Personal Holiness Amidst Perverted Worldliness, Part 3a

Let's know what God said in Genesis chapter 6 the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually every only continually That is man That is the condition of man Before he has saved every thought is an evil thought It's only wicked and it's continually wicked

That's just the way it is That's God's commentary upon unregenerate man and that's why God ended up destroying the world with the flood because man was so Debauched and so depraved and so so worthless that he just didn't want to do anything for God So he just wiped everything away and started brand new again with Noah's family But it's it's important to understand that it it speaks of the the thoughts and intents and imaginations of the heart Listen a man is the way he is Because of the imaginations of his heart the lusts of his heart Man has a supreme desire to do evil

He wants to do evil He looks for avenues to fulfill his fleshly desires every way you possibly can that's the unregenerate man And my they might take on different forms of how they do that But Peter is saying listen, you can't be conformed to your your former manner of lusts You can't be doing the things that you used to do before you were saved Why because you've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb you've been delivered from that feudal way of life That is the empty way of life

That's the worthless way why because it has no eternal value It will not last it will die with you It has an end and yet Peter wants them to understand that God has done a magnificent work in their lives Over in Titus chapter 3 verse number 3 This is how Titus says it or Paul says the Titus he says for we also Once were foolish ourselves disobedient disaved enslaved to various lusts and pleasures Spending our life in malice and envy hateful hating one another that is the unbeliever You might look at him any way you want

You know when we when we have a new baby, that's born into the family We look at the babies that wow Beautiful She's so pure and sweet and the holy no put Titus 3 3 on the crib Because that's the way they are They're foolish They're disobedient

They're deceived and they are enslaved to their various lusts they are there needs to be a Purchase they need to be bought back They need to be redeemed and the only way that can happen is not through silver and gold Not through through things that we can count or things that we think are valuable But only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and that's why Paul would go on to say but when the kindness of God Our Savior and his love for mankind appeared he saved us not on the basis of deeds Which we had done in righteousness But according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit Whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior That's what God did You see I'm convinced that the reason we don't think about this is because we really think that we're not that bad We think we're pretty good We help old ladies across the street We give checks in the offering plate every week We don't watch bad things on television We don't say nasty words each and every day to our kids and to our wives And so we think really that we're pretty good and we after all we've seen other people who are not really good And we watch them on TV or we see them across the street or we work with them

We say well, they're really evil They're bad And we look at ourselves as pretty good And yet the only good in us is the goodness of God The only good in us is what God does Not what we do because our righteousness can't save us Our works can't save us It's all in the mercy and grace of God And so because we had the tendency member our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked No man can know it So we don't even know our own hearts But the Bible says our heart is so deceitful and so wicked that all we can think about is how good we are But the Bible says that's not true

God is what's good We're not good and The more we realize our condition the more we can center in on what God himself has done for us And that's the exciting news

That's the that's the good news of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord Peter we're going to say about our deliverance He said in verse number 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life Inherited What from your? forefathers No, no, what is that? You know, he talks about the traditions of man You know our our futile way of life is passed down from generation to generation Generation because we are so empty because we are so worthless

What we have done is made up a sense of religion in Judaism was the classic example of this Christ would say over in the book of Matthew the 15th chapter these words first number eight this people honors me with their lips But their heart is far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men? He says all they in vain

They worship me they worship me in emptiness because of the traditions of men because the doctrines that they himself have established to somehow make them look Good, that's why Christ said in Matthew chapter 5 when he came when it seemed to preach his very first sermon You have heard that it was said by the ancients of old He's he's attacking their their tradition But I say to you You see this has been passed down from generation to generation If you do this if you do that if you go here if you be this god will accept you You'll be good

You'll go to heaven and and christ said that's not it This is the way you've heard it But this is the way it really truly is This is the way it needs to be And christ would come what do you see in luke chapter 4 when he first went to the synagogue We talked about on sunday

He came to set the captive free He he he came to to loose us from from the enslavement of sin That's why he came and part of that is the traditions of our fathers Is that tradition that says I can do this I can be this I can go here I can be that and god will accept me and i'll go to heaven Not the way it works You've been redeemed from that tradition of of of judaism It can be judaism It can be mormonism It can be paganism

It can be catholicism Whatever if it's a man-made system That's based on my achievements instead of god's accomplishments It's the tradition of our fathers And we need to be redeemed from that as well, right? have you ever tried to talk to somebody who's into into judaism or For for that matter into catholicism And and try to share christ with them and let them understand that if they give their life to christ If they if they forgo their the traditions of their father that they are literally condemning their families to hell They are telling their families that that they're on their way to hell They're telling them everything they've done their whole ancestry everything that they have done is all wrong and everybody's in hell Because they misread the scripture it was wrong That's why it's so hard for for a jew to convert to christianity They got to turn their back on their whole nation Everything that they've stood for for thousands of years And yet the traditions of our fathers as good as they may be If they're trusted in They will damn you to hell And we got to be careful about that And peter would say in verse number 14, you know, you did these things in ignorance That's what paul said in the first time of chapter one, right? He was the chief of sinners And he was a persecutor of mankind, but the things he did he did in ignorance That is he did them because you see man is not controlled by his mind

