Redeemer Modesto Sermon Audio

1/31/2021 Human Passions 1 Peter 4:1-6 Key Thought: If you are willing to suffer like Jesus, you will find great freedom to do the will of God. In the 1950’s there was a preacher named David Wilkerson who went to preach the gospel in a gang controlled neighborhood in New York. It’s a famous story in which one of the gang leaders, Nicky Cruz, tells Wilkerson “You come near me and I’ll kill you”. Wilkerson’s response was “yeah, you could do that. You could cut me into a thousand pieces and lay them in the street, and every piece will still love you.” What Wilkerson is revealing here is that because he is willing to suffer, he has taken away any and all power that Nicky Cruz has over him. Wilkerson looks at this gang leader pointing a switch-blade in his direction and is able to speak love into his life because he has already thought through the possible scenarios of being stabbed or killed. Fortunately the story has an amazing ending. When Nicky Cruz realizes that his threats had no power over Wilker