Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast.
To find out more about this message or Riverbend church,
connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.
Good morning Riverbend Church, how you doing man?
It's so good to be able to worship with you this morning.
I know that in the in the pre service announcements and it's
also in your bulletin. I know that we've been throwing
it out there. Just an invitation for you to
join us on mission throughout this year to come in 2026.
This past week Todd and and Nathan spent some time with a
local church planner up in Boston.
Show you few of those pictures actually going to be in outside
of Boston in Plymouth, MA helping this church planner.
I know that that looks like our streets from a couple weeks ago,
but if you're interested in the Boston mission trip, there's
going to be an informational meeting on February, I believe
25th at 8:00. It's that Wednesday night.
And then this past week I got back from Guatemala, spent a few
days down in Guatemala kind of looking at that, scoping out
that mission trip. Incredible, incredible time down
there. Really looking forward to, to
going back down and, and serving alongside of you.
If you're interested in finding out more about Guatemala,
there's going to be an informational meeting tomorrow
night at 6:00 here at the church.
That's going to be followed up by an informational meeting to
Uganda. We're going to be taking a
mission trip to Uganda in November, November 10th through
the 21st. If you're interested in either
Guatemala or Uganda. Sorry I didn't have time to go
to Uganda this past week. I'll show you pictures from
there, but if you're interested in either one of those,
Guatemala or Uganda, we're having an informational meeting
tomorrow night. Guatemala is at six, Uganda is
at 7. You can come for both, but
really excited about just the opportunities just to serve,
serve the Kingdom of God, grow, expand the Kingdom of God, be
able to serve alongside of one another.
So really, really exciting things going on in the life of
Riverbend. So glad to be able to walk this
journey with you. Also, just to acknowledge,
yesterday was Valentine's Day. Husbands, if you're wondering
why your wife hasn't spoken to you, may need to go back and go.
Oh yeah, yesterday was Valentine's Day.
But as a church, if you're new to Riverbend, you should know
something that we do. If you call Riverbend home, you
already know this. As a church, we celebrate
certain holidays with Reese's, and these are Reese's hearts.
None of that fun size stuff. These are like the real deal.
I probably should tell you to to pay attention.
So I don't give concussions. Good catch by the way.
But if you are new to Riverbend, if you are new to Riverbend,
welcome. My name is Ben.
If we haven't had the chance to meet yet, we'd love to
personally thank you for choosing to be with us this
morning. We would love to connect with
you. Easiest way, most efficient way,
probably the best Ave. for that connection is through that
connect card that you received on your way in with a bulletin.
That's just our opportunity to get to know a little bit about
you so we know how to connect you with some people maybe
similar age or stage, just because we understand just how
important relationships and community really are.
So also that connect card if you're new to Riverbend.
It lets us know where to ship a small thank you gift out into
the mail to you. So thank you in advance for
filling that out if you're joining us online and this is
your first time with us online. Just drop a comment that says
new here and then just send send us a send us a private message
with your contact info and we look forward to connecting with
you as well. But we are in week seven of a
series that we started all the way back at the very beginning
of 2026, first Sunday, January 4th, all the way back at the
beginning of of this year called Live Well.
And one of the things that this series has been reminding us of
is God actually does want and desire for you and I to live
well. Here's the disconnect though.
A lot of times we wrongly assume that to live well means that God
kind of clears the way of all hardships and all heartbreak and
gives us everything that we want, when in reality God loves
us far. Too much to do that.
He loves us far too much to to clear the way of all hardship
and and and and and heartbreak and give us everything that we
want, because he knows that the best way to which he can mold us
and shape us into the man or the woman that he.
Created us to be so that we can truly live well.
Is actually kind of in that laboratory of life that involves
shaping us and molding us in the midst of hardships and
heartbreak and and and and not giving us everything that we
want, but giving us everything that he knows that we that we
need. And if you're new to the series,
I want to introduce you to to a main truth or what we call the
big idea throughout this series just to make sure that we're all
on the same page here it is to live well is to live God's way
firm in faith, steady and trials and anchored in hope.
The reason that this is the main truth or the big idea is every
single one of us, regardless if you're new to Riverbend, you
come to Riverbend every week. If you're the oldest person in
the room, if you're the youngest person in the room, every single
one of us is in some type of setting or context that requires
us to be firm in our faith, to be steady in trials, and to be
anchored in hope. You see a presence of of doubt
or presence of hardship or a presence of grief.
