Dale Partridge - 1 Peter 1_13-16 Hopeful Minds and Holy Lives

00:00:00.000 It's been some time since we've been in this great book of 1 Peter, several months actually.

00:00:15.560 And so before we dive into the text, I need to remind us of where we are in this wonderful book.

00:00:21.720 Peter begins in 1 Peter by calling the recipients of this book elect exiles.

00:00:33.580 He calls them elect exiles.

00:00:36.040 They are outsiders in the world, but they are not outsiders to God.

00:00:40.900 They're chosen by the Father.

00:00:44.200 It says in chapter 1, verses 1 through 2,

00:00:47.600 to those who are elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

00:00:53.700 in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ

00:00:57.920 and for sprinkling with his blood.

00:01:02.380 What Peter is telling these Christians is that their salvation is not an accident.

00:01:07.680 It's the work of the triune God.

00:01:11.040 It's the Father who chose them. 0.75

00:01:12.840 the Spirit that sanctifies them, and the Son that cleanses them with his blood.

00:01:20.780 Peter then tells them something that would have been profoundly important and comforting for them in a hostile world.

00:01:28.100 He says that they've been born again to a living hope.

00:01:34.440 Their hope is a living hope. It's not fragile.

00:01:38.940 It's anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

00:01:42.840 And that hope leads to something even greater.

00:01:48.920 Verse 4, he says that they have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

00:02:02.800 Not only that, Peter says that they themselves are being kept.

00:02:09.320 Verse 5 tells us that they're kept by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

00:02:20.320 Even in their suffering, they're not abandoned.

00:02:24.480 Peter acknowledges that they're experiencing trials, but he says in verses 6 and 7 that those trials are refining their faith like fire refines gold.

00:02:34.860 And then Peter lifts their eyes even higher, where he reminds them that the salvation they possess is something that even the prophets long to look into.

00:02:50.480 Verses 10-12 tell us the prophets searched and inquired carefully about the grace that would come.

00:02:57.340 Even the angels, Peter says, long to look into these things.

00:03:01.600 In other words, Peter has spent the last 12 verses of this chapter

00:03:09.780 reminding these Christians of something extremely important.

00:03:15.340 It's important for us to remember this too.

00:03:19.720 That our salvation is glorious.

00:03:24.580 It's ancient in God's plan.

00:03:27.440 It's secure in God's power.

00:03:29.940 and it's treasured even by heaven itself.

00:03:36.700 And now, because we know that all of this is true,

00:03:41.900 all these things that Peter has said are true,

00:03:46.180 he begins verse 13 with the word therefore.

00:03:51.800 I was always taught growing up that when a therefore shows up,

00:03:56.220 you better circle, underline, highlight the word therefore.

00:03:59.940 because it marks a central transition in the text.

00:04:05.460 We're transitioning from something important to something now that you're going to do.

00:04:12.780 The commands that follow are not detached moral advice for Christians.

00:04:18.200 They flow from salvation that's already been revealed.

00:04:21.900 Salvation that's already been given and extended to the believer.

00:04:25.420 However, the commands that follow flow from grace.

00:04:32.220 They're grace-rooted commands.

00:04:36.580 Peter is saying, because you have been chosen, because you have been born again,

00:04:41.800 because God's power has kept you, because an eternal inheritance awaits you,

00:04:49.340 this is how you now must live.

00:04:51.060 And the first place Peter begins this morning is with the mind

00:04:58.380 Listen again to verse 13 of 1 Peter chapter 1

00:05:06.000 It says

00:05:09.040 Therefore, preparing your minds for action

00:05:14.940 and being sober-minded

00:05:17.900 Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

00:05:29.360 Peter says that we are to prepare our minds for action.

00:05:34.100 I think the King James version of the Bible has this just a little bit better.

00:05:39.420 The phrase in the King James is, gird up the loins of your mind.

00:05:44.380 In the ancient world, men would have known exactly what this meant.

00:05:51.520 They wore long robes that hung somewhere between their knees and their ankles.

00:05:57.840 These robes were great when you were standing around.

00:06:02.080 But if you needed to work, if you needed to run, if you needed to fight,

00:06:07.360 you were going to have to take that robe and tuck it into your belt.

00:06:11.980 Have your legs free in order to be ready for action.

00:06:16.600 It was a signal to all who had their robes tucked in that action was about to happen.

00:06:23.180 Something was going to happen.

00:06:27.020 Peter takes that wonderful image and applies it to the Christian mind.

