Our Call to Holiness (Morning)
Download MP3If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to first Peter chapter one. We are continuing our study on first Peter. It's there in your worship guide as well. Since this is Mother's Day, I I thought I would share a story about the birth of one of our children. You know, when parents, when they first see their children, they often they have, you know, just different reactions, but normally really joyful ones.
Joel Brooks:Often, burst into tears, maybe just say, this is so amazing, praise God, or, you know, she's so precious. But not my wife, not Lauren. When our daughter, our third daughter was born, and Lauren got to hold her for the first time and to look into her eyes, she said, I don't think this is my child. Now, Lauren's here, and in her defense, neither one of us saw Georgia be born. Georgia, she had to be born in an emergency c section, so Lauren was out for that.
Joel Brooks:And before I could even put on scrubs and get into the Operating Room, she was already delivered. I just got to see some baby being carted out, and the face was covered up as they were trying to get Georgia to breathe. Also, Georgia was ten pounds and jet black hair, and looked nothing like a Brooks. Lauren wasn't alone in her doubts. I had doubts of my own, and so much so that I I didn't tell her this till sometime later, but I actually went to the NICU and I started looking at other babies.
Joel Brooks:I was like, there's gotta be one that I mean, we've done this twice before, we know what our babies are supposed to look like. And and so I looked around, she's turned into a Brooks. There's no doubt about it. Yesterday, she graduated from high school, and over eighteen years, every day that went by, she began to look more and more like us. There's not a doubt.
Joel Brooks:Our DNA is in her. That's what Peter is going to talk about in the passage we're about to read. Children look like their parents. As Christians, we've been born again. We now have God's spirit in us.
Joel Brooks:God is our father. And, as we progress, as we grow in the Christian life, we should be looking more and more like our father. We might not look like it at first, but over time, through the holy spirit, through sanctification, we will end up looking like our heavenly father. So chapter one verse 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.
Joel Brooks:As obedient children, do not be conformed to the pastors of your 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. 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, 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. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God.
Joel Brooks:This is the word of the Lord. You pray with me. Our father, we ask that you would bless the very reading of your word. Through your spirit, you'll cause it to come alive. You'd write it on our hearts.
Joel Brooks:Spirit, have your way in our midst. I pray that even in this moment, you would cause us to see Jesus clearly and to become more like him. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen. So we've been looking at 12 verses so far as we've gone through this letter. And, Peter has been telling us a lot about who we are and all the benefits that we have now in Christ. He's told us how we've been born again to a living hope. He's talked about God's mercy, our inheritance that's being kept in heaven for us.
Joel Brooks:He's given us all of these reasons to celebrate, but the one thing that Peter has not given us yet are any action items. He hasn't told us to do a single thing. Well, here, for the first time in verse 13, he gives us his first command. We are to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, Peter's gonna go on throughout the rest of the letter.
Joel Brooks:He's gonna he's gonna give us a whole lot of instructions. He's gonna tell us how we should live, things we should say, things we should be doing, and we're gonna get all to that later. But before Peter even gets to any of that, he needs to lay the groundwork or the foundation for obeying every one of those commands. And that foundation is hope. Hope, well, it's closely related to what we would call faith.
Joel Brooks:Faith, really, it's it's when you trust God in the present. Hope is when you trust God for your future. Hope is the certainty that we have been given, the certainty that we have that God is gonna keep every one of his promises. Hope is the certainty that when we die, we will be resurrected. The certainty that we will be given an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
Joel Brooks:It's the certainty that every tear will be wiped away and that we will be filled with joy, inexpressible, and unending as Jesus returns and redeems all things. That is the grace that is coming our way. Peter says, before I talk to you about any other things, you've got to fix your heart on that. Fix your hope on it. Hear me, if any of you are struggling with anxiety here, hope is your cure.
Joel Brooks:Because anxiety stems from uncertainty about your future. One does not feel anxious about your current condition, about currently perhaps not having enough money, or currently not having good health, or currently not being in good relationships, those things don't don't don't bring out produce anxiety in you. Anxiety is about the future. It stems from the fear of losing those things, Losing all the security that you think they provide. And, this is why often, it is usually the most wealthy people out there who are the most anxious.
