1 Peter 1:13-16 - To Be Hopeful and Holy
Notes
Transcript
The Word Read
The Word Read
Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from 1 Peter 1:13-16:
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Behold, brothers and sisters, this is Word of the Lord. Please be seated. Let us pray.
Summation and Diagnosis
Summation and Diagnosis
I want to start this sermon by reading from a few different Bible passages that speak to the fruit of our lives. First, Luke 6:43-45:
43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Speech shows the heart of a person revealing what is hidden in the heart. Next, Matthew 7:15-20:
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
The inner life is shown by the works of a person. The fruit reveals the root. Finally, James 2:18:
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Genuine faith will produce fruit through the power of the Holy spirit in a true believer’s life.
In 1 Peter 1:3-13, Peter has given great assurance to the readers. We are born again according to the great mercy of God to a living hope and an eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-5). We rejoice in our trials knowing they cause us to grow in Christlikeness revealing our salvation is true (1Peter 1:6-9). We have much great privileges than the Old Testament Prophets and even angels because we’ve heard about the person and time of the Messiah AND we get to experience the work of salvation in our lives. I remember when this happened in my life. I remember Christ breaking into my heart as a college student. I became an entirely different person. I even remember overhearing my mom tell someone that I had laughed for the first time in a very, very long time. As you experience salvation, those around you notice it as well. They say things like “this is a brand new person”, “I don’t even recognize this person”, “they’ve come alive”. This is what people were noticing in my life. My good friend had noticed changes in my life and how I was living. Why do people say these things? Because they’ve literally become a new person. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:17:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
This type of transformation is spiritual, deals with the heart, and entirely dependent upon the Spirit of God. He brings new life into a person whereby they become a new creation. The old person is dead, no longer living, and God in His graciousness causes that person to experience the joy of new birth in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 1:13-2:10, Peter details why we should live with our new identity in mind. We are called, and God expects us, to live into our new identity in Christ. The sermon title today is “to be hopeful and holy”. I have 1 Peter 1:13-16 broken down in to two sections. 1) To be hopeful (1 Peter 1:13) and 2) To be holy (1 Peter 1:14-16). Again, the sermon title today is “to be hopeful and holy”. I have 1 Peter 1:13-16 broken down in to two sections. 1) To be hopeful (1 Peter 1:13) and 2) To be holy (1 Peter 1:14-16).
1 Peter 1:13 - To Be Hopeful
1 Peter 1:13 - To Be Hopeful
Now, let us look to our text. 1 Peter 1:13:
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
This verse functions as a transition verse or a hinge verse. Think of a door as every door has hinges. You walk from one room into another room through the door. This verse transitions the reader out of the praise of thanksgiving or worship into how a person should live in light of being born again. However, did you notice what Peter did in his epistle? He first causes the believer to turn their attention to God in praise and then gives imperatives/commands on how to live out their Christlikeness. Holy living is always placed within the context of worship. Worship drives holy living. As Scripture says in Romans 12:1:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
How does this transitional verse help us to live a worshipful, holy life? First, we must prepare, or literally to gird up the loins of our minds for action and become sober-minded or self-controlled. What are we to do in light of this? Here’s the command - set your hope. In what capacity? Fully/totally/completely. On what? The grace that will be brought to you. When? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. Let me go back again and read this so you can feel the transition from worship to holy living. Listen closely and look at the Bible if you have it in your hand or on your smart phone. What are we to do in light of preparing our minds and becoming sober-minded or self-controlled? Here’s the command - set your hope. In what capacity? Fully/totally/completely. On what? The grace that will be brought to you. When? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. Wow!
When Christ returns in all His glory and slays all His enemies including death and Satan, the fullness of grace and salvation will be brought to us. We will enjoy God fully in a way we never have been able to experience here on earth. Revelation 21: 1-5:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
One day this will be yours if you are in Christ. Peter calls us to set our hope on this now, but why? Why should we do this when the world is utterly chaotic? Why should we do this when nations rage against other nations? Why should we set our hope here when the trials of this life seemingly block out all that we would consider good? Why should we when our attention is consumed by aching bodies and wounded hearts? Why? Because of 1 Peter 1:1:
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Why do set our hope to the coming glories? Because this is not our home. This place that is being ravaged by sin, the enemy, and worldliness is not our home. We are the exiles who have been rejected by this world, but chosen by God. We are the redeemed. We are the ones who will rise again to a glorious future. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God, and enjoy Him forever. What is our only hope in life and death? That we are not our own, but we belong to God. In life and in death we set our hope, fully, on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Follow Him fully with a hopeful heart of what He gives upon His Second Advent. John 10:27-28:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Follow me home says the Great Shepherd. Brothers and sisters, follow the Great Shepherd home setting your hope fully on the grace that is to come when He returns.
