Sermon Transcript

It is great to be with you today, and we’re going to take a little journey through 1 Peter chapter 1, so you can go ahead and turn there if you will. I hope that this passage becomes for you a very hope-filled passage—because as Peter was writing this, I think he really wanted to reach out to Christians, Jews and Gentiles. He was writing to the whole gamut of Christians in an area.

You’ll see here that he names a couple of specific areas—really the region that is modern-day Turkey—but he’s really writing to Jews and Gentiles, to those who are following Christ. And he’s writing to give them hope, because they were facing persecution…in their present circumstances…and the potential of more persecution in the future. They were challenged by many, many things, and he wanted to give them incredible hope.

I don’t know if you had a challenging week, or an interesting week, or a fun week, but we face difficulties in life, don’t we? We face challenges in our work place with coworkers, or business deals we’re trying to get through, and challenges in our family relationships, and all kinds of things. In the midst of the challenges of this world, thinking, “Where are we headed? What’s the economy going to do? What’s going to happen in the presidential race?” Lots of uncertainty, and we can easily lose hope.

But God’s here today to remind us that there is something we can hold onto, that we can hold fast to—and it’s this hope that we can have, and we’re going to see it as Peter outlines it here for us. Peter, writing to this group of believers.

So, before we jump in, let me just give you the one-sentence statement about where we’re headed this morning in this message. This is what I’m trying to get across, what I believe Peter wants us to hear in 1 Peter 1: He wants us to know that:

 

This world is not our home, so we move onward to the promised inheritance with great hope and holiness and reverence.

 

We’ve been talking about moving onward, and we’ve been looking at the people of Israel through the book of Joshua, and it’s been all about them moving on. Where have they been moving from? Where were they? They were in Egypt for a while, and then where were they? They were in the wilderness for about forty years. And now we have seen that they have crossed over the Jordan to come into this Promised Land that God had provided for them—that He had prepared for them—that He had said, “This will be yours!”

Stop and think about this for a moment: At the end of Genesis chapter 50, we see Joseph. Joseph, at one-hundred-and-ten years old – he’s getting ready to die, to pass away, and the people are there in Egypt. Joseph turns to his brothers and says, “Brothers, I’m about to die. But God will visit you, and He will take you out of this place. He will take you to the place He has promised. And when that happens, brothers, take my bones with you! Don’t leave them behind.” He had a certainty; he knew it was going to happen. They were going to leave that place.

You see, in Egypt they were foreigners, they were exiles, they were sojourners. That was not their home. They picked up and they wandered through the wilderness for forty years. From the time that Joseph died—until Moses came on the scene—was about four-hundred years. So, for quite a long time, they were foreigners, they were exiles in that land of Egypt.

And they picked up and they moved on and they are now, as we’re reading through Joshua, beginning to experience this Promised Land, and the victory by faith. By faith they had to see something in the future—a spiritual victory yet to come.

And today, for us, parallel to what happened to them in the Old Testament, we have a spiritual victory ahead of us that we should be looking forward to—and it should fill us with hope, even though it might happen today. It might not happen tomorrow, but we know for a certainty that it will happen! We will receive a promised inheritance, and we’re going to see that here in this passage.

So let’s read, 1 Peter 1:1-3: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…”

We’re going to look at three things: who we are, what we have, and how we should live. So, first we need to understand who we are. Who we are in this world around us. God says that:

 

• We are exiles in a foreign land.

 

What does the word “exile” mean? Maybe your translation says “alien” or “foreigner.” “Foreigner” is a great picture of what that really is talking about. It’s like being in a foreign country. How many of you have been in a foreign country before? A good number of you.

Some of them don’t seem too foreign. You head up to Canada—that seems very familiar. There are a few things that are different, like you have no idea how much you’re really paying for gas because you pay for it by the liter; you go to the grocery store and you buy milk in a bag—that’s a little odd. You go to KFC and they don’t have extra-crispy chicken; it doesn’t make sense to me, but… We went over to Canada and that’s what I wanted, and, “You don’t have that!?” Well, okay. Other than that, it feels somewhat like home.

