The book of 1 Peter was written to believers living nearly 2,000 years ago in the first century. They were faithful Christians who were beginning to suffer severely for their faith just due to the fact that they believed in Jesus Christ was bringing all kinds of suffering and problems into their lives. Peter addresses his letter to them as aliens who are scattered, and scattered they were across much of what would be modern-day Turkey, and I believe they were far from home. I believe that because of persecution, they were driven from their homes and driven to faraway places where they could live in some measure of safety. I read about a situation this week that's going on today. and there are people living in a village in another country, and it was decided that it was time to eliminate the Christians. And so everyone was called into the center of the village, and the people who were not believers proceeded to severely beat those who were known to be Christians. The church was destroyed and people are fleeing for their lives. It still goes on today. And so Peter is writing now to some of the first people in the history of the church who were suffering for their faith, and that's continued on for nearly 20 centuries all around the world. And so Peter writes to them, And he's writing to people and he says very honestly that their situation would be getting worse before it would get better. And Peter is writing to people who, for them, life as they knew it was falling apart. Now life can fall apart without warning and it can happen in a number of different ways. It can be the loss of a job. I remember years ago working in the carpenter's shop and work was getting slower and slower and slower. We were very busy through the fall months, but wintertime construction kind of dies off. And I began to wonder about my future in this carpenter shop. They gave me a very nice project to build a conference table for the president's office, which we did. But then it came down to making a cutting board for the boss's wife. And I thought, you know, they're trying to give me something to do, but they really don't have anything to do. And I felt like the turkey a couple days before Thanksgiving. I could hear the axe being sharpened. And sure enough, the day came and one of the bosses brought me in and said, well, today's your last day. Have a good life. And that was the end of that. And it was a big change. There were changes involved in losing that job and finding new things to do, which the Lord provided. But loss of a job can kind of end life as we know it. There's other things as well. Could be the loss of health. Health affects a lot of people. Health problems really can change your life. And of course, what I do, I see people in those situations frequently. I'm visiting a couple of people here recently who have real health problems, and it has really changed their lives. Health can change your life. It really does cause life as we know it to kind of fall apart. And then, of course, there could be problems in our families or in relationships with other people, and even persecution because of our faith in Christ. And there are people in this country, around the world, who are being pressured simply because they named the name of Jesus Christ. So when life falls apart, how do we respond? Well, 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 13 through 15 tells us what to do when life is falling apart. And there are two things that we really need to do. Number one, we need to have the right attitude. There's an internal change in that has to take place when life is falling apart. We need to have the right attitude, but then also there's a practical side. Number two, we need to do the right thing. So number one, have the right attitude. Number two, do the right thing when life is falling apart. So number one, have the right attitude. Now, in our generation, it is widely believed that emotions rule our lives and that we must follow our emotions. Our emotions dictate what we say, how we think, what we do, and we really can't contradict our emotions. But for us as believers, we're in a different situation. We're called upon to certainly have emotions, acknowledge them, and we should. There's all kinds of emotions that we're made with. We should have those and express those, but they're not to rule our lives. But in fact, we are to manage and in some ways control our emotions, especially when life falls apart. And when life is falling apart, emotions are boiling over. There's all kinds. There can be emotions of anger, grief, confusion, doubt, a tide of all kinds of feelings can sort of sweep over us. And the question is, will they take control or not? And 1 Peter 1 here reminds us that we need to have the right attitude and realize that God has given us the ability to control and to manage the emotions that we have when life is falling apart. So how do we do this? Well, we need to have the right attitude. And the right attitude, number one, involves being ready. Be ready. In my time as a volunteer chaplain with the fire service, I got acquainted with the chief, mainly because I reported to the chief, and we talked about different things. And he said, you know, I've noticed you really like to go out on calls. I said, I do. He says, well, there's more to the fire service than going out on calls. There's preparation. And he explained to me and showed me how so much of a firefighter's