Steadfastly Seeking Sanctification ("Prepare to be Holy" [10OCT21] Redux)

1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, having girded your minds for action, being sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not being 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 conduct; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.””

Prayer: Gracious God, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from your mouth. Make us hungry for this heavenly food, that it may nourish us today in the ways of eternal life and holy living; through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Showing us the saving and sanctifying power of Your Spirit using Your Word to set apart Your People. Amen.

Introduction

Reusing sermons.....

How do we prepare for things?

Prepare - def. in a general sense, to fit, adapt, qualify for a particular purpose, end, use, service, or state, by any means necassary; to make ready; to set; to establish

Going out to dinner

A wedding

Building a shelf

Going to battle

PCC/PCI

JMPI, sustained ariborne training

No matter what you are preparing for, there are steps you must take to ensure everything turns out correctly; otherwise, you are “unprepared” - this is the diffrerence between “getting ready” and “being ready”

The three points of this sermon to be made today are: We are commanded to prepare, sharged not to conform, and called to be holy

Commanded to Prepare

1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, having girded your minds for action, being sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

There are three things within this verse that we are commanded to do; prepare our minds, being sober in spirit, and fix our hope on the grace to be revealed

“prepare” and “beinging sober” modify and describe how we fix our hope. but first we must deal with the “therefore”

“therefore” - 1 Peter 1:10-12 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, made careful searches and inquiries, inquiring to know what time or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He was predicting the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been declared to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”

Here we see the “therefore” in verse 13 referencing back to the “concerning this salvation” (v10)

“this salvation” is described in verses 3 through 12!

“Prepare” - This is not the word that is used in the translation I am preaching from this morning (LSB); but other versions translate “having girded” as the word prepare. Why is that?

First, that is what this word means in the Greek. “gird up” it is “an image taken from the way in which the Israelites ate the Passover with the liise outer robe girded up about the waist with a girdle, as ready for a journey. Workmen, pilgrims, runners, wrestlers, and warriors (all of whom are types of the Christian), so gird themselves up, both to shorten the garment so as not to impede motion, and gird up the body itself so as to be braced for action. The believer is to have his mind collected and always ready for Christ’s coming.” CCEWB

Luke 12:33 - 36 ““Sell your possessions and give it as charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “GIRD UP YOUR LOINS, and keep your lamps lit. “And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.”

Eph 6:14 “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”

“minds for action” - this is one word in the Greek; “understanding, thinking, feeling”

The Christian Mind:

Matt 22:37 “And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’”

2 Pet 3:1 “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,”

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Alistair Begg - “Don’t ask me how I feel…ask me what I know!”

Rom 7:25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Rom 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

1 Cor 14:14-15 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.”

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“being sober in spirit” - ESV, “sober minded”; speaking to self-restraint both in moral and spiritual disciplines

As we prepare ourselves we MUST guard ourselves

“Nothing should be more attactive to us than our relationship with Christ” - JMAC

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

Once we preapre our minds for action and ensure we are keeping sober in spirit...

“fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

This is true hope, Christ our Hope…the ONLY HOPE for the world!

Hope is the Christian’s attitude toward the future and cannot be seperated from faith which is out attitude concerning the present; the two are almost synonymous in nature

Heb 11:1Heb 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

1 Pet 1:31 Pet 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

Rom 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 boast in hope of the glory of God.”

Gal 5:5 “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.”

So verse 13 describes how we are to prepare ourselves and exist in light of Jesus our Hope

Charged to not conform

1 Pet 1:14 “As obedient children, not being conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,”

In between the call the prepare and the command to be holy, we are told what not to do...

“not being conformed to former lusts”

“conformed” - def. shaped or fashioned after

“lusts” (“passions” - ESV) - def. longing for what is forbidden, craving, desire

Gen 3:6 “Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

Rom 1:18-32 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

“which were yours in your ignorance” - lack of knowldge or “moral blindness”; this is not an excuse, justication, or an “out” for sin…this ignorance speaks to a time of not knowing Christ, not being without knowledge of doing wrong. Even without the clear teaching of Scruipture, sin is known and a moral law is written upon the hearts of all of creation...

Eph 2:3 “among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

Eph 4:17-18 “Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.”

