I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 1, as we'll consider verses 13-16 of this epistle, 1 Peter 1, reminds you that the Word of God is inspired, inerrant, infallible, is the only rule for faith and practice. And though the grass withers and the flower fades, God's Word will abide forever. 1 Peter 1, verse 13 through 16. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conform to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. The 20th century theologian Francis Schaeffer wrote a book that you probably know, How Then Shall We Live? The rise and decline of Western culture. And in that book, Schaeffer was trying to answer the question, how should we live in a culture that is increasingly becoming secular and postmodern and non-Christian? How should the Christian live? How should the church live in a world where non-Christians no longer look favorably upon the church or upon the Christian? I think the same question could be asked of this epistle that we're studying now. Peter's writing to a church that's going through a manner or degree of persecution. They've sensed, they've felt, they've experienced the looming threat of persecution. Nero had not risen yet to become the emperor of Rome, but there was a degree of sporadic persecution throughout the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. And so Peter's encouraging churches to continue to stand fast in the grace that has been explained in this particular letter. And so he addresses them in 1-1 as the elect exiles of the dispersion. These are people who have been exiled from their homes. They've been displaced, rejected, or removed from their homes. They've been scattered throughout Asia Minor. And Peter's addressing them, saying that I know you've been grieved by various trials, chapter 1, verse 6. But he's encouraging them about how to live in a culture that no longer views them favorably. And so he says in chapter 4, verse 4, don't be surprised when the world hates you, when the world turns against you. Do not be surprised at the fiery trials that come upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Rather, when those things happen, rejoice and be glad when God's glory is revealed, knowing that you will also rejoice and be glad when Jesus comes back. So he's encouraging and challenging a church to remain faithful in a world that no longer views them favorably, in a world that wishes to oppress, ostracize, cast them out. And so Peter's calling them to live in a particular way. So how should the church live? When the culture starts to marginalize the Christian or marginalize the church, how should you live in a world like this? Peter gives us two specific things in these verses, that the Christian in a context like this should set their hope on the return of Christ and should strive for God-like holiness. Set your hope on the return of Christ and strive for God-like holiness. Verse 13, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter calls these elect exiles to be hopeful people, to be a hopeful people, a people who set their hope on the return of Christ. Now hope for the Christian is not wishful thinking. It's not positive thoughts. It's not a pipe dream or the occasion that you might take to a wishing well and you have these big dreams that you wish up. No, that's not what hope means for the Christian. Rather, hope is assurance. It's confidence. It's certainty about an event that will take place in the future. It's not, oh, I hope I'll get a raise one day or I hope I'll make the varsity team. No, when the Christian uses the word hope, there's certainty behind it. I hope in the resurrection from the dead. I hope in the return of Christ. I have hope. I'm confident. I'm certain that Jesus Christ will come again and he will come to deliver his people. And we as Christians have a certain hope because we've been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's chapter 1 verse 6. Because Christ was raised from the grave, we may be absolutely confident and hopeful that Christ will return again. Because he was raised, Christ will return again. And so Peter's charge to this church and to these churches is to rest the full weight of your confidence and hope on the return of Christ. No matter how dark the days may get, no matter how dismal life may feel, no matter how discouraged you may be. Peter's charge is to set and rest the full weight of your hope and confidence on the return of Christ. Look for it. Long for it. Hope for it. Expect it. And let not your hope waver in the return of Christ because he will come again and he will come to deliver his people. He's not coming to die. The first time he came, he came to die, but now he will come again to deliver. He's not coming as a suffering servant, but as an exalted king to rescue and deliver his people from all their trials, from all their tribulations, from all their discouragements. Christ is coming again to deliver his people from this situation, and Peter says, set your hope fully confident on it. And what will that day be like when Christ comes back? Verse 13 tells us that it will be a day of grace, a day when grace will be brought to you. The return of Christ for his people will be a day when grace is brought to you. There's no better way to describe God's grace than that which is brought to you by Jesus Christ. The grace of God is only and exclusively brought to sinners in the hands of Jesus Christ. That is the only place where grace may be found. Or to put it another way, God cannot be gracious to sinners outside of Christ. When Christ comes, he will be bringing grace to his people. Notice that it is grace