Well, let's continue to worship our God this morning by considering his word. I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. If you're following along in a pew Bible, you could find that on page 1016. For those of you who are visiting, We practice what is called expositional preaching here at Grace Covenant Church, which very simply means that we take a book and systematically and methodically work through it. Our intent is not to put something into the Word of God, but pull out the message of the Word of God and put it before all of our hearts for our consideration, exhortation, rejoicing, and joy. And so we have been working through the book of 1 Peter, and we've come to 1 Peter 4. This morning, though we will be focusing just on verses 1-4, I'm going to read verses 1-6 in your hearing. So let's give our attention to 1 Peter 4, verses 1-6. The Apostle Peter says this. 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. Thus far the reading of God's word, the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God stands forever. Let's ask the Lord for help this morning as we come before his word. Father, we are humbled when we read the words of Jesus, when he addressed those studious Bible searchers, and told them, you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these testify to me, but you will not come to me that you might have life. Lord, we do not want your word to be a barrier to heart dealings with you. We desire that it will be the means in your hands by which every one of us might experience real heart dealings with you. We believe, Lord, that you have chosen to contain your mind in the scriptures, and in the scriptures you have determined to teach us of your ways. We come then, asking the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we might be taught of you by means of the word. Father, we wait in expectation for the answer to our prayers. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Well, two weeks ago, we launched into 1 Peter 4, where Peter is helping us think through how to endure suffering as a Christian. And in these six verses, there's only one command, just one command. It's in verse one, that since Christ suffered in the flesh, we are to arm ourselves with the mindset of Christ, with the same thinking as Christ. And so what Peter did two weeks ago in the ministry of the Word is he unsheathed this mighty weapon that is called the mind of Christ and put it before us for our consideration and our use. And we saw that what this weapon is, in a nutshell, is that just as Christ was willing to suffer for the will of God no matter what that looked like he was willing to sacrifice all and indeed he did sacrifice all so now Peter puts this before our consideration dear Christians you are to take up this weapon of the mind of Christ and be willing likewise to suffer for doing the will of God no matter what that means. If that means that the world is crucified to you and you to the world, if that means that you lose family, if that means that you lose material blessings, if that means that you lose your health, you are willing to do it for the will of God just as your Lord. This is a mighty weapon in the hand of Christians. This is a mighty weapon that will help us withstand the many challenges that not only we have experienced in our life, but as I said two weeks ago, the challenges that may be coming for us as Christians in this world ravaged by the transgender and sexual revolution. But the cross for the Christian is the focal point in their life. Not the crown, not the cradle, those are important things. And the coming in the clouds is yet another thing to which we anticipate. But in this life, we do not have a theology of glory. We do not expect utopian societies to just blossom here and now. We do not expect government to be perfect. We do not expect justice to be impeccable. We expect to suffer. We have a theology of the cross. And I wonder, this last week, as you got together with family and friends, some of whom I'm assuming were non-believers. Or, on the other hand, some of whom I'm assuming were confessing believers, but we might put them in the category of nominal believers, which is to say, in name only. You know, the kind of Christians that like to tip the hat to Jesus, but basically do whatever the heck they want to do. Go to church on Sunday and live like the devil Monday through Saturday, and maybe even Sunday too. Because after all, it's just religion. How did you fare with your family members this week? I thought it was timely, I thank God for his providence in the exposition of the word, timely that two weeks ago we talked about that before Christmas, because as my family and I flew to California, we have an atheist brother-in-law on Christina's side of the family. And he's kind, and he's, for the most part, respectful, but there were certainly some skirmishes. Nothing got ugly, nothing got heated, but there were just battles that were brewing underneath the surface, if you know what I mean. And it was tough, as I told my elders this morning as we met to pray, there was no blood that was shed, there were no stones that were thrown at my head, and I'm thankful for that, but it was tough. Non-believing families look at you and how you raise your family, and you know they are judging