:⁷ But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.

• Both Peter and Paul believed Daniel’s 70th week was about to ensue after the Messiah was “cut off” (crucified), that there would be a rapture and then seven years of tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week) for God to deal with the Jews- they had no reason to believe otherwise except perhaps for the parable in which the King invited the maim (gentiles) to his banquet when his servants (the Jews) refused to attend. (Matthew Chapter 22) Thereby hinting at the coming Gentile Church Age, putting Daniel’s 70th week on hold until the Church Age closes and God’s agenda returns to the Jews for the 7 years of the Jewish nation’s tribulation.
  
  Jesus had seven days of affliction between His triumphal entry and His resurrection: consequently, the Jewish nation was given one year of affliction for every day Jesus suffered under the disobedience of the leaders of the Jews aka Daniel’s 70th “week”. The scriptural standard for disobedience.
  
  (Numbers 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.)
  
  Had the Jewish leaders accepted Jesus, He would still have had to die for the sins of the people. It would have been seven days of Jesus’ tribulation only instead of seven years for the nation’s tribulation.
  
  
  The Seven Days of Jesus’ tribulation (on the Roman Calendar) are April 21 through April 28.
  
  
• See Daniel Chapter 9

I Peter 4:⁸ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins because of its Grace

• Love has eyes to see the pain in another and to act in their best interest.

I Peter 4:⁹ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

I Peter 4:¹⁰ As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold (many sided) grace of God.

I Peter 4:¹¹ If anyone speaks, let him speak as the (utterances) oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the (sovereignty) dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering for God’s Glory

I Peter 4:¹² Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

I Peter 4:¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

I Peter 4:¹⁴ If you are reproached (insulted or reviled) for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

I Peter 4:¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody (meddler) in other people’s matters.

Don’t blame God if you Suffer from your own Sins

I Peter 4:¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this (name) matter.

I Peter 4:¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

I Peter 4:¹⁸ Now –

“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

I Peter 4:¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

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