Personal Holiness Amidst Perverted Worldliness, Part 2a

Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to 1st Peter chapter 1, 1st Peter chapter 1, and we want to continue looking at personal holiness in the lives of God's people.

As it's said, against the perverted worldliness that we find ourselves facing every single day. Back in 1879, that Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle wrote a book on holiness. It's a very thick book and it speaks very clearly to the whole realm of the holy life. And J.C. Ryle came up with 12 different points of what the holy person looks like. And I thought, well, I didn't want to read the whole thing, but the more I read it, the more I realized I'd better read the whole thing. Because it, it paves the way for what we want to talk about this evening.

Listen to what he says. He says, holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God. According as we find his mind described in Scripture, it is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what he hates, loving what he loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of his word. Number two, a holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin and to keep every known commandment.

He will have a decided bent of mind towards God, a hearty desire to do his will, a greater fear of displeasing him than of displeasing the world, and will feel what Paul felt when he said, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Number three, a holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will not only live the life of faith in him and draw from him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labor to have the mind that was in him and to be conformed to his image. It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, to be unselfish, to walk in love, to be lowly-minded and humble. He will lay to heart the saying of John, he that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Number four, a holy man will follow after meekness, long-suffering, gentleness, patient, kind tempers, government of his tongue.

He will bear much fruit, forbear much, overlook much, and be slow to talk of standing on his own rights. Number five, a holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labor to mortify the desires of his body, to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts, to curb his passions, to restrain his carnal inclinations, lest at any time they break loose. A holy man will follow after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him, speaking as he would have men speak to him.

He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty, and unfair dealing, even in the least of things. Number seven, a holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence toward others. Such was Dorcas in Acts 9, verse number 36, full of good works and alms deeds, which she did. Number eight, a holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all filthiness and uncleanness of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder, and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation.

A holy man will follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave, who only works because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father's face because he loves him. A holy man will follow after humility. He will desire in holiness of mind to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in any other in the world. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life.

He will try not merely to fill his place as well as others, who take no thought for their souls, but even better, because he has higher motives and more help than they. Holy persons should aim at doing everything well and should be ashamed of allowing themselves to do anything ill if they can help it. They should strive to be good husbands and good wives, good parents and good children, good masters and good servants, good neighbors, good friends, good subjects, good in private and good in public, good in place of business, good by their firesides.

The Lord Jesus puts a searching question to his people when he says, what do ye more than others? And lastly but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual mindedness. He will endeavor to set his affections entirely on things above and to hold things on earth with a very loose hand. He will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven and to pass through this world like a stranger and pilgrim traveling to his home. To commune with God in prayer, in the Bible, and in the assembly of his people, these things will be the holy man's chief enjoyments.

He will value everything in place and company, just in proportion as it draws him nearer to God. I wonder after reading that, would you consider yourself a holy person? The Bible says, be holy for I am holy.

There is the the mandate for a holy living. We looked last week at at the calling to live a holy life. The Bible is very clear that we have been called with a holy calling by a holy God to live a holy life. Then we looked at the contrast in in verse number four of 1st Peter, which speaks to the fact that as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior. There's a contrast between the way the world is and the way we are, and there needs to be a stark contrast.

Then we looked at the command to be holy, to be separate, to be separate from creation as well as to be separate from corruption. That's what it means to to be holy, to be set aside for a special purpose, to be used of God, and that's the command. And then fourthly, it's completeness. Be holy in all your conduct. All of it, not just some of it. Not just the big things, but the little things. The things we think trivial, we need to be holy in in those things as well. I love what Charles Spurgeon said when he recorded these words.

He says, much of the beauty of holiness lies in little things. Microscopic holiness is the perfection of excellence. If a life will bear examination in each hour of it, it is pure indeed. Those who are not careful about their words and even their thoughts will soon grow careless concerning their more notable actions. Those who tolerate sin and what they think to be little things will soon indulge it in greater matters. To live by the day and to watch each step is the true pilgrimage method. More lies in the careful noting of every single act than careless minds can well imagine.

He says very clearly that those little things, those things that we think may be trivial, those things that we think that are not as great, those thoughts in our minds, those little words that we speak, we need to examine our lives moment by moment, hour by hour, to see if we are living pure and holy lives. Only then will we be able to say, yes, God, we desire to live as holy as you are holy. Spurgeon goes on to say, holiness is no blazing comet, amazing nations with a transient glory. It is a fixed star that with still calm radiance shines as through the darkness of a corrupt age.

