Be Prepared

In 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter addresses Christians who are facing persecution and reminds them of their hope in Jesus Christ. He encourages them to be holy and to have a mindset prepared to live in a manner that glorifies God. Peter emphasizes the importance of being obedient children of God and not conforming to worldly desires. He reminds them that they have the Holy Spirit within them to guide them toward godliness. The key message is to live in a way that reflects their identity as children of God and to be holy as God is holy. But tonight we're going to be in 1 Peter chapter 1, we're getting back into 1 Peter, so 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 13. And if we can, we're going to try to read in the form like we've done in the past. I'll read the first verse, we'll all read the second, I'll read the third, all the fourth until we finally get to the end. At which, on the 25th verse, we will all read together. So, starting out, it says in verse 13, if you're there, So be ye holy in all manner of conversation together. It's written, be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect to persons judgeth together according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with breathful things of silver and gold from your vain conversations received by the traditions of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot, who barely was ordained before the foundations of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Who by him do you believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls and obeying the truth of the Spirit unto the unsaved love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is of the grass, and all glory of man is of the flower of grass, and the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falls away together. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. Let's go to God in prayer. God, we come to you now, which is thank you for this time that you've given us, Lord, to worship you this evening in song, and Lord, as we're getting into your word study, and God, I just pray that you will help us to apply what you teach us through your word to our lives that we may glorify you. Lord, I pray that you'll bless these youth that are growing daily, and you, God, to see the extensive leadership they're taking and even their spiritual fruit that's being shown. God, we praise you for it, and Lord, just ask you to bless that, that they may grow more and more. Lord, I ask that you'll help us all to serve you in unity, that you may be glorified in this church and this body. God, I ask that you'll be with me as we dive into your word this evening, that you will have said only what you once said. Use me as an instrument, Lord, and work with your Holy Spirit now within our hearts that we may do as you would have us to do. Thank you, Jesus, for all that you do. Most of all, salvation and the hope of your resurrection. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, up to this point, Peter has written about talking to the Christians and letting them know or giving them a little consolation because they have been persecuted. They have gone through hard times that would cause anybody to stumble, anybody who wants to kind of veer away from the faith and leave Jesus behind so that they can live. But, with that, Peter reminds them about their hope in Jesus Christ and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, that even though all this is passing, all this is going on, this is not the end. And now we come up to verse 13. We see that the gospel was desired to have been seen by those who have prophesied it. We see that the gospel was something that, yes, it was prophesied about. We could see it. We come down to verse 13, finally, where it says, Wherefore, dirteth the loins of your mind. And in this, before we get into what we just read and start really digging into it, I want to ask the question, Do we have many things that pull our attention away from the Lord Jesus Christ in this world? I think that's an obvious yes. What does that have to do with the message this afternoon? You see, the thing is, though, we have so many things that pull us away, and not just persecutions. There are different things that can come on that Satan will try to use to veer us away from the narrow road, to veer us away from Jesus Christ. But likewise, we have many temptations in this world that really get our focus off of where we are going and who we are living for today, if that makes sense. And so, we as believers, we must remember who we belong to, where we are going to, and what we are to be doing while living in this world. And we come on and we look at verse 13. It says, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I think that idea of girding up your loins doesn't necessarily need to be preached again, but I will say that it is an idea of preparedness. It's an idea of getting ready. Of course, Brother Donnie gave the example and showed exactly what it meant physically for the Roman soldier or for the common man as they were going out to work. Tying up their robe and their belt so that they wouldn't trip over it. Of course, men and women both wore that flowing robe of top stuff. But we get into the point of it though. It says to gird up your loins, but it says specifically, gird up the loins of your mind. Gird up the loins of your mind. So yes, God is talking about getting ready, but what are we getting ready? We're not getting ready to go out and physically fight a battle. We're not getting ready to go out and physically combat, but we are getting our minds ready to live in this world, and live in a manner that is holy, and live in a manner that glorifies God, and live in a manner that keeps our focus where it needs to be. It says get your mind ready, practically speaking. Of course, we can see this idea, okay. So Jesus says that He did not come to bring peace. He says that He came to rather a sword. He said in 1 Matthew 10, verse 34, Think not that I have come to send peace on earth. I have come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and daughter, against mother and daughter in the law, against mother in law. And a man's foe shall be they of his own household. He that loveth his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his frost and follows after me is not worthy of me. And he that finds his life shall lose it, but he that finds his life for my sake shall find it. And so we have this idea of a mindset. Yes, it's going to be contrary to the world, and we're going to have battles against it. We're going to have persecution that can rise up because we're not going with that. And so we keep on going down, and so we see that Peter tells us, to gird up our loins of our mind. But not only that, he says to be sober. Be sober. And hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Of course, that idea of to be sober means this, to be self-controlling. We can see how that would be definitely necessary in living for God. We continue on down, and it says the hope for the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So remember, in that idea of Him talking in the context of persecution and different things, remember that. Where are we going to? We continue on to verse 14. It says, As obedient children, not fashioning up yourselves according to the form of lust, in ignorance. Now we come down, and it says, as obedient children. As obedient children. And this brings in this idea that we have to remember. I made the statement at the beginning of the message. We have, for the believer, we must remember who we belong to. We see in verse 14, as obedient children. Well, who are we the children of? Who are we the children of? Are we the children of the world, or are we the children of God? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, and I pray that you have. You've come to that, knowing that you're a sinner and needing salvation, and come to Him and asking and faith for salvation. And at that point, we become children of God. We have been adopted into His family. It says, as obedient children. It brings it down to that personal level and really makes it distinct. Romans 8, verse 14-6 says this, For as many that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For as many that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage against the fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby you have a father. It says, as children, not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust, in your ignorance. And so, as children of God, we have the Holy Spirit living within us that will guide us unto all godliness, that will lead us to Him, to do as He would call us to do and have His works done in our lives. Of course, we see there in Romans chapter 8, it says, those that are led by the Spirit are of God. But, how does this happen? How can we live in such a way, not fashioning ourselves according to the form of lust and ignorance, in that time that we didn't know of Jesus Christ or in that time that we were not saved? Or even as we're saved and we realize that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that these things that we were doing do not line up with what God says. And as we are living, we can live as obedient children through the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter 15, it says, but it's He that is within you, but it's He that which called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. And so, how can we be holy as God is holy? These different changes that we see that's only brought about through the Holy Spirit, we can go to Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Romans chapter 12, verse 1 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, be by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as living sacrifice, wholly accessible unto God, which is your reasonable service. Remember, talking to children, talking to brothers and sisters in Christ. And it says, but be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. See, this process that only happens through the power of God is something that's gradual as, one, we submit ourselves to God, we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, and two, we separate ourselves from doing the activities of the world when we seek God. That's why it says, to be not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind. And how do we know what's good? How do we know what's right? Of course, the Holy Spirit's always going to point us to one source. That is His Word. That's the Word of God. And as we are in the Word of God, we can see what He desires for us to do. We can live holy as He has called us to be holy. And we can glorify God in that, through that process of renewal, of sanctification, if it's only through God that it happens. And as we see that, as you are being renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 9 says, For the fourth fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. You will naturally see all the fruit of the Holy Spirit seen in these three different types of categories. Goodness, righteousness, and truth. They all match up. And so we continue on in verse Peter, chapter 1, verse 17. So who do we belong to? We must remember, who do we belong to? We must remember where we're going to as well. We go on to verse 17. It says, And if you call on the Father, who without respect to persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Now, I want to take on this verse 17 and break it up into three parts, ok? Verse 17 says, And if you call on the Father, if you are a child of God, calling on Him, your Father. Of course, Romans, it says that our spirit, I forget the exact word, it says with connection with His Spirit and that we desire Him, we call Him our Father. And it says, if you call Him as Father, that reaffirms that sonship that we have in Him. We go down, it says, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. We have a time, we have a time out there that has the phrase on it, redeeming the time. Redeeming the time. As we are children of God, yes, all these things may be passing about around us, there may be things that would try to draw our attention away from Him, but it says, and if you call Him as Father, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear or with respect, using the time that God has given us. Because we do not belong to this world and this world is not the end. We continue on and we look there at the center of the verse. Verse 17. And it says, that same Father that we are calling on, who without respect for persons judges every man's work. And because God is going to be looking at our works, what we do, we need to pass the time here in fear that we are not necessarily scared of every moment, but that we take advantage of every moment and utilize every breath that we have, every minute that we have, for His glory. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 speaks on this. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. It says in verse 11. For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build on this foundation, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare, because it shall be revealed by fire, the fire shall try every man's work. And what sort it is, if any man's work abides, which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. And if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, and he shall be saved, yet so is by fire. Know that you are not the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth within you. If any man defile the temple, him shall God destroy, and the temple of God is holy, which the temple you are. And so God's going to look at our works. God's going to look at everything that we have done in our lives, examine it after the point when we are before Him, the judgment seat of Christ. And He's going to say, well, what have you done with the life that I've given you? Has it been wasted? Is it built? Have you built all the salvation that I've given you, wood, hay, and stuff? Will you gather up a good bunch of kindling? Or is it things that are lasting that will not be burned by fire? We continue on to verse 18. It says, For as much you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible goods, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation perceived by the traditions of the Father. So now, pay attention to this, because Jesus Christ, through the poor Peter speaking, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, brings it in to remember that why should we live this life in fear? Why? Yes, because the works are going to be judged. But also, beyond that, what has God done for us? He gave His only begotten Son for us. And in giving His only begotten Son, He desires that we live for Him. He did not, for our salvation is not paid for by gold. We can't gather enough wealth to have paid for our salvation. We can't earn it. Our salvation was redeemed not by corruptible things like that, silver, gold, money, anything that we can gather. And then it goes on beyond that and says, not just silver or gold, from your vain conversations received by the traditions of your fathers. Now, what was the way that the Pharisees thought that they could have salvation? By living according to the law, right? By doing good. And hopefully doing good enough that God would accept. That was the mindset. That's the mindset of many different people. You go and talk, and I know I've mentioned it before, is you go to the country boy and you talk with him about how are they going to go to heaven. Well, I sure hope so. I do as good as I can. Or you just talk with anybody in the community. I do as good as I can. I seem to be a pretty good person. I haven't done as bad as this other guy. But, you know, surely God would let me in heaven because I'm a good guy. That same type of mindset doesn't miss. Peter's talking more about that tradition that was passed on by the fathers that we can see even in Paul's mindset. As he was going out persecuting Christians, he received the law. It says that he was one that would follow it. But even that wouldn't save him. It says in Galatians 4, verses 4-5, But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. See, the law that was given in the Old Testament was not for our salvation, but rather was made to show us that we are sinners and that we need a Savior. And under that law, Jesus was born under the law, lived in perfection under that law, died as a sacrifice according to that law, and gave us salvation through Him if we are to accept it. And that salvation, of course, only comes through His blood. It says, verse 19, But with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Of course, that brings to mind Passover. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7 tells us that Jesus is our Passover. And what is Passover? That's going back to Exodus where God sent the plagues on Egypt and the final plague came through the death of the firstborn. And God had given instruction to the people of Israel that you will find the lamb, examine it, make sure it's spotless without blemish, paint and sacrifice it, kill it, paint the blood on its post, on the door post, and eat that lamb that night. And Jesus is that same representation, that same Passover, that same lamb that we needed so that we can be saved and so that we can be spared. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22 tells us this, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Of course, the Jews, they would go back year after year after year sacrificing their lamb, sacrificing so that they could have forgiveness of the sin for that one year. But yet, that was not sufficient for salvation. So Jesus Christ came according to the law and died as that lamb pictured. We continue on in 1 Peter 1, verse 20-21. And it says, Who barely was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Who by Him do you believe in God that raised Him up from His dead and gave Him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. That foreordained sacrifice before the world, that was Jesus Christ. And we see that in Genesis 3, verse 15, where God tells Satan that there will be a seed born of woman and you may bruise His heel, but He will crush your head. And He won over death. He claimed victory. And it says, By Him, that One, Who by Him do we believe that raised Him up from the dead and gave glory that your faith and hope might be in God. We continue on to verse 22. And it says, Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfailing love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God. For all flesh is as grass and we call the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower thereof falls away. But the Word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the Word by which the Gospel is preached unto you. And so I said at the beginning, we must remember who we belong to, we must remember where we're going to, but also we must remember where we're going to while living in this world. Of course, it says there in verse 22 that seeing you have purified your souls, obeying in truth in the Spirit, living for God in this life. We're not born of a corruptible seed, but an incorruptible, by the Word of God. And through that, we can have life and life everlasting. And as we are living in this life and as our musicians come forward with the invitation this evening, it says that the grass of the field, it withers away. See, the things in this world, things that we see, will not last. And eventually as we see winter, year after year, spring, summer, fall, winter, we see trees coming up, we see the leaves sprouting out, we see the leaves falling down and then dying and decaying. But there's going to come a time, there's going to come a time, we were able to talk about this in my class on Wednesday night, that one day, all of these things are going to come to a culmination when God comes to redeem this world. When God comes to redeem this world. And all of these things will pass away. It will be burned up in a fire of heat, it says, to be specific. But His Word will remain, and His Word remains true. And just like He says that He will make a new heaven and a new earth, and He will come and dwell with us, He will give us responsibility, He will give us treasures that we will be able to give back to Him, but we must remember to live this life in fear, this whole journey in fear. Remember who we belong to, where we're going, and what we are to do while we are here. So keep that in mind. And as we stand for the invitation, have you made a decision for Christ as Savior? Are you saved? If you are, amen. Praise God. But if you are saved and you're living and you think, well, I'm not living in a way that would glorify God. I'm not living in a way that sets my sights on heaven and not placing treasures in heaven, then tonight is the night to make that change, to rededicate and to look and to live towards God and for His glory as we sing.