I invite you to turn with me in 1 Peter chapter 1. Peter has given us a hymn after he's introduced to whom he's writing, writing to the elect who are scattered around all of Asia Minor, which would be modern day Turkey. and writing to them in verse 2 that all that he says in the hymn from verse 3 down to verse 12 follow this outline. According to the foreknowledge of God, our Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit that leads us to obedience, and by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace be multiplied. And that's the theme of the book. that God's work of grace that comes because God chose to and came by the application of the Holy Spirit that leads us to follow Christ in obedience and that's from the beginning initiation when we first come to trust Christ all the way up until the end when we finally walk into glory and then the means by which we find ourselves right with God and that is the blood of Jesus Christ. In verse 13 he says then there is a way that we are to live because all of this is true. And so he began to describe us, and he gave a command, actually he gave three of them, that we're to hope and that we're to become something. And the last one in verse 17, which follows up with what we're looking at this evening, is how we conduct ourselves, how we're to live, how we are to stand up in the world and against the world, and how then we are to live. And so reading verse 17 down through verse 21, 17 being the theme of these, And if we call upon the Father who judges without partiality according to each one's work, then in fear let us live out the remainder of our time as we are passing it on, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, out of the vain conversation or former way of life that you have received down from your fathers. But by the precious blood, as of a lamb without spot or blemish, the precious blood of Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, and yet came to light or was manifest in these last times for us. We who believe through him unto God, who raised him out of the dead, unto his own glory that he gave him, so that our faith and our hope might be directed towards God. He gives us one command, one charge. And it is the answer, how do we live before God? How are we to conduct ourselves? How is it that when I get up tomorrow morning and I make my decisions for the day, what's to guide me in those things? Because so many things attract us, so many things draw us away. We all know mentally, we all know to assent, to say that we ought to please God. If someone were to ask us, what is the chief end of man? Why were we created? Why are we here? We might rightfully answer to them from 1 Corinthians 10 31. That whatsoever you do, oh man, whether you eat or drink or whatsoever else you do, everything, do all things for the glory of God. So God has created us for His glory and for us to enjoy Him all of our days. And we understand that. And we know that. But how's that look every single day when we get up, when we go to work, or when we don't go to work, when we sit in front of the television in our living room, or whether we sit in front of our computer, or iPad, iPod, Kindle, or whatever else electronic device we are sitting in front of, because we're all sitting in front of something. and our telephone conversations and all of our other associations, the time that we spend, how are we to conduct ourselves? Well, Peter gives us a clue by describing us in the actions that we do, and the actions that we do in light of the actions that God does. And so he reminds us, first of all, that we call God our Father. And why do we call God Father? Why do we call upon Him? Why do we address ourselves to appeal to God and call Him Father? Where did we ever get that? I didn't read it in Isaiah and I don't read it in the Psalms. I don't read it in Moses and Deuteronomy. So how is it that we come to call upon God as Father? Who taught us that? Jesus Christ did. When you pray, pray like this. Our Father. who art in heaven hallowed be thy name and as we begin to pray we learn that we only know God and call upon him as father because of Jesus Christ we would not know him in that relationship in a paternal in a in a familiar kind of relationship if it were not for Jesus Christ God would still be distant God would still be foreign God would still be other and over there and God would not have come near Except in special cases through theophanies where God made himself known, but there would be fear there would be dread there would be tempest There would be all kinds of unrest and we would not know that we could draw near to God comfortably But for us to get so comfortable that we are casual You know, there is a difference isn't there it I can walk comfortably My office the front door is open when you come in the front office. Everybody walks to the back office. How come I Because who's in the back office? I am. All right, and people are comfortable to come back there, aren't they? Anyone dread to walk into the second office? Anyone feel like fear and trembling and trepidation to walk through that second door? Or do you kind of casually walk in? I mean, you're comfortable to go there, right? All right, but if you come to a funeral service, should you not at least be dressed a certain way? For me to come in my pajamas, in my house shoes, with my hair all a mess, like they go to Walmart. You laugh, but that's how they go, isn't it? They got the big fluffy house shoes on, they got their hair all up in curlers, and come walking in in their pajamas and their bathrobe. You know, they're casual, a little too casual, right? You can be too casual. And so the difference between that when we come into the presence of God, we ought to be comfortable to come to God as our father, but not casual. And the reason not casual, because we know that God is still the judge and God is still judging. And it says he judges each one according to his own works, every one of us. So when we read in the book of Revelation in chapter 20, that great day when God will judge men, it says, and he opens up the