I want to begin this morning by having you turn to
Isaiah 28

Isaiah begins this chapter by giving a picture of the wickedness of man, the judgment of God, and the deliverance of the righteous.

You can see God is pronouncing judgment against the “drunkards of Ephraim”

In verse 2-4, He begins speaking of their judgment
Verses 5-6 outlines how good it will in that day for the righteous.

But as is commonly the case, God had a purpose for revealing the judgment on the drunkards of Ephraim.

Israel’s priests and prophets were equally treacherous.
Isaiah 28:7-8
“And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.”

Isaiah said, “these also”.
Ephraim wasn’t God’s main target, the priests and the prophets of Israel were. They were rejecting the truth of God for wickedness.

They were living in and loving sin. They were going after the joys of the world full throttle, and because they love the world so much it altered their ability to rule with righteousness. “They totter when rendering judgment.”

God eventually says everything they offer you is useless. “For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.”

The idea was that even those who were supposed to be the righteous leaders in Israel had forsaken the commandments of the Lord and gone after wickedness.

However, you will see that those Isaiah was speaking to did not like his indictment of their sin.

VERSES 9-10
They simply say, “Who does he think he is talking to?”
He can’t talk to us like that, and then they begin to mock him.

So God responds.
VERSES 11-13
Since they mocked God, He will give them exactly what they said.
He offered them salvation, but they did not want it.
So God will send the word after them.

Verse 13b, “that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”

God is about to destroy their arrogant evil.

VERSES 14-15
God reveals exactly why they will be judged.
They scoffed at God’s judgment.
They didn’t really think they were in danger.

So what if they rejected God’s purposes for their life. So what if they weren’t doing what God wanted. They were not afraid. They had made a covenant with death.

At this point, Isaiah interjects a verse to encourage those in Israel who do not share their sentiments. An encouragement to the righteous who had no doubt been recipients of the same scorn that Isaiah had received.

Isaiah 28:16
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”

His message to the righteous, was do not worry if you are ostracized because of their wickedness, the way of God will be worth it.

Then Isaiah returns to the message to the wicked.

VERSES 17-22
The message is simple and clear. God will judge you, and all your notions of safety in judgment will not last.

When you reject God’s purpose, the only alternative is judgment.
So stop scoffing at God, and submit to Him.

The reason we look at this passage, is because this is the passage Peter is preaching in our text in 1 Peter this morning.

Peter is drawing from this very passage in his letter to the rejected selected.
He is not focusing primarily on the judgment of the wicked as Isaiah does, rather Peter is focusing on that one verse that gives hope to those who have determined to be righteous.

Peter zones in on Isaiah 28:16
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”

TURN TO 1 PETER 2:4-6

We know that Peter is writing this letter to the rejected selected. They were the ones who determined to go against the grain. They left the false religious system of the Jews and determined to submit to God’s plan through Jesus.

However when they did, they were ostracized. They were rejected, no doubt they were maligned and scorned just as Isaiah was in his day.

Now as Peter seeks to offer encouragement to these suffering saints, he draws from this passage to give us some added encouragement.

And the encouragement is simple.
Many times all we focus on in the Christian life is what we have to lose if we do what God is asking us to do.

The Christian life can be easily seen as only that of sacrifice, and mourning. A life without pleasure, an endless toil through hardship, that can only be achieved by an overwhelming commitment to perseverance, and a willingness to always receive the short end of the stick.

And while sacrifice is a part of the Christian life, Peter desires to remind us that as Christians we aren’t the ones missing out. There are also extreme benefits of being redeemed.

God has been teaching me this lesson, and I have been slowly, but surely learning it.

Before we went to Africa, I had certainly counted the cost.
I can say with all sincerity that I was willing to lay down my life in Zimbabwe. I had prepared myself to do that.
The dilemma was, I was having a lot of difficulty seeing the upside. I saw the wife I was leaving, I saw the children I would orphan, the grief to my parents, etc.

Then one night while preaching here, God opened my eyes.
Mark 10:29-30
“Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”

In an instant, God said, “Rory, you are too focused on what you can lose, and not focused enough on what you can gain.”

From that moment I began to look at Africa as an opportunity for tremendous blessing, not just a calling of enormous sacrifice.

But many times we do that don’t we.
We too easily see the bad, and not the good.

I remember on Wednesday nights, during September we talked about this as it related to the disciples.

Matthew 16 is the first time Jesus reveals His death and resurrection, and Peter responds terribly wrong.

Matthew 16:21-22
“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”

Shortly there after, Jesus is transfigured, and takes the opportunity to tell them again. This time they simply ignore the news.

Matthew 17:11-13
“And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”

Then again, while the crowd is enamored with Jesus and His power, Jesus doesn’t want them to lose focus, so He tells them again.

Matthew 17:22-23
“And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.”

It is obvious they understood Jesus, but did you see their response?
“they were deeply grieved.”

