Exhortations Considerations Revelations — Willie Mullan

Again this evening. First chapter, and after first chapter, and we're going through from verse thirteen this evening, down to the end of verse twenty-one. Verse thirteen, down to the end of verse twenty-one.

Nine verses this evening, and if I take five minutes for each verse, it's forty-five. But then some of these verses would merit more than five minutes. So we might be a little bit over the forty-five.

Likewise, I want you to notice that in this paragraph we have some exhortations. My preacher comes out and begins to exhort the believers that he's writing to, and there are great marked exhortations in the paragraph this evening.

And then there are considerations, because we are considering the Father here in this paragraph this evening. And there are revelations, and very unique revelations too. And I put the headings out like this.

Exhortations to the flock, considerations of the Father, and revelations for the faithful. And these are the bones of the paragraph that we're studying this evening. Now we want to look at these exhortations that Peter sends to the flock.

Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind

Verse thirteen begins with the word, wherefore. And that makes us think of everything that has gone before. He's telling us to look back and saying, just because of what I've taught you, you need to gird up the loins of your mind.

You see, if you run down the chapter quickly, just because you're one of the elect. You see, he was writing to those who were the elect according to the full knowledge of God the Father. And just because you have experienced sanctification of the Spirit, and just because you're under the blood, and just because God has begotten you again onto a living hope, and just because you have an inheritance incorruptible reserved in heaven for you, and just because you're rejoicing with joy unspeakable, these are the things he's been touching on.

He says, wherefore, just because of all these things, gird up the loins of your mind. Isn't that a mighty statement? Gird up the loins of your mind. It's the figure of speech, of course. And it's the figure of speech that both Paul and Peter are used, giving again and again.

I wonder, do you remember Paul writing to the Ephesians? Let's have a look at that. At Ephesians, chapter 6, please. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and at the 6th chapter. And if you know this letter to the Ephesians, in the first two chapters he's talking to the saints in Christ, and reminding them of the blessings they have in Christ.

And then he's talking in the next two, and reminds them of what they were as sinners before they accepted Christ. And now in these last two, he's coming to talk to them as soldiers, soldiers on the battlefield for Christ, fighting the good fight of faith.

And he said to them, in this 6th chapter, verse 11, put on the whole armor of God. And you know, when he talks like that, he had the figure of a completely dressed Roman soldier before him. And it's wonderful how Paul can spiritualize every part of the armor of a Roman soldier.

See, down at verse 17, he's saying to these warriors at Ephesus, take the helmets. And of course, his eye was on that great shining helmet that the Roman warrior wore. Of course, he's spiritualizing it now, and he's calling it the helmet of salvation, because the warrior for Christ must first of all be saved.

He must have worn the helmet of salvation. And then as you go backwards, at verse 16, he said, above all, taking the shield of faith. You see, his eye was on the great shield that the Roman soldier carried on his left arm.

And of course, he's spiritualizing it again. He said the soldier for Christ must not only have the helmet of salvation, but he must have the shield of faith. And by this shield of faith, he can keep the fiery dots of the wicked from harming him at all.

See, verse 15, he said, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Of course, he was looking at those very fine and very strong leather handles that the Roman soldier wore. You can see them in some of the pictures, leaf crossways right up his leg.

And they were solid, and yet they were soft. You know, you couldn't send a soldier out to battle with some man with a sword if he was wearing some of these high-heeled shoes that the ladies wear. Oh, he wouldn't do much with those.

And so he's getting it spiritualized. He says, you've got to have on the helmet of salvation. And you've got to carry the shield of faith. And you've got to have your feet properly shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

And then in verse 14, he says, and therefore, having your loins get about with truth. You see, he had noted the Roman soldier, and he had the helmet, and he had the breastplate, and he had the shield and the sword, and his feet shod with the preparation.

But he also noted that he'd got a little firm leather stick around him. It's almost a mini stick. I'm sure that's not where it came from, but never mind. Yet, you know, this leather stick was to defend him.