books. all of them and what's in them, the things that we have done. And the only relief that you and I have apart from the rest of humanity is, is that there is another book. Those books get open. It's not as though somehow or another they've been exhumed or erased. David prayed for that, but it doesn't happen. You remember in Psalm 51, he says that you would erase or blot out my iniquity. But the greater joy is that he would restore the joy of salvation. You see, those things are still there. But the fact is, there's another book. And it says, the books are open, and the other book is open. And that book is the Lamb's book of life. And the reason that there's another book is because the Lamb was slain, and with his blood purchased men from every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue. The only reason that we're not judged and condemned over here is because there's another book, and he already was judged and condemned for us, and he took our place when he did it. But we will stand before God, and he says, without appearance, without looking at the face, without receiving people according to their outward appearance, their outward dignity, their title, their reputation, or their position, And so we live out, as we are living in our body, this idea of still being in our house, the remainder of the time that we're in this house, we are to live out our time, conduct ourselves in fear. And why? Why should there still be a sense of fear for a Christian? I thought we were over that. I thought we were past that. I thought the wrath of God was gone, and that then it was, you know, the propitiation was gone, Christ's anger, you know, God's anger was turned away in Christ, and they were. But Paul will remind us in 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 10, that there's still a day of wrath that's coming, and Christ is delivering us from that day. That when that day of wrath and judgment does come, that Christ, we wait anxiously for Him, because if He doesn't come with it, what happens? If with that great day of judgment, when it does come, if Christ doesn't come with it, then what happens? We would be destroyed as well. But we anxiously await Him, why? Because He's going to deliver us from that. When that day and the flood is coming, the fire is coming, and everything is coming against us, He will rescue us. He will deliver us. in the presence of all of it. Like Lot was rescued and saved in such a small place so far, you and I will be rescued in the hand of God because Christ comes, because of what Christ has done. And he says, so we know this, things that we know, knowing this, that you were not redeemed, you were not ransomed, you were not bought, you were not purchased with those things that are corruptible, silver or gold, Now think about it for just a moment, and I realize everybody has a different level of Old Testament comprehension or understanding or familiarity. But whenever you think about sacrifices in the Old Testament, it generally came with something had to do what? Something had to die. It took the blood for the remission of sin. So where in the world does the silver and gold come in? What is the venue in which silver and gold is the ransom price? Where does that come in? And it comes in with the first born. Every child that was born, every livestock that was born, your first born calf, your first born little lamb, your first born little goat, your first born little baby. the firstborn that was God's blessing, the bakar, you either paid for it by a ransom price, you paid money in regard to your livestock and to your children, or if it were an animal, if you were not going to be redeeming it, if you were not willing to buy it, then you had to break its neck. Do you recall that? I know it's been a while since you've read Numbers and Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but if you did not buy the firstborn animal, The neck was broke and the lamb, the goat, the ox died. Or you bought it because it belonged to God. And so there was a ransom price that was paid for the children. There was money that was required. And so he says, knowing this, that not with the corruptible things of silver and gold were you redeemed, were you ransomed. We weren't ransomed. God didn't didn't rescue us by the purchase by paying a price We didn't have to come into our billfold and say I need to pay 20 pieces of silver If I'm going to rescue my my babies if I'm gonna save my children I need to come up with this but we're familiar with that because we know that on the Exodus when God delivered Israel Then what was required of them? Was it not the blood of a lamb, of a infant, of a child lamb, of a baby lamb that was sacrificed in blood that was put over the door so that the bakar, the firstborn, would not die but live? Because whereas God passed over children until the Passover, and there was the possibility of the ransom, it required of them the giving of a lamb and a reminder that a death was required to purchase that life. In the vain conversation of the manner of life and the same thing that he says that we're to live out the remainder of our chronological time, here's how we're to conduct ourselves. Well the way that we, that our forefathers, speaking of Israelites, the way our forefathers had passed this down in their vanity is that this was sufficient. that this was enough, that if we paid the price, then we were resolved, it was taken care of. And it's the same thing. We go around and we have dumbed down the gospel so much that we say, well, once saved, always saved, and so we can come to faith in Christ and we can live like hell the rest of our lives, right? You shake your head, but that's how the rest of the world sees us. that you can live like the devil because Christ has saved you from your sin. You've got, in fact, the gospel tracts and gospel society and the evangelicals and evangelism would pass out things like a ticket to heaven. Did you ever get yours? A ticket to heaven, you got your ticket, you're gonna ride. Well, it seems to me like Garcia had a song about having a ticket, but it