time is involved in preparation, in getting ready, whether it's maintaining equipment or washing the fire truck, that's always done, but practicing all the different things you have to do. And when I would see the chief, whenever he would leave, he would always say the same thing, see you at the big one. And I thought, what does that mean? And I got thinking about it. See you at the big call. And the idea was he was expressing a sense of confidence that because of our preparation, should we be called out for the big one, we would be ready to respond. And he put a big emphasis on practice and preparation, being ready. And the same thing is true when life falls apart. It is important to be ready. The temptation is to try to escape, to be passive, to just kind of, as people say, let go and let God. But when life is falling apart, It is not the time to curl up into a ball and hide. It is time to be mentally ready. So take a look at verse 13. Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Now, the King James says it differently. It says, gird up the loins of your mind. Now, I had no idea what these words meant until I looked into this. And the New American Standard kind of explains it. But in the ancient world, it made sense to everybody. In the ancient world, people wore long, flowing garments, which were great. It was your clothing. It was your rain gear. It was your blanket at night. It was the ultimate sunblock. Could you imagine wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the Middle East? Day after day, your skin would be cooked off if you're like me. I mean, there are people who can get that tan, but I'm not one of them. And so they would have this garment, which was very practical, very useful, except in a couple of situations. Now imagine you had to run all of a sudden with that long garment. How far would you get? Not very far. Ever try running in your bathrobe? It's not so easy. Well, that's the idea. It couldn't be done. And so the idea of girding up your loins was to pull that garment up and tie it around your waist with a belt so it would be up and out of the way, and you'd be free to move around. And this is something that a warrior would do going into battle, an athlete would do going into a race or a contest, a workman would do going to work. That's what people would do. They would gird up their loins and it would say, I'm ready now for what is ahead. And when life is falling apart, we need to have a sense of being mentally ready for the challenges that will come. Now in Exodus chapter 12, we see a good picture of girding up the loins. The Lord is giving Moses and his people instructions for the first Passover. And if you remember, it was at the first Passover when Israel escaped from Egypt. And he's telling them how to eat this Passover meal. Exodus 12. You shall eat it in this manner with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. You know, in New York City there's pizza joints. Whenever we're there, which has not been for a while, I love to get a slice of New York pizza. I used to get it for a dollar. There's nothing like it in the world, in my opinion. And there are places where you would go for a piece of pizza, there's nowhere to sit. There's a little shelf, maybe 12 inches wide, and the length of the restaurant, and that's where you put your plate. And of course, you have to have a slice and a Coke if you're diabetic. Well, just don't drink all of it. and you have the slice and the Coke there, and you're having your pizza, but you don't sit down. You stand up, and maybe if you have a briefcase, you're holding that in one hand, and you're eating your pizza, drinking your pop, and you get off on your way. And that was the first Passover. They were dressed and ready to go. Where were they going to go? They were going to get the word that it was time to flee, to get out of Egypt. And so again, their loins were girded. They were having this Passover meal. and they were ready for action. And that's the idea here. Peter says, prepare your minds for action. Now, these words describe a disciplined mind, one that's free from distractions that would hinder quick decisions and quick actions. And when life falls apart Emotions are boiling over. There's no doubt about it. There's all kinds of feelings that want to take over. But when life is falling apart, it's important to have a disciplined mind to make the right decisions, to do the right things. We need to be ready. Ready for what? Well, number one, ready to resist the devil. Ready to resist the devil. When life is falling apart, it is a time for temptations. What kind of temptations? Well, certainly number one, to maybe doubt God. or get angry with God, or to go into a sense of despair that doesn't believe his promises anymore. All kinds of temptations come our way when life is falling apart, and we need to be able to resist the devil. The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The Lord Jesus demonstrated this in his time in the wilderness with the devil there, and he used what? The sword of the Spirit, the word of God, three times. And he drove the devil away, and he got through that temptation successfully. And what a lesson that is for us. And then also, be ready to share. Be ready to share. You know, hard times bring with them unique opportunities for the gospel. And I've seen this more than once, where a person lands in the hospital or another sort of facility, and