Turn with me to 1 Peter 1 again,
1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 and verses 13 through 21. 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. As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance, but as
he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation. Because it is written, Be ye
holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times
for you, who by him do believe in God that raised him up from
the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be
in God. Just to get us caught up from
where we were, what we went over in the previous weeks, this epistle
starts out letting us know that this is to all sojourners in
this world. Then Peter gets into the source
for all these things. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. Then it starts into how God personally
gets us involved in this, if you will. through sanctification
of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. The spirit sets us apart so that
we can hear his gospel and to those who are his elect so that
we believe his gospel. This he does, as we're told,
by faith. Joe just was telling us this,
but given those he elected, those the son died for and those the
spirit has set apart, this faith enabling us to believe the gospel
gives us hope to that specific end where we will be with our
salvation, Jesus Christ. This is constantly confirmed
to us through manifold trials of this faith. causing us to
look to Him who is our salvation. In so doing, we are filled with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. These things that we joy in is
the same thing the prophets looked into when they looked for that
Messiah to come and the glory that should follow. This was
revealed to them that this would come, so they knew a lot more
than what people give them credit for. But it was no different
for them than it is for us. They only knew this by the revelation
of God. These things are because of something
else. That is the holy sovereign God
coming down to redeem enemies of God, sinners. These things the angels desire
to look into because they know nothing of redemption. So now
we get into a wherefore because of all of that. Here is what
we are instructed to do, if you will. And I want you to keep in mind
here, too, all of this is in the context of what we're gonna
read today, too. It's all in one context. It always
starts with God, and God always carries it through, through many
trials and giving of faith. but we're gonna look at gird
up the loins of your mind, be holy for I am holy, and the precious
blood of Christ. So next we start out in verse
13 which says gird up. That means tighten the belt,
tighten the belt. What are we tightening up? The
loins of our mind. I read that this tightening up
comes from where when someone was setting out on a journey,
they would take a belt or a rope and gird up at their waist, their
clothing. And I'm assuming this to keep everything in together
and tight so nothing gets caught on something or to slow them
down or to cause them to stumble. That's my presumption is what
this was done for, but this was done at the waist. But this is
the idea here, tighten up our mind, our thoughts, and keep
them all together and fixated on one thing. Jesus Christ and
the redemption he has wrought. We are also told to be sober,
which means to watch. And as I said, there's one thing
we are told to watch for, that hope for grace to come to us
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The thoughts are where things
start. We do something because we think it first. Sometimes,
thankfully, we do not always act on our thoughts, which is
the idea being put forth here. This is where we see we need
to gird up the loins of our minds because there are many thoughts
that come into our mind that are not looking toward the hope
of grace appearing. This flesh wants what it wants,
and it will not give in. So we have to tighten the belt,
so to speak. Colossians 3, verses four and
five, we read, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify, therefore,
your members, which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. This we do by girding up the
loins of our minds. That's where it starts. We certainly
must think about things before we act. We are told to study,
to be quiet, quick to hear, slow to speak, because oftentimes
we will let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, because we
just have something we have to say. But we want our mind to
be fixated on Jesus Christ and his return for us. Thinking on
that should be a comforting thought. So think upon it. That one who
has already come and redeemed us, and in so doing, it will
comfort us. Philippians 127, we read, only
let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.
that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear
of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. This grace
that we hope for is a grace that we already have, but we hope
for it to be finalized. So this grace now, by the working
of the Holy Spirit, causes us to walk holy. So be holy for
I am holy. I don't have this in my notes,
but I wanted to say this because this is the way I see this in
this scripture. This is talking about our conversation,
our way of life. And when it says, be holy for
I am holy, it's talking about being set apart. God says, come
out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. That's
what we're talking about here. Separate yourself from this world. We're not trying to, do anything
for the world, but we're separating ourselves from that, and that's
what we're talking about. But is Peter telling us now to
start keeping the law so that you might be holy? In just these
first few verses in chapter one of 1 Peter, we have not heard
not one mention of the Mosaic law. Everything we have read
up to this point has only spoken of that hope that should come,
the end of our salvation. So why would we now get to this
and think it has something to do with keeping God's law? It
does not mean that. It does not infer that, as some
may suggest. Our conduct in this world does
make a difference, though. It makes a difference of whether
or not we have joy unspeakable and full of glory, or that we
are pierced through with many sorrows. If we gird up the loins
of our mind, and this will only do by that God-given grace that
he has given us now. We are not just waiting on grace,
we've already been given this grace. If we are looking for
that grace to come, the end of our salvation. What are we told
by Paul? I just read verses four and five,
but let's turn to Colossians 3 and read verses one through
four, Colossians 3. Colossians 3 verses 1 through
4. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore. girding up the loins of our mind
is to set our affection on things above. Things above is not the hope
that we might see grandma in heaven one day. Things above
is where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, because that's
what it says. Keeping my mind stayed on him will cause me to
conduct my life in such a manner that it becometh the gospel.
We cannot totally do this, otherwise we would not be reminded to do
this. We never reach any kind of plateau,
if you will, in this world, as some like to suggest. Why do
we need to be told, even today, right now, because these verses
do not say until you are of spiritual maturity. No, this is to all
the sojourners in the world, and not a one of us is above,
nor will we ever be above doing these things until our hope returns. This is our reasonable service,
as Walter pointed out in Romans, to conduct ourselves in this
world so that it gives praise and honor to Him. Not a walk
that says, look at me and how I'm doing. A walk that gives
praise to his holy name because of what he has done and what
he does. Jesus Christ by his power makes
us a new creation, a new creature in Christ Jesus. That new creation,
this new man is said to be created in righteousness and true holiness. What Jesus creates is perfect
and that perfection does not change. If He creates you righteous
and holy, then you will remain that way. But our problem is
we still have this flesh. So just as we read in Colossians,
we must mortify our members and walk, that is, behave ourselves
as ones who have been redeemed. You know what this flesh wants?
