A. Opening illustration: Olympic athletes in training. They set aside all priorities for four years waiting for a change to complete on a world stage. Did they not feel the hope that their training would propel them to victory, they would not give four years, blood, sweat, and tears, strained muscles, tendons, and ligaments, bumps, bruises, and scrapes. They would not endure the yelling from the trainers, seemingly endless preliminaries and qualification tournaments, or the pressure over and over. They have their eyes on the prize and the gold medal and being the best in the world for a day is worth it all to them.
B. Background to passage: Don’t hear what I’m not saying: holiness doesn’t make you a Christian or earn salvation. Holiness (freedom from impurity) is the fruit of being a Christian and the aim of those who are following Christ. Peter speaks on the foundation that he has established and continues, that these people are believers. Note the “therefore” at the beginning after coming off paragraphs of their salvation, as well as the language used to describe them—grace that will be brought to them, obedient children, former ignorance, called by God, calling on the Father, your exile (heaven is your home), you were ransomed, and their faith and hope were in God.
C. Main thought: Over the next two weeks we will look at some helpful means to aid you in pursuit of holiness
1) Prepare Your Mind (v. 13)
a. This is actually a participial phrase describing a state of being. First two helps are supports for the first main command. Pull up long flowing clothing out of the way in order to run or react. This deals with spiritual alertness and preparation. This is the ability and determination to discipline your thoughts
b. Matthew 6:33 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 2 Tim 2:4 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Luke 12:25 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, Eph 6:14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth.
c. Illustration: I get distracted easily, “Discipline in the Christian life is just as essential as in any other walk of life where success depends on a determined, single-minded commitment.”
d. Here we are told to guard against spiritual laziness, prepare to see God work, and move with instant obedience, as one writer said. We have the Spirit of God living inside of us. He uses us as instruments to bring God glory and accomplish his purposes, therefore we must be ready. So, how do we do that? Things like fear should be tucked in and replaced with faith. Worry should be tied down and replaced with trust and confidence in God. Jealousy and covetousness replaced with contentment. Hate replaced with love. Unforgiveness should be replaced with forgiveness. Pride should be replaced with humility. Anger and aggression. Bathing your mind in the Word is crucial. I know it sounds like a broken record, but this is a thought that we must drive home. Trust in the gospel and the Spirit are the next two keys. Read books from authors that are not afraid to speak truth in love in the gospel. Fill your minutes
2) Be Self-controlled (v. 13)
a. Well-balanced. Not obsessed or controlled by things. Differing from the previous idea that we must be prepared for the moving of the Spirit, this thought is that we are to be overtaken in sin that dulls our spiritual senses. We aim for clarity of mind and discipline of heart, maintaining proper priorities. This has to be intentional. Peter uses this word twice subsequent to this passage related to our prayers in 4:7 and related to our being devoured by Satan the roaring lion in 5:8.
b. 1 Thess 5:6-8 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
c. Illustration: my kids think that I am addicted to Tetris,
d. Addictions, lusts, possessions, power, position, relationships, jobs, TV shows, sports are the first things that come to mind. Where are they out of balance in your life? When was the last time that you really took a long evaluation of the various areas in your life? Are there things that you allow to consume the lion’s share of your time that you are not maneuvering them toward the kingdom? Our flesh and our world will slowly draw us away from true north. Satan may not come against you head on with huge immoralities or giant failures, he may lure you ever so slightly as a frog heating up slowly in the pot—we don’t even see it.
3) Set Your Hope on Grace (v. 13)
a. This is the main command in order for holiness. Peter actually uses the word “hope.” This hope is the
same “living hope” earlier in the chapter that is biblically defined as much more than a feeling, but a
confident trust or faith that is unwaveringly, volitionally, persistently fixed. As you suffer and strive to
be holy, set your mind/hope on future grace. This is a mindset or worldview for life. It is a mantra and
motto. It calls us to daily death to earthly fixations. It calls us to a constant reevaluation of our priorities
and plans. It calls us to rely on something other than ourselves. It calls us to look forward to a day when
there will be no more strife within us.
b. Col 3:2-4 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear
with him in glory.
c. 1 Pet 5:6 - And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
d. Eph 3:16-17 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith
e. Illustration: Advice from Kevin Monroe, the financial planner is to live like He is coming tomorrow, and
plan as if He were coming in 100 years, Ivy’s intense focus on the laser pointer, I set my hope in this ad
on Instagram or FB last year for Christmas presents for everyone in my house. Indestructible phone
charging cords!
f. When we roll out of bed in the morning, where do our first thoughts linger? Do we begin life with him in
the morning and close with him in the evening? We must live with a backdrop of the return of Christ.