Back in 2008, my wife and I and our oldest daughter went on a missions trip to Managua, Nicaragua. That did not feel at all like home. That was a very different world. You come out of the airport, and there are armed guards with assault weapons, right there; they’re there to, hopefully, protect us.

You drive down the streets and the houses are walled-in, and they’re surrounded by barbed wire around them. Why? Because theft is rampant there. You don’t ever leave your car on the street—you have to pull it in to the gated house that you have. It’s just a different world, a different culture.

When we were there, we did find a nice slice of American culture: there was a Pizza Hut. We went there and had some pepperoni pizza, and that felt a little bit like home. But, you know what felt really the most like home, when we were there, was when we were at the church where we were there to help. We did some construction projects and some teaching. When we gathered together and we began to worship the Lord. And we talked with these brothers and sisters, (I couldn’t speak their language; I don’t speak Spanish) as we worshipped, we worshipped the same Lord. There was this connection, a feeling that, “Hey, we’re brothers and sisters; we know something of each other. Even though we’ve never met before and we live in a totally different world here on earth, we have a connection because we have the same citizenship in Heaven.”

            Today we live as foreigners in this world. In fact, 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world [because if you do] the love of the Father is not in [you].” So our challenge today is to understand that we are foreigners. And that’s why we should feel so disconnected from this world. We feel, “What is happening? Why our people acting that way? Why does it feel so foreign to me and to my spirit? I’m not understanding what’s happening here.” It’s because we are exiles, and we are foreigners in this world.

What does it mean to be a foreigner? A couple thoughts here. First thing it means is, simply:

 

1. We have a different citizenship – Heaven.

 

Our citizenship is in Heaven. Philippians 3:20 tells us this very thing: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”

            We have a citizenship here on earth, but we have a greater citizenship, and a primary citizenship, in Heaven. And with it come all the rights and privileges and protections of citizenship in Heaven. Here in the U.S. we have a Bill of Rights and we have rights of citizenship. Those will fade away, and those will pass away, but our citizenship in Heaven will never fade away.

Because we have a different citizenship:

 

1. We have a different allegiance.

 

Because we have a different King, a different Ruler. Our King is the King of Kings, He is the Lord of Lords, He is Jesus Christ!

Colossians 1:18, speaking of Jesus, says, “He [Jesus] is the head of the body [the Church]…” He’s the Head, He’s the Ruler! “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent [He might have first place]…” We have a different citizenship, and therefore a different allegiance to a different King, and this King does not seek second place, this King seeks first place!

“…That in everything…” that in all of our actions and works and thoughts and relationships, “…he might be preeminent.” The first place. That’s what it means to have citizenship in Heaven. He is the One that we serve.

This year, we’re voting for a new ruler, a new President of the United States of America. That’s a right thing to do, it’s a good thing to do. Because we have a different citizenship and a different allegiance doesn’t mean that we check out from our responsibilities here on earth as citizens of the United States. So we continue with that.

Not only do we have a new citizenship and a new allegiance:

 

1. We have a new identity.

 

Look over briefly in 1 Peter 2:9 and 10. Peter, here, speaking to his audience: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people…”

            We have a new identity as the people of God. We are not a people of this world; we are a people of God—a chosen race, a holy nation, a people for His own possession. He has done a work to call us out of this world to Himself, and we have a new identity. Our identity is not primarily American, or Canadian, or Italian—or whatever your ethnic background is. Our identity now is, first and foremost, as citizens of the heavenly places – a member of the kingdom of our great King. We have a new identity.

Finally:

 

1. We have different values.

 

Our values cannot be the values of the world. Just as I mentioned a moment ago, 1 John tells us that we can’t love this world’s values. That’s what it means. It doesn’t mean that you can’t really enjoy going to a park, or the things that are produced out of the land, or the things of this world, because those are good and right and those are created for us, by God, to enjoy.