Joel Brooks:Why? They could just be rack full of anxiety. They're anxious not because of all they have, they're anxious because of all that they might lose. And, they know those things are fragile. And so, usually, those who are wealthy are the most anxious or often as those who are the most beautiful or those who are the most fit, those who are in great relationships, they can still be filled with anxiety because they have come to trust in those things for security.
Joel Brooks:And, those things they know are fragile and might not or will not last. So, they have a lot to lose. But, for the Christian, Peter is saying, your future is secure. I mean, guys, there's no reason to be anxious because your biggest questions in life, they've already been answered. I mean, people are out there, they're wondering, is there a God?
Joel Brooks:And, if there's a God, what does he think about me? Is there life after death? Is all that You know those things. You know there's a God. You know he loves you.
Joel Brooks:You know that He has forgiven you through sending His son and dying and rising for you. You know that the best is yet to come, that when you die, your life is actually just beginning. Your biggest questions in life have been answered for you. That's the cure for anxiety. And so, we could become like that woman in Proverbs 31.
Joel Brooks:We can laugh at the future. Peter tells us we have to set our hope fully on that. We don't place our hope in any other thing. So, how do we do this? Peter Peter, he tells us two ways that we can set our hope fully on this.
Joel Brooks:He says we need to prepare our minds for action, and we need to be sober minded. I I love the ESV, but sometimes it could be a little wooden. The older translations, I like how they translate prepare your mind fractions so much better. They're more vivid. It is gird up the loins of your mind.
Joel Brooks:And and perhaps, the ESV translators say that they didn't want loins and putting it in your mind to be so close closely associated with one another, but it literally reads, gird up the loins of your mind. You see, in the first century, if if you were a man, you you didn't walk around with skinny jeans wearing flannels. You you wore these long flowing robes. And those were great, you know, for just lounging around, great for light strolls. But if you wanted to get to work, they were restrictive.
Joel Brooks:And so, you would pull up your robe and you would tuck it in your belt. Then you'd have more freedom of movement, and that was girding up your loins. Today, we might say, you gotta roll up your sleeves and get to work. It's it's the same idea there. Paul uses the same imagery of girding up your loins in Ephesians six when he says, gird up your loins with truth.
Joel Brooks:You know, back in Exodus, on the evening of the final plague, the the Passover night, and God is just about to to strike down the firstborn throughout Egypt. The Israelites are all gathered in their homes, and they're having that Passover meal. And if you read about it, the men there, they were told a couple of things. One, they had to put a staff in their hand, hold it. And the the other is that they were to gird up their loins, meaning they needed to be ready to leave in a moment's notice.
Joel Brooks:And, I believe both Peter and Paul have that in mind as they write this. They're saying, if you want to break free from the slavery of sin, if you want to break free from the slavery of this world and all of its oppressive and empty views of power, of money, of sex, marriage, politics, sin, tribalism, or its skewed views of what it even means to be human, if you want to break free from all of that, you've got to gird yourself with truth. You gotta start letting scripture shape what you believe about those things. You gotta start digging into the Bible and let it set you free. Because it's only in God's word that you're gonna find the hope you're looking for.
Joel Brooks:He also says that you are to be sober minded. The opposite of being sober minded is to be intoxicated. When one drinks too much, one falls under alcohol's influence. One gets sleepy, stupid, makes poor decisions. They waste time.
Joel Brooks:Often, they they do this just so they can numb themselves to the pain that's they were currently feeling. Peter is saying, if you actually want to make it home safely to your real home, you can't drive under the influence. You cannot be intoxicated by the latest trend that's out there. You can't be influenced by that latest article or podcast. You can't spend your life pursuing power or pursuing comfort.
Joel Brooks:You you you've got to think clear headed about this. Focus. Don't be distracted or influenced. You you know, I've been to a number of funerals over the last few months. Nothing sobers you up more than going to a funeral.