Because sometimes, when somebody needed a swipe with a sword, if he just stopped them with the shield, it would skid off, and it could easily hit them, yes, on the loins. And he protested there for that eventuality.

And he's spiritualizing it. He's saying, having your loins get about with truth. Because this is what keeps the Christian soldier safe in the battle. He has the helmet of salvation, and he has the shield of faith, and his feet are shod with the gospel that he understands.

And bless God, he's got his loins get about with truth. He can match the enemy at every turn. Now, it's this sort of figure of speech that Peter is taking up, only he changes it a little bit. He's not talking about having your loins get about with truth.

He's talking about gird up the loins of your mind. You know, that's very wonderful, isn't it? You know, he's wanting the believer that he's writing through, to guard his mind. Ah, that's the point. That's just in plain English.

He says, you guard your mind now. You're in luck, aren't you? That you're sanctified, and you've got an inheritance, and you regard me. Well, I'll tell you this, you'll need to guard your mind. You know, the mind is the great subject.

I spent a long, long time on this. And it has been a blessing to me ever since. You know, I think that the believer's mind can become the playground of the devil, if you don't guard it. Oh, you'll need to know all about guarding it.

You know, the devil can bash with dust in there. And that gives you trouble. And he can put fear in there, too. Make you more anxious than you ought to be. And he not only puts doubt and fear, but worry.

Why some people toss all night. Yes, and he not only puts doubt and fear and worry, but sometimes hatred. Oh, Christians have been dizzy of that. And jealousy, and envy, and malice. What are things he can put in your mind, mind you?

And I feel that sometimes the mind of a true believer has become the playground for the devil. And this is why Peter's coming out strong, and he says, get up the loins of your mind. You need to guard your mind, mind.

And you'll need to know how to do it, too. Yes, you know, it's quite a wonderful study, isn't it? Can I show you just one or two things about it? Let's go through Philippians chapter four, please. Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter four.

Prayer, Thanksgiving, and the Peace of God

I want you to watch this very careful. Paul says in verse six, be careful for nothing. Well, as the old translation translates it like this, be anxious for nothing. You know, the devil can bring something to your mind and make it stick there.

The psychologists talk about things sticking in your mind. They become an obsession with it. And you can become more anxious than God wants you to be. You become over-anxious. Now he says, don't become over-anxious about anything.

Be careful for nothing is the way it's translated. And it's a good translation. He says, you know, this is one of the ways you can guard your mind. You know, when things come to your mind and they begin to stick there, and they're making you more careful than you should be, or over-anxious, if you like the word.

You know, there's a simple exercise. Be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You know, when you begin to worry about them, for any sakes would you go and get on your knees as your best Jew.

And you won't find anything in the heavens better either. And if you do go and turn the laws down for all of them, and believe in them, let your requests be made known in the world, fast to the Lord. We used to sing a chorus, a little talk with Jesus makes things run all right.

See, I hear them coming to the door and they're looking for me. And they want to pour it all onto me. And I allow them to do so, but I know they're on the wrong track, you know. They're looking for the wrong man.

None of the half of you would learn to go to the Lord and cast your care upon him. You would get on a lot easier and a lot quicker. This is one of the ways of God in your mind. You just go and tell him plainly just how you feel.

Don't put a word out of place, just tell him exactly how you feel. Now watch this. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, that's a tremendous phrase, isn't it? The peace of God, which passes all understanding, of course it does, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You know, it's a wonderful thing to think that you can have the peace of God in your mind.

You know, if you were to ask me to come for the next two weeks and preach an hour every night on the peace of God, I would never exhaust it enough. Try to think about the peace of God. You know, there was a character on this world called Hitler.

And do you know how he stirred up the German nation, his ability to do that? And he caused great terror and havoc and desolation and destruction on the face of this earth. I'll tell you, he never disturbed God for a moment.

Never disturbed God. My, that wee miserable character died on the planet with all the shouting and yelling that he could muster. He never disturbed God. The peace of God, the mighty thing. And all the wars that ever blasted this earth of ours, never disturbed God.