you. Non-believing families look at you when you pray before they mill, and they think that you're holding on to a fairy tale. Non-believers look at you in your views about gender roles and sexuality and roles of male and female, not only in the church, but also in the family and in society, and they think that you're antiquated and draconian and narrow-minded. You've experienced that this week, haven't you? And my question for you this morning is, how did you fare in brandishing and unsheathing the weapon of the mind of Christ in the midst of that suffering? Did you or were you able to find, if you will, some semblance of joy in the suffering? Was it in some sense joyful that I am being maligned and I am being persecuted and I am being ridiculed because of my Savior Jesus Christ? And you know what? There's a sense in which that warms the cockles of my heart. that I would be marked as a man, or as a woman, or as a boy, or as a teen, or as a child, as one who believes in the living, breathing, resurrected, glorified, exalted, crowned, and one day coming back Lord Jesus Christ? How do you know, let me ask this question, how do you know if you've been using this weapon? How do you know if you've been using this mindset of Christ? The mindset that says, I am willing to suffer no matter what that means, if it means being in the will of God. I would rather suffer than do evil. I would rather suffer than compromise my conscience. I would rather suffer than buckle the knees to the world, the flesh, and the devil, and the statism of political correctness. and of the culture and of the world and of the zeitgeist and the spirit of this age. I would rather serve my Lord on my knees before him than buckle my knees to the powers that be." How do you know if you are exhibiting that mindset in your heart and life? Well, happily, this morning, As Peter continues in chapter four, he gives us something of a litmus test. He gives us three litmus tests to determine whether we are actually fleshing out this mindset of the mind of Christ. Now, what is a litmus test? It's essentially a test of genuineness. It's a test to determine whether what you say or what you do is actually what you believe. Or, to put it another way, what you say you believe, whether it is actually being fleshed out in your life. So, for example, a politician, come election time, is going to say many, many things so that he or she can get elected. They're going to say they believe this, they believe that, and we must do this, and we must do that, and they'll do the little thumb with the fist thing. That's all it is. We'll do this, and we'll do that. Well, how do you know what they really believe? You know what you do? You look at their voting record. That is a litmus test of what they really believe. Well, so it is with the Christian. We may say that we are willing to suffer for Christ, but the proof is in these three specific tests that Peter draws out in verses one through four. So what I'd like to do this morning very briefly is look at three litmus tests that show us whether or not we have the mind of Christ. That's where we're going. That's the roadmap. Three litmus tests to show us whether we have the mind of Christ. Here's litmus test number one. Suffering demonstrates that you've made a break with sin. Let me say that again. Litmus test number one. Suffering demonstrates that you've made a break with sin. Look at verses one and two. Now before we can get to this principle, this test, we have a little exegetical work to do. When Peter says, whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, of whom is he speaking? Of whom is he speaking? I mean, he just said in verse one, as you see, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. And then he says, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. So the question is, is he still talking about Christ when he says, whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin? Or is he speaking of the believer? As you can tell, the identification of whom he is speaking makes a very big difference, doesn't it? Is he exhorting us? Is he giving a principle about us? Or is he continuing to talk about Christ? Well, I would submit to you that he's talking about the believer, and let me just give you a few reasons why I think that's the case. Number one, it says, he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Did Jesus ever cease from sinning? Well, to cease from sinning, you have to what? You have to start sinning, right? So Jesus never sinned. So to come to a point where you stop sinning doesn't identify Jesus, but it does in some sense, and we'll see how, identify the believer. So I don't think that this is talking about the believer, about Christ, but secondly, The context and the syntax of the verse are both referring to the believer who has just been given the command to arm themselves with the mind of Christ. So he says, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, now he turns to believers. Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. But then in verse two, he goes on to lay out the Christians break from sin and their resolve to live according to the will of God. And so look at verse two, back end of verse one says, 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. That's referring to the believer. And so I think here what Peter is referring to is the believer. Whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. So what does this mean? This is a very important principle. If you have experienced suffering for naming the name of Christ, for standing up for, as Peter says in 3.17, what is right, what is good, for doing good, and if it is a continual characteristic of your life, then Peter says it shows that you have made a break from sin. Now, what does this mean? You have ceased from sin. It does not mean that you have attained sinless perfection. Peter goes on to fully explain what he means when he says they cease from sin in verses 3 and 4. What he says there is that as the prevailing disposition of your character in life You are no longer giving yourself over to the unbridled passions of the Gentiles as manifested in things like living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. But notice, he prefaces all these things by saying, you no longer do what the Gentiles want to do. The focus here is on your desire and your will, not your record necessarily. Not that you continue to go back to those things. We'll talk about that in a second. What he's talking about is that there has been a break in the dominion of sin. in the power of sin over your life. Think about your life before you came to Christ. Before you came to Christ, you had to give yourself over to whatever sin it was. Maybe it was drunkenness, maybe it was orgies, maybe it was drinking parties, maybe it was any category of lawless idolatry, but you had to do that, that's what you were, that was your nature. You had no qualms in your conscience in giving yourself over to it because that was your desire, and you know what? Your desire was king in your life. Your passions were king in your life. You bowed the knee to your passions, whatever you want, unbridled access to your passions. But now, The fact that you suffer for Christ's sake shows that you've drawn a line in the sand, and you've said, no longer will I give myself over to my passions. My passions will now not be king, but be ruled by the King of kings, Jesus Christ. I will bow the knee of my passions to Jesus Christ, and he will dictate to me how I am to appreciate them, use them, and love them. So a commitment to suffering shows that there has been a break with sin. If in the face of potential suffering for Christ's sake, you determine to be faithful to the revealed will of God to do what is right, even though that means you will suffer consequences for it. So this is what Peter's saying, this is a litmus test. If you are suffering, it shows that you have decided and determined to throw in your lot with Jesus, even if that means suffering. Now let me draw just a few principles then of what this litmus test means for you, okay? Let me give you three principles. Number one, ask yourself this question, to whom are you really a slave? To whom are you really a slave? Has sin's dominion been broken over you, or is there still some aspect of sin that controls you? I don't say that you occasionally fall into, but I say that controls you. You can't but do it. Are you a slave to man's opinion? Are you a slave to your passions? or are you a slave to God? Peter says in chapter four, verse two, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. The beautiful thing about having the mind of Christ is that nothing can ultimately shake you, and nothing apart from God has dominion over you, not even your passions. The mindset of Christ says this, suffering will not deter me from the will of God. If the will of God leads me into the deepest crucible and fiery furnace of suffering and affliction, I'm committed to doing the will of God and not to sinning. Armed with that mindset of Christ as my example and Christ as my strength, it will be secured. You say to yourself, I'll no longer be that little lackey of the desires and standards and perspectives of godless men all around me. I will be Christ's free man to do his will for his glory. That, that, my friends, is freedom. Boys and girls, teens, let me ask you a question. Is a fish free? Is a fish free? A fish swims around in its environment of water and in that environment it breathes and has blessed freedom. Do you think that a fish ever says, I am shackled and a slave to this water. I wish that I could break out onto the shore and see the grass that is greener on the other side. What happens if that fish jumps out of water? It's not gonna be able to breathe. A fish has liberty and freedom in the environment in which God placed it. It never says that it is shackled. It says, I have freedom in this body of water to go wherever I want. And so it is with the child of God. The child of God is free and has liberty to live and breathe and have its being within the confinement of the will of God. That's what our freedom looks like. So has the dominion of sin been broken in every area of your life? The dominion of sin is different than the battle with sin. So don't ask yourself, do I still do this or do that? Rather, ask yourself two questions, okay? Because I know some of you have a more sensitive conscience than others, and that's fine, that's good. But some of you really struggle with some ongoing sin in your life, and so let me give you some diagnostic questions to ask yourself to