Be Holy for I Am Holy — 1 Peter 1

0:00 Good morning. Good morning. At work, I have standing desk. I can actually sit and then I can also raise it so I can stand if I need to. Most of you know I have some back issues, it helps me a lot.

0:19 And so as I stand here, this feels a lot like I'm at work. And also at work, I have one of these really cool squishy mats that I stand on, because then you don't want your feet to get tired when you stand all day. So I have this squishy mat at work, and then in the middle of the mat is a little hemispherical groove that's a couple of feet long, and I have this little ball, about a little smaller than a tennis ball, I can roll my foot on. I can stand on one foot and then roll it on this foot and then I can stand on the other leg and roll on this foot. It massages your foot.

0:50 It's the strangest thing and if you've never done this, you never thought that rolling your foot on a ball would be the same. It feels like somebody's massaging your feet. So, as I'm standing up here, I'm really missing my cushy mat because I feel like I'm standing at work. And when Ray spoke about the first half of one Peter one last week, and we're talking about some of the trials and persecutions that you endure on a daily basis, this is suffering right here. So I am practicing godliness of character this morning.

1:26 Bear with me a little bit. I'm having... I'm struggling a little bit today, so if I move around weird or start to have weird things like this, that's why. So I'm just a little stiff today, but with God's help, we'll get us through this. So we are going to pick up in one Peter chapter one, and Ray got us through verse nine last week.

1:46 And I'm going to spend just a couple minutes going through verses 10, 11, and 12, but we're going to focus most of our time on 13 through 25. Verse 13 is where Peter has a therefore. So that is kind of the start of a new section. And, we'll read through some of this so we get some context and then, we're going to delve right in. One Peter chapter one, beginning in verse 10.

2:17 As to this salvation, the prophets prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.' And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from the futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

3:29 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have, in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever.

4:06 And this is the word which was preached to you. If you weren't convicted from that already, we might need a little heart check. This is this is tough stuff, folks. This is This is some nitty gritty of Christian life and what we are to be like and what we aren't supposed to be like. As I mentioned, the first half of the chapter, if you weren't here last week or if you were, just to give you a little recap.

5:15 That is the goal of our... Of of what we're trying to get through here in life. It's not just about don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal. It goes... It's it's way beyond that, and this is a showing of Christ's character on a daily basis, especially when it's hard, especially through trials, especially through persecution, especially on every day just when we have a hard time getting through the day.

5:39 How are we showing Christ's character? And this passage, the second half of the chapter, it is an incredible example. There's many of them, but this is another incredible example of how good works should be pouring out of a transformed heart as a result of one's salvation. It's never doing good works to achieve salvation or to maintain salvation. It's always here's your standing, here's where you are, here's what you have.

6:10 And so now as a result of that, if we are actually, If we're actually living the life that God wants us to live in, if we're thinking and remembering what Christ has done for us, do we live our lives in a way that shows appreciation for that? In verse 10, I'm going to just touch on 10, 11, 12, like I said, just so that we don't have any gaps here. What Peter is saying in 10 through 12, as to this salvation that he has got done describing in the first nine verses. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, make careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. So what he's what he's pointing out here is just that the the prophets that were speaking of Christ's coming, Christ's suffering, Christ's glory then, they didn't know who the Christ was going to be.

7:17 They didn't know when he was going to come, and they also did not, they did not, they were not able to see that they had, that there were going to be two peaks. So you had the coming of Christ and the suffering of Christ. And then Christ's glory that they're talking about is his second coming when Christ comes in glory. They didn't have, they didn't, They couldn't see that there was this huge gulf in the middle, which is where we are now, the age of grace. They didn't know that there was going to be thousands of years spanning when he came and then when he actually came in glory the second time.

7:51 They didn't get to see that. And they also... But what what was shown to them was that they weren't only prophesying for the people in the current age, but that it was going to benefit us later. It was going to benefit those later that came after. And then, verse 12, it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, and these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

8:26 And the reference there, the reason that's important is because, it's a reminder that angels are a very... They have a prominent place in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. However, angels are... Were... They they are created perfect.