all of a sudden they have opportunities to share the gospel. How would you like to have the opportunity to share the gospel and not know what to say? Well, we need to be ready to have some simple way of sharing the gospel or even a gospel tract and say, hey, listen, would you like to read this and just give it to them? And these are things that we can do. Be ready to share. We also need to be ready to serve. Isaiah was ready when God called. He said, here I am, send me. And sometimes when hard times come, we are called upon to do things. We need to be ready for that and ready to pray. When hard times come, it is time to pray. And so we need to, as the Bible says, pray without ceasing. Don't quit praying, but use that time to pray. And so we need to be ready. ready to endure. One of the things about hard times and when life seems to be falling apart and one of the temptations is to think about quitting. It's not the time to quit. It is time to endure. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So when hard times come, it is time to be ready and to claim the promises of God that will help us to endure. the hard times that come our way. So when life falls apart, don't withdraw, but we need to again be ready. And number two, be sober. Be sober. When life falls apart, there's a temptation to panic or to overreact. And when life falls apart, it's important not to panic, but to be sober. Now, the word sober here doesn't really have to do with, in this case, not being drunk, but it has to have to do with a clear mind, a mind that is what the old language calls circumspect. It describes someone who thinks before he acts, thinks before he speaks, or makes a decision. Somebody who thinks first and then acts, not just acting impulsively or in a sense of panic, but Again, thinking first and doing things later. I was working on a project with a friend of mine and the clock was ticking and the customers' money was being spent and not much was being done. Finally, he said, we've got to do something even if it's wrong. And there was a sense of panic. I thought, well, whatever it's going to be, I hope it's good. And as it turned out, everything turned out well. But the point is, When hard times come, there's a tendency to panic and say, I've got to do something. I don't know what, but I've got to do something even if it's wrong. But again, we're to be sober, which means to think before we act. I have a friend who's selling their business and one of the ways he knows if a person is interested is they ask a lot of questions. They're thinking before they act. They're kind of trying to make a decision and see what they're going to do. and if it's the right thing, they'll act. And the same is true when life is falling apart. There's a lot of choices and decisions we have to make. Don't panic. Think before we act. And then also be focused, be focused. Someone has said, when the outlook is bad, try the up look. And when life is falling apart, it's time to look up and to remember that Jesus is coming again. Now, Peter had said and said earlier and will say again to his readers that things for them would get worse before they get better. Nero was the emperor. He was about to unleash that terrible persecution that we read about in history, horrific things were done to Christians. Things would get worse for Peter's readers before they would get better. But he said this, remember, Jesus is coming again. Verse 13, He says this, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so Peter says now when life is falling apart, it's easy to become immersed in the crisis, but it's important to stop and to look up and to remember that Jesus is coming again. That's what he talks about here, the revelation of Jesus Christ, that he's going to be unveiled to us when he returns in the clouds to call his church up to be with him in the air. And so again, look up, Jesus is coming again. Now he says this, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That grace is the final phase of our salvation. Now, if you look at the verse we have in our bulletin for this month, It says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And these words separate the gospel from everything else. The word justified there describes a salvation that is complete and finished. There's nothing we need to do to add to it. No way we can lose it, it is ours forever. And so we would say, yes, I have been saved. And all of us would say that. You know, when we have a baptism from time to time, one of the things we want to know from the person who's being baptized is, when were you saved? And can you tell us about how you were saved? And all of us who are believers can give that testimony, that so-and-so time I trusted in Christ, someone shared the gospel with me, and I believe that Jesus died for my sins. rose again. And that's our testimony, and we would know for sure that our salvation is complete in the past. It's all finished. But also Bible students know that we can say that our salvation is in the past, we can say I have been saved, it's also in the present, and we can say I am being saved. Now what is that? We're not adding to our salvation, but God is working in in our lives. We call it sanctification. And God uses his word. He uses the church, uses worship and fellowship with other believers. He uses hard times and difficulties in our lives to make us less and less like the person we once were and more and more like