The presence of grief does not negate the possibility of us
being. Able to live well.
We can actually live well in the presence or in the context of
those things as we've been kind of going through and exploring
through kind of what's been guiding us throughout this
series. And that's the book of First
Peter. And if you're with us this
morning and you have a Bible with us this morning, I want to
invite you to find First Peter Chapter 4 with me, First Peter
chapter 4. And we're going to be doing a
little bit of reading this morning.
And if you don't have a Bible, then the passage is going to be
on the screen in front of you. And it's also on the note sheet.
It's also on the note sheet. Here's what I'm going to ask
that you do before we get ready to read this.
I need you. Whether you're in the room with
us or online, I need you to lean in a little.
Extra close this morning because what we're going to be talking
about this morning, it is almost like a compare and contrast.
It is going to serve as a as as a diagnostic tool.
And what I mean by that is we're going to look at how God's word
lays out for us. You know, these things are to be
present in the life of a true follower of Jesus because I
don't know if you know this or not.
Did you know that there are people that truly love Jesus and
then there are people that just kind of like Jesus?
And a lot of times, especially in the South, especially in the
United States, we so often get the two confused.
So what it what are the distinctive differences between
someone that truly loves Jesus and is actually following Jesus
and someone that's just playing a religious game?
You like Jesus, you're just not going to sew into your life to
him. You like what Jesus can do for
you. You're just not going to follow
Jesus and adhere to his work. What are the distinctive
characteristics that are to be present in the life of a true
follower of Jesus? So let's go ahead and dive in.
First Peter, chapter 4. Let's start in verse one.
It says since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm
yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whom ever whoever
has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
We're going to. We're going to.
Kind of walk through what that means in just a moment 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.
The Gentiles there is is used kind of as a.
As a? As a.
Catch all description of anyone and everyone that's not a
follower of Jesus and First Peter.
For the time that has passed, suffice is 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 flooded debauchery, and they
malign you. But they will give an 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 now, I think that we would all agree.
In this room, it's not really light reading, is it?
It's not really light reading. But what what Peter here is
doing is he's he's drawing a distinction of who we once were,
if we're really a follower of Jesus, who we once were and what
we were once all about pre Jesus and who we now are and what we
are to now be about as a follower of Jesus.
And the first thing that Peter gives us here is if you're truly
a follower of Jesus, if you're a real follower of Jesus, you
really love Jesus, you actually have the Holy Spirit of God
living in your life, then God will give us a new view of sin.
He's going to give us a new view of sin.
If you're taking notes with us, let me kind of unpack that.
A new view of sin is going to start with this understanding.
Everyone has a master. Everyone has a master.
It's either sin or it's Jesus. Everyone has a master.
Let me kind of go back to kind of a.
Confusing. It can be very confusing what
Peter's writing here. He says, 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. What Peter's saying here is, if
you're truly a follower of Jesus, that doesn't mean that
you'll never sin and it doesn't mean that you'll never struggle
with sin. It actually goes back to a
foundational understanding and truth that everyone serves a
master. It's either sin or it's Jesus.
And you may be with us in the
room or online and sit there and go then I don't know what you're
talking about. I don't serve a master.
I'm my own man. I'm my own woman.
I, I call the shots. Nobody's my boss.
And I'll go ahead and tell you, as a pastor, I get that.
I get how it's easy to think that.
Here's why it's easy to think that.
Because it feels good to think that.
Because if I think, hey, I'm my own man, I call my own shots.
Nobody's in control of me. Nothing is in control of me.
It gives me the sense of being in control.
But as good as that may sound, and as good as that may feel to
make you. Think that you're in control.
It's a deception and you've been blinded to the truth.
Here's where I would tell you sin.
Doesn't just influence you, it commands you.
Sin doesn't just influence you, it commands you.
Sin is what commands you to chase after what you want to
chase after. Sin commands you to do what you
want to do, and sin commands you.
And how to respond to others and, and how to best protect
yourself. That's sin.
And oh, by the way, every single person on planet earth, their
default master is sin. We've been born with a sin
nature. We've said this so many times
and we'll keep coming back saying this.
You do not have to teach. If you're a young parent,
correct me if I'm wrong. You do not have to teach your
kid, your toddler, your preschooler how to sin, right?