We must set a firm confidence and an expectant joy in this Treasure of our hearts and Lover of our souls
and his return to restore this sin-cursed world to a sin-free world. He will be King of the World in visible
and triumphant fashion. His glory will shine over all the earth and joy will be complete for those who
believe.
g. Closing Illustration: Heb 12-14 - Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be
healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord
h. Holiness is a fruit of your pursuit of Christ. As Peter has instructed, it is built first on the salvation
provided by Christ and experienced by the believer. However, it is the mark of genuine faith. Hatred of
sin, love for righteousness, and pursuit of Christ.
i. When I worked at BJP in Wake Forest while I was in seminary, they offered a wilderness first aid
course. It was all day on Sat and Sun. I think we covered every scenario that you could face from
suburban hikes and sprain ankles to backcountry camping with hypothermic bear attack victims. I
remember only a few things – getting in a sleeping back with a hypothermic individual is not more
helpful that not getting in, how to build a full leg split with various items, the order of importance for
first aid through ABC, and “never create a second victim.” The warning of this verse in Hebrews is for
all of us and is of eternal importance. If you don’t live a holy life you will probably not see the Lord, and
you will create many second victims. A stern warning, but a necessary one.
4) Illustration: C. S. Lewis once commented to an American friend, “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, … it is irresistible. If even 10% of the world’s population had it, would not the whole world be converted and happy before a year’s end?”
5) Avoid the Worldly Mold (v. 14-15)
a. Note the link between obedience and sonship. Peter knew that even though these people were now the children of God by the new birth, remnant sin still sought to undo them. Noting a sharp contrast between the sinful passions of their former ignorance, he calls them to the flip side of the same coin. He says not to let the pattern of your life be world-like, but rather Christ-like. The idea here is to pattern one’s life after something. Sinlessness was not a possibility, but a goal. He called them obedient children to point to who they are in truth and in practice, before exhorting them to holiness. Holiness is two-fold in its meaning in the OT. One was purity and sinlessness and the other was set apart for God’s honor.
b. Rom 12:2 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. Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind
c. Illustration: People today show a strong tendency to adjust their opinions to match those of the group. This goes a long way towards explaining why only a fraction of the educated population of North America (or anywhere else for that matter) is prepared to think for themselves, even where issues of grave importance are involved. In his book, "Iconoclast: A Neuroscientists Reveals How to Think Differently," Dr. Gregory Berns says, "Iconoclastic thinking is a minority trait. The brain is hard wired to conform." He points to a study in which a group of people were recruited for a project, but first tested privately. On their own, these individuals determined the correct answer to a question 86% of the time. But when told that their group had given a different answer to the question (which in fact was the wrong answer), almost a third of those tested abandoned the correct answer in order to conform with the prevailing opinion of the group. A few years ago psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Subsequently, each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line. Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. The experiment began with nine teen-agers voting for the wrong line. The stooge would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group. The instructions were repeated, and the next card was raised. Time after time, the self-conscious stooge would sit there saying a short line is longer than a long line, simply because he lacked the courage to challenge the group. This remarkable conformity occurred in about 75% of the cases, and was true of small children and high-school students as well. Berenda concluded that, "Some people had rather be president than right," which is certainly an accurate assessment.
d. Several motivating factors actually lie in these two verses. One is that we are the children of God, and should desire his approval, as well as love him from our new hearts. Another is that mercy has come from this God who freed us from all the sins, lusts, and passions to which we were enslaved. You are free to serve him! Gratitude for that should be enough by itself to motivate us to holiness. Are you truly grateful for freedom? This is one of the reasons that we must double down on theology and be very observant of trends and their repercussions. This is also an admonition to determine what you believe before you enter into a world that will challenge you. Apologetics is application. Can you defend your faith? Exclusivity, creation, abortion, traditional marriage, sexual ethics, euthanasia, problem of evil, and on and on?
6) Call on the Father (v. 17)
a. As he did is in v. 14, Peter draws attention to their status as the children of the heavenly Father. Building on the foundation of the first 12 verses, their salvation draws them into an intimate relationship with the God of the universe. He is their loving Father to protects, provides, leads, loves in a special way his elect exiles. He is pointing to another facet of the character of God. It’s a temperance to the awesome holiness of God’s person. He is transcendent and immanent and intimate. He is close which is a fearful thing, but also a comfort and refuge. Peter speaks of present tense currently calling on the Father. However, he also says “if.” I think this does leave the door open for believers to be those who don’t call on the Father.
b. Argumentation
c. Illustration:
d. In our pursuit of holiness, we are never to forget that God right there for us. If we fail, we have an advocate. If we run, the Father is still there waiting for us to reach the bottom and return. Even when discipline is involved, even harsh discipline, it is from a loving Father drawing you back to repentance so that your relationship is whole. Call on your Father. Make time for the relationship. Understand that your belief as a Christian is not one of rules, regulations, guilt, and religion, but of an intimate love relationship with a loving Father.
7) Conduct Yourself in Fear (v. 17): Time is SHORT
a. Already covered last week, but in case you missed it: the blazing, fierce, absolute holiness of God strikes terror in the heart of those who sin. Peter says to conduct yourself in fear during your stay here.
b. Argumentation
c. Illustration:
d. If you are not afraid of the wrath of God upon sin, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of who God is. God will punish every sin, either upon his Son or in the eternal fires of hell.
