Holy Java I

1 Peter 1:13-21

Theme: understanding strong spiritual and theological truths cultivates a desire to live a holy life.

Introduction:

Many Americans start their day with a cup of java (coffee). College or the first job is where this habit started for some and they continued thereafter. In fact the total percentage of Americans over the age of 18 that drink coffee every day is 54% (Harvard School of Public Health). Yes, about 100 million Americans drink a cup of java every day! It is the caffeine in coffee that affords consumers mental alertness; this stimulation helps them stay sharp and focused—functioning appropriately to meet the demands of their day. Because we are a busy/insomnia afflicted generation, we require lots of artificial stimulation often. For some folks the stronger the coffee blends, the better the anticipated results! This is why Starbucks and coffee shops are doing so well in the USA with 18 billion dollars spent annually on specialty coffees (Statisticbrain.com). Likewise, Christians can become sluggish and lethargic requiring stimulation of a spiritual sort. However, instead of a cup of java, we need a freshly brewed pot