You don't have to teach them how to throw a temper tantrum.
You don't have to teach them how to have a bad attitude.
You don't have to teach them how to be selfish.
And and we've said this before and we're still kind of like
workshop in it. It's still percolating up here.
We may rename our preschool environment from Little River to
Little Sinners, right? And some of you young parents
are like, Amen, my kid is in the right place.
Listen, why is that? It's because sin is our default.
We are all born with a sin nature.
And if sin is our default, then sin is our master.
And a lot of times we live with this mentality, hey, I don't
want to be mastered by anything. And what I would tell you is
listen. As good as that sounds and as
good as that may feel to make you make that declaration, it
doesn't mean that it's true. You are going to be mastered by
something or someone. Every single one of us, we are
either mastered by sin or we're mastered by Jesus.
Sin is our master or Jesus is our master.
And listen, submitting your life and truly following Jesus is not
about working harder. It is about changing masters.
It's about changing masters. So it is possible to tip your
hat and give a nod to God and go, hey Jesus, I love it if you,
I would love it if you would just sprinkle a little blessing
over here on what I want to do without truly being a follower
of Jesus. It is very possible to still be
mastered by sin without surrendering your life to Jesus
and still give credence to Jesus on a Sunday morning.
That's what we call religion. So every single person is
mastered either by sin or by Jesus.
It's a new view of sin. And and once we have this new
view of sin, if you're a true follower of Jesus, we begin to
pray and ask God to open our eyes, to see everything and
everyone through those lenses. We sit there and go, you know
what? That person is walking in
godliness. Not because they try harder,
because they're extra holy or because they have a more Direct
Line to God than I do. It's because Jesus is their
Master, or that person is walking in such blonde deception
and wickedness because their master is sin, and sin is a
cruel master. Sin always promises things that
it can never deliver. And if we're really to get
honest with ourselves about ourselves, many of us could tell
stories about how we chase after sinful things with false
promises of significance and fulfilment.
And we found that it just LED us in this spiral to where we were
far worse off than we ever were before.
Why? Because sin is a cruel master
and sin is a liar. Every single person serves a
master, either sin or Jesus. The second way that the Holy
Spirit of God will give us a new view of sin is this.
Before Jesus, I lack truth to guide me and power to change.
Me. Before Jesus, I lack truth to
guide me and power to change me. Let me kind of unpack that.
Before Jesus, I lack truth to guide me.
That doesn't mean that we didn't have access to the Bible.
I mean, we live in the Bible Belt for crying out loud, right?
I mean, you, you walk this campus for about 13 minutes,
you'll probably find a spare Bible or two.
I mean, the Bible app, the free Bible app just celebrated its
one billionth download. Worldwide at the end of 2025,
and its creators are anticipating celebrating 2
billion downloads by the year 2030.
Access to the Bible is not our problem, but just because we had
access to it doesn't mean that we cared about it.
Do you know that you can have a Bible and you can even like tip
your hat to the Bible and go, hey, that's the Bible.
I'm going to treat it with special care and still not allow
the truth of the Bible to permeate your soul and to really
make a difference in your life. You see, when when sin is your
master, let me tell you what you're guided by.
The truth that you're the truth that you're guided by is what
feels good, what looks good, and what culture says is good.
Here's the problem with that. All those lead to dead end roads
and all of those are shifting sands.
What you and I need the most is we need something that we know
is timeless. It's applicable and it's
authoritative and that's the Word of God.
Did you know the Word of God, the Bible, even though it was
written pretty much between 1500 and 2000 years ago, The New
Testament, even though it was written over span of 1500 years,
but over 40 different human authors in three different
languages on three different continents with no contradiction
whatsoever, and it's 66 books. Did you know that it is just as
as applicable to us here today as it was to the original
audience? Why is that?
It's because it's God's truth. It's God's word to us and it's
his truth for us. You see, there's something that
happens. There's something that happens
when we truly surrender our lives to Jesus.
This isn't just a book with words on its pages that we that
we read. There's something supernatural
that happens if you're a true follower of Jesus and you sit
down to read the Word of God. There's something amazing that
starts to happen. The Word of God begins to read
you. When you sit down to read the
Word of God, the Word of God begins to read you.