Food was created for us by God to enjoy; the beauty of creation is there for us to enjoy. God made it! It’s beautiful, it’s right, it’s incredible! But we don’t love the values of this world; that’s what we’re talking about. The values of this world are completely contrary to Heaven’s values.

What are some of those? What are some contrasts we might see here? The world says, “Seek pleasure; seek things that you enjoy first.” Heaven says, “Seek first My kingdom and My righteousness.” That’s what we seek first.

The world values seeking success. “I got to seek my success; I’ve got to work hard to be a success in life and climb the corporate ladder and have the position and the power.” And Heaven says, “Seek the success of others. Instead of seeking power and position, seek a place of servanthood. Serve others.”

That’s the heavenly value system. The world’s value system says, “I want as much as I can have. In fact, I see what you have and I want that. I’m going to work to get that. Our life, in this world, is all built on having more and getting more—especially, that’s the American way: “How much can you collect?” God’s value system says, “God, you’ve given me what I have, and I’m going to be a cheerful giver! If I see somebody in need, I’m going to give to meet that need. I’m not going to collect it, I’m not going to hoard it.”

The world’s value system says, “What can you do for me? What can the government do for me? What can my church do for me? What can my wife (or husband) do for me? What can my job do for me?” And Heaven’s value system says, “What can I do for others? How can I go the extra mile to help somebody in need?”

The world’s value system says, “You’ve been hurt? You hold onto that thing and you repay them as soon as you can because they are due it. You owe them, to get back at them.” That’s the world’s value system. The heavenly value system says, “You know what? I’m going to forgive seventy-times-seven. I’m going to keep on forgiving, and I’m going to eliminate this bitterness in my heart.” That’s a heavenly value system.

A worldly value system says, in your marriage relationship, “If you don’t do something that’s pleasing to me—if you don’t love me—if you’re not making me happy, then I’m going to find that happiness somewhere else and I’m going to leave!” A heavenly value system says, “Love never fails,” and we keep pursuing reconciliation. The worldly value system leads to death, but the heavenly value system leads to life. So, the question I have for you is:

 

Are you living as a foreigner in this world, or are you soaking up the world’s value system?

 

Keep your place there in 1 Peter, and turn over just a couple pages to left, to Hebrews chapter 11:13-16, real quickly. This is the great chapter of these great men and women of faith, right? And we see again this idea that we’re sojourners, and there’s something else that we should be holding onto.

“These all…” All these men and women of faith, “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” There’s our descriptive term again. “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” They’re seeking a residence, they’re seeking a place to belong. “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out” talking about Egypt, “they would have had opportunity to return.” They could have gone back there. “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

You see, it’s not about the clothes that we wear or the cars that we drive—or for some people—having electricity or not. Or those kinds of things. It’s about the desires of our heart. It’s about our value system. Do we seek something that is better, a better country? Do we seek the homeland that is to come? When you wake up in the morning, do you have a longing for Heaven? Do you have a longing for that?

Turn back over to 1 Peter; a couple comments here, and then we’re going to look at…Peter gives us what our longings should be focused on. We are foreigners, we are exiles. How are we foreigners, how are we “called out” ones?  1 Peter 1:2 tells says, “…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” So, He has done this. It’s done in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. He is working in us to make us more like the homeland to which we are headed. All of this is for obedience to Jesus Christ.

It’s interesting. We don’t see the word “trinity” anywhere in Scripture, but right here we see the Trinity active in our lives, don’t we? The Father, the Spirit, and the Son. The Father, calling us out to be His people. The Spirit, working within us the sanctification to make us more like the citizens that we should be. And Jesus Christ, our Leader, our King, to whom we are walking in obedience.

Then look down in verse 3. This is also done “according to [God’s] great mercy. . .[by] us [being] born again. . .” He has caused us to be born again. And if you have never experienced new birth, if you have never experienced life in Christ for the first time, if you’ve never seen your sin on the cross, and accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and have come to Him in repentance and belief and faith, you have never been born again and you’ve never crossed over to a new citizenship.

