Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ. And now the message. 1 Peter chapter 1, and I want to draw your attention to verse 13. This has been really the text that we're trying to grab and really apply into our hearts. And then what we've been doing is expanding it through 1 Peter chapter 1. Notice, if you will, in verse 13. gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This has been our text, A Sound Mind. A sound mind has three characteristics to it. Number one, it has the characteristic of being prepared. You'll note there in verse 13, gird up the loins of your mind. That phrase is a Hebrewism and it has the idea, Peter will be well acquainted with it, it has the idea to gird up something, you're prepared to do something. You have cinched up your robe in the being of the first century believer, you've cinched it up, you're prepared, you're engaged to do something. Have you ever had a task that you needed to do? I have one this week that I need to get a little bit out. I need to do some painting this week. And if you were to ask me right now, are you ready to paint? I would look at my sports coat and I would say, no, I am not ready to paint. Why? Well, because I have destined a distinguished painting clothes or maybe clothes that show I do not have the ability to paint. I got all kind of paint on them. But when I put them on, you could ask me the question, are you ready? And I say, well, I'm getting ready to paint now. You'll know that it's brought to be truth. The fact is, if you and I are going to have a sound mind, it first starts with having a mind prepared. And unless I'm prepared to follow God, unless I'm prepared to be obedient to him, I truly then have not girded up as it were the loins of my mind. Excuse me, the second mark is also found in verse 13. He says, not only to gird up the loins of the mind, but notice this next. Be what? Sober. Be sober. And the idea of a sound mind is it has a level of gravity with it. Seriousness, if you will. It's engaged. The same word prayer, or rather the same word sobering throughout the New Testament is usually the word watching. And so it has with such that it's discerning, it's looking, it has opportunity. The calamity that falls out onto you in life, as we related to you in the Sunday school hour a bit and also prayer service Thursday night, not every calamity that happens to you in life should be truly seen as a calamity. Sometimes things happen, difficult things happen to God's people and it's so that God might manifest Himself unto His people. Many of you have had some calamities in life. Sometimes there are significant losses. Why is it like that? I think it's proper for you and I, when a calamity comes, to say, is this the chasing hand of God? That's a proper thing to do. But not every calamity is that. You can look at the Apostle Paul's life. You can look at Job's life. There's any number of Old Testament and New Testament believers you can look at that experienced calamity that had nothing to do with sin. So then sometimes we have to understand the biblical truth that sometimes calamities happen in life, and it's because God is working. And might I say, never rob God of His blessing just because there's a calamity. I wish I'd have wrote this down. I'm going to do my best to give it to you off cuff, but I was reading old commentary of many years ago, Matthew Henry. Are you familiar with Matthew Henry? Preacher for years. And apparently he had written in his diary, he got robbed on his way. Now he's a preacher. And as he's going from one place to another, someone steps out and harasses him and robs him at threat of his own life and stole from him and took all that he had on him and left. And so Matthew Henry, this is the day long before Cars, arrives home. And he arrives home and he grabs his diary after he had time to process and he wrote down some things to which I must give thanks. He said, first of all, I give thanks that I arrived home. That I was not, my life was not taken from me. I give thanks. He said, equally I give thanks that all he did is took my back, which had my all. but it was not all that much. And then the third one, he said, I give thanks that I was robbed, but I was not the robber. For had I had been the robber, I would have transgressed the very commands of God. I found that remarkable. He had other things placed in there, but you consider that. That, you and I, that's a calamity. Can you imagine going home, somebody stepped out to rob you? Oh, we would be so anxious, so full, so unnerved, so full of distress that we had lost our all, and yet in the scheme of eternity, God knows, and the prepared mind, that's girded up and ready, is a mind that is secure and it's watching unto prayer and it's watching unto thanksgiving and even seeing the difficulties of life, we rest in the sovereign hand of a great God who loved me and gave himself for me and considering all the glorious details related to us in 1 Peter, he cares for me. So if God allows me to go through a trial, must I never forget that God cares for me. Now there's a third thing of this engaged mind here in verse 13 that we'll set the table with, and that is a secure mind, a sound mind rather, is secured. He says there, hope to the end. The end's a long time away. It is. He's speaking about the end of the grace, talking about the return of Christ. I don't know what that's gonna be. It's been 2,000 years since his ascension. That's a lot of years. I'm to hope to the end. If I'm going to hope to the end, it's going to note security. I have security in the Almighty God, and I'm just going to give you a reference here, but if you're writing your Bible, if you're writing notes, please put this down. Romans 8, particularly verse 29 through 35. What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? He goes on in those verses and says, we are more than conquerors through Christ which loved us. That's a hymn of security. So I go to the end of this life, what can separate me from the love of Christ? Neither any other creature shall be able to do that. And these three components are manifested in a sound mind. Now, when we were last in this passage, which was two weeks ago, we talked about what this produces in us, byproducts, if