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Well, this evening we're going 
to continue our study of the book of 1 Peter. So you can turn 
to 1 Peter, we're in chapter 1 still. 1 Peter chapter 1. Tonight we'll 
look at verses 13 through 16, but we'll read the entire chapter 
to remind ourselves of the context here again. So 1 Peter chapter 
1, beginning at verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace 
be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, 
has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible 
and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven 
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for 
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you 
greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, if need be, 
you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness 
of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, 
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, 
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. whom having not 
seen, you love. Though now you do not see him, 
yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of 
glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your 
souls. Of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched 
carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. 
Searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ 
who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand 
the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 
To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us 
they were ministering the things which now have been reported 
to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by 
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to 
look into. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, 
and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought 
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, 
not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, 
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your 
conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if 
you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to 
each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay 
here in fear, knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible 
things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received 
by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of 
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he 
indeed was ordained before the foundation of the world, but 
was manifest in these last times for you, who through him believe 
in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that 
your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth, through the spirit in sincere love of 
the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. 
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, 
through the word of God, which lives and abides forever, because 
all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but 
the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word 
which, by the gospel, was preached to you." Thus far, let us pray. Father, we come before you now, 
and Lord, we do ask that you would bless the preaching of 
your word. We do pray that you would give 
strength from on high, that your spirit would be here, Lord, that 
you would aid in preaching, that you would aid in listening, and 
that you would apply these things to our hearts, Lord, that we 
would that we would take seriously the exhortations that Peter gives 
to his readers here to us in this epistle. Lord, we do pray 
that you would be glorified, that your people would be edified, 
and that the sinners would be saved. And we pray this in Christ's 
name. Amen. Alright, so as I said, we'll 
be looking at verses 13 through 16 this evening in 1 Peter, 1 
Peter chapter 1. And the first word that you notice 
there is he starts out by saying, therefore. And that's always 
an important word in our Bibles. When we see therefore, what it's 
doing is connecting it to the previous discourse, what he's 
been saying previously there. And what Peter has done in his 
epistle is he started out with a theological doctrinal teaching 
here to his audience. And then now in this section, 
he begins a section of practical exhortations in light of that. 
So therefore, because of all this that I've said, therefore, 
this is what you ought to do. This is what our response ought 
to be to that there. So he gives the indicatives, 
we call that, the things that what is, telling us what is all 
these theological Statements and truths and then the and then 
the imperatives the imperatives are commands This is this is 
what you this is what you ought to do now So when we look back 
just in a brief review, we've gone through this several times, 
but just another review there He's what Peter has done is really 
highlighted their salvation the fact that they have been saved 
and and that that they have they've they've believed the gospel there 
they are saved and this and he and he want he's calling them 
to just to be amazed by this to be to be in awe that this 
is huge, that you've been saved. And he does so by showing how 
this was worked out, salvation was worked out by the triune 
God, that it was all of grace, that they have been saved, not 
because of what they have done, but because of what God, out 
of his abundant mercy that he says here, that he saved them. 
And then not only what they were saved from, but highlighting 
what they were saved unto, that they are headed for headed for 
glory, that they have this glorious inheritance coming as believers. The inheritance here that he 
says in verse 4 is an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled, 
and that does not fade away. And if you remember, we said 
that that was incorruptible there. It means it's not subject to 
the effects of sin, that there's no more death, no more sorrow, 
no more sighing, no more pain. We find in the book of Revelation 
saying the same things there. about what life in the new heaven, 
the new earth is, where we are headed. There's none of those 
things. None of the effects of sin there. And that it is undefiled, 
he says here, meaning it's not subject to any evil forces. If we think of in the Garden 
of Eden, that was defiled by Satan. He came in and he tricked 
Adam and Eve and caused them to sin. And defiled through that 
way it was defiled in revelations 21 verse 27 it says there shall 
by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an Abomination 
or a lie so that so our future glory where we are headed cannot 
be cannot be undone It cannot what happened in the Garden of 
Eden cannot happen again in this in in this in this the the new 
Jerusalem the new heavens the new earth and then it is a it 
is an inheritance that does not it does not fade away, meaning 
it is not subject to the effects of time as we know it here in 
this fallen world. Everything changes. There's so 
much. It comes and goes as time passes. In Revelation, again, 
it says that there shall be no more curse, but the throne of 
God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve 
Him, and they shall reign forever and ever. So that idea that it's 
eternity, it's eternal, and it's the same, it's constant. of nothing 
changes over time. So then in light of this glorious 
salvation here, how do we respond to that as believers? And Peter 
gives us two exhortations then in light of this great salvation 
here, two imperatives we call them. And the first we find in 
verse 13 is that we are future-focused, that we have a future-focused 
life here. And he says that we rest our 
hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. So that is the imperative there. 
And he gives two qualifiers there, that one, that we gird up the 
loins of our mind, and two, that we are sober. And then our second 
imperative is that we are called to live a holy life. And again, 
he gives these two qualifiers. One, that because we are now 
children of obedience, or our Bible say obedient children, 
but we'll look at that when we get there. Children of obedience, 
and then also that we are not conforming to the lusts of our 
old life, the former lusts there. So those are the two imperatives, 
each with two sort of qualifiers given to them. So we'll look 
at the first one. first there, especially, and 
now when you look at that in verse 13, you think, well, there's 
more commands there. We have, gird up the loins of 
your mind, and be sober. But in the Greek, those two, 
what we find as commands, are actually called participles. 