00:06:32.600 He says the Christian life is a life of mental readiness. 0.99

00:06:36.960 It means removing the things that entangle our thinking

00:06:42.920 It means rejecting distractions

00:06:46.520 It means refusing intellectual laziness

00:06:51.080 Christian hope requires mental discipline

00:06:56.600 Peter is not calling us in this verse to draw away from the world

00:07:03.580 He's not saying disentangle yourself from all of the cares of this life, which means you must retreat into some monastic form of Christianity, totally detached from everything in the world.

00:07:20.780 No.

00:07:22.700 Instead, he calls us to do as Paul does in Romans chapter 12, verse 2, where he says that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. 0.66

00:07:33.580 The Christian must learn to think clearly.

00:07:39.520 Scriptures say elsewhere in Luke 12.35, 0.99

00:07:43.900 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.

00:07:49.140 Paul says in Ephesians 6.14,

00:07:51.740 Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.

00:07:57.600 Christian hope

00:08:01.740 as we've seen over and over

00:08:04.580 in this wonderful chapter

00:08:07.400 is a hope

00:08:10.380 that is strengthened by clarity

00:08:12.840 in the mind

00:08:14.060 so I want you this morning

00:08:17.300 to examine your own mind

00:08:18.740 examine if you're ready

00:08:22.320 is your mind prepared for action

00:08:26.260 have you been sharpening it with the Word of God?

00:08:29.620 Or have you grown careless in the Scriptures?

00:08:33.880 Have you allowed the distractions of your life to dull your thinking?

00:08:41.620 Have you been careless in keeping your mind prepared for action

00:08:45.880 and girding up the loins of your mind?

00:08:48.900 Church, keep the sword of the Word of God sharp in your life.

00:09:00.020 Tie up the robes of your mind.

00:09:03.900 In spiritual warfare, a dull mind is an open gate.

00:09:10.500 It's an open gate.

00:09:13.380 It's like having a castle that you just constantly leave the gate down.

00:09:17.200 ready at any time to be invaded by whoever comes along.

00:09:24.560 What Peter is calling Christians to do in this verse

00:09:27.500 is to raise our gates. 0.99

00:09:31.520 Be prepared.

00:09:34.200 Do not be caught sitting.

00:09:37.720 We have a battle amongst us,

00:09:40.200 a war to fight in the day.

00:09:43.680 And if our gates in our minds are down,

00:09:47.200 you are an easy target for the enemy.

00:09:54.160 A dull mind is an open gate.

00:09:59.120 Peter continues, where he calls us to be sober-minded people.

00:10:05.840 So not only are we to prepare our minds for action,

00:10:08.640 but we are to be a sober-minded people.

00:10:13.120 That phrase carries a lot of force.

00:10:17.200 In the original Greek, Peter uses a present tense participle.

00:10:24.240 If we were in class, I would tell the whole class to repeat after me.

00:10:27.780 Present tense participle.

00:10:31.320 It's a phrase that he's using in this term sober-minded.

00:10:36.400 This participle describes the ongoing mindset that must accompany the main command of the verse.

00:10:44.940 That main command is that you are to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Christ.

00:10:55.980 The present tense emphasizes continual action.

00:11:01.220 It's something that you continue to walk in.

00:11:05.160 It's an ongoing posture of mental alertness and spiritual clarity.

00:11:10.080 In other words, Peter is teaching that if we are going to set our hope fully on Christ,

00:11:20.880 we must do so while continually living with a clear, disciplined, sober mind.

00:11:30.240 He's not merely describing Christians as sober-minded people.

00:11:35.200 That's not what he's doing.

00:11:36.620 He's calling us to live in a constant state of sober-mindedness

00:11:42.540 Do you see the difference?

00:11:46.960 It's a continual discipline

00:11:48.720 It's something you work at

00:11:51.260 It's a deliberate refusal to let your thoughts drift into distraction, confusion, or spiritual carelessness

00:12:01.280 When we think of sobriety, we think of alcohol

00:12:06.320 In the Christian mind in America, we've been taught that sobriety merely means to abstain from alcohol.

00:12:15.200 But that's not the type of sobriety that Peter is talking about.

00:12:20.080 What he's talking about is a spiritual and intellectual sobriety.

00:12:26.120 Definitionally, to be sober is to be serious, to be sensible, or to be solemn.