you will, of the direction a sound mind will take us. And we looked at verses 14 through 17, and essentially it was this, that a biblical mind is infused with preparation, sobriety, that watching and security, and it has a forward direction. It does not retreat to its former self. And as a result, there's a few things here, verse 4, we're obedient children. One of the things about a sound mind, it doesn't want to be what it used to be. That causes a lot of anxiety and confusion in life. When I want to be like that which God saved me from. when I want to be like a world system that is enamored with self and focused around self. And when I want to gauge in these things, it ultimately will make me rebellious. And I can tell you one thing's for sure. A sound mind is not a rebellious mind. It's a complicit mind. It complies on the very truths of the Word of God. A sound mind does not want to be like the world. Yet, I would say of this as well, a sound mind does not desire to be the best version of itself. Something broken is still broken. It doesn't matter if it's the nicest broken thing. After all, it is still what? Broken. So, as a believer, I am, here's another passage you can write down, 2 Corinthians 5.17. 2 Corinthians 5.17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, what is he? I'm very thankful for the word new there. I'm just not a creature. I'm new. You see, God took all that that was broken in me, broken thoughts, broken hearts, broken actions, and a broken future. And at the moment that I am saved and in Christ, the moment I have received the marvelous gift of God, He positionally has made me a new creature. It's new. brand spanking new. You know, it's interesting. I did not inherit much from my grandfather's way of things in this life go, but I was able to get a couple tools that they had. And recently, my son, he was getting some tools to go to work. He said, Dad, can I have this pair of pliers? I said, no, you can't have this pair of pliers. And he offended me. He said, Dad, this is a piece of junk, pair of pliers. If I lose them or they break, Dad, really, And at that moment, I had to recognize the truth that he was right. But they were from my granddad. And he goes, looks at me, and he kind of just takes his eyes and goes, just like, puts them back, you know. But he asked me a fair question, why don't you ever use them? I've never seen you use those. Well, because at some point along the time, I realized that, and I got a brand new pair. And I used a brand new pair, and the brand new pair works better than the old pair. An old pair doesn't open quite as well, even you oil them, but these new ones work good. But then, because I didn't let him use my broken one, you know what he did? He went out and bought him a new pair of pliers. And his new pair of pliers works better than my formerly new pair of pliers, and much better than my former, former pair of pliers. My friend, can I just, I'm using a silly illustration to drive home a truth. In Christ Jesus, you're brand new. John would say this in 1 John chapter 3, if our heart condemns us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. My heart tells me you cannot be new. Think of all the sins that you've transgressed the Holy God. Think of all the heartbreak you've experienced. Think of all the hurt that you've endured. Think of all the disappointment that's coming. That's what's being told to me. Yet Jesus Christ said, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, and I have a new destiny, and I have a new name, but best of all, I have a new family. He has made me the son of God, and it doth not yet appear unto me what I shall be, but I know that when I see him, I'll be like him, I'll see him as he is. And He's made me new. And because of that, He doesn't want me to be the best version of my former self. It's still broken. Rather, you'll find there, in verse number 15 and 16, He says, As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. He wants me, ultimately, to be like Christ in all manner of conversation. That conversation is every action of your behavior. that which is indicative that produces the behavior and the behavior itself. I am to be like Christ. And I'll list these. I won't go in detail for time's sake, but I'm to be like Christ because the word of God instructs me to in verse number 16. It is written. You'll find that several times in the book of Leviticus, I'm holy. Why should I be like Christ? Because it's written that I should be like him. Does the word of God mean anything? Because if it does, it is written means somewhere along the lines, in multiple cases, most times, the Lord said, this is what I want you to do. So I'm to be distinct and a brand new person because it's written the record instructs. Because my relationship demands this such. And verse 17, he says, if you call on the father. And that's amazing. There's some people today and tomorrow and next week and this past week that they'll talk about being in your prayers. Theologically, from a biblical point of view, I don't need prayers of just anyone. I want the prayers of God's people. Because the prayers of God's people are the only prayers by which God has obligated himself to hear. There's a lot of people that pray. But if they're praying to Mary, They're not praying to God. At least from my study of scriptures, there's only one time in all the scriptures where somebody prayed to a saint. And you'll find it in the Gospel of Luke. There was a rich man in hell that lifted up his head towards heaven and spoke to Father Abraham. And it didn't do him much good, and it ain't gonna do any good today to pray to Mary at all. Mary, when she needed aid, had to go to the same one to whom you should go to aid, Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. He is the very reason that I'm able to, Hebrews chapter four, boldly approach the, there's no timidity present. You ever been in an environment where you were nervous? I've had a couple of opportunities in life where someone's invited me to one of these big type gala affairs where people are going to dress real fancy and nobody can pronounce how the food tastes and the food doesn't taste great but you have to act like you like it and you've got to stick your finger out when you sip your water and all this good happy stuff and there's eight forks and you've got to work your way in and then you remember halfway through that you forgot to work your way in the food, work your way down the fork because you were working your way through the food. You're unnerved about it a little bit. and you feel to yourself, I don't belong here. It's a little thing. It's a little like putting a brass doorknocker on a barn, you know, whipped cream on an onion. It just doesn't go that way. But when it comes to prayer, I need not enter with timidity. I come boldly to the throne. Why? Because he's my father. He said, when you pray, pray like this. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. So our relationship demands it. Our redemption compels it. You're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The revealed grace of God, in verse 20, that was ordained before the foundation of the world, motivates us. And then in verse 21, the glorious truth, his resurrection empowers us. All these are true. I can live wholly. I can walk with God because I'm a new creature, because God said I could, because he is now my father. I'm no longer an enemy. I'm not an adversary. I'm not a competitor. I'm in the family of God. I've been redeemed. And the cost of my redemption was not silver and gold. I read articles. on finances sometimes and how important it is. I was listening to one the other day and they're talking about a new credit check system that will hopefully open up the housing market to a new, some 30 million people countrywide. And I was reading, it was fantastic to read this. And I thought, it makes a lot of sense. And then he began to think about how important silver and gold is to people. You know, silver and gold's not very important to God the Father. He made it. All the silver and gold, he says, are mine. In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, and when He developed all that is atmospheric and geologically the earth, He made gold. He made all the elements on the periodic table of elements. But when it came to redemption's story, God paid for your sin debt with that most valuable thing, his only begotten son. No higher price could have ever been paid. It demands, it compels me to want to live for God. And you say, well, I don't think I have the ability. Do you remember that old verse there? Ephesians 3.20, it's our verse for the year. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding, it's always beyond. Abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power, that Greek word is where you get the word dynamite from. According to the power that worketh, that's another power word in us. You know what allows me to live a life that pleases God? God's not pleased with anything I do. He's pleased with things He does. And all I must do in this life that I live with a sound mind is understand the truths of the Word of God and yield to them. He does the work. He provides the power. You want agony and vexation of the Spirit? Try to live the Christian life without Jesus Christ. I submit to you that I think really there's a lot of people that go to churches and maybe even good churches on a regular basis and they're frustrated by it. One of the reasons that frustration can exist is because we're trying to do something that we don't have the power to do. And the reason we don't have the power to do it is because we don't have the indwelling spirit of God. And because we don't have the dwelling spirit of God, we're not part of the family of God, and we don't have access to God the Father. And it looks as though it's a bunch of strictured religion, and it looks as upon there's a lot of thou shalt, and thou shalt not, and thou shalt do this, and you shall not do that, and it looks like rules and regulations. But to those that are in Christ Jesus, whose spirit indwells, we loved him because he first loved us. and His commandments are not grievous. They're wonderful. They provide peace and hope and joy and labor and focus and direction. You know, I'll be honest. I've been by the side of many a saint of God in their last days. And what's interesting to me is none of them ever say, I regret this road I've traveled. But I've also been around a lot of people that had many regrets because they weren't on the road soon enough or didn't stay on the road like they ought to stay on it. No, you and I have the power of the resurrected God. These are those thoughts in our hearts that stir us to focus on Him. Now drop your eyes down here to verse 22. Sometimes we get that proverbial cart before a horse but look if you will at verse 22. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Our mind is instructed and as it is compliant to the instructions of the Word of God, we have a motivation and ability that will move us to other spiritual graces in our life. I'm not going to get all of this. I'm just going to focus on this first one. You say, what's one of the great endowments of a sound mind? You ready? The purity of life. Seeing you have purified your souls. To purify something means to make pure. And throughout the scriptures, there's a host of places that a believer is instructed in which to be pure. I recited one of them a moment ago, but in 1 John 3, he that hath this hope in him purifieth. Now, in the authorized version here, it ends in an ETH. So it's a continual thing. You know, I would note in the Christian life, it's a continual thing. to be a purified self. I'm not talking of salvation. You don't get saved every day. But as a child of God, I live and abide in a world that does not appreciate God. Sometimes that might be at work. For some, that might be at home. It might be your neighborhood. I'm bombarded with thoughts that create unrest and unease in my mind and heart. I have a responsibility. I'm to purify my soul." James would instruct the church at Jerusalem in chapter 4 and verse 8, purify your hearts. This is an interesting expression, ye double-minded. James uses that word again in chapter 1 and I believe it's in verse 8. He talks about a double-minded man is unstable and all is going. The image there is the coast, the shore if you will. You get next to the tide and you stand on that old sand and