He is controlled by his lust His lust control his mind That's how that's how the the depraved Individual works it's what's on the inside that controls the thought process And that's why christ said it's not that which is on the outside that defiles the man But what's already on the inside that defiles the man? That's why christ said that that, uh, you know that You have heard that it was said you should not commit adultery, but I say to you That if you look lustfully upon a woman you have already committed adultery in your heart It's not the lustful looking that causes a man to commit adultery in the heart It's the lustful heart that causes a man to lustfully look at another woman see It's everything that's on the inside of a man or the inside of a woman an individual And peter says I got good news You've been redeemed from all that How by the precious blood of the lamb of god John 1 29 the lamb of god who came to take away the the sin of the world I love it in the book of revelation that the fifth chapter That revelation's new song

What do they sing? What's the new song? That that the redeemed saints sing worthy art thou to take the book and to break its seals for thou was slain And it's purchased for god with thy blood Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and now has made them to be a kingdom and priest to our god And they will reign upon the earth What a song You know what? That's a song we're going to sing in heaven It's all a song about the lamb that was slain It's all a song about how he purchased Man from every tribe every tongue every nation

It's all about what he did to make us a kingdom of priests It's all about what he did for us And and that's what the new song the the redeemed song is all about and that's what we're going to do all in heaven So peter says listen because because in heaven all you're going to do is sing about this thing Then you know what right now while you're on earth You need to focus your mind on it Because this is what it's about

This is what heaven's about It's all about how he purchased us And what he did for us and peter says this needs To happen Center your mind on the foreordained work of christ remember Your deliverance number two reflect on his appearance He says this is so good he says he says in these last times For the sake of you He appeared Now see that that that's where the value of man comes in he appeared for your sake It's it speaks of his incarnation it speaks of his Resurrection his ascension his glorification It goes on to say in verse number 21 who who through him are believers in god who raised them from the dead and gave him glory Speaking of of the redemptive work of christ from the from the incarnation To his glorification From his humiliation to his exaltation And he did it for you So you need to reflect on his appearance because why did he come he came for you? He came for me And and when you when you when you think about that you realize listen Here are all these people who go through all this persecution Because nero's accusing them of burning rome and they hear the screams of their fellow christians in the middle of the night Because they're being burned to death at the stake and peter says listen I know you hear those things and I know what's happening to you, but I want to know something when nobody else cares about you jesus appeared for you He appeared for you and you know what unfortunately for most of us That's just not good enough You know, we we read that like okay, so So he appeared for me so And that's because we are so focused on the earth and so focused on the horizontal that's why we spent time looking at the the the lustful passions the the former way of life the futile way of life our Ignorance what we are redeemed from because we need to realize where we have been and what god does in our lives Not only to reflect on his appearance and remember our deliverance but To realize our confidence he says So that your faith and hope are in god That's good, isn't it? So your faith and hope are in god that's confidence You know faith and hope are are virtually the same thing Both are believing what god has already said right and our hope is based on what god has already said about our future And this gives us confidence He says you need to realize the confidence you have because of what christ has already done Can you think about how he planned your whole? redemption If he took that much time to plan it out so much in such great detail Just think of the plan he has for your life after he redeemed you That should give you confidence Because nothing's going to happen without his notice William cooper Who throughout his childhood suffered tremendous physical turmoil even emotional turmoil Mostly because of the death of his mother when he was six years of age He was one who attempted suicide on three separate occasions and failed all three times When he was placed in an asylum For 18 months

He he read a verse in the bible romans chapter 3 verse number 25 Which says jesus christ is set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of christ It was that verse who led him to the lord He wrote this hymn Entitled there is a fountain There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from emmanuel's vein and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains Ever since by faith I saw the stream thy flowing wound supply Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die He had a theme in life And what was the thing? The blood of christ that redeemed him from a futile way of life And that would become the theme of his life from that time forward To move him on to maturity in his walk with the lord That too should be our theme in life So peter says concern yourself with your future hope Conduct your walk in the fear of god and send to your mind On the four ordained work of christ and fourthly if you're going to be as holy as god is holy You need to cultivate your actions to fervently love one another Cultivate your actions to fervently love one another He says in verse number 22 since you have an obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love for the brethren Fervently love one another from the heart If 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 all its glory like the flower of grass the grass withers and the flowers fall off But the word of the lord abides forever and this is the word which was preached to you Peter says listen if you're going to be holy in an unholy world You need to make sure that your actions demonstrate that you fervently love one another You see peter slowly but surely taking their thought life off of themselves Placing it in glory That they might be able to minister to other people Now remember Peter was the kind of guy Who only loved himself? right He was one of the guys that with other disciples would always argue about who was the greatest in the kingdom, right? So three we know the three distinct times in the scriptures where they were always arguing about who was the greatest And and even on the on the eve of the lord's crucifixion