WHY, DIDN’T JESUS SAY, “and He will be raised”?

They suffered from the same problem I often suffer from. They believed the bad news faster than they would believe the good news.

So do we.
We often times understand the suffering, but forget that those who sell out for Jesus are really the ones who have it the best.

People who live in the world ought not feel sorry for Christians, it is Christians who ought to feel sorry for those in the world. We aren’t the ones who are missing out, they are.

And it isn’t just because we get to go to heaven, and they don’t.
It is because a life lived for Jesus today is better than a life lived without Jesus.

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A PERSON WHO FORSAKES THE WORLD, TO LIVE FOR JESUS HAS A BETTER LIFE THAN A PERSON WHO HOLDS ON TO THE WORLD WITHOUT JESUS?

I’m not talking about after death, I’m talking about today.
IS IT BETTER TODAY TO HAVE JESUS OR THE WORLD?

This is where we often miss it, and this is what Peter wants to remind us of. We have true benefits in Christ, if we will take them.

Ephesians 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

Do we really believe that?

In this text this morning, I want you to see what Peter is showing us.
Namely he begins talking about the benefits of a believer.

Now again, as he has done already before, Peter begins this text with an assumption.

Before he shows you what your benefits are, he assumes you have already taken care of one thing. If you haven’t, these benefits aren’t yours.

He assumes something.

VERSE 4
“And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,”

Before we talk about His assumption lets examine this verse a little.

He calls Jesus the “living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God.”

He is talking about a foundation. He is talking about the foundation upon which men will base their hope.

Since his creation, mankind has constantly looked for something on which they could base their hope for eternity. They constantly look for a foundation on which they can smile at the future.

Even those in Isaiah’s day placed their hope in deception.

Peter here points out that the only foundation stone is Jesus and namely because He is living. Hope is not found in a dead god. We see Jesus as the sure foundation because He lives.

But Peter pointed out something about this “living stone”
It “has been rejected by men”

The word “rejected” there means exactly what it says. It means that after examination, it was cast aside as unacceptable.

IS THAT NOT EXACLTY WHAT MEN DID WITH JESUS?
Isaiah 53:1-3
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

When the Jews looked at Jesus, they did not see a King.
He wasn’t agreeable enough to lead in their Synagogue.
He wasn’t focused enough to overthrow Rome.
He wasn’t even able to stop His own death.

They examined Him and rejected Him. He did not fit the criteria.

“but is choice and precious in the sight of God.”

But when God went looking for a foundation stone on which to base the hope of men, He searched high and low, and only found One that was acceptable. Ironically enough it was the same that men cast aside.

The word for “precious” denotes “costly”.
Meaning God found the best, most desirable. And it was Jesus.

Matthew 3:16-17
“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

And Peter assumes that you have come to Him.

He assumes that you have already run to Jesus because you can see that no matter what the world thought of Him, He was the One God wanted.

Peter assumes you have already done that.
Because indeed, if you have not yet come to Jesus, the benefits of a life lived with Jesus cannot be yours.

We must come to Him like we really believe He is God’s chosen.
Matthew 13:44-46
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Until we are willing to completely sell out and deny ourselves and come to Jesus, we cannot receive the blessings of salvation.

And perhaps this is our biggest problem.
We fight and kick and scratch every time God asks us to give something up that is of the world.

Maybe if we had ever truly experienced the full blessings of God we would stop seeing those things as the source of joy, and begin to rightly see them as inhibitors to joy.

Maybe if we every truly came to Jesus, just wanting Jesus, things like losing television wouldn’t be seen as a sacrifice, but as a barrier that had to go.

The simple truth is, until we run to Jesus like He is what God was looking for, and forsaking all else, we cannot experience the fullest blessings of salvation.

Luke 9:57-62
“As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

John 15:9-11
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Before you can receive the fullest blessings of the Christian life, you must first completely come to Christ. As Peter is explaining the blessings that are yours, he assumes you have already done that.

Now, lets look at these blessings.
They are found in verse 5

1) “you also, as living stones”
WHAT COULD THIS MEAN?

The same eternal nature that is Jesus, is now ours. He is the living stone, and once we come to Him, we become living stones also.

We identify with Him.
We share in His nature.

John MacArthur writes, “To be living stones means that believers have the eternal life of Christ. They are united with Him, which is their first spiritual privilege. They do not just worship Him, obey Him, and pray to Him; they are united with Him as stones in a spiritual building of which He is the cornerstone. Christians become partakers of the divine nature: “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4)
[MacArthur, John; The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; 1 Peter, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill; 2004, pg. 106]

In short, our lives are now united with God.
We share in His nature.
This is indeed a privilege that the lost world cannot experience.

They do not know what it is like to be like God.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:17-24
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

I want you to know this is a privilege that a person who has come to Jesus has.

And you cannot have this privilege apart from Jesus.
You could stay in the world, you could love the world, you could enjoy the world, but a Christian has a privilege that you do not have.

