1 Peter 1:13-19 (verse-by-verse)

Passage: 1 Peter 1:13-19

Title: How to Respond to Our Great Salvation

Summary: Verses 13, starts with “therefore”, THE “therefore” is equivalent to, “in view of the fact that even though you are undergoing many kinds of trials (v. 6), yet because your heavenly inheritance awaits you” (vv. 3–6), and because you have so great a salvation (vv.5&9), a salvation so great the prophets longed to see it (vv.10-12), how then should we live……and the Lord goes on and gives us a roadmap peace and power for the child of God.

1 Peter 1:13–19 (NKJV) 13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Peter’s Credentials / Still Feeding

Written by the Apostle Peter, whose credentials have been challenged because of his lack of education and training; but Peter walked with the Lord, the second Apostle called, and all could see that his power and boldness came because he had been with the Lord. For 3 years he walked with Jesus step-by-step, and now it is 30 years since the resurrection and Peter is still faithfully doing what the Lord commissioned him to do, “feeding His sheep”.

The Dispersed

He is writing to the Believers that have been spread out, dispersed form their homeland, thrown into foreign countries. Many of them are struggling and suffering; but their greatest struggle is yet to come, for in just several months Roman Empire Nero is going to launch and all-out attack and persecution against Christians, and over the next 2 centuries over 6 million Christians will die for their faith.

Why Peter Writes / Remember

Peter tells us in the Second Epistle why he writes to them (and us), to stir us up, to remind us, that we hang on to the things we have been taught in the Old Testament, the Epistles of the Apostles, and the teachings in the Gospels. He says remember these things, hold on to them, no matter how hard life may get.

(2 Peter 3:1 NKJV) Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),

(2 Peter 3:2 NKJV) that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

Doctrine – Duty – Declaration

Peter pretty much breaks this letter into 3 areas. Doctrine, Duty, and Declaration; this book takes on the frame work of Ephesians, except Peter adds on the Declaration – The Lord is Returning – Remember that! Doctrine, what we believe and why. Duty, doctrine in action, living it out. Declaration, soon and very soon we are going to see the King, Hold-fast until then.

Doctrine: Remember Our Great Salvation (1:2 - 2:10)

The Certainty of Our Salvation (1:1 - 1:12)

The Calling with Our Salvation (1:13 - 2:3)

The Chosen of Salvation (2:4 - 10)

Duty: Remember Our Example Before Men (2:11 - 4:6)

Honorable Living Before Unbelievers (2:11 - 3:7)

Submission to the Government (2:11-17)

Submission to Masters (2:18 - 25)

Submission in the Family (3:1- 7)

Honorable Living Before Believers (3:8 - 12)

Submission to One Another (3:8 - 12)

Honorable Living in the Midst of Suffering (3:13 - 4:6)

The Principle of Suffering for Righteousness (3:13 - 17)

The Perfection of Suffering for Righteousness (3:18- 22)

The Purpose of Suffering for Righteousness (4:1 - 6)

Declaration: Remember Our Lord Will Return (4:7 - 5:14)

The Responsibility of Christian Living (4:7 - 11)

The Rewards of Christian Suffering (4:12 - 19)

The Requirements for Christian Leadership (5:1 - 4)

The Realization of Christian Victory (5:5 - 14)

Theme

He tells us to remember because of the theme of this book. The theme of this book is given to us in chapter 5:

(1 Peter 5:10 NKJV) But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

The word suffering is used 16 times, glory 12, and grace 8. Peter unties these 3 words to write a letter of encouragement to those who are struggling and suffering, that their suffering will one day be transformed into glory.

Perfect / Establish / Strengthen / Settled

He writes to us so that we may be:

· Perfect- (mature) which means to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to complete, to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust, to fit or frame for one’s self, prepare;

· Established– to set fast, confirm one’s mind;

· Strengthen – to make one strong;

· Settle – to lay a foundation.

