Arguments for Holy Living part 1 - 1 Peter 1:17-21 - April 25, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for April 25, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 1 Peter 1:17-21 Arguments for Holy Living part 1

Good morning! Once again we are back in 1 Peter chapter 1, this morning we are going to look at verses 17-21, that’s page 1014 in the pew Bibles.

Our text for this morning contains what is called, a “conditional statement.”

A conditional statement is a statement that uses the words, “if,” and, “then.” 

“If you want to play outside, then you must finish your supper.” That’s how conditional statements work.

This morning’s conditional statement is not an argument for eating your vegetables however, it is an argument for holy living, which, I suppose is a spiritual parallel to eating your vegetables…

Let’s look at our text.

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Let’s pray.

Now you may remember the context of what Peter was writing here. He has addressed the great worth of the gospel, that wonderful treasure that we have, and also the hope that we have as a result. Because we have faith in Christ we have a confident expectation that when He returns we will come into possession of our glorious inheritance in His eternal kingdom.

Not only that, but with the hope of that future grace in view, with sober-minds, and the loins of our minds girded up and ready for action, we must act as obedient children of our Heavenly Father.

And what is the word we use for acting in this way? Holiness.

Our passage last week ended with the words, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

So here comes our conditional statement:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, [then] conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…

Now I want to make something clear right off the bat because we are going to be addressing our behavior here this morning: I am not talking about living in such a way that earns salvation or favor with God.

JP Lange wrote “The Scriptures uniformly teach that forgiving grace is not conditioned by any work; it is absolutely free and unmerited and presupposes nothing beyond a penitent mind and an appropriating of the righteousness of Christ; but it insists upon a life corresponding with the will of God, and even supplies the strength to lead it. Faith must work by love. It is the living root of all good works, while unbelief is the father of every sin. God looks upon the life of a man as one connected work.”

So again, to be clear, holy living is not an effort to earn forgiveness, nor earn salvation. Holy living is living in light of our forgiveness and salvation. Peter calls this, “conducting yourselves in fear during the time of your exile.”

Conducting ourselves in fear, just as Peter commanded those First Century believers, is a command for us. “If you call on Him as Father… Then conduct yourselves in fear.”

But what exactly does Peter mean by, “fear?”

In this context, the word fear does not mean terror, but reverence, not horror but awe and profound respect.

Jesus said in Luke 12:4-5,

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Lange also wrote, “Fear not, but fear, and therefore fear, that you may not fear.” If we fear God, meaning living in reverence, awe, and profound respect of our Heavenly Father, then we have nothing to fear from man nor the devil.

So here are the arguments for holy living within these few short verses. True faith is not a hollow dream nor hollow talk but holy living in the fear of God, holy living in loving reverence of our Father.

The first argument for holy living (and you may be surprised to hear that there are not three of these) is found in verse 16. If you call on Him as Father…

The “if,” at the beginning of this verse doesn’t denote any doubt that Peter’s audience believed and called on Him as Father, rather it was more of a reminder that you ought not call Him Father if you are not willing to walk before Him in holy reverence as obedient children.

Holiness and reverence, as Peter put it, fear, are bound to our relationship to God

Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God as beloved children.”

Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-45, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Why should we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Because that’s how our Father acts, that’s what He does.

Luke’s version sounds like this in Luke 6:35-36:

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Argument 1, we call on Him as Father, we should act like we’re His children.

Argument 2, v17 he judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.

God our Father, the righteous Judge does not measure with the same scale as us.

Lange wrote, “We find very great odds betwixt stately palaces and poor cottages, betwixt a prince’s robes and a beggar’s cloak; but the God they are all one, all these petty grievances vanish in comparison to His own greatness; men are great and small compared to one another; but they all amount to just nothing in respect to Him; we find high mountains and low valleys on this earth, but compared with the vast compass of the heavens, it is all but as a point, and has no sensible greatness at all.”

There is no outward mask that will fool Him, no class, nor race, nor sex is of any account, only the condition of the heart on the evidence of deeds. So walk in righteousness and obedience.

The list of references is long on this argument!

Romans 2:6-11, 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Matthew 16:27,27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

2 Corinthians 5:10,10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Need I go on? I could, all day…

Argument 1, we call on Him as Father, so act like His children. Argument 2, He judges impartially according to each one’s deeds so act accordingly, Argument 3, we are exiles, don’t start acting like locals!

