1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,400 Welcome to the Island's Christian Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,080 Subscribe to hear a new episode every week. 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:08,640 Thanks for joining us. Good. 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,960 Morning guys, how we doing? All right, if you have your 5 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,160 Bibles, you can go to first Peter and go there. 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,080 This morning we're continuing our conversation about a long 7 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:20,320 obedience. Last Sunday we talked about 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,480 trust. We talked about trust and we 9 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,960 said God is forming us to be people who trust him. 10 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,240 He's not just after compliance, He's not just after compliance. 11 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:29,960 He's not trying to make us into a bunch of robots. 12 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,840 He's after people who trust his heart, who trust his character 13 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,120 and trust his ways. We said last week, we said this 14 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,480 was very important, that the life God invites you into is not 15 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,480 a life based on your faithfulness. 16 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,600 And even though this is what many of us think Christianity 17 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,920 is, I got to be faithful. I got to be good. 18 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,120 The life that God invites you into, into is not a life based 19 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:54,160 on your faithfulness, but a life based on God's faithfulness to 20 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:55,840 you. God is faithful to you. 21 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:58,480 And today we want to answer this question. 22 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,400 So if you're wondering where this message is going, if you 23 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,800 take notes, here's the question we want to answer today. 24 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,720 If I'm trusting God fully like we talked about last week, if 25 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,320 I'm trusting him fully, if I'm saying, hey, God, I trust you, 26 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,760 you have my life. How is that showing up in my 27 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,320 everyday life? In other words, what's changing 28 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:18,280 about Tuesday at work? What's changing about the the 29 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:19,960 neighbors that I have a hard time getting along with? 30 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:23,480 Like what's changing in my life? Because I trust God fully. 31 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,720 That's the question we're going to answer today. 32 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:33,280 Now this is where our text is going to take us this morning. 33 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,440 All right, It's going to answer this question, and you can go 34 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,320 there first Peter, chapter 1. I do. 35 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,720 If you don't have your Bibles, it'll be on the screen. 36 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,520 But if you have your phone, you can go to the Bible app. 37 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:44,000 It'd be helpful for you to see it. 38 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,320 This context of this is #1 Peter is a letter. 39 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,480 So when you see first Peter, it's a letter. 40 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:52,320 Don't be, don't be weirded out by the Bible. 41 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,720 It's just Peter's writing a letter to some Christians in 42 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,720 Asia Minor. And these Christians are under 43 00:01:57,720 --> 00:01:59,960 some persecution. Their lobs are very difficult, 44 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,320 some very difficult circumstances that they're going 45 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,920 through. And Peter tells these believers 46 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,720 that God calls them to live faithfully even though the 47 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,240 culture is opposed to them. Now, the persecution that these 48 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,680 Christians in Asia Minor were facing was not like a state 49 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,840 persecution yet. That hasn't quite started yet in 50 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,480 the history of the church. It was like a soft persecution. 51 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,560 It was kind of like Christians were not able to get good paying 52 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,320 jobs. It this happens around the world 53 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,120 today, like there are certain countries where if you're a 54 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,000 Christian, you're, you can be a janitor and like, that's it. 55 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,200 OK, That, that's, that's a reality now in places. 56 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,480 Well, this is what was happening then when Peter's writing this 57 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,120 letter, Christians couldn't get good jobs or kids couldn't get 58 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:38,960 into good schools, like that type of thing. 59 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,120 It was they couldn't live in certain parts of town. 60 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,920 It was a soft persecution simply because they were Christians. 61 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,320 And Peter tells these believers in the midst of this 62 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,120 persecution, he says, remain faithful to God even though, 63 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,320 even though the culture is opposed to you and doesn't 64 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,640 appreciate your faith and is even hostile towards it. 65 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,520 And so the question then is, how can you remain faithful to God 66 00:02:58,680 --> 00:02:59,920 in the middle of that persecution? 67 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:01,760 How can you remain faithful to God in the middle of those 68 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,520 difficult circumstances? And what's interesting is when 69 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,760 Peter begins to answer this question throughout his letter, 70 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:10,800 he doesn't list, he doesn't make a list of behaviors like if you 71 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,120 want to be faithful to God in the middle of this persecution, 72 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,800 then do this and do this and do this and do this and don't do 73 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:17,080 this. Don't do this and don't do this. 74 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:18,480 That's not where he starts at all. 75 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,360 He doesn't start with like a list of behaviors that they need 76 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,360 to be doing in order to be faithful to God. 77 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,400 No, actually he starts with hope. 78 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,200 Hope. Now imagine your life is hard. 79 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,880 You're poor. And if you just. 80 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,400 Abandoned your faith in Christ. If you just said, I don't 81 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,320 believe Jesus resurrected from the dead, your life would get 82 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,360 easier. Imagine that all you had to do 83 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,120 was get up one day and be like, hey, our family's not Christian 84 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,000 anymore and now your life will get easier. 85 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,000 What would you need somebody to tell you in order to help you 86 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,920 get through that? So Peter offers them the word 87 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,800 hope. He says hope is what you need 88 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,200 now. Hope is always about the future. 89 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,040 Hope is never about the present. And that's exactly how he uses 90 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,480 the word hope. He tells them to have hope about 91 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,399 the future that is promised to them. 92 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,440 That there is a there is a future that's coming for you 93 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,160 have hope in that. And that hope you have about the 94 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,160 future changes your perspective of the present. 