Today’s Study

Verses 13, starts with “therefore”, THE “therefore” is equivalent to, “in view of the fact that even though you are undergoing many kinds of trials (v. 6), yet because your heavenly inheritance awaits you” (vv. 3–6), and because you have so great a salvation (vv.5&9), a salvation so great the prophets longed to see it (vv.10-12), how then should we live…… it starts with “gird up your mind”.

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

· Be Baptized In/With the Holy Spirit (1:15-16)

· Call to the Father (1:17)

· Living to Your Greatest Aim – Pleasing Him (1:18-19)

Prayer

The Word of God is Living and Powerful, and is ready, and will do a mighty work in our lives.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Every Study

· Who Is God? (How Great is He?)

· What Does He Think of Me? (How Wonderful Are His Thoughts Towards Me?)

· What Does He Want Me to Do?

· What Can I Boldly Request of Him?

· What Do I Need to Be on Guard of When I Leave Here Today?

Boldly come to the throne of grace, ask God to reveal Himself in a mighty way to you, and to do I might work in you, and through you.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

(1 Peter 1:13 NKJV) Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Therefore

THE “wherefore” is equivalent to, “in view of the fact that even though you are undergoing many kinds of trials (v. 6), yet because your heavenly inheritance awaits you” (vv. 3–6), and because you have so great a salvation (vv.5&9), a salvation so great the prophets longed to see it (vv.10-12), how then should we live…… it starts with “gird up your mind”.

Gird Up Your Mind

Verse 13 - Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, So verse 13 starts with "Gird up your mind." And he's going to start with, "Hey, if you're going through sufferings and you're going through hard times, gird up your mind." And the word there was used to take your garment which hung down around your ankles and your feet, and then to tuck them into the belt, kind of turning them into a pair of shorts if you would, so that you could run and you could move and you could not be entangled. And the Lord is speaking here, gird up your mind because we can come into suffering and then we can find ourselves coming into a collapse that under the pressure of suffering, we start to question our very own purpose, our very own plan, our very own being of God's pleasure, our very own, that this is the will of God in our life and we can start to question God for his faithfulness or we can question us that there's something wrong with us.

And so Peter is writing to say, gird up your mind. Don't let Satan find a foothold in there and start to mess with your mind dropping all these bombs that you then pick up and chew on.

Loins place of reproduction

The loins were a place of reproduction, simply that was the midsection, male and female. And God is speaking to us in a very illustrative, allegorical way to say, you need to gird up the mind in what it reproduces. And what's being said is that we can take this thought, whether it came from us, the world or the Devil, and then we can reproduce it into a whole birth of something that never really truly ever was in existence, but we conceived it just by the planting of a seed of Satan, into a lie about our very selves or that other person. It's what I call, it's the wiles of the Devil. It's the way, schemes, of the Devil.

Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV)11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Satan Plants Seeds (slander of people or slander of Devil)

And one of his greatest ways is to plant these seeds, whatever they may be, that this person did that to you or they gossiped or they slandered. And other people then join into the lie and you can see it start to take on a life of its own and you start feeling the burden of it. Or Satan comes and says, "You're no good." Or Satan comes and says, "How could you possibly be one of his? How could you be saved?" Satan comes and say, "Do you really think God would use you after these things?" Satan comes and just reproduces by planting one seed into fertile ground.

Satan (Looks Good Soil)

And we said in our last study, speaking of good soil, that when it finds good soil, it's 30, 60, 100-fold. Well, you know what? There's good soil that goes the other way too. But Satan can find good soil when he plants it and then it grows and it reproduces and it just goes and goes and goes. Then the harvest comes from it. But they're not a harvest of the Lord, the harvest of the Devil.

