Calvary Chapel Carson City
Sunday Morning
July 26, 2026
1 Peter 3:18-4:11
Urgency of (Live) Living in the last days
The anchor topic of first Peter is who and how we are in Christ. How completely victorious He is and how in Christ we walk in His victory. Each of the different subject thoughts in this letter have this anchor and the Gospel at its base.
Jesus preach to the spirits in prison
1 Peter 3:19-20
There is a great deal of confusion about this subject.
Gaining understanding comes through what the Bible teaches of the place where life after life is.
In Hebrew, the realm of the dead is called Sheol, in the Greek it is called Hades. A temporary place prior to the final destination.
This is not the lake of fire, that will be the final destination for those of the realm of the dead unbelieving.
There are two divisions of this realm: a place of blessing and a place of judgment
So to say that Jesus went to Hades is accurate as long as you understand that that is the realm of the dead where the believer side is, it is also referred to as paradise, Abraham’s bosom, Abraham’s side.
The criminal on the cross was told he would be with Jesus in paradise.
All unbelieving dead go to the curse side of Hades to await final judgment. And a great chasm is between them.
As Jesus neared death, he said it is finished. The payment for Sign and the release from the bondage of it and death was complete. He did not go to the suffering side of hades He went to the blessed side. The clearest distinction we have in scripture is based on what Jesus said to the thief on the cross.
What we do know about life and death in the positioning that we have in both is that we are crucified with Christ and yet living, or we are dead and trespasses, and as it were in prison and captive until final judgment.
The Bible is limited on what exactly Jesus did for three days between death and resurrection. What we know for sure is that according to His own words on the cross, He went to paradise. We can also say with confidence that His work of redemption was and is finished. Jesus did not have to suffer or be in the judgment side of hell for anything. There are those who say he went to hell to complete the work that is not biblical. The cross was complete. The cross is complete Jesus is subject to nothing but the Father.
Those who believe the testimony of God that was spoken prior to Christ, are those that in death went to Abraham‘s bosom. Those that did not believe the word that was given by God through profits went to the realm of the dead for the unbelieving awaiting judgment. In both cases all the souls are in eternity, one of judgment or one of blessing. So, it can be said that they are kept for the joy of the Lord, or they are in prison for judgment.
That being said, the Lord has been preaching to the lost imprisonment from time pasted to time present to time future. Chapter 4:6 has insight.
The Antitype of Baptism
Noah and the Ark
Antitype:
An echoing, reflecting, type, representative, figure, like in pattern,
Beautifully defined as:
A bridge between shadow and substance, a promise in a prophetic picture and realized Grace.
The world washed, the Ark provided salvation passage
The picture of baptism is the old dies in the new becomes
1 Peter 3:20-22
Now we can include chapter 3, and go onto the next, possibly troubling a few verses!
The “has ceased from sin.”
Therefore:
Responsible Grace Benefactors:
1 Peter 4
Therefore!
Tying the thoughts of the previous chapter:
Christ suffered for us
Arm yourselves also with the same mind
Arm yourself to live!
Live: Living in the last days, Living for Christ in the last days
What does it mean to live?
It speaks to “living out” one’s earthly existence the quality of life that comes from God, the practical out-working of one’s allotted time.
1 Peter 4:2. “so as to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for the will of God.”
Peter writes to now be redirected from self-centered impulses to the revealed will of God.
Responsible benefactors of our remaining time:
Stewarding Time:
Life is portrayed as a finite “remaining time.” Conscious awareness of its brevity urges decisive separation from sin
Transferred Allegiance:
From from passions that once ruled,
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Ro. 6:12
Now the will that now rules is God’s.
The believer’s biography is rewritten.
We are united with Christ’s Sufferings:
Believers who arm themselves with the same mindset demonstrate that sin’s dominion has been broken, we may struggle, but we are not controlled by it. No Christian should be able to sin comfortably.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
Romans 6:5-9
End Times: Eschatological Urgency
1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near.
This verb that could have been merely descriptive but now becomes eschatologically charged:
Life is the arena for final witness.
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh,
Therefore, arm yourself
Arm yourself with the same mind!
Therefore! Since! Arm! Same! Mind!