95 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,320 Your hope about the future changes your present 96 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:33,880 perspective. Or you could say it this way it 97 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,320 changes. Where your heart is devoted, 98 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,480 what your heart is committed to. Let me say it this way. 99 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:44,040 What you're devoted to, what you're committed to changes 100 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,920 because of the hope you have. So write that down. 101 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,400 What you're devoted to changes because of the hope you have. 102 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,160 And the hope is about the future, but the devotion is 103 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,520 about the present. So my present devotion changes 104 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,880 about about my future. Hope did we get that. 105 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,040 OK, we'll talk about that more. So let's jump into this text a 106 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,680 little more first Peter chapter one, verse 13 through 16. 107 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,680 Let's let's read this. Everybody got the context all 108 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,280 right. Therefore, with minds that are 109 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,360 alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought 110 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,120 to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. 111 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,080 As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you 112 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,640 had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who has called 113 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,160 you as holy, so be holy and all you do. 114 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,120 For it is written, be holy because I am holy. 115 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:37,880 All right, we're going to pause here for a second. 116 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,200 We're going to say a prayer and I have this. 117 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,480 I don't know, I don't really normally have these types of 118 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:47,320 things happening when I'm on stage or preaching. 119 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,400 I have this sense that the Lord just wants me to pray for, for 120 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,720 any of you who are dealing with some illnesses, whether it's 121 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,520 emotional, mental, physical, any of you are just walking through 122 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,960 something that's just illness. So if you're here and you're 123 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,840 walking through illness, there's just a pressing on me to pray 124 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:05,800 for you. So if you're here and you're 125 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,920 walking through illness, the Lord is having me pray for you. 126 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,080 All right, so let's let's just do that together. 127 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,280 Or if you're online, maybe you're watching right now and 128 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:15,480 that's why the Lord's pressing this. 129 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,040 So let's pray as we've read this text and let's ask the Lord to 130 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,880 be in this message. And let's pray for wholeness and 131 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,640 healing for those who are walking through illness. 132 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,280 Father, out of obedience, I just pause here and and just say 133 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,040 thank you that you love us so much. 134 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:44,320 And I pray, Father, that that we would remember your devotion to 135 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,800 us. That you've met our greatest. 136 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,600 Need in that you gave your son Jesus to die for our sins. 137 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,400 The Lord, there are, there are those among us and those who are 138 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:04,120 tending a line who are facing illnesses, physical things like 139 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,720 with their bodies, with their hearts, with their hands. 140 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:14,600 Like there's, there's illness and then there's just, there's 141 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:16,360 mental health. Lord, there's the struggle 142 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,920 around anxiety and depression and just the stress of life. 143 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:29,760 And so Lord, I, I, I pray for healing over whoever it is 144 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,160 that's walking through these things now. 145 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,360 And you get to define healing, Father, whatever healing is, is 146 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,840 you define it. We just, we just want your will 147 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,760 to be done in their lives. And so we pray that they would 148 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,240 have wholeness. They would have your presence 149 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,120 that you would be there with them that they would know you're 150 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,600 you're, you're part of you're part of this story that they're 151 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:54,160 not alone and at this moment would confirm that to them. 152 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,480 So Lord, we pray your will be done in their lives and we pray 153 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,040 they'd be comforted by the truth that you are aware of what 154 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,480 they're walking through. And Lord, we pray you teach us 155 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,760 through Peter's words this morning what a gift it is we 156 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,480 have them. In the name of Christ, we Perry. 157 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,960 Amen. OK, so in this text that we just 158 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,480 read, there were three ideas. You know, I like to do this. 159 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,640 Three ideas. It helps you take notes. 160 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,880 And I like to say it helps you know how close we are to being 161 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,560 finished. All right, so three ideas. 162 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:34,440 OK #1 hope in God's grace #1 hope in God's grace #2 live as 163 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,799 God's children, live as God's children, and #3 reflect God's 164 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:40,080 character. You got it. 165 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,280 Hope in God's grace. Live as God's children reflect 166 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,880 God's character. So let's jump in to the first 167 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,600 one. All right #1 hope in God's 168 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:49,280 grace. That's verse 13. 169 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,880 So the command in verse 13 is for you to set your hope on the 170 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,040 grace that is coming in the future. 171 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,120 Now what he's saying is, hey, guys that are under persecution 172 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,120 in the future, a new reality is coming. 173 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,640 Something's going to change. Like the world is broken and 174 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,080 it's messed up and there's pain and there's difficulties, but 175 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,720 God is bringing a new future where where the pain of this 176 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,920 moment will be forgotten and the pain of this current existence 177 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,080 that you have will be behind you. 178 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:22,440 Something better is coming. Peter's saying we set our hope 179 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,600 on our future promise. Now it's interesting. 180 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,040 Look at the text. OK, what does he say we set our 181 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,640 hope with? He doesn't say with our hearts. 182 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,080 He doesn't say set your hope on the future with your hearts. 183 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,640 He says to do it with your, what everybody say, minds with your 184 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,640 minds. So he says with your thinking, 185 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,400 set your hope on this future promise that's coming. 186 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,920 And he says with minds that are fully alert and minds that are 187 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,760 fully sober. In other words, you've thought 188 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:54,760 this through. You've worked through the logic 189 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,880 and you've said, OK, the world is broken and it's messed up. 190 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,280 And if my heart is not home, if my life is not home in this 191 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,200 world, then surely I must have been made for a different world. 192 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:08,160 I've worked this out. And so that now in my mind, I'm 193 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,120 thinking about the fact that there's a future hope, that that 194 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,480 is a filter that I run. Everything else I'm working 195 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,640 through, everything else I'm living through, I run it through 196 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:18,880 that filter. That's what Peter's telling 197 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,000 these believers, hey, you're going through some tough times. 