Matthew 13:8–9 (NKJV) 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Trial/Suffering Stabilize in the Word / Never Leave

So listen, when you come into a trial, nothing's going to stabilize you greater than the word of God as we'll see here in our next study, the enduring word of God. It brings the truth and the truth sets you free. It brings us stability that you can build your foundation on. It brings a power that you know what you're facing is something that you won't go alone because the word of God says, "I'll never leave, no ever will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5–6 (NKJV)5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

The word of God we stand on, John 6:37, "That all who will come to me. I will by no means cast out, never ever will I cast you out. If you can't go anywhere from me, there is no distance that you can go, no action that you could perform that would make me cast you away." And that's why we need to come to the word. That's why we need to come to corporate studies like this. That's why we need to be in intimate fellowships, one with another, so that someone can speak a word so that someone can break through.

John 6:37 (NKJV) 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

Learn of Me

The word of God as we've studied that says, "Come to me all you who labor heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Because he speaks of his very nature. The only autobiographical description of Jesus in all the scriptures is there in Matthew 11 where he says, "I am gentle and lonely, so come learn of me." He says, "I'm doing these things, that you might learn of me in my ways to perfection just as the Son learned from the Father and came into perfection." And yet he was sinless perfection. This is amazing for us. And what else is amazing that he would do the same for us and that we can embrace it and take it and say, yes, thank you Lord for these trials, these sufferings. I will rejoice as we've read in them because I know that you're doing something because you would never allow any harm to come to me except that which you purposed for me, for my good and for the good of others as you would use me as a light unto the world.

Matthew 11:28–30 (NKJV) 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Wow – Jesus Learned Perfection in Suffering

It says in Hebrews that Jesus learned perfection through suffering even though he was sinless. And so if Jesus learned perfection through the suffering, then we see the application and the applicability to us personally.

Hebrews 5:8–9 (NKJV) 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Jesus did not pass from disobedience to obedience. He learned obedience by actually obeying. Jesus did not learn how to obey; He learned what is involved in obedience. (Guzik)

“Obedience is a trade to which a man must be apprenticed until he has learned it, for it is not to be known in any other way. Even our blessed Lord could not have fully learned obedience by the observation in others of such an obedience as he had personally to render, for there was no one from whom he could thus learn.” (Spurgeon)

Peter is Encouraging the Saints in Midst of Suffering

Now Peter is encouraging the saints because they're in the midst of the suffering as we've noted 16 times in some form or fashion of the word suffer. We'll read and see the word suffering and it's not just limited to the saints, but it's also associated with the Savior. And so the Savior gives us nothing more in the fallen world than he himself has experienced. But he writes these things here for us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, written to us from a God who knows and understands and has experienced the same things that we experience in this world.

1 Peter 1:6 (NKJV) 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,

1 Peter 2:21 (NKJV) 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV) 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

And as we've seen and have discussed prior, that in this world we will have tribulation. That's a promise. And for whom the Lord loves he chastens. And there's a time that sometimes the very sufferings we have, is because the Lord is doing a work in us,

· whether that be corrective to change us from error into right

· or he's using it to work into us, perfection.

And those sum up correction or perfection. And of course the correction is a step into the perfection. So if God is chastening you, rejoice. Because it proves that you're His and that salvation has come, for who the Lord does not chasten is not His, clearly said. Hebrews 12 says that if you have no suffering affliction, then you're not a child of God. Which dispels today's American prosperity or doesn't even have to be prosperity, just good news gospel that everything is meant to be happy and they skip the part that it's not about happiness per se, but holiness. And when you're living in holiness, you'll find yourself truly filled with the joy of the Lord regardless of the circumstance.