was Hellbound Train. For you who aren't familiar with Grateful Dead, you won't know that. But everybody had a ticket to get on a train, but it wasn't going where they thought it was going. Because he saw the hypocrisy in the ticket to heaven. There is no ticket to heaven. There is no ticket to heaven. And there's no pass, and there's no checkbook. You know, I've got collections of these things. They're ridiculously retarded, that we would ever use them is beyond imagination. But we did, and we delighted ourselves in entertaining that, and the result is that we have a thousand on our rolls, but we don't have a thousand in the kingdom of God, do we? And so we have conflated decisions because they got a ticket, and they're on some bus somewhere, and they're going someplace, but they're not going the right direction. And we've given them by our vain conversation and our vain traditions, we have given them the foolishness that somehow or another, that if they said a right prayer, if they meant it rightly in their heart, that somehow or another that was sufficient. And that's not what Peter says. He says, if we call God Father, then there is a conduct that must go along with it. Why? Because of what Christ did. Because of what Christ did, there is a conduct that's required of us who call God Father as His children, that we are to live, and we're to live in this respect and honor and fear before God, in this awesomeness before God. It's required of us. And He says, so we know that we weren't redeemed by these things that are not cheap trinkets to heaven. But rather it came with a great price. with a high costly price. It was the blood of Jesus Christ that ransoms us, that buys us, that pays the price. And not just to deliver us so that we become the children of God, and we are. We are the children of God, but beyond that that he changes us that there is that the way that we live is one We live with hope that's what he said that we hope in verse 13 Hope completely For the grace is being brought to us when Christ does come for the grace that he will give to us when he does come hope for that Have your hope up there have your hope in Christ and we ought to have it but the reason we have us because Christ died and Because the price was paid 1st Corinthians chapter 6. Don't you know do you not know that you are not your own? You don't belong to yourself. You were bought with a price with the precious with the Bible Price of Christ by his blood and we saw it in 2nd Peter in chapter 1 this high pricely costly promises and the promises came to us how Through the blood and the death of Jesus Christ You see, they come at a great price, they come at a great cost, they come at a great value. And if we're going to make an analysis, not through the ransom of the firstborn, of the paying of a price of money and of things that we value here, but something far greater of importance, a lamb, without spot or without blemish. And the picture is not the sacrificial lamb for the Day of Atonement in the contrast, The picture is Jesus Christ as the Passover. As the Passover lamb, we look over for just a moment in Revelation in chapter five, and in the great hymn of heaven of Christ, actually the whole series of them, as we find John weeping in heaven because no one's been found worthy to open the book, and he's weeping, and the elder says, stop crying that there is one, that one of the elders said to me, stop weeping, Because there is one who has overcome it is the lion who came from the tribe of Judah the root of David He is worthy to open the book and the seals thereof why? Because the Lion King he says in verse 9 a new song is being sung and the hymn is this you are worthy to take the book and open it and open its seals because you were slain and Purchased to God by your blood out of every tribe and language and people and nation and made to them for our God Kings and priests and they will reign upon the earth in verse 12 and Saying a new song you are worthy O Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise And again saying to the one who sits upon the throne and to the lamb Blessing and honor and glory and strength forever and ever The four living creatures said amen and the 24 elders fell down on their face The lion is a lamb And we find here christ. Our passover was sacrificed with us without spot, without blemish. And those were the requirements, whether it was the day of atonement or whether it was on the day of Passover. But for Peter, he is looking at the Passover. Why? Because again, reading Paul, and he is reminded, 1 Corinthians in chapter 6. Reminds us Christ our Passover was sacrificed It's already happened that Christ our Passover what Passover the lamb the lamb of God that John saw when he says in chapter 1 behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world the Lamb of God So we find him again announcing that we are to celebrate the feast because Christ our Passover was sacrificed. So let us celebrate it in without leaven of malice, without the leaven of bitterness and envy, but rather as unleavened that is pure and true. Christ's own blood was paid for us. He begins to describe Christ because that's where the picture, that's where our eyes ought to turn. And though Christ came in time, became a man and lived among us and we beheld his glory, there's something far greater about Christ. In verse 20 it says, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world and yet came present, appeared in this last of times on our behalf. Known beforehand. If you go to a doctor and he sees you coming in and he sees your face all pale and he sees you kind of white and he looks at you, he may be able to give a prognosis, a pronosis to know beforehand. And he can look at you and he can say, check his blood pressure. I think he's having heart palpitations. He's having a heart attack. Or he can look and see your reddened face and he can say, the man's got a fever. He has some kind of a virus, he has some, he makes prognosis, he just looks at you. And he can tell from outward physical signs, am I right? For you nurses? He looks and he can