Hope and Holiness

Morning everybody, I want to thank the elders for giving me this invite, it's a real honor to be able to preach at JJ's church. For those of you who are playing hooky from 1st Baptist, this is a sermon that you should be familiar with, I preached it a couple of months ago, but I did change it just enough so that hopefully you will be blessed and be encouraged.

So, let's just take a moment to go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege of being able to open up your word, we thank you Lord that you have done such a great work in each one of our lives, and we pray that as we continue our worship that we would keep you first and foremost in our thinking.

We pray Lord that you would guide us and lead us in your truth. Thank you Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen. Knowledge of God's truth, our knowledge of the scriptures, our knowledge of sound doctrine can be potentially condemning and even dangerous if it is not accompanied by practice.

Orthodoxy, right practice, or right doctrine, should result in orthopraxy, which is right practice. In other words, as we contemplate, understand, and behold the great truths of the scriptures, the application of those truths, the practice of those truths, must necessarily follow.

Charles Spurgeon remarked, All the doctrines of God's word may readily be turned to good and practical account if we are willing to employ them. Those who regard doctrine as simply a subject for debate, an opportunity for displaying one's argumentative powers, miss the mark altogether.

For we are taught the truth in order that it may lead us to holiness of life. In other words, as we learn, as we contemplate and understand the great truths of the scriptures, the effect of those truths should produce in us righteousness, faithfulness, and holiness.

This means that any time you read, hear, or study the scriptures, you need to contemplate and ask yourself certain questions. What specific action does this truth require me to accomplish? How should this truth influence my thinking?

How should it influence my perspective, my outlook? How should this truth influence my daily walk in this world? In light of this truth, what is it that the Lord God expects and requires me to do? In the book of 1 Peter, specifically chapter 1, verses 1 to 12, there are some marvelous and encouraging truths that are recorded.

In these verses we learn that the Lord God has elected us to salvation, according to His foreknowledge, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, the Lord God has caused us to be born again to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

And this inheritance is entirely secure. It is reserved for us in heaven. And we too, by the Lord God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And in these things, in these things we are to rejoice, even though for a little while we are plagued and grieved with various trials and sufferings.

But these various trials and sufferings are necessary, for these prove the authenticity of our faith. Various trials and various sufferings test our faith, just as a fire tests the authenticity and the quality of gold.

And though we have not seen Him, we love Him. Though we do not see Him now, we believe in Him and we rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

Therefore, in light of all these encouraging and tremendous truths, what does the Lord God require? Please turn with me to 1 Peter 1, our text this morning is verses 13 through 16. This passage addresses our response to the marvelous truths of our great salvation.

1 Peter 1, 13 through 16, and this is in the ESV. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope for fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

These verses mark a dramatic shift in thought. In 1 Peter 1, verses 1 to 12, all of the verbs are in the indicative mood, meaning they state.

Fact.

But beginning in verse 13, the verbs shift to the imperative mood, meaning they make.

Commands.

So the facts have been stated, verses 1 to 12, and now comes the command. Salvation has been described and now comes the duty and the responsibility of those who have received this great salvation. There are two imperatives, two commands in verses 13 through 16.

Let's look at each one in more detail. 1 Peter 1, 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.

In light of our great salvation, the first command is to set your hope. To those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ, you must set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Well, what does this phrase mean, set your hope? It means to fix. It means to settle. It means to confidently look forward. It means to rest the full weight of your hope entirely, completely, and unfalteringly upon the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is not a faltering, flimsy, or emotional hope, but a confident, strong assurance of.

Certainty.

I will set my hope because I am absolutely certain of the object of my hope. In other words, not only is it a strong and certain belief, it is also an action that corresponds or coincides with the belief.

It is a hope that results in action. In light of our great salvation, our first responsibility is to live in hope. Well, what is hope? Hope is an attitude. Hope is an attitude regarding the future. Hope is believing in the word of the Lord God.