8:43 They they are sinless. They are created to be in the presence of God and therefore are are sinless, and therefore do not get to experience the joy of salvation that we do. They are not designed that way. And for those, for fallen angels, we have no indication that there is any redemption for those that have fallen. So, is not something that angels, the joy that we have is not something that they get to experience or even understand.

9:12 The way we can't understand God and his infinity, they can't grasp what this is. It's also... He's getting you ready a little bit for us to put in our minds, to get you to put in your mind how big a deal this is. Everything that he's described in one through nine, everything about our standing, everything about what we've received, everything about our salvation, how important is it? And how important is it that you remember everything about it?

10:07 You couldn't run very well. You couldn't do anything very acrobatic with it. So when you needed to, you would lift up the robe a little bit, tuck it into your belt so you were a little bit more... Had freedom of movement. That's what he's talking about here.

10:19 He's talking about you have to... It's a preparation of your mind on a daily basis. We have to be ready for action. We have to be sober. We have to be in possession of ourselves, being self controlled, strong, composed, ready.

10:34 Don't don't be panicking when things happen. Don't don't be distracted. Don't let yourselves be confused. Because strange things, you know, we sit here from our position looking at what's going on around us, what's going on in our lives, in other people's lives, and we can't understand it. We can't understand why these things happen.

10:53 And he's reminding us that the person with the right mind who's following Christ... So, he mentioned in the first half of the chapter about these trials, these persecutions, these things that come, you know, though for a little while. And he's reminding us of the importance that we have the right mindset about it. Don't fly off the handle. Don't panic because God's got it.

11:22 And you don't know what his plan is. You don't know what he's trying to work out in your life. And that's okay. Through the Holy Spirit and through his help, he's going to help get you there and help you to realize, if you want to, what's going on and what is the lesson that he's trying to teach you. But we have to have the right mindset.

11:41 We have to make sure that we are controlled, and that our minds are in the right place. Since we have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, we have the ability. We have that ability whereas others do not. We also... Another way of doing this is having a fixed goal and having a fixed point that we're looking at.

12:07 We're looking to... One of the things that we can look to aside from heaven itself, I mean, and that's a big enough thing. But looking forward to when Christ comes in glory. So, when we die, our bodies our our bodies stay here. Our souls go to heaven.

12:28 But at the second coming of Christ, when Christ comes in glory, and our bodies are raised immortal and perfect, that is something even further that we have to look forward to. There was a grace that came when Christ came the first time, but there is this higher grace. There is more grace that is going to be seen when Christ comes the second time. And until that happens, the church on earth and the church in heaven cannot be perfected. So we're looking forward to that.

13:04 Verses 14 through 16 is now that we've kind of gotten our minds prepared. Verses 14 through 16 is being obediently holy. And this one, this is the clincher and this is the tough one. And this is convicting to me. I feel like, I feel at least that almost every time I'm up here, I have something to reference about being holy and living my life in a way that reflects my position.

13:36 I feel like I talk about this all the time, which must mean that I have an issue. But, I think the Lord's telling me something. But, he says to be holy. And holy doesn't mean, again, don't don't just merely be moral. Don't just be upright.

13:55 Don't just be truthful and so on. It's be holy, which is a very high attainment. And I know I spoke about that last time when I spoke about Philippians chapter two, and we had Christ... Looking at Christ as our perfect example. So we have this ridiculously high standard.

14:14 I mean, it's it's a good standard, and it's the standard, and it's the right standard, but it is a very high attainment. And he says, be holy. And then he gives us a reason for the command to be holy because I am holy. We expect children to act like their parents. What you see your parents do is that's the way that the children act.

14:40 Right? But we also expect children to look like their parents. And even as you grow into adulthood, right, you will bear in your very face the image of at least one of your parents. That's kind of accepted. We get that.

14:59 You know who the parent is by seeing the resemblance in the face. He says, be holy, for I am holy. So as chosen children of God who have been brought into his family and we call God father, we are to bear his image. And that image is holiness. Be holy for I am holy.