the wave crashes in and what happens to the sand under your feet? It loses its structure and stability and you're forced to make a decision, aren't you? You're going to move and have more stability or you're going to stay and you might lose all stability. It's unstable. Sand by nature as it relates to structure by itself lacks stability. That's why Matthew chapter 7 in the parable of the wise man, the distinction there was the man that built his house upon the sand and the man that built his house upon a rock. And when the storms come, and they'll always come, which one's gonna give you sureness? The rock. When I purify myself by the Holy Spirit of God and through the Word of God, It is, if I can put it in this sense, reaffirming my position on the rock of God. There's everything that's gonna pull me to the sand. This world, this system, and sometimes even friends and family will pull me onto the sands of life. They'll say it's easier, it's convenient, it's less work, it's quicker because everything that is quicker in life is always better, right? It's less arduous. John Bunyan in the 1600s would write of Pilgrim's Progress. And the narrative of that entire book deals in some parts to the Christian life. And how off, like Dear Pilgrim, we're pulled off into the easy routes. How off we're pulled into the ways that seem to look good or seem to look very similar to what it is. But the reality is it produces a dual-minded purpose. Shall I go or shall I stay? Will I fall or will I stand? Sureness comes on the rock which is found in Jesus Christ. The sound mind has been able through the Spirit of God to give us purity. It strives directionally to maintain its uprightness before men and even in our daily walk. Why? Verse 15, because he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. I'm to strive for a level of purity, purifying my souls and obeying the truth in my speech, in my thought, in my actions. Now there will be a problem, a challenge if you will. You're in chapter one, turn over to chapter four. Peter's gonna give you a little problem here, a challenge. If I as a child of God with a secured mind, it's prepared, it's secured, it's sober, and I'm seeking to be an obedient child, and on a regular basis I'm purifying myself, I'm sinking my actions, my thought, my speech to the word of God. And I would submit to you that's a daily and regular need. That's why we renew our minds daily. There's going to be a challenge. You're there in chapter four. Look, if you will, in verse number three, he's commissioning the same thing in verse two, that we're not to live the rest of our times to the flesh of the lust of men. That's how the world lives. They get their way or at least attempt to get their way right away. What I want, what I think. I would note in our society today that some of the financial issues we have as a national country are directly tied to the average homes. Our government spends money and has massive debt. And it has national and security implications. And one of the reasons it's allowed is because a populace of 330 million people mostly live their life that way. And anxiety is present. And why is it present? Because we're trying to squeeze out of life every aspect we can. I mean, after all, you only live once. Yet here in verse chapter four, verse two, that we should no longer, he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of man, but to the will of God. Notice verse three. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. When we walked in, this is what God said about your life prior to salvation. We walked in lasciviousness. Lasciviousness is like a license to do what you want to. It's used a number of times in the New Testament, Romans 13 I believe it is. It's used with the the idea of chambering. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, it's used with the idea of fornication. In Ephesians chapter 4, it's used with the idea of greediness. In Galatians chapter 4, it's denoted as being a work of the flesh. That's what lasciviousness is. It's a license to pursue morally, physically, mentally, and financially whatever you want. He said, as time passed, I walked in lasciviousness. I walked in lust. That's the desires of life. I walked in excess of wine. I walked in reveling. That's the idea of carousing, partying, illicit partying. Not a birthday party, just a wild party. I walked in banqueting. The word for banqueting is imbibe. It doesn't mean to get drunk, it means to imbibe. I walked in the abominable idolatries. That really summarizes it, that last phrase. I was my own God and I had violated the first of God's holy commandments that thou shalt have no other gods before me." That's ultimately what separates a lost man from a believer. A man of the world from a man of God. A child of darkness from a child of light. Someone that's part of the kingdom of evil versus the kingdom of light. Who's your God? Who's going to reign supreme in your life? In Matthew chapter 6, part of that parable in the Sermon on the Mountains, part of the message of the Sermon on the Mountains, the Lord declared emphatically that you can't serve two masters. You'll either love the one and hate the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. You see, ultimately purity of life strikes at who's going to have the throne of my heart. Who's going to be high and exalted and lifted up in my life. Well, for the sound mind, that's Jesus Christ. And so distinct and thorough will be that change. Notice verse four, wherein they, those people that you used to run with, think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, and therefore what do they do? Speaking evil of you. fully 180 degrees. What did it? The endowment of a sound mind. It brings a desire for purity and that purity permeates every area of our life to the point that there may be those that we used to be with and they'll look at us and say, I don't understand. What an excellent opportunity. to give an answer of the hope that lieth within you because of God's marvelous power that worketh in us. Purity of life, part of the endowment of the sanctuary. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541 Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.sbdcpa.org. Until next time,