Jesus said in John 15:18-19

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Those that Peter was writing to were literal exiles, Jews living apart from Jerusalem, but we too are exiles now that we have been chosen and set apart from the world. The world hates the church, don’t act like them!

Peter says that the ways that they inherited from their forefathers were futile. Those ways have their roots in appearances, devoid of all true foundation, they are selfish, empty, and hollow. Those are the ways of the land of our sojourn, of the flesh, of this fallen world in which, we too are exiles.

So here are the first three arguments for holy living based on our text so far:

Argument 1: We call on Him as Father, and so, we should act like His children.

Argument 2: He judges impartially based on a person’s deeds, and so, our deeds should be worthy of Him so we have no fear of judgment.

Argument 3: We are exiles in this world because Jesus has called us out of it so we should not conform to the wicked customs of the land of our sojourn.

I really didn’t want this to be a three point sermon, but I’ve only made three points and there are six, so now I’m forced into two three point sermons!

This is where we are going to leave it for this week soo this is just part one of arguments for Holy living. Next time we will focus on the great worth and high price that was paid for our ransom so that we could be set free from sin and its penalty.

Amen.

Hope and Holiness - 1 Peter 1:13-16 - April 18, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for April 18, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 1 Peter 1:13-16 Hope and Holiness

Good morning! We are back in 1 Peter chapter one, and this morning we are going to look at verses 13-16, that’s page 1014 in the pew Bibles.

As we consider this text I want to start out by asking the question, what comes to your mind when you consider the words, “hope,” and “holiness”? As you think about that, all I can say is that I HOPE you’re right!

Let’s look at our text and examine our understanding of these two ideas and how the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter ties them together.

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.”

Let’s pray

So our first order of business in dealing with our text this morning is to establish what the “therefore” is there for. We can’t just ignore it because Peter’s thoughts here are connected to what he was just saying, what he is addressing here is based on those thoughts.

If you’ll remember from last week Peter was talking about the great worth of the gospel, and the treasure that is our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The whole crux of Peter’s exhortation so far is to remember the great worth of our salvation that faith in Christ procures for us and the great glory that awaits us at His return. Thee thoughts will bear us up in times of trial.

So, 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.”

Concerning your salvation, Christ predicted it, the prophets diligently studied it, they served the church through it, the Holy Spirit brought it, and the angels long to look into it, it is indeed a great gift, which is why Peter refers to it as, “the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

The grace, the Greek word is, “charis,” means gift, an unearned favor, the gift that is ours is the completion or perfection of our salvation when Jesus returns.

To complete our salvation doesn’t mean that we aren’t saved now, or that Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection wasn’t all that was necessary for our salvation.

Imagine it like this, if you were lost at sea, treading water in the open ocean, you are in peril and left on your own you will surely drown. But along comes the Coast Guard and throws you a life saver, a floating ring on a rope to keep you from sinking. That life ring is the gospel, and it has been and will continue to be tossed to millions who are drowning in their own sin. Unfortunately, many reject it, content to drown, but for the happy few that chose to grab onto it they are saved, but is their salvation complete? 

I would say that it isn’t until they are dragged into the lifeboat, back onto the Coast Guard ship, back onto dry land, back into their home.

That’s how the return of Christ completes, or perfects, our salvation.

But now let’s look at Peter’s main point in these verses, hope and holiness.

Hope is the main thought and all the others here are subordinate and support it.

Peter says …set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

That grace, that gift, is the completion of our salvation. We’ve been dragged up out of the water, into the lifeboat, back on the ship, back on land, and finally home with our Father.

So what does it mean to set our hope fully on that wonderful grace?

First, we have to define, “hope.”

Hope is not a wish, like I hope we have nice weather for the ballgame. Hope is a confident expectation of future good. It is not ethereal, it is concrete.

What we hope for, the grace that is ours at Christ’s return, is what should get us through trials and should motivate us toward holy living.

John Calvin wrote, “Whosoever, then, really wishes to have this hope, let him learn in the first place to disengage himself from the world, and gird up his mind that it may not turn aside to vain affections.”

And that brings us to Peter’s supporting ideas of setting our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ at His return, preparing our minds for action, being sober-minded, and living as obedient children of the Father.

The first idea, in verse 13, “preparing our minds for action,” is actually a Greek idiom that is literally translated as, “girding up the loins of your mind.”