Christ. It's a process of sanctification. Our granddaughter got an interesting birthday present one year. It was a rock polisher. Now, before you get one of those, you have to think about where you're going to put it. It's like having a foundry in your house. It's not a quiet hobby. It's not a lot you have to do, but you can always hear it running. Now hers was one of the quieter ones, but they can be pretty loud. And you put these rocks in there that don't look like much, and then you Run them with some abrasive and they go around and there they come out looking beautiful And I said to her and I thought she must not think I'm very bright. I said now, where do you find rocks? She goes Silly on the ground. I thought of course I never you know, so anyway, so that's what she does and it just takes time to polish these rocks You can't put it in and two minutes later say it's all done because it's not done and God is busy Doing that work in our lives. So we would say I have been saved. I am being saved, but we also say I will be saved. And this is now the final phase of our salvation, which will take place when the Lord Jesus returns. What is involved there? Well, the Bible says that the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout. The dead in Christ will rise. We who are alive and remain will be caught up to be with them in the clouds and will be with the Lord forever. And in the course of that, what's going to happen is there's going to be a big change in us and in those who have died. We're going to leave this old body behind and receive a new glorified body. What is a glorified body? I remember going to the doctor's office Back when they had something called a medical chart and they had this whole shelf, shelf, shelf of them. And I saw this one was like this. I said, I bet that one's mine. You know, it's like an inch thick. Well, it wasn't mine. But you know, think of the person with an inch thick medical chart. The glorified body means throw the chart away. Every single problem dealing with our physical bodies will be gone. It's a body that's designed to live forever, will never get sick or hurt or injured. It's one that will never die. It's perfectly suited for living in heaven. Tremendous change. The other thing we leave behind is the old nature. What's the old nature? It's that part of ourself that says, go ahead and do that. You can get away with it, even if it's wrong. That's the old nature. That will be gone. Our sanctification will be complete. So again, we can say, I have been saved. I am being saved, and I will be saved. And so Peter's message to his readers and to us is this. When life is falling apart, when it's fairly certain things will get worse before they get better, keep looking up to the return of the Lord Jesus, to the completion of our salvation. When he comes back, that day is coming. It could be today. The Bible says be ready, and the signs of the times say it could be very, very soon. It could even be today. And so again, when life is falling apart, keep looking up. And we have this promise that he will complete the work he's doing in us. You know, as we go through our Christian lives and think, am I really getting better or getting worse? What's this all about? And we don't always have a realistic picture of our progress. But we have God's guarantee that he will finish the work that he's doing in our lives. Philippians 1 says, I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. And again, there are many signs of the times that tell us that Jesus' return is near. Matthew 24, the Lord Jesus lists them. Wars and rumors of wars. I listened to somebody the other day said everybody's talking about war. Who is talking about peace? When is the last time you saw a peace demonstration? Very interesting. The talk is of war these days. Jesus said that's how it would be before his return. Famines, there are food shortages in many places. Earthquakes, more and more of those. persecution, spiritual counterfeits, and lawlessness. We have friends in law enforcement who are very, very frustrated at the lawlessness that is growing around our country. And so people see these things and think, what does this all mean? It means that the Lord Jesus' return is very, very near. So when hard times come, we have hope, and the Lord Jesus is that hope. Keep looking up. He's coming again. So, step number one, when life is falling apart, have the right attitude. Step number two, do the right thing. Do the right thing. When life falls apart, the key is this, don't react, but respond. Take the time to decide and to do the right thing, not just the thing that feels good, not just the thing that is the emotional thing, but stop and think and pray, look to the word and do the right thing. Do the will of God in everything. And first thing we would say is this, be confident and we can do this. Now, verse 15 looks like it's impossible. But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior. That's everything. It's pretty hard to be holy in everything. Met a guy who was a tow truck driver, and we ran into each other, literally. I was parked, and he was coming to get our car. And he collided with the side of our car. And he jumped out of his truck and gave an unholy choice of words. And I thought, who hasn't done that? Especially when it looks like maybe your career as a tow truck driver may be coming to a close. And he had some things to say, who of us has a