Now, I don't want to give you a grammar lesson, but a participle 
is like an adjective, and it's describing the state of that 
thing, whatever it is describing. And here it's describing the 
believers, his audience there. It's basically saying that you 
need to be in this state, you need to be doing this in order 
for you to be doing this, the imperative there of resting your 
hope fully on the future of glory. So we could maybe translate it 
a little bit different than to better understand that. It would 
say, therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being 
self-controlled, completely set your hope or set your hope fully 
on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus 
Christ. Now, it's legitimate that it's 
given here as imperatives, as commands, because in the context, 
they carry an imperatival force that they are commands, but yet 
they are qualifiers. You need to be doing this so 
that you can be doing this, so that you can be resting your 
mind, setting your hope fully on the grace that is to come. 
So he says here then, to gird up the loins of your mind. That's 
the literal translation. Some of our other Bibles might 
say, our translations might say, prepare your minds for action, 
or something like that. But the gird up the loins of your mind, 
that's a very familiar phrase, both in the Old Testament and 
in the New Testament, of course. And that's the idea of that, 
you know, they wore long robes in those days, the girding up 
of the loins. They wore a long robe, and then 
to gird up your loins was to take that robe, to fold it up, 
and tuck it into your belt, and then you were ready for action 
at that point. So, if you saw somebody with 
his loins girded, with his long robe tucked in his belt, you 
know he was a man on a mission. He meant business there. So, we think of the few examples, 
the eating of the Passover, they were to have their loins girded. They were ready for action. They 
were prepared. to go. Think of Elijah at Mount Carmel. 
He had to, after the, with the prophets of Baal, after he told 
Ahab to, or they had to head back to the city, Ahab jumped 
in his chariot, Elijah girded up his loins and ran to there. So it's, the idea then signifies 
intention, that there's an intention there, and it's putting aside 
any sort of hindrances Anything that's going to slow you down. 
Now, obviously, when it comes to running, that was the purpose. 
But what does it mean, then, to gird up the loins of our mind? 
And it's the same thing. It's putting aside hindrances, 
putting aside distractions, and being intentional, intentional 
with what we are, with our thoughts, what we're to do. And I've tried 
to bring this out in some of the previous sermons here as 
we've worked through this. That's what Peter's trying to get them 
to understand as well, that they need to be intentional and setting 
their mind on these things, thinking about these things, so that they 
can get through their trials and difficulties and whatever 
was coming their way. So, you know, so they're to lay 
aside the distractions of this world. In this particular circumstance, 
it was their trials. We might have, you know, other, 
in our own circumstances, various distractions, various things 
like that. that can become obsessions that would hinder us in our intentionality 
when it comes to setting our minds on the things above, as 
we are called to. Hebrews 12 verse 1 Paul or the 
writer of Hebrews. He says he says therefore we 
also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses 
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares 
us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us 
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. So 
it's a different metaphor here He's speaking of a runner in 
a race that he wouldn't have been wearing You know a long 
robe that he wouldn't have to gird up his loins by saying he's 
saying you you know You're gonna set aside any extra weight. You're 
not gonna carry weights. Maybe some runners would carry 
weights in training, but when it came time to the race, when 
you're running, you set aside those weights and you ran. There 
was no distractions. And that's what Paul is getting 
at, or the writer of Hebrews is getting at there, is the same 
thing that Peter is getting at. Here, put aside these distractions. 
And how do we do that? And I find it's interesting, 
because Paul uses the same analogy of girding up the loins in Ephesians 
chapter 6, speaking of putting on the whole armor of God. He 
says, gird your waist with the belt of truth. So, there he's 
sort of giving the picture of a soldier and the soldier had 
to gird up his loins, gird up his long robe into what Paul 
says is a belt of truth. So, the idea was that they were 
not to be hindered in any way. It would allow them to engage 
in whatever business they had to do. So what Peter's saying 
here is that we don't want our minds to be bogged down with 
the cares, concerns, and distractions of this life. And does that mean 
that it's wrong to have other things to think about in life? 
That's not at all what he's trying to say, that we can't be concerned 
with anything that's not directly related to the kingdom of heaven. 
That's not what he's saying at all there, but is there something 
In our life, that's an obsession or that would take away or take 
all our mental energy and then hinder us from focusing on the 
things above and from being prepared and ready to engage in the spiritual 
warfare. That is a reality for us as believers. So we're to lay those things 
aside. We're to gird up the loins of our mind, be ready for action. 
They're not being hindered in any way. And that takes intention. So as I mentioned earlier, that's 
really what he's speaking at here, getting at, is intention. Because that's what the Christian 
life is. It's not a sitting back on the 
couch and just hoping you're going to feel warm and fuzzy 
feelings until Jesus returns or until you die. That's not 
what it is. The Christian life takes intention. It's conscious thought processes. Things that we've looked at in 
the previous verses. Things that we need to think about. We need 
to wrap our minds around and set our minds on these things. 