198 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:22,760 You're going through some difficult circumstances. 199 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,000 Don't set your mind on those circumstances. 200 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:26,720 Set your mind on the future hope. 201 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,520 Set your mind on the future reality. 202 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:31,680 You know in. Essence, what he's saying to 203 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:33,280 these suffering Christians is this. 204 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:35,960 Do not be anxious in your thinking. 205 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,200 I know easier said than done, but it takes practice. 206 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,080 But it also don't be anesthetized. 207 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,560 I can't say that word. Don't be, don't be asleep in 208 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:45,600 your thinking. Right. 209 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:47,280 And it so does that better? Yeah. 210 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,160 Somebody say anesthetized. How do you say that word? 211 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,920 Who's got it anesthetized? I can't do it. 212 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,920 That that that that my tongue just turns it on itself. 213 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,800 So don't, don't, don't be anxious. 214 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:03,040 Like don't be like, Oh my gosh, everything's falling apart and 215 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:04,720 and don't be asleep in your thinking. 216 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:06,640 And, and if you think about it, this is kind of where most 217 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,080 people are. They're either like panicking 218 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,920 and worried about the future all the time, or they're just like, 219 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,520 whatever man happens, I don't care. 220 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:14,960 You know, I just this is going to unfold. 221 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:16,640 They're asleep thinking about the future, right? 222 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,640 It's one or the other. Don't you guys agree with that? 223 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,800 It's kind of like, is this kind of where you, I mean, this is 224 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:22,640 kind of this is the pendulum I live in. 225 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,280 Like I'm trying to solve everything. 226 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,080 I got to figure it out. Oh, it doesn't matter. 227 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:27,720 Whatever is going to happen, what's going to happen, you 228 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,400 know, right? Peter says. 229 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,760 Don't do either of those. Don't don't be asleep in your 230 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,280 thinking and don't be anxious in your thinking. 231 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:40,560 Be sober and be alert with your mind on the. 232 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:44,200 Hope. The future hope that is coming, 233 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,360 that there is a new day, new day coming. 234 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:49,760 And let that future hope in God's grace that's coming, 235 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,320 meaning there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. 236 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,360 This future promise. Let that guide you in the way 237 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,400 you think. So let me say this this way, if 238 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:04,320 I set my if I set my mind or the future hope and I'm and I'm, I'm 239 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,400 mindful of the fact that the world will be made right, that 240 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,840 everything will be put to right. So this is not the only life I'm 241 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,520 going to get that I'm going to get a whole nother life. 242 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,160 If I'm setting my mind to that, then that will change how I 243 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,680 react to my present. That would change to I will know 244 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:21,640 what's really important in life. I will know how to respond to 245 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:22,840 what's really happening in my life. 246 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,040 So let me say it this simply hope for your future changes 247 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,640 your present. Hope for your future changes 248 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,920 your present. Hope you. 249 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,000 You can take a massive disappointment because you know 250 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,680 this life is not all there is. You can take a massive victory 251 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,520 and not get practical and arrogant because you know this 252 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,400 life is not all there is. Does this make sense? 253 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,000 Hope for your future changes our present. 254 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,400 Now we understand this, we get this. 255 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:49,800 I don't. You don't have to like think 256 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,560 about you don't have to think about this theologically. 257 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,560 Have you ever had on your calendar a cruise or a vacation 258 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:58,000 that was well into the future? Does it ever change your 259 00:12:58,000 --> 00:12:59,680 thinking a little bit leading up to it? 260 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:01,440 Do you find yourself thinking about it a lot? 261 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,320 Do you find yourself like buying extra things here and there? 262 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,880 Do you find yourself, especially if you're going like on a beach 263 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,720 vacation, you're trying to find yourself trying to lose a little 264 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:10,800 weight before you go? Anybody know? 265 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,360 I'm talking about you're like, we're going, we're going to the 266 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,840 beach and we're going to the beach in July and it's February. 267 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,480 I need to try to lose 80 lbs before now and then, you know 268 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:25,720 what I mean? Why? 269 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,560 Why is that happening? Because you have a future hope 270 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,440 that you believe is going to happen and you're having 271 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,240 circumstance, you're, you're changing your present 272 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,080 circumstances because of that future hope. 273 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,240 You believe in that future hope so much so that you're doing 274 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:39,680 things in the present. Because of that. 275 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:41,960 Think about kids who are in school right now. 276 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,160 If you're in high school right now or middle school right now, 277 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,320 do you probably know how many days are left in school or how 278 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:48,360 many weeks are? Left in school. 279 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,200 Right. Do you guys remember that when 280 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:51,640 you were in school? You know, do you know how many 281 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:53,120 you guys know how much time is left in school? 282 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,800 Look, look, right here, He's like to how many 10 weeks is 283 00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:01,840 what he's saying, 6-6 weeks, 10 days, 10 days. 284 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,160 Yeah, man. Now, listen, so if you know 285 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,080 there's only 10 days, you know there's only 10 days left in 286 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:08,800 school. What are you thinking about 287 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,320 between now and those 10 days? Like, you're you're thinking 288 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,520 about the fact that you're going to be done soon, right? 289 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:15,960 You know it's all going to be over. 290 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:17,280 Yeah. You got to finish your papers 291 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,240 and you got to do your tests, all that kind of stuff. 292 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,440 But you are imagining yourself. And when I was in high school, 293 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,120 doing nothing all summer, right? Doing nothing. 