perfect day or a perfect week where we've never done anything wrong. And yet, Peter says, be holy in all your behavior. You need to score perfect in everything. How does that happen? Can we do it? Well, the first thing we would say is, be confident. We can do this. Why do I say that? When God calls us to do something, he gives us whatever we need to do it. That's the amazing thing. God calls us to do things that the world would say impossible, and yet God gives us the ability to do these things. Think, for example, Moses. Now Moses was called upon by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses now had been well trained for this position. He was groomed really to take over a top spot in Egypt. Then he killed an Egyptian, became a fugitive from justice, went out to the land of Midian and spent 40 years raising sheep. Now what kind of conversations do you have with sheep out in the wilderness? You know, you think pretty deep conversations. You have a chance to give a few speeches and have some lectures, have committee meetings, kind of polish your skills as an administrator. Not so much. So Moses spent 40 years forgetting everything he learned in Pharaoh's schools. And then God calls upon him to be the leader of two million people who are going to leave Egypt at a time when Pharaoh does not want them to go. And Moses says, I can't do it, but God makes a promise. He says, go and I, even I, will be with your mouth. Moses did not think of himself as a public speaker. And a lot of his work would be speaking to Pharaoh, to the government, and also to his people. But he said, I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say. And God gave Moses the abilities he would need as a leader and a speaker. And then think of David, the great warrior. of the nation Israel, who defeated the Philistines, the enemies of Israel. And David more than once said this in the Old Testament concerning the Lord. He said, he trains my hands for battle. And God made David the warrior that he had called him to be. And then think about Solomon. He takes over the kingdom after David, his father dies. Now Solomon is the king. And he's thinking, how am I going to do this? And so Solomon prays. And he says this in first Kings three, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours? So Solomon had a job and he was 100% convinced it was humanly impossible. He said no one on earth could judge or lead God's people. But he said, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, to discern between good and evil. So God calls people to impossible things, and yet he also gives the ability. In John chapter 20, the Lord Jesus is about to deploy the disciples to do another impossible thing, to bring the gospel and spread the church around the world. Before he does this, in John 20, We read this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. And in doing this, the Lord Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit. And it was the Holy Spirit that was the power of their ministry, whether it was preaching, whether it was performing miracles, whether it was making right decisions, the Holy Spirit was there to enable them to do this impossible task that the Lord would give them to do. And so in the same way, When God calls us to do what appears to be impossible, to be holy in all of our behavior, we can be sure that he's given us what we need. Why do I say that? Verse 14, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior." And so he reminds us that we have been radically changed. We were born physically, I think I told you the story of my birth certificate, now safely home. I know that I was born the first time and I was born again as well. and we have it on paper. We know that. So all of us had that first birth. But there's also the fact that we've been born again, and we are now children of God. And because of that, we're able to be holy in all that we do. We've been made like God, in the sense that We can reflect his character, which is holiness. That's his basic character quality. We can be holy as he is. And once we were blind, now we can see. Look at verse 14. Again, it says, Do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. There was a time before we were saved where we were blind to spiritual things, blind to the fact that some things are wrong and some things are right. I can think of my own life before I was a Christian, things I did that I could do that were not right, but I had no qualms about it at all. There were no problems, no issues, because I was spiritually blind. And many people would have that same testimony. But now we've been born again, we're totally new. We're able to see the truth of the word and obey it. So when life falls apart, do the right thing. And the right thing is to be holy the way God is holy. everything that we do and it's humanly it's impossible but God has given us that ability we've been born again we have his character in us we can be like him and we can do that we once were blind now we can see the truth of the word and we can do that and then number two to do the right thing we need to make the decision to be different verse 14 It says, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. The language here says stop. Stop doing something that we're doing. Stop letting the world squeeze you into its mold. And the world puts constant pressure on us to be like the world. Think of the fashions that have come and gone through