Lord, as we turn to your Word today, I pray that You would feed us, with the food of the Spirit that brings us strength. I pray Lord that You would quicken our minds, that You would open us up, so that we could hear You. Lord as we commit ourselves You, as we recognize that Your goodness has been chasing us, and Lord, we have the opportunity to respond to You, and to truly give all of us. We pray that today. I pray that these words would not be mine, and that they would not be Leto’s, but that they would flow from You, so that You can give us life abundantly. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Turn with me to the Book 1 Peter1:13. Continuing here for a while. Today, I going to work through basically the 2nd half of the first Chapter. If I had the time, I would read through all of it first, and then come back to it. But because we don’t want to take the time to do that, I’m going to read it in sections, but we are really going to keep encouraging you, to go home and read the whole chapter, if not the whole book. We want to remind you that it’s not just one scripture at a time, it’s a book together. We’re reading a letter from Peter to the Church, for all ages. But I want to begin in 13, We are going to be talking today, in our “Be Light” series, about the fact that being light means being holy. Now you’re going to have to pray with me a little bit today, my jet lag has kicked into high gear, which means that my brain can be a little bit fuzzy, and that can mean one of 2 things, we either go short, or we go long. So, if you prefer the first, make it clear that you are with me. A good Amen every now and then, or a yes pastor or something, it might just help me move on to my next point, say Amen.
So, let’s begin from 13, and step through this passage this morning, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.” ‘Set your hope on the grace to be brought to you.’ Peter starts here by telling us to be alert, and essentially clear-headed. In other words, ‘Get your mind into the right place here. Begin to think about this the right way’.
Now, from here on, he is going to tell us what that means in this context, but I want us to begin doing what he says. So, I want you to kind of focus yourself and tell yourself to be alert, be clear-headed. Listen to what the Spirit of God has to say to you. And this clear-headedness means, that you understand the hope that has come to you through Jesus Christ. But in this context, more importantly, the hope that is going to brought to you. Be alert and clear-headed about the fact that Jesus is coming. And when He comes, all hope that you need will be fulfilled. All hope that you have will be fulfilled. Your perfect hope is not in the now, and you have to be clear-headed about that fact. Your salvation has come, but it is also coming, and when it does, it will be fulfilled, it will be finished.
Now, hope in this sense it’s not just a longing, it’s not just hoping, but this is a hope that has expectation. It has assurance attached to it. Stavros there’s some hardships to endure right now. There’s some life that has to be lived right now. But we expect, we know the fact that Jesus is coming, and all of our hope will be fulfilled. So, Peter says, set your heart on that.
Listen to this, ‘Your hope cannot, it will not, be satisfied in any other person or thing.’ I’m going to say that again, ‘Your hope cannot, and will not, be fulfilled in any other person or thing, than Jesus Christ.’ It should not be, and it will not be, it cannot be. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you must recognize, no person and no thing, is your hope – only Jesus. Be alert. Be clear-headed about this. The song we used to sing is true, ‘Only Jesus can satisfy your soul.’ And God’s people said, Amen. So, we can move on to the next point.
First Peter 1:14,15, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” I will repeat 14 again, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Now to embrace this Scriptural truth, you have to embrace the fact that you were ignorant. Look at your neighbor and say, ‘You’re ignorant’.’ But you’re less ignorant now, because you found the person that can bring you wisdom. Peter says here that, “You lived with evil desires.” You were born into and you developed into a creature that has evil desires. Paul says that anybody who says that they are without sin is a liar. Tell your neighbor, ‘Don’t be a liar.’ You lived with evil desires. That is a natural state of life. But Peter says, “Do not conform to the evil desires.” In other words, do not shape your life around those evil desires. Do not organize your life around things that you know are not Godly. Do not shape your life around ungodly people. Do not form your life around ungodly pursuits. Do not shape your life around anything, you know is not Godly.
That doesn’t mean that you don’t encounter those things, but you do not allow yourself to shape your life around them. Peter call that, “Living in ignorance.” Your life will not go where you want it to go; it will not go where God wants it to go, if you shape your life around ungodly things. To the person who knows what to do, and what not to do, when you do that, the Scripture says, ‘It is sin.’ Don’t be ignorant. And don’t lie to yourself about things. But let the Holy Spirit conform you, day by day into the image of Jesus Christ.
Verse 16, “for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” The word means, set apart, dedicated, consecrated. You have been set apart from the world. By, ‘The World’ we mean ungodly things. You live in and among it, but you have been set apart in your life from it. This is your purpose – to be different. This is your purpose, to not look like everything else - for something in you to resonate differently. Because the Holy Spirit has anointed your life, the Spirit of God has changed your life. You have been made a new creature, and you are separate. Not will be, you are. It’s a designation that’s been given to you. And the life that has been made in you. You are holy, because your God is holy. So, let that holiness be reflected, more and more in your life.
Being a Christian is not about changing your behavior. It means that your behavior changes, because you have been changed. So, those ignorant desires, don’t have a hold on you anymore. You have the ability in you to live separately from that, because the Spirit of God has made that true in you. This is a nice one – put your hand on your heart and say, ‘I am holy. I serve a holy God.’
Verse 17, “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” You may have noticed over the last 3 weeks or so, this is a recurring theme for us. You are a foreigner. It doesn’t matter if you’re 100% Greek, living in Greece, you’re a foreigner. It doesn’t matter where you’re from today, you’re a foreigner. Because your real residence isn’t on earth, it’s in heaven. Your real residence is in the Kingdom of God. You can be joyful in whatever nationality you are, but that is not your core identity. Your core identity is in the Kingdom of God. The more we come to realize that, the less and less we will keep our feet planted in this earth, it’ll make it easier to let go of the things of this earth, and it will help us to live in the reverence for God that He desires.