294 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:26,320 It didn't actually work out that way. 295 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,200 But that's what you're imagining yourself, right? 296 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:30,880 In other words, when you know something in the future is 297 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,320 coming, it changes your present, changes the way you think. 298 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,440 That confident belief in a future reality changes how you 299 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,520 act and think in the present. And this is what Peter is 300 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,680 describing. And Peter says, hey, this is not 301 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,400 accidental. This is not passive. 302 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,080 He says this is intentional. You purposely set your mind, you 303 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,160 purposely think on these things. You have habits. 304 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,800 You wake up every day and you have some type of habit where 305 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,480 it's reading the Bible or spending some time in prayer or 306 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,120 spending some time in quiet. You have habits that help you. 307 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,840 Set your mind to help you set your mind on the hope that is 308 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,720 coming. And that habit keeps you in the, 309 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,600 in the, in the present of living like there's a future that's 310 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,200 coming that's better. Now. 311 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,680 It's interesting to me that Peter's not describing emotions 312 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,360 or feelings Like feel, if you just, if you just feel hope 313 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,400 you'll be OK. No, he says, this is something 314 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,280 you think about. You use your mind for this. 315 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,880 We think actively and soberly about the reality that this life 316 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,400 is not all there is, that there is a coming future. 317 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,240 And when you do that, it will change your commitments. 318 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,520 It will change your actions. It will change the way you live 319 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,000 in the present. If I believe a new life is 320 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,680 coming, my devotion of what I live for now changes. 321 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:53,360 So number one, first of all, we put our hope in God's future 322 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,560 promise of grace. That's number one. 323 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,160 We put our hope in God's future promise of grace at the Christ 324 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,040 coming. And then secondly. 325 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:08,040 So hope in God's grace #2 live as God's children, live as God's 326 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,040 children. Now we get more specific, more 327 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,640 specific about how our. Day-to-day lives begin to change 328 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,120 when we set our hope on the future. 329 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:17,760 Grace. If I've said this morning so 330 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,360 far, set your mind, get your thinking about the future, 331 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,960 promise. OK, now let's get more specific 332 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,440 about how that changes our day-to-day life. 333 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,600 Look at verse 14. OK, verse 14, it says this as 334 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,240 obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when 335 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,440 you lived in ignorance. Now again, he's writing to 336 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,880 people who are Christians and Asia Minor who used to not be 337 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,000 Christians. And Peter says, first of all, if 338 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,440 you set your hope on God, you will begin to look like an 339 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,560 obedient child of God. You see how that works. 340 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,040 What what we tend to think is if I want to be an obedient child 341 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,200 of God, I got to really, really like get disciplined and try 342 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,960 hard and get myself together. But what Peter says is now the 343 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:03,480 way this starts is you set your hope on God. 344 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,720 You set your hope on his future. People who hope in God live 345 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,560 their lives like obedient children in God's house. 346 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:11,560 I'm. Going to say that again. 347 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:15,400 People who hope in God live their lives like obedient 348 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,319 children in God's house. It's a correlation. 349 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:21,359 It's disconnected. Now, there are two things I've 350 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,960 got to address about this text. First of all, notice how Peter 351 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,360 addresses them. He says as obedient children. 352 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:33,400 He doesn't say as faithful servants. 353 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,920 That's what you hear. But that's not what he said. 354 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,720 You hear as faithful servants, be obedient. 355 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,240 That's what you heard. That's what all these preachers 356 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,000 you've heard your that's what you heard in your head, but 357 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,800 that's not what he said. He calls us children. 358 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,080 He doesn't say as faithful employees or faithful servants. 359 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,440 He says as obedient children. Now this matters because think 360 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,320 about this. A servant obeys out of fear. 361 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:59,600 A servant obeys out of fear because what can happen to a 362 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,920 servant? He can be dismissed, she can be 363 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:09,080 dismissed, she can be removed. And so a servant obeys out of 364 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,200 fear, out of losing their position or losing their reward. 365 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:14,880 But a child doesn't obey out of fear. 366 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:20,120 A child obeys from a place of security and safety. 367 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,000 A child says, I belong in this home. 368 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,560 They're they're a child's not trying to earn their place in 369 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:32,640 the home by trying to be good. They already have a place in the 370 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,400 home. This is why Peter calls us 371 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,200 obedient children. This is on purpose. 372 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,800 You belong in the home. So Peter is saying hey, we obey 373 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,200 God in our day-to-day lives not to get into the family of God, 374 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,160 but because we are already in the family of God. 375 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:55,480 We we recognize how loved we are by this future hope in this 376 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,360 future devote this future promise of grace that Christ is 377 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,160 returning. There is a new heaven and a new 378 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:01,760 earth. I will get a whole new life. 379 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,000 I realize that that God has loved me so much that as an 380 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:06,240 obedient. Child I want to. 381 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:07,880 Honor the God who loves me so much. 382 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,160 This is what children do. And now are there any perfect 383 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:16,160 children? No, they're not. 384 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:17,680 They're just not any perfect children. 385 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:20,960 I mean, maybe 30 seconds after they're born. 386 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,360 I don't know well. There are no perfect children. 387 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,920 You and I are not perfect. We're we're not going to be 388 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:33,160 perfectly obedient to God. Like I figured all this out. 389 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,360 That's that's not, this is how we think Christianity works. 390 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,800 If I'm good, God accepts me. Peter's flipping that over and 391 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,680 he's saying, no, you're in the house. 