the years. Think about bell-bottoms in the 60s and 70s. Everybody was wearing bell-bottoms and it was sort of a special day. when you got your first pair of bell-bottoms. Who's wearing bell-bottoms now? Anybody? Is there like two people in the state maybe has a pair? Nobody. Now think about, you know, the 70s and the crazy outfits then and then the 80s and these fashions come and go and people do this. Why? Everybody's doing it. I need to do it because everybody is doing it. And the world puts pressure on us, not just for fashion, but for the kinds of things that we do, the things we say, how we live, places we go. The Bible says in Romans 12, stop letting the world squeeze you into its mold. Ever play with clay in school? I was teaching chair making at a place one time, and there were blacksmiths there, there were potters. So after work, I went up to see the potters. And I said, can I try and make a pot? You can't make a pot. I said, well, just how about if I try? You can make a pot. You can't. You're not a potter. I said, well, let me just try. And so I've got this blob of clay, and it's wet. It's slick. You put it on the wheel, and you have to get it in the middle. If you're off by a whisker, it just fly away. And so you have to put it right on there. And after a while, I'm squeezing on this clay, and it's staying where it's supposed to stay. I wouldn't say it was a pot. It was kind of like what I would have brought home in kindergarten to my mom. She loved it, but you couldn't sell it anywhere. And so the pressure on the clay was causing it to change its shape. And the world puts pressure on us, and we know that. We know that if we're in a group of people and we say something that's different, maybe it's right, but it's different. I remember being with a group of guys in an organization meeting, and we were talking about taxes. I said, well, let's call the IRS. And they looked at me like, are you out of your mind? Nobody calls the IRS. I said, oh, OK. So there's times when we're so I kind of toned it down after that. I never brought that up again. And the world puts pressure on us. We all know that happens in the workplace, happens among friends. There's pressure on us to compromise our faith, to do what the world wants. And Peter says, stop letting that happen. And when we make this decision, when we say no to sin, when we say no to the world, we can expect some pushback. And Peter predicts this actually in chapter 4, verse 3. They're already experiencing this as part of the problems they're going through. He says in chapter 4, verse 3, the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles. He said, you know, your previous life is all the time you need to live like the world. Now it's time for a change. Having pursued a course of sensuality, lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all of this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses. And they malign you, but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. And it is interesting when a person makes the decision to be different, it can mean having different friends, going to different places, not going to places we used to go, not doing things we used to do, not having the friends that we used to have. When life is falling apart, we need to make the decision to do the right thing, and that is to live a holy life. And it is a decision to be different because to be holy means to be different. We're not like the world anymore, but to live like the character of God. And as we do that, God will bless that decision. And then also imitate the right example. You know, when life falls apart, we want a guide. Where is somebody who can help us with this? I had a trip into the wilderness one time, the wilderness of the inside of a Volkswagen engine. There's nothing in a Volkswagen that is like a normal car. You open up the hood, there's nothing there. You go around to the engine room and you think, what is this thing? And that's the engine. Well, I had to rebuild my Volkswagen engine. And I met a guy who was a mechanic and a machinist. I must have called him 20 times a day. He was my guide for rebuilding that Volkswagen engine. And he did a great job. And the car actually started, well, the second time. It didn't start the first time, but it did start. And I drove it for a number of years. But I had a guide in that whole wilderness experience. And when life is falling apart, we say, where's my guide? Who can show me what to do? And we need to have a guide. And in fact, we can do that by imitating the right example. And that guide is God himself. Again, verse 15, it says, like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves. That is, follow the pattern that is set by God. Follow that pattern. And when children were taught in school in the ancient world, they would have patterns for the letters of the alphabet, and they would trace those patterns and the letters would come out. And God is that pattern for us to trace out with our lives and to imitate, to be like Him. There's a hymn we sing, O to be like Thee, O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art, come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness, stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. Our world is filled with people who are saying, follow me. I know the right thing for you to do. We need to follow the right example when life is falling apart. Follow and imitate the character of