Joel Brooks:I actually prefer, believe it or not, I prefer preaching at funerals than I do on Easter. Because on Easter, there's too many influences happening. People are here. Of course, we're celebrating the resurrection. Yes.
Joel Brooks:But in your back of mind, you're thinking about Easter lunch. You're thinking about the Easter pictures that need to happen. You're thinking about the family that's coming in town. I mean, there's there's all these things that are happening. Those things are not there at a funeral.
Joel Brooks:At funeral, you're staring at a grave, and that sobers you up. It gives you a clarity as to what you should actually be pursuing in life, what really matters in life, and where someday you will end up. Peter says, keep that in mind. Keep your future in mind. Because you know what?
Joel Brooks:Death is not the end. We're living in light of the grace that will come to us even after death. So, we are to be sober minded. We're to gird up the loins of our mind. Next, Peter says in verse 14 through 16, he says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
Joel Brooks:But as he who called holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. Guys, I have made some serious embarrassing mistakes over the years due to ignorance. Lauren reminded me of this the other day, that she's she's usually not great to, you know, remind me of my ignorance. She's an encourager, but but I do some stupid things. And she reminded me that one time I was she loves Lenten roses.
Joel Brooks:They're the they're the first roses that appear in spring. She's planted them all over our yards and I I or yard, and I want to help her grow these things. And so I just weed like crazy around the roses, but they weren't growing. We they weren't spreading. And I kept saying, I'm I'm doing what I can to help.
Joel Brooks:And she says, tell me exactly what you're pulling up. And and and so I I go there. And did you know that like Lenten roses look just like weeds when they're coming up? They're identical. And, Lauren, she's like, don't do those are the roses.
Joel Brooks:I was ignorant. What I thought was helping was actually hurting. A much more embarrassing one is for a long time, I actually thought that cleavage meant skin. That was it. Just skin.
Joel Brooks:It got me in trouble. Just so you know, I believed that all the way into college. I like to blame dyslexia for everything. I can't, that's just me being ignorant, stupid. And, so one time, we're talking, I'm with just people, we're talking about something else, skin came up, I don't know if it's poison ivy or whatever, we're talking about skin, and I just wanted to sound smart and use a different word.
Joel Brooks:And instead of saying you're epidermis or something like that, I just keep using the word cleavage over and over and over. And finally, somebody comes up to me and says, I don't think that word means what you think it means. They were right. I was ignorant. Guys, we used to be ignorant fools.
Joel Brooks:That's what Peter is saying. Before God gave you a new heart, before you were born again, you you were foolish, you walked in ignorance. Don't go back to believing those things. I mean, if I go back and I start pulling up Lenten Roses, that's on me because I now know better. If I start using the word cleavage, you know, inappropriately, you're like, that's on me.
Joel Brooks:I should know better. Peter is saying, don't go back to those former beliefs. Don't be conformed to the image of this world. And, that word conformed there, it means to be molded or to be poured into a mold and and to be shaped by it. The idea is this, our culture has a current that's pulling us along and it wants to pour us into its mold.
Joel Brooks:It wants to shape us with its morality, its belief systems, its idolatries. And the end result is that you will look just like the rest of the world, all if you don't set your hope fully on Jesus. Jesus. You don't drift into holiness, but you will be carried right along into the world's mold. But we're not meant to look like the world.
Joel Brooks:We're meant to look like our father. We're meant to be holy, to be holy as he is holy. That word holy, it means set apart, it means different, distinct. At its most basic root, it just simply means other. It's not like anything else.
Joel Brooks:It's just other. Think of it this way. In my tool shed back in my house, I've got this coffee can, large old coffee can. Perhaps you have something like that. And it's just a random catch all for like, you know, any loose screw or, you know, or bolt or just any other I just throw them all in there.
Joel Brooks:And there's times where I'm doing a project, and I know I have what I need. It's in that can somewhere. And so I just get the can, and then I pull it out, and I pour all the contents out, and I sort through it. And then I take what I need, and I set it apart. I put it over here.