try to determine whether that's just skirmishes with sin or dominion of sin over you. Ask these two questions. Is the sin in your life the prevailing disposition of your life? In other words, does it characterize me? When people think of you, believers or non-believers, do they attach this sin to you? And secondly, when I do fall into sin, what is my attitude toward it? Do I hate it? Or do I love it? Or am I indifferent to it? The man or woman of God will hate that sin. The man or woman of God, when they fall into that sin, will be grieved by that sin. So you may still fall into sin, you will, you will until Christ comes back, but it's your attitude toward that sin that you want to examine to determine whether it has dominion over me. And if, in falling into that sin, you're like a pig in the mud, you're like, I love it, I just can't get enough of it, then it has dominion over you. But if, on the other hand, you fall in, you're like, this is not my home, I am a fish out of water. then it is just a skirmish with sin. But secondly, to apply this principle, let me ask this question, very simple question, because he says, he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. The dominion of sin has been broken. Dear Christian, do you suffer for Jesus? Do you suffer for Jesus? I'm not asking, are you out looking for suffering? Don't be a blockhead. I ask very simply, do you suffer? Is it possible that if you don't, It's possible you're in a stage of life where you are, like I said two weeks ago, so surrounded by Christian influence that the occasion has not arisen yet. And if so, praise God. But there is another possibility. If you don't suffer for Christ, there's another possibility. It may be that you do not suffer because you have made compromises in your life not to stand up for truth. not to keep your conscience clear. And my friend, compromises are exceedingly dangerous. Do you compromise your convictions? Number three, do you compromise your convictions to avoid suffering? Do you compromise your convictions to avoid suffering? As I think about this last week with my family, as I said, some of whom are not believers, there's kind of a truce that we have. They know where I stand, I know where they stand, and it's one of those things where it's like, unless somebody brings something up, we're gonna keep our mouths closed, but we're gonna be Christians, we're gonna be the fragrance of Christ, the aroma of Christ to them, but Sometimes, sometimes, as I was thinking back and reflecting on this trip, I'm thinking, should I have said something? Not to be a jerk, not to stir the pot just for stirring the pot's sake, but after all, here's the thing. If I really believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if I really believe that people who reject Jesus are going to hell and are going to suffer forever away from the presence of God, Shouldn't my compassion for their souls want to just inch into the orbit of their being and pick their brain and say, do you really, friend, want to go to hell? Yes, they should. Now, I don't know what that always looks like. And I know that all of us are on a journey of trying to figure out what that looks like in every different circumstance. And I think some of you have some great ideas that I'd love to hear from. But my question is, are you more comfortable with just staying quiet? Or in staying quiet because, you know, you're in that truce mode, does it bother you a little bit? Does it give you just a little pang of conscience? If it doesn't and you're totally happy with just keeping the peace because you don't want to rock the boat, It may be an evasion from suffering. You may just be running away from it because you just want to keep the peace. Examine your hearts. Sin is crouching at our door, and its desire is for us. We must draw a line in the sand and say, this far and no further. I will not compromise my conscience in order to appease the passions of the unconverted. I will not sacrifice the preciousness of my Lord, nor will I denigrate His kingship. If that means that I will suffer, then I will suffer. I think of Esther. Queen Esther, she says, if I perish, I perish. What a wonderful attitude. If I suffer, I suffer. Is that your attitude this morning? Well, Peter draws that line more devoutly in verse three. Consider now our second litmus test for deciding or determining whether we have the mind of Christ. Litmus test number two, there is a clear break from your past life. There is a clear break from your past life. Look at verse three. 