A Christian has the divine privilege of being a “living stone” just like Jesus.

A Christian has the divine privilege of holding in themselves eternal life.
And that doesn’t just refer to life after death, but Christians live a resurrected life on earth.

Romans 6:4-7
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

A Christian has the benefit of being like God, and this is a privilege the world cannot know.

2) “are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood”

Think here in terms of the Jews.
They marveled about what they thought were privileges.

They gloried in the fact that they were God’s chosen people.
They gloried in the fact that they had the temple of God, and His presence.
They gloried in the fact that they were God’s ministers.

As we have already seen, it is true believers that are truly God’s chosen. They are the ones who are “living stones..choice and precious in the sight of God” just like Jesus is.

It is not the lost world who has this privilege, it is believers.

But not only that. These Jews who has crucified Christ, still thought the privilege of God’s presence was theirs. WRONG AGAIN.

Ever since Christ died, God has been building a new house.
I’m that new house.
You’re that new house.

1 Timothy 3:15
“but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

1 Corinthians 3:16
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

1 Corinthians 6:19
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”

2 Corinthians 6:16b
“…For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

I want you to let this sink in for just a second.
This is a privilege indeed.

All throughout the Old Testament, you see men in a vain attempt to get close to God. And no matter how righteous, no matter how dedicated, the closest anyone could get was just outside the veil.

And I think we all agree, it would have been neat if God had allowed us to be able to go to Him, wouldn’t it?

But the Christian privilege is much greater than that.
The Christian privilege is not just us with God, but God in us.

Colossians 1:26-27
“that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

John 14:16-17
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

We actually have the living God, who created the Universe dwelling inside of us.

We actually have the same God who made Jericho fall…IN US
We have the same God who toppled Goliath…IN US
We have the same God who calmed the waves…IN US
We have the same God who healed the sick…IN US
We have the same God who raised the dead…IN US

Tell me that is not a divine privilege.

Ephesians 3:20
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Colossians 1:29
“For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

Imagine if you were coaching a football team.
Now all your kids have the same uniform, but you as a coach, for one game were granted the privilege of having one of your uniforms filled with Troy Aikman.

Would you not feel privileged as a coach?
Well, look Christians, we have the immortal God dwelling in us.
That is a privilege that the lost world cannot have.

In fact a lost world is anything but God in them.
The Bible says they are “far off”.

We have a privilege.

3) “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”

In short we have the privilege of ministering to God.
This again is something a lost world cannot do.

Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Romans 8:6-8
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

In short, having come to Jesus you have the ability to please God. You have the divine privilege to be in divine favor.

This is a privilege not available to a world that has rejected Jesus because all acceptable sacrifices must come “through Jesus Christ.”

This at first may not seem like a privilege.
But take a look at false religions for a second.

Look at the futile work a Mormon will put himself through in order to please God, but they can’t.

Look at the futile sacrifice a Muslim will put himself through in order to please God, but they can’t.

Look at the futile works a Buddhist, or a Hindu will put himself through in order to please God, but they can’t.

It is a privilege to be able to please and minister to our heavenly Father.
And there are many sacrifices we make to Him.

Our bodies
Romans 12:1
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Our Praise
Hebrews 13:5
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ” I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”

Our Good works and Our Possession
Hebrews 13:16
“And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Our Converts
Romans 15:15-16
“But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

Our Love
Ephesians 5:1-2
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

Our Prayers
Revelation 8:3-4
“Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

We have been given the divine privilege of being like God, having God dwell in us, and being able to minister to God. That is something a lost world simply cannot do.

And so Pete rightly closes with the following verse. Which is the same word of encouragement Isaiah gave to the righteous.

VERSE 6
“For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Peter closes by confirming the benefits through the promise of Scripture.
I don’t care what the sacrifice for Christ is.
I don’t care what the cost.
I don’t care what the humiliation.

It is worth it, and you will not be disappointed, not in this life, or the next.

Now the only question is, are you walking in this privileged life of Christianity?
Have you come to Jesus like He is the foundation for life and hope?
Or are you still hanging on to the world trying to please one more drop of pleasure out of it until your time on earth is done?

The privileged life is your choice.
But it is only available to those who will come to Jesus.

Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

1 Peter 1:22-25

Peter has been writing to “The Rejected Selected”
Because they had been chosen by God, and had accepted that calling, their lives had been thrown into turmoil.

Persecution was real. They were scattered.
Anytime we face such difficulties,
The temptation is to pull back into our turtle shell,
And begin to focus on and look out for number one.

Our focus can quickly shift from service to survival.
But Peter has written this letter to help these suffering saints steer clear of that pothole.

When obedience causes suffering, we are tempted not to obey.
(1:1-2) “…who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ…”

When God allows suffering, we are tempted to turn on God,
(1:3) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

When hardship comes, we are tempted to get depressed.
(1:6) “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”

When taking a stand fbrings opposition, tempted to get complacent
(1:13) “Therefore prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

When purity brings slander, it is tempting to forsake a little holiness
(1:14-15) “As obedient children; do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.”

