Good evening. Let me invite you to First Peter, chapter one. We have been going through the letter, this first letter, for a number of weeks with me in the evenings. And we are continuing. And thankfully to the Lord, It so happens that Peter begins to deal with something about practical living. Practical living for those that have been ransomed, for those that have been changed in a world that is troubled, in a world that is hostile. And we find ourselves in a hostile world, in a troubled world. We want to find our place, but we want to live for the Lord. Brethren, for many of us, whether old or young, the younger, you are discovering, and if you are not yet discovering, you will discover, that it is the experience of many that as you are starting off in life, You are hopeful and ambitious and desiring to achieve great things. Sometimes the Lord actually gives you the opportunities and you grasp for them and you get them. You get a lucrative business deal if you are a businessman or you get a high-paying job You may even have to move down. You are moving from the town where your old life was of struggling and hustling and so on. And now you've made a break in life. And you move on. But before long, you discover in the world there are certain unwritten rules. They'll possibly be discussed. That you have to be a part of them. to continue to sustain that success or that greatness that you have suddenly discovered. If it is at the workplace in these organized institutions, especially these NGOs and international organizations, they grip on your life and almost control you. And you have to go through all these trainings that they do. You have to learn how to accommodate others. And in that process, they are actually teaching you to accept transgenders, to accept corruption, and so on and so forth, which they will not couch like that. Working for a bank, you are working for a law firm, you are working for an insurance company, you are working for whatever. And in the evenings, it is almost mandatory that you must come together after work, relaxation, drinks, weekend parties, and sometimes it is called team building. You have to be a part of the team. But before long, you start feeling empty. I wanted to be a professional, but this is not what I wanted. I wanted to be a great businessman, but this is not what I wanted. Because you are a Christian, and you are going into things that are not helpful, and they are captivating you and taking you away from the things of Christ, from the life of Christ, you will inevitably begin to feel void and empty. That is a grace from the Lord that you begin to feel like that. And you begin to feel like that. If you realize quickly, maybe you share with your accountability partner, or you share with your elders, and you tell them, I'm feeling out of place. I love the job. It is a good job. It is paying well. The prospects are good, but the things that are going on, the things that are compulsory, that come with it, I'm uncomfortable. But I do not, again, want to be a loner. I do not want to be a misfit. I want to be a Christian in the midst of all that. How do I stay a Christian without becoming a hermit, a loner, an out-of-place person? That's the question that Peter answers in our text here from verse 13 going on to verse 19, the passage that we are going to consider. He's writing to elect exiles. If you remember, Christians that were scattered all over by persecution They were scattered in the five Roman provinces. They were surrounded by a pagan culture. The corrupt things that you see today, they have been there. LGBTQ, it was not just coined, but these things were there. The corruption that is there, they were surrounded by this. They were facing suspicion because of the life that they lived and they wanted to separate themselves from that corruption. Therefore, they were considered suspicious. They were even ridiculed for being weird. And soon, they were to be persecuted under the Emperor Nero. This is something unfamiliar to us, but it is akin to going through a period of war where you have to run away from home and leave everything that you have known and just go to a place unknown. Not knowing where your mother is, not knowing where your brothers are. And you are there, yet living the Christian life. These are the kinds of people that he was talking to. They are, and today, they are in the world, but they are not of it. And Peter says, because of who God is, and because of what Christ has done, live differently. Radically, joyfully, and with purpose. So brethren, Christian, dear Christian, because Jesus has redeemed you by his blood and you have been caught by a holy God, because of that, we must live as exiles. This world is not our home. We must live as exiles. hopefully in the salvation that we have been looking at, which I'll allude to, the salvation which is to be revealed. It is ready to be revealed. It has been accomplished. It is like your favorite team, you're watching a replay of a match that your favorite team already won, but it was a nail-biting match. And as you are watching it, some moments you forget that you won and you're feeling like your team is going to lose. But you remember that my team has won. And you say, why am I troubling myself? We won. That is what he is telling us, that we must have hope fully, but then we must walk as holy people and also have the fear of God. So let us just read this passage together then. First Peter, chapter one. I'm going to read from 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. 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. 