John 16:33 (NKJV) 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Hebrews 12:5–11 (NKJV)5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

So – When Down we Might not Gird

So back to girding our mind, often when we're down and when we're burdened, we can find ourselves not girding our loins. And then all that just keeps coming is we just keep replaying and reproducing and propagating this seed that Satan has cast, whether it's doubt, division, destruction, his whole purpose, anything that he would spill is to steal, kill, and destroy. Whereas the word of God, whether we take it in our personal devotion or the word of God as we take it in this corporate setting or the word of God, as we have fellowship one with another, the word of God comes and does what it was designed to do. John 10:10, "I've come that you may have life and that more abundant and overflowing life." And it's not a prosperity materialistic health wellbeing, though that is always possible and there's not sin in that, of prospering in the day we live, but he's talking about something greater that we should all be seeking. The spiritual abundance, the spiritual life, the spiritual part of us that lives forever and that can change the world around us.

John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have itmore abundantly.

So as we see, Jesus was tempted in every point, yet was sinless. And that means what we would read, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

· The lust of the flesh is the fleshly desires that men and women will have to satisfy themselves.

· Lust of the eyes are the things that they don't have that would leave them dissatisfied very much into the coveting, "I want this. I feel like I deserve this. Or God's withholding this."

· And then the pride of life is what people say about us and what people think about us. Sometimes what they say about us isn't the same as what they think about us. They say one thing in your presence and then you hear conversations about you of that same person, the things they say to other people. Pride, everyone wants to be respected, everybody wants to be honored. But then there's the danger of wanting more than what God has established, or purposed, or ordained for a human some things only reserved to God.

Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV) 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

1 John 2:15–17 (NKJV) 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

And yet we see with Jesus, He was tempted in all these things. We see it in the 40-day wilderness, what Satan would bring, offer, name, satisfaction, "Turn the rocks to bread." Offers in the whole kingdom. The pride "If you really are the Son of God, throw yourself down." Satan always just goes back to the well, just know that. But Jesus was ready to defeat because He had girded his mind with the Word. And every point that Jesus countered was in the Word. In fact, there was three chapters of Deuteronomy (6,7,8). It tells me that was Jesus's morning devotion that He used for that day of attack. And hence where this, "Gird up your loins," and the point of the matter is that we never know when the attack comes. Jesus is in a wilderness. He doesn't know how long it would be, and He surely doesn't know when the devil's going to show up to strike. He just knows at some point he's coming to strike because that's what the devil does.

Deuteronomy 8:3 (NKJV) 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:16 (NKJV) 16 “You shall not tempt the Lordyour God as you tempted Him in Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:13 (NKJV) 13 You shall fear the Lordyour God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.

Be Ready to Move – Never know When

And we see a literal example so that we can apply spiritually. The children of Israel were told to have their garments girded on the night they were going to be delivered from Egypt. The Lord was saying, "Be ready. You're going." You have to understand, it's 400 plus years they have not been released. And yet on this night they're told, "Gird up, get ready, eat the Passover meal." And then in the morning they'll be on their way. And so there's this place we never know when we're going to be on the move, when we're going to have to make a response to the Word. So we have to always be ready to move. And so with the Lord speaking, you must be in the Word. You must always be ready in season, out of season. Every day you have to be ready.

Exodus 12:11 (NKJV) 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

Be Sober

Verse 13 - be sober, - Because it says, "Be sober." We know that word means not to be drunk with wine, under the influence of the world or anything of the matter. But our brother Peter also say, "Be sober because your adversary, the devil, seeks to devour you." There's a place our mind must always be set and steadied on God because of the woes and the ways of the devil.

1 Peter 5:8–9 (NKJV) 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV) 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Rest Your Hope

Verse 13 - and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ - In verse one goes on to say, "With the hope that we have of His coming." Peter saying, "Look, I know it seems like forever. It seems like it's long." When you put yourself in the midst of the moment, the moment seems like this speck that never ends in the huge timeline. But Peter's saying, "Don't look at your moment. Look at the moment that we'll see Him face to face when the clouds split, and He calls us home. And we rise up and we see Him." Whether that's age, accident, or the circumstances of the rapture, there'll be a moment that we're glad that we stayed the course.

