We want to remind ourselves this morning something of what we have been seeing in this first epistle of Peter. We want to remind ourselves of something of the historical moorings of this epistle. The author is a real man. The recipients were the elect ones that were scattered, perhaps by way of persecution, even to the backwoods of the Roman Empire. They would have lived in this area of modern-day Turkey. And in particular, we would see that this area of Turkey, Peter is in Rome at the star over to the west and Jerusalem down to the south with the red star. Peter is writing to these who were dispersed there through the area of Asia Minor. He is writing to believers who are living in Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. And you can see how roughly he's going kind of clockwise through this area. We find further that this is a very mountainous and rugged terrain there in Asia Minor. And as you look at that terrain, you could wonder how anyone would be able to travel through that area, particularly back 2,000 years ago. But we find that as you see in the lines there, there is the evidence of significant Roman roads throughout that area. These roads were not just some Indian trails, but you can see that these that abide to today indicate significant cutting of rock to make it much easier for them to pass by way of horse or cart or mule or on foot. We find something of, we look at that today and say that that would be rough on my shock absorbers driving along at 65 miles an hour. But if you think in terms of their speed that they traveled, this would have been like being on a four or six lane interstate compared to what they normally would face. Here is even the remains of a Roman bridge building as a part of that Roman road system there in Asia Minor. We hear some that suggest that perhaps these believers have been sent from Rome and cast out into the backwoods of the Roman Empire. Is there any evidence of Roman involvement there in Turkey? Here in Ankara, I believe, which would have been a part of ancient Galatia, there is the remains of a large Roman bathhouse and there is conversation that speaks of how popular this bathhouse would have been during the times of their cold winter. We come this morning to first Peter chapter 1 in verse 13 and we want to think of this in terms of a bridge verse. This is what we have on Roman numeral 1 of your outline. The bridge to an enhanced gospel hope. We read in verse 13, Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You have perhaps heard of that cutesy little saying that when, in your Bible reading, you come across a therefore, you ought to discover why it is there. What is the reason for it? What is it there for? It's a hinge verse. It's a bridge verse. It's a transitional verse moving from one theme to another. And if we take our Roman bridge, seek to illustrate this to make it so plain that you can't forget it, that you can't miss it, we find that the therefore of verse 13 makes the transition from the earlier ground of chapter 1 to now the latter half of chapter 1 on into chapter 2 and verse 12. Sorry, the 2 dropped down there. When I move from PC design to iPad display, those things happen. But here it is, that bridge. So consider with me then, A, that our bridge are therefore, is a looking back. A looking back over 1 Peter 1, verses 3-12. Here is the blessing of God in prayer. In chapter 1, verses 3-12, we do not have a lot of imperatives. I don't know if there are any. There are no commands as such. But what we find is that there is one extended expression of praise to God. Blessed be God. And then it goes on. And there in chapter 1, verse 3, God is blessed for the living hope of the new birth. In verse 4, God is blessed for the heavenly inheritance that flows out of that new birth. And then is it verse 5 where there was the language of the complete salvation that flows out of the new birth. And then in verse 6 and verse 7, I believe, is the possibility of great joy amidst great trials. And then as we move on, there is that great salvation that was told by the prophets of old. Then there was that great salvation that was preached by the apostles. These are all blessings that God has planned and accomplished. So to try to make it evident to us on the past, looking back, we're looking at various matters that God has done. And we're thanking God for what He has done. But now, as we cross over the bridge, we're going to come to those things that we as the people of God need to do. So these are the indicatives of the gospel. These are the statements of fact. These are the things that God has done. But now, secondly, come with me to see that our bridge are therefore is looking ahead to 1 Peter 1 13 through chapter 2 and verse 12. There are five Greek imperatives in the language of the Greek that Peter was writing. There are these five imperative forms of the verb that communicate an explicit command. an explicit command is directly telling us to do something. If I were to say, Tommy is being a good boy by sitting down on the pew. By that statement of fact, I'm telling you and I'm telling Tommy that he is sitting down. But I'm also giving you a hint That's the right thing. That's the good thing for Tommy to do. So Tommy can infer, I'm being a good boy by doing what I'm doing by sitting down. So sometimes we discern our duty by simply hearing our duty described. This is what you are doing. But if I were to say, Tommy, sit down, that would imply that he's not sitting down at present. And it would be a very explicit command, whether he is standing up on the back of the pew or he's crawling underneath the pew in front of his parents. The explicit command, Tommy, sit down, directs him as to where he is to go. Now, what we have in this section, across the bridge, here are the statements of fact of what God has done. Here are these explicit commands. This is what you need to do. But only five of these imperatives are