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. The time of giving yourself over fully to your passions is filled up. What does that mean? It means you just don't desire it anymore, as we've already seen. As you look at the list of these vices in verse three, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing to even speak of, to be honest with you. It's a little embarrassing for me to even have to deal with this, to be honest with you. But when you look at this list, from the other side of Calvary, whereby God's grace you now stand, do these things look detestable to you? Do these things look detestable to you? Let me ask you a very simple question, Christian. As you look at your life and you compare it to that great divide, those days before Christ and now after Christ, when you compare those two lives, are they different or are they seamless? Is there no break between the two? Can you compare and contrast? Or have you just simply added Jesus to a pantheon of gods that you have in your life? Have you simply tipped the hat? Perhaps you look at this list and you say, those things don't characterize me anymore. For some of you, you look at this list and you're like, before Christ, these things didn't even characterize me. And praise God for that. But when such things are not the prevailing disposition of your life and your heart attitude, then the mind of Christ is strong with you. We have some Christians in our midst who use their freedom to drink alcohol. And certainly that is a freedom, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians and Romans and Galatians. It's a freedom that we have as Christians. But I have a question for you this morning, a question I ask myself as well. In your use of this freedom, does it control you or do you control it? Look at this list that Peter describes of this past life. Two times he mentions drunkenness and drinking parties. In Peter's mind, it is a mark of unbridled passions of the Gentiles that we would give ourselves over to drink. So when you partake of this freedom, does it control you or do you control it? Could it be that a freedom in Christ that you have has turned into a besetting sin? You know, Paul says in Galatians 5.13, for you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Has your freedom in partaking of the drink turned into a besetting sin that now controls you? I think all of us who partake of this freedom need to examine ourselves. Because brethren, it's not a matter of some legalistic Pharisee coming in to crush your freedom. It's a matter of your dignity and your testimony, which points to the dignity and respect of Jesus Christ as people look at you. Do not bring shame upon Jesus Christ or his church by your abuse of alcohol. It's when we let our guards down. It is when we put down this weapon of the mind of Christ, a willingness to suffer rather than to sin, that we ease back into our old way of life. So don't let your good be spoken of as evil. That is to say, do not let your freedom in Christ become a besetting sin, which brings reproach to your Savior. But now finally, litmus test number three. Third and finally, litmus test number three. A litmus test to determine whether you have the mind of Christ in you. Your new life in Christ surprises non-believers and invites scorn. Your new life in Christ surprises non-believers and invites scorn. Look at verse four. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. Christian, how do non-believers respond to you? How do non-believers respond to you? Peter gives two litmus tests of those who have the mind of Christ. Non-believers are surprised by you and non-believers malign you. Do you have non-believers in your life that are surprised by you and non-believers that malign you? I remember my Christian friend telling me a story one time. He got invited by a co-worker who was, he presumed, a non-believer, to a football game, professional football game. So he went and they had a tailgate party at the beginning of the football game before the game started out in the parking lot. So he went and when he got there, he was somewhat surprised. He didn't know what to expect, but he found a group of men drinking, getting drunk, telling dirty jokes and speaking as Gentiles and sailors, no offense, but sailors, and just making a mockery of themselves and acting like fools. And he just kind of sat back. He was there. He was the outsider. He didn't want to disrespect anyone. And then all of a sudden, the food was ready. And somebody stood up and said, all right, man, let's pray. And my Christian friend started laughing uncontrollably, because he thought it was a joke. I mean, they'd been telling jokes for two hours, and now he's like, let's pray. And he started laughing, and everybody was looking over at him like, what are you laughing at? He couldn't believe that they seriously were going to pray after acting like a bunch of hooligans. What do people think when they walk into the lunchroom and see you with your eyes closed bowed over your food? They think you have a case of narcolepsy? Or do they think that you're a Christian? They just expect you to be praying because you're a Christian. Are people surprised to find that you're at church on Sunday morning and Sunday evening? Or do they expect you to be in front of the TV watching football because that's what you do? The kind of unbeliever surprise that Peter mentions here is a surprise that you are no longer ruled and governed by your passions, but by a single passion for Christ, his church, his people, his kingdom, and his cause. Is this how unbelievers react to you? But also, what about maligning? It says unbelievers will also malign us. Over the years, I have just grown more and more comfortable with this. As I already mentioned last week, I was with family members who I love and who are not Christians, and the differences in our lifestyles, religion, and what we did on Sunday, and what we did before meals, and how we raise our children, and how we were insistent in having family worship in their homes despite the fact that they