What do I mean by that? It means that that the Word of
God is relevant and applicable to everything that I will ever
face in the day ahead. It makes sense of my past behind
me. It gives me hope for the future
ahead of me. It is living.
It is active. If you don't have the presence
of the Holy Spirit in your life, man, it's just going to be words
on a page. Here's the thing though.
It's not just a truth to guide us.
We know that if we've been following Jesus for any amount
of time that when we read the Word of God and the Word of God
reads us, we find ourselves so inadequate to really do what
it's commanding us to do. That's because we lack the
power. Who gives us the power to live
in obedience to the Word of God? That's the Holy Spirit of God.
You see, when the whole, when you surrender your life to
Jesus, at that moment of surrender, the Holy Spirit of
God comes and lives in you and he begins to enlighten and he
begins to bring to life his word to us.
And he begins to empower us to live in obedience and to live in
holiness and to live in godliness.
It's not about trying harder, It's not about doing better.
It's not about any of that. It's about allowing the Holy
Spirit's power in US and being dependent on the Holy Spirit.
And what that means is when I come up on a passage or a
scripture. In the Bible that I don't like,
then I need to spend time with God and say, God, I need you to
go to the parts of me that don't like what your word just said
and I need you to fix me. When I come to a passage that
that honestly, it kind of offends me because you know, if
you were with us like last week and we started off where it says
likewise, wives, submit to your own husbands.
Not really a popular statement 2026, is it?
Then we need to go back to God and we say, God, I need you to
go into the deep places of me that disagree with that and kind
of bristle up at that, and I need you, your Holy Spirit.
To work in that area of my life. You.
See, that's truth to guide me and that's power to grow me.
That's a new that's that's a new view of sin that before Jesus we
didn't have either. We didn't have either.
But there's a third thing that the Holy Spirit will give us
This new view of sin following Jesus will always lead to real
transformation. It will always lead to real
transformation. I want to read to you.
A statement. I love this guy by the name of
Shane Pruitt. He's currently the National Next
Gen. Director for the North American
Mission Board. I wrote this in my journal
probably 4 years ago. A Christianity that gets you
into heaven while allowing you to continue living however you
want to here on earth is a Christianity that is completely
foreign to the New Testament. The real gospel changes who you
are, and then it changes what you do.
It changes your identity, and then it changes your activity.
In short, it is impossible. Listen to me.
It is impossible for someone to surrender their life to Jesus
and to remain the same. It's impossible if you say that
I've surrendered my life to Jesus and I've remained the
same. You may have like followed a
religious protocol. You may have gotten caught up in
a religious, an emotional hype moment.
It is impossible. You will never find an example
of of a life in the Bible or in history that gave their life to.
Jesus and still remained the same.
Let me show you let me kind of take you back to to first Peter
and this is starting in in verse three, he says for the time that
is passed. In other words, this is pre
Jesus. If you're a true follower of
Jesus, this is pre Jesus. The time that is passed suffices
for doing what the Gentiles want to do.
Let me kind of like put that in modern day, like Wallace Ease in
your past, you did whatever you wanted to do and that was cool
with you and that was cool with everybody around you.
And he's going to give us some examples living in sensuality,
passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties and lawless
idolatry with respect to this. They are surprised we're going
to come back to the day in in a moment.
They are surprised when you do not join them in the same
flooded debauchery and they malign you.
Peter goes on. But they will give an account to
him, talking about Jesus who is ready to judge the living and
the dead. For This is why the gospel was
preached even to those who are dead, spiritually dead, that
though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live
in the spirit the way that God does.
So in this passage, Peter's going to cite several examples
of pre Jesus behaviors. And I believe, I firmly believe
that the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit of God truly lives
in you and truly lives in me, truly lives in us, then he's
going to change at least three major.
Aspects of our laws if you taking notes with us, here's the
first one. He will change my appetites.
He will change my appetites and by appetites what I mean by that
is the Holy Spirit of God, if He's truly living in me and he's
doing His work in and through me.
And by the way, the work of the Holy Spirit is always about
transforming me from the inside out to help mold and shape me to
become more Christ like in that. Process the Holy Spirit will.
Change my appetites? He'll change what?
Really. Appeals to me.
He'll change the things that that I really used to, to crave,
the things that I really thought were going to bring fulfilment.
He's going to change those things that I was blinded to and
deceived by that. I thought that they would
actually bring true and lasting fulfilment.