1 Peter 1:14-16 - To Be Holy
1 Peter 1:14-16 - To Be Holy
We now move to our second section in the passage - to be holy in 1 Peter 1:14-16. Let us reread the text:
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Did you know that there are over 1,000 commands given in the New Testament to believers? Over 1,000 commands that the Lord expects us to obey. Unfortunately, the Christian message can become simply about justification, that we are declared righteous by the work of Christ and are in right standing with God, but obedience to God is overlooked. This is not a biblical understanding of salvation. Salvation is not simply praying a prayer and then living however one desires. Obedience to the Lord is required of His children. Look up a few verses to 1 Peter 1:2:
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
You see that right there in the text? Obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with His blood - covenant language echoing Exodus 24 . We pledge our obedience to Jesus Christ in the New Covenant. We say, all my life is your’s and I will live entirely for you. Now, this type of living can only be achieved as a result of being bought, being saved, being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and by being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This type of obedience cannot be attained by natural means, but only through supernatural means. It is impossible for the unbeliever to be an obedient child to God. They are by nature children of wrath. However, for us, the expectation is not just for us to lazily sit back and be passive in our walk with Christ. There is the expectation, and notice it is given by the Father, that we are obedient children. This past week we’ve had multiple friends from our past come and visit. The fellowship has been rich and sweet. Before they came, we picked up/cleaned our house. The expectation was clear for our children - pick up/clean up your rooms and play areas. What did we expect from them? Obedience. We expected them to listen and to obey. Likewise, God expects us to play an active role in our Christian living. He expects us to be obedient. Not because we need to be obedient to become His children, BUT we are obedient because we are His children. We are saved for good works (Ephesians 2:10). This desire to obey and ultimately to actually obey God is a result of our new identity in Christ Jesus. Thus Peter can write, you are obedient children.
As obedient children, how are we then to live? Not being conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. In other words, your new identity (child of God, one pledged to Jesus and bought by His blood, Spirit-filled) requires a new way of living. That old creation, that dead man’s life has no part in the Kingdom of God. The ways of living that are accepted by the world, that are accepted by your unsaved family and friends, are not accepted in the Kingdom of God. We are called to love one another as brothers and sisters. We are commanded to bear one another’s burdens. We are expected to fight sin every day with gospel weapons. Our way of living is strange and alien to this world because we are foreigners living in a barren land looking to fields of green pastures in New Jerusalem. God help us if we love the passions or cravings of our former ignorance more than the ways of the Kingdom of God. Did you notice what he calls those passions? He calls them former ignorance - former ignorance. Prior to salvation, which is the former, we were ignorant of God, His redemptive work, and all His beauty. This rejection kept us in a state of bondage sitting under the power of sin. Do you still love the passions of your former ignorance? Do the cravings of the old life have a hold of your heart this morning? As obedient children, we are not to look back and engage in the passions of our former ignorance, but instead are to cast our eyes on Christ and live into His Kingdom by the Spirit’s leading.
If we are not to live in our previous way of life, how then are we to live? What does Peter say:
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
There are three foundational truths in these two verses. First, we see the character of God - He is holy. Second, we see that we are commanded to be holy in all our conduct. Third, Peter roots what he writes in the Old Testament - Leviticus to be exact. We will start with the third truth first. The statement “be holy because I am holy” is recorded four times in the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, 20:7-8, 20:26). Now, I know what you are thinking - Leviticus? Really Peter? I stop by Bible reading plan when I get to Leviticus. Genesis, good stuff. Exodus, wonderful. Leviticus, nope, let’s just trudge through this. I’m sure most of you would say that Leviticus is boring, strange, and I would never want to work through this book in an in-depth study. Leviticus is probably your least favorite book of the Bible. However, Leviticus plays an integral role in the Pentateuch. Leviticus falls in the middle of the Pentateuch and is the center of the first 5 books of the Bible. There is a period of one month between the ending of Exodus and the beginning of Numbers. The book of Leviticus occurs in the time period and the book answers one major question - How can a holy God dwell with an unholy people? Leviticus is all about holiness. The word for holy means to “separate” or to “cut”. Peter quotes Leviticus 19:2 revealing that the authority of the Old Testament still applies to the Christian, as it did with the ancient Israelite, but we are no longer bound to follow the Levitical codes because they’ve been fulfilled in Christ. The application to be holy still applies to us as we are no less the people of God than the Israelites were in the wilderness.