Friends, I want to get this over to you. The peace, the blessing, the peace of God can be yours. And should be yours. You would know how to go about it. When something begins to stick there and it's going to annoy you, leave the dishes, missus.

Leave the factory, dear, if you must. Go and shut the door and get down on your knees and don't refuse to pray. Get the hold of God. And go and tell up the angels, just hold your feet, do your thing. You know, something happens.

The peace of God begins to fill your heart and mind. You know what you're doing? You're giving up the noise of your mind. That's what you're doing. You know, that's one way of doing it. That's what I call speaking up.

Just go on talking to God, just speaking to God. We can show you another way of doing it. Have a look at Colossians. It's the next book. Colossians chapter 3, verse 1. And the word is there can be rendered sins, since he then be ridden with Christ.

And pick those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. And set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth. You know, if you get too earthbound and you're taken up with things of time and strength completely and continually, I'll tell you this, the old devil will get in on you.

He needs to forget about some of the things that's down here. And set your affection on things above and fear of. I'll quickly show you in the end of Sunday morning what it means to feed Jesus when the storm blows.

Old Heath is your mind a lot. He's still in control from that, you know. It doesn't matter too much about Heath or Wilson or Lynch or anybody else for that matter, because you can only feed the Lord. You know, the hymn writer must have got this.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look through in his wonderful face, and the things of earth grow strangely dim. And we could all quote it, you know. But we never do it. We just get earthbound. You know, if you can speak up and look up, you're beginning to guard your mind.

Let me show you this. We're at Colossians. Go back to Philippians. See, Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8. Finally, they do. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good repose, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise.

Think on these things. You know, that's what to fill your mind with. Have a look at them again. Whatsoever things are true. I don't think you get too much of it on the TV. I think there's more lies shown and told than anywhere else in this world.

And if you let the devil stuff your mind with it, he'll get in on you. But I can tell you where you can get truth, you know, all the time. If we would only spend a half of the time with our loins in that book that we do with our loins in the TV, the mind would be in far better order, far better shape.

We don't know how to guard and guard the loins of our mind. If you take all the things that's mentioned here, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good repose, if you take all these, you know, you'll find them all in Christ.

He was truth, he was honest, he was just, he was pure, he was lovely. I think you'll find that this is a modern painting of Christ, if you like. It's wonderful, you know. I think, you know, if he would only take time to get quietly alone and just look full in his wonderful face, and fill our minds with the beauty and the grandeur and glory and greatness of Christ.

You need less tablets, a lot less tablets, I can tell you. Yes, get up the loins of your mind, you know how to do it. Get down on your knees and speak up, and get down on your knees and look up, and get down on your knees and fill up your mind.

Yes, think on these things. You know, I think this is really wonderful, and the one that we have for Sunday morning, remember, just belongs to this category. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on this.

You know, you don't only need to speak up and look up and fill up, you need to prop up your mind with God, stayed on me. Yes, and you got it now, because it's tremendous. You know, I was doing one of the promises the other morning, oh I think I should maybe do a little bit of it now.

Contentment Through Christ's Constant Presence

Have a look at this. This is Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5. Let your conversation, and that's a very old Greek word, and when it was used here, it meant behavior. Let your behavior be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.

For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And this is the promise I took on Monday morning at the prayer meeting, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And I pointed out very carefully, quickly, to the meeting, that this is a verbal promise.

He said it came from his own lips, it's not something that's written, mystic letters. For he hath said, he said it, Jesus Christ came out into the Lord of Light and said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Mind you, it's not only verbal, it's unconditional. There are no conditions. Any promises in this book are conditional. You know, you have to fulfill the conditions before you can claim the promise. There are no conditions here.

He just comes out into the Lord and looks into your eyes and says, listen, listen to me, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And he didn't say, if you join the Baptist, I will never leave you. No, he didn't.

He just simply said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. You know, it's an unconditional promise. It's a dual one, it's two things. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. It's not just a repetition, you know, he doesn't preach like that.