see physical signs and the physical signs tell him he can make a prognosis, know ahead of time. Have an idea. And that's where this word comes from. Well, Christ was known, was known before the foundation of the world. Again, Peter said in 2 Peter that he's reading Paul, and he depends upon Paul because he says Paul speaks such deep things that those who read him and don't understand him twist it to their own demise. And yet he tells us in Ephesians chapter one in his hymn, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love he predestined us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ unto himself according to the good pleasure of his will and to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he has lavished upon us in the beloved. God has known Christ. before the world was laid, before the foundation, before any concrete was poured, before the forms were laid, and the sand was brought in, and before the footers were dug, and before the steel was put into the slab, and before the plumbing was put in place, Christ was known on our behalf. Before the fall, Christ was known on our behalf. The lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And so when we think about the gospel that Jesus Christ, first of all, is God, he is known by God before the world began, before creation itself, or John says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, the word was God, and the same was in the beginning with God, and nothing came into being that came into being apart from him. That he is God, and he is with the Father, and they're there together, and they're accomplishing their purpose together equally. But in these last days, at the end of the chronological time before the final break. You see, chronology has a beginning and it has an end. Chronology is we measure time. And that's what he talks about us. We know that there's a measurement of time in verse 17. We have a chronology. We know when we begin because we're told that's the day we were born. And we know we have an end to our chronology, don't we? There will be a day that comes at the other end of the dash that will go on a headstone someplace, or I guess the more modern way to do it is in a bumper sticker on the window. You know, we don't put up gravestones anymore. We put in memory and honor and all of that on the back of our car. So we'll put that up there and there'll be a little dash and we'll have a day that we began our chronology and a day we end it, won't there? For every one of us. So in our chronology, In our chronology, at the end of all of our chronologies, Christ came. He appeared, known by God before creation began, known by God always in eternity, but He came present. He appeared. God became a man. Why do I keep saying that? Why do we keep bringing that up that we never forget Christ is God and he became a man? Emmanuel the God who is with us the God who came into our existence to become like us to be made like us and in all points be like us except for sin Why was he manifest Paul or Peter says it was for us? He came present. We saw him. We beheld him. We held him. We saw his glory The glory is the only begotten of the Father John would say Why for us? Not for himself, for us that Christ came. And it is through him that we believe upon God. You know, it's an amazing thing because I find it rare that I, I know there's the new atheists and I read about them and I read their literature and I read articles by them and interviews by them, but you know what? I have not met one. I have just certainly not met one. It's a funny thing. One of the new atheists was talking about having to go to a funeral for one of the relatives of one of his friends. I think a parent had died. And so here is this guy that has adopted and accepted atheism through his friend, and his friend comes to comfort him. And what comfort do you give when this is it? You know, what do you say to someone? Well, your mom's going to be pushing up dirt. But you at least have this to think about. There'll be a flower that blooms and grows from her. And there may be a deer come along and eat her, you know, so that something else is going to live because she lived. But, you know, all you've got is your memories and your photographs because this is it. There ain't nothing else, Jack. It's over. That just really comforts my heart, doesn't it? I mean, I'm feeling it right here. You know, I'm getting the queasies, the oozy, you know, comforting things, right? Yeah. It doesn't work for us. And it doesn't work for them. Because as you read down through the article, he said, I feel, I feel utterly hopeless. In fact, I feel it vain that he would even ask me to such an event, because I think this is, it's over. And so why do we prolong it and bring it on? But my friend was warning comfort. I had none to offer. I had nothing to offer. Not so for us. You see, we don't mourn like the rest of the world who have no hope. Why? Because we have been born again to a living hope by Christ from the dead, verse three. And we have been charged to hope fully that that grace is going to come when Christ comes again. And because of Christ, we have reason to believe upon God, to trust in God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We have hope to believe upon a God who can raise His own Son from the dead, who is on the second when He died for our sins, He rose for our justification. We are able to believe in God, the one true God, because Christ died and He rose. And so that is the reason we are able to hope and why it ought to change the way that you and I live. He raised Him from the dead. And he raised him from the dead and gave him glory. John 17, we've just finished John. Last year sometime. And in John 17, Jesus' praise, he says, Father, give me the glory that I had with you from the beginning. I have glorified you, your son has glorified you here, and I have manifest your glory, so glorify your son. We talked about the great doctrine of the aseity of God. Y'all remember that? John 13? The Ascension of God is God is most glorified when he is glorified in himself. I have glorified you, you