Your citizenship still is in this world, and this world fade away. This world will only lead to death and destruction. There is no eternal life in Heaven for those whose citizenship is of this world. You must be born again! And He does this work in us. So, what have we been born again to? That is who we are.

What do we have?

 

2) We have an incredible promise – an inheritance prepared for us.

 

Look down at 1 Peter 1:3 and 4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Exclamation point, right? Right now, Peter is extolling the greatness of God for a reason. “Blessed be this God who loves us! He’s incredible, He’s great, He’s marvelous!” Why? “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…” to something.

There’s something that we have, and he’s getting ready to explain it: “…to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance…” He has caused us to be born again and He’s given us now an incredible promised inheritance. It’s promised to us and it’s secure because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this hope that we have in this inheritance is a living hope! It’s alive! It’s real! It’s powerful! It’s life-giving, and it’s life-changing, and it will never fade away. It’s this hope that we have – and the hope that we have is in this inheritance.

How many of you have ever received some inheritance from a family member—maybe big or small – and maybe you’ve received some jewelry or some money or some other property or some possessions. Something that was passed on down to you when they passed away, it was given to you as an inheritance from them. Those are treasured things, aren’t they?

My parents are still living, so I’ve not received any inheritance from them, but my grandfather passed away and he had a Gibson guitar that he played. Every time we gathered together for family gatherings, he would play this guitar and he would sing songs. He would sing songs about Heaven, and he would sings songs with words like, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches [over] me.”

Just with all the emotion of the reality of his relationship with Christ, he would play this guitar and he would sing of the beauty of Jesus Christ. That was graciously given to me when he passed away, and I have that. I’ve taken a few lessons to try and learn to play the guitar; I haven’t learned to play it yet, but it’s precious to me.

Think about an inheritance. Maybe you’ve received an inheritance of millions of dollars, and it was a huge blessing to you. This inheritance that God has provided for us, and promised to us, is a “gajillion” times better than any inheritance you will ever receive on this earth.

Why is that? Peter goes on to explain it here. First of all, it is imperishable.

 

1. It will never fade away.

 

You see, this inheritance is the presence of God Himself; it is the dwelling place with Him. Remember Jesus, as He was coming to the end of His life? He looked at His disciples and said, “Listen, men. I am going away. And I’m going, not just to leave you, but I’m going to do…” What? “I’m going to prepare a place for you, so that where I am, you can be also.”

He spoke of a place. That’s our inheritance, this place that He is preparing and providing for us. It’s a real place where God Himself dwells—that place where we will see Jesus face-to-face. We will see Him and know Him in a way that we will never know Him right now. The beauty of that moment!

See, everything in this life tends to decay and break apart. You get something new, and eventually it wears out. New clothes, they wear out. New cars wear out. New homes, they wear out. Everything fades away. This building, one day, won’t be here. It will crumble; it will fade away. Our inheritance in Heaven will never perish. It’s imperishable.

It’s also undefiled.

 

1. It is pure in every way.

 

I don’t know about you, but one of the struggles in this Christian life for me is simply the fact that I so desire to be a man of God, to live in a righteous way and have a pure heart. Just like David said, “Lord, create in me a clean heart, create in me a pure heart—one that’s pleasing to you.”

It always seems, the temptations and trapping of this world—they tend to creep in—and we’re always having to come back and say, “Lord, would You help me, would you forgive me, would you renew me?” And it’s this process of following Christ here in this world.

And don’t you ever get to that point where you just have a longing for that process to end? For you to one day just experience the purity of heart that never fades away? Listen. That’s Heaven! When we get there, we will experience an undefiled, a pure-in-every-way existence with the purest Person, the purest Being, the King of Kings. He will make our hearts completely pure on that day. Don’t you long for that? I do!