Holiness is persevering obedience. It is not holiness at all if it be occasional zeal and sensational piety. Think about those people who go away on retreats or go away to different conferences and come back with this holy zeal. It lasts for a week or two or maybe a month and then it kind of fizzles out. That's not holiness. Holiness is persevering obedience. It's that constant examination of the life under the microscopic text itself that we might understand the truth of God's Word and live in light of it.

Peter says that we are to be holy in all of our conduct, not just some of it. That means we need to be holy in our body. Paul would say these words over in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse number 19. He says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. We need to be holy in our body. Our bodies need to be holy. They are the temple of the living God.

The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our lives and because He is the Holy Spirit, He's going to prompt us to holiness and our lives need to be holy lives. Our body needs to be a holy body. Over in Romans chapter 13, it was the Apostle Paul who said these words concerning the fact that Jesus Christ is soon going to return. He says it in verse number 12 of Romans chapter 13, the night is almost gone and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. He makes it very clear that there needs to be a holiness of a body. There needs to be a holiness of spirit. Over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7, verse number 1, Paul says, therefore having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Not only must there be an external holiness, there must be an internal holiness. My spirit, my soul, my mind, my thought life, my imaginations must become holy as God himself is holy. We're to be holy in our speech. Over in the book of Ephesians, the fourth chapter, the 29th verse, it says this, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. That over in chapter 5, verse number 3, it says this, but do not let immorality or impurity or greed even be named among you as proper among saints, and there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks for this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

He talks about the speech of a man. Peter is concerned about all of our conduct, not just parts of it, not just little parts of it, or big parts of it, but the little parts as well. And quite frankly, if we were honest with ourselves, we let the little things slip by. We let the words slip by, the anxious moments slip by. We don't hold them in check to the Word of God and measure them by God's standard. We think they're not that important, but those little things begin to build up and all of a sudden they become big, big things.

So Peter says, you need to be holy as your Father in heaven is holy. That's the mandate. It's the mandate to holy living. And yet, on top of that, we realize that there are a certain means to accomplish that. And Peter gives them, gives us six of them. I'm going to give you two this week, two next week, and two the following week. We're going to cover them for you to help you understand what are the means to holy living. What is it that Peter is going to exhort me to do that I might live a holy life?

God says, be holy for I am holy. Great. How do I do that? How do I make that happen in my life? How do I discipline my life in such a way that that I can follow the commands of God? He's given me His Spirit. He's given with me that internal desire to be holy because the Holy Spirit lies within me. But what are the practical things that I need to be doing that will help me pursue holiness? Hebrews 12 says that we need to pursue peace with all men and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

So if we're going to pursue holiness, if we're going to pursue sanctification, then how does that happen in my life? And Peter gives us six principles that will guide us through the process. It says in verse number 13, 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. Principle number one is this, if we are going to be holy as God Himself is holy, then we need to concern ourselves with our future hope.

We need to concern ourselves with our future hope. Please remember that Peter was writing to people who are who are suffering greatly. We've talked about that over the weeks and so we know that the depth of their turmoil, not experientially, of course, because none of us are being put to death on a regular basis because of our faith, but we know because of what the text tells us and what history, church history, tells us about their lives. And so we understand that Peter wants to help them understand something.

You can't be so concerned about what's happening around about you because if you are, then your holiness will be lacking. So you need to concern yourself with something above you. You need to be concerned with your future hope. So he begins verse 13 with the word therefore.

Therefore takes us back to the first 12 verses, basically taking us back to what he says at the very beginning in verse number 3, because we have been redeemed by God, because we've been born again to a living hope.

We have a new hope. We have hope in Jesus Christ our Lord. Because we've been redeemed by Christ and because that Christ has caused us to rejoice in the midst of our trials, we need to therefore do something specific. And that is to be concerned with our future hope. Live in the future. Live looking to your future. Live looking for what God's going to do in your life in the future. Because if you focus in on the now, you'll get discouraged. If you focus in on your pain, you'll get discouraged. So this is what he says.

Therefore gird up or 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. Know this. Remember back in verse 1 of chapter 1, he calls them aliens. Peter and Apostle of Jesus Christ are those who reside as aliens. Over in chapter 2, verse 11. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers. So these people are aliens. So if you're an alien, if you're in a foreign country, you're looking eventually to go home to your homeland.

To go back to your homeland. So what Peter is going to tell them is very practical for them to get a hold of. You need to be concerned about your future hope. You need to fix your hope on your future. He says, if you fix your hope on the future, it will put a check on your conduct in the present. That's important. John said it this way over in 1 John chapter 3, verse number 1. John said, see how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God. And such we are.