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. Let us pray. Our Father, we want to thank you that you have covered all aspects of our lives and we have nothing to fear. We have nothing to be in the dark about. Lord, as you have done this great work by your love, Saving our souls and bringing us to life You also have expectations of us We are thankful that those expectations are not onerous They are not overbearing Because you also give us your spirit who helps us and you help us all God through this walk So our father as we consider the commands and the instructions that you give us, the imperatives that we see here of the Christian life. We also want to pray for grace to help us so that, Lord, we may honor your name and live for you. So give us the understanding of the things that are contained in your word, Lord, that we may carry these lessons to live with for the rest of our lives. We pray, asking that you will hear us in that blessed name that you have given us, that of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Brethren, to consider this, like I indicated, we are going to look at the three imperatives or the three commands that the Lord gives us. This passage, if you see, It starts with, from verse 13, it starts with therefore. So we are starting midway from somewhere. There's something that has been going on. And concluding from that, following on from that, let's build on to this. That is what he is saying. 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. Our hope must be in that which he has accomplished already. How can we have this hope? Why should we have this hope? We can have this hope. We should have this hope. because of what Christ has done, because of what God has done, because of what the Spirit of God has done. In the area of essays we saw there, we are told that we are called, we have been elected to a life of obedience in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is the Father that has called us from eternity past. He predestined us. That is what he says in the first passages there. But then he also says that we have been called to sanctification. Sanctification of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. The Father calls us. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Jesus Christ has accomplished this work and we are sprinkled with his blood so that there is no sin that is to our account. We have been forgiven. We have been changed. Those that were being baptized this morning were proclaiming to the whole world in this morning saying they no longer are going to live the life that they used to live because they have been changed they were confessing the Lord Jesus Christ and they were confessing that they have renounced sin they have renounced the devil they have renounced all false hopes and now they intend by God's grace to submit to him and walk with him as their disciple as Jesus' disciple. We have a living hope through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what we saw earlier. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 3. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again. We have been born again to a living hope. But we have also been born again to an inheritance that does not perish, verse 4. To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Your inheritance is kept in heaven for you, but you also are guarded by God. That is what we see. In verse 5, by God's power you are guarded and by the faith that you have, your trust in the Lord, you are guarded. What are you guarded for? For a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The salvation which the prophets longed to see. The salvation that the apostles and many others have died over proclaiming. bringing to us the missionaries who braved the mosquitoes and malaria and died in huge numbers to bring the gospel. That gospel, that faith, that salvation is ready to be revealed. That salvation which the angels crane their necks to try and see, they try to peep. That salvation is the salvation that is ready to be revealed. We have been saved. We are sure that we are going to be with our God in heaven. We are going to be changed. We'll be like the Lord Jesus Christ. But we haven't yet experienced that actual change. We are still in these bodies. There will come a time when our bodies will be changed. when we will be truly like Him, when we will have no sin, when we will struggle with no hatred, no jealousy, no envy, and we will be with Him. That moment is ready to be revealed and we must look forward to that. We must fully trust our God that is going to bring it to being. But how are we going to do that? He tells us that we must prepare our minds for action. We must prepare our minds for action. We must gird up the loins of our minds, the loose elements in our minds. We must bring them to subjection and be steady in our thinking. In Peter's day, men wore long robes. And for them to run or work, they would tie them so that their dress is not dangling around and impeding their running, their efficiency. And that is the language he is using. If your mind is scattered, that will impede your efficiency in focusing on that which matters. and living the Christian life. So we must roll up the loose ends of lazy thinking. We must get our minds to be ready for battle. Our minds, what we think about, how we think, we must invest in that. And he says, we must be sober-minded. Not just by avoiding intoxicating substances, alcohol, no, but by having mental clarity As you are listening, following carefully and following the reasoning that is going on Trying to see, oh, this is what I read in the Bible. This is connecting to what I read in the Bible. Or what I heard. Or having questions. But that doesn't sound right. What about this? Have mental clarity. But also spiritual alertness. This is what he is imploring us. He is saying we should not be like that. We should avoid those things. Because if we are distracted and we are drifting, we will not be able to make progress in the Christian life. Mental clarity, spiritual alertness is very important for a Christian. Young Christian, you