I thought that they would bring like true and lasting love and,
and and peace into my life. He's going to change those
appetites and, and by the way, sometimes the Holy Spirit will
change those appetites overnight.
Other times, and I would even say most times, the Holy Spirit
of God will gradually, slowly but surely begin to change those
appetites. In that case, when the Holy
Spirit is beginning to change those appetites slowly but
surely, guess what? You now have the power of the
Holy Spirit living in you. To override those appetites.
We're not driven. We're not a people if you're, if
you're a true follower of Jesus, we are not a people driven by
our appetites. We're actually driven by our
mission. When we say that the Holy Spirit
will change our appetites, here's really the question we're
asking. Since Jesus, since I've
surrendered my life to Jesus, what has changed in my life?
What has changed in my life? And it's not just our appetites,
it's also our affiliations. Remember how Peter talked about
the they? You know, they do not understand
why you will not join them in this flooded debauchery.
They will malign you. Who who is The Who is the they?
It's the group of people that were closest to you in your pre
Jesus. Days can I be really open and
real and honest not everyone in your life if you surrender your
life to Jesus, not everyone in your life is going to celebrate
that applaud that and even like that.
Now here's the tension as a follower of Jesus you may say
well Ben aren't we called to reach the people around us with
the gospel of Jesus 1000% yes. We are always called to love the
people around us and to look to reach the people around us with
the gospel of Jesus, even the they in our lives.
However, not every person deserves to sit in the high
place of honor of having a primary voice in your life.
That's where you need to be very discerning.
That's where you need to pray. That's where you need a a
community, a body of believers, a church, a small.
Group that is about the same mission.
It's that iron sharpening iron, not iron being dulled over time.
It's being sharpening. You see, when we're talking
about the Holy Spirit of God changing our alliances or our
affiliations, here's the simple question we're asking Since
Jesus, since I've surrendered my life to Jesus, what does it cost
me? What does it cost?
Me, the Holy Spirit does not just change our appetites or our
affiliations. The Holy Spirit, third, also
changes our attitude. It changes our attitude.
Have you experienced that time like now that you're getting
older? Or maybe you're you, you just
walked a few more miles with Jesus to where you start to get
bothered by some things that used to not bother you.
They they used to just kind of like slide up underneath the
radar. I'm not just talking about like
people being annoying or nuances or, you know, kind of getting
into that old man get off my lawn face.
I'm talking about like, have you noticed over time, the longer
you walk with Jesus, you become more bothered by sin that used
to just fly under the radar. It's really interesting The the
apostle Paul, greatest missionary to have ever lived.
It was at the very end of his life that said that he
referenced himself as the chief among sinners.
You realize that in large part it's due to the Apostle Paul's
influence that you and I are sitting here today, right?
He was the apostle to the Gentiles.
He was the first one to take the gospel of Jesus outside of the
Jewish culture and the Jewish people.
He is responsible for preaching the gospel.
On three continents he's responsible.
He's the first one to take the gospel into what we now know is
modern day Europe. Many scholars believe that he
took it as far West as modern day Spain or Portugal, and yet
at the end of his life he referenced himself as I Paul,
the chief among sinners. How?
In the world. Could he honestly refer to
himself as the chief among sinners?
It's because the longer he walked with Jesus, the more in
tune and the more sensitive he was to the things in his life
and the things about him and his heart and in his mind that we're
no longer compatible with the new person that God had created
him to be. Same thing is true for us.
So when we're asking the Holy Spirit in us, we'll change our
convictions. And when we talk about the Holy
Spirit changing our, our, our, our attitudes, we're asking the
question, what since following Jesus, what now convicts me?
It's not about becoming legalistic.
It's not becoming about becoming a grumpy old man.
It's about, hey, there is a new sensitivity within me to the
things of God and to the things that are not of God.
And I want to be about the things that are of God, and I
want to keep far away from the things that are not of God.
So what now convicts me that I used to just let fly under the
radar? Before we go any.
Further, I think this really, really important for us just to
kind of like sit on this for a second.
Can I ask you a question? Did you struggle to answer any
of those 3 questions since following Jesus?
What has changed in my life? What does it cost me?
What now convicts me? If you struggle to answer those
three questions or you sit there and go, I don't know.
I want to tell you something very much in love this May.