Hope is trusting in the word of the Lord God. Hope is actually very similar to faith. Well, what's the difference? What's the difference between hope and faith? One commentator remarked, faith is trusting God for the present, hope is trusting God for the future.

Both are trusting God. To put it another way, faith accepts, hope expects. Faith appropriates, and hope anticipates. Faith believes God for what He has done, and hope believes God for what He is going to.

Do.

And what is it that the Lord God is going to do? What are we to set our hope upon? Beloved, we are to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our hope is to be set on the future grace of God.

Our hope is to be set on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, when our faith and our hope will become a reality. At His return, the Lord Jesus Christ will pour His blessings out upon us, and we will obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

Titus chapter 2, verses 11 to 14, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age.

Verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, who are zealous for good works.

This is a very common theme throughout the scriptures, but especially in the book of 1 Peter. Eight times in this short epistle, Peter reminds his readers to look past their current circumstances, to look past the difficulty that they face, and to look to the future.

The future revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation of your souls, the day of visitation, the end of all things. When His glory is revealed and when the chief shepherd will appear. Beloved, stop looking at the world around you and look to the end.

Set your hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. Fix your hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. Securely rest in His word, in His promises, in His return, His reign, and live your life as if these truths are a present reality.

Far too often we set our hope on temporal things. Far too often we set our hope on momentary things, fleeting things, things that are passing, and then we expect that these transient things will give us fulfillment, will give us lasting.

Joy.

Far too often we expect that the things in this world will provide us with satisfaction, gratification, and contentment. But remember, all of the things in the world are temporal. All of these things will perish.

All of these things will fade away. It is only when we set our hope fully on the grace that will be ours that we will be immune to the suffering, the difficulties, and the losses of this life. Beloved, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In light of our great salvation, this is the Lord God's command. Well, how do I live this truth out in my life? How do I set my hope on the grace that will be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ?

Peter gives us two ways. 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. The way to set our hope on the grace that will be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ is to prepare your minds for action.

The term preparing is an interesting word. It means to gird up. It means to cinch up. It means to tie down. Gird up, cinch up, tie down your thinking, your reasoning, and your thoughts. Prepare your mind for action.

In ancient times, men often wore long outer robes, which made it very difficult to move freely. And it was very easy to get tripped up and to stumble over their outer garment. The fix was a belt that they would use to tuck in their robes.

The corners of the robe would be pulled up through the belt and cinched down. And this freed up their legs and made their movements more easy and free. In Exodus chapter 12, this term was used when the Lord God told the Israelites that He was going to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt.

The Lord God gave them specific instructions to prepare them for their deliverance. And speaking of the Passover Supper, Exodus 12, verse 11. In this manner you shall eat it with your belt fastened, sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover. In other words, Israel, you need to be prepared and you need to be ready. You need to be prepped and equipped to move at a moment's notice. So tie up those robes, fasten those belts, put on your sandals, grab your staff, and wait in readiness.

Peter applies this principle to the mind. He applies this principle to our thinking. Peter is saying, gird up the loins of your mind and prepare your minds for action. Cinch it up, tuck it in, and tie it down.

Do not get caught unprepared, but be ready to move and wait in readiness. In other words, don't let your mind, don't let your thoughts, don't let your thinking be open and free to any and every influence.

Do not be tossed to and fro by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Do not let your thoughts be seduced by false doctrines, false teachers, false ideologies. Instead, pull in all those loose ends and anchor them, secure them, fix them firmly in position.

Nail down your thoughts. Nail down your thinking. Second Corinthians 10 .5, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised up against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Beloved, our thoughts are not to be held captive by selfish and temporal desires. Our thoughts are not to be held captive by worldly arguments or worldly opinions. Our thoughts are not to be held captive by anything that contradicts the knowledge of.

God.

Rather, we must take every thought captive, captive to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you take your thoughts captive? Do you interrogate your thoughts? Do you examine your thoughts and seek to ascertain their origin?