Set our minds on the things above. That's what Paul says in Colossians 
3. Set your minds on things above, 
not on the earthly things. I think of Jonathan Edwards, 
the resolutions. I know I've quoted this in the 
past here, but I'll quote it again. Jonathan Edwards wrote 
69, 68, 69 resolutions, which are worth reading. All these these things that he 
was resolved to do and he says here He's resolved to endeavor 
to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world 
as I possibly can With all the power might vigor and vehemence 
yay violence I am capable of or can bring myself to exert 
in any way that can be thought of So he's speaking here specifically 
of this this joy and inexpressible joy on unspeakable that we find 
in in verse 8 here that Peter talks about, that's how he is 
to get that joy, is through focusing on the things in the other world, 
the spiritual realm there. And like I said, he wrote the 
68 other resolutions there, and that is intention. If you read 
those things, you see a man of intention here, with those various 
resolutions that he was set to do, resolved to do, you know, 
every day in his walk with the Lord. So setting your mind on 
the things that are above. And again, how do we do that? And I think of the lawyer that 
asked Jesus. He said, Jesus, what is the greatest 
commandment? And Jesus said, you shall love 
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and 
with all your mind. So how do we love the Lord with 
all our mind? And think of what did Paul say 
there? He says that our loins are girded 
with the belt of what? With the belt of truth. So we 
gird up our mind, we prepare our minds by studying, learning, 
comprehending the truth that he has revealed to us in his 
word about himself, about his promises, and particularly here 
about the future of glory that is awaiting us. These are things 
that we have to study, we have to learn about, focus on. And 
then, as we saw in our previous studies, this is what calms the 
heart, stills the soul, and gives us that inexpressible joy, even 
during the various trials. So, you know, being what I call 
a couch Christian, you know, just one who's going to sit there, 
you're not going to try and grow, you're not going to grow in knowledge 
and grace and understanding of our of these truths there, you 
know, what happens then when trials come your way, if you 
have no solid grasp of the truth, then you'll be like what Jane 
says is like a wave that's tossed to and fro, you know, driven 
and tossed by the wind, you know. So it's our duty as believers 
to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ, as Peter says later in this epistle. So that's one, 
that's our right response to these things. That's as Peter 
is saying here, he's saying therefore, therefore you need to do this. 
Because of all these things that I've talked about earlier, therefore 
this is your responsibility. And it's for our own benefit 
as well. Obviously there is the joy and 
the peace that we can have in trials when we set our mind on 
these things. So that doesn't mean that then 
we ought to all become monks and live in a monastery and only 
ever think about the things of God and only ever study theology 
and doctrine. That's not what he's saying here. But studying truth and studying 
these things that we find in the Word is not also just not 
for pastors and seminary students either. It's for all of us. We're 
all commanded to do that. We're all commanded to be intentional, 
to be disciplined in our walk with the Lord, to have the loins 
of our mind girded up. And then he says here that we 
are to be sober as well. Now, this is not in relation 
to drinking. He's not talking about, you know, don't, you know, 
that we abstain from alcohol or not get drunk. That's not 
what he's talking about here. In the NASB, it adds in spirit, 
and that's the idea that he's getting at. So what does that 
mean? What does it mean, sober in spirit, 
meaning? Hiebert, he says here, it's a 
condition that's free from every form of mental or spiritual loss 
of self-control. So it's a sort of, we have a 
double negative there, kind of, but what he's saying is it's 
mental or spiritual self-control in a condition where you're not 
going to lose that self-control. So having prepared our minds 
for action, being intentional, being disciplined, then we can 
then exercise this self-control here, or this level-headedness, 
maybe we could use that word here. And that's important to 
us as believers, that we need to be calm and collected as we 
deal with the various issues that come our way. Because we 
are all, as part of the kingdom of heaven, we are all called 
to be useful in the kingdom of heaven, and if any little trial 
that would come our way would cause us to panic, to lose our 
confidence in the sovereignty of God, in the grace of God, 
to lose sight of the future glory that we have as believers, then 
we're not gonna be effective, we're not gonna be useful in 
the kingdom of heaven. So we need to, you know, when 
we lose that self-control, we lose our ability to perform our 
Christian duties. And not only that, we also lose 
our ability to obey these commands that Peter says here, these exhortations 
to set our minds on the things above and to be holy. If we are 
not self-controlled when it comes to our spiritual life, then we 
will not be able to rightly obey these things as well. And I know 
it's not an easy thing. Sometimes it just takes one news 
headline, and we're just defeated again, it seems like. We read 
one thing about something that's going on in current events now 
in the world, and we seem to lose hope. But it shouldn't be 
that way. We should really always be constantly, constantly focused 
on these things. Then we won't be plunged into 
despair every time we read something like that. So if we prepare our 
mind for action, intentionally focus on the things above, the 
spiritual realities of what it means to be in Christ, all these 
things Peter has talked about earlier, then we're at a place 
where we can exercise self-control, because we're grounded. We have 
this foundation of the truth that we know is true, and we 
have that solid foundation to be firmly grounded on. So those 
are the two conditions that we have to, that we need to be in, 
the state that we need to be in prior to this command that 
Peter gives now. So now we come to the command 
then, it is to rest your hope fully. So being intentional and prepared 
for action, exercising self-control, then we can rightly have our 
hope set fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. And when he says grace here, 
what he means by grace is everything involved in salvation. He's using 
these words synonymously with inheritance, salvation, all those 
things. Grace, it's that we are saved, that we are now his people, 
and that we are bound for glory. So, we set our mind on this future 
that we have. Fully, fully set our minds on 
here, on that he says. So, and again, I'm not going 
to get too much into this, into the future. We've talked about that a lot, 
when we looked at the inheritance, those types of things. But that 
is, again, just this reminder to set our hope. on that, to 
be looking toward that, as we saw in Hebrews, where he said, 
you know, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your 
faith. Same concept, looking, setting our mind on the things 
above, not on the things of this earth here. And then he says, 
these things that are to come at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So this is, speaking of his second 
coming here, when Jesus comes again, the consummation, of all 
things, it's the future glory that we have in the presence 
of our Savior forever when we receive this inheritance there. 