found from our verse all the way over into chapter 2 and verse 12. I want you to consider with me further. Here's the bridge. Here's the therefore. There are the various things that God has done for us on that side of the bridge. Here now we move to the realm of the sanctification of the believer. what the believer is supposed to do in obedience to God. Now, notice with me, as we come to verse 13, I have highlighted that one imperative. Therefore, girding up the loins of your mind, being sober, rest your hope, set your hope, fix your hope, fully on the grace that is to be brought to you. Then, if we look at verses 14 through 16, we see that there is another area of command, the cultivation of holiness as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, You also become holy in all your conduct. There's the sit down, Tommy. There's the essential and explicit command, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. Then in verses 17 through 21, we have the cultivation of godly fear. Out of all of these words, some words that are hinting to us what we need to do, there is one explicit imperative, and it is conduct. Conduct. Behave yourselves in the fear of God. Further then, in verses 22 through 25 of chapter 1, there is yet another explicit command. Tommy, sit down on the pew. And it is that we are to love one another. Then we come in chapter 2 to see that in these first 12 verses, there is one more of those explicit commands of Tommy sit down. And here it is in verse 2, as newborn babes desire. Isn't that striking? We are commanded to desire something. We are commanded to intensely long for the pure milk of the Word. And it's like Peter knows that the way that I'm going to cultivate the new life for the people of God is by telling them to eat the right thing, by telling them to desire the right kind of food. If they will but intensely long for this, they will be blessed. Now, what did we learn? This is C. Lessons from the Bridge Verse. The New Testament epistles often have bridge verses. You can read through the epistles, the epistle to the Romans, and find that for eleven chapters, Paul is talking about basically what God has done. Here is your doctrine. Here is your teaching. But then in Romans 12, in verse 1, there is a bridge, there is a hinge verse. And there he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. This is all the stuff that God has done in laying the foundation. But now, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, Now it is time for you to carry out what God wants you to do and the practical applications begin. In Ephesians chapter 1 through 3, doctrine, teaching, foundation. And then in Ephesians 4 and verse 1, a bridge verse. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness and longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The emphasis moves away from the realm of the doctrine to the practice, and so it is here in 1 Peter. What God has done, what you and I need to do. There was a consistent emphasis of building the gospel imperatives on the foundation of the gospel indicatives. when God comes and tells us as a believer, Tommy, you must sit down. God only comes and gives those imperatives after He has told us of all that He has done in accomplishing redemption for us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in 1 Peter 1, We find that God came up with this plan of salvation. We find that the Father sent His Son. We find that the Son lived a perfect life and died a perfect death, and the Holy Spirit has given the new birth. It is only after you have embraced Jesus Christ by faith that you really need to concern yourself with what do I need to do to please God. You see, the human heart, natively, is inclined to think that if I do this, and if I do that, and now if I do that, then I will win favor with God. But the Bible is very plain to say you need to consider the indicatives, the statements of fact, what God has done first. And only once you have embraced what God has done in Jesus Christ is it right for you then to be fixing your hope, developing godly fear, loving the brethren, and intensely desiring the Word of God. And I want you to see from the outset of our study this morning Being a bad sinner does not keep you from God's salvation. Perhaps you have done something in your past for which you are really embarrassed. There's something shameful. There's something above all other things that you would not want up here with your name at the top and then the date in the time of what you did and then this is it. And perhaps you think that because you have done that, you are no longer a candidate for salvation and a candidate for heaven. But the very way that God lays out His indicatives, His statements of what He has done, and then comes to tell us what we need to do, is an encouragement to us that your sin, your shameful past, is no valid reason for staying away from Jesus Christ. In fact, your sin, your shameful thing written up there underneath your name, is the very reason why you need to go to Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of sinners. Please do not try to fix yourself up in order to gain acceptance with God. Just come as you are and let God fix your record and let God fix your heart through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. So much then for our bridge. One side of the bridge, what God has done. the other side of the bridge, what you and I and Tommy must do. Come with me then to Roman numeral two. I apologize for the pain of listening to my voice. I had no idea that it was this bad until I first spoke at the beginning of Sunday school, and I think we can all hear that it's progressing down the hill. Roman numeral two. You wanted to hear a fresh voice? Well, here it is. The mental alertness. Roman numeral 2. The mental alertness for an enhanced gospel hope. The key duty here in verse 13 is fixing your hope. That's the Tommy sit down. But along with the