They they had the same argument it came up And and christ would say on that evening after he washed his disciples feet in john 13 34 and 35 a new commandment I given to you A new commandment that's right a new one What's the new commandment? That you love one another as I have loved you No longer is loving one another as you love yourself good enough Now you must love as I have loved you and in john 13 He demonstrated that love to his men by what? Focusing on them not him on the eve of his death He he washed their feet

He served them when they should have been serving him He served them peter picking up on that realizes as he writes verse peter Listen as you're going through your persecution amidst all your pain You need to do something you need to sincerely Fervently love one another you need to give yourself away You see in the midst of our pain

We don't want to give away we want to get We want people to be focusing on us and peter says no you got it all wrong That's the way I thought it was But christ told us that there was a new commandment and that all men would know That we are the disciples of christ if we have loved one to another how is an unholy world gonna know that we're holy people It's because we're willing to give our lives away for one another

That's how they're gonna know peter says your actions Need to be cultivated in such a way That you fervently it's a word that means to to stretch and to reach out as far as you can It's it's it's like when you're trying to get something and it's stuck in a hole You're trying to get down there You can't quite get it so you stretch and reach as far as you can with great effort with great energy That's how you love one another He would go on to say over in first peter four verse number seven

The end of all things is at hand Therefore be of sound judgment and sober Spirit for the purpose of prayer above all keep fervent in your love for one another same thing He reminds them you got to stay fervent

You got to keep reaching You got to be loving toward one another So important It gives us two reasons why Number one because you've entered the same family and number two because you eat the same food That's why You enter the same family You're born again You've been born again He mentioned earlier that that they referred to god as their father He mentioned earlier that they were obedient children So they're all a part of the same family And so therefore if you're part of the of the same family then then you've got to fervently love one another You know peter would say in second peter chapter one about the useful life We've been going through our devotions with our children In second peter chapter one and peter talks about how to have a useful fruitful life And so we're contrasting a useful life with a worthless life and peter says in second peter chapter one these words when he says Now for this very reason also applying all diligence in your faith supplying moral excellence and in your moral excellence knowledge And in your knowledge self-control and in your self-control perseverance and in your perseverance godliness and in your godliness brotherly kindness And in your brotherly kindness love for if these qualities are yours and are increasing they render you neither useless nor unfruitful In the true knowledge of our lord jesus christ If these things are progressing if these things are growing guess what you're going to be useful for the lord You're going to be fruitful for the lord So peter picks up on the same theme in his second epistle Because he knows what it means to be focused on himself And he realized that he would say to his lord, oh everybody's going to deny you but i'm not Not me

You can count on me lord. I'm loyal. I'm a lover of men I love you and you can count on me, but he was not there when the lord needed him He denied him Because he thought only of himself But peter's changed He's realized what needs to happen And he instructs these people That they need to fervently with a sincere love not a hypocritical kind of love, but one that's from the heart That demonstrates a commitment to others Not only because you've entered the same family but because you eat the same food The living and abiding word of god This is how we're born again This is where we receive our instruction And the two go hand in hand, right? Listen in order for you to love You must understand truth That's why first quincy 13 6 says love rejoices with the truth Love cannot rejoice where there's no truth Love cannot function where there's no truth Truth Is what enables us to love? And because we're part of the same family And because we eat the same food that is from the living and abiding word of god Then now we are able to to to function properly as children of god And that's Why peter says? It's important for us to realize that As we go through difficult times and as we live in an unholy world In order for them to understand our holiness That we are to be as holy as god himself as holy as pure as he is As pure to be like our god if we if we really want to be like our god Then we got to love as our god loves So people will know That we are the disciples of christ So people will know that we are committed one to another God's word is our food God's word gives life God's word Nourishes our life and we feed on it

It causes us to grow We'll talk more about this next time as we understand the importance of god's word in our lives as it pertains to holy living But but just as a as an introduction peter says listen you need to fervently love one another It's almost as if he says, you know, you need to stop loving yourself in order for you to love other people For us to realize that if we don't love others And we don't reach out and minister To others We can conclude two things one is We're not a part of the family of god or two We're not feeding on the word of god Because those things enable us to be able to reach out to one another And you see the important thing for these people to realize was that because They had lost everything and they had They didn't have anything

They were losing everything And they were soon to lose their lives And peter says listen Because you're all going to lose everything anyway Then focused in on other people Because you're all you got see And and as you do that, then they're able to understand their relationship with the living god even more so And so peter has slowly but surely Given us the the key elements that cause us to live a holy life in another holy world And that's what we need to understand