392 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,160 You're in the house. And the fact that you've been 393 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,400 accepted and the fact that you set your hope on God, that 394 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,720 begins to change you. That's how he flips it. 395 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,280 And if you think about it, man, I'm telling you, there's stories 396 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,720 and testimonies people can get up and share about how the 397 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,560 devotion and the love of a parent or a friend change their 398 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,440 lives. My younger brother Mess had a 399 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,320 mess going on in his life just. When he was in his early 20s, I 400 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,200 don't want to put his junk in the street, but everything you 401 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,560 can think about early 20s being a mess. 402 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,080 And my dad, my dad went to him and he put this out there 403 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,040 publicly. So my, he, my dad bailed him out 404 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,000 of jail and in the parking lot began to weep. 405 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,400 And my dad was not a crier. He didn't he wouldn't like me. 406 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,920 He didn't cry weeping in the parking lot. 407 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:40,520 He said, son, you're killing me. I love you so much and I can't 408 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:45,000 live. I can't live, please, I'm 409 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,480 begging you, start making some changes in your life. 410 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,160 And my brother, not on the flip of a switch, not overnight from 411 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,040 that point, he he marks it to that point is when his life 412 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,320 began to change. And today he has a good career 413 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,800 and two beautiful boys and a beautiful wife, living a 414 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,880 wonderful life, faithful to the Lord. 415 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,960 My dad did not say I'm tired of you. 416 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:12,640 I always get in trouble. You're an idiot. 417 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,920 He said, I love you. I can't live this way anymore 418 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,360 like this. This is what it means. 419 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:26,120 This is how God loves us. This is how he calls us into 420 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:30,440 obedience. He accepts you and He loves you 421 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,560 and he puts you in the family through Jesus Christ and that 422 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,760 acceptance and that hope of the future. 423 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,440 Begins to change us who can say that's true who can say I can't 424 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,800 deny the changes that have taken place in me since I've come down 425 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,000 to the Lord You can say it right you can say it right you can't 426 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,600 deny it you can't you can't now it didn't happen overnight it 427 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,600 wasn't like a switch flip and you're like man, I used to be a 428 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,400 total jerk and I'm less of a jerk today, you know no, it's 429 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,080 like slowly over time it's like oh I can't and then you look 430 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,440 back over the long arc and you realize man, look at what the 431 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,440 Lord has done in my life you know what the one thing that 432 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,640 changed was it wasn't your effort it was your. 433 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,560 Faith that he actually accepted you, that he actually loves you. 434 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,280 You actually believe that and that's what brought the change. 435 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,840 So that's the first thing. Peter addresses them as children 436 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,960 when he calls them obedient, to be obedient. 437 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:21,520 Now, I the second thing I need to say about this verse is this. 438 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,280 Peter does indeed call us to obedience. 439 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,280 He does indeed call us to obedience like this. 440 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,000 This is in the Bible and he begins by describing obedience 441 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,400 in a negative way. He says do not conform to your 442 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,120 evil desires. Now, that phrase evil desires is 443 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,480 a little bit misleading, and I think it's a poor translation. 444 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,520 And I've always point out to you guys poor translations. 445 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:50,320 There's one word there in the Greek for desires, all right, 446 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:54,680 And Peter uses that word desires or passions. 447 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,000 What we all know is that not all desires or all passions are bad. 448 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,280 Some passions, some desires are good. 449 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,680 The issue is not that we desire evil things. 450 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,840 The issue is that our desires are disordered. 451 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,240 Did you hear what I just said? Peter says. 452 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,520 That in the past, in the past, your issue wasn't that your 453 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,440 desires were evil, it was that your desires were disordered. 454 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,800 Let me, let me read you. This is the new Revised standard 455 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,160 version of this same verse, verse 14. 456 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,040 And I think this translation captures it very well. 457 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,880 It says, like obedient children, do not be conformed to the 458 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,040 desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 459 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,360 All right. In other words, you had some 460 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:41,000 desires that were out of order. You, you, you, they weren't 461 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,600 necessarily evil, they were just out of order. 462 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:45,600 Now, there's an assumption that Peter makes. 463 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,520 Do you guys hear the assumption in this verse? 464 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,680 The assumption is that our desires form us because he says 465 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,800 do not conform to your former desires. 466 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,440 All right, That you had an ignorance. 467 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,400 Well, what's the assumption? That what you desire, what you, 468 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,160 what you set your heart and your mind on has a way of forming 469 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,000 you, forming your character and forming your way. 470 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,360 That that's an assumption that he makes all right. 471 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,640 And what Peter is saying is, hey guys, before you knew God 472 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,200 before, before you had a relationship with God, your 473 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,560 desires were void of God. In other words, all your desires 474 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,400 and think about your life before you knew the Lord your you had 475 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,440 desires and they weren't necessarily evil. 476 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,200 They just didn't include God, right? 477 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,600 They didn't include God. And Peter says when you had 478 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,920 these desires that did not include God, those desires were 479 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:33,520 shaping you. And so therefore you were being 480 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,000 shaped by desires that did not include God. 481 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,360 And those desires gave us those desires, gave us direction, they 482 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:41,960 gave us purpose, They gave us meaning. 483 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:44,760 And, and Peter says in ignorance, like we didn't know 484 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:49,360 any better, we looked at things like comfort, approval, success, 485 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,920 and control to give us what only God can give. 486 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,520 These weren't always bad things. They were just things that we 487 00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,880 trusted in more than we trusted God. 488 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,040 We had what Augustine called disordered loves. 