For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears we should be like Him because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself even as He is pure. If you understand about what Christ is going to do when we see Him, if you're fixed on that hope, that is a cleansing process. That is going to purify your life because you're looking to honor and glorify your God.

So Peter says, I want you to fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He wants us to be concerned about the future because if we're not concerned about the future we will lose sight of our hope and we will become, listen, intoxicated with the world. It's so easy to be consumed with the things of the world that let the world infiltrate our minds that in our thinking. And so we need to be able to resist that and he gives us two very practical ways by which that's going to happen.

Number one, gird your minds and number two, keep sober. Keep sober. If you want to fix your hope on the future, if you want to maintain an upward look, then you've got to gird your minds. Now that's a great phrase because it's an Oriental phrase. It's an Oriental phrase used of gathering together one's garments, one's robe, pulling it together so as not to leave any dangling parts. Pulling your robe together, pulling it through your legs and tying it in a knot around your waist so that you can run, so that you can do strenuous activities.

Peter's saying very, very clearly, listen, you need to gird your minds. That is, you need to wrap up your minds. You need to wrap up your thought life. You need to get all those loose dangling ends out there and bring them all together and fix them upon your future hope. Let me say it to you this way.

Some of you sit in the audience tonight and you're thinking about all kinds of things except what we're talking about here tonight. You're thinking about your kids and kids time tonight, wondering if my kid's behaving. That's one of those loose dangling thoughts that kind of hang out there. I wonder how my kid's doing over there tonight. I wonder if he's singing or if he's playing, if he's fighting somebody or kicking somebody or biting somebody. See, you had this thought hanging out here. You got another thought hanging over here.

I wonder if my refi is gonna come through this week or if I'm gonna qualify for that. You got another little thought dangling out here. I wonder who's gonna win the NBA championship. Well, let me put you at ease.

We know the Detroit Pistons are gonna win the NBA championship in seven games. So in case you want to know, you heard it here first.

But you got that dangling out here. I wonder who's gonna win the NBA championship. You got it dangling out here. I wonder what we're gonna do on vacation this year. Or you got this thought over here. I wonder where we're gonna go out to dinner tonight after the service. You know, all those thoughts that are out there. And let's be honest, most of our thoughts are aimless, worthless, careless thoughts when it comes to things about eternity. Right? They kind of hang out there. And you know what? It's those thoughts right there that become the detriment to your pursuit of holiness.

Is it wrong to wonder about my refi? Or is it wrong to wonder about how my kids behaving? Is it wrong to wonder about who's gonna win the NBA championship? Is it wrong to wonder about this or that? No, it's not. Those aren't sinful thoughts. But an accumulation of all those little loose ends, listen, keep you unfocused. We need to be a focused people. I was sharing earlier tonight with you about the testimony I had with this funeral today. I love to preach funerals because I got rapt attention. People are focused.

They're focused on death. They're focused on reality. And for that brief moment, maybe 30 minutes, 45 minutes, however long I got to preach, I've got their undivided attention about the one reality in life that every one of them is going to face. But as soon as it's over, those loose ends become untangled and they go out like this. And they start thinking about everything else but the one true thing they need to be thinking about. Life and death. And as Christians, we need to tie up the loose ends in order that we might fix our hope on our future.

Thoughts that hang loose hinder our advancement when it comes to spiritual maturity. They catch you off guard, don't they? Paul said it this way to to young Timothy over in 2nd Timothy chapter 2. Listen to what Paul said. He said, verse number 4, no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Paul says if, Timothy, you're going to be the kind of man God wants you to be, you're not going to be entangled in the everyday affairs of life.

These aren't sinful things. These are just the the external affairs of life that gets you off track, that defocus your emphasis in life. Those kinds of things will will hinder you as a soldier. You want to make sure you please your commanding officer. You want to make sure you please the general. You want to make sure that the Lord is pleased with your thought life. So those thoughts that that dangle out there need to be brought together. Paul said it this way again over in the book of Ephesians the sixth chapter when it pertains to the armor of God.

He says this in verse number 14, stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth. Again the same oriental phraseology is used. When the soldiers went to battle they had this big sack they put over them. It had a hole cut out on the top and and two holes on the sides and you put your arms through and that sack just hung over you. So you had to wrap it up and gird it around your waist. If not you wouldn't be able to do battle. It's a phrase for preparedness. It's a phrase for for readiness.

You got to be ready. And so how are you ready when you fight a spiritual battle? You got to wrap everything with the belt of truth. Everything has to be brought together with truth. If not the spiritual armor just kind of dangles around on your body. It's got to be tightly knit and truth is that which does that. And Peter says gird your minds. Tie up the loose ends. Wrap it together.