glorify me. The Father glorifies the Son and the Father is glorified in the Son. You know, we call that pride and vanity when we glory in ourselves, don't we? Or we glory in our children. But when God glories in God, it is the greatest glory that there is. For all things exist for God's glory. And the Son has glorified the Father in His death and in His resurrection, and the Father has glorified the Son and given Him glory. Why? So that our faith and our hope might be in God. that everything leads to God. All the work of Christ leads us to the Father. Everything that Christ has done in giving us salvation leads us to the Father, keeps drawing us to Him, keeps our focus upon Him, and keeps reminding us that God is not our brother, He is our Father, and we stand before Him as a father, as a son, as a daughter, adopted, but we stand accountable to Him. So my faith your faith must rest upon the God who has given us all of this in Christ Who as Peter has already said has foreknown us who has given the has given the Spirit to sanctify us to make us right with himself and holy and to lead us to obedience in Christ who poured out his blood for us that we might have grace and peace multiplied in him Our faith might be in Christ. Our hope might be in God. And that the promises of God, which are amen and amen, we might find them true and faithful. So how then should we live? We live knowing that we stand before an awesome and mighty God, a holy God. Who created everything, who is always in fellowship with the son, always in fellowship with Jesus Christ, always in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and that together they have worked out our salvation before we even began. that God had already planned the means of salvation before the world began. And that's all been pointing to Christ, whether it was the tree in the garden, the tree of life that would offer it, whether it was the Sabbath that reminded us we rest in God before we go to work. The Sabbath day came before the work day. The very first day God created in six days and then he rested and man rested. Then chapter two, the first thing that happens is man was told to rest and then he was told to go to work. And we rest in God, we rest in Christ before we work. We don't work to rest in Christ. We rest in him and then we find our work appropriate. And that's the order that we find it here. And the gospel has always been proclaimed that our trust and rest is upon God who accomplishes it by his will, by his power, by his authority. And all that we do, we hold in accountability to God. So therefore, let us live out the remainder of our time Calling upon God as our father knowing that he will judge us and he will do it with impartiality and we live the remainder of our time and fear why because Christ has died for us and we're accountable to God for the way that we live we're to live with hope and not in Desperation and we're live out our hope because Christ is coming again So no matter what our circumstances we keep looking to Christ we keep looking to God and we know that he is our deliverer and when that day comes we will find our deliverance and We won't find it in government solutions and in politicians. We won't find it in some kind of a new technology. We won't find it in a great rich cash reward. We will find our only hope in Christ. And we will find our greatest joy when we find it in him. And if we look anywhere else, we will always be disappointed. God has called us to a holy living because of the holy price. Let us come before God. And if we have never named the name of Jesus Christ as our savior, let us come to him in faith. Because without faith, it's impossible to please God. Let us draw near to him in faith and confess Christ as our Lord and God as our father. Knowing that God will change us and bring us to himself, that we might live by faith. Not by sight, not by works, but we might live by faith in him. Let's stand. The Savior is waiting to enter your heart. Why don't you let Him come in? There's nothing in this world to keep you apart What is your answer to Him? Time after time He has waited before And now He is waiting again It says in Psalm 49, how much is the price for a soul? It's way too much. You can never pay it. It's way too costly. You ought to give up even trying. But he goes on to say, but I know that my Redeemer lives. We appeal to our Redeemer, because we can't pay the price. We don't have enough money, and we have not enough good works to make us pleasing to God. And if it were not for the Redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord, then we would never find ourselves pleasing to God. But in Jesus Christ, we find our rich reward. He is our reward. And if we will rest and trust in Him, we will have eternal salvation. The forgiveness of sin, and the best of all, to be a son, to be a daughter, and to belong to God because Jesus Christ paid the price. Would you come to Him? If you've never trusted Christ, you come. If you'll take one step toward the Savior, my friend, you'll find His arms open wide. Receive Him and all of your darkness will end Within your heart He'll abide Time after time He has waited before And now He is waiting again We just do pray Lord there's someone here that needs to open the door to their heart and let you come in, that you can be able to do that tonight. God, I just pray that, again, the Holy Spirit will continue to weigh heavy upon them, Lord, until they seek that out. God, to know the peace that you give us in knowing your son, Jesus Christ, and the redemption he gives us through his blood. God, we just thank you again for this time together. We ask that you go with us and protect us, Lord. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Don't forget the meeting, VBS meeting in the dining hall right after this. Let's close with grabbing a hand. God will make a way. God will make a way when there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me. He will be my guide. He will be close to his side. With love and strength, I'll reach the way. He will make a way for me. We will make a way.