489 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,720 This is what Peter is saying. Like before you came to know 490 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,640 God, you, you, you had your desires. 491 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,440 You had desires for things that controlled your life, that 492 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,680 formed your life, things like control, things like money, 493 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,440 things like success. But now Peter says, now that 494 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,680 you've come to the Lord, now that you've become a Christian, 495 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,680 now something has changed. Now because you know God, he 496 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,600 sits at the top of all your desires. 497 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,280 He is your primary desire. So he sits at the top of all the 498 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,320 things that you want and all the things that you long for. 499 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,360 So just like you tend to set your heart and your mind on your 500 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:36,520 desires, Peter says, now God sits at the top of those 501 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:37,960 desires. You set your heart and your 502 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:38,920 mind. On this has. 503 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,840 Changed. And Peter would contend that 504 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:45,080 this changes everything now. We still have other desires. 505 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,320 You still have other desire. It isn't like I wake up every 506 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,400 day going. I desire God and only God. 507 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,680 That's it, right? And that's not like, well, 508 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,360 that's what you got to be, to be a Christian. 509 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,640 No, it's that I still have other desires. 510 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,600 I still have desires for comfort and desires for success and 511 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,400 desires for, you know, all of these other desires, right? 512 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:04,960 But they're not, none of them are primary now. 513 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,520 None of them take the place of the first position. 514 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,000 Who gets the place of the first position? 515 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,960 Now God gets the place of the first position. 516 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,760 Now He becomes my primary desire. 517 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,400 And if I put God at the top of my desire chart, if I say of all 518 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,640 the things I want in this world, I want my relationship with my 519 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,080 heavenly Father to be first in my life, this is the most 520 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,480 important thing. Then every other desire, every 521 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,840 other love becomes ordered. Does this make sense? 522 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,400 So this is what Peter is saying. He's saying in the past. 523 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,000 In the past you had you had desires that were disordered. 524 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:48,000 And so we place God at the center of our lives and he 525 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,120 orders our desires correctly. And we don't do this because 526 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,400 we're forced to or coerced to. We do this going back to verse 527 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:56,880 13. We do this because we set our 528 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:01,600 minds on the hope of his grace. We. 529 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,120 Go man, God has been so faithful to me, so good to me, why would 530 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:05,880 I desire anything other than Him first? 531 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:08,960 Does that make sense? You see how the mind is such a 532 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:10,800 key part of this? We think it's all about what 533 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:11,640 we're feeling. It's not. 534 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:13,120 It's all about what our mind is set on. 535 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,040 I set my mind on the future hope that God's going to give me. 536 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,240 And then I realized that my my desires are disordered. 537 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,960 And I put God at the top of my desires, and then all my other 538 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,760 desires become ordered. And this is what it means to 539 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,520 live. As God's children, we are secure 540 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:38,240 in His family, and we began to live with Him as a child in his 541 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,760 home. And he is our greatest desire, 542 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:46,560 seeking to please Him, not to earn His love because we already 543 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,800 have it. We don't obey to earn God's 544 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,680 love. We obey because we have been 545 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,640 loved and accepted by God. Does this make sense? 546 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:00,720 All right. So #1 we set our hope in God's 547 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:05,320 grace #2 We live as God's children, no longer shaped by 548 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,600 our old desires. And I don't know how we're going 549 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:12,960 to do #3 in this little bit of time, but you guys, buckle up #3 550 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,600 we reflect God's character. I have to do it. 551 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,880 So somebody text people in children's ministry and tell 552 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:23,360 them to buckle up, reflect God's character. 553 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:26,880 Look at verses 15 and 16. If you have your Bibles, your 554 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,960 spawns, this is what he says. So instead of conforming to your 555 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,480 old desires, do this instead. But just as he who called you is 556 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,440 holy, so be holy and all you do for it is written, be holy 557 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:45,800 because I am holy. Now remember I said his first 558 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,360 description of obedience was a negative description. 559 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,600 It was like, hey, reject your old values, reject your old 560 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:53,040 desires that you were ignorant of. 561 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,520 That was the negative. Now in these verses he shows us 562 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:00,120 how obedience is a positive sense and that positive sense is 563 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,360 a pursuit of holiness. Peter says God himself is our 564 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,720 model and our standard for holiness, not other people. 565 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,240 Peter tells us to be holy in all you do. 566 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,560 Print that on a card and stick it on your dashboard of your 567 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,040 car. I no way, bro. 568 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,320 Like I love Jesus except when I'm driving. 569 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,600 You know what I mean, That people's crazy out there. 570 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,400 I never do anything stupid in the car. 571 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,400 So he knows. Peter says be holy in all you 572 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,520 do. That's that's strong. 573 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,520 That's, that's crazy. But here's the thing. 574 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,400 He says being holy in everything, Yes. 575 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,240 But then he says the standard for our holiness is being holy 576 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,120 like God. And you got to get this. 577 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,320 Be holy like God is holy. This is important. 578 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,840 Because you don't get to define what Holiness is. 579 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:03,160 You don't. You don't get to decide what 580 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:04,360 holiness. I don't get to decide what 581 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,480 holiness is. I have to be holy like God is 582 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:07,880 holy. This is the call of my life. 583 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,720 All right, I think we have to stop here for just a moment. 584 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:12,320 And we got to talk about holiness. 585 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,880 When we think of holiness, we all tend to think about 586 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:21,240 morality, right? Morals. 