have just given your life or you have just dedicated yourself to the Lord. If you do not want to end up a shadow in the church, just a body that comes to church, work on your mind. This is the burden that even the Apostle Paul had when he is talking about the renewal of the mind. We renew our minds. And he says, set your hope fully. What is he saying? In this language, he's saying, do it now. And do it decisively. Do it completely. Set your hope fully. Fully on what? On the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So this is not a partial hope. It is not like, I hope my boss will increase my salary. You know, you're not too sure. There's no certainty there. This hope is a full and unwavering hope. A future-oriented hope in the final act of salvation when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. That will happen. Are you sure of that? Do you focus on that? And when you focus on that, does it drive the rest of your life? My dear brother, my dear sister, You can spend a few moments when you wake up just getting up your mind before you scramble your brain with your phone and messages. Let them wait. Make a promise and pray, Lord, set my hope on your return. The Bible talks about what will happen When the trumpet of the Lord shall resound, when the dead shall rise, what is going to happen? Be clear. Let that be a reality to you. And brethren, this is not an option. A mind that is ungraded, a mind that is not secured, is full of despair. It is captive. to uncertainties, it is captive to strange ambitions where you start desiring this, you desire this and you end up in despair and being distracted distracted from your work so the Lord says One of the imperatives, let your hope be full, fully set on the future grace. In the second place, he says, be holy from verse 14 to 16. Be holy in all your conduct. It is expected of us because we have been changed, because we are now believers, because we are born again. Because of that, because of what God has done, it is expected of us to be holy in all our conduct. Verse 14, 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. That is a quotation from Leviticus, chapter 11. The book of Leviticus is a book that is written portraying a holy God and then bringing sinful men to fellowship with a holy God. How shall a sinful generation have fellowship with a holy God? Because it is impossible. And that is where we see the question of atonement, the shedding of blood that brings these irreconcilable positions together. A holy God and sinful man can have fellowship. God and man at table are sat down. And he says, you have to be holy. But then he points to something. They have a new identity. In fact, he starts off, he says, as obedient children, their identity is obedient children. Your identity, if you are born again, if Jesus shed his blood for you, is that you are an obedient child. You are not an obedient child you are not this is not to be characterized like when you are obedient then you become born again then you have favor with God no you are born again you belong to a new family and therefore you act like it your conduct follows to match what you are and that is what sanctification is that is what becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ is and again he gives a command there do not be conformed and this is an ongoing pattern do not be on an ongoing basis as you live As long as you are here, continue avoiding, continue setting aside the patterns of the world. And he says, he refers to the passions, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. That is your lifestyle before you became a Christian. Some of you testified that you just started sinning. You just started living a sinful life after Covid. You stopped coming to church. Then you just found yourself. You just lived a sinful life. Or maybe when you went to university, then you found all this freedom and no one was there to stop you. You had the money. And you went on full throttle, just sinning. But then You came to your senses and have repented and have embraced the Lord Jesus Christ and he has forgiven you. Now you are a child of God. You found yourself being addicted to some corruption and now you have been freed. You are now a child of God. That is the former life. Do not be conformed to the patterns of that former life. sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, anger and gossip He says this is what he has in mind and this we read in chapter 4 verse 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. Living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. That is the life that you used to live. Do not be conformed to that. You are now a changed person. And he says, Peter here says, don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. Let it not make you into its image. Do not be forced. When you are invited, we are going to have golf. The whole office, we are going to be at the golf club. We are going to play golf on Sunday. You can reason out. You can try to wiggle your way out. But if it is too sudden and you have no time to negotiate, you can Step back and see that, ah, here, I need to start making my mark known. People must know who I am, what I am, so that they don't make programs to include me. When they do that, they will be starting a war. They know they are doing something. Let them know that you are different. Don't let the world squeeze you. Be holy in all your conduct. That is what we see in verse 5, verse 15. Holy. That is, be set apart for the Lord. Be different. Do not be like the world. Be different. And in being different, you are going to seek moral purity. You are going to be devoted to Him. You will devote yourself to a lifestyle that you want to have contact with him all the time. And this is what he says, in all your conduct, that is in every sphere of your life, your work life, your speech, your