Very well be the. Reason that God brought you here
this morning. If you can't answer these three
questions, there is great, there is great calls for pause, for
you to really become honest with yourself about yourself and for
you to really ask. Have I really surrendered my
life to Jesus? Have I really surrendered my
life to Jesus? Or have I just been playing a
religious game? Have I really surrendered my
life to Jesus? Or do I really just like Jesus,
what He can do for me? And I got to tell you the
greatest decision that you can possibly make is to to switch
over to change masters from sin to Jesus to where following
Jesus is not about, you know, knowing the rules of religious
game. It's about walking in
relationship. Man, how incredible would it be
for you to walk out of here this morning being filled and
empowered by the. Presence of the Holy Spirit of
God in you. But you've got to really be
honest with yourself about yourself.
Is there a difference between the pre Jesus you and the post
Jesus you? Is there a because of Jesus dot
dot dot story in your life? If not, there's a very, very
good. Chance.
A much higher likelihood than not chance that you've just been
following a religion and you haven't really surrendered your
life to Jesus. But here's the good news.
This morning you can, this morning you can.
And we'll come back to that in just a moment.
You see, the Holy Spirit of God does not just give us a new view
of sin. It actually gives us a new yes.
It gives us a new, yes, a little bit of time that we have this
morning. I want to walk you through kind
of what I mean by that. Look back with me first Peter
chapter. 4 starting in verse 7. Peter turns the corner from this
new view of sin to this new yes, and he writes the end of all
things is at hand. Therefore be self controlled and
sober minded for the sake of your prayers.
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly.
Since love covers a multitude of sin.
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has
received a gift to use it to serve one another as good
stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks
oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the
strength that God supplies in order both of those, in order
that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory and dominion, forever and ever.
Amen. This new yes that God gives the
true follower of Jesus is going to start with this.
I no longer look to numb out, dumb out, or live distracted.
I now. Have a higher calling.
Correct me if I'm wrong. The vast majority of people, the
vast majority of us, we're just looking to make it through
another day. Listen, as a pastor, I am not
dumb to the reality that like towards the end of a message,
we're typically thinking of what's laying ahead of us
throughout the rest of the day and what's ahead of us at the
beginning of the week, right? Most of the time, most people,
they wake up, they do what they can do just to get it through
another day. Maybe they prepare for the day
to come. And by the time we get off work
and by the time we finish running errands and by the time
we finish cleaning up and we kind of get the the house set
and ready for the next day ahead, we're just done.
And by done, we choose to numb out and dumb out.
Just kind of let our minds. Rest a little bit and.
Then we do it all over again and all over again and all over
again. Listen, Jesus has given us a
higher calling. A higher calling.
Let me ask you a question. Do you, do you really believe
that Jesus is coming back again? Do you really believe?
It do you believe that, that that Jesus is coming back again?
Like as a matter of fact, let me kind of give you the most
elementary dust statement. Don't, don't write this down
because if somebody sees your notes be like, man, that pastor
is an idiot. That's the most common sense
thing. Here's the thing, Jesus, here's
the statement. Jesus is closer to coming back
today than he was yesterday. Can't disagree with that, right?
Do we really believe that Jesus is coming back?
Do we really believe? Do we really believe that if a
person dies before surrendering his or her life to Jesus, that
person will be separated for all eternity in a literal hell?
Do we really believe that if Jesus comes back before a person
surrenders their life to Jesus, there's not a second chance and
that person will be eternally separated from God in a literal
hell? I think that we would go
theologically, yes, we agree with that and I would agree
theologically we agree with all of that.
Yet practically we don't. We live dumbed out, numbed out
and distracted lives. And one of the things that we
need to open our eyes to is we have been given a higher calling
by God himself. We do not have time or bandwidth
to invest our lives in lesser things.
And this is the this is the calling, the higher calling that
God has placed on every single life of a follower of Jesus.
I want you. I have strategically and
intentionally placed you where you are around the people that
you're around to point them to Jesus.
That's the higher calling. That's the first yes, the second
yes, that the Holy Spirit of God gives us.
I no longer react in offense. I now respond in love.
Do you know one of the greatest exhibitions and one of the ways
that that higher calling is made most evident.
It's by the way that I respond to people.
It's by the way that I love people, especially that I love
the people of God and look to bring about godly unity.
There's a couple things that I want you to look at.