587 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,120 So again, some of you who reject Christianity, This is why you 588 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,800 reject Christianity. You think it's all about morals 589 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,280 and we boil Christianity down to don't do bad, do good. 590 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,560 That's silly. Think about this. 591 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,800 If someone were to ask you, hey, what is God like? 592 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,840 Tell me about God. And you said, well, God is holy. 593 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,880 And they said, OK, cool. What does that mean that he's 594 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,440 holy? And you responded with, well, 595 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,480 you know, he's really moral. He's got really high morals. 596 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,120 Well, yes, God has really high morals, but does God is 597 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,520 perfectly moral capture that God is holy? 598 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:02,040 Are those two things equal? Isn't God being holy much deeper 599 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,880 than just He's perfectly moral? Well, certainly it is. 600 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,840 You see, God is moral. And yes, for you and I to be 601 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,720 holy certainly includes being morally good. 602 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:17,480 Certainly includes that. But it's deeper than that. 603 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,080 Holiness. Write this down. 604 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:25,120 Holiness means set apart. Holiness means being distinct. 605 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:29,920 Holiness means being different. So when we say God is holy, what 606 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,560 we're saying is God is not like anything else in all of 607 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:35,360 creation. He's separate. 608 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,840 He's distinct. There's no match for him. 609 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,040 He's the only one. He's he's set apart. 610 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:44,040 OK then, Steven. All right, great. 611 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,400 Well, then if, if, if God is holy, then that means he's set 612 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,480 apart and we got to be holy like God. 613 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,200 He's the standard. That means we're set apart, 614 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,800 we're distinct, we're different. What does that mean? 615 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,720 That we're like, we're distinct because we're so much better 616 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,000 morally than everybody else. And that's the kind of preaching 617 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,560 people talk about right? Here they go. 618 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,240 You got to be better and you got to stop doing those bad things 619 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:06,240 and do good things that way. We're set apart in the world, 620 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,280 right? And it's no like that. 621 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,560 That's not it at all. Like, that's not how we're set 622 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,680 apart is being better morally than everybody else. 623 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,880 Now, again, again, again, we're certainly committed to a moral 624 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,160 lifestyle. Don't walk out here going, I 625 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,920 think Steven said we don't have to worry about moralities. 626 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:24,120 Like, no, no, we're certainly committed to a moral lifestyle, 627 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,320 but that is not what sets Christians apart. 628 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,160 You guys know this, right? There are plenty of people who 629 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,520 do not know the Lord, who do not believe in God, who are 630 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:35,280 atheists, who are morally better than you. 631 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,160 They are, they are there. I mean them all the time. 632 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,160 I'm like, this dude is this dude is better than me. 633 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:47,520 And some of them even adhere to Christian ethics, meaning they 634 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:51,000 agree with our view on things as far as Christian ethics go, and 635 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:52,520 they adhere to them better than we do. 636 00:32:55,360 --> 00:33:00,520 So if being set apart and being distinct is what holiness is, 637 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,440 and the Bible tells us to be holy, being set apart and be 638 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,040 distinct, and that doesn't mean just being morally better than 639 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:07,960 everybody else, then what does it mean? 640 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:09,480 Are you ready? Write this down. 641 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:15,800 The word whole, WHOLE, Radic WHOLE, the word whole. 642 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,000 So what does it mean to be distinct, to be set apart? 643 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,880 It means we are whole. WHOLE. 644 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:26,000 All right, I'll keep talking. We are integrated, meaning our 645 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:27,720 lives are not fractured. Fractured. 646 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,400 We're not trying to manage how certain people perceive us over 647 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:32,880 how other people try to perceive us. 648 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,680 We're not compartmentalized. Instead, we are integrated and 649 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,520 unified in our purpose and our nature. 650 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:42,960 Who we are is settled. OK, well, OK, OK, OK, OK, well, 651 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,000 what is that? What does it mean that we're, 652 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,280 we're settled and we're integrated and, and who like, 653 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,160 how, what does it mean? We're like, we're whole like 654 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:50,880 that. Well, this is how wholeness 655 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:58,080 happens in your life, when you are holy WHOLLY, when you are 656 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,360 wholly committed to God, committed. 657 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,000 When you were. Wholly committed when you say he 658 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,520 is my. Highest desire, when you look at 659 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,760 all the rooms of your house, listen to me carefully. 660 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,000 When you look at all the rooms of your house, and I don't mean 661 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,880 your literal house, I mean this house. 662 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,800 When you look at all the rooms of your house and you say, Lord, 663 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:24,639 you can have every room. I'm giving you authority over 664 00:34:24,639 --> 00:34:32,159 every room. I'm giving you authority over 665 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:34,920 every room. I'm not going to hold any part 666 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,400 back of my life or my heart from you. 667 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:41,120 I'm going to strain every day to surrender every part of my 668 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,880 finances, every part of my physical life, every part of my 669 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,199 body, every part of my mind, every part of my emotions. 670 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:53,159 I'm going to do everything I can to surrender to you and thereby 671 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:58,440 being committed to God. You are becoming integrated as 672 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:04,200 His children, not fragmented as an employee who seeks to be good 673 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,920 when the boss is looking and does whatever he wants when the 674 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,840 boss is away. Do you see how that changes 675 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,640 everything? When I'm wholly committed to 676 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:20,200 God, WHOLL, when I'm wholly committed to God, He's first. 677 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:26,520 My life becomes integrated, becomes unified, and I am not 678 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,280 fragmented as an employee or servant. 679 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:34,800 Now the wholeness, this wholeness, the self wholly 680 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:39,840 committed to God, makes you and I distinct from the world. 681 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:41,680 Because that's the, that's the goal of. 682 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:43,440 Holiness to be distinct from the world. 683 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,600 You being whole makes you distinct from the world. 