You call on a Father. That Father, is the identity of your nationality. You are God’s – you belong to Him. Your Big Brother, Jesus Christ, has made the way for you, so that you could be a part of that family. We need to really learn to enjoy that fact. Our Father, who is in heaven, the One who loves us, the One who is good, Oh, Oh. It’s a wonderful thing. So, learn to live as a foreigner. Don’t plant yourself here. Try to move on to the better place. In fact, don’t try, just do. It’s the hope in front of us, and it’s coming. And it’s coming. Amen. I need more Amens!
Verse 18,19, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” You need to know this. The life that you were born into, the life that was handed to you, was empty. Now, you may or may not feel that fact, but it remains a fact, because everything you were born into, everything that was handed to you by those who came before you, had no strength to perform anything that would last. I wish my father could leave me millions of dollars. He’s still alive, Lord, so, there’s still time. He could give me all the world, but it would be empty. All the customs that were given to me, all the natural things that were added to my life, every last bit of it will disappear. And I will live only from that, that has come from God. I will live only His character. I will live only His desires, only what I do for Him will outlast this life.
If you don’t realize that life is empty, then it is difficult to move into more Godly desires. We have all inherited an empty perspective on life. We are born into systems that teach us empty ways. We learn to desire empty things. But you, as a believer, it says, ‘are redeemed from that.’ You are rescued from, you are brought out of, you’re separated from the emptiness, because you have separated to God. You were redeemed. Tell yourself, ‘I’m redeemed.’ Otherwise, I would continue to be empty.
Verse 20,21, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” This is your belief system. Everything that you can expect or should expect, that is good for you. Everything that is actually fulfilling for you, everything that will take you into eternity, it is only found with and in God. Not family, not job, not friendships, not opinions or personal convictions. All of those are good things, but unless you are in God in those things, they are empty. They’re all temporary. They’re all insufficient. The best relationships you have, the best situations you could have in life are all empty, if you are not in God, through Christ Jesus.
That’s a hard message sometimes. Hopefully, we love our families; if you are here with a family member, tell them you love them. We are all family in Christ, so I love you all. But Stavro, my friendship with you is not going to take me to heaven, and it’s not going to bring fullness to my life now. Because you are not my hope. No one is your hope except Christ. Your faith and your hope are in God and in Him alone.
Verse 22,23,24,25, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” The Word of the Lord endures forever. We’ll say it again, the Word of the Lord endures forever. The word of my favorite news channel, the word of my favorite teacher, my favorite books – “The Word of the LORD endures forever.” You will not find living, enduring Word anywhere else. And this is the Word that was preached to you.
We need to be speaking the Word of the Lord to each other. Not the words of our wisdom, not the words of our favorite motivators. The Word of the Lord endures, and we cannot preach that to each other if we don’t learn it and know it. There’s truth in a lot of places; but there is only one, ’capital T’ I want you to consider something. Do you know what the definition of ‘Deceit’ is? To be deceived, means to be kind of intellectually fooled. You are not deceived by something that is completely untrue. Deception comes because something is mostly true, but has a little twist of false. Very few people are going to be deceived by complete lies. But we become deceived when we get a large bit of truth, with some deviation. And that’s where we live a lot in life, thinking that we know something, and we may just know enough to get ourselves in trouble. I used to have a professor, who would say, ‘The more you know, the more you that there is more to know.’ And sometimes, you look at me and say, ‘Brian, that means the smarter you get, the dumber you are.’ We’ve got to learn to root ourselves in this, the Bible. That’s how we avoid deception.
Chapter 2:1,2,3 “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” In the way that a healthy, growing baby, constantly cries for t’s mother’s milk. Mothers in the room might remember what it’s like to have a craving baby, and milk here by the way, it’s not the same as the reference when Paul talks about getting off of milk onto mature things. Peter is saying, ‘Crave the thing that nourishes you.’ So that you can grow up, so you can expand, so that you can increase, so you can get more mature, more capable, more able. Crave the nourishment of the Word of God. Crave your relationship with Jesus. Desire it more than anything else. That doesn’t mean, don’t desire anything else, it means, desire Him most, so that the good things can come through Him. So, the He can fulfill His Word for you, where He says, ‘If you lean on My understanding, I will give you the desires of your heart. That means, I’ll put My desires in you, so that you want the right things and then because you want the right things, I’ll give them to you and you will have joy. You will have that sense of purpose, you will have the ability to walk in the way of God, and fulfill the desires for your life. Not in spite of your desires, but because they will become your desires.’ Let’s go back to that last Scripture. I love how it ends there in verse 3, “Because now you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Guys, the Lord is Good! He is good! He is good!... and you have tasted that. And I guarantee you this, if you have tasted it, if you have, then you know it tastes good, and that doesn’t mean anything to you? To say, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ I challenge you with the question, ‘If you’ve ever known Him?’ Because He is Good. Above all things, and the Giver of all things that are good, the Giver of all that is good. Because of all of these things that we have said today, I go back to verse 13, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully clear-headed, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.” Get clear-headed about this. In Christ alone I place my trust, in Christ alone and I find my glory in the power of His cross, in every victory, in every good thing that ever happens. Let it be said of me, that my source of strength and hope, is Christ alone.