Peter is Preaching & Strengthening & Encouraging

Peter's not just preaching and teaching. He's giving words to strengthen. And preaching and teaching is synonymous with words of strengthening for today. And of course, we can all fall into the trap. Now the words are about learning more information but miss God's work of transformation, God's promise that we're going to be out of here and then one day it'll be about casting our crowns before Him.

Reward

Jesus says His reward is with Him – at His coming:

Revelation 22:12–13 (NKJV)12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Paul, probably one of the greatest men of endurance. We read his sufferings and trials and all that would come against him, and all that he would forsake. He would deal with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. He said if he didn't hear the commandment of coveting, he wouldn't have known what the law was. Pride of life, he was one of the top men in all of Israel. Then he gave it up to be called a heretic, a man who lost his mind, a man who went mad, one who had such promise. People who were once his friend turning on him. Those that once sent him out and went with him to prosecute and persecute, now we're becoming the chasers to chase Paul down to persecute and prosecute. And yet Paul, we see his life as you do a cursory look just through the Scriptures, his continual looking forward to the reward that would be had for enduring.

1 Corinthians 3:14 (NKJV) 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

Colossians 3:24 (NKJV) 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 (NKJV) 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Romans 14:10 (NKJV) 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

The Greatest Reward

The greatest reward is Him. He's our reward. Whatever we cast at His feet is because we love Him. We say, "Worthy is the Lamb." Our great reward is Him and in His presence.

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

(1 Peter 1:14 NKJV) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

Conform (schematic)

Verse 14, the word conforming/fashion is where we get the word blueprint or schematic. And the world has a blueprint and a schematic, and we've all bought into it. And then the Lord tells us, but once you've been delivered and come into the saving knowledge, then you don't follow the schematic of the world. You don't follow the blueprint of the world. You have a new blueprint. You have a new schematic. You have the perfect impartation as Jesus Christ. He's the blueprint that we model and fashion and mold ourself into, not the world.

As Obedient Children / Some not Experiencing Love of God – not Obedient

Verse 14 - as obedient children, - Verse 14, it speaks of obedience, and in this obedience, we know the love of God. We know that by First John, chapter five, "Now this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Some people say they're not experienced the love of God in their life, and they wonder why, but here we come. If we're not being obedient to His commandments, then the love of God is not in us. That's what it says.

1 John 5:3 (NKJV) 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

People want to make it more complicated than it is. A lot of people have lots of questions in counseling, but it's always the first question that needs to be asked. When people say, "My relationship with the Lord is dry or empty or cold or loveless," it has to be, "Are you keeping His commandments?" Then it even goes 1 John 2:3, "By this we know that we know Him, that we keep His commandments." Just the very picture of salvation is that there's a desire for obedience, takes us back to girding up our loins, that we have to be on guard, that we don't find ourselves being drawn away by the snares of the devil, and we do that by saying girded in the word.

1 John 2:3–4 (NKJV) 3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

So, yes. Christians aren't sinless perfection, but the point that's being made here is the people who live in a habitual unrepenting lifestyle need to be concerned because it says by this, "We know that we know Him, that we keep His commandment." So the other way, by this we know that we don't know Him because we don't keep His commandments.

Reason Sin – Because not Being Fulfilled by God

Well, the reason we sin is because we're not being fulfilled by God. "He will supply all of our needs in Christ Jesus," Philippians four. That's more than materially and spiritually. He's on a spiritual plane. We're on a spiritual plane. And yes, that word applies for materialistic supply of God, but people sin because they're not fulfilled by God. And it's an indication that there's something off in the place of obedience.

Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

In Ignorance – But Now Know Better

Verse 14 - not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; - In verse 14 it says, "Before we knew Him, we sinned in ignorance." We're unaware. We weren't spiritually awakened to the spiritual realm of the holiness of God, and therefore what we did, we never were convicted of it in great ways because we were always just measuring ourselves according to the moral compass of the world around us.