I know he's just saying this, I will never leave thee in time, nor forsake thee in eternity. It's a dual thing. But it's not only verbal, and it's not only unconditional, and it's not only dual. Mind you, it's eternal.

I will never. It means that. Oh, I just think of that. You see what it does when you accept it just as it is. Here's what it says. It says, verse 5, on be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, you see, it's the basis of contentment.

That's what it is. Oh, that's the wonder of it, you know. It's as the Lord was saying, cheer up, I'll never leave you. You could lose your wealth, you know, quite easily. And you can lose your health.

And you could lose your land. You'll never lose your Lord, he'll always be there. You can close your eyes at any time, put out your hand and feel his hand. It's there. Never leave. And do you know what it does?

It brings contentment. Cheer up, you know. Open your mind. Oh, some of us don't know how to do it. I think I'll take a lecture sometime on the mind, and mental affections, and so on. Yes, I want you to get the hold of this, you know.

This is what Peter's at this evening. He's trying to show them the road to happiness. He says, just because you're saved, and you've got all these blessings, get up the loins of your mind. It's a wonderful sacred speech, in which you are placing something round the outer parts of your mind, to keep the devil from getting in.

And you can do it by speaking up to the world. And you can do it by looking up, and stretching your affection on things above. And you can do it by filling up your mind with the things that are lovely.

And you can do it by cheering up. Yes, knowing that he's at your side, and he never leaves you. Now, this is what he's trying to exhort the believers to do. So you go on to this week, begin to work at this, you know.

This is enough society for you, to just get up the loins of your mind. This old Peter was Peter, wasn't he? And then he went on with another exhortation. In verse 13 he said, Wherefore, get up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the greatest that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Hope for Grace at Christ's Revelation

You know, that phrase, hope to the end, is the mighty phrase. He's exhorting them, of course, to hope to the end. And if you've got the marginal reference Bible, there's a little number at the word hope, to the end, because it means to hope perfectly.

That means to never lose hope. You know, it says of the Lord Jesus that having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And that's the very phrase that's there, to the end. And it means this, that he loved them the whole way through.

You know, when Peter denied him and had to go out and weep and sit in the shadows, the Lord loved him the whole way through the denial. And when Thomas ran about for a week, you know, miserable because of his unbelief, ah well, the Lord loved him right through the week of unbelief.

You know, the Lord loved him right on to the end. The Lord will never give up. I will listen to what Peter's turning around. He says, now you hope the whole way through. You hope. And do you notice what he's saying to you?

He says, hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a wonderful moment it will be. Grace will finish the job then, won't it? You see, it was grace that wrote my name on life's eternal book.

It was grace that gave me through the Lamb, through all my sorrows too. You see, wherever sin abounded in my life, and I assure you it abounded in many courses. Ah well, the grace of God has much more abounded because grace saved me.

You see, it was the grace of God that saved me. I'm saved by grace. That works. I'm only saved to work. I don't work to be saved. Oh, they're putting the cart before the horse. Oh no, I'm saved to work for the Lord.

I didn't work to be saved. I'm saved by grace alone. But you know, the grace that saved me is the grace that keeps me. You know, His grace is sufficient for me. And I'll tell you this, this grace that puts me on the road, this grace will take me all the road.

And then this grace will meet me at the end of the road. Come on! Then God will take you into heaven and all the angels will stand up and God, in the ages to come, will demonstrate the riches of His grace when He takes a thing like me and presents me before His own fortress, like the Lord Jesus.

What a moment! I never lose hope of grace. You know, you need to move on and I'll show you why in a moment or two. If He is exhorting them to guard their minds that they might be happy and He's exhorting them all about hope, that they might hope on to the end.

Holiness as Obedient Christian Living

And He's not only exhorting them about happiness and hope, but He exhorts them about holiness. Now, you need to read this very carefully with me. It begins at verse 14. Ours are obedient children. Now, remember He's talking to and about the children of God.

And remember the children of God are not always obedient to God. I think you'll need to get that very clear this night. Sometimes God speaks to us in this book about believers baptism. Sometimes He speaks to us in this book about remembering His Son on the first day of the week.