So it's when Christ is revealed to us and we're no more walking 
by faith, but now we walk by sight as we physically lay eyes 
upon the Savior at His return. Now, of course, when we die, 
we know we go to be with the Lord as well, but in this context 
here, I believe he's speaking specifically of just the return 
of Christ, the consummation of all things when Christ is revealed 
to all of creation as Christ, as King of Kings and Lord of 
Lords there. So our lives then must be eschatological, 
must be future-focused life, looking to the future, looking 
ahead in faith. And I've said it in the past, 
and I'll say it again, is that our hope is not a subjective 
desire of our emotions. Our hope, it's not a, I hope 
this happens. I hope that one day I'm going 
to... you know, this is all going to come to pass, but it's not. 
It's objective reality that's based on the promises that we 
have in the scripture here, based on these truths that Peter has 
been teaching us through this epistle. So the hope that we 
have is by faith we grasp these promises, And we believe in them 
knowing that they are sure promises because we know who our God is. And that's because we've been 
preparing our minds for action. We've girded up the loins of 
our mind. Our minds are prepared for this. We understand this through the 
careful studying of God and of his promises. So we can have 
this firm hope of future glory. And again, Peter tells us to 
rest our hope fully on this future glory here. Because it's so easy 
to, especially now in the times that we live in with such political 
turmoil everywhere, it's easy to rest our hope on some sort 
of political figure to come in and solve the world's problems, 
solve our country's problems. But no political figure can take 
away the effects of sin. You know, the forces of evil 
and change of time that we, like the inheritance that we have 
as believers, no political figure can give us something like that 
to look forward to. So we have to, you know, it's 
okay to have that desire, of course. that we can hope that 
we do get a leader who would rule according to God's word 
and straighten some things out. That's okay, to be sure. But 
that's a subjective hope. That's just a hope. That's just a wish, a desire. 
But our hope as Christians is not a wish or a desire, but it's 
a firm reality that we have in our future. It's solid, it's 
concrete truths to grasp hold of, that we are Christ, that 
he has conquered sin, the world, the devil, and that he's coming 
again in glory to give us this inheritance that's free from 
all those things. So that's our hope, our motivation to persevere, 
and our comfort as we face the challenges of this life. So then 
when that is our focus, when we are resting fully on that 
reality, then the cares of this life, they don't seem so bad. They don't go away. The pain 
will still be there. Suffering will still be here. 
But we can respond in peace, and we can respond in joy, knowing 
what we have in store for us. So then we come now to the second 
imperative, the second command. And that is to live a holy life. And then the first qualifier 
then that he gives here is that what the New King James says 
is obedient children here, that we are to be obedient children. 
Now, he may be alluding to the doctrine of adoption, that God 
takes us and makes us his very children, children of God. Not that he deifies us, he doesn't 
make us gods, but that we become, you know, partakers of special 
blessings and ultimately receive this inheritance. You know, the 
children are the heirs. So we become children of God, 
receiving this inheritance to enjoy with him forever. Now, 
the confession, the London Baptist Confession states adoption in 
this way. It says, all those that are justified, 
God vouchsafed. Now, that means to, vouchsafe 
means to condescend, to grant a special blessing. So God vouchsafed 
in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ, to make partakers 
of the grace of adoption by which they are taken into the number 
and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have 
his name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have 
access to the throne of grace with boldness, and are enabled 
to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and 
chastened by him as a father, yet never cast off, but sealed 
to the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs 
of everlasting salvation. So this is reality, all these 
things that the confession says here, that we are adopted as 
children of God. That's the foundation of our 
hope, our future hope, this doctrine of adoption there. So that as 
children, that we have access to the Father and that we are 
protected and provided for and pitied by him, and then that 
we become heirs receiving this inheritance. You know, so this 
is true. This is, you know, and things 
that we can take great comfort from, to be sure. But I don't 
think Peter is exactly meaning that in this section here. You 
know, he's obviously alluding to it, but what he's saying here, 
literally in the Greek, it says, children of obedience. And there 
is a difference there. He's not just using it as a simple 
adjective. But what he's doing is, it's called a Hebraism, where 
he's using a Hebrew phrase or a Hebrew idiom that has an implied 
meaning, and then using that in another language, in this 
case, in the Greek language there. So that is the phrase, the sons 
of, or the children of, whatever. We see that many times through 
the Old Testament and also in the New Testament. It's that 
you know, we see that sons of sons of Belial sons of peace 
sons of the light And that was they even use that to tell age 
as well. Abraham was the son of 80 whatever years That's how 
they that's how they they told they gave ages in the Old Testament 
there so what it so that that Hebraism now or that that that 
phrase the children of or the sons of it's speaking more of 
their nature, to deal with their very essence of who it is. So it's not so much dealing with 
what they do, that they're just being obedient children, but 
who they are. So it's not that we're simply children obeying 
God, but it's that by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, our 
very nature has been changed so that we are now children of 
obedience. We have a and our nature is one 
of obedience. And that's important to understand 
as well, because as believers, we are called to a life of obedience, 
to the Father, and that life in outward action, but those 
outward actions stem from a heart or a nature of obedience, as 
opposed to what we were prior to that, is what Paul says, we 
were sons of disobedience. So Paul is contrasted in several 
places by saying what we were, what we once were, was sons of 
disobedience. And Peter says, now you are sons 
of, or children of, of obedience. So, just for example here, Paul 
says, let no one deceive you with empty words, for because 
of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. That's in Ephesians chapter 5 
verse 6. So that's important to understand. When Peter says here that we 
are obedient children, what he's saying is you're children of 
obedience. Your nature has been changed to a nature that is an 
obedient nature to God. And that obedience begins with 
obedience to the gospel, obedience to the gospel call. In chapter 
2 of 1 Peter, chapter 2 verse 7 here, Peter says, To you who 
believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, 
the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief 
cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." So you can see what he's doing 