Tonight Peter tackles another massive temptation.
When we suffer, we are tempted to stop focusing on service, And to start focusing on survival.

When people are placed in harms way,
The flesh always wants to look out for your own flesh first.
CHRISTIANS WERE INTENDED TO BE BETTER THAN THAT.

Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”

Matthew 22:39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
We are called to love others as ourselves.
We are called to place the needs of others above our own.

Jesus continually reminded us of this truth, first, by example:
Matthew 14:13-14 “Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.”

Secondly through His teaching.
TURN TO: Luke 10:25-37

Suffering can cause us to stop focusing on service,
And only focus on survival.

Peter wants to make sure that if you are in the Christian life, and it is hard,
That you still keep your priorities where they should be.

Philippians 2:4 “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

#1 ASSUMPTION
1 Peter 1:22a
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love for the brethren”

Peter assumes these people have readied themselves for genuine love.

“Since you have in obedience to the truth…”

Peter has the right to assume that since these people call themselves Christians that they are walking in obedience to the truth.

1 John 2:3 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

Peter also has the right to assume that since these people call themselves Christians that they have “purified your souls”

1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

But there is more to what Peter is saying.
Peter is assuming how they are walking in obedience,
And WHY they have purified their souls.

“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls FOR a sincere love for the brethren”

The word “sincere”
Greek word – ANUPOKRITOS
(A = not) (NUPOKRITOS = hypocrite)

Peter says “you have purified your souls for an unhypocritical love for the brethren”

It is a love that really only wants the best for the other guy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

It is the idea that these people shouldn’t be loving each other for selfish reasons. Their love should be pure in motive.

Luke 6:31-35 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”

Peter assumes they have prepared themselves
For this type of love
By obediently purifying themselves.

UNDERSTAND,
If you want to love others unhypocritically,
Then you will have to purify yourself too.

There is no room for selfishness in this type of love.
You cannot love self and God.

REMEMBER: The opposite of love is self

In order to truly love,
You must first of all remove self from the equation.
Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

He assumes they are prepared to unhypocritally love the brethren.

Are you even to a point where you are prepared to do this?
First the assumption
#2 EXPECTATION
1 Peter 1:22b “fervently love one another from the heart”

Peter is asking them to follow through
With what they have prepared themselves to do.
Since they have purified themselves for a sincere love, go ahead and do it.

“FERVENTLY”
EKTENES – strained or stretched
(EK = out) (TEINO = to stretch)

It is the same word used of the disciples prayer for Peter
Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

It is the same word used of Jesus praying in the garden.
Luke 22:44 “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

Peter is expecting you to give your love everything you’ve got.

Peter wants these scattered saints to remember to follow through with their calling and love each other even to a point of pain.

This is what a Christian looks like.
1 John 3:14-16 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

1 John 4:7-12 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:19-21 “We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

Not only is brotherly love a characteristic of a disciple,
But it is commanded of a disciple as well.

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.”

There is never a time when we are allowed to look out only for number one.

No matter how hard it is,
There is no circumstance bad enough when a believer
Can stop showing love for other believers.

BUT I’LL BE HONEST
This is hard.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THE STRENGTH DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

Contrary to popular belief, love is not natural.
Lust is natural, love only comes from God.

Where do we find the ability to do this?
HOW CAN PETER ASK US TO DO SUCH A THING?

#3 FOUNDATION
1 Peter 1:23-25

Peter here gives us the foundation upon which he asks for selfless love, and why we know we are able to do it.

And of course, that foundation is the word of God.

And there are three characteristics about the word of God
That you will see allow you to selflessly love one another.
1) PENETRATING
(23) “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

This is one of the characteristics that really sets the word of God
Apart from any other word ever spoken.

It has the power to change you.
Maybe other authors have the power to influence you to change,
But God’s word can change you.

You have the ability to go ahead an selflessly love one another
Because “you have been born again”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

This person isn’t born “of seed which is perishable”
In other words, this person isn’t motivated by worldly lusts.

This person is made up of much better stock.
This person is made up of “imperishable” seed.

You are born again “through the living and enduring word of God.”

This is one of the things that makes the Bible alive.
This is one of the things that makes the Bible so incredible.
IT DOES NOT WORK FROM THE OUTSIDE IN
IT WORKS FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

This is something that God promised long ago.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Ezekiel 36:25-27 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

Now these promises have come to pass.

Colossians 1:26-27 “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

It gets inside of you, and then you reflect His characteristics.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

This is why Peter can ask you to do something so difficult,
Because God’s word is now in you to guide you from the inside out.

This is why Paul wrote what he did:
Colossians 3:12-16 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

You can love like this,
Because you were born again through the penetrating word of God.

2) POWERFUL
(24-25a) “For, ‘ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL IT’S GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.”