didn't join us. I know what they think of me. You know what your unbelieving friends and family think of me. I know that they think that I'm a narrow-minded bigot, and you know what? I just over the years, I'm more and more okay with that. I'm okay if they think I'm a fundamentalist Baptist. I'm okay with that. I'm just okay. I'm not. I'm not that. I'm not a fundamentalist, okay? But if that's the pigeonhole they want to put me in, that's okay. Because guess what? My fundamentalist Baptist brothers, they love Jesus. And I will happily throw in my lot with them. I will happily throw in my lot with some of the outspoken Christians who may be a little goofy and may not say things the way that I would like to say them, but you know what, they love Jesus, Jesus is their King, Jesus is their Lord, and I'm gonna put myself with them. I'm okay with it. I've tried to explain this to unbelievers and they simply do not understand. You wanna know why? Because the Lord hasn't opened their hearts, and until he does, I see it as something of a badge of honor that they think I'm a fanatic. That's right, I'm a fanatic. No, I'm a worshiper of the God-man who rose from the dead and will one day return and raise the living and the dead and judge them all. Because of Him, because of Jesus Christ, I am safe and secure from the wrath of God. Because of Him, I will be able to stand in the presence of God on the last day. Because of Him, I have clear eyes to see that my unbridled passions will lead me straight to hell. If my love and gratitude and worship to Him makes me a fanatic and narrow-minded, so be it. Slap that label on me, I'll wear it happily. Because I love Jesus. You wanna malign me, malign me. You wanna pour scorn on me, that's fine. I love Jesus. Is this your attitude? This was the attitude of our Lord. This was the attitude of our Lord. He considered the smile of God as more valuable than the smile of family and friends, than the smile of the government, than the smile of earthly riches and comforts. He slept on a stone. He had a stone for a pillow. The ceiling of his bedroom was the sky. Jesus Christ sacrificed all. He threw it all behind Him for the smile of God before Him. And for that reason, He was maligned and ridiculed. He has called you. He has called me. He has called us to have the same mind in ourselves. Do you have it this morning, dear Christian? I've put before you three litmus tests from Peter that determine the genuineness of your confession that says, I will suffer for the will of God. I would choose suffering over anything else. I know it's gonna be hard. I know it's gonna be tough. I know there's gonna be dark clouds of providence if it comes, but behind those dark clouds of providence stands the smile of God. and I live for that smile. I long for that smile. One day that smile will be on the face of my risen Lord Jesus Christ and he will embrace me with his arms and he will say, by his merit and his work, well done, good and faithful servant. Come into the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. That's what I live for. Is that what you live for this morning? Is that what you live for this morning? Jesus said that you would be hated in John 15. He said, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you were not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. Dear child of God, do you know Him who sent the Son of God? Dear unbelieving seeker this morning, do you know the Father of heaven through the one whom He has sent, Jesus Christ? It is still encrusted in the grains of our culture to celebrate His coming into the world, this thing called Christmas. It's still here in the waters of culture. Do you know this God, man, who has come and put on flesh for His people? Do you know this God, man, who has lived a perfect life, a life that you have not lived, a life that you cannot live, a life that you never will live, but a life that is necessary to make you stand before God on the final day? A final day that, dear friend, is coming. A final day that will not stop so that it can fit into your Google calendar. A final day that will come, and unless you have the covering of the Son of God, His righteousness, His perfection, His perfect law-keeping, and the covering of His blood to cover your sins, you will be naked before the God with whom we have to do. This morning, dear friends, Come to Jesus. Jesus suffered. Arm yourselves with that same mind. Have you ceased from sin? Have you ceased from the dominion of sin? Is sin your master? There's no way to get out of the tyranny except to come to Jesus Christ. If you are not free this morning, go to Christ. With your chains clanking all the way, go to Him. Say to Him, I'm tired of being a slave. Set me free. Whomever the son makes free, he is free indeed. Are you free this morning? Are you free this morning? Christ can set you free. Turn to him and be saved. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for these litmus tests this morning, and we pray that we would consider them not only now, but as we talk over lunch and think through what this means in our day-to-day life, I specifically lift up to you this morning, dear Father in heaven, the unbelievers amongst us, some of whom are faithful to come to church every Sunday, every morning, every evening, but some of our