1st Peter chapter 1. My text
will be found in verse 13. 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 13. The scripture says,
Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. Gird up the loins of your mind.
We had preached this message Wednesday from this particular
passage concerning this point, gird up the loins of your mind.
At this time and day, the Eastern culture was to wear long robes. And it was necessary that if
they were to engage in battle, if they were to go into action
or have to run any distance, they would take their robes and
they would pull them up and gird them with a belt so that they
would not trip, so that they would not fall in the way. And
this is what the apostle has reference to here, gird up, gird
up the loins of your mind. so that you do not trip or fall
out in the way." Now the Apostle here, he says, wherefore. In
other words, when you see therefore, wherefore, just look, you would
want to see what it's there for. You want to, it's a conclusion
of a matter. And he says concerning this,
he reminds us of the great faith of the saints that went before
us. He says in verse 9, verse 10, of which salvation? The salvation that is by the
election of the Father, the redemption of the Son, the calling of the
Holy Spirit. He said, this salvation of the prophets have inquired
and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto you. He tells us to remember those
prophets that went before us. How they prophesied of the grace
of God. These men, I tell you, they searched
diligently the things that they had. They searched diligently
the Scripture, and they testified. They testified of the Word of
God. Now, they didn't have a full
revelation. They didn't have a full understanding
of everything. The only thing they knew is that
Christ was coming. They knew that He would offer
a sacrifice. They knew that by Him, they would
be accepted of God. By faith, these men testified. By faith, they looked into these
things. They testified of the sufferings
of Jesus. You remember Christ, He said
to those disciples on the road to Emmaus, He said, Ought not
Christ to have suffered these things and entered into His rest?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto
them in the Scriptures all things concerning Himself. These prophets
of old, you remember these. These men that went before you,
they testified of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah said of his suffering,
that he would suffer not for his own sins, that he would suffer
for the sins of his people. He tells us that God would be
satisfied by his one offering, and that he would ascend unto
the throne of God. and send His Holy Spirit. Now
this was 700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ, but if you
read Isaiah 53, it's just like the Lord had just died and risen
again. The prophet Isaiah preached the
same gospel that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and all the other
apostles preached. He preached the same Christ. I like this. Go to Daniel. One
of my favorite passages of scripture. Daniel chapter 9. See how clear this is. These
men, Christ had not yet come. But look how clear their message
is. In verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city. What are these 70
weeks determined for? It says to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy. This is clearly the purpose of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He was come to make an end of
sin, transgression, and iniquity. He was come to accomplish salvation
by bringing in the everlasting righteousness of God. You could
read Romans chapter 3 and it tells you the same thing. And
I'll tell you, the prophet Daniel was so disturbed by this that
You read in the next chapter that he's found weeping. He's
found lamenting for three weeks. Three weeks. He said in verse 2 of Daniel
chapter 10, In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full
weeks. And I'll tell you what, have you ever cried three full
weeks? I don't think I've ever cried three full weeks. You might
have get me to cry occasionally once every day for a couple of
days after someone had passed, but usually we get over it. But
I'll tell you, he mourned greatly. What did he mourn for? What was
he complaining? He wasn't going to see it. He knew that Christ
was coming and that 70 weeks were determined, and he knew
that he wasn't going to be alive to see it. Daniel knew he would
be returned to the grave with his fathers and he would not
be able to see the coming of Christ. You see, these men, they
looked into it. You should consider that when
you read the Old Testament. Don't ever read the Old Testament
for any other purpose than to look for Christ. If you miss
that, you miss the whole point. There's no reason to see the
Old Testament but to see it with the Gospel in consideration.