there is he's contrasting believers with those who disobey. So therefore, 
then, believing is obedience. So our faith as believers comes 
from a nature that has been changed to one of obedience, one that 
is able to believe and obey the gospel. And that's what we call 
regeneration. That's what the Holy Spirit does, 
is regenerates our hearts, gives us a new heart, a heart that, 
what Peter says here, is a heart of obedience. So once we've obeyed 
the gospel call, then we continue in a life of obedience, so justification 
is the beginning. Justification is what happens 
through faith when we obey that gospel call, that we are now 
justified. And then sanctification is the 
process that follows after that, a process of continual obedience. And it's continual obedience 
now not to the gospel call of faith, but it is a life of obedience 
to the law of God. And that is why our response 
then, as Peter says here, is to be holy. We're called to be 
holy as God is holy here because our nature is one that's changed 
to a nature of obedience. And I think that much of modern 
evangelical Christianity has missed this, the idea that people 
can be saved. But no change in obedience needs 
to follow. No change needs to happen. You 
can continue to live your life as you were. But we have to examine 
ourselves, too, when it comes to this. Is our thought process 
that we understand Jesus died to pay for sin, so we think, 
well, then that means I can just keep sinning. then because it's 
all forgiven and that's okay for me to keep sinning, if that's 
your thought process, you should examine your heart because that's 
a sign that your heart has not been changed to a heart of obedience, 
a heart that desires to obey the Lord and that desires to 
follow His law. Hebert again here, he says, this 
obedience indicates their character as true believers. It is the 
motivating principle imparted at regeneration. And that's why 
John can say in his first epistle, for this is the love of God, 
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not 
burdensome. Because obedience to God's commandments 
now comes from our very nature, that is a nature of obedience 
that has a desire to obey his commands. And therefore they're 
not burdensome. Now, I don't want to... Discourage, 
you know discourage us when we we we examine ourselves and we 
see that we've you know We we do sin and you know, but is it 
but but again, we we we know we will sin That's um, that's 
that's the Bible tells us that we understand that we have that 
remaining. We still have that remaining Nature of disobedience 
that will sin, you know, but it is how do we respond to that? 
you know, do we do we do we feel conviction and do we Do we respond 
to that conviction? Do we seek to deal with our sin, 
or do we try to justify it, try to make excuses for it, and continue 
to live in it with no desire to repent and turn from that? In 1 John 1-9, it says, if we 
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not 
in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive 
us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So be encouraged. We're called to be holy, but 
yet we know that, you know, because of that remaining corruption, 
we still will sin. But yet, when we confess our 
sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of that sin, and 
that's because we still have that advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ. And then the second qualifier 
that he gives here leading up to this command, here he says 
that we, ignorance. So, and as Paul says 
in Romans 2, you know, that we're not conformed to this world, 
but we're transformed. You know, so it's speaking of 
following our fleshly desires, you know, the desires we had 
as children of sons of disobedience. You know, but now we have, you 
know, even though our nature has been changed to a nature 
of obedience, yet we still have those fleshly desires there. So what Peter's trying to say 
to them is that your new nature, your new identity is a child 
of obedience. You're a new creation in Christ. And he wants them to understand 
that this is who you are now and therefore you have to strive 
to do away with this past life and to now live a life of obedience 
to God. So in theological terms, when 
we look at at sanctification, this process of doing away with 
sin and living a life of obedience, there we talk about mortification 
and vivification. So that's sort of negatively 
and positively looking at that. And again, reminder that justification 
is the legal declaration. We are right with God. Sanctification 
is the process after that there. And this is what I'm speaking 
of now, of mortification and vivification follow within sanctification 
there. And the mortification is leaving sin behind, putting to 
death. That's what mortify means, to 
put to death that old nature, leaving behind the former sins 
that we once lived in, and it's putting to death that nature 
of disobedience. And then vivification is consciously 
doing good works and obeying God's law. Vivification is to 
bring to life. Now, we know that the Holy Spirit 
is the one who regenerates and gives the life itself, but yet 
I like to say that we are to fan the flames of that fire, 
as it were, the flames of the new life as a new nature in the 
new nature of obedience that we have here. So now when Peter 
says here that we are to not conform ourselves to the former 
lusts, as in your ignorance, he's speaking now of what we 
would call a mortification. So not feeding those fleshly 
lusts that we have, but rather putting them to death. And now what's interesting here 
is that several commentators, they get caught up in this verse 
here, trying to understand it, and they say that because his 
audience is primarily Jewish, then he must have been directing 
this at the Gentiles, this command here to the Gentiles who were part of his audience, 
now Gentiles who had joined the church. Why do we think that the Jews 
wouldn't indulge their fleshly lusts as well? Because before they became Christians, 
they were unregenerate. They were children of disobedience. and believed the Old Testament, 
but they still lived in sin, they still indulged those fleshly 
lusts. And I think the church today 
is filled with those kind of people like that as well. And 
I think many of us, myself included, fell into that category as well, 
professing outwardly to believe the Bible and to be a Christian, 
but yet still engaging in all sorts of debauchery and wickedness, 
you know, whatever it may be, you know, but the church is full 
of those there, you know, stealing and cheating in business, drunkenness, 
fornication, you name it, you know, fulfilling the lusts of 
our former life, you know, so it's not that just because, you 
know, prior to their salvation, they were Jews and they believe, 
they read the Old Testament, you know, that they didn't run 
with the wicked crowds you know, fulfilling their lusts. In fact, 
that's exactly what they did in chapter 4, I believe. He says, yeah, chapter 4, verse 
2, he says that he should no longer live the rest of his time 
in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 
For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will 
of the Gentiles, so living just like the Gentiles. When we walked 
in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, 
and abominable idolatries." So Peter knows full well that even 
if his audience is Jewish, even if they did obey the law, or 
read the law in the sense of the Torah, that they still fulfilled 
those lusts of the flesh. So he calls them to forsake that 
way of life. That's not who they are anymore. 