Now he desires to show you just how powerful this word is.
It is not weak like the human flesh.

Romans 7:14-15 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

Indeed, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL IT’S GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF”

Your strongest attempt is like withering grass,
And your best looking attempt is like a fallen flower.
Not very strong, and not very pretty.

“BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER”

God’s word in you makes you strong enough to love like you should love.
Romans 15:1-6 “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.” For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now that text begins asking for the same thing Peter asked for – true love.
And of course Paul asks for it because that is what Jesus did.

WHERE DO WE FIND THE MOTIVATION TO DO THIS?
“the encouragement of the Scriptures”

WHERE DO WE FIND THE STRENGTH?
“the God who gives perseverance…grant you to be of the same mind”

I might not want to love someone.
A voice in my mind says, “and the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself”.

It is the word of God in you with power that allows you to love selflessly.

3) PRESENT
(25b) “And this is the word that was preached to you.”

It is available to us.
We can have it whenever we want it.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘ Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”

Here is the point thus far.
Peter wants us to go through with our convictions and love each other selflessly.
We have a penetrating power within us that gives us the ability.

BUT THERE IS AN EVEN GREATER APPLICATION HERE.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW THE BEST WAY TO SHOW LOVE TO OTHERS IS?

Personal Obedience.

1 John 5:1-3 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

CAN YOU SEE HOW CLOSELY RELATED BROTHERLY LOVE AND PERSONAL OBEDIENCE ARE?

Now look back at what Peter said in verse 22.
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.”

There again you see obedience and love thrown together.

You cannot love others if you are not walking in obedience to God.

If you throw holiness out the window,
You will also be throwing love out the window,
And it is vitally important too.

There is no doubt that the Christian life is difficult.
It comes with many temptations to quit.

That is when we must look to the word God has planted in us,
And obey it to the letter, showing love for one another,
And fulfilling what God intends for us.

Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

 

 

1 Peter 1:17-21

Last Sunday night we talked about how we should respond to the great hope that God offered us.

His salvation is for real, we know that because it was long ago predicted by the prophets, it was reiterated by the apostles, and it has always had the angels thumbprints upon it.

It is a real salvation from God.
And last Sunday night Peter told us we should respond accordingly.

We should give God:
Total Commitment – “prepare your minds…keep sober…fix your hope completely”
Total Consecration – “do not be conformed to the former lusts”
Total Conformity – “like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves”

And at the end of our text, Peter makes this statement.
1 Peter 1:16, “because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

What a statement that is!
God expects you to be holy.
God expects, even commands you to be absolutely perfect.

Matthew 5:48
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

HOW CAN THAT BE?

You see, we often hear that command and simply allow it to role right off our back. We pass it off as impossible and continue down our merry little way.

God said be holy, but surely He didn’t mean be holy.
That’s not possible.

But we talked about this last Sunday night.
2 Peter 1:2-4
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

That verse says perfection is possible.
It says we have been given everything we need in order to be holy.

That helps us get to the real truth of the matter.

It’s really not that we think holiness is beyond our reach.
The true just of it is, that we don’t really want complete holiness.

Now none of us wants to be the first to say that.
No one in church wants to get up and announce, “I don’t really want to be holy.”
But in essence that is what it is.

If God really has given us everything we need to be holy, and we aren’t, then the problem is not that we can’t, but that we won’t.

Very simply put, there are still some aspects of sin we find entertaining.
There are still some remnants of the old life we don’t even want to lose.

There is probably a little rich young ruler in all of us.
Matthew 19:21-22
“Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

You see the rich young ruler’s problem wasn’t that he couldn’t, it was that he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to be complete.

If he had wanted to be complete (i.e. perfect) Jesus told him how.
But he didn’t want it.

When we get honest, that really seems to be the boat we sit in doesn’t it?
Oh, it’s easier on the conscience to just pass holiness off as unattainable, and so we have excused our sin.

But that ease of mind doesn’t come from God.

The simple fact is that God commands holiness.
God expects holiness.
Holiness is possible.

The issue is: “WILL I CHOOSE TO BE HOLY?”

Peter knew that was the issue, so after he reminds his readers of this important decision, he gives us another section of scripture devoted to persuading us to be holy.

In our text this morning, we see three reasons why you and I should desire holiness.

We see three reasons why, unlike the rich young ruler, we should be willing to pay whatever the cost to be like Jesus.

And this I can promise you.
If these 3 motivations will dictate our lives, we will choose to be holy.
If we don’t choose to be holy, it is because these 3 motivations aren’t dictating our lives.

#1 THE PROMISE OF RECOMPENSE
1 Peter 1:17

Peter very simply reminds us of one of the things God does.
God is the judge.

Peter says He “impartially judges according to each man’s work”

And so let’s take a second and look at Scripture to see that this is indeed the case.

Hebrews 9:27
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

Romans 2:6-11
[God] “WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

This is a fact in Scripture. God is an impartial judge, and God is a thorough judge.

