SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Be Ready Mentally (vs 13-14)
• An Alert Mind (VS 13A).
• A Sober Mind (VS 13B).
• A Positive Mind (VS 13C).
(2). Be Ready Morally (vs 15-21)
• Motivation #1: By Being Godlike (vs 16)
• Motivation #2: By Being Fearful (vs 17)
• Motivation #3: By Being Full (vs 18).
• Motivation #4: Be Grateful; (By Being 19-21)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• A lady went to Kenya on a short-term mission trip,
• One day she was taken to a remote township, where she attended a medical clinic.
• As the Maasai women began to sing together,
• She found herself deeply moved by their beautiful harmonies,
• She thought to herself, that she wanted to remember this moment,
• And maybe share it with friends back at the Church when she arrived home.
• With tears flowing down her cheeks,
• She turned to her friend and asked,
• “Can you please tell me the translation of the words to this song?”
• Her friend looked at her puzzled and replied,
• “They are singing, “If you boil the water, you won’t get dysentery””.
• TRANSITION: Sometimes things get lost in translation!
• But the message is simple, hygiene is important!
• Covid-19 has emphasised to the entire world the importance of washing hands,
• Being clean physically is important with our battle with germs,
• And being clean spiritually is important with our battle with sin,
• TRANSITION: In this section of 1 Peter (verses 13-21).
• The apostle Peter emphasised, ‘walking in holiness’.
Ill:
• The root meaning for the word translated as holy is “different”.
• Christians are called to be different from the world,
• Now let me pause to say, not weird, not odd, not strange or weird,
• Sadly, there are many in our Churches who fit those descriptions.
• But we are to be different in our attitudes, our morals, our character,
• We should be known for two things, loving God and loving other people.
• (Matthew chapter 22 verses 36-40).
• And to do that effectively, will require we live a holy life.
• A life committed to loving God and a life committed to living for God.
Todays passage divides into two sections:
• Be Ready Mentally (vs 13-14).
• Be Ready Morally (vs 15-21).
(1). Be Ready Mentally (vs 13-14)
“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. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Ill:
• The next time life seems confusing and you feel that you’ve lost your bearings,
• ‘ZOOM OUT!’
• That’s what I did recently on Google Maps, and it worked like a charm.
• Sometimes you can be looking at a location on the map, and you are confused.
• But if you click on ‘zoom out’ then the broader perspective can make all the difference.
• Understanding where you are in relationship to other key landmarks and places,
• Can help you find your bearings.
• TRANSITION: remember that this letter is written primarily to suffering believers,
• Believers scattered by persecution.
• If they dwelt on their current situation they would most likely want to give up and fail.
• But by ‘zooming out’ and looking at the bigger picture,
• They can find the encouragement and hope that they will need to cope.
In the previous section (vs 1-12),
• The apostle Peter talks about our ‘living hope’ (vs 3),
• Now in this section (vs 13-21) that apostle Peter,
• Explains how we apply this hope to our lives.
Note:
• That the apostle Peter begins this section in verse 13 with this idea of hope,
• “Set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming”.
• And he concludes this section in verse 21 with that word hope.
• “…for your faith and hope are in God.”
• Now the apostle Peter explains how we apply this hope to our lives.
• Because good theology will produce good practical living!
• Dare I say, that if your theology does not affect your living,
• Then your theology is not good!
Notice the object of our hope in verse 13 is future grace.
• That grace will be brought to us at Christ’s return.
• We live and plan in the future tense.
Ill:
• An engaged couple make all their plans in the light of the future wedding,
• That coming event will shape and influence all their key decisions ahead.
• TRANSITION:
• Our lives should be shaped by the fact that one day we will see Jesus Christ.
• With that in mind Peter gives three pieces of ‘MIND’ advice.
(A). AN ALERT MIND (VS 13A).
• N.I.V.: “with minds that are alert”
• N.A.S.B.: “prepare your minds for action.”
• K.J.B.: “gird up the loins of your mind”
• It simply means, “pull your thoughts together”.
• Have a disciplined mind!
• ill: Covid-19 caution when you are in Tier 5 ‘be aware and be alert’ type advice!
Ill:
• In Bible days people wore robes and not trousers,
• If you needed to run or climb over an obstacle,
• You gathered in the tuck the long edges of his robes into his belt,
• This freed up your legs to run without tripping over.
• TRANSITION: It was a picturesque way of saying,
• “Get rid of everything that prevents and weakens your hope”.
• In other words, holiness requires action, it will not happen automatically,
• We must make sure that we do not take into our minds,
• The attitudes and morals of an unholy world, this will take effort and energy.
(B). A SOBER MIND (VS 13B).