Sometimes He speaks to us in this book about coming out to pray. And there's a thousand little things He talks to us about in this book, very personally and very subtly. And some of the children of God just don't bother their heads.

They're disobedient, that's all. Well, let me tell you, son, that you needn't talk to me about hope. All lots of the folks come round talking to me about holiness and they obey God themselves. Oh, they're wonderful with their ideas.

Well, holiness belongs to obedient children. That's what it belongs to, just in case you didn't know. Let's get it proper, of course, from the book of obedient children. And then He takes up the negative side.

Not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lusts and your ignorance. Well, you cannot be obedient children if you go back to the things you used to do. Those used to people saying, I'm saved by grace and I'm elect and predestined and I can do what I like.

This book doesn't teach you that. This book doesn't teach you any such nonsense. This book expects you to be an obedient child. If I want you to get that, I don't need to butter up the negative fear. But it turns from the negative to the positive.

Of obedient children. So be ye holy, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. You know, holiness is a tremendous subject. And a whole lot of books seem to know nothing at all about it. They talk about their experience all the time as a sort of doctrine.

My dear friend, don't you ever bring your experience onto the platform as a doctrine for other people. I think that a great lot of books talk about holiness and sanctification, because holiness and sanctification are both the same Greek words, you know.

You see, you cannot say holify. That's not good English. So you have to say sanctify. And both words are one and the same. And it has to be translated sometimes by sanctification. You couldn't say holification, could you?

But holiness and sanctification is one and the same word, and I assure you it's the same Greek word. And of course, the basic meaning of holiness or sanctification is just being set apart. That's the basic meaning.

There's no problem with it. It means being set apart as obedient children of God. And a whole lot of folk would like to tell me they're holy, and they're afraid to obey the Lord in the waters of baptism.

Oh, I know it's there all right. And they jump over it every time they come to it. And of course, they never come to remember the Lord, when all the time the Lord is holding out his hand and saying, this, you, in remembrance of me.

But they would love to talk to me about holiness. And they're not obedient at all. You don't talk to me about holiness. You know, so many folks try to say that holiness and sanctification is a sort of a blessing that you get.

My dear friend, you never were so far away from the truth in your life. Let me tell you this, that the Lord Jesus was sanctified. But you might dig around and tell me he got the second blessing. Because I would shame you when you come here.

Well, let me tell you, if you're preaching that sanctification is the second blessing, then you're saying that Jesus Christ got the second blessing. And that is rubbish. You know, in this book, shall I show you this?

Sanctification and Being Set Apart

I didn't mean to go along this line, but maybe the Lord means it. This is 1 Corinthians, and it's chapter 10, if I remember rightly. 1 Corinthians, chapter 10. I want you to watch this very carefully.

A virtual theme. For the unbelieving husband. Now, tell me this, is he an unbelieving husband? You're quite sure of that. He's a non-believer, he's an unbelieving husband. Well, it says here, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified.

Is he not? Or is he not? Well, I'll show you he is. Of course, you wouldn't like to bring in your doctor in there, sure you wouldn't. You wouldn't like to tell me that the unbelieving husband has got the second blessing.

Because you would know you were talking rubbish now. You see, there's a great lot of rubbish talk. It's the greatest lot of baloney in this world. This unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, you know.

What does it mean when it says the Lord Jesus sanctified? Does it mean he became holier? Does it mean that he got a blessing he'd never had before? When it says the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, do you mean the unbelieving man has got the second blessing?

I don't think I need to punish you too much. You must see that you're on the wrong bench. You see, it's because of the rubbish that's been talked about sanctification. And put over his hands. They think that we're a doctrine.

Now, don't for any sakes go out and say that I said somebody didn't get a blessing. A lot of old dead bastards could do a blessing. But just because a farmer and he's in the world and he's not playing the game of the Lord and he looked up and let his wife put right.