00:12:31.980 problem. This is the way that Peter is using the term. What he means is that a sober mind

00:12:41.100 is a clear mind, a mind that's not easily carried away, that's not drifting about in

00:12:48.680 the wind or in the tide. It's not easily agitated. It's not easily manipulated. But the world

00:12:58.120 we live in encourages the exact opposite of this. Our age is designed to keep your mind

00:13:08.580 in a constant state of agitation. There are whole industries built around keeping people

00:13:16.680 perpetually angry, uncareful, undisciplined in their mind. Many of us today are overwhelmed

00:13:27.080 and distracted. Our minds are constantly stimulated, constantly reacting, constantly

00:13:35.380 consuming. We've not learned how to be disciplined, and so we've drifted into what I'm calling

00:13:43.420 very lovingly mental intoxication. We're mentally drunk in our times.

00:13:51.580 when you read Christians from the past 0.99

00:13:55.720 you know that they have a carefulness of thought

00:13:57.980 we read them and think they are better men

00:14:02.160 and rightly so

00:14:03.480 we have not disciplined our minds in their way

00:14:07.840 instead we've allowed our minds

00:14:12.160 to get intoxicated

00:14:13.420 we look to pundits online

00:14:18.460 and social media

00:14:20.660 and other people's opinions to determine what we ought to think

00:14:25.120 rather than submitting ourselves to the plain teaching of the Word of God.

00:14:32.600 And so this morning, I want to give you three warning signs

00:14:35.760 that tell you that your mind is becoming spiritually and mentally intoxicated.

00:14:43.820 The first is constant reaction.

00:14:48.700 constant reaction a mind that's intoxicated reacts to everything immediately every headline

00:15:00.620 every controversy every disagreement every time something comes up your first response

00:15:07.180 is to say something without prayer without thought without taking it to the word of god

00:15:12.560 you must react. But scripture calls us to something better than this. James 1 verse 19 says,

00:15:24.140 Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become

00:15:34.260 angry. Sobriety in your mind means that you must be a deliberate thinker, a deliberate speaker,

00:15:45.900 not impulsive, not careless, thoughtful, slow to speak, discerning in your mind.

00:15:57.820 this is a warning sign

00:16:00.900 if you are constantly reacting

00:16:04.180 another danger sign

00:16:07.020 is that you are undisciplined

00:16:10.960 in your thoughts

00:16:12.100 you are undisciplined in your thinking

00:16:15.840 we see this often in the church today

00:16:19.880 many are overrun with anxiety

00:16:22.680 or lust or resentment or pride

00:16:25.940 and they allow these thoughts to wander freely through their mind.

00:16:33.260 How many times have you heard a Christian label themselves as anxious? 0.95

00:16:40.540 This is a result of an undisciplined mind. 1.00

00:16:46.060 2 Corinthians 10.5 says,

00:16:49.780 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.

00:16:55.940 and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

00:17:02.820 Not just some thoughts, all your thoughts.

00:17:07.740 You take them all and make them captive to obey Jesus Christ.

00:17:14.120 Sobriety in this regard requires a mental self-government.

00:17:19.780 You must govern yourself mentally.

00:17:22.760 be sober

00:17:24.700 be careful in your mind

00:17:27.280 when pride

00:17:29.280 or anxiety or lust

00:17:31.140 or resentment

00:17:32.240 comes into

00:17:35.300 your mind

00:17:35.940 you must take this thought

00:17:38.920 recognize it for what it

00:17:41.280 is which

00:17:42.920 is trying to intoxicate your mind

00:17:45.400 and bring it under the lordship

00:17:47.400 of Christ

00:17:47.980 I don't think any one of us

00:17:51.280 are perfect at this

00:17:52.500 But we must seek to grow in the discipline and self-government of our minds 0.96

00:18:02.140 The third warning sign that you have a drunk mind 0.91

00:18:08.320 Is that you're a spiritually shallow person 0.99

00:18:13.200 You're a spiritually shallow person

00:18:17.160 When the mind is constantly filled with trivial things

00:18:21.900 it loses its ability to think deeply on God.

00:18:27.160 We all know these people.

00:18:30.780 People that when you want to speak about deep things of the Lord

00:18:34.460 they have nothing to offer.

00:18:37.480 When you want to talk about the depths of the Christian life

00:18:40.520 and how you've walked with the Lord

00:18:42.740 how he's carried you through deep hardship and trials

00:18:46.880 the other person has nothing to respond with.

00:18:52.700 They're more concerned about football, their next raise, what's happening in Congress.

00:19:02.840 But they have no concern for the things of God.

00:19:07.640 Their soul is a shallow soul.

00:19:10.340 It's like a tree that has shallow roots.

00:19:13.360 It's not deep in any way.