that is brought to you. It's not grace that we sought. It's not something that we endeavored to pursue. It's not as though you climbed up into the portals of heaven and asked God to be gracious to you and said, could you maybe find a way to be gracious to us sinners down here? No, Peter says that the grace of God is always brought to you. It's God who initiates a gracious relationship with you. It's he who takes the initiative to come down to heaven and be gracious to sinners. It's not something that you sought. It's something that God brought. We, like Adam and Eve, were hiding. The whole race of humankind has been running from God. No one seeks God. No one pursues God. God is the one who comes down to sinners and brings grace to sinners. And in Genesis 3.15, the first time grace was brought to sinners, it was brought to sinners by the promise of Christ. God looked at Adam and Eve in their sinful and miserable estate and promised to be gracious to them in Jesus Christ. Grace was promised to God's people in Genesis 3.15. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. And under the whole old covenant, the church rested in God's gracious promise of a deliverer of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they waited for it. They longed for it. They looked for it. They expected it. they rested the full weight of their hope in the promise of God that God would bring a deliverer, that he would provide a savior for sinners. And how is it that God can promise to be gracious to old covenant sinners without forfeiting his justice? Is it not unjust of God to promise to be gracious to sinners? Well, no, it's not unjust of God because God doesn't just promise to be gracious. Rather, the grace that was promised in Christ became the grace that was purchased by Christ. The promised grace of Christ was the purchased grace of Christ. Christ had to purchase grace. God couldn't just promise to be gracious for you for any flippant reason. No, He had to purchase grace. Grace cost something. Christ came to purchase grace in His life and in His death, And he came, John 1 tells us, full of grace and truth. And as the psalmist says in Psalm 45, that grace was on his lips. His speech to sinners was gracious. And from the cradle to the cross, he cried out to sinners, Come unto me, all who weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart. The Lord Jesus Christ left his throne in heaven and came down to purchase grace for sinners. You will remember the hymn, from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. And with his blood he bought her and for her life he died. Grace was promised to you in Genesis 3.15 and to the church under the whole old covenant. Grace was purchased for you in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and by his death. And now, brothers and sisters, you can rest assured with full confidence and hope that Christ will come again to deliver his people from their sins. And he will come in grace. He will graciously deliver you and alleviate all of your suffering and trial and tribulation. He will come again to graciously deliver you from your suffering, to deliver you from your trials and tribulations. Set your hope on this. Rest the full weight of your hope on the return of Christ. And as you do so, as you wait for Christ to come back, verse 13 teaches us also to prepare your minds for action. Prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded. hope engages the mind hope is not merely a emotion it's not just a positive feeling hope engages and includes the cognitive faculties you'll notice the footnote and the esv it says gird up the loins of your mind this is not an easy thing to do especially in our culture today to engage and use our minds but hope includes the engagement of the mind that footnote gird up the loins of your minds is an idiom that essentially means tighten up your belt, fasten up your belt and be prepared to run. It's equivalent today might be something like roll up your sleeves or get ready to go on a race, tie up your shoelaces and get ready for an event, get ready for a sprint, get ready for a game. It is essentially meaning get in the right mindset, be prepared, get your mind in the right place. Prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded. This was used also in the Passover meal of Exodus 12. God told his people, when you celebrate this Passover meal, I want you to eat this meal with your shoes on and your belts fastened. Because the Exodus out of Egypt is going to happen quickly, and you need to be ready. Because when God calls his people out of Egypt, it's going to take place fast. And you don't need to be saying, oh, you know, I got to make my coffee and I forgot, you know, my shoes and I need to put my belt on and can you give me a few more minutes? No. Girding up the loins of your minds means being in the right mindset. Be ready for the day when Jesus comes back. Don't be lingering and don't be lulled to sleep. And that's exactly what Jesus says in Luke chapter 12. When he prepares his disciples for his return, he says, keep your loins girded and your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home. Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home. Prepare your minds for action. Be ready for the day that when, be ready for the day when I return. Don't be distracted. Don't be lulled to sleep by the culture that is around you. Get in the right mindset. Hope for the return of Christ includes the engagement of the mind. And the real emphasis of this point is that if we fail to engage our minds and to use our minds to think on and expect the return of Christ, what will inevitably happen is that our hopes and our mindset will be restricted to the here and the now. And we will no longer think of the then because we're so consumed with the now, which is why he adds the second part, be sober-minded. Be sober-minded in the context and the culture in which you live. We can so easily be inebriated with everything that is around us in this culture and in this world. And that can take place in times of prosperity as well as in times of difficulty. In times of prosperity, we can become so infatuated with the empty allurements and vain promises of this present world. This world is continually putting things in our face and distracting us from the return of Christ, and we can so easily become infatuated and inebriated with the culture that is around us that we almost fall asleep and forget to think about the return of Christ. And we start to put our hope on anything other than Christ. And so our hope, when we no longer prepare our minds for action, our hope gets limited to the present world around us, to entertainment, to social media, to sports, to stocks, or whatever it might be. Our hope gets restricted to this world and not to the next world when we fail to prepare our minds. And this not only takes place in a context and a culture of prosperity, it also takes place in a culture of difficulty or seasons of difficulty and trials. We can become so distracted by those around us who promise alleviation of our trial or our misery. There will be those who will rise up who will tell us, we can alleviate your situation. We can end your suffering. We can offer you hope and provide for you in your present suffering. It's very distracting. It can be extremely distracting for people today to rest their hope on someone who promises to alleviate them from their misery. And Peter's telling us, don't be distracted. Don't be lulled to sleep by the culture that is around you. Rest the full weight of your confidence and your hope on the return of Christ and use your minds to look for it and long for it and think on it and expect it. Hope engages a mind. It engages a particular mindset, a mindset that thinks in a certain way that when Jesus comes back, we may be able to say as a church, we've been waiting for you. We've been expecting you. Our hope has been on this day. And now that this day has taken place, our hopes are fulfilled. Jesus, we don't know when he will return. That is a mystery. But we do know that when he does return, he expects us to expect him. He doesn't want to come back to a people into a church who says, oh, you know, I wasn't ready for you. I wasn't expecting you. This is a little soon. There's still some things that I have to take care of. I need to talk to my mom and fix a conflict that I had. And could you give me maybe 30 minutes or a few days to get things in order and right? No, Jesus wants us to be a people who are expecting Him, who are ready, whose minds are prepared, who look and long for His return. Jesus expects us to expect Him. That is one way that we live in a culture that is declining, setting your hope on the return of Christ. But the second way that Peter gives us is strive for God-like holiness in the midst of an unholy world. Strive to be holy people in the midst of an unholy world. And this is probably, for many reasons, Peter gives us the reason to pursue holiness. But probably one of them is the fact that the culture will accuse you, the culture watches you, the culture, the non-Christian culture around you wants to find ways to accuse you and trip you up. And Peter later says in this letter, let your conduct be honorable among the Gentiles so that when they see your good work, they may give glory to your Father in heaven. So part of the reason why we strive for holiness in an unholy context is so that the non-Christians may see our good behavior and praise God for it. So it is not only useful, holiness is not only useful for our benefit, but even that others may see a godly life and praise God for that. So there is a negative and positive aspect to these verses, 15 and 16, on what it means to pursue holiness. Verse 14, holiness means negatively, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Or as J.B. Phillips says, don't let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days. The charge essentially is don't be conformed by your sinful passions, your sinful desires, specifically the desires that you had before you became a Christian. Jesus uses this same word in the parable of the soils in Mark 4, 19, describing the kind of soil, the third soil of thorns, that whenever the word of God is thrown onto this soil, the thorns choke it out. And a few verses later, he explains what that means, what those thorns are. And he says in verse 19, these passions, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful. The desires of other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful. The charge here, Peter is admonishing the church, don't let your desires or your passions, your sinful desires, dictate how you should live. Your passions have an appetite. They have an opinion. They have a will. They have a strong will and they want to tell you how you should live your life. And Peter's charge is don't be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. That used to be true of you before you became a Christian. Your passions and desires did determine how you lived. If you wanted to steal and the opportunity was there, you stole. If you wanted to cheat and the opportunity was there, you fulfilled your desires and cheated. If you wanted to lust and the opportunity was there, you fulfilled your desires