I’m reminded of Joni Eareckson Tada, a wonderful woman who’s had an incredible ministry, and she’s been a paraplegic for all these years, from the time she was a teenager. She was asked, “What are you looking forward to, when you get Heaven?” Wouldn’t you think she would answer, “I’m looking forward to walking…or running…or having my physical body back” and that’s truly the case? But she said, “You know, I’m most looking forward to being done with sin, and having a pure and clean heart!” That’s a great gift of inheritance for us.

It’s also unfading.

 

1. Its beauty and its glory will never fade away.

 

Man, think about that. It’s unfading! It will never fade.

It’s getting to be springtime and soon we’ll be planting flowers. I grew up in Florida and you can plant flowers almost year-round down there. You can’t do that here. Here, you have to wait ‘til like May 15, the frost-free date, before you can really trust to get them out there. You know, it starts to get warm, and you think, “Ah! I should really get out there and plant some flowers!”

Well, you might do that—and they might die. We’ll plant them, and then what are we going to do a year from now? We’re going to plant more flowers—because they fade away, they die. Listen, the beauty of Heaven will be more beautiful than any flower we plant here, and it will never fade away. It’s something to cherish, it’s something to look forward to.

So, who we are: we are foreigners in this world and we look to a better place, a city that is to come—and this city is our inheritance, given to us and promised to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s something in which we have a living hope.

As we are exiled, as we are foreigners with this promised inheritance, how should we live?

 

3) We must live as foreigners.

How do we live as foreigners? Peter gives some great thoughts, here. The first one is simply this:

 

1. We rejoice with great joy.

 

See 1 Peter 2:4-6, where we have been caused to be born again “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” So, God’s guarding it “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice…” In this inheritance we rejoice, and Peter gives a couple qualifiers here “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…” And that’s the reality of living in this world. Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble.” No doubt about it—we face various trials, trials of all kinds—day-in, day-out. We have no idea what the trial is we might face tomorrow, but in that “we rejoice with joy” because of our inheritance.

Jump down to verse 8: “Though you have not seen him, you love him…” That is, Jesus. “Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and” what? You “…rejoice with joy…” What kind of joy? “…that is inexpressible and filled with glory…”

So, Peter wants those of us who are facing trials of various kinds—uncertain political environments, uncertain work environments, maybe, whatever it might be—he wants us to rejoice with joy that is inexpressible! You’re so filled with joy because you’re so focused on the hope that you have in front of you. I don’t know about you, but I just need to be reminded of this.

This was a great reminder for me this week, as I studied this passage – a reminder of the great hope and the great joy that I should have. Not joy because some business deal came together, or joy because I get to go on vacation, but joy because I have an incredibly great promised inheritance.

Then, jump down to 1Peter 1:13; he goes on here, explaining how we live as foreigners: “Therefore…” Therefore, so, everything that preceded it. He says “Because of all that, because we are foreigners, because we’ve been caused to have been born again, we have a living hope and an inheritance, we do a few things. 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.”

So there, in verse 13, we have a command, we have an imperative. That imperative is simply this:

 

1. We must have full hope on God’s grace.

 

That’s a command; it’s a directive through Peter from our Heavenly Father. He says, “Be hopeful! Have full hope!”

Now, this hope isn’t like—you might hope in your basketball team to win. I might ask Keith, “Keith, do you hope that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will win the NCAA basketball tournament that’s about to kick off?” After Friday night, there might be a little hope, but he might say, “You know, I hope so!” There’s a lot of uncertainty in that hope!

This is nothing like that. This hope is completely certain. There is no doubt that we are hoping in something that will come to pass. Why is that? Because it’s based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it’s based on the Word of God. And what do we know about God? He does not lie! If He said He’s going to prepare a place, guess what? He’s going to prepare a place. If He said He’s giving us an inheritance, guess what? He’s giving us an inheritance. We will be with Him one day; it is for sure. So put your hope fully on that. How do we do that?

There are two statements here that preceded it, that support it. The first thing is, preparing your minds for action! “[Prepare] your minds for action, and [be] sober-minded. . .” So, Peter’s talking about what we’re thinking about. So, our full hope flows out of the things that we fill our mind with, the things that we think about.