Col 1:21 “And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,”

Tit 1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”

Gal 5:16-21 “But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you do not do the things that you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Called to be holy

1 Peter 1:15 “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct;”

“but” - our CWD, stands in contrast to the above, it is the antithesis to conform to the lusts of your ignorance

God has not chosen us because we were holy, or because he foresaw we should become holy, but in order that we might be holy.

Charles Simeon

Instead of igonrance, we conform to holiness in knowledge of Christ as revealed in Scripture

Col 1:15-20 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these things are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Being holy is the opposite of confroming to the world

Gal 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Be holy…in ALL behavior

“because it is written” - God has already said this to us! Peter is simply repeating it as emphasis within the Church as instructions for correct living

“holy” - gr. hag-ee-os, the most holy thing, a saint, pure and blameless morally / heb. eq. ka-dash, set-apart, consecrated

Gen 2:3 “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.”

Joel 3:9 “Call out this message among the nations: Set yourselves apart for a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the men of war approach, let them come up!”

But what is really the holiness of God? It means that He is transcendant about His creation. He is beyond it, above it, exceeded it.” and not in a way that He was ever in it, but He is intrincically transcendant above His creation.

We normally do not think about holiness in this way. We normally think is means that He is just really really really morally good or pure, and yes, that is part of it, but sich a small understanding of His true holiness.

Alot of our misconceptions, problems with theology, and religious misgivings come from a poor or low view of what God’s holiness means.

Exodus 3:14 “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’””

The name of God alone exudes His trancendance and holiness outsode of creation; the very fact that God simply points to His own existence when asked to name Himself shows that He is not anywhere near where we can properly understand Him, but only glimps Him through how He has revealed Himself in His Word

Paul Washer also points out to us that “inthe scriptures we find that the holiness of God is both preeminent tbad transcendent. It is preeminent in that no other divine attribute is so often declared and explained in the Scriptures. It is transcentdent in that there is simply no comparison between the holiness of God and that of any other being.”

Isaiah 6:3 “And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.””

Rev 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within, and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.””

This “holy, holy, holy” is refered to as the trihagion and represent the ONLY attribute of God to be repeated i nthis manner.

Christ was holy, yet lived among us…one of the greatest truths…and he suffered and died having done no wrong…another great truth…God’s holiness must be considered to really begin to grasp these things!

Lev 11:44-45 “‘For I am Yahweh your God. Therefore, set yourselves apart as holy and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that move on the earth. ‘For I am Yahweh who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’””

Lev 19:2 ““Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”

Lev 20:7 “‘Therefore, you shall set yourselves apart as holy and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God.”

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

Eph 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,”

Our call to holiness is not abour filling a certain role or behaving a certain way because someone is watching-God is always watching-it is because we bare His name and we called to holiness in all that we do because of Who Scripture reveals Him to be!

So What?

What does being holy look like?

For the non-beliver:

Become holy, sanctified, set-apart by responding the the convicting power of Scripture and the Holy Spirit; good works will not save you, church membership will not save you, repeating a prayer will not save you,

If you could pray the best prayer in the world without the Holy Spirit, God would have nothing to do with it.

Charles Spurgeon

trying your best to live a good life and be a good person will not save you.

Voddie Bachuam - “Hell is filled with people with people who didn’t smoke, drink, or cuss…because that does not save you.”

So what does save you? Christ…seeing your need to saved from your sin and from the wrath of God, repenting from your sin and crying out in faith and belief from the wrath of God to the mercy and grace of God in the Son of God thourgh the Spirit of God! Do not be in doubt about your salvation! This is one thing that you cannot go around being unprepared in! This is the most basic thing that a single soul can prepare for, and the first thing you must prepare for to have any hope in the next life.

Beliver, sure beliver, the one who has made their slavation sure through faith and belief, the one who has examined themselves and find peace safelu in the hand of the Father and in the arms of the Savior with the indwelling Holy Spirit…what does this all mean for you?

Fear the Lord…1 Pet 1:17-19 “And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your futile conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether.”

Josh 24:15 ““If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.””

The heart of the pastor / teacher

643I should like to coin my heart to pass it round to you in living medallions, bearing each one this inscription—for Jesus’ sake be holy. Unless you are a holy people, it were better for me that I had never been born.—30.368

Charles Spurgeon