684 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,800 How? Well, yes, it includes good 685 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:56,400 morals, but in addition to that, you and I, as believers in 686 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,600 Jesus, have given to God complete and total authority 687 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,960 over our lives. Stay with me. 688 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,400 You have given to God complete and total authority to God over 689 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:16,240 your life. That means you've said to God. 690 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:23,840 I have surrendered all my autonomy over my body and over 691 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:29,880 my emotions and over my mind to you as Master and King. 692 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,040 And that, my friend, is distinct from this current world. 693 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,640 Because in this current culture, the last thing you would ever do 694 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,760 is surrender the autonomy of yourself, your body, your mind, 695 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,520 your thoughts. The last. 696 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,560 Thing you would do in this it's it's, it is, it is sacrilege. 697 00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,640 It is a, it is a sin in our culture. 698 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,520 It is a sin in our culture to sacrifice your autonomy. 699 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:09,760 To anyone else other than yourself and what Christians do 700 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:16,440 is Christians say I am holy, WHOLLY, wholly committed to God. 701 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,360 He has all the authority over my life. 702 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:26,120 He I have, I have 0 autonomy anymore over me and friend that 703 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,480 in this world will make you distinct. 704 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:37,760 It will make you stick out big time and more than perplexed. 705 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:39,640 The world will not just be perplexed by you. 706 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:42,840 Listen to me carefully. The world will be annoyed, 707 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:47,880 frustrated and angry at you. And do you know why? 708 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,240 Because if you've declared God as your king and the authority 709 00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:55,480 of your life, no one can move in and set up another throne in 710 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,960 your heart. Credit card companies can't move 711 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,560 in and set up another throne. Mortgage companies can't move in 712 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,040 and set up another throne. Alcohol producing companies 713 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:07,920 can't set move in and set up another throne. 714 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:11,880 Government can't move in and set up another throne. 715 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,440 No one can set up another throne. 716 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:15,360 In your heart, you can't be subjugated. 717 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:17,120 You can't be. They say, what if you don't? 718 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,360 If you don't submit to this, you're going to be killed. 719 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,280 You're like, well, hey brother, let's do it. 720 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,720 I'm submitted. So you become a threat to the 721 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:31,400 wider culture because you are a Kingdom inside of a Kingdom. 722 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,560 Did you hear what I just said? You are a Kingdom inside of a 723 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,600 Kingdom. That's what believers are. 724 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:41,840 And so we are distinct and different not because we're 725 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:43,680 morally better than anybody else. 726 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:49,680 No, no, we're distinct and different because we have only 727 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,280 one ruler and it's not ourselves and it's not the government and 728 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,920 it's not anybody else. We have one ruler, and his name 729 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,840 is Jesus. He's our king. 730 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:04,360 We surrender to him alone. No one can manipulate. 731 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,640 Us or push us away? From our devotion to God or 732 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:15,600 frighten us into subjugation. Now why would you and I 733 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,360 abandoned our autonomy to a God we cannot see or touch? 734 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:27,280 Well, we believe that this God abandoned his autonomy for us. 735 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:46,640 It is wild to think about, but to say I will not be in charge 736 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,680 of my life. I will take whatever comes my 737 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:54,520 way, good or bad, and I'll say if it's from the hand of the 738 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,640 Lord, and it is because all things are from His hand, and it 739 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:06,160 is for His purposes. Well, how could you give up 740 00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:07,720 wanting to be in charge of your life? 741 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:17,440 Because what I believe is God abandoned the throne of heaven. 742 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:22,760 Jesus left heaven and came to earth and surrendered his 743 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:29,480 autonomy for me. He said I won't. 744 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:36,400 I won't be my own king. I won't be in charge of my own 745 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:38,360 life. I'll become an infant. 746 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:42,960 I'll be raised as a child. I'll let men I created, men I 747 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,080 know everything about. I'll let them beat me with an 748 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,000 inch of my life. I'll let them torture me and 749 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,720 I'll let them crucify me naked in front of a crowd of people. 750 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,280 I'll surrender my autonomy. Why? 751 00:40:54,880 --> 00:41:00,440 So that I can be a child of God. So you could be a child of God. 752 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,640 So surrendering the authority of my own life and saying, Lord, 753 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:10,880 you have, you have authority over every part of me, mind, 754 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,280 body, spirit. And there's some things that God 755 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,320 caught, you know, some things I'm not going to like about 756 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:16,280 that. And some things are going to be 757 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:28,040 challenging and difficult. But no one is hanging you naked 758 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:34,800 on a cross. He did that for us. 759 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:51,040 And so, my friend, be holy, be holy, WHOLLY holy, committed to 760 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:56,000 your Heavenly Father, and from that everything else will 761 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,240 change. Will you stand with me? 762 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:09,880 Let's say a prayer for us, God, this for me. 763 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:17,360 This text was challenging and convicting, and I thank you that 764 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:19,240 we have it in the Bible to wrestle with. 765 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:25,880 We're just reminded that none of us can walk out of this room 766 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,880 with arrogance or pride, thinking that we somehow have 767 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:32,200 figured it out, that we're somehow better than others or 768 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:38,360 not. We've simply been invited into a 769 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:45,840 childlike relationship with you. Thank you Lord. 770 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,960 Thank you Lord Jesus, for abandoning your autonomy so that 771 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:56,120 we could be saved, so that our sins can be forgiven, so so that 772 00:42:56,120 --> 00:43:02,520 the justice of God can be met. Help us to follow you and 773 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:10,920 abandoning our autonomy so that we might be full of the joy of 774 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:15,480 the Lord. Thank you for these believers in 775 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:17,400 Asia, my honor, in the 1st century that were under 776 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:20,440 persecution. Thank you that Peter wrote them 777 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,640 this letter. Thank you that they will. 778 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:25,920 They withstood the persecution and they were found faithful. 779 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:32,600 Thank you for this day. In Christ's name we pray. 780 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:34,920 Amen. Thank you friends, we love you, 781 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:36,320 appreciate your. Patience with me.