Joel Brooks:I need that. I know I need this grid. And I set it apart. I remove it from the pile, and I set it apart over here for me to use how I want to use it. That's holiness.
Joel Brooks:That's what Peter's talking about. We've been separated. We we once were in this this common pile here, but we've we've been plucked out, we've been put over here, we now belong to God, and he wants to use us for his purposes. We're distinct. We're not like the rest.
Joel Brooks:We belong to him. So, although we are in this world, we're not of this world. Although my passport says I am an American citizen, my real citizenship is in heaven. That's where I belong and I live in light of. So that's what Peter's talking about, to be holy.
Joel Brooks:You can think of it this way. To be holy is to be wholly devoted to the Lord, w h o l l y. It's actually where we get the English word for holy. It's like we're a whole person, a whole heart. We are wholly set aside now devoted to God.
Joel Brooks:You know, no one no one wants somebody who's partially truthful, partially kind, partially faithful. We want someone who's wholly those things. And that's what Peter's saying. Be a whole person because you're wholly now devoted to the Lord. Peter's actually already communicated this idea of being set apart.
Joel Brooks:He communicated that idea early on in the letter when he called us elect exiles. To be an elect exile is to be holy. Because think of it, an elect exile is when you have been chosen and then you have been set aside, now you are living a very distinct, set apart life for God's glory. So you still live in the world, but you're not of the world. You're you're in exile.
Joel Brooks:And now, to be holy and to live in exile means that you're going to be out of sync with this world. You're not gonna fit in. Whereas Peter said, you're not gonna be poured into the the world's mold that it has for you and look like everyone else. The things you value are gonna be different. The things you pursue, they're not gonna be in step with what everyone else is pursuing.
Joel Brooks:The way you endure suffering is gonna seem crazy to those around you. And, people certainly are not going to understand why you will not join their tribes. And then, of course, your view of power, sex, money, relationships, those things are all going to seem like you are coming from another planet to those around you because you're an alien, you're an exile, you're holy. And what it means is that this is going to be hard for you to live because there is such a strong pull in which you want to look like everyone else. Yesterday was my youngest daughter's graduation from high school.
Joel Brooks:I put on three different outfits before I headed out the door to go to the graduation. I I couldn't remember. What am I supposed to wear? How am I supposed to fit in? I mean, I know I've already been to two of these things before, but I couldn't remember.
Joel Brooks:You know, is this casual? Is it formal? Is it business casual? Snappy casual? You know, what is it?
Joel Brooks:You guys are thinking, Joel, does it really matter? Every shirt you own is some kind of blue kind of plaid. And I know, but but there's the casual blue, and then there's the formal blue. Am I supposed to wear my Sunday best? But for me, that's jeans, and I don't think that's what people are talking about.
Joel Brooks:I I wasn't sure what to wear, so I finally settled. I I was wearing jeans, but they were tan jeans. I did have some kind of blue button up. Semi dress shoes, and I'm heading out the door, and I get a call from Lauren, who was already there. She goes, they're wearing coats.
Joel Brooks:Some are wearing suits. And so, I ran back in and I changed. Common experience for every guy out there. Okay? All I wanted to do was fit in.
Joel Brooks:52 years old. But, that's what I didn't want to stand out. I just I just wanted to fit in. That impulse to look like everyone else around you, it's it's deeply ingrained in us. It starts when you're a child and you and you see just what the kid next to you, the shoes they're wearing.
Joel Brooks:And if you don't have those shoes, what want to change because you want to fit in. When you're in high school, it could be when you're in a group of friends or people and they laugh at an inappropriate joke or laugh at somebody, and you laugh because you want to fit in. Or, it could be when you're two year old man and you just want to fit in at a graduation. Like, that that impulse is deep within us. Jesus or the father here, he's saying, you're not going to fit in.
Joel Brooks:I've set you apart. He's actually quoting from Leviticus here. When he says that we are to be holy as God is holy, it's hard to know exactly where in Leviticus because that phrase, be holy as I am holy, is found four or five times in Leviticus. Leviticus is probably the book that many of you have started, few have finished. And, my bible reading plan, it actually you know, I have to read through Leviticus in February.