Some day, He will pour out this righteous judgment on the entire unbelieving world.

Revelation 20:11-12
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

And by the way, these books: they are the records of your life.
Let me help you understand.

BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE – God will judge you according to what you know.
Matthew 11:21-22
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.”

Luke 12:47-48a
“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few…”

BOOK OF CONSCIENCE – God will reveal when you knew sin was wrong, even though you didn’t necessarily know the command that forbade it.
Romans 2:15-16
“in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

BOOK OF HIDDEN THINGS – Things you did that no one knows about.
Luke 8:17
“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

BOOK OF WORKS – things you did in open view.
Matthew 16:27
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

BOOK OF WORDS – Every word you speak is recorded for judgment
Matthew 12:36-37
“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

BOOK OF LIFE – what you really did with Jesus.
Revelation 20:15
“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

God’s judgment will be completely poured out on an unbelieving world, and they will be without excuse, for God has all the facts.

But believers will also stand judgment.
2 Corinthians 5:10
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Romans 14:10-12
“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

1 Corinthians 4:5
“Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”

The simple truth is, judgment is a fact.
God will judge every man.
It will happen.

Everything you have done, every word you have spoken, every thought you thought, every choice you made, whether public or private, will be judged.

And payment will be made.

Peter says this is a fact.
And since this is a fact.
“conduct yourselves in fear, during your time of stay on earth”

Because judgment is real, you should fear.
And let’s talk about fear for a second.

In the New Testament there are 3 root words for fear that are used most often.

1) EULABEIA (yoo-lab-i-ah) – respect the power of; reverence

Hebrews 12:28
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;”

We ought to respect the power of God.
It is similar to the way these guys at Dickens electric work with electricity. They have a respect for it’s power.

For some people, this is the only fear of God they have. They just kind of steer clear of God. They know He is powerful, they just sort of stay away. They aren’t going to intentionally do something like curse Him, but they don’t allow Him to dictate their lives.

2) DELIA (di-lee-ah) – momentary fright.

John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

It would be like the fear, you have of a lion. You are afraid of a lion, but not right now, only if a lion is close. It is a momentary fright.

This is also how some people relate to God. All the fear of God they have is only momentary. They are afraid when they get caught, but other than that, don’t really take God into consideration in their daily choices. They seemingly consider their sin hidden from God.

Isaiah 29:15
“Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, ” Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

Ezekiel 8:12
“Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'”

(I see this a lot when I show up and people find out I’m a preacher)

Neither of these two types of fear are what Peter is calling for.
Based upon God’s judgment, he doesn’t just ask you to have a respect for His power, and he doesn’t ask you to be afraid when you are standing there.

The word here is different.
3) PHOBOS – it is where we got our word “phobia”.
Phobia – “an irrational, persistent fear of some thing or situation.”

A phobia is a fear that persistently dictates your actions. A person who is arachnophobic won’t even go to a place where they think spiders are.

Their phobia dictates their actions even when the danger isn’t seemingly present.

That is what Peter says we should have.
We should constantly have a view of the judgment of God on sin, and that fear should continually dictate our actions.

It doesn’t mean we are scared of God.
But we treat Him “as Father”.

A boy who is genuinely afraid of his dad’s punishment will act right even when his dad is not around. That boy has a healthy fear of punishment.

He may respect his dad’s power.
And he may have momentary fright when caught in sin.
But he also lives with punishment in the back of his mind, and it dictates his life.

Peter says, because of God’s judgment, you should fear.
That fear will keep you doing right even when you don’t necessarily feel in danger.

This is what Jesus was talking about. Living with a view of judgment.
Matthew 24:42-51
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 4″But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Fear of judgment is a motivator to be holy.
WHY SHOULD I WANT TO BE HOLY?
Fear of judgment.

If you don’t choose to be holy, you obviously don’t have a fear of judgment.

First – The Promise of Recompense
#2 THE PRICE OF REDEMPTION
1 Peter 1:18-19

Peter says this is something else that you should know all the time.
Not only should God’s judgment always be in the back of your mind, but you always ought to know this as well.

The simple truth is.
YOU WERE REDEEMED

You were redeemed “from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers”

You did not redeem yourself.
“you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold”

You didn’t set yourself free. You didn’t pay off your creditors.
Someone else paid your ransom for you.

You were redeemed “with precious blood, as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

It would do us good to remember where we were before Jesus.
It can be summed up in three words: SLAVE OF SIN

Ephesians 2:1-3
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

We were literally Dead in Spirit, Desiring Sin, and Doomed to Suffer.
That was us.
We had chains, we were in bondage.
We were slaves of sin.
Holiness wasn’t even possible, it was beyond us, we were in prison.
BUT

Jesus came on the scene.
Matthew 1:21
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Romans 8:1-4
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Jesus came on the scene, and through His precious blood, redeemed us from sin. He paid our debt, He set us free.