This flesh loves to be under submission to some law. It loves
it. It loves it when you give it commandments to keep. Not
that this flesh will ever keep the commandments, because it
cannot, but it will lie and say that it has. That old heart will
deceive us. But we know, we are told that
righteousness does not come by the law. The only thing that
we will get from trying to keep the law is death. Because we
cannot in this flesh keep that law. Oh, it loves to try to keep
God's law, and it will tell us that we are keeping His law,
but we are not, and we will never do it because it was never meant
for us to have life this way. But this God-given faith is not
looking to the law. This faith that we are given
always looks to the one who redeemed us, and that is the righteousness
of God, Jesus Christ. What are we told in Ephesians
4? Turn with me there, Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, and I want to read
verses 22 through 32. Ephesians 4 verse 22, that ye
put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are
members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to
the devil. Let him that stole, steal no
more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing
which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted. forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. So our walk is not a walk which
then says, look at me and how well I am doing. It is a walk
that says, I am totally and utterly at the mercy of that one who
bought me and paid for me. How did he do this? By his precious
blood. So next, the precious blood of
Christ. It begins in verse 17. If you call on the Father, this
can only be done in Christ and his merits, not any merit of
your doing. Because the Father judgeth according
to every man's works. I don't want to be judged by
my works. I want to be found in him, in Jesus Christ, who
because he is the righteousness of God without the law, so then
his works are the righteousness of God without the law. Because
it was God's work that justified us. It has nothing to do with
our works, which is what verse 18 is saying. All we have in
this flesh is vain conversation, a vain way of life, an empty
behavior. But because of his work in dying
on that tree and shedding his blood for those whom he did this
for, then they can then have a holy behavior, a set-apart
behavior. He did this, it says here, by
his blood. What do we read about the blood
in Scripture in Leviticus 17, 10, and 11? And whatsoever man
there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
among you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set my
face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from
among his people. For the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make
an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that maketh
an atonement for the soul." Why is this the case? Because
blood, when it comes to God, is for God alone. We know that
the law and the prophets testify of Jesus Christ. This is what
we see here. That which atones for our sin
is that blood of the little lamb, who was and is without spot before
God. It was his work that redeemed
my soul and thereby making it sure to give me life in Christ
Jesus. My life is based on his life. I have life because he liveth
forevermore. My way of life looks to his shed
blood, which was given for my sins, and his resurrection, which
is my life. It says, he who knew no sin,
that means he was without spot and without blemish. He was made
sin, the very thing that God hates. For this, he shed his
blood for me. Now we are told that his people
eat of his body and drink of his blood. We feast on Jesus
Christ and what he accomplished. It is his holiness, his righteousness,
his sanctification, his redemption that we look to because that
is our hope. Without that, we are totally
condemned and in this world to be judged by our own works. What
a scary thought. We are to have good conversation
in this world. Our behavior should be as becometh
the gospel. Our way of life should reflect
ones who have been shown mercy, ones who have been redeemed by
God by the blood of his precious son. The faith that we have been
given does not now start looking to the law for righteousness,
because life cannot be found in the law. There's another place
where the righteousness of God is found. That place is Jesus
Christ our Lord, who shed his blood to atone for some people's
sins. Not all men, but for those he
has chosen from every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation. Those
who are chosen by God according to his foreknowledge. Because
he gives us these trials to try our faith, we are forced into
looking to him through that faith given by God. We begin to learn
through his gospel and by his spirit and the guiding of the
spirit that we do now mortify our members, having been freed
to serve Christ. We do that. with our mind, with, you know,
I forgot what it was. Let me go back and read that. Gird up the loins of your mind.
That's how we do that. That's how we begin to do that.
We will never get over doing this because we have this flesh.
This is the reason why we must continually gird up the loins
of our mind and have a walk that becometh the gospel. Turn with
me, and this is the last place I have you turn, but turn with
me to Philippians 3. Philippians 3. Philippians 3, and I want to
start in verse 15, 15 through 21. Just listen to this. as many as be perfect. Be thus
minded, and if anything be ye otherwise minded, God shall reveal
even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have
already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind
the same thing. Brethren, be followers together
of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye have for us an example. For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our body, that it may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able to even to subdue all things unto himself. It says there, let us therefore
as many as be perfect. I'm not perfect. So does this
apply to me? We are not perfect in and of
ourselves, but we are perfected in what Jesus Christ did by dying
on that tree. And because of that, we are created
in righteousness and true holiness in Christ. We are a perfect creation
in Christ. We do not sustain ourselves,
though. Christ, who is our life, sustains us. He controls all
things and that includes me. Thank God. So all I can do is
to encourage you, those who love the Lord, all I can do is do
this. Seek those things which are above where Christ sits on
his throne. Gird up the loins of your mind.
God's people relish the day when faith shall be sight and then
we can ever praise him. for shedding his blood for our
soul, making me righteous and holy in the sight of God. I should
and will, by the power of God, conduct myself in that light.
To his praise and honor, amen. Dear Lord God, your sovereign,
holy Father, thank you for everything that you do for us, dear Lord.
We depend on you for everything. We can do nothing of ourselves.
Be with those who, dear Lord, are ailing. You know, dear Lord, just comfort
them in the way you only know how, dear Lord, and forgive us
of our sins and all these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.