they have been changed. And again, this change of heart, 
it happens at regeneration, yet the process, so it's initiated 
by the Holy Spirit, but yet the process of sanctification is 
one where we are called to be disciplined and to make those 
those changes. And that's why Peter gives that 
command here, because we all need this reminder to be disciplined 
in our walk with the Lord. We still have those fleshly lusts, 
and we still need to be careful that we don't indulge them there. And then he says here that these 
lusts were lusts that came in the time of their ignorance. 
And this ultimately is ignorance of the gospel, ignorance of this 
grace that he's been been speaking of in the previous verses here, 
ignorance of the kingdom of light, the kingdom of heaven, that they 
are now a part of there. And the Bible often gives many 
examples of calling that, contrasting believers with those who are 
ignorant. Ignorant means without knowledge. 
So in Ephesians 4, 17, you should no longer walk as the rest of 
the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding 
darkened, feeling alienated from the life of God because of the 
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. 
In Hosea 4 verse 1, he indicts the Israelites and says that 
the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land. 
There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. 
And then in verse 4, he goes on, he says, my people are destroyed. 
for lack of knowledge. That is ignorance there. People 
are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 1 Timothy 2.4, God desires all 
men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. So we know that 
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and believing 
the gospel is how one is saved, but it's understanding the truths 
of the gospel. There's truth that needs to be 
comprehended that we must understand. in order to be saved, and in 
what faith is, what faith is built upon. Turn to 2 Corinthians 
chapter 4 for a minute, and see Paul speaking to that. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 3. He says, but even if our gospel 
is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds 
the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the 
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of 
God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, 
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for 
Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded 
light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to 
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
of Jesus Christ. And then Jesus said the same 
thing, that you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set 
you free. So ignorance of the truth is 
what characterizes unregenerate people, and so therefore knowledge, 
understanding, and believing the truth as it is in Jesus, 
but you know, by the power and enabling of the Holy Spirit, 
is what brings a person out of darkness into this light. And then because of that, then 
we are called to be holy. Now, actually turn to Leviticus 
18 for a minute. We see God telling the people 
through Moses the same thing in Leviticus 18, verse 1 to 5. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 
saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, I 
am the Lord your God. According to the doings of the land of 
Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do. And according to the 
doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you 
shall not do, nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall 
observe my judgments and keep my ordinances and walk in them. 
I am the Lord your God." So what he's saying there is you don't 
return to the way of life that you were. Don't, exactly like 
what Peter says, here is to not return to the lusts of our former 
life. It's the same thing what the 
Israelites were not to return to their life as they had lived 
it in Egypt there. And then further on in Leviticus, 
then we see that call to holiness. And then in the quote that Peter 
even gives here, to be holy for I am holy. to not return to the former life. So that's the call for holiness 
stated negatively through the mortification, not conforming 
ourselves to the former lusts, and then we have it now positively, 
as he who called you is holy, you also shall be holy in all 
your conduct. So that's the vivification. So 
first he gives the example or the model of holiness, the one 
who called you here. So speaking of God himself, God 
is the standard, God is the model of holiness that Peter gives 
here. Now sometimes when we speak of 
the holiness of God, we speak of his transcendence, his otherness, 
his inherent holiness that by very, his very being is one that 
is distinct, is set apart, is other, you know, and that's, 
that his very nature is that. Now, that can be meant by, that's 
what we talk about when we talk about God's holiness, or we also 
just, just the idea of being set apart, being set apart from 
all that is morally Impure and evil so not so much that Peter's 
not saying you know you need to try and you know Somehow you 
need to become a different in very essence of who you are very 
your nature needs to become it like like gods That's not obviously 
not possible. That's just a logical you know 
impossibility and that's not what he's not what he's getting 
at what he's getting at here is is being set apart set apart 
from all that is is morally impure and evil. So God is the model. God is set apart in that sense, 
and so too should we. And how we know the model that 
we've been given is God, and how we know is through his law. 