00:19:15.380 When the storm comes on and seeks to blow over that tree, they will find it difficult to stand in that day.

00:19:27.000 Colossians 3.16 says,

00:19:30.100 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.

00:19:40.060 A sober mind is a deeply rooted mind in the word of God.

00:19:45.380 Think on that word richly

00:19:49.920 How much the word of God ought to be in you

00:19:53.640 And examine whether it is

00:19:56.060 Whether you've allowed yourself to become a spiritually shallow person

00:20:01.320 The question we have to ask now

00:20:05.680 Is how do we cultivate

00:20:08.720 This kind of mind

00:20:11.600 This kind of careful, discerning Christian mind 0.96

00:20:15.000 First, you must train yourself to think slowly and carefully

00:20:21.640 Resisting impulses to react in a moment's notice

00:20:26.240 The scripture calls us to wisdom

00:20:29.580 Proverbs 18.13 says

00:20:32.380 If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame

00:20:38.980 It's his folly and his shame if he answers too quickly

00:20:43.180 Do not speak quickly. Think carefully.

00:20:50.140 Second, you must practice mental discipline.

00:20:55.100 You must refuse to allow sinful thoughts to run amok in your mind.

00:21:01.800 Paul writes in Philippians 4.8,

00:21:05.380 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

00:21:10.940 Whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable

00:21:16.940 Think about these things

00:21:21.080 Do not allow sinful thoughts to run amok in your mind

00:21:27.380 Train it to think on the true, the good, and the beautiful

00:21:31.820 Let this pervade your thoughts

00:21:35.900 Third, you must pursue theological depth

00:21:41.660 You must fill your mind with Scripture rather than the noise of the world

00:21:51.640 Psalm 1 verses 1 through 2 says

00:21:55.240 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked

00:21:58.780 But his delight is in the law of God

00:22:02.780 And on his law he meditates

00:22:05.820 day and night.

00:22:09.980 The Word of God is to be on our minds both day and night,

00:22:13.920 and we ought to be thinking about how we can clearly apply it to our everyday lives.

00:22:19.800 You must develop theological depth.

00:22:24.560 And finally, you must keep eternity before you.

00:22:29.620 Peter tells us to set our hope fully

00:22:34.360 on the grace that will be revealed to us

00:22:36.640 when Christ comes back

00:22:38.600 Paul gives the same exact command

00:22:42.560 in Colossians 3.2

00:22:43.700 set your minds on things that are above

00:22:46.600 not on things that are on the earth

00:22:49.020 Christian hope grows best

00:22:52.860 in a steady mind

00:22:54.120 not in an unserious

00:22:56.500 careless mind

00:22:58.640 This idea of sobriety would have made sense to ancient peoples 0.94

00:23:04.320 They would have understood it

00:23:07.900 In the sense that a mind that's unguarded

00:23:11.640 Is a weak mind

00:23:13.780 Back in old times

00:23:16.600 They used to have people called watchmen

00:23:19.680 And these watchmen were protecting a city at night

00:23:24.300 They were posted on walls all around the city

00:23:29.320 Their responsibility was simple, but absolutely crucial.

00:23:35.540 They had to stay awake.

00:23:38.100 They had to be alert.

00:23:39.680 They had to be attentive to their task.

00:23:43.120 If a watchman fell asleep, the entire city could be put in danger.

00:23:48.440 If he became distracted, he might miss the approach of the enemy.

00:23:53.380 If he allowed himself to become intoxicated, he would be useless.

00:23:58.320 when the fight was upon them.

00:24:01.940 The safety of the city depended on the clarity

00:24:04.920 and on the vigilance of the watchman.

00:24:09.000 Scripture actually uses this very image.

00:24:12.720 In Ezekiel 33, verse 7, the Lord says,

00:24:17.180 So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel.

00:24:23.760 Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them a warning.

00:24:28.320 Christian, a watchman cannot afford to be careless.

00:24:38.000 He must be clear-headed.

00:24:41.020 He must be alert.

00:24:43.440 He must be ready. 0.99

00:24:47.320 And Peter is telling us that the Christian mind must function like that watchman. 0.92

00:24:52.060 If our minds are clouded, we will not see danger clearly. 0.96

00:25:00.680 Is this not true of our time?

00:25:04.800 How many Christians struggle to find the right enemy? 1.00

00:25:11.220 How many Christians struggle to think wisely and carefully 1.00

00:25:14.740 and fight old and dead gods 0.99

00:25:18.220 when new and lively ones are upon us.

