1 PETER 1:13-16
“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” (1 Pt.1:13).
“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Pt.4:7).
3. Hope to the end for the grace and salvation of God. Our hope must be kept alive. There is a dead hope and a lifeless
hope. A dead hope is the hope that so many people have, the hope that they will be acceptable to God when they die. But
they seldom think about the fact; they just let their hope lie dormant in their mind. It is the hope, the feeling that most people
have, the feeling that God would never reject them, not in the final analysis. Whatever life there is that follows death—they
are not sure what it will be like—they feel they will be okay and acceptable. They are not perfect, but they are not unaccept-
able to God. This is a dead hope, an occasional thought that they will be okay in whatever life follows death.
Note the exhortation of Scripture: hope to the end for the grace and salvation of God. Begin to hope now and keep on
hoping to the very end. This is a living hope, the hope demanded by Scripture. Pursue, seek, and go after the grace and salva-
tion of God. Hope for it and keep on hoping for it. Hope until the revelation of Jesus Christ. He is going to rent the clouds
above and return to earth and save us from the sin and death and the evil and corruption of this world. Therefore, hope and
keep on hoping, pursue and keep on pursuing, for the coming grace and salvation of God.
“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he
yet hope for?” (Ro.8:24).
“For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the
truth of the gospel” (Col.1:5).
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, deny-
ing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ” (Tit.2:11-13).
“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec” (Heb.6:18-20).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mer-
cy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1
Pt.1:3-4).
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as he is pure” (1 Jn.3:1-3).
2
(1:14) Obedience: focus upon obedience. There is a sharp contrast in this verse. Note exactly what it says.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignor-
ance” (v.14).
The phrase “obedient children” means children of obedience. That is, believers are to be so obedient to God that ob-
edience becomes the basic trait of their lives. Obedience is to be so characteristic of our lives that we can be called children
of obedience. However, in contrast to being children of obedience is the phrase “fashioning yourselves according to the for-
mer lusts.” As stated this is a sharp contrast. It pictures us as children of lusts. That is, we used to be so given over to our
own desires, to doing our own thing, that we could be called children of lusts.
This is not a pretty picture, but it is exactly what a person without Christ is: a child of desire, a person who lives just like
he wants to live. He does what he wants to do instead of what God says to do. He obeys himself, his own desires, not God
and His Word. Therefore, he is a child of desires, a child of lusts. What kind of lusts or desires are being talked about? All
kinds. There are the lusts and desires for...
• money • possessions • property
• sex • food • position
• popularity • recognition • clothing
• authority • housing
Man must have the necessities of life. God made him to desire these things. But when we begin to desire and lust and
crave these things it becomes wrong. Our focus and concentration in life becomes the lust of these things, getting more and
more of them and gratifying our flesh. The lust of the flesh and of the eyes will enslave and consume us. This is a fact of
human nature that is too often ignored and neglected. Note why: because of man’s ignorance.
Man is ignorant of God. Man does not know God, not personally, not in a close relationship that fellowships and com-
munes with God day by day. When man thinks of God, he thinks of some misty Being or Force who is far away in outer
space someplace, too far removed for us to relate to Him in a personal way. Therefore, man feels that he is free to do his own
thing and to go his own way through life. And before man knows it, lust has gripped his life. Whatever it is that excites him
or gives him purpose in this world, that thing enslaves man. The result is either obsession or emptiness. The person is either
controlled and dominated by his lust or else left in despair and discouragement because his lust does not satisfy him.
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