What that looks like is through his law. God's law is holy, the 
Bible tells us. It's a reflection of the character 
of God, and through obedience to that law is how we mimic the 
holiness of God in that sense. So we are to be, like Paul says 
in Romans 8, 29, we are to be conformed to the image of his 
Son. So set apart, not by order of 
being, not trying to become transcendent, but to be set apart from evil 
and to do good. 1 John 3, verse 3, it says that 
everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure, just 
as God is pure. You know, Calvin says, in bidding 
us to be holy like himself, the proportion is not that of equals. It's not that we become gods, 
but we ought to advance in this direction as far as our condition 
will bear, and even the most perfect are always very far from 
coming up to the mark, yet we ought daily to strive more and 
more. So it's a process there. It's 
a continual conformity that, you know, it doesn't all happen 
at once. We're not saved and then we're immediately like that, 
but we are called to be diligent, to press on, to be disciplined 
in our life of sanctification. I think it's bridges, I can't 
remember. But anyways, it gives the analogy 
of an airplane that has two wings. One wing is discipline, one wing 
is dependence. And we are to be dependent on 
God. You know, as Jesus said, apart from me, you can do nothing. 
But yet we're to be disciplined in our walk with the Lord as 
well, that we strive, that we make conscious decisions, conscious 
thought processes in order to get rid of sin in our lives, 
in order to make the right decisions. Because by our old nature, we 
will always want to choose for the evil. We have to consciously 
think, no, I need to make this choice instead. I often think 
of when I was When I was younger, growing up, I lived at home. 
When I came home from work, I got to this four-way stop sign, always 
turned right to go home. And then when I got married, 
I lived on the other side of town, and when I got to the stop 
sign, I had to turn left. And that was different for me 
then. Every time I got to that stop sign, I had to make a conscious 
decision, you have to turn left now to go home. Home is not there 
anymore. Home is over there. That gives us an example of how 
we ought to live as Christians. We come to a decision, every 
decision in life. Our old nature wants us to go 
this way. Our new nature, we have to consciously decide, no, 
we go that way. That's part of our being disciplined in our 
walk with the Lord. And then Peter says here that 
we are to be holy in all your conduct. He adds that there. 
So it's because Peter knows the tendency of the human heart. He knows that we have a tendency 
when we're in certain other atmospheres that we might make different 
choices than we normally would. If we're at, we're not called 
to be holy just at church or just at home around our family, 
you know, and then, but it's when we're at work as well, when 
we're, when we're doing whatever it may be that we're doing, you 
know, do we act and talk and, and, and, you know, do act a 
certain way around certain friends in a way that isn't holy. And 
then, you know, when we, when we were at home or we're at church 
and, you know, then we talk and act differently, we, in a more 
holy way, I think we're probably all guilty of that. And we all, 
ought to, you know, confess and repent from that sin, and then 
cry out to God for help, to be dependent on Him as well, to 
be more holy. Now, that doesn't mean that we 
can only talk about theology, and we only talk about, you know, 
gospel, and with our friends and co-workers and stuff. That's 
not the point here. But is our conversation holy 
conversation? Are we separate? Are we distinct? from unbelievers, do we look 
different from them in all our conduct? And then Peter backs 
up his argument then with the Old Testament. They're saying, 
for it is written, or because it is written, be holy, for I 
am holy. So that's in Leviticus 19, I 
mentioned already, several places earlier in Leviticus 11, verse 
44, verse 45. Leviticus 20 verse 2, 21 verse 2, we hear that same 
refrain over and over, be holy for I am holy. So this wasn't 
a novel idea for the Jews, for Peter's audience here, that they 
understood that as a nation of Israel, they were called to be 
set apart from other nations. They were called to be, you shall 
be to me a holy nation, God said to them in Exodus 19. So that 
was the reason for these various ceremonial laws some that we 
read earlier in regards to leprosy and how to deal with that. It 
was all part of them being visibly different and visibly set apart 
from the other nations. So the exodus of leaving Egypt, 
leaving the old the old behind, and then giving the law. Notice 
how that happens. They leave Exodus first, and 
then they're given the law as a means to live by there. So the law did not come first. That's important to understand 
that distinction here, that we're not saved by law, we're saved 
by grace, and then we obey the law. So that obviously, though, 
points forward to us as new covenant believers that we are, you know, 
and so that's why Peter gives this reference to the Old Testament, 
that, you know, we are to be visibly different as well, that 
we are, you know, we are to love God and we are to love our neighbor 
and to do good and, you know, to do good to others out of a 
desire to obey God. And, you know, we're not to run 
with the same wicked crowd that we did, you know, prior to our 
salvation there. And, you know, sometimes, especially 
those who have been saved at a young age, you know, children 
here that we were raised in a Christian home, we might have not had such 
visibly, you know, wicked lifestyle. Those former lusts may be different, 
you know, than what others who were saved at a later time in 
life, you know. But either, you know, we have 
to, We have to realize that yet, you know, those lusts are still 
there. Those things are still there. We may not have acted 
on them in the same way that, you know, others of us have in 
life. You know, those who have come 
to be saved later, yet those lusts are still there. That old 
nature is still there, and those things will creep up, and we 
have to be on guard that we put those things to death, that we 
don't indulge those. those former lusts, because they will arise, 
believe you me. Now, so we all are to strive 
to be holy as he is holy, to be set apart in this world, those 
who look different, who act different, because we conduct ourselves 
in all our conduct as children of obedience. So we are to be 
distinct, set apart from the world. Now, notice I didn't say 
we were to look strange. I said we were to look different. 