00:25:25.480 A sober mind, like a faithful watchman,

00:25:30.480 will remain alert, attentive, and ready for action.

00:25:40.380 Peter then goes on,

00:25:42.060 And he gives the central command of the verse.

00:25:46.640 He says to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

00:25:54.240 If you haven't noticed yet, this is one of those sermons you should probably take notes for.

00:26:00.880 I see Miss Arlene doing so, and it's definitely one of those sermons.

00:26:06.200 Notice the strength of the language in this verse.

00:26:13.700 Peter does not say to set your hope partially on the grace that's going to be yours.

00:26:19.860 He doesn't say set your hope mostly on the grace that's going to be yours.

00:26:25.460 He uses the word fully, entirely, without reservation.

00:26:31.740 Christian hope is not anchored in present comfort, not in circumstances, not in political ability,

00:26:43.980 not in personal successes.

00:26:47.980 No, the hope of the Christian is something that's far more wonderful.

00:26:56.780 It is the hope of the future grace that's going to be yours.

00:27:01.740 at the coming of Christ.

00:27:05.100 When was the last time you heard somebody tell you

00:27:07.720 that you should put your hope on that,

00:27:10.300 on the future grace that's coming?

00:27:14.420 Did you know that this is one of the most common ways

00:27:17.540 that the biblical authors gave hope to believers?

00:27:24.240 Our age rarely speaks about this.

00:27:27.460 How many times have you heard somebody say,

00:27:29.900 get the hope of heaven.

00:27:32.680 I'm just a passing through.

00:27:36.520 I'm on my way.

00:27:38.600 I'm only here temporarily.

00:27:42.800 That's not what the biblical authors pointed Christian hope to.

00:27:47.100 The apostles spoke about something different.

00:27:51.100 Paul writes in Titus 2.13,

00:27:53.600 Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

00:28:04.040 And Romans 8.18, he also says,

00:28:07.660 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.

00:28:15.100 Christian hope is fundamentally a future resurrection-oriented hope

00:28:23.780 The apostles comforted believers not by saying

00:28:30.260 Guess what? Someday you get to leave the world

00:28:32.580 You don't have to worry about it

00:28:35.440 Because someday you're not going to be here anymore

00:28:37.520 Don't worry about this life

00:28:39.360 No

00:28:41.500 So, the apostolic hope is that Christ will come and renew the world.

00:28:52.000 That's the hope.

00:28:54.720 It's not some Gnostic reality where we get to escape. 0.93

00:28:59.480 It's that the world that we live in today will be changed.

00:29:05.520 Romans 8 says that creation itself waits for this redemption.

00:29:10.340 1 Corinthians 15 centers the Christian hope on the resurrection of the body.

00:29:16.900 1 Thessalonians 4 comforts believers with the return of their blessed Savior.

00:29:25.360 Irenaeus, the great church father, once said,

00:29:28.840 For then there shall in truth be a common joy,

00:29:35.700 consummated to all those who believe unto life.

00:29:39.340 And in each individual shall be confirmed the mystery of the resurrection

00:29:44.240 and the hope of incorruption and the commencement of the eternal kingdom

00:29:49.620 when God shall have destroyed death and the devil.

00:29:55.280 End quote.

00:29:57.600 The early church understood something we often forget.

00:30:02.340 When Christians suffer, when we suffer in this life,

00:30:07.440 the deepest comfort for you

00:30:10.440 is not to escape this life

00:30:12.760 but the promise of Christ

00:30:16.640 returning to the world

00:30:18.040 to redeem the world

00:30:19.820 that's your hope

00:30:22.020 it's not escape

00:30:24.700 it's renewal

00:30:27.360 Christ will not discard this world

00:30:36.400 He's going to restore it

00:30:39.860 Creation will be renewed

00:30:42.500 And the dead will be raised

00:30:44.180 And Christ will make all things new

00:30:46.760 And that hope is not only about the future of the world

00:30:51.980 It also speaks to the present day life of the church

00:30:55.820 There are seasons in the church

00:30:59.740 Where we will pass through difficulty

00:31:01.300 Where we will suffer 1.00

00:31:03.640 Sometimes, in the church, that suffering will come from other believers 1.00

00:31:09.020 Disacreements will come up

00:31:13.120 People will leave

00:31:15.880 We've experienced this in our own church

00:31:20.820 Those moments are painful moments 1.00

00:31:28.000 They're a type of Christian suffering that's hard to walk through 1.00

00:31:31.460 But they're not unusual in the life of the church 1.00

00:31:36.760 Even in the days of the apostles

00:31:38.540 It should not be normal in the church

00:31:41.960 But it certainly is not unusual

00:31:43.760 But the hope that the scriptures give to us

00:31:49.540 Is a hope that's not grounded in present circumstances

00:31:54.040 Or in unity among believers

00:31:56.600 That's not the hope

00:31:57.860 Our hope is firmly rooted in the promises of our Lord, where he says,

00:32:07.020 I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

00:32:15.540 Even in the darkest seasons, your hope as a Christian is to be firmly rooted at the revelation of Christ.