and committed adultery. your desires as a non-Christian dictated your character. Peter's saying that now as a Christian no longer. Your desires, your sinful desires, do not dictate and determine how you should live and what kind of character or behavior you should have. Now, this is true of all non-Christians, but I think it's especially true in our world today. We live in a world of people who are conformed to their desires, who have taken on a persona, a behavior, a character that is determined by how they feel. If it feels good, it is good. If it feels right, it is right. This is how I feel, therefore this is who I am and this is how I should act. Peter is saying to the church that's not true of the Christian. We do not conform or mold our lives based on the sinful passions that remain and reside within our hearts we do not define ourselves by our sinful passions and unfortunately this way of thinking this mentality is not only in the world around us but it's even gaining traction in the church identifying and conforming a behavior based on how we feel and that is not the way of holiness that's not characteristic of a life that is devoted to God. That's not how we should live in a culture that marginalizes and oppresses the Christian. We should be able to live in the world without being conformed to the world. But holiness now is much more than just resisting or refraining from sinful passion or activity. If we stop there, holiness is merely moralism. It's just obey a law because somebody told you and do good and be good and live the right way so that things may go well for you. The charge here to be holy is so much more than don't sin. I think that's often what we think of when people tell us to be holy, but it's so much greater, so much more beautiful than just refraining from sin. Holiness is not just self-discipline, but it's devotion to God. It is not only refraining from sin, but loving God with a pure and holy and wholehearted heart. It is saying no to sin on the one hand and saying yes to God, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, and might. And that is the charge here. Be holy as God is holy. That's a high charge. Be holy as God is holy. Well, what is God's holiness like? It's not just that God is separate from sin. That is absolutely true. But it's more than that. The persons of the Trinity are entirely, wholeheartedly, completely devoted to one another with a pure, undefiled, and unmixed love. The Father loves the Son with a holy and pure love. And the Son loves the Father with a holy and unmixed love. and the Father and the Son love the Spirit, and the Spirit loves the Father and the Son with a holy and a pure and an unmixed and undefiled love. All that is in the heart of God loves each person of the Trinity entirely. There is no half-hearted love in God the Father for the Son, nor a divided heart in the Son for the Father, but the three persons of the Trinity love one another wholeheartedly, entirely, purely, in a holy manner. And not only has God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit loved one another with a holy love, they have loved the church with a holy and pure love. And our response to this kind of love that God has demonstrated for the church is to respond with a love towards God in the same manner. He calls us likewise to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, and might. Holiness is not just refraining from sin. That merely views God as someone that just gives a law. No, God calls us to love a person, to love the law giver, to love the one who has created us and redeemed us, and to love him with a pure and holy and unmixed love. All that is within our hearts, we are called to love God with all our being, with all our soul, mind, and strength. In short it is to have a heart that is entirely devoted towards God. God is the supreme person of my affection and love and worship. That is the standard to which we are called to because that is the standard which God holds for himself and the wonder and the beauty and the majesty of all of this is that is a taste of what heaven will be like not only when we will be separated from sin in all its forms, but we will have a heart that loves God fully and entirely and completely. That is the hope that we have to look forward to. How should we as Christians live in a culture that is becoming increasingly non-Christian? What should our behavior be like? How should we think? How should we How should we act? How should we live? Peter tells us to rest the full weight of your hope on the return of Christ. Don't get distracted. Don't get dismayed or sidetracked by the world, but look and long for the day when Christ will graciously deliver you and bring you into his eternal home. And as you wait for this day, strive for God-like holiness, to be holy in all your character and all your thoughts, refraining from sin on the one hand and loving God with all your being. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you for you have been so merciful and gracious towards sinners. We praise you for your son, his life, death, and resurrection. We praise you for your word, the word that you have given to us, that we may hear you speak and know you through your word. We praise you that you have revealed yourself to us. Father, we thank you that you have instructed us on how to live in a society and culture like today. We pray that you would give us much wisdom to know how to conduct our lives, to live in hope of the return of Christ and in holiness until you return. We ask that you would continue to be with us and strengthen us, and we ask it in Christ's name, amen.