• N.I.V.: “and fully sober””
• N.A.S.B.: “keep sober in spirit”
• G.N.B.: “Keep alert”
Ill:
• If ever you see a drunk man, they often slur their words and talk nonsense,
• Quote: Susan Ertz (known for her "sentimental tales of genteel life in the country.")
• Who wrote, “He talked with more claret than clarity”
• Drunks often struggle for balance and find it hard to walk in a straight line,
• Their mind is not in control of their bodies!
• TRANSITION: Sober here is not talking about alcohol,
• But the principle is the same, make sure you are in control of your mind and actions.
• The word “Sober” here means, “to be calm, steady, controlled, to weigh matters”.
• Don’t look around at the world and let it intoxicate you away from God,
• With its vain and temporary promises.
• Keep your mind ‘sober’ so that it can be discerning, clear thinking, and wise,
• With moral resolve.
(C). A POSITIVE MIND (VS 13C).
“set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.”
Questions: What is your hope in life? Where do you set your hope?
• Without God in our lives, we will set our hope in other people.
• Without God in our lives, we will set our hope in our work, our careers.
• Without God in our lives, we will set our hope in leisure and pursuits.
• Without God in our lives, we will set our hope in money.
• (Cause we all know money solves all your problems – NOT!)
• While these may be good things that God has given us to enjoy.
• However, these are all momentary and they will fail one day.
• As believers, we are called to set our hope in Jesus Christ,
• A hope that will never fail.
• And specifically, we are told to set your hope on his coming.
Question: What is our hope connected to?
Answer: Our hope is connected to our salvation.
• Verse 13 starts with the word “therefore.”
• So, Peter is connecting our hope with something that he has already said in this chapter.
• Verse 3 he reminded his readers that,
• “God has given us new birth into a living hope.”
• We have been ‘given’ this hope, and verse 3 reminds us it is by his ‘mercy’,
• Verse 13 reminds us it is because of his ‘grace’.
• Our hope does not rest or rely on us but on him!
With that in mind the apostle Peter tells us to “set your hope”.
• That is to do something, when you feel like giving up, look up!
• Remind yourself of who you belong to!
Ill:
• A friend of mine was having doubts about his salvation,
• So, he decided to pray about it,
• He said, “I started my prayer like this, ‘Our Father in heaven’”.
• Then he stopped talking and started laughing.
• The absurdity of the situation hit him,
• If God was his heavenly Father, how could he doubt he was saved!
• TRANSITION: The realisation of who he belonged to, a child if God,
• Removed the doubts and replaced them with confidence and joy.
Notice: Verse 14:
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Ill:
• Penny (my wife) and I have a regular saying that we quote to one another,
• It has to do with our two adult children,
• We normally look at each other and one of us will say,
• “He or She gets that from you!”
• We are of course normally referring to a negative trait in their character.
• Just as children inherit the nature of their parents,
• Yep, sorry kids if you did not know already but one day you will look in the mirror,
• And see one of your parents looking back at you!
• TRANSITION: But here is the good news,
• We are also the “children” of God (lit. “children of obedience”).
• Therefore, we should and can expect to reflect some of his character traits in our lives!
• The apostle Peter says, “Do these things because you are obedient children”,
• It is your new nature to do so.
• Instead of being conformed to the world and its lusts,
• Set your hope fully on Christ and His rule and promises.
(2). Be Ready Morally (vs 15-21)
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
Ill:
• Many of you have in your hands or with in your reach,
• Not just a Bible, but a Holy Bible.
• Some of us have had the opportunity to visit what is called the ‘Holy Land’.
• Not just a small country in the Middle East, but a specific unique piece of land.
• Many of us here today or watching are married, we are not living together with someone,
• Instead, we have entered into what’s called ‘holy matrimony’.
• We have committed before God and people our faithfulness to another.
• TRANSITION: The above examples are meant to remind you that the word ‘holy’ or,
• Holiness is not a negative word; it is an enriching word.
• Holiness is more that the avoidance of sin in our lives,
• Instead, it is an active pursuit of God and his values, his virtues.
Notice that the apostle Peter gives us four motivations to be holy.
Motivation #1: By Being Godlike (vs 16)
“For it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.”
Ill:
• DVD Clip of a friends one year old girl, just watch what she is doing,
• The girl is copying, imitation her parents, she wants to be like them!
• TRANSITION: “For it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.”
• As Christians we should want to be like our heavenly Father.
Note:
• This verse contains the same grammatical construction,
• That Jesus used when tempted by the devil in the wilderness,
• As in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4
• Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone…Word of God’”.
Quote: One commentator writes,
“the perfect tense can be rendered “it stands written” and means that from the moment the text was penned until this moment it carries utter, complete, and divine authority because of Whose words they are—means that up to the present moment God’s call for a holy people has not diminished an iota.”
There is no other characteristic of God that gets the emphasis that his holiness does.