This is a discipline that every believer must partake in. Every thought must be taken captive and every thought must be examined in the light of the Scriptures, in light of the truth of God, in light of the character of God.

Do you ever have negative thoughts about yourself? Do you ever feel that life is not worth living? You ever feel that you're a failure? You ever feel like you're worthless? You ever feel like you're a waste of space?

Take each one of these thoughts and tie them down one by one. Examine, study, and dissect them. Is this a good thought or is this a harmful thought? Is this thought from the Lord God or is it from the adversary?

Does this thought line up with the will of God? Does it line up with the truth of God? Or is this thought contrary to the word, will, and character of the Lord God? Will dwelling on this thought progress and enhance my relationship with the Lord God or will it hinder and retard my relationship with the Lord God?

Will this thought make me more like Christ or will it make me more like the world? Philippians 4 .8, finally, brothers. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Beloved, the reason why so many Christians struggle in their circumstances, the reason why so many Christians struggle in their walk with the Lord God is because their minds are not prepared for action.

And rather than setting their hope on the grace that is to come, they often look to a lost and secular world to help them in their spiritual need. Rather than the truth, their minds are filled with wrong thoughts, wrong perceptions, and pragmatic solutions that contradict the revealed knowledge of the Lord God.

And these wrong thoughts, wrong perceptions, and pragmatic solutions become a stronghold. These become a stronghold for the adversary to launch his attacks. Well, I can't do it. It can't be done. It just doesn't work.

What's the point? I've tried everything. There's just no way to solve this problem. There's no way to save this marriage. There's no way to reconcile this relationship. There's no way I can make peace.

I just can't forgive them. There's nothing else that I can do. It's a hopeless situation. If you hear a Christian saying these types of things, you can be sure that their mind was not prepared. And they did not take their thoughts captive to obedience to Christ.

Rather, they allowed the adversary a stronghold. The hope to which Peter refers will never become a reality in your life without disciplined and ordered thinking. Beloved, your thoughts will determine your actions.

What you think about, what you dwell upon, what you consider and contemplate will determine how you live your life. Proverbs 23, 7,. For as he thinks in his heart, so he is. Martin Luther, the inspiration behind Luther Palooza, said, you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.

In your thinking, you must be disciplined. You must guard, you must protect, you must secure your thinking. Every one of your thoughts must be taken captive and lined up to the truth of the Scriptures.

To prepare your minds for action, you must rid your mind of everything that violates the truth of God. You must rid your mind of everything that violates the will of God. And you must fill your mind with the truth of the Scriptures.

In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, which is an allegorical story of Christian's journey in this world, the main character, Christian, encounters Mr. Worldly Wise Man. And Mr. Worldly Wise Man counsels Christian to travel to the village of Morality to meet with a man called Legality, who is said to be able to ease Christian from his great burden.

And Bunyan writes, When Christians unto carnal men give ear, out of their way they go, and pay for it dear. For Master Worldly Wise Man can but show a saint the way to bondage and to woe. Beloved, you need to rid yourself and get yourself untangled from the so-called wisdom of this world.

You need to get yourself untangled from the philosophies of this world. Make a deliberate and volitional choice and commit to live your life in the reality of the grace that is to come. Prepare your minds for action.

The second way to set your hope on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 1 .13, Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded. You set your hope on the future grace of the Lord God by preparing your minds for action and by being sober-minded.

Well, what does it mean to be sober-minded? Well, what is the opposite of being sober? The opposite of being sober is being drunk. The opposite of a sober mind is a drunk and intoxicated mind. Being sober-minded is descriptive of someone free from drunkenness or free from the effects of any other intoxicant.

It refers to someone who does not live according to his passions, who does not live in a state of excess or a state of overindulgence. A sober mind is a clear thinking mind. It means that your thoughts are disciplined.