Joel Brooks:That's the worst time. It's it's it's cold, wet, dark outside, and I'm having to read about boils and pus and white hairs, and then, even if I do happen to make it through that, then you have all of those weird laws, all those dietary restrictions. I mean, you're you're told, like, all these laws, what you can eat, what you can't eat, how you can eat lamb, but you're not allowed to eat rabbit. You can't eat pork. You can't eat a camel.
Joel Brooks:You can eat fish, but you can't eat shellfish. No lobster. You can eat some insects. Good to know. I'm not going try, but you can as long as they have jointed legs above the feet.
Joel Brooks:I'm not going to look and see if that's the case, but but you're given all of these different kinds of laws there. But, have you ever wondered as you're going through it, what's the point in all of this? I mean, really, what's what's so bad about eating pork? And, of course, we'll realize later, this is just temporary laws. It's it was just to teach the Israelites something for a moment because everything will be clean later.
Joel Brooks:But, what was the point in this moment? Why was God doing this? Was there anything bad with pork? And, the answer is no. But, what God was doing in this moment, as he is teaching the Israelites who they are and teaching who he is, he's saying, if you wanna follow me, you are going to have to look different than the rest of the world in every way.
Joel Brooks:You're gonna follow me, you will be distinct and everyone's gonna know it. You're you're going to have to learn to say no to some of your desires. You're like, but but I want to do that. I want to eat that. I want to dress that way.
Joel Brooks:And, everybody else is doing it. And, God's going say, no, you can't follow that desire. Why? Because I said so. He's teaching them that.
Joel Brooks:They're going have to die to some of their desires. He's showing that if they were gonna follow him, they were gonna have to learn to get comfortable with being different and not looking like the rest of the world. Because what God wants is for them not to look like the world, but to start looking like him. That's what he wants for us, to reflect who he is, to be holy because he's holy. I don't know if you've ever noticed this, if you have been reading through Leviticus.
Joel Brooks:And right after you get through like all these dietary laws and stuff, you you get to all these moral commands. And then, God just starts it seems random at first. He just starts saying, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. It begins really in verse chapter 19.
Joel Brooks:Chapter 19 says, be holy for I am holy. And then, he starts telling how to live, and then just it seems random, like every command or two, he just says, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. He doesn't even say, for for I am the Lord. He just he just, I am the Lord.
Joel Brooks:And, like, what in the world are you doing? Let me just read you a sampling of this, just from chapter 19. So, verse two, you shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Verse four, do not turn to idols or make for yourself any gods of cast metal. I am the Lord.
Joel Brooks:Verse 10. You shall not reap all of the grain in your field, but leave the corners for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord. Verse 11. You shall not steal.
Joel Brooks:You shall not deal falsely. You shall not lie to one another. I am the Lord. Verse 14. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him.
Joel Brooks:I am the Lord. Verse 15. He says that God says, you should not be partial to the poor or to defer to the great. I am the Lord. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Joel Brooks:I am the Lord. Verse 30, you shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord. Verse 31, do not turn to mediums or necromancers. I am the Lord.
Joel Brooks:Verse 32, you shall stand up and honor the face of an old man. Love that one. I am the Lord. Verse 34, you shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you. And, you shall love him as yourself for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Joel Brooks:I am the Lord. Verse 36, you shall have just balances, just weights. I am the Lord. Over and over, he goes on and he gives us these commands of how we're supposed to live and he just says, I am the Lord. And you're thinking, why are you doing this?
Joel Brooks:I mean, we know you're the one talking to us, but why do you keep telling us you're the Lord? You're the Lord. And, I gotta say, when I first began to notice this and read through this, I had a very negative view. It was almost like God was saying, you remember who I am. You don't do this.
Joel Brooks:You remember my power. You remember the judgment that I will unleash on you. I am the Lord. But, that's not what God is doing. He's reminding the people like, I'm giving you these laws because they reflect my heart.