• e.g., We are never told in scripture that God is wise, wise, wise,
• e.g., And we are never told that God is strong, strong, strong,
• e.g., And we are never told that God is powerful, powerful, powerful,
• e.g., We are not even told that God is love, love, love!
• Only one attribute of God is repeated again and again and again,
• That is his holiness!
• And God expects that holiness to be seen in his children,
• As we have mentioned already, we are his children,
• And as the saying goes, “like Father like son, like mother like daughter”.
Motivation #2: By Being Fearful (vs 17)
“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.”
Quote: Someone has said,
“The Church today has lost the fear of God, the modern Church seems to have embraced the trinity as, The Father, Son and holy buddy”.
• Now while we can enjoy an intimacy with God,
• Let us mot cross over the line and lose our respect for God.
• We believe in an awesome, almighty creator God:
• One that the Bible describes as a consuming fire (Hebrews chapter 12 verses 28-29)
Ill:
• According to the experts a crisis is taking place in forests,
• This last year has seen raging fires with unprecedented ferocity,
• From the Amazon to the Arctic.
• TRANSITION: God is not out of control,
• Be he is awesome, almighty, a consuming fire not to be messed with!
• The unbeliever, the non-Christian ought to fear God,
• They need to fear his judgment and fear the consequences of rejecting him.
• Which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31).
• For the believer, the fear of God is something much different.
• Godly fear isn’t the same as fear of a tyrant, or a dictator.
• To fear God is to show him respect and reverence and awe,
Note:
• The apostle Peter ties the fear of God alongside the name we call God, i.e., ‘Father’,
• Jesus taught the same in the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father…. hallowed be your name”.
• Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him,
• That it has a great impact on the way we live our lives.
• The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him,
• Submitting to His discipline and worshiping Him in awe.
Note:
• The judgement mentioned here has nothing to do with our salvation,
• Jesus bore our judgement on the cross and he has taken care of that!
• (1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24: “He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross”)
Judgement here has to do with our works and our rewards, not our salvation,
• Other New Testament writers also talk about this.
• e.g., The apostle Paul talks about the ‘Judgment Seat of Christ’.
• (Romans chapter 14 verses 10-12 & 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 11-15.).
• e.g., The apostle James refers to it, we will have to give an account for our actions,
• (James chapter 3 verses 1-9)
• So, with that in mind, let us be motivated to be fearful (vs 17),
• Let us seek to please our heavenly Father and hear those words,
• “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew chapter 25 verse 23)
Motivation #3: By Being Full (vs 18).
“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,”
Notice: that Peter calls the ungodly life an ‘empty life’.
• It is the opposite of what God promises.
• Old Testament it was a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus chapter 3 verse 8).
• Old Testament psalmist said, “my cup overflows” (Psalm 23 verse 5).
• In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of, “Life in all its fulness”.
• In contrast the apostle that Peter calls the ungodly life an ‘empty life’.
• Other translations use the words,
• “Foolish, and unprofitable conduct, full of vain hopes, vain fears, and vain wishes.”
Ill:
Jesus put it this way (Matthew chapter 16 verse 26)
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
• TRANISTION: Without Christ in our lives, “All is vanity, a chasing after the wind”
• And in comparison, to eternity,
• Our lives and achievements are like a flower, here today and gone tomorrow.
Motivation #4: Be Grateful; (By Being 19-21)
“but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 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.”
Ill;
• Charles Thomas (C.T.) Studd (1860-1931) was a famous cricketer for England,
• (As famous in his day as any modern player).
• He became a missionary who faithfully served his Saviour in China, India, and Africa.
• His motto was simple and to the point:
"If Jesus Christ is God and died for me,
then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."
Quote:
• The Puritan Thomas Watson.
• Who rightly observed that redemption was God’s greatest work.
“Great was the work of creation, but greater the work of redemption; it cost more to redeem us than to make us; in one there was but the speaking of a word, in the other the shedding of blood”.
Notice: fiver supernatural qualities here in this one verse.
• His predetermination (vs 20)
• His incarnation (vs 20)
• His crucifixion (vs 19)
• His resurrection (vs 20)
• His glorification (vs 20)
• His predetermination (vs 20)
• “He was chosen before the creation of the world.”
• His incarnation (vs 20)
• “He was…revealed in these last times for your sake.
• His crucifixion (vs 19)
• “But with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”
• (He offered up his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world!)
• His resurrection (vs 20)
• “Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead”
• His glorification (vs 20)
• “Who raised him from the dead and glorified him”
When we remind ourselves of who it is that went to the cross,
• Who it is that has redeemed us!
• The eternal Son of God,
• Then surely that ought to reveal itself in gratitude,
• And a desire to live lives of purity and holiness.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=TxyeyNwiHqLsLgbF2swMOfbRSyaIO7uI
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/DGgTIrTIxe8