15:31 And we could just stop here and then go launch into a whole series about how you really work that out. But as I said at the beginning, as as a summary, if you wanna look at it, it's it's how do you show godliness of character? How do you show Christ's qualities in your daily life? Again, be holy. That's not just don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal.

16:02 It's not just about don't do these bad things, but it is how do I respond to this situation? How do I respond to that situation? How do we live our lives? How do we reflect the image of God who we bear as our father? Peter is writing to the born again believers.

16:23 He's writing to us. And so, if we have God as our Father and we have been bought and purchased with that price, which I'll get to in a second, we should be bearing that image of being holy. In verse 17, he gives us another reason to be holy. The one whom we call father is the one who judges impartially. The KJV says respect.

16:52 What it means is impartially. So it's not that he doesn't respect people, but it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what family you come from. It doesn't matter that you went to bible school or you didn't go to bible school. It doesn't matter.

17:07 God judges each one impartially according to the words. What you have done, the good things you have done, the good things you haven't done, the bad things you have done, the bad things you haven't done. He's got it all. He's got the whole rap sheet for every one of us, and it doesn't matter. He judges the same way.

17:24 And so, be holy, for I am holy. We owe him a reverent fear out of the extent of his knowledge and this absolute accuracy of judgment. We should live our lives in fear, a good fear. He's not, we we have in the age of grace, you know, we we don't have the fear of God that the Israelites had. It's not that kind of fear because we can come into his presence through the blood of Christ and can access him.

17:59 So he's not... We don't get to see that God of smoke and thunder and fire. That's not what what we see now in the age of grace. But we should still live our lives in this reverent fear. Be holy for I am holy.

18:33 I don't remember which translation that is. He's reminding us that we don't belong here. So you want another reason to be holy? You want another reason to be set apart? You want another reason to be different?

18:43 You don't even belong here. Our citizenship is in heaven. It's not here. We're just here temporarily. I mean, what's eighty years to eternity?

18:55 So we don't live here. So live your lives in reverent fear of God considering that you're just here for a little while, and be holy, be separate because he is holy, and we belong up there. God is always up and to the right. So in verse 18, he's got another argument for this. Because...

19:24 Some translations start 18 with the word because. My translation starts with knowing. Knowing or because you are not redeemed with corruptible things. You already know this. He's putting four things in our mind here.

19:42 So one, that we are redeemed. We have been brought back again by a ransom paid to the father. Number two, he's reminding us of this, what the price was that was paid for that redemption. It was not with anything corruptible, not with anything physical, not with currency. It was with the blood of Christ.

20:07 He reminds us of number three. He reminds us from what we were redeemed. At least one of the things. From a vain or feudal way of life received by tradition or life inherited from your forefathers, the sin the sinful life, the sinful way of life, the sin nature. We've been redeemed from that.

20:27 And number four, he's reminding us of the fact that we know this already. You cannot feign ignorance of these facts. He's writing this to the believers and these believers, of course, are the ones that have fled, those that have dispersed, those that are being persecuted. And he is writing this as encouragement. He is.

20:52 But it's the encouragement that... Look, I know that you have the tendency to forget these things or or to not have them at the forefront of your mind. But here, you know this. You know this stuff. You have to act like it.

21:06 You have to remember it. So learn, number one, the consideration of our redemption should be a constant and powerful inducement to holiness and the fear of God. That's what he's trying to get at here. Number two, learn this. God expects that a Christian should live answerably or in response to what they already know.

21:31 You already know this. Live that way. And and he he... Peter's recognizing here without saying that that he that he knows we have this great need to be reminded of things Because we get caught up in things. We forget things.

21:49 We're still human. We're saved. We're redeemed. We're not slaves to sin, but we're still human. And we struggle.

22:27 Nothing. There is nothing that is corruptible that can redeem an incorruptible and immortal soul. And learning number four, this, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the only price of man's redemption. Matthew Henry put it this way, the redemption of man is real, not metaphorical. We are bought with a price, and the price is equal to the purchase, for it is the precious blood of Christ.

23:01 It is the blood of an innocent person, a lamb without blemish and without spot, whom the Paschal Lamb represented, and of an infinite person being the son of God. That was the price. If I could give you a little illustration from the weird way that my mind works. Let's look at it this way. Think about think about making a bridge to, I don't know, the moon or Mars.