00:32:24.040 in the belief and in the hope that Christ is building this church.

00:32:34.340 And so, the people of God must remain a steady people,

00:32:39.640 a firm people, a people anchored in the hope

00:32:43.000 that that same Lord who will renew all creation

00:32:46.380 is also faithfully shepherding this church.

00:32:50.900 we must believe this as a body

00:32:54.720 we must have this Christian hope

00:32:58.960 Peter now turns in this verse

00:33:05.420 from the mind to the life

00:33:08.220 we're shifting from the mind to the life

00:33:10.940 verse 14 says

00:33:13.980 as obedient children

00:33:15.220 do not be conformed to the passions 0.97

00:33:17.420 of your former ignorance

00:33:18.880 Peter calls us obedient children.

00:33:24.880 This is the second time he identifies these believers.

00:33:30.000 What he's using here is covenantal language.

00:33:35.280 Christians are not merely forgiven criminals.

00:33:38.400 You're not just a pardoned criminal.

00:33:40.580 You are sons and daughters of the living God.

00:33:45.160 John 1.12 says,

00:33:47.000 But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God.

00:33:55.400 Paul says in Romans 8,

00:33:58.340 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

00:34:03.420 In Galatians 4, he also writes,

00:34:05.780 God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

00:34:12.420 as we'll see in a moment

00:34:18.080 holiness

00:34:19.740 flows from belonging

00:34:22.200 holiness

00:34:24.380 flows from belonging

00:34:25.940 God is saying

00:34:28.300 or what he's not saying is

00:34:32.200 behave so that I will accept you

00:34:34.260 that's not what God's saying

00:34:36.300 instead what he's saying is

00:34:40.340 you belong to me

00:34:41.540 Therefore live like it

00:34:44.440 John Calvin said

00:34:47.680 For though obedience does not make us children

00:34:51.200 As the gift of adoption is gratuitous 0.94

00:34:54.300 Yet it distinguishes children from aliens 0.94

00:34:59.180 Oh that we would write like the old theologians 0.58

00:35:03.560 It distinguishes children from aliens

00:35:08.420 we are not aliens to god that's who we once were but that is not who we are

00:35:18.100 we must believe in the identity that the bible gives to us

00:35:23.460 that you're no longer children of darkness you have been given a new identity in christ

00:35:30.240 this identity is one that calls you to obedience it's an obedient identity

00:35:38.520 obedience to the law of god obedience to his will for you obedience to the ordinary means of grace

00:35:48.180 the children of god are obedient children this is important this is important for all of you

00:35:57.920 children in the room. One of the reasons why you're commanded in the Word to obey your father

00:36:03.180 and mother is so that you may learn what this obedience looks like. It trains you in your

00:36:09.780 relationship with God. To obey your father and mother is to obey the Lord. It trains you to be

00:36:18.920 obedient to your Father who is in heaven. Peter continues where he says,

00:36:24.660 do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

00:36:28.960 He's identifying sin that flows from ignorance.

00:36:34.260 Ignorance of God's glory, ignorance of his order,

00:36:37.660 ignorance towards his goodness.

00:36:42.820 These former passions, these former desires of ours,

00:36:47.820 are not just limited to scandalous sins.

00:36:50.740 What they represent is a disordered love

00:36:55.080 It's not a love of God

00:36:57.900 It's a love of pleasure

00:36:59.000 It's not a love of God's law

00:37:02.400 It's a hatred of his law

00:37:03.960 What he's saying is

00:37:05.000 Don't be conformed to the old ways

00:37:06.900 The love of money

00:37:09.080 The pride of life

00:37:10.920 Rage

00:37:11.940 Self-rule

00:37:13.740 Indulgences

00:37:14.720 Hatred

00:37:15.500 Malice

00:37:16.080 Gossip

00:37:16.620 Drunkenness 0.92

00:37:17.540 Backbiting

00:37:18.660 Infighting

00:37:20.740 This is who you once were, but this is not who you are today.