He released us from that which kept us from being holy.
Now, since we have received such a gift, don’t you think we should make full use of it?

Would it not be a slap in the face to Jesus, if we return to the sin He died to release us from?

Romans 6:1-2
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

Romans 6:12-14
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Romans 6:20-23
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 12:1
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Holiness wasn’t even possible before Jesus freed us from sin, but now it is.
And because He paid such a high price for our freedom, shouldn’t we honor that by walking in it?

It is the attitude of gratitude.
If we are truly thankful for what Jesus did, then we honor Him by making full use of it.

One of the biggest motivating factors I had for being faithful to speak the truth in Africa, was that so many of you had donated money for me to go, and were giving of your time to pray for me while I was there.

If you were willing to pay such a price, the least I could do was show my appreciation by doing what you sent me to do.

That is a motivator for holiness.
If we don’t want to be holy, we don’t fear judgment, but we also aren’t very thankful for freedom.

First – the promise of recompense
Second – the price of redemption
#3 THE PRESENCE OF A RELATIONSHIP
1 Peter 1:20-21

Notice what Peter said in verse 20.
Jesus didn’t have to come, but He did.
He didn’t have to put on flesh, but He did.
WHY?
“for the sake of you”

Hebrews 2:14-15
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus came for you.
And “through Him” something happens.

You “are believers in God.”

Again, I want you to know how the Greek shows this.
The word for “believe” is PISTOS

It is not a verb, it is an adjective.
It is not talking about what you do, it is talking about what you are.

Because of Jesus, you are a believer.
Because of Jesus, you are a truster.
Because of Jesus, you are a faithful person.

He made you into a believer.
He thrust you into a relationship with God.

“so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Before Jesus, you could not get go God.
Not only were you bound by sin, but you were separated from God.
(THE VEIL)

But Jesus came and not only paid a high price to free you.
He granted you a relationship with God.

Romans 5:1-2
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

The motivation here is now we have a relationship with God, and just as in any relationship, we desire to please Him.

Because we have a relationship with God, we should be motivated by love to be holy.

We should want to be holy simply because that is what God wants.

1 Corinthians 13:6
[Love] “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

It should be our desire to be holy and pleasing to the God we love.
Ephesians 5:1-5
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

That is just it.
WHY SHOULD I BE HOLY?

You should fear judgment enough to be holy.
You should be grateful to Jesus enough to be holy.
You should love God enough to be holy.

The rich young ruler didn’t.
He didn’t fear judgment, he wasn’t grateful to Jesus, and he didn’t love God.

HOW ABOUT US?
Are we willing to be holy?

Are we willing to allow fear of judgment to push us to perfection?
Are we willing to allow gratitude to Jesus to make us holy?
Are we willing to love God enough to say no to sin?

1 Peter 1:14-16
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

 

1 Peter 1:13-16

This morning we studied a theological truth.
We learned why we can trust in God’s salvation.

This salvation is a real hope.
It has always been God’s plan.
It was long ago indicated to the prophets,
It was interpreted to the apostles,
It is enjoyed by the angels.

That is a theological fact you can hang your hat on
When things get difficult.

IN OUR TEXT TONIGHT, PETER GOES A STEP FURTHER
You will notice the word, “Therefore”.

You see the fact that God’s salvation is for real…
The fact that our hope is certain…
The fact that we can expect a perfect inheritance…
DEMANDS SOMETHING FROM US.

If we truly believe those things, then it will effect how we live.
TRUE FAITH ALWAYS DOES THIS.

Faith that doesn’t dictate your actions isn’t really faith.
If you truly believe something,
It is always evident by your actions.

So it only stands to reason that if we truly believe that this hope of salvation is certain, then it requires action on our part.
“Therefore”

Tonight we see what God expects of those who have hope.

If you have ever wondered what God expects of a believer, this is it.
3 things.

#1 TOTAL COMMITMENT
1 Peter 1:13

You see, there is nothing in God’s mind that allows
That you owe Him anything other than your very best.

He expects that if you are getting the better part of the deal,
That you will respond with a total commitment.
If He was totally committed to you in providing this salvation,
He expects that you will be totally committed to Him in living for it.

This verse gives us three aspects of how to be totally committed.

1) Proper Preparation
“prepare your minds for action”

I don’t know about you, but of all the battles I lose to the enemy,
I know where 90% of those are lost.

I lose them before I ever even fight them.
I never make up my mind ahead of time.

There will always be tests that catch you unaware.
There will always be instances that you were not ready for.
But that is not always the case.
Often times we know what God would have us do long before hand.

We must ready ourselves for the situation.
A good defensive baseball player.
“If the ball is hit to me, what am I going to do with it?”

A good defensive baseball player will prepare his mind ahead of time.
A good Christian should as well.
We know trials are promised.
We know we will be persecuted.
We know we will be put in difficult situations.
So prepare yourself ahead of time.