Tommy sit down, are these two prerequisites that come along ahead of the fixing of your hope. Consider with me, A, the graphic picture of mental preparation. Our new King James renders it, gird up the loins of your mind. Now, we don't talk that way today. And that's why the New American Standard simply says, preparing your mind. The ESV, preparing your mind. And though that communicates, there's something of the original graphic picture that is missed. What is meant? Dr. MacArthur tells us. In ancient times, this concept referred to the gathering up of one's robe. If a person wanted to move quickly and easily, often he would pull the corners of his robe up through his belt or sash to those corners and put it in place. If we were going to go on our Memorial Day picnic and we were going to have a hundred meter dash, how would you dress for that? Would you ladies come in a long garment? Would you come in an A-line skirt that you kind of have to walk like this? And then attempt to beat all others in what would be for you a hundred meter waddle? No. You would come with your track shoes on. You would come with your gym shorts. you would come with something that is not going to encumber you. But in ancient days, both men and women had these long flowing robes, and when they would come to a time of competition, when they would really come to a time of work, They would need to reach down and grab that garment and then tuck it in around the waist so that there was going to be nothing that hinders them so that they can give themselves with abandon to the work at hand. And that's what Peter is telling you and me to do with our mind. Reach down and get the long flowing garments and pull everything up. Get it tucked in so that you are ready to go to work with your mind. Gird up the loins of your mind. The children of Israel were to eat the first Passover in Egypt ready to leave. Thus you shall eat it. with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, so you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Elijah running ahead of Ahab's chariot. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. If you're Elijah and you want to beat the chariot in the midst of a rainstorm, then you're going to gird up your long garment and get ready to go. Well, consider with me the plain reality here of mental preparation. It's not that somehow the way that you dress is going to influence your thinking. He's not talking about physically tucking in your long robe at the waist. But he says, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Your mind. Peter figuratively applies this process to the mind. And in Christianity, you must use your mind. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your mind. Hebrews 8 and verse 10, the blessing of the new covenant is that I will put my laws in their mind. They will sit down and they will attempt to memorize the Ten Commandments. They will use their minds. They will understand what those commandments mean. and they'll plant that in their minds and guide their lives accordingly. Interestingly, this word of mind is used again in Peter's second epistle. And there he says, I now write to you this second letter in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. It is literally that I am waking up your mind. It's like your mind has been asleep and I need to stir it. Here it is. I want you to gird up the loins of your mind. Thirdly, C, what are the practical implications of this mental preparation? Well, let me ask this question. What part of biblical truth can you afford to ignore? Shall we dumb down our Christianity? The Bible is a rich book full of truth that we need to believe and we need to live. Jonathan Edwards, during his brief time of mission work to the Indians there in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, back in the 1750s, Jonathan Edwards preached simply to the Indians and he urged them to learn how to read. And he appealed to them saying, how does it make you feel to know that God has written an entire book and you can't read it? You need to learn to read so that you may have the richness of God's book. Every jot and every tittle of that book has been inspired by God. We must use our minds. I remember looking at one of Thomas Manton's sermons in his exposition of the book of James. And guess how many major heads it had? Two? Three? Four? Six? Twelve? 22 major heads. Now, no one in their right mind would attempt to preach a sermon today to those of us who are accustomed to looking at television with 22 major points. It would be too intricate. We would get lost. So we're not going to do that. We want to make the truth plain. But at the end of the day, you have got to use your mind. You've got to gird up the loins of your mind. Our society is running further and further away from biblical concepts. Can we realistically expect that a light and fluffy, content, missing, 20-minute sermon is going to give us everything that we need to stand against an encroaching, godless society. Please don't bet your soul on it. What does it mean to get your mind ready for work? To use your mind? Well, I think you would understand if your geometry teacher walks into your class and the first thing that she says after she says good morning is this. Get your minds ready. Where do you think you're going? She says, prepare your minds. You know what she means. If your boss calls in the whole team, the sales reps, and the legal end of the company, and the boss is giving a review of some important contract changes with your biggest client, and your boss begins the meeting with, prepare your minds, people, What do you think he's expecting out of you? He's expecting an unusual alertness. He's expecting that, figuratively speaking, you'll reach down and get your long robe and tuck it in. Or you'll slip out of your suit and tie and get your mind in your gym shorts and your track shoes. So you're ready to run with your mind. You see, the Apostle Peter speaks to these outcast believers and urges them to persevere in the faith. And he tells them that which is essential to doing this. You've got to gird up the loins of your mind. Peter certainly is not aiming at some emotional tingle of the feelings that bypasses the mind. There was a place for emotions. But Peter will reach the emotions by way of a mind that is alert and prepared. You and I must discipline our thoughts, that bridge verse in Romans. I beseech you, therefore, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You and I have to think in order to come up with biblical priorities. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. What's the part of seeking first the kingdom of God? And what's all these other things? We have to use our minds. If we would disentangle ourselves from the world's sinful hindrances, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. There is a bridge that leads to enhanced gospel hope. There is a mental alertness that leads to an enhanced gospel hope. And now thirdly this morning, the self-controlled disposition for enhanced gospel hope. Here's the word of our text where we are told there in verse 13, Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, Some of the versions, be sober-minded. First of all, A, to be sober is the opposite of being drunk. If you would look at our word here for sober, and the way that Plato used it, or Herodotus used it, it would be used in the sense of avoiding wine. not getting drunk, sober in the sense of not being under the influence of alcohol. It's interesting that in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 6, you may like to turn there, we see something of that original sense of sobriety versus drunkenness. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 6. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. Now, obviously here in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is talking about something higher and more noble than merely being sober, not being drunk, and drunkenness. There's the figurative stuff that's going on. I grant that. All I want you to see is that something of the original sense of the word lies in the text. Be sober, don't be getting drunk. When one is drunk, he or she is not mentally alert. When Noah got drunk, he forgot to keep his clothes on. Psalm 107 and verse 27, they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits' end. When someone is under the influence of alcohol, they are not their true selves. They are at their wit's end. Proverbs 20 and verse 1, wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. It mocks. It leads to the brawling. Proverbs 23 and verse 29. You may like to turn there. Let me simply give the words of the text. How does drunkenness impact one? Proverbs 23 and verse 29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly. At the last, it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. It's deadly. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mass saying, they struck me, but I was not hurt. They have beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake that I may seek another drink? Proverbs 31, verses 4 through 6. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart. And it appears that what the writer is suggesting is that those who have responsibilities ought not to be drunk. They need their full mental capabilities to discharge their responsibilities. If there's ever a place for someone to have their senses dulled, it's when they're in hospice care. They're dying. They're perishing. There's nothing else that they can do. Then take off the edge. But hopefully most of us are not in the realm of hospice care, but we're in the realm of an active and responsible Christian life. And people are depending on us. And it's not for us. to be under the influence. Ephesians 5, verse 18. Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. One in my readings suggested that drunkenness makes a man less than a man. It's hard to argue with that, isn't it? You take a man made in the noble image of God And you get him bombed out of his mind and he doesn't know what he is. He's certainly not rational. He's not responsible. But being under the influence of the Holy Spirit takes a man or a woman and lifts them to their highest capabilities as a man. It's the most noble sort of man. The clearest thinking. the most servant-oriented under the influence of the Spirit of God. We might tend to minimize the whole matter of drunkenness, but there's some reason that in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul will write to the Corinthian church and says, when you come together, it is not for a supper that in a special way belongs to the Lord. because some of you are selfish in grasping your food to yourself, and some of you are drunk. And in that state, you're not going to be able to dedicate yourself, saying, this is a meal that in a special way belongs to the Lord. Peter will write in 1 Peter 4, verses 1 and following, arm yourselves with the same mind Going on in verse three, for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. And further, habitual drunkenness brings the judgment of God. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 6? Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. But such were some of you. To be sober is the opposite of being drunk. Secondly, be. To be sober is broader than avoiding drunkenness. It's broader than simply avoiding the drunkenness from alcoholic drink. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 6. Be sober, watch and be sober. Verse 8. Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith." He's talking about, well, I stayed away from my drink today. Well, that's good. But that's not what Paul was talking about, is it? He's talking about having a spiritual alertness, a spiritual sobriety, so that you're able to watch out for sin. It's interesting, remember 1 Thessalonians 5-6, watch and be sober. Now, 2 Timothy 4 and verse 5, here's our word for sober, but Paul writes to Timothy in his closing word as he's about to leave this world, but you, Timothy, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. It's Paul simply saying to his choice friend in the gospel, I don't want you to get drunk. Certainly, there's something much higher and much broader and much more noble in these words. Fulfill your ministry. Being sober, being watchful in all things. Be filled with the Spirit, Timothy. And have the Spirit of God so influence you that you'll do the work of an evangelist, fulfilling your ministry. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7, our word for sober appears here. And here our translators have rendered it again as watchful. So sometimes the synonym alongside of our word is watch and be sober. And sometimes they simply take the word of be sober and they broaden it out and say be watchful. It speaks of self-control. What's the point? Peter wants us to consider here by use of this term that to be drunk makes you less than one made in the image of God with a true rationality and a true ability to see need and to minister to the need of others. On the other hand, to be filled with the Spirit, to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you, to employ the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, raises a man or a woman to his or her most noble capacity. Spurgeon once observed of Whitefield that Whitefield was a man who was fully alive. We might rightly say that the man or woman who is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, using his or her gifts by the Holy Spirit, is fully alive. They have reached their most noble place. It's just the opposite of being under the influence of marijuana, of some other drug, or of alcohol that numbs the mind and debases all of our abilities. Roman numeral four. The explicit command. The explicit command for an enhanced gospel hope. Notice with me then quickly, A, the reality of this explicit command. Rest your hope. Fix your hope. Set your hope. Here, as we saw earlier in this section that runs from chapter 113 to 212, there are these five Greek imperatives, and this is one. Fix your hope. Hope is one of the key virtues of the Christian life. Faith, hope, and love. Faith is believing in what God has already done for you in Jesus Christ. And you know what hope is? Hope is believing that God will do what He said He's going to do. I believe what Christ has done on the cross. I believe that as my sins go to Him, His perfect righteousness comes to me. That's faith. But hope is a certain expectation of future blessing. It is, in the language of Paul in Titus 2.13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. A couple of my commentary friends have referred this week to Peter as the apostle of hope. Paul is sometimes spoken of as the apostle of faith, and the apostle John as the apostle of love, and Peter as the apostle of hope. And here we have it in chapter 1 and verse 3. He has begotten us again to a living hope. Verse 21. Jesus Christ had died on the cross and been raised from the dead and God gave him glory so that your faith and your hope are in God. Your faith that looks back to what Jesus has already done and your hope that looks forward to what God has promised to do. 1 Peter 3 and verse 15. Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope. that is in you. And here it is, 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Fix your hope on the grace to come. Secondly, be the intensity of this explicit command. Rest your hope fully. It's so easy, isn't it, to get caught up with the things of earth, even the good blessings that God gives you and me on earth. But how are these troubled and persecuted sojourners going to persevere to the end? Peter tells them, take your mind off of the things that you've lost. Take your mind off of the things that you still have. And fix your hope fully, maturely, completely on the grace that is going to come. Asaph says in Psalm 73, Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 42, As the deer pants for the waterbrook, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night while they continually say to me, where is your God? You see, even in the calamitous times, he is looking to God as his hope. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, but this I say, brethren, the time is short so that from now on, Those who have wives should be as though they have none. Those who weep as though they did not weep. Those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice. Those who buy as though they did not possess. And those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away. What is going to make you and me truly and lastingly happy. Heaven. Won't you admit that if you take the best blessing that you have experienced in this sin-cursed life, even if you have a wonderful marriage, even if you have fourteen wonderful children, Each one of those best of blessings in this sin-cursed world has at least got some little worm eating in that apple. Our only hope for a true and lasting happiness is heaven. Thirdly, see, the particular occasion and the particular focus of this explicit command and fix your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The particular occasion is the glorious return of Jesus Christ. When Christ comes on the sky, we need to think about that. And I bless God that in His kindness I have been thinking to some degree or other about Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of glory since I was a 17-year-old kid. But we all need to think about Him more. Peter's already been occupied with this, hasn't he? 1-4, to an inheritance in heaven. Verse 5, for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Verse 7, may be found to the praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 9, the salvation of your souls. Verse 11, the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. That's