Monday, October 15, 2012

1 Peter 1:13-16


              We are going to continue on with our 1 Peter study today. We will be covering verse 13 today.

 

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5  who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Pe 1:6  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

1Pe 1:7  so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 1:8  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

1Pe 1:9  obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1Pe 1:10  Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,

1Pe 1:11  inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

1Pe 1:12  It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

1Pe 1:13  Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

          The first thing that I would like you to notice is that it starts with the word “Therefore” Peter is about to go from indicative to imperative and this is the transition word. The first 12 verses have been about facts. Who we are, Who Christ is, and who are we in Christ and what our inheritance is and how great it is and how wonderful is our God that he would offer His son for our sacrifice. Remember verses 3 through 12 are a result of Peter saying at the beginning of verse 3 that we are to bless God. Keep in mind that this letter was primarily written to Christians scattered across the land who were suffering persecution for believing in Christ as their savior. It was an encouragement, a reminder of why their suffering is worth it.

          So, therefore or because you have this reminder of how wonderful your salvation is and how wonderful your savior is, remember it is so great that angels long to look at it, Peter is saying now in light of those truths now go live it out. This is a classic example of indicative and imperative. What you believe should manifest itself in your behavior.

          I put in a bid on a large commercial job about two weeks ago. Well, the call came about a week and a half ago from the assistant of the owner of the building and told me that I had won the bid, the job was mine. So because I believed that truth, I immediately began to act on it. I called my distributor and ordered the equipment that I needed. I made sure that I had lined up the workers that I needed for those days and I blocked those days off from our schedule. I knew it to be a truth so I didn’t say “I’ll wait until the day of the install to order the equipment” because then it would have been too late because it takes 3 to 5 days to get the equipment in.

          If you are waiting for something to happen today before you will totally surrender to the obedience of God then I would like to caution you that in a twinkling of an eye it can be too late. We are called to, as it is drilled into us on all these commercials that we see to, “Act Now”

          Maybe you’re saying, how do I do that? I don’t know what to do. Well Peter thought you might say that so he tells you.

 

          The next phrase is…preparing your minds for action. KJV uses the phrase “gird up the loins of your mind.”

 

In Israel an ordinary person would wear a long, sleeveless shirt of linen or wool that reached to the knees or ankles. Over this a large fabric like a poncho might be worn, although this poncho would be laid aside for work. The shirt was worn long for ceremonial occasions or when visiting at the local market but for most duties, such as work or war, it was tucked up into a belt at the waist to leave the legs free and unrestricted

This example by Peter is to show the needful preparation for the intense conflict to come. Whether work or war, girding of the loins gives a picture of courage and resolve that is necessary for the task. It is sort of a “rolling up the sleeves” moment.

But Peter here is telling us to gird up the loins of our mind, or to prepare our mind. We are to have our thinking in order with no entangling doubts, fears, or reservations. Our mind should be prepared to act without hesitation.

We see the same command from Christ in Luke.

Luk 12:35  "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,

Luk 12:36  and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

Luk 12:38  If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

Luk 12:39  But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

Luk 12:40  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

 

This is Spurgeon’s commentary on this phrase…

These are days of great looseness; everywhere I see great laxity of doctrinal belief, and gross carelessness in religious practice. Christian people are doing to-day what their forefathers would have loathed. Multitudes of professors are but very little different from worldlings. Men’s religion seems to hang loosely about them, as if it did not fit them: the wonder is that it does not drop off from them. Men are so little braced up as to conscientious conviction and vigorous resolve, that they easily go to pieces if assailed by error or temptation. The teaching necessary for to-day is this: “Gird up the loins of your mind,” brace yourselves up; pull yourselves together; be firm, compact, consistent, determined. Do not be like quicksilver, which keeps on dissolving and running into fractions; do not fritter away life upon trifles, but live to purpose, with undivided heart, and decided resolution." (Spurgeon, C H: A Seasonable Exhortation)

          It is interesting to me that something written so long ago could have so much truth and relevance for today. A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, JULY 11, 1886,

 

     The next phrase is…Be sober minded

 

          The intent here is to “make sure you keep your faculties fully operational.” This is not just a command to not get drunk, stay sober like you’re dad or pastor would say. It would include that, but it is much, much more than that. This is calling us to be free from every form of mental and/or spiritual “drunkenness”, from excess, improper passions, rashness and confusion. We should be well balanced and self-controlled, and here is the tough one for you ladies, without undue emotion and panic.