Every time someone calls the office to visit with me.
I don’t know if it will be good, or bad.
I always stop what I am doing, pray, and then get in the word.
I want to be prepared for whatever is about to come through my door.

Before we went to Africa, we knew the possibility of danger.
We had to prepare ourselves ahead of time for what we would do.

This is what God expects of you.

Luke 21:12-15 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”
1 Peter 3:13-17 “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”

God has told us we are strangers in the world.
God has promised us persecution,
God has promised us a reward if we pass the test,
So determine ahead of time to pass the test.

Prepare your minds ahead of time.
Paul did.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

Part of our total commitment is to be prepared ahead of time.
2) Proper Perseverance
“keep sober in spirit”

In other words be “self controlled”.

After you have prepared what you are going to do,
Then when the opportunity arises, be in control to do it.

This is no time to give way to emotions, or feelings.
You be in control at this point.

BASEBALL PLAYER
It would be foolish for a short stop to determine to ahead of time what to do
If he is not going to stick to his plan once the ball comes his way.

So it is with a Christian.
Not only should you prepare your mind ahead of time for action,
But you should be committed to it when the opportunity arises.

I find it tremendously unfortunate to find people
Who know ahead of time what God would have them do,
Only to see them run in fear at the point of attack
Because they decided to allow their emotions to rule them
Instead of them ruling their emotions.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 “so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Paul understood the importance of being in control of yourself.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

He expects preparation, and perseverance
3) Proper Perception
“fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Maybe you prepared ahead of time what to do.
Maybe the time came and you stayed in control and are following through.
There is one more important piece to the puzzle.

You must stay focused at all times on why you are doing it.

This is what keeps you going.

BASEBALL PLAYER
There has to be something that will cause a short-stop
To continually place himself in front a baseball
That is randomly bouncing to him at 100 plus miles an hour.

You remember that too.
We don’t prepare ahead of time and persevere through difficulty
Just for the sake of perseverance.

We do it because we know that we have a better hope ahead of us.
Listen to these motivations.
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

Hebrews 11:35-38 “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

Remember why you are paying the price.
This is essential if you desire to be totally committed to God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

God expects you to be totally committed.
If you are to be successful in this,
You must have proper preparation, perseverance, and perception.

Be ready and be committed.
#2 TOTAL CONSECRATION
1 Peter 1:14

In other words, be separate, be different from the world.
DO YOU KNOW WHY THE WORLD LIVES LIKE IT DOES?
Do you know why the world is so eaten up with money, and power, and fame?

Because they don’t have hope of anything better than this life.

To a lost world, this world is all there is,
And they had better get all they can.

BUT YOU SHOULD NOT THINK THIS WAY

God has promised you something better than this world,
And in return, He expects you to separate yourself from it.

Before salvation, you lived for these things too. We all did.
BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY WE DID?

We were ignorant.
“the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.”

A person who strives to gain the world is ignorant.
They don’t know there is something much better out there.

Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

If you and I both know there is something far better than this world,
Then don’t live ignorant like you don’t.

God expects us to separate ourselves from this worldly mindset.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

God expects total consecration from you.
AND WHY WOULDN’T HE?

He sent His Son to free you from sin,
And to give you a future and a hope
Above and beyond what this world has to offer.

IS HE WRONG TO EXPECT YOU TO LEAVE THIS WORLD IN EXCHANGE?

1 Peter 4:1-3 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”
SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM THE WORLD
BE DIFFERENT
Matthew 5:38-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

That leads us to our final point of what God expects.
#3 TOTAL CONFORMITY
1 Peter 1:15-16

Instead of patterning ourselves after the world’s model for a human,
Maybe we should set our sights a little higher.

In fact, God expects that we will.
He expects that we will change to look like Him.

He wants us to be “like the Holy One who called you”

Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

He expects you to have a passion to be like Him.
Philippians 3:10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

He says, “be holy yourselves also in all your behavior”

Meaning, He expects holiness from you all the time.
Not just on Sundays.

Isaiah 58:5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”

YOU SAY, WELL WHAT RIGHT DOES GOD HAVE TO ASK THAT OF US?
Verse 16, “because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Because the Bible says so.

Here is the crux of this passage tonight.
God has shown great mercy and given us a hope that we did not deserve.

And with that, He expects something in return.
He expects total commitment He expects total consecration He expects total conformity

DO YOU KNOW WHAT GOD EXPECTS FROM YOU?
He expects you to be just like Jesus (not a suggestion, a command)

You say, well that’s not possible.
2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

If you have everything you need to be godly,
Then that means godliness is a choice.

Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

You have the choice of whether or not to be like Jesus,
And God expects that you will.

It is not wise to be one who disagrees with the doctrine of godliness
1 Timothy 6:3-4a “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing;”

He expects you to be just like Jesus, and Jesus was:
Totally Committed – never losing focus on the cross.
Totally Consecrated – never seeking to acquire the world.
Totally Conformed – holy in every aspect of life.

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”