Joel Brooks:Do these things because they're a reflection of me and my character. I am the Lord. Love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord and that's how I love. And, over and over again, he reminds the people that their motivation for doing all of this is to look like the Lord. So, that's how he is instructing us to live.
Joel Brooks:He's saying, want you to do all of these laws, obey these because it reflects who I am. And, Peter here, he quotes this because he is telling us that now that we've been born again, now that we've been given a new heart, now that we've become a child of God, we should actually start to look like our father increasingly every day. And, he's holy. And, as his children, we'll begin to do all of these things that he has instructed us to do in order to reflect his holiness. But, you do have to ask this one question.
Joel Brooks:And, I asked this question years ago. Why do you want to look like a holy god? Like, what's your motivation for that? You know, of all of God's attributes, I can think of a benefit to them. But, what is the benefit of holiness?
Joel Brooks:And, that's the attribute of God. This is the only one that's he's described of three times. He is holy, holy, holy. But, what benefit is God's holiness to us? I mean, glad God is kind, that's an attribute because I can think of benefits as his kindness.
Joel Brooks:He's not going to smite me. He's going to, you know, perhaps provide me with with really good gifts and things because he's a kind God. Or God is he's powerful. That's one of his attributes. Well, I can benefit from that because that means God can intervene in my life and he can get me out of jams, provide for me.
Joel Brooks:Or, I can think of God being all knowing or all wise. I could benefit from that because then he could tell me how the right path to go. So, I don't get, you know, stuck in life or make these wrong decisions. I can go through every one of God's attributes and I can show a direct benefit to me, but what benefit does God's holiness have to me? And, certainly, Peter, when he first encountered Jesus, remember when went through the life of Peter?
Joel Brooks:Certainly, when he first encountered Jesus and during the boat together, when Jesus reveals his holiness, it did not attract Peter, it repelled him. He said, get away from me for I am a sinful man. I am nothing like you. You are set apart. You are altogether distinct.
Joel Brooks:It repelled Peter. So, what is the benefit? Well, throughout scripture, we are told of the beauty of his holiness, the splendor of his holiness, the glory of His holiness. In the word holy, it's it means others different. And and we even know this now.
Joel Brooks:It's the most rare things that we find to be the most beautiful. So, we're drawn to the beauty. Can I tell you if you're trying to be holy and obey all of those laws, but it's not the beauty of God's holiness that's motivating you, you're just gonna be a Pharisee? If you find God to be useful but not beautiful, you're a Pharisee. It's the beauty that draws us and makes us want to be like Him.
Joel Brooks:But, that desire to see Jesus as beautiful or that ability, it comes only when we have been given a new heart. So, that's why you have the two different Peters. Peter at the very start, when Jesus reveals himself to him, like, get away from me. I'm a sinful man. But, after Jesus' death and resurrection, after his atoning work on the cross, you see a completely different Peter.
Joel Brooks:Peter sees Jesus on shore and he jumps out and he swims as fast as he can to him, irresistibly drawn to the beauty of Jesus' holiness. That's who we are as Christians. That's who Peter is saying, be that. You might not look at now, but, become the person that Jesus has already declared you to be. Just like when he spoke over me, you are the rock.
Joel Brooks:Your name is Peter. I wasn't that yet. But, because Jesus' spirit came inside me, he made me into that. And, that is the same with every one of us. We might not look like our father yet, but we're gonna get out of the boat and we're swimming as fast to him because he has changed our heart.
Joel Brooks:He's forgiven us, given us a new spirit. We have been washed by his blood and we have become new creations. So, be the person that God created you to be. Be his child, and every day, come to look more and more like him. Let's pray.
Joel Brooks:Jesus, I pray that we would find you not useful, but irresistibly beautiful. And we would be so drawn to your beauty, it would affect every aspect of our life. Because when we see you as beautiful and then we hear your promise that you will return to us, that's the grace we hope for. Thank you, Jesus, for making us children of God, and we pray this in your name. Amen.