It means that you are restrained, self-controlled, and temperate in your thinking. The sober-minded are not subject to the whims and the corrupting influences of the world. The sober-minded are steadfast and circumspect.

The sober-minded walk wisely in this world. To be sober-minded means that you are mentally alert and discerning. Rash judgments are not made, but all things are lined up with the truth of the Scriptures.

The sober-minded do not look to the world, but to the rule and counsel of the Lord God. The sober-minded will not be influenced by the world, by the majority, or by those who hold the greatest sway.

Rather, the sober-minded will prayerfully and thoughtfully make decisions based upon the truth of the Lord God, not upon popular opinion. Peter uses this same word later on in his epistle in 1 Peter 5 .8.

He says, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. If an actual lion were roaming the halls of your home, it would be exceedingly unwise to get drunk and roam the halls.

It would be exceedingly unwise to dull your senses and dim your wit. If an actual lion was on the loose, you would be alert and you would be on the lookout. You would be watchful for yourself, for your family, and anyone else who was there.

You would take every precaution so that no one would be injured, or worse, devoured. It's important to remember the context of this letter, 1 Peter. The recipients of this letter are described as elect exiles.

Well, why does Peter refer to them as elect exiles? Well, Peter is reminding his readers of their status. In this world, Christians are the strangers. Christians are the aliens. Christians are the foreigners and the sojourners.

In this world, we are the ones who do not belong. Our citizenship is not on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. But until then, we continue to live in dangerous and hostile territory. Our entire lives are lived behind enemy lines, in enemy territory.

And the enemy is always on the prowl. The enemy is actively seeking to devour and destroy. So to live in a state of spiritual drunkenness, to live according to one's passions, not with a prepared mind, not in control of one's thoughts, not in control of one's emotions and passions, is to live with a giant bullseye on your back.

Easy pickings for the enemy of our souls. Spiritual drunkenness will dull you to the greatness of your salvation. It will dull your mind and your thinking. And through carelessness and the distraction and allurements of the world, it will lull you into a drowsy sleep.

And you will lose sight of the great grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. If you set your mind on the temporal, on the momentary, on the earthly desires and riches of this world, then you will never be fully able to set your hope on the future grace that is to come.

All throughout the scriptures, this theme is repeated again and again. Romans 8 .18,. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

2 Corinthians 4 .16 -18,. So we do not lose heart, though our outer man is wasting away, our inner man is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Colossians 1,. Colossians 3, verses 1 -3,.

If then you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Beloved, you cannot consider the sufferings of this present time not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed without clear and lucid thinking.

You cannot look past the temporary and transient things of this world to the eternal without a clear and sober mind. You cannot seek the things above where Christ is without setting your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, beloved, keep your head up, look alive, look alert, be watchful, keep your eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. In light of our great salvation, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ by preparing your minds for action and by being sober-minded.

The second imperative, the second command, is the command to be holy. In light of our great salvation, we are to be holy. 1 Peter 1, 14 -16,. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. Setting your hope on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ by preparing your mind for action and by being sober-minded means that you will strive to live a righteous and holy life.

It means that you will strive and discipline yourself to put off sin and to walk in obedience to the Lord God, in submission to his will. It's interesting that walking in hope and walking in holiness are often linked closely together in the scriptures.

1 John 3,. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

As children of God, we have a sure and certain hope. We know that when he appears, we shall be like him. We know that when he appears, our faith will become sight. And it is this certainty, the certainty of our glorious future that should motivate us to live righteous and holy lives.

Now, in the present, the fruit of hope is a pure life. The fruit of hope is holiness. Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Leviticus 20, 26,. You shall be holy to me, for I am the Lord.

I am holy, and I have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine. 2 Corinthians 7, 1,. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Hebrews 12, 14,. Strive for peace with everyone, and strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. To be holy means to be set apart from the world and to live like the one whose image we bear.

To be holy means to be like God, to be without sin, to be without spot, to be without blemish. Well, how is this possible? How can I possibly be without spot and without blemish? How can I be holy when I struggle every day with sin?