Moral Compass of World – Just think World/church/Marriage of Be Holy as I Am Holy

And if you look at societies today, their moral compass is never a call or what they will call sin. No. Based on the world, what their definition of morals is, and so they change the bar to fit the society that they want to live in, but they don't fit the bar to God's holy standard, which is holiness and hence the call, "Be holy." Can you imagine in America where the standard of our moral compass was, "Be holy as God is holy"? Just think of what that would look like. Just think of the church. Just think of your home. Just think of your marriage. Might not be able to change a country, but we sure can change a church and a home and a marriage.

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

· Be Baptized In/With the Holy Spirit (1:15-16)

(1 Peter 1:15 NKJV) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

(1 Peter 1:16 NKJV) because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Imperative – Solemn Command / Standard Pattern - Conduct

1:15. “Be ye holy” is an imperative, a solemn command. Peter told believers that God who called them is “holy” (hagion, pure, blameless), and He is to be their standard or pattern in all “manner of conversation” (anastrophē, manner of life, behavior).

Harris, R. W., ed. (1989). Hebrews–Jude (p. 265). World Library Press.

1:16. Peter called upon believers’ reverence for the Old Testament by referring to Leviticus 19:2, “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” He says, “It is written” (gegraptai, it stands written). The written Word has special force, particularly the Scriptures. This was Christ’s defense when tempted by the devil: “It is written” (Luke 4:4). (Harris)

Leviticus 19:1–2 (NKJV) 1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lordyour God am holy.

Luke 4:4 (NKJV) 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

Be Holy – How? / by Being Filled with Holy Spirit

Verse 16 says, "Be ye holy, as I am holy." And part of us would immediately go, "Well, forget this. It's impossible to reach and maintain the calling of this standard until we come to who is he? He's the Holy God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I think sometimes we make it too hard upon ourselves and therefore we defeat ourselves rather than just coming to, "How do I fulfill this verse, 'Be holy?'" By asking God to give me the Holy Spirit. And as we're told to continually being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:11–13 (NKJV) 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

"Lord, give, pour, soak, saturate, move your Holy Spirit in my life, upon my life overflowing from my life." I can be holy through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I need to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then I need the work of the Holy Spirit.

· The gift of the Holy Spirit is going to come upon the day of salvation when we ask for the Holy Spirit. But in our text today, it's the working of the Holy Spirit and there's the working inside, conforming and transforming.

· Then there’s the working on the outside as he uses us in the ministry. You can’t have one without the other, when it comes to the working on the inside and the working on the other side. The two have to be one as holy vessels. So we say, “Lord, please anoint, soak, baptize,” which simply means to supply, “your Holy Spirit in my life so that I might be holy as you are holy.”

So we ask the Lord to continually pour in, fill in and drive out. Drive out what needs to be driven out, Spirit of the Living God.” And remember, he who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. This is a continual process. It’s a shaping, it’s a molding. We can say, “Well, why doesn’t the Holy Spirit just do it all at once?” And the fact is because then we wouldn’t be ready for it. We could never take a complete transformation because we’re still going to be left with our core person in us that would have to comprehend and understand all these things that have changed. And so God, in His grace, He gradually will change us. But that gradually can be daily. It doesn’t have to be yearly, but when you look at it by year, you’re amazed at what He did. And of course it was because every day added up to the year. It’s a daily thing we ask. It’s continually, Lord, that your Holy Spirit do a work in me.

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Oh Glory – I Don’t have to Live in Shame – I can be Changed

It's a beautiful promise. I don't have to live in shame. I don't have to live in defeat. I don't have to live that this is it, and it's never going to change. I'll never change. I'll always be the same. The situation will always be the same. You know what? Even through the Holy Spirit, even if you've been hurt and betrayed, mistreated, what the power of the Holy Spirit can do in your life, that you take all those things and still come out and be holy, Christlike and still love even after the pain. But the beauty of, there's no shame in that I don't have to live in this defeat. I can ask the Holy Spirit to do a work in me, and he will, because it's a promise that he will. And all the promises of God are yes and Amen. What a passage of scripture that we have here. And what a promise of God before us. You have before an opportunity to walk out here, a different person, a different being, one set apart fully for Christ and to live life. And that more abundant, just like promised in John 10:10.