social media interactions, your money, entertainment, all these areas. And what is the basis? Why? Because the Lord says, I am different. I am devoted. I am separate. Be holy as I am holy. For I am holy. And God doesn't say, be holy so that I will accept you. No. He is saying, I am holy. I have saved you. Be holy. It is the noble ambition, it is the noble vision of a believer to always look out, seek out ways to be holy He says, I have called you, I am holy, now you reflect me, you reflect that characteristic Why don't you pick one area where you are possibly not being conformed, where you are in fact being conformed to the world? It might be in an area of entertainment. Are you watching things that dull your conscience? The things you are watching are even making you become angry at the rest of the family because you are guilty. and you are lashing out at people around you because of your sin. Check yourself. Speech. Are you a backbiter? A whisperer? Gossip? Sarcastic? With coarse joking? Or your sexuality? Fantasies? Pornography? Unhealthy relationships? audit that, check yourself, and replace that habit with a holy habit. And this is possible. You have been watching, you have been binging Netflix, and you don't even sleep. People go to sleep. You can't stop yourself. You are just watching and watching and watching. There might be nothing corrupt, but you are just wasting your time. and diluting your mind away from the things of God. Replace that with the Psalms or the Proverbs. A lot of lessons from the book of the Proverbs. A lot of lessons from Ecclesiastes. A lot of lessons from the Beatitudes. Read something. Replace it with those actions. And here in the last place he says, you need to live in the fear of God. Fear God. That is the last expectation. It is expected of those who are born again to fear God. Reverent fear of God. Recognizing that God is holy. Recognizing that God is great. recognizing that he is so great, I do not want to dishonor him. He is so great, I do not want to disrespect my God. You know the way you fear your boss, the CEO of your company, the way you fear maybe the president, maybe the way you fear maybe even your parents or your uncle, some important person in society. You do not want to do anything that will bring shame to their name. But this is God. We ought, as people who are saved, who are changed, to live lives in the fear of God. And He says, if you call on Him as Father, more accurately, He is saying, since you call on Him as Father, how do we know? You cry out, Abba, Father, our Father in heaven, you're praying, I hear you on Saturday, in the prayer meeting. You call on Him as Father. Since you call on Him as Father, this is what He says, and you call on Him as Father, because you have this loving relationship with Him, He has compassion on you. He considers you as dust, so He knows. your frailty, he knows your weaknesses and he cares. But he is also a judge. And that is what he is saying. He is a judge. He is a God of justice. That is why he will bring people to account for their lives. He will judge us by our lives, by our conduct. Therefore, our conduct must show that we fear him. We must fear God. Conduct yourself with fear, with reverent awe. It is not with terror. Oh, if you are not a Christian, you will see God in terror because He is a judge. He is coming to judge you and condemn you and cast you into the lake of fire where you will be on your own. You will have no fellowship there in utter darkness. with full of dread, overwhelmed. Yes, you ought to fear him with terror, but you do not need to continue in that condition. The Lord Jesus Christ, the one we are talking about, who has changed the rest of your friends, your friends who are being baptized today, the one who has changed them, he can change you also. And when he changes you, what does he do to you? He enables you to obey him. and puts you on the path of obedience. Conduct yourselves with fear. And this throughout the time of your exile, we are here on earth. Throughout our time, we are here on earth. We are motivated by the fact that we have been ransomed. We have been ransomed. We have been freed from slavery by a huge payment. A payment that we cannot measure. A payment not with gold or silver. Those are valuable. Gold right now is going at almost $3 million per kg, kilogram. Kwacha, 54,000 kwacha per kg of silver. Something that you relate to. That kind of money. Gold, 3 million kwacha per kg. It is so valuable. It is so expensive. But that is not what our salvation was bought with. It was bought with suffering. It was bought with the father looking away from his son. That is how great his love is for you. Now if his love is so great for you, you have been bought at such a price, won't you Look to Him and say, when you are tempted, I will not do it. The price is too great. Brethren, dear friends who were baptized, this is the challenge that we are to live the Christian life. Since we are claiming something has happened, let our lives show as well. Let us pray together. Our Father, we are thankful for your goodness to us and for providing for what we need to live for you. Thank you that you started the process by choosing us, by sending your Son to die for us, ransoming us, by sending your Spirit to come and open our understanding and make it possible for us to believe and to be saved. And now you expect us to set our hope fully on the salvation that is yet to be revealed, which is certain. You expect us to live holy lives because you are holy, and you expect us to fear you. We pray, oh gracious God, that you will help us in this life. We pray, oh God, that you will honor yourself in our lives, in all aspects of our lives for the rest of our life here. As we are in exile, this world is not our home. We thank you. We bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.