00:37:27.940 All of us used to walk in these ways once upon a time.

00:37:33.900 But this is not your identity this day.

00:37:38.380 You are a wholly different creation.

00:37:42.580 The Bible teaches that we are new creations created in Christ Jesus for good works.

00:37:50.740 You've been made new, not to walk in the old ways, but to walk in the newness of life.

00:38:01.680 To follow and obey your Father as he commands you to.

00:38:09.280 This ties directly to the last two verses that we're going to speak about this morning.

00:38:15.920 It says in verses 15 and 16,

00:38:18.260 But as he who called you is holy, so you also be holy in all your conduct.

00:38:26.480 Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

00:38:34.440 Holiness in the Bible is not a suggestion for the Christian.

00:38:38.860 It's not an option.

00:38:40.540 It's not a spiritual upgrade.

00:38:42.200 It's not your booster pack.

00:38:43.460 It is the necessary shape of the children of God.

00:38:52.380 Peter reminds us that the one who called us is holy.

00:38:58.220 He's not merely loving.

00:39:01.180 He's not merely merciful.

00:39:03.700 He's not only wrathful or just.

00:39:07.500 He is holy.

00:39:08.560 His holiness means that he's perfectly pure, perfectly righteous, completely separate from

00:39:19.060 corruption and sin.

00:39:22.960 And Peter says that those who belong to this one, they are to reflect his character.

00:39:32.180 we're not merely forgiven criminals. We are children of God, and children ought to resemble

00:39:39.780 their father. The command in Scripture is not, just avoid some sins. Just separate yourself

00:39:50.560 from some sins in your life, and then you'll be holy. No, the command is far deeper than this.

00:39:58.800 The command is to become like your father.

00:40:04.320 Peter grounds this command in the words that God gave to his people long ago in the book of Leviticus,

00:40:10.220 where God declares,

00:40:12.440 You shall be holy, for I am holy.

00:40:19.740 What God is calling us to is imitation.

00:40:25.240 We have a principle in classical education.

00:40:27.920 at the grammar stage, where young children love to imitate. And so we feed that by giving them

00:40:36.860 things to recite, to repeat, to imitate. They are natural imitators. How many of you fathers

00:40:45.060 have caught your sons putting on your shoes and swimming in them as they're walking around the

00:40:48.920 house? How many of us have had children repeat something that we probably wish they didn't repeat?

00:40:57.920 I think every one of us have been in that boat, and we naturally know that children love to imitate what they see in their parents.

00:41:06.280 And that's exactly what Peter is telling us to do, too.

00:41:11.360 He's saying that because you belong to God, you must bear the family resemblance.

00:41:19.100 You must look like the rest of the family, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost.

00:41:24.140 You must look like them.

00:41:27.920 And Scripture speaks about this seriousness with so much clarity. 0.99

00:41:33.820 You'd be a fool to miss it. 0.97

00:41:37.500 Hebrews 12, 14 says, 0.99

00:41:40.080 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

00:41:50.880 Without holiness, no man will see the Lord.

00:41:55.680 not because holiness earns us salvation.

00:42:01.380 The holiness of Christ does this for us,

00:42:03.920 but your personal holiness does not do this.

00:42:08.240 Holiness is the evidence that you belong to God.

00:42:14.460 Holiness does not purchase our place before God,

00:42:18.120 but holiness reveals that we truly belong to him.

00:42:23.080 The Bishop J.C. Ryle wrote,

00:42:24.640 quote,

00:42:25.680 Holiness is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what he hates, loving what he loves, and measuring everything in his world by the standard of his word.

00:42:40.900 He who most earnestly agrees with God, he is the most holy man.

00:42:49.080 End quote.

00:42:51.500 That's a striking definition.

00:42:56.080 Holiness is not just sin avoidance or keeping of religious duties.

00:43:03.760 We love to be legalists in our minds and reduce everything down to some legal code.

00:43:09.880 That's not what holiness is.

00:43:12.100 The substance and the essence of holiness is agreeing with God about everything.

00:43:18.440 If we want to be holy as our Father is holy, we must learn to agree with him about all of our lives.

00:43:28.320 We must make no excuses for sin.

00:43:31.980 We must call sin what God calls sin.

00:43:35.380 We must refuse to soften it, to justify it, or to hide behind it with any sort of clever theological tiptoeing.

00:43:47.200 No.

00:43:48.440 We must train our hearts to love what God loves and to hate what God hates.

00:43:57.600 We must bring our desires, our habits, our thoughts, our ambitions under the authority of his word.

