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.”