the occasion. But now notice with me the particular focus is the grace that you and I will receive at Christ's return. And this is a startling concept. Here is Jesus Christ coming on the clouds with glory, and He looks to you and you and you as true believers, and He says, here's some grace for you. And you say, grace? I thought I already had grace. And he says, oh, you do? But you need much more of it to come live with me. Didn't you already get some unmerited favor of God in this life? Yes. If you're talking of God's eternal choice of you, It's traced back to his own generous heart, Ephesians 1 and verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace. If we're talking about what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross and us believing in Him and thereby being justified, Romans 5 and verse 2, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We already got grace. God's giving us help in the Christian life. Not because we merit God's favor. Still, God's unmerited favor is coming to us. Whether we are suffering or we're simply trying to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, with Paul we can say, the echo that comes from God, my grace is sufficient for you and my strength is made perfect in weakness. When we think of God fitting us for service with spiritual gifts, Romans 12 and verse 6, having then gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us. God showed his unmerited favor to you by giving you this spiritual ability and you this spiritual ability. So didn't you already receive some grace? Yes. But do you need grace at Christ's return? Yes. We need the grace of God for us to be confident and not ashamed at Christ's glorious return. That when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. You start to sense the world melting down Do you think you're going to need something of God's power coming to you by His unmerited favor in giving you the ability to forget about the meltdown and look at Jesus Christ and step forward and say, here I am? Do you need grace at Christ's return? Yes. We need God's grace for God to declare us righteous before the whole moral universe. I thought I was already justified. Yes, you are. But Jesus said in Matthew 12, verse 36, in the context of the day of judgment. For by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you will be condemned. I'm fairly confident that when I stand in the day of judgment and Jesus says, I'm going to declare you righteous to the whole moral universe because of these words that you have spoken, I am going to be the recipient of much of God's grace that He's going to pass over these other words that I have spoken. Do you need grace at Christ's return? Yes. We need God's grace for Him to glorify our bodies just like Jesus' body. The nerve! The nerve to think that we, sinners as we are, are going to possess bodies that are glorified just like Jesus Christ. If we get that, It's because there's a lot of grace that is given to us, a lot of unmerited favor. Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself? Do you need grace at Christ's return? For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed, not to us, but revealed in us. Do you need grace at Christ's return? Yes. We need God's grace for God to completely sanctify us. and make us immutably righteous so that we're fit to live in heaven for one day, let alone for all eternity. Do we need unmerited favor? God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. for the former things have passed away. But I wonder, will you get grace then if you're not getting grace now? There's an interesting thing that Peter tucks away here and it's not visible in most of our English versions. Picture, hopefully, on the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Kind of reminds me of how Paul says it in Romans 8, and is it verse 30? These he called, he also justified. These he justified, these he also glorified. Puts it in the aorist tense as if it's already happened. And here Peter talks about that grace that will come to us, and yet he says, the grace that is being brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The deliverance of God's unmerited favor has already begun in this life. And if you are not a child of God here and now, if you are not a recipient of God's unmerited favor here, then you will not be a recipient of God's grace at the glorious return of Jesus Christ. You must begin to experience the grace of God now in this life And if you will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you will come and begin to experience and live in this realm of grace, the grace that God is bringing to you now is being brought to you, will continue even to the day of Jesus Christ. Oh, receive that grace that is freely offered to all. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your mercy and your kindness. We thank you, Lord, for how you used the Apostle Peter under inspiration to encourage these pilgrims, these sojourners, who had lost so much and may feel defeated and down. And yet, Lord, as we enter into their experience, we find it tremendously encouraging to us to look away from the things of this world that we may have had, even the things that we do have, and we fix our hope fully on the grace that is being revealed to us at the glorious manifestation of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, fix in the hearts and minds of every hearer that Your Son is coming again. Fix in the hearts of every hearer that when Your Son comes, He will be abundantly doling out His grace. Grace to transform our bodies. Grace to transform our souls. Grace to give us boldness and confidence amidst a universal meltdown. Father, fix this. in all of our hearts. And we pray that those who are strangers to Your grace would want it now and want it then. And we know that even this wanting it is traced back to Your large and generous heart. We pray these things in Christ's name, Amen.