We don't need to wear funny hats or funny clothes or whatever 
it may be to try and look different in that sort of an outward way. What separates us, what makes 
us different is our actions, is our obedience to God's law. That's what will make us distinct 
and different from the world. They are characterized as sons 
of disobedience. We are characterized as sons 
or children of obedience. That is the distinction there. So, just in conclusion then, 
a few thoughts before we go. First of all, we ought to realize 
and understand the need to engage the mind when it comes to Christian 
growth. Christianity is not about human 
experience, it's not about your interpretation of your experience, 
but rather it's about rational truths that we must understand 
and we must internalize, we must take to heart. I saw a social 
media post from John MacArthur a couple weeks ago and he said 
this, he says, authentic faith can never bypass the mind. It 
cannot be irrational. Faith, after all, deals with 
truth. Truth is objective data to be known studied, contemplated, 
and understood. All those are activities that 
engage the intellect. So, very important to understand 
that. I think the Church on all ends 
of the spectrum misses that, you know, where we focus on experiences, 
we focus on what does this mean to me, how do I interpret this 
thing that happened to me? You know, that is not how we 
are to live our Christian life. We are to live through engaging 
our mind, understanding the truths as they are revealed to us in 
the Word. Secondly, then we need to appreciate 
the need for intentional, resolute determination in learning about 
the things of God. Christian growth does not happen 
by osmosis. It happens by an intentional 
study of the Word. and through church attendance, 
through the use of the means. When we say the means of grace, 
that is what we mean, is using these things that God has given 
as a means for our growth in grace. That's probably the simplest 
way that, as believers, that we can grow The easiest thing, you don't 
need to sit down and read Calvin's Institutes cover to cover in 
order to do this. You just come to church and God 
has gifted the church with men, pastors, teachers, we find that 
in Ephesians 4, specifically for that purpose of the ministering 
to the saints for the growth in grace and knowledge. So that 
is the simplest thing we can do is come to church. And of 
course, reading our Bibles, studying our Bibles through that. So using 
the means of grace. We're commanded to grow. We're not called to be stagnant 
there. So come to church. Come with having girded the loins 
of your mind. Don't come to church and just 
to check it off the list. Come there. with the intention 
to learn something and to listen and to pay attention so that 
you can leave here learning more about your Savior. And then we 
see we have to appreciate the need to fix our hope on the future. That is where our perspective 
ought to always be as we navigate through this world that our minds 
are fixed on the things above, not on the things of this lower 
world. Now, again, as I mentioned, we 
need to deal with life. We have jobs. We've got everything 
that we have to deal with, but our focus ought to be eschatological 
focus, future-oriented focus. And then the need for holiness, 
that our new identity in Christ is a child of obedience. And we do that out of gratitude 
for what he has done for us, and out of the responsibility 
that we are called to do to vivify that new nature of obedience, 
to fan those flames, to bring it to life, and fan that desire 
to obey him. And again, this is an important 
reminder before we close that we are not saved by obedience. 
We are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in our desire 
for holiness, a desire To be conformed to that image, 
we have to never ever lose sight that we are justified, we are 
declared right with God by the perfect work of Christ. By His righteousness, that He 
lived in perfect obedience to that law of God. That was the 
standard that had to be met, was perfect obedience. Christ 
did that for us. And also, we have to understand 
that His atoning death on the cross as payment for all of our 
sin, that is how we are justified. Our holiness, our law-keeping 
does not come into play in any part when it comes to our justification, 
how we can be saved and made right with God. We do not add 
anything in any way to the work of Christ. you know, rather our 
holiness is a response to that, to being in Christ. So let's 
never lose sight of that. Now let us close in a word of 
prayer. Oh Lord, we thank you for your 
word. We thank you for these The teachings that we find in 
the book of 1 Peter, Lord, we thank you for the revelation 
of the future of glory that we have as believers, as those who 
are in Christ, that we are headed for glory, Lord. As the children's 
song says, this train is bound for glory, Lord, it really is 
that way. And we are so thankful for that, 
that we are headed for Emmanuel's land, for all of eternity in 
the new heaven the new earth new creation that we inherit 
and to be in the presence of our savior when he is revealed 
to us when we see him face to face lord we long for that day 
and we when we thank you that you have given us that that these 
these truths in our word that tell us of these things that 
we can that we can have our minds set on these things and our focus 
set on these things. And Lord, I pray that you would 
help us to do so. Lord, we know that in this world 
there is so many cares, so many difficulties, so many trials 
and so many distractions that we need your help to focus on 
your Son, our Savior, to focus on the glory that he has obtained 
for us. and that our minds would be fixed 
on these things as we go through our life. And Lord, we do pray 
that you would also give us that desire to live a life that is 
of holiness, that we take seriously this command to be holy as you 
are holy. And Lord, help us to never ever 
mix up the two or conflate the two, where we think that our 
holiness somehow Is it is earns our salvation with you lord? 
We know that that is that is only through the work of your 
son The lord jesus that we are justified by faith in him and 
him alone. Nothing else So lord, we do we 
do thank you for your your goodness to us We thank you for your grace 
and I pray that you would Go with us now and in the rest of 
this week be with us this week lord and we just pray that you 
would grant safety as we travel over the over the roads grant 
safety in the in the upcoming week with all the cold weather 
forecasted and We just look to you, and we thank you that you 
are our Father in heaven who cares for us. We thank you that 
you hear our prayers. And Lord, we pray you'd be with 
us now, and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. All right, well, 
let's close with singing the doxology. You can stand, and 
we'll sing. It's 568, so please stand and 
sing together. ♪ Blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him 
on which mercy every flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him above the heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise God through Son and Holy Ghost 
♪ But may the God of all grace, 
who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after 
you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle 
you. To him be the glory and the dominion 
forever and ever. Amen. You may be seated for a 
time of meditation.