Well, he got blessed all right. Thank God for that. But that is not sanctification. That's an experience he's had with the Lord. And don't you bring your experience up here to preach it as a doctrine and then put a word on it because the word will condemn you.

That's where the trouble is now. They don't even know what they're talking about. Because the moment you say that sanctification is the second blessing, you are saying the unbelieving husband has got the second blessing and you know that's rubbish.

So you'd better change your tune or get them to change the book. It's as simple as ABC, that holiness and sanctification, that means that you'll take a part of that thing. You see, God sets his son apart to be the sacrifice for sin.

The father sanctifies the son and sends him into the world. He just sets his son apart to be the sacrifice for sin. There's nothing wrong with that. You see, when Paul is preaching to the village, let's try to keep it simple as I already stated.

Supposing there are 20 houses in the village, and he stands out in the middle of this village of some of our missionaries that have done in Africa, and he preaches the glorious gospels and welcomes the praises of the woman in front of the house.

Now you know she knows the Lord now. She's had the thrill of sins forgiven. She's gloriously saved. She's had this brief experience the Bible called the new birth. Now there's nobody else saved in the village.

Well, her husband lives with her. So he's different from all the other men in the village now. He's set apart now with a woman in the house who has the life of the glorious gospel. Is there anything wrong with that?

The unbelieving husband is set apart because he's waiting for change. She can tell him every night, and she can walk before him every day. He's different from the other souls. They haven't got any life.

Ah, there is no problem. I can go through the book, you know, on sanctification. But when the Lord is talking here, when Peter is talking here about being holy because God is holy and uses the illustration, God is holy, you know, he's not thinking of sanctification or holiness in the same way as we're thinking about the Lord being set apart or about the unbelieving husband being set apart.

He's thinking of practical holiness, practical sanctification. You know, in John 17, when our Lord is praying, he holds up his hand. He's praying for the believers. He says, Father, faith defies them through thy truth.

Look at me. That means when you used to put down the bed, you've become different. And when you dump the bed, don't talk to me about holiness. There are a thing about us. We are just a grumbling little dog.

You will not be baptized. Don't tell God that thing. But don't be telling me you're holy after that. Strange you get sanctified in a practical manner by obedience to the book. You know, when I got first saved and I didn't know anything at all, I can remember just like yesterday, sitting down at five o 'clock in the morning, not knowing where to read, just plundering through the book almost anywhere and reading, servants, be obedient to your masters.

With singleness of eye, I come to Christ. You know, I was a simple believer. I said, Lord, I'm going to my work this morning. I'm to work at my work just as if it was for you. It's all right. You know, this gives me a great thrill.

I went out, I was washing flower pots. Great big tub. Ice. Ice on the tub. Had to break the ice, you know, and get the sleeves up. All the rest of the boys walk up and down, you know. I said, Lord, look at me, you know.

I said, Charlie, he's gone mad, you know. And that's what they were saying. You know, this gives me a great thrill. They're saying, well, you know, I had the greatest joy in my soul because I was washing these flower pots for Christ.

Let me inform you here, I could do it again, and I wouldn't be a bit ashamed to do it. I see Jim Cousins running down the street with an old boy brushing the road. And I said to him the other day, in a few days, that you're brushing that road for the Lord.

He says, oh, step on it. Yes, this is what he does. Brushing the road for Christ. It's a good job, you know. There's nothing regrettable about it. I can do it any day if the Lord asks me. And I'll tell you, if you begin to let the book take the hold of your life, you become different.

You obey the book. You become obedient. You become holy. You're getting set apart. You're not one of the crowd anymore. How that's it? He's exhorting them about holiness. They only want to talk about holiness in this country.

They don't want to obey the law. It's just a conference. It's when you obey the book, then you become holy. Yes, let's get on there. We're very small, this evening. So these exhortations are to the flock about happiness, and about hope, and about holiness.

The Father's Election, Hearing, and Judgment

You know, there are some great considerations in this chapter about the Father. I think this is something you should mark in your reading. Just look at the chapter when Peter begins in the first verse and preaches to these strangers scattered throughout Pontus.