Are you preparing your mind for action? You see, it’s not coasting through this world. If we coast through this world, guess what? We’re going to lose hope, we’re going to lose faith, we’re going to lose desire, we’re going to lose purity. Listen—you have to prepare your mind for action—to fight the good fight, to run the race, to be in the battle. . .and it begins with the things we put in our mind.

Are you putting God’s Word, God’s truth, in your mind? Letting it fill you with who God is? And the hope that we have and the things that He’s telling us to do? Are you preparing your mind for action? Are you sober-minded?

That word “sober-minded” literally is the opposite of being drunk. When people drink too much, when they get intoxicated, what happens? They lose judgment, they lose wisdom, they make choices that they wish they wouldn’t have made. So, what happens for us, when we live in this world, it is so easy to drink in the things of the world, and to become intoxicated by the pleasures and the cares and the things and the enticements of the world.

Peter’s saying, “Listen, be sober-minded. Set your mind on these things, and don’t drink in—don’t become intoxicated with—those kinds of things. Be mentally and spiritually sober. Don’t let your mind become numb with the things of the word. Prepare your minds for action; be sober-minded, so that you can have full hope on God’s grace.” And it’s His grace, right? It’s not on anything that we can do, it’s not on any power that we can produce: it’s on power that the Lord does. It’s on what He works in and through us.

So, we see another command here. That command is:

 

1. We must be holy in all our conduct.

 

Continuing that “therefore” thought, verses 14-16, “[Therefore] as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

 If you’re like me, and you just do a cursory reading of that, you think, “Well, that’s an impossible verse! I’m going to be holy like God is holy? What in the world? How do I do that?” That word “holiness” really simply has the idea of being set apart; set apart from evil, from the pleasures of this world, from the world’s value system, and set apart unto God.

In the Old Testament, there was the tabernacle that was holy, it was the holy place. It was set apart for God and for God alone. There actually were instruments—like bowls and things – they were holy bowls, which simply meant they were set apart for only use to worship God—set apart for Him.

So, Peter is saying to the foreigners, to the exiles, to those that are living in a foreign land, “Make sure that you’re holy! Make sure that you’re set apart from the attractions of the world, and the evil that is there, and the sinful desires and the habits. Set apart from that, set apart unto God.”

Because God’s got a great plan, right? He wants you to do good works in this world, He wants you to be His vessels to display His glory, to announce His coming, to announce His salvation to this world. You’re set apart for that! There’s a great calling, and if we get mixed up and are set apart to the world, we miss out on the great calling to which He’s called us. We have to be holy in all of our conduct—in the things that we do and the things that we think and our attitudes. Be holy.

Again, there are a couple of terms to describe that: “As obedient children.” Again, who are we obedient to? Look back at verse 2, we are exiles, we are His people, called out by Him—for obedience to Jesus Christ. So, we’re obedient children—we’re obedient to Christ.

What does Christ tell us to do? He says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your strength. Go the extra mile.” All of those things. What does Jesus say? “We’re obedient children.” We’re obedient to Jesus Christ.

And “don’t be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” See the word “ignorance” there? He’s going back to the things that we think and know. So we come to church and we learn, and we read the Word of God and we learn, but yet there’s this calling back to the things that we did before we knew better, right? Listen, you know better! And God says, “Don’t be shaped or molded—don’t be conformed to those things that you used to know. Be transformed!” Right?

Romans 12:1 and 2: “[Therefore] I appeal to you…” I urge you, “brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies…” make your life “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you can present what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Approved and glorious to the Lord. So, be holy in all of your conduct.

Then, lastly:

 

1. We must live with reverence.

 

1Peter 1:17-19: “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…” There’s that word “exile” again. “…Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” So we live in reverential fear, in this time of our exile. God’s calling us, here.

So, the challenge for us—as we close—I want you to consider:

 

Are you living with a desire for the world, or are you living with a desire for Heaven?

 

Are you being conformed to the things of the world, to the passions of your ignorance, or are you being conformed to the things of God?