Turn with me briefly to John chapter 13. There is a principle in this passage that sheds quite a bit of light on these questions. John 13, verses 3 to 10. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.

He laid aside his outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, What I am doing now you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet.

Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.

And you are clean, but not every one of you. In this passage, a distinction is made between a bath and the basin. At the time of your salvation, you are bathed, you are cleansed, you are sanctified, you're set apart, you're made holy.

Before the Lord God, you are considered clean. You are considered without spot and without blemish because you are clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. Positionally, you are holy because you are in Christ.

But as we live and walk in this world, we continue to sin. But you don't need to bathe again. What you need is the basin. You need to wash your feet. You need daily cleansing from sin. Through the washing of the Word, through confession of sin, the Lord God cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

And the goal of the Christian life is for our practice to mirror our position. Our conduct is to mirror our creed. Our action is to mirror our knowledge of the truth, who we are in Christ Jesus. Our behavior and our beliefs must be inseparable.

Positionally, before the Lord God, we are holy, we are clean. And thus, practically in our daily lives, we must also strive to be holy and clean and to live holy and clean lives. Well, how do we do this?

Peter answers in verse 14. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. The phrase, do not conform, means to form according to a pattern or mold. It means to fashion alike.

It means to fit into the same outward pattern. It means to mold one's behavior with a particular pattern or set of standards. Christians are not to conform to the passions of their former ignorance. Christians are not to conform to the habits and practice that characterize them before salvation.

Christians are no longer to be fashioned and molded by selfish and sinful pursuits. Paul expresses this same thought in the book of Romans and in the book of Ephesians. Romans 12, 1 and 2. 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.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. In Ephesians 4, 17.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding. They are alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts.

They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ. So how can I pursue holiness? By not conforming to the world, by no longer living in darkness, by no longer walking as the world walks, by no longer living in the futility of the mind, by no longer walking in ignorance.

Beloved, do not be conformed to the sinful standard that was yours prior to your salvation, but rather live according to the holy standard that was set by the Lord God. As he who called you is holy, 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16, you also be holy in all your conduct.

Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. Beloved, the Lord God is the one and only standard. The Lord God is our benchmark. The Lord God is the only rule by which each one of us must be measured.

Matthew 5, 48, you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The Lord our God is holy, holy, holy. As his children in our thoughts and in our conduct, we too must strive to be like him.

We must strive to turn from our sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must strive to put sin to death, to mortify the deeds of the flesh, and to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Peter is essentially saying that the great pursuit of our lives should be holiness. Even in the seemingly mundane and ordinary activities of everyday life, we are to strive to be holy. You shall be holy for I am holy.

Let me just close with some very practical help. This is one of my favorite passages. I preach this numerous times at our church. Ephesians 4, 22 through 23. Ephesians 4, 22 to 24. Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

In your pursuit of holiness, if you want to be conformed, not to this world, but to the Lord God, here's the formula. You put off the old self, you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new self.

Put off the old self, lay aside the old self. The old self is concerned with one thing, pleasing self. The old self is conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, thus it has no place in your life.

It must be put off. And in its place, you put on the new self. The new self is also concerned with one thing, not pleasing self, but pleasing the Lord God. The new self is being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, put on the attitudes and put on the actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do we put off and how do we put on? Ephesians 4 .23, by being renewed in the spirit of our minds. In other words, as we behold the scriptures, as we hear them, as we read them, as we study them, as we memorize them, as we meditate upon them, as we sing them, the Holy Spirit illuminates and convicts and instruct us in the truth so that we are able to apply it and we are able to walk in obedience to it.

By the power of the Spirit, we put off the old man with his evil practices, with his evil passions, and we replace it with the new man, with new practices and new passions that please, honor, and glorify the Lord God.

Paul gives us an exceedingly helpful example of how to apply these truths in our lives. In Ephesians 4 .25, he writes,. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.