So consider your blessing. Consider the blessing that you
have today. You are more blessed than those
prophets who received those visions because you have the full revelation
of God. To seal up the vision. Here it
is. The vision is sealed. The testimony
is complete. Christ who was come, has come. Christ who was to rise from the
dead, has risen from the dead, is seated on the right hand of
God. The canon is closed. There's no more need for prophecy
or visions or dreams. We have the Word of God. We have
the Word of God. Consider your blessing this morning. All these brethren, they suffered
great things and searched and looked for Him to come, what
time He would come, when He would come. He's already come. He's
already come. And I'll tell you, you don't
have to worry about Him coming back. He's coming back. You don't
know when He's coming back, so don't search for the time when
He's coming back. He's coming back. The important
thing is to look at this. He's finished the work. He's
accomplished. salvation. You and I should give
praise and glory with joy unspeakable and full of glory that you live
in a day where you can hear the gospel preached. We live in a day where Christ
has already redeemed us. In Hebrews 9, 12, it says that
He has entered into the presence of God with His own blood. How many times did it take for
Christ to get this right? Once. He entered in once with
His own blood and made the way open. Open. He has redeemed us
to God forever by His blood. Now in the New Testament, in
the New Testament, the scriptures, the apostles love to use this
pronoun, us. They like to use that word a
lot, us. Now what is the us in scripture? The us refers to this atonement
that Christ has made. In Scripture, in nowhere in Scripture, excuse
me, nowhere in Scripture does God speak of a universal atonement. Nowhere. Nowhere. But He does mention the atonement
for us. For us. The Apostles use this
pronoun us many times in regards to God's love, salvation, and
His resurrection. I'm going to just quickly go
through a couple of these with us. In Romans chapter 8, And verse 36, it says, As it
is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are
counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all things we are more
than conquerors through Him that loved us. He loved us. And you, Ephesians 2 and verses
1 through 5. And you hath equickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin, wherein in time past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
time past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved who us he loved us Ephesians 5 verse 1 therefore
be ye therefore followers of God as dear children walk in
love as Christ hath also loved us loved us and hath given himself
for us." There's the second one, the redemption. The apostles
speak of us. They speak of those that God
loved. Who is that? Us. They also speak of the redemption
of Christ being to us. In Galatians 3 and 13 it says,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made
a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. I Corinthians 1 and verse 30,
But of him are you in Christ, who God hath made unto us. wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And in the new song in Revelation
chapter 5, you remember the redeemed are saying this, thou art worthy
to take the book and open the seals thereof for thou was slain
and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood. You see the pattern
here, us? The Apostle speaks of these that
are redeemed, that are called, these that the prophets spoke
of, Christ coming to redeem his people. They are the us. Who
are the us of salvation? Those who are loved, redeemed,
called, and shall be raised again are those that the Father chose. That is the us. Only those that the Father had
chosen in sovereign election from all eternity by His immutable,
faithful, and perfect love, He chose us in Christ. And only the elect were redeemed
and bought and represented by the perfect love, righteousness,
and blood of Christ. And therefore, only the elect
will be called to believe called to faith in Christ by the Holy
Spirit. Only the elect, chosen, redeemed
sinners will God call out of this world and give the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Who understands
this book? Who understands what the prophets
had written? Us. Who are they? Those who are
chosen, redeemed, and those who are called by grace to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe on Christ? Do
you know that every one of those us refers to you? You who believe? He loved us. He redeemed us. He called us. And I tell you,
He'll raise us. Us. This is what the prophets
had spoken of. This is what Christ had come
to do, and He had come to fulfill this. And who know this? You who know this. Is it because
you were smarter than the others? No. You know this because God
revealed it to you. The scripture says they shall
all be taught of God. If you go over to Revelation. Revelation chapter 14. Verse 1, it says, I looked, and
lo, a lamb stood in the midst of Sion, and with him an hundred
and forty-four thousand, having his father's name written in
their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as a voice
of many waters, and as a voice of a great thunder. And I heard
the voice of a harp, harping with their harps. and they sung
as it were a new song before the throne and before the four
beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song but
the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed
from the earth don't be confused 144,000, that's all of the elect. That's
what it means. Everyone that God chose and everyone
that Christ redeemed are in that number. And I tell you, no man
can know the song of grace, no man can know the song of mercy,
except it be revealed by God to you. I know this song. This is my
song. This is my song. I know this
song because He revealed it to me. He revealed to me that He
had redeemed me, that He loved me. Oops. That He loved me and
redeemed me. And then He called me. Only the
elect are born again of the Spirit and only the elect believe on
Jesus Christ as all their salvation. Is not this song foreign to this
world? The song of works is not foreign to the world, is it?