          This is written in a present tense. Continually we should be making the choice to be watchful, calm, temperate and circumspect. Remember that in order to do this we had to gird up our loins; this is going to be hard work, even like going into battle. Peter implies alertness and a proper evaluation of circumstances because your mind isn’t clouded with intoxicating influences that are so prevalent in our old nature and is just barely under the surface for some of us waiting for an excuse to rear its ugly head. Later on in this same letter from Peter in chapter 5 verse 8 he writes…

 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 

          There will always be some new fad. Some new religion that tickles the weak and immature’s fancy. I have seen some come and go. I have seen some come and become huge mega churches. Sadly, it is because people were not prepared, vigilant and sober and the adversary saw his opening and took it.

          Paul even warns people against himself and says that even if he tells of a different gospel than what he has written and preached about than don’t believe it.

 

Spurgeon…

Be sober—quit yourselves like men that have their wits about them. A very necessary word is this in times when everybody seems excited and some are so bewildered that they do not know their head from their heels! Crowds are prepared

to follow any kind of foolery, whatever it may be, as long as it is advocated by clever men and is made to tickle their fancy. 

 

Without sobriety vigilance and preparation is impossible.  

 

 

          Now we get to the how part. Being prepared and sober minded is our goal but how do we do that. We know that we must be otherwise we will be thrown around by every wind of doctrine. We have all tried at one point or another to just pull up our bootstraps so to speak and we have all failed at one point or another. Our Christianity is not about our works, it is not about how disciplined I can be, it is not about our abilities. It is about Christ and His saving grace. It is recognizing our extent of our depravity and the extent of His glory. The next phrase in verse 14 is…

 

…set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

          Many of us, including myself at times would have to confess that our hope is not always in the right place. If you recall I touched on this a couple of weeks ago. Our hope is lacking usually because we are hoping in the wrong things; Things that perish and will let us down. We see things as dark and dismal; we are full of fear and are quick to despair. Peter knew this and it is why he explains to us what we should set our hope on. Remember he was writing this to people cast out of their own land suffering persecution. He knew there outlook on life could be pretty bleak.

          It is true that many of us could be going through some terrible times and things appear and feel like there is no hope. You can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. But, I would challenge you that you cannot see the light because you are looking in the wrong direction. If you focus your sight on the wall of the tunnel, you will never be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Does that mean that the light does not exist? Of course not. The light is just as bright as ever but you are looking in the wrong direction to see it. Have you prepared your mind to see the light? Are you staying sober and not spinning around in circles trying to figure and “easy” way out? If you are prepared and are sober and vigilant then you will be looking in the right direction and you will see that the light was there all the time. We must hope and not fear and be confident in God’s word and then if the worst comes it does not cause you to sway and wander. Your hope is in God and His grace that brought you to Him and in His grace that will bring you home.

 

 

So how are we to prepare our minds and be sober? Focus on our Savior and His grace that He has lavished on us. How do you do that? Study His words, communicate with Him in prayer, fellowship with people who are of like mind who will hold us accountable. Grow to love your Lord and Savior so much that there is nothing that you would rather do but to Praise, bless and honor Him for who He is and what He has done.


:Spurgeon…

Put these three exhortations into one—pull yourselves together, be steady, and be hopeful. There you have the practical run of the text. I desire earnestly that, by God’s Spirit, we may carry it into practice from this day on and always.

 

 

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