God. And then also make no compromise. Make no compromise. And when life is falling apart, it's easy to say, oh, let's take a little shortcut. Let's compromise here. Let's fudge a little there. Let's do this. Let's just Let's just, you know, fudge the rules and try to break a few rules. But when things are falling apart, it's important to make no compromise with sin. Again, be holy in all your behavior. That's the commitment to doing what's right in every situation, not just in the easy ones, but in the difficult situations, the commitment to do what is right. You know, Paul did this in his life as a missionary, he was giving his testimony in Jerusalem, and he said that the Lord Jesus had sent him to the Gentiles. That got him in huge trouble with the Jews there. They had a riot, they were going to kill him. He was taken into protective custody for his own safety, ended up going to Rome and going to trial there. But the Lord protected him through the entire thing and used the experience for good. And so when we think about doing the right thing in every situation, there are people throughout Bible history who've done that, and God protects those who do the right thing. We don't have to fear. So again, doing the right thing means doing the will of God in every situation, not just when it is convenient. And then finally, obey the commands of God. Obey the commands of God. Now, verse 15, it says, You shall be holy for I am holy. And this command first appears in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. We see it repeated there many times in the Old Testament, but also here in the New Testament. That's important for us because there are those who would say, there are Bible students who say, well, the commands of the Old Testament are not for us as New Testament believers. But here you have a basic Old Testament command brought over to the New Testament, and it shows us that the moral commands of the Old Testament are for us today. The Ten Commandments, the 613 moral commands in the law, those are still for us today. And we have one here, to be holy in all of our behavior. So the Old Testament moral commands have not expired, but they're still for us today. And to be holy is to be like God, it is to be different. And God is different. Exodus 15 says, Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? God is different. There's no one like him because he is perfect. He's holy and sinless in every way. The best illustration of His perfect holiness is something that's all around us. And we get a lot of sunshine here, we're not having much today, but we get a lot of sunny days. And light is a perfect illustration of the perfect holiness of God. The Bible says God is light And in him there is no darkness at all." You know, a beam of light is pure, perfect, uncontaminated in every way. And as we think about light, it shows us the perfect holiness of God. And God's command is to be like him as he is, holy and separate from sin. And we can do this because we have been born again. You know, when life falls apart, we say, where is the manual? You know, I like to watch cockpit videos, and every now and then they have a problem on the aircraft, and they pull out the book, the troubleshooting manual, and they go through there, and they troubleshoot the problem, and hopefully all is well. And when life falls apart, it's important to realize that we have a manual, and that is the Word of God and the commands of God. And so when we're navigating the uncharted waters, when life is falling apart, unexpected problems arise, We have the commands of God to guide us like trail markers through that wilderness. It's our map and our compass. Psalm 119 says, from your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I've sworn and will confirm it that I will keep your righteous ordinances." And that's the key to getting through life when hard times come and we're in those uncharted waters. Some years ago a woman wrote an article describing her Christian life, and it was a dream life. She had a wonderful family, her husband had a prosperous business, and everything was going nearly perfect until it wasn't. And then One year, life began to fall apart. In the space of one year, she was in the hospital seven different times. She had three back surgeries in three years. Her husband, who had spent 20 years building a successful business, lost it all. All of this in a very short, short period of time. She was talking to her daughter in the midst of all these hardships and trials. She said, all I know and know for certain is that I love and trust Jesus Christ. Well, the next day she was at the airport with her husband and daughter. They got into a private plane, took off to go somewhere. They get over the horizon, something happened and the plane fell apart and her husband and daughter were killed. She said, half my family was dead, and I wondered if I could bear it. By the grace of God, I could because of Jesus Christ. And when life falls apart, because of Jesus Christ, we can respond and not react in panic. How do we do this? Again, Peter tells us, have the right attitude and do the right thing. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and thank you for the map and compass that it is for us in a confusing world. Help us when unexpected things happen, when hard times come, to look to your word to, again, to have the right attitude and do the right thing. In Jesus' name, amen.