The song of works is natural. And they can agree. And they
can walk together. But this song of grace is altogether
different. They believe in a God who's unfaithful,
who's changeable, who's much like themselves. But you, believer,
You lift up your eyes. You gird up the loins of your
mind with this truth. All scripture points to Christ. Only the elect and redeemed will
believe it. And God will raise us from the
dead. This is our hope. This is our
hope. How weak is your faith? How slow are we to believe all
that the prophets have said concerning Christ? How feeble are we to
suppose that the purposes of God can be thwarted in any way? And yet we fear that often. If
you and I would be honest, we spend a lot of time fearing that
God's purposes won't be accomplished. We fear that somehow it's going
to mess up. Something's going... God doesn't
make mistakes. Everything moves according to
the counsel of His own will. Everything. God says this. You grab a hold
of it. You gird up the loins with your
mind in it. No matter the circumstances of your life, you hang on to
this. God said, I will do all my pleasure. Is there any chance
He will not do all His pleasure? No. God will do all His pleasure. Believer, if we are sad and cast
down in our minds, is it not rooted in unbelief? Unbelief. If we are slack in our service
to God, in our prayers, in our study of Christ, or in our worship,
is it not because we're slow to believe that our Redeemer
liveth? and intercedes for us before
God? Therefore, believer, you who are the chosen, redeemed,
and called gird up the loins of your mind by faith in Christ
alone. Trust in the Lord. Trust God. Did He not promise
that He would do you good and not evil all the days of your
life? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Who? Believer, God has loved
you and He still loves you. Yes, even you. Even me. He still. Because our God doesn't
change. Our God doesn't change. Believer
in Christ, you are redeemed and you shall forever be redeemed. Christ and send His Spirit, He
has called you to life and faith and you shall be kept by His
power unto the end. Is this not comforting? Is this
not reassuring to our soul? I don't know, maybe you don't
need reassurance, but I do. I need reassurance of this. He's
loved me. He loves me. He'll always love
me. He redeemed me. He came and shed His blood for
me and I am redeemed. And I shall forever be redeemed.
And I tell you His Spirit has come into my heart and He will
keep me by His power unto the end. I'm so glad I don't have
to keep myself. I'm so thankful for that. Which
one of us could have kept ourselves? No. He kept us by His power. Gird up the loins of your mind.
Second of all, be sober. Look at this. Be sober, the Apostle
says. He's not talking just about wine
or alcohol. Some people take that and they
run off with it and, oh, you should not drink because, you
know, it says be sober. Well, of course be sober. No,
that's simple. Don't be a drunkard or a drug
addict. Those things are so. We know
that. The apostle's not just talking
about us drinking and things like that. We know that, believer. Don't be a drunkard. We know
that those people will not inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you. Isn't that what he said? Such
were some of you, adulterers, fornicators, effeminate, abusers
of themselves. Such were some of you. but now
the Lord has given us a new heart and those things we don't indulge
in those things we don't take over but this I think would be
better illustrated for all of us because I don't think every
one of us may have a problem with drinking or things like
that but I tell you this you have a problem with the love
of this world don't you? Don't be intoxicated by the things
or people of this world. Gird up the loins of your mind.
Be ready for battle. And how can you do that if you've
got your thoughts and concerns rooted in this world? You can't. Believer, he's saying, don't
be intoxicated or drunk with the cares of this life. Isn't it possible for us to be
intoxicated with what we would call legitimate cares? Remember when Martha came and
she was preparing the meal for the Son of God. Now, that sounds
like an important task, doesn't it? You ladies prepare meals
here quite often. But what if the Son of God were
coming to eat? Be important, wouldn't it? You'd
think it'd be important. You'd be getting the best stuff
you possibly can get. You'd be spending all your energy
and time preparing that meal like Martha. But when she got
upset, she said, hey, Lord, why don't you have Mary come and
help me? I'm preparing your dinner. It's important. He said, no,
it's not. Mary chosen the best thing, sit
at my feet and learn. How many times do we think the
essential things, what we call legitimate cares, how often does
that get in the way of our worship with God? Friends, believer in Christ,
don't be intoxicated with the people or things of this world,
but set your affection on things above. That's what it is to gird
up the loins of your mind. It's not to set your affections
here. It's not to set in order things here. It is to keep your
eyes focused on Christ who is in heaven. Because that's where we're going.
That's where we're going. Aren't we closer to that today
than we were yesterday? Aren't we a step closer to glory
than we were yesterday? Yeah. We should be gearing up
to go to glory. Not be so concerned with the
things here. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. How can
you set your affections on things above and then be concerned with
the things that please the flesh? Can you do that? A double-minded man is unstable
in all his ways. You cannot serve God and mammon. Jesus said, unless a man hate
his father and mother and sister and brother, and yea, his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple. Jesus didn't say He would be
less of a disciple. He said He could not be my disciple. We cannot serve this world and
mammon. Be sober. And this is why He
says, and hope to the end. Hope to the end. The Apostle
is telling us to be sober and hope. This Word has a connotation
to wake up! That's what He's telling them.