00:44:08.860 And this is not a burden placed upon us to earn the favor of God.

00:44:14.140 This is the natural response of a heart that's already tasted the grace of God

00:44:23.140 It's already tasted his goodness

00:44:26.220 When a man truly sees the mercy of Christ

00:44:30.260 He does not ask how close he can live and sin

00:44:33.260 He asks how closely he can walk with God without dying

00:44:38.280 Holiness then is simply this

00:44:44.060 It's a life that increasingly comes into harmony with the character of God

00:44:52.520 Holiness is a life that increasingly comes into harmony with the character of God

00:45:01.200 This is what we are

00:45:05.600 This is our calling

00:45:08.760 This is the great hope of the Christian

00:45:12.660 We are being made like Christ

00:45:16.440 At the beginning of this chapter

00:45:20.340 Peter reminded us who we are

00:45:22.860 I'm going to close with this

00:45:24.420 He reminded us that we are elect exiles

00:45:28.800 That we're chosen by the Father

00:45:31.420 That we've been sanctified by the Spirit

00:45:33.720 That we've been cleansed by the blood of Christ

00:45:36.280 And born again to a living hope

00:45:38.640 Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

00:45:40.820 And kept by his power

00:45:42.320 for an inheritance that will never fade.

00:45:47.360 Since that grace has been revealed to us

00:45:49.980 and we've received it,

00:45:53.740 that grace is real.

00:45:56.260 And so Peter says, therefore,

00:45:59.600 prepare your minds, be sober,

00:46:04.180 set your hope fully on the grace that's coming to you

00:46:07.220 when Christ comes back.

00:46:09.480 Don't be conformed to your old ways.

00:46:12.320 and walk in the old sins, but be holy as your Father is holy.

00:46:19.040 Imitate your Father.

00:46:22.660 Hope and holiness always go together.

00:46:27.860 So what does this mean for you?

00:46:31.460 It means that you discipline your mind.

00:46:34.960 You fill it with the Word of God and not with the noise of the world.

00:46:38.360 that you practice sobriety of thought.

00:46:44.000 Do not let outrage, fear, or distractions rule your thinking.

00:46:51.840 It means to set your hope fully on Christ

00:46:54.880 and remember that the end of this story is not chaos,

00:46:59.560 but the return of the King.

00:47:03.580 And it means that we pursue holiness with reckless abandon.

00:47:08.360 Because the God who called you is holy.

00:47:13.620 Church, the world around us may feel unstable.

00:47:18.520 And it certainly does.

00:47:21.460 And the seasons of the church may sometimes be difficult and tumultuous.

00:47:28.100 But the calling upon your life doesn't change.

00:47:33.820 Be clear in your mind.

00:47:36.800 Holy in your life.

00:47:38.360 steady in your hope

00:47:41.020 because we know that Christ reigns

00:47:44.560 and Christ will return in glory.

00:47:48.160 Amen?

00:47:49.640 Amen.

00:47:50.740 Let's pray and ask the Lord

00:47:52.480 to sink these thoughts deep

00:47:54.420 into our minds this morning.

00:47:56.320 Let's pray.

00:47:59.800 Father in heaven,

00:48:02.960 ruler of the universe,

00:48:04.940 the Holy One,

00:48:06.900 the Righteous One,

00:48:08.360 Lord, we ask this morning that you would

00:48:12.540 keep these thoughts in our minds.

00:48:17.380 That we may take our thoughts captive.

00:48:21.900 That we would never allow our minds to become careless.

00:48:26.620 To be unserious.

00:48:31.140 Do not let us in our age to ever become 0.77

00:48:33.940 quote-unquote black-pilled.

00:48:38.360 but to always have this blessed hope this hope that's coming to us the hope that frees lost souls

00:48:49.480 and keeps your saints on the straight and narrow path

00:48:56.440 god i ask this morning that these words would echo in our thoughts and that we would revisit them

00:49:03.720 that we would study them and teach them to our children this week

00:49:07.360 that we all might be holy as you are holy

00:49:10.920 because you have made us your children

00:49:13.400 one with your Son

00:49:15.120 and have called us beloved

00:49:17.340 Lord, we cannot thank you enough for this great gift

00:49:21.580 and for all that you've done for us

00:49:24.060 and your beloved Son

00:49:26.100 it's in Jesus' name we pray

00:49:28.940 Amen

00:49:33.720 You

Dale Partridge - March 11, 2026

1 Peter 1_13-16 Hopeful Minds and Holy Lives

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