John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Devil will Say that Lie – Hence why need to Gird

Of course, the devil wants to sit here and steal, kill, and destroy, tell you it won't happen. That's why you got to guard up your mind. If you don't guard up your mind, you'll never get down to this part, asking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and believing it's a promise that God will fulfill and do in your life.

Not Bizarre

People say, "Oh, Holy Spirit, that gets a little scary. It's stuff that is on the far end." What part of bizarrity is holiness? What part of victory is bizarrity? What part of overcoming all the vices and vows and wows of the world is bizarre. It's anything but. It's power and perfect power because it's coming from perfect love. And perfect love wrote this book because He wants to bring you into that perfection as we started with. And He might even use suffering to do the work in perfecting you.

Holiness Brings into Sweet Presence

The beauty of holiness brings us into a sweetness of the fellowship and the presence with God. Holiness draws us near to him because we don't have all that stuff that's polluting and distracting and dividing the relationship. He's offering us this sweet intimacy with him.

Don’t Grieve by Manner of World

Holiness brings me into a sweet, intimate fellowship with the Lord. What happens when I'm not guarding my mind and chasing the former conduct of old that I was therefore not being Holy, being common with the world? What happens? I grieve the Spirit. If I grieve the Spirit, how holy am I truly being?

Ephesians 4:30–32 (NKJV) 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Alone and Alone

When I am grieving the Holy Spirit, I can be in a room full of people and be absolutely lonely because my Spirit is being starved from the sweetness of the intimacy with God. But when I'm right and moving rightly with the Lord, I can be all alone and not be alone because I'm experienced the sweetness of the fellowship with God.

Witness the Glory

And Acts tells us, "And you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and be my witnesses." How are we witnesses? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. Everywhere we go, they'll see.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

If Being not Being Filled – Satan will Pound You

If you are being oppressed, depressed, darkness, and anguish, and not being filled with the Holy Spirit every day, Satan will pound you into those things of depression and loneliness and darkness and depths and despair because you have nothing to guard you. You have nothing to gird you. We need the Holy Spirit to speak his word, to comfort us, to guard our mind, to gird up our mind so that we reproduce the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is what we gird our mind with, the fruit of the Spirit, not the lust of the flesh or the lust of the world or the works of the flesh or the works of the world.

Galatians 5:22–23 (NKJV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

"Greater is he who is in you," that's the Holy Spirit, "than he who is in the world." Need you to call on that power because he that is in the world is constantly trying to press and pound you back into the world, conform you into it, or draw you back to walk in it. That's why you need to call and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

1 John 4:4 (NKJV) 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Ask for Holy Spirit – Then Obey

All that you need to do to receive this Spirit is to ask. Jesus makes it clear. As a loving father give his son and daughters what they request, so to our Father in heaven, more so. Then when he gives this Holy Spirit, it comes to what's being called and said for us here and now in our passage, Romans 12, to yield, to present our body as a living sacrifice, to yield to what he would speak and what he would call us to do and to be for him as witnesses.

Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what isthat good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

· Be Baptized In/With the Holy Spirit (1:15-16)

· Call to the Father (1:17)

(1 Peter 1:17 NKJV) And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;

Call – He Lives Make intercession

Verse 17, "If you call on the Father." And so we have this, gird up our mind, and then we get to release what we've protected, put it before the Father and call upon His name, and He's going to show up and he's going to work. Hebrews seven 25, "He lives to make intercession." It takes us all the way back, takes us back to what we studied, that Peter, he made it because what Jesus says, "I'm interceding for you, Peter. Satan desires to sift you, but I'm praying for you." So we know what that looks like and we see that Peter was delivered.