If you're if, if you have a Bible, I want you to to look
back at at first Peter 48, if you, if you have it just on your
note sheet, I want you to look back at something.
Look at those two words to where he says above all, above all,
continue loving one another. Earnestly.
A couple things, a few things that we should pay attention to.
First of all, whenever the Bible says above all, pay.
Attention to that. That's really important.
What Peter's doing here is he's elevating love in the way that
we view people and treat people as a top priority because it is
the greatest exhibition of the higher calling that he's given.
US. Where he says continue loving
one another earnestly. He goes on to to to explain and
what what that means is that it is hard to love people.
Don't give up on people, don't give up on people.
But then he makes a peculiar statement because love covers a
multitude of sins. When Peter writes love covers a
multitude of sins, he doesn't mean that like love is a is a
cover up or it just berries or piles dirt on things.
It can actually mean one of two things.
It can mean either a. That there is an intentional
effort on our part not to point out publicly the failings and
the flaws of the people around us.
That in love, we want to build that person up.
And we go to them in private and say, Hey, listen, I care for you
so much. And God really just laid this on
my heart. Can, can, can we sit down and
can we discuss something that's really weighing on me?
That's the first application of love.
Covering a multitude of sin is the second one.
And this is really hard is going to require some Christian
maturity is we intentionally and strategically just allow some
things that are hurtful and offensive to us to roll off of
our backs and just allow the Holy Spirit of God to do his
thing. Either way, I want to speak to a
small group of people. I believe that there are some
people here with us in the room and with us online that you have
been praying for a person for years.
You have been for that person and with that person for years.
And it's so hard and you're so tempted just to give up.
Here's my encouragement to you. Don't.
Don't give up praying for them. Don't give up pursuing them.
Don't give up loving them. God certainly hasn't.
Don't give up. What a tragedy it would be to
stand before God and realize that we gave up right before His
planned breakthrough in someone's life.
That third and final yes that He gives us is this is.
I no longer ask what benefits me, I now serve to point people
to Jesus. Every single one of us has been
given talents, gifts, and abilities by God.
You're good at some things that I'm not.
I may be good at some things that you're not as good at.
That's just the way that God has designed us.
I love how Peter writes, being good stewards of God's varied
grace. I love that.
Here's one of the here's one of the just head scratching things
that I see. It is so easy for people to
separate their lives into different buckets.
This is what I do for work, this is what I am good at, this is
what I enjoy doing in my free time, and then this is how I can
see that I can serve God. We have these different buckets.
Can I tell you this? If you're a true follower of
Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God wants to break down those
barriers and those compartments in your life.
Your, your, your life is not meant to be lived in various
buckets. Your life is meant to be lived
from the same bucket because you have the same purpose and the
same mission. Let me kind of put some feet on
that. Let me get you to do a quick
exercise, mental exercise in terms of vocation, in terms of
job. What do you do?
What's your job? What do you do at your job?
Think about that for a moment. And then once you have that
answer in your mind, then start asking yourself, how can I use
what I do at work to point the people around me to Jesus?
Get you to think for a moment, What are you good at?
Maybe maybe you're fortunate and blessed enough to be able your
career or your job involves actually what you're good at.
Sometimes the two just don't always line up.
Sometimes there's there's kind of like a hidden talent OR
there's something that you're doing kind of as a side hustle
that that's kind of where your heart's at.
But what are you? What are you good?
At and then ask yourself, how can I take the talent that God
has given me in this area to point people to Jesus?
What? What did?
What do you? Enjoy doing like in in your free
time. And if you're a young parent, I
know that you're sitting there going, ah, I remember free time.
But what, what do you, what do you enjoy doing in your free
time? And then ask yourself.
Hey, how can I? Take what I just really enjoy
and how can I use that to point the people around me to Jesus?
You see that that is living on mission.
That is the new yes that the Holy Spirit of God has given us
here's what we want to do as we as we draw to A to a close this
morning. I want to give us just kind of a
time of of reflection and A and a time of really just an
opportunity to respond and to kind of help us.
God got us in that reflection and response.
We want to walk us through four key questions.
Here's the first one. Is there evidence of Jesus true
transformation of my life. Let me kind of just summarize
that even further down. Do you know?
That you have truly surrendered your life to Jesus.