In the First Century, sadly, there were no pants. People wore long tunics that were not conducive to working, or running, or fighting. So when the time came for action, they would gather up the long robes and tuck them into their belts so that they wouldn’t get tangled up in the loose fabric.

So what does it mean to “gird up the loins of your mind”? It’s almost as if he was saying, “prepare your minds for action!”

In order to prepare our minds for action we have to gather up all distractedness and fickleness like flowing robes and tuck them away in our belts. When our minds are set loose in vanity and various lusts we are not truly and sincerely setting our hope on the grace that will be ours at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We must put aside all distractedness and keep focused on the hope that is ours.

To borrow another metaphor from the sea, our hope is an anchor that keeps us from being tossed about by the waves and winds of the world.

In order to embrace that hope fully, we must gird up the loins of our minds, tucking away all those distractions and that really is the definition of the phrase that Peter uses, sober-minded.

The idea of being sober-minded truly does parallel the idea of physical sobriety or not being drunk. To be sober-minded is to be in control of one’s thinking and not distracted by idleness, irritation, exaggeration, eccentricity, and general distractedness. It’s a conscious avoidance of those things that take our attention away from what is important. Being sober-minded takes conscious effort, it takes discipline.

JP Lange wrote, “He who sets his hopes in grace alone acquires the impulse and ability to fulfill the commandment of holiness.”

Holy living demands discipline, holy living demands determination. That’s exactly what Peter is saying here.

In order to set our hope fully on the gift that is ours of the perfection of our salvation at the return of Christ we must wrap up all those things that distract us and tuck them away in our belts, we must discipline our minds and be determined to live holy lives.

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.”

Here is what obedient children of the Heavenly Father do, they imitate their Father. They shall be holy, for He is holy.

Now, Holiness, like hope, perhaps needs a more concrete definition.

When I think of the holiness of God I often think of Isaiah 6:1-5.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

But holiness is not just glowing in the dark, or a bright white that our mortal eyes can’t bear.

At BICS, tears ago, it was explained to me this way: to be holy is to be wholly other, completely different.

God is wholly other, a completely different being, and as His children we ought also to be completely different from what we once were before we were His children, leaving behind the passions of our former ignorance and being holy in all our conduct… ALL our conduct!

JP Lange wrote, “Sin darkens the understanding by the cloud of prejudice and false notions.” That’s the passions of our former ignorance, before we knew Christ. But now that we do know Christ, “What’s in the heart must appear in the life.”

John Calvin said, “Wherever the knowledge of God is not, there darkness, error, vanity, destitution of light and life prevail.”

But now that we do know God through Jesus Christ we must pursue holiness, sacredness, being wholly other than what we once were.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I can’t be as holy as God,” you’re right, you can’t.

But again Calvin said, “We ought to advance in this direction as far as our condition will bear. And as even the most perfect are always very far from coming up to the mark, we ought daily to strive more and more.”

What does that sound like to you? It sounds to me like holy living, sober-mindedness, minds prepared for action, setting our hope fully on the grace that is ours requires two things: the help of the Holy Spirit and the secret ingredient… effort.

As my Pastor growing up used to say, “We weren’t saved just to sit and soak.” Instead, preparing our minds for action, and being sober-minded, let’s set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, we must not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance, 15 but as he who called us is holy, we must also be holy in all our conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Amen.

Gospel Treasure - 1 Peter 1:10-12 - April 11, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for April 11, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 1 Peter 1:10-12 Gospel Treasure

Good morning! We are picking up our study in 1 Peter again with chapter 1, verses 10-12, page 1014 in the pew Bibles.

Last week, if you remember, I asked the question: do you know what you’ve got? When it comes to salvation, when it comes to faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and adoption into God’s eternal family, do you truly understand and appreciate the great treasure you have in the gospel?

This is exactly Peter’s point in our text this morning.

Let’s pray.

Before we get to Peter, I’d like to look at two quick verses from the Gospels, specifically Matthew and John.

In Matthew 13:16, 17, Jesus is speaking to His disciples and explaining to them why He spoke in parables to the people and how the people were fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah by hearing and not hearing and seeing yet not seeing. He said to them, “…blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Peter echoes this thought in our text.

But the other side of the coin is John 20:29 in response to the confession of Thomas the doubter, Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

This group of believers mentioned by Jesus includes people who believed in Him long before He came without seeing Him as well as those of us who believe after He came without seeing Him.