The second truth we will look at in these verses is God is holy. There are two verses that immediately come to mind - Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8:
3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
Notice that these verses do not say God is holy or God is holy, holy, but God is holy, holy, holy. The word repeated three times means that something is to the highest degree. A child might even say “God is holy to the bizzionenth degree”. He is separate from His creation. He transcends all living creatures. He sits enthroned with beams of glory radiating around. He is entirely sacred. He is set apart for His own glory. Words fail to describe the holiness of God. Have we mediated on God’s holiness? Have we understood that His holiness is to the highest degree? Scripture does not say that God is love, love, love, but God is holy, holy, holy.
What is our command in response to God being holy? Be holy in ALL your conduct. The great J. C. Ryle once said:
Revelation and God (Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 1) God’s Holiness and Our Holiness
Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God … hating what He hates—loving what He loves—and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.” A holy person will “endeavour to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment.” He will “strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.
We battle for holiness each and every day of our life. We are summoned to be holy as God is holy. Here is our reality, we are unable to do this on our own. The type of holiness Scripture speaks of here can only come through the work and power of God. As the Father is holy, He begets a child in His own image. We should have a childlike faith, reverently fearing the Father, seeking to please Him by living a holy life.
Our question is how do we live a holy life? First, we must understand that these answers are found in the Word of God. We cannot know how to live holy unless we read and study His Holy Word. So first, we must intentionally make time each day to seek God in His Word. Second, we must know that being holy requires being separate from the world. We should live different than the world around us and this should be noticeable. If your unsaved neighbor, friend, or family member were to shadow you for 24 hours would they notice you are different than them? Would they see you spending time with the Lord in His Word, in prayer, in meditation, or would they see the same life they live? So second, our lives should be different than the world. Third, holiness requires killing sin in our own lives. Romans 8:13:
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
We strive to put to death our lustful desires by the power of the Spirit. As John Owen famously quipped, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” We must remove ourselves from situations and places that cause our sinful passions to be enflamed. Our pursuit of holiness is an all-out pursuit to mortify the sin that lies within. Will we ever be able to mortify all the sin in our hearts this side of heaven? No, but we should strive to kill sin at the root as we seek to live holy lives, pleasing to God. What is our hope in all of this? God is the one who causes you to
Conclusion
Conclusion
As Christians, our living fully for God is in the context of worship. Yes, we worship on Sunday mornings, but this type of worship is daily. We offer our lives up to the Lord as a living sacrifice to Him. In this living, we are commanded to be hopeful looking to the Second Advent. We are in the final week of advent as Christmas is tomorrow. Are you setting your hope on the grace that will be revealed when Christ returns? Many of us are dealing with difficult situations this morning. For some, this is the worst Christmas you’ve ever had. You’ve received a bad report recently, but is your gaze on Christ who is to return? Look up higher than you circumstances and look upon the loving face of Christ who loves you unconditionally.
In your gazing, seek to live a holy life as the one who called you is holy. His holiness is beyond words. His holiness is beyond what this universe can handle or even fathom. As you sit here this Christmas Eve morning, do you have a hope when coming in contact the overwhelming power of a holy God? Do you have hope in the holy Mediator or do you stand before the holy God with no hope? The babe, Jesus, who was born 2,000 years ago is the one who lived a perfect life on your behalf. He is the one who went to the cross for your sins. He hung on the cross taking the wrath of God on your behalf. Do you know Him? Have you surrendered your life to Him? Have you pledged your life to Him? Do you have forgiveness of sin? If not, Christ stands before you this Christmas Eve morning. He will save you if you cry out to Him. You will have a hope of the grace that will be yours when He returns again and He will give you the Spirit who will help you to live in holiness as He’s called His children.