Gird up the loins of your mind with these things that these
prophets have told you, these things which we have preached
unto you concerning Jesus Christ, how He accomplished salvation.
You gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. Don't be intoxicated
with the things of this world. And you set your affections on
heaven. Set your hope, your anticipation, Wake up. Keep your minds girded
in the gospel and hope without hypocrisy. Isn't it hypocrisy
to say, oh heaven, glory, glory, I can't wait to get to heaven.
And then you're so concerned here. You're so concerned with
these little things here. That's hypocrisy. Let us wake up. Wake up, believer, and see that
this world is not your home. A few more rolling suns at most
shall land me safe on Canaan's coast. Just a few more days. Just a few more days and we'll
be home. Just a few more days and we'll
be home. What a wonderful... I've seen this in this hymn book.
We don't sing it because I don't know the tune. But it's a good
hymn. It's 24. It says, "...our years
are like the shadows on the sunny hills that lie, our grasses in
the meadows that blossom but to die." Just a moment and it's
gone. I tell you, you that are older,
you should instill that in the younger, because you know it
more now than you did when you were young. Time is fleeting. Beauty is vain. And it all flies away. Riches
take wings and fly away. Why should you be so concerned
with the riches of this world? Earthly treasures, they don't
last long. Moth and rust corrupts them.
Set your affections on glory, where Christ is. That's your inheritance. That's
your inheritance. It's an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away. It's not going anywhere. It's
reserved in heaven for you. That's it. It's reserved. It's already accomplished. Salvation's
finished. Now you pass your time here with
patience, setting your affections on glory. That's what He's telling
us. Behold, believer, what Christ
has prepared for us in glory. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you unto myself. He said, if this was not true,
I would have told you. Isn't that right? He said, if that
was not true, I would have told you what's true. I'm God, I cannot
lie. And He told you He prepared a
place for you. Why is it that we spend so much time and effort
here when glory is our inheritance? May God convict us all of it.
May God help us to gird up our minds and set our affections
on Christ alone. Believers, we know the way to
heaven. We know that it is Jesus Christ who made the way. He has rent the veil and twain. And now then the way is clear
and open to us. He's made for us a robe of righteousness
and we are accepted with God. But it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. I'm so thankful that we're not
going to be like this. Aren't you? Aren't you? I'm so thankful and you should
be thankful that God's not going to let me into heaven like this. But this robe of flesh is going
to fall off into the ground. Our spirit that God has created
will ascend into glory and one day this old corruptible body
will be made incorruptible. Is it not, are we not strange
creatures here below? Are you not strange to those
who don't love the gospel? I'll tell you what, I'm strange
to myself. We are a perplexing person. Two natures in one body. The old man of sin and the new
man of righteousness struggling within our breasts constantly. Have you not been struggling
just to be here this morning? Just listening to this, is it
not struggling within your breast? Do not the things of this world
call to your mind, constantly pulling you, and yet the Spirit
of God pulling you in this direction? They're warring constantly with
one another. Yes. Yes. Well, you set your hope in this.
One day, there will be no more war. There will be no more struggle. You will be able to worship and
love God like you want to. What a day. It's coming. It's coming. What do we do? Wait for it. Pass your time here
sojourning in fear, obeying God's word. Obeying the law of God
for you believer. What is the law of God for you
faith? love faith and love believe on
Christ That's my law. I Obeyed that law Because he
gave me faith to believe and love Pass your time here
loving the brethren I promise you that if you spend
enough time with me, you would find so many things that are
unlovable. You love me anyway. You're supposed to love me anyway.
And you know, I'm supposed to love you the same way. That's
how we live here. Faith and love. And hope. expecting. Do you expect heaven? You should. You should expect
it. He's already given it to you. What a joy. May God help us to gird up the
loins of our minds and be sober to think about this gospel, meditate
on this gospel, that He's loved us, redeemed us, called us by
His grace, and He'll keep us sober, not thinking of this world,
setting our affections not on our family on earth, but our
family in glory, our family in heaven, our brother, our King. Set your affection on Him. And
let everything else go. Let it go. It's going to burn
up anyway. May God help us to do that. May
God help us and exhort us, even now, to set all our hopes and
affections on Christ, who's worthy of our love and affection. Is He not worthy? Yes. I pray God bless this to your
hearts. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.