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Luke 22:31–32 (NKJV) 31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Fear & Awe / He is a Good Father

Verse 17, the fear spoken of here, it's a twofold. The word can mean awe. We live in awe that we've been saved and bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We live in awe that we've been delivered from the world. We live in awe that we're not who we once were. We live in awe of what he's doing and we shall be. We live in awe that one day we're going to see him face to face. We live in awe that he will never leave us nor forsake us. That's the word. As we live here, that we live in awe of what he's done in our life.

But the other word as it's used interchangeably is fear. We should live in fear that we don't grieve our Father in heaven, we don't hurt the one who loves us, just as any husband should grieve if they hurt their bride and break her heart, do anything that's displeasing. We should all have that. We should not only have that fear before God of grieving his heart, but we should have that fear and awe of grieving one of his children. That's the person sitting to your left or to your right. We should have fear that we could do something that could give people reason to fall away or to walk away, that we could live a life that says one thing but does another. We should live in that fear of breaking God's heart by sinning against him or breaking his heart by leading one of these little children astray, as he said, how it would grieve him.

How Call – Simple Prayer

Verse 17. He makes it so simple. "Our Father who art in heaven," that's what he says. In all of our need, he says ask. But he also in the prayer says, "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever." See, he takes our eyes off of silver and gold that the world fights over, willing to kill and steal and destroy over, and he says the true kingdom, the true glory is his kingdom. Here we have the calling to live as such because of the precious blood of the price that was paid for us. He's worthy to be lived fully, wholly unto.

Matthew 6:8–15 (NKJV) 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

· Be Baptized In/With the Holy Spirit (1:15-16)

· Call to the Father (1:17)

· Living to Your Greatest Aim – Pleasing Him (1:18-19)

(1 Peter 1:18 NKJV) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

(1 Peter 1:19 NKJV) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

No Longer Aimless / My Greatest Aim (please my Father) – What a Price Paid for Me

Verse 18. I'm so grateful my life has been redeemed and put on a point and a target, a trajectory that is sure and true. Oh, how I knew the aimless conduct of my life, traditions of fathers, the forth-telling of man of what was the way to live. It was aimless. It was empty. It was void. Then one day in February 1991, God showed me his heart, and I'll say my life changed through the revelation that I was precious in his sight. Called me to his own. I repented, I turned, I followed. He gave me a life with a purpose, with an aim. My greatest aim is to please him and to bring him honor. Then my aim to be the witness, to tell people, to rescue them, to be the instrument that God would use to put them on point, perfect point, a life that's not aimless, but a life that is purposeful. He continually reminds live purposeful, take aim, stay on target. That's what sin means. It means to miss the target, to miss the mark, to miss the bullseye. I say it often, if you aim for nothing, you'll hit it. You can't help but hit it. Hear the Lord giving us a word through our passage. Keep your aim, keep your focus. Just the very price that was paid for you tells you that your life has meaning. So let's live like it.

Live with Purpose

May we live with purpose, a clear aim, to be Living Sacrifices unto Him, that are living under the power (influence, supply) of His Holy Spirit!

Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what isthat good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

How to Respond to Our Great Salvation:

· Gird Up Your Mind (1:13)

· Burn the Blueprint of the World (1:14)

· Be Baptized In/With the Holy Spirit (1:15-16)

· Call to the Father (1:17)

· Living to Your Greatest Aim – Pleasing Him (1:18-19)

Prayer

The Word of God is Living and Powerful, and is ready, and will do a mighty work in our lives.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Every Study

· Who Is God? (How Great is He?)

· What Does He Think of Me? (How Wonderful Are His Thoughts Towards Me?)

· What Does He Want Me to Do?

· What Can I Boldly Request of Him?

· What Do I Need to Be on Guard of When I Leave Here Today?

Boldly come to the throne of grace, ask God to reveal Himself in a mighty way to you, and to do I might work in you, and through you.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need