Are you truly following Jesus or you just really like what Jesus
can do for you? Is the Holy Spirit, do you know
that there is a time to where you surrender your life to Jesus
where the Holy Spirit of God now lives in you and based off of
those questions that we walked through earlier.
Use that kind of as a self diagnostic and you may be
sitting here thinking Ben I. Cannot point to the ways in
which I've been Jesus changed me, or what now convicts me, or
what it's cost me. Then would you pray?
Would you? Pray that I want to know that I
have a relationship with Jesus, a new relationship with Jesus
and a real relationship with Jesus.
And I don't want to be playing a religious game.
If that's you, in just a moment, I'm going to invite you to do
something kind of bold. We'll, we'll all be standing and
there'll be other people coming down to pray, but I just want
you to step out. I'll be over here and one of our
other pastors will be over here. I just want you to step out, go
to the closest pastor and say, hey, would you pray for me?
I want to know that I am a true follower of Jesus.
Second question, if you only if you have that first question
nailed down, can you go to the next question?
But if you have that answer nailed down here, here it is.
What is my personal higher calling?
Look at where. God has placed you how He has
wired you, how He has gifted you and the people these placed
around you. Look at your.
Sphere of influence and how you can point those people to Jesus.
Third question, what does love require of me?
Says love covers a multitude of sins.
You know what sometimes love requires That we pray to God and
say God. What that person said or did was
really hurtful, harmful, and offensive.
I need you to give me the discernment of whether or not I
need to pray. That You would soften my heart
to a degree to where I can then go approach that person out of
love and out of my desire. That you grow them and
godliness, not out of vengeance or hurt or offense.
Or, Holy Spirit, I need you to give me the sermon.
Is this something that I should just kind of let roll off my
back and for me to kind of dust the dirt off my sandals and move
on and just let you do your? Thing in that person's life.
By the way, love also sometimes involves lovingly correcting
somebody, not because we are holier than thou or want to be
smarter or superior, but because we want them to grow in
godliness. What does love require of me?
Maybe love requires for you a renewed commitment.
I'm not going to give up on that person.
I'm not going to give up pray, and I'm not going to give up
showing them Jesus through my actions and through my words.
Fourth question is this, in what ways am I serving to point
people to Jesus? I love how Peter here in first
Peter 4 he kind of divides gifts, giftedness into two broad
categories. Where he says, hey, listen, if
if you're gifted in speaking, speak with the authority and
boldness that God gives you. Speak as if speaking oracles
from God. But if you're not good at.
Speaking if you're not good at speaking.
Or or or or or teaching then God has gifted you in more of a
hands on type of servant mentality and if that's the
case, serve as if serving with the strength.
Of God. Here's my question to you.
How are you serving to point people to Jesus in just a
moment? Here's what we're going to do.
I'm going to pray over us. And then after I pray, we're
going to stand. We're going to we're going to
sing and give you a chance to respond.
Again, if you were with us last week, we talked about the power
of living in relationships. So here's what I would tell you,
if there's areas that we've just covered that you know that you
need to respond to this morning by coming down and pray, I would
just encourage you, if you're married, bring your spouse with
you. Come pray.
Pray for him, Pray for her. If you need.
The assurance of knowing that you have a true relationship
with Jesus. We would love to pray with you.
My hope, my desire, my prayer is that you would simply be
obedient to what God is calling you to do and to step out in
boldness and come pray with us. Let's pray.
God, we love you, and we thank you for who you are, for your
word, for your truth to us. God for your Holy Spirit power
in US. God, for your invitation for
those that are far from you to come to you.
God, I pray that you would help if anyone's struggling with
knowing whether or not he or she is truly following you and has
given their life to you. God, if they're struggling with
that, if they're on the fence and not sure, God, I pray that
you would give them the boldness to God that you would give them
the burning. Desire to step out to come talk
to a pastor. God that they would not leave
this place without having that nailed down and being sure God,
for those that are sure, God, I pray that you would refocus our
hearts and our minds to that higher calling that you've given
us. God help us to understand that
our lives are not about us. They're about making you known.
So God in the ways. In which we need to surrender.
The parts of us. That continue need to be formed
and shaped and molded and hewn to be in compatibility with your
heart and your desire and your mission for us.
God, we want to come and we want to lay that.
Down got to pray that you would move in freedom and move with
power and it's in Jesus name that we pray, Amen.
Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast.
To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church,
connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.