23:43 It's physically impossible. Even if, even if, you somehow manage to build a structure that could go up through the atmosphere, you still couldn't anchor it on the other end because they spin independently of each other. So it couldn't... It's it's impossible. Right?

24:02 You can't build the bridge. So first, God built the bridge. He built the bridge and he financed it because, of course, nothing on earth could finance that anyway. Even if it was... Even if somebody could find a way.

24:17 So, God financed it and God built it. And then, so here we are down here and, I don't know, the earth is drowning or something. And there's a bunch of people in safe house somewhere and they're just all holed up and they're being fine. But God gave a way to get off the earth and say, you know, we we could be saved by crossing this bridge, which, of course, the first part of the bridge is straight up because you have to go up through the atmosphere. So, a 110,000 feet or something that it is to the edge of the atmosphere.

24:52 So, you have to climb straight up. And that's hard. And somewhere along the way, you get hungry. But God's thought of that. And then you start to run out of oxygen because the air gets thin, and God says, nope, I've already thought of that.

25:07 I already planned for that. Then you need a pressure suit, eventually, and God says, nope, I already thought of that too. I already got it. Whatever you need. I I got you.

25:17 And then how do I get out of the Earth's gravitational pull? How do I get out of the atmosphere? He he's got it. The guy goes, nope, I got you. I planned it this way.

25:26 I already figured this out. So he gets us through there. You know, so now now you're in space and it's like, well now I can't walk because there's no gravity. Nope, God's got it. Every time, every time that you find a reason why you can't go any further, he says, nope.

25:44 All you had to do is ask, and I've already thought it all out. I've already planned it all out. I've got everything you need to get from here to here. Everything you need. But then, you know, what do we do?

25:55 We always decide that this is hard. You know what's on the other side of this bridge is a slide. It's just a slide. It's a... Once you...

26:08 You start making your way up, you know, and the slide's fun to go down. And it's so much easier. And you know, back down here at the bottom were, you know, all your friends and everybody that were down here, and they were holed up with provisions and things. They're all going to die, but they're all down here. But it's more comfortable down here.

26:24 And God has bridged this gap. Not only has he spanned the gulf and financed what was needed, but then he gave you everything that you needed to actually make the trek. But do we live our lives in a way that shows appreciation for that? Or do we just climb a few steps and say, nope. I'd rather just...

26:46 I'll just stay down here and when we all die, we just all die. Or can you actually make the journey and you grow along the way, and you learn that all you have to do is ask and God will provide for you every single step of the way, and he will give you a reward for that, for making it through, for finishing the race and getting there. Be holy for I am holy. How do we live our lives? Do you live your life?

27:15 Can you live your life? How do you live your life? In reflection of what he's done, what you already have, what he's provided for you. And all you have to do is take it and you have to trust him. That's all we have to do.

28:10 It was not a reaction. It wasn't even just that God knew it was gonna be necessary. It was planned and designed that way. It was planned and designed that way. From eternity past, he was foreknown that he was going to be our redeeming sacrifice.

28:39 Christ was revealed as the spotless lamb of God when he came to save us. And we only get to know God through Christ. I am the way. He who has seen me has seen the father. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

28:58 Listen to him. You want to know who God is, you want to know what God is, you want to know the mind of God, you want to know the heart of God, look to his son. Everything you want to know about Christ, everything you want to know about God is in Christ, not only in his coming here. And then not only just in his dying, it was the way it was done, it was what he did during his ministry here. It was all of it put together.

29:27 When you're taking... When I spoke last time on Philippians two and we talked about the humbling of Christ. That's just part of it. But that's showing you part of who God is. And then we've got all of his example.

29:41 The example that he was, that perfect ultimate standard to which we are actually held now because we are given the power of the holy spirit, which the the people in the Old Testament didn't have. They did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have that. And so because of our privilege, we have a tremendous privilege now. But because of that, we're held to a different standard Because we have more ability through the holy spirit.