Those of us that believe are blessed, whether they believed looking forward to His first coming, or believed after Hi first coming and are looking forward to His second coming.

This is sounding complicated, let’s look at the text, it’s really quite simple.

Backing up to 1 Peter 1:8

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

“This salvation,” has been Peter’s topic so far in this letter. And if Peter’s original intent in writing this letter was to encourage the church to stand up under trial, to be encouraged in the face of difficulties, then reminding them of the treasure that we have in the gospel, “this salvation,” is a great way to do it! It’s a reminder that we all need.

So let’s look at a few different aspects of this salvation through faith in Jesus that, I think, will deepen our appreciation for the great gift that we have been given.

The first aspect of this great salvation is that Christ Himself predicted it. I say, “Christ,” instead of Jesus because it was the Spirit of Christ that revealed it to the prophets long ago.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

It was Christ Himself, the Eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Divine Son of God speaking to and through the prophets long ago about His suffering and the glories that followed. The plan was in place from eternity past and Christ Himself revealed it to the prophets, Christ was active long before Bethlehem, He is on every page of the Bible, in the Old Testament as well as the New, from Genesis to Revelation.

Do you understand the significance of this truth?

Simply put, you have been loved for endless ages!

Christ Himself predicted the grace that was to belong to the Church through His own sufferings and the glories that follow, and the prophets longed to see the day.

Imagine Isaiah writing the words of Isaiah 53:5-6,

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 Imagine him writing those words, inspired by the Spirit of Christ, and wondering, who? When? How long, O Lord!?

“…blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The prophets, “searched and inquired carefully,” these words literally mean that the prophets diligently mined the Word of God like miners digging for precious metals, they examined it from every angle, plumbing its depths. They longed to see how the salvation that had been spoken to them by Christ would work out, they longed to see it with their own eyes, but it would be over 400 years from the last words of any prophet before it would come to pass.

Verse 12 says, It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you,

The Word of God was given to the prophets by the Spirit of Christ not just for them but for us! 

The scholars differ but it is generally agreed that there are between 200-400 different predictions of the coming of Christ, His sufferings and subsequent glories. 200-400 different prophecies all fulfilled in Jesus!

It was revealed to the prophets that they were not serving themselves, but us.

John Calvin said about this thought, “What else then was this, but that they spread the table, that others might afterwards feed on the provisions laid on it.”

The prophets set the table but Christ Himself was the meal, and we, the church, are all eating at that table.

JP Lange asks, “Why were those things revealed to the prophets seeing as that they were not permitted to realize their fulfillment? It wasn’t done for their sake but for ours, and thus they minister to us.”

The patient endurance of the prophets as they looked forward to the deliverance of the grace of God in salvation through faith in Christ and their diligent search for the truth in the words that were given to them ought to serve as great examples and encouragement to us.

Calvin also said, “…if their patience was so great, surely we shall be twice and thrice ungrateful if the fruition of the grace denied to them will not sustain us under all the evils which are to be endured.”

The grace that is ours in Christ, our salvation, was predicted by the Spirit of Christ, longed for by the prophets, they served the church through their writings and study of it, and even the angels long to look into it.

12 It was revealed to [the prophets] that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, our redemption and justification, are things into which angels long to look.

“To look into” in Greek is literally, “to bend over so as to look deeply into and see to the bottom of a thing.”

It’s not that the angels are prevented from understanding our redemption but that they are onlookers. As ones that never sinned redemption is not necessary for them like it is for us. But they love to watch God’s plan of redemption play out, you’ve got to believe that they are rooting for us!

So in considering our salvation, Christ Himself predicted it, the prophets longed to see it, the prophets served the church in it, the angels love to look into it, and it is the Holy Spirit that brings it.

12 It was revealed to [the prophets] that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven

It is the Holy Spirit that brings the salvation through the preaching of the Good News.

He brought it through the Apostles, He brought it through the Evangelists, and He brings it through me and through you every time we share our faith and share the Good News that salvation is available through faith in Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Starke wrote in closing, “Would you give this consolation for an empire? If the hope be living, the inheritance is sure, the crown that never fades, the treasure that none can steal. Abide the heat. How short is suffering—how long the glittering eternity! Heavenly life God will give above, evermore my heart shall praise Him!”

Amen.