30:09 Well, if I... If if God's gonna give you all of this, then well, now you have more responsibility. Because all the Israelites had was to... You offer the sacrifices. That's what God gave them to do.

30:21 They didn't have the redeeming work. They had sacrifices, they made their sacrifices, which didn't really suffice. But that's what God gave them, and that's what they did. But now we have a completely different standing when we've been given the grace and mercy. We've been given the Holy Spirit.

30:37 We are in this age of grace. And so, again, do you live your lives like that? Do you live your life like you know that? Do you live your life like you believe that? Because of the father's complete satisfaction with Christ's work, he raised him from the dead and gave him the highest glory so that we can put our hope and our faith in God.

31:02 God said it's Christ's sacrifice is complete. I'm satisfied with that. I am satisfied with that, and so that now I can look at you through Christ and say, you're redeemed. Your sins have been paid for. It's done.

31:23 And so because of that, we have... Because he raised him and was satisfied with the work of Jesus Christ, we now have a place that we can put our faith and our hope. Because he has done this for us, we have something to look to. We have someone to look to. He wraps up the chapter in 22 through 25, talking about love.

32:33 It's linked with our regeneration. It's linked with it. The first time we're born, we're born into sin, and the sin tends to hate. But when we are born again as children of God, our life should love. Holy living is incomplete without this love component.

32:59 It is so important. And it's not just loving your immediate family. It's the brethren. And when we were working through, second Corinthians, and we had this, we had quite a bit of of talk about, you know, we're having disputes among the brethren because that happens. We all disagree.

33:22 We can't be completely, totally in the same mind. So we do disagree. But how... But this love is so important. The love for the brethren is so important.

33:32 So when you have that disagreement, when you have the little things that happen, little things, they're all little. It depends on where you're where you're coming from. They're all really little. And so... But if our love was truly enough, if we actually were exercising that love fervently, as he says, that would make all these little disagreements.

33:53 It would make them smaller and make them easier to get past and easier to forgive. And we're supposed to work that out. It's so important, this love component and love for the brethren. Peter reminds us again of that which is incorruptible and imperishable. You have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable.

34:21 That is, through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever. And this is the word which was preached to you. He's reminding you again, in case you forgot.

34:48 This is the word that was preached to you already. You, again, I know I gotta remind you, but here you go. Samuel Rydaugh put it like this. The three incorruptible things we have in this chapter. Verse four is an incorruptible inheritance.

35:09 We have an incorruptible redemption in verses eighteen and nineteen. And an incorruptible word by which we are born. Verse 23. Thus we have a nature which is taintless, fitted for the enjoyment of a taintless inheritance and on the base of a redemption which can never lose its value. How the stamp of eternal perfection is upon all, and what a fitting companion to these is that incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.

35:46 Chapter three verse four. The three incorruptible things which we have in this chapter, an incorruptible inheritance, an incorruptible redemption, and an incorruptible word. We then have a nature which is taintless, which is fitted then for the enjoyment of a taintless inheritance and on the base of a redemption which can never lose its value. Charles Spurgeon said this, God's word never dies. God's word never changes.

36:21 There are some who think we ought to get a new gospel every few years or even every few weeks. See, they were doing it back then too. They were doing it back then too. That's... We're still doing it.

36:36 See, it's different. Like never this has been going on. This has been going on, folks. There are some who think we ought to get a new gospel every few years or even every few weeks, but that was not Peter's notion. He wrote and he was divinely inspired to write concerning the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.

37:19 Remember what you have been taught already. Remember what you already know. And live your life like it is the most important thing to you because it is. Live your life as a holy reflection of the one whom you call father. Let's pray.

37:45 Heavenly father, we come to you this morning. We thank you for this time that we've had to open your word. We thank you for the truths that are in your word. We thank you for the instruction that is in your word. We thank you for all that you have given us that we might know how we ought to live.

38:01 We thank you for the perfect example that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask for your help as we continue to struggle every day in our lives as we struggle with the tests that you put before us. And we know that you have given us everything we need to get through each test, through each trial. Help us to remember that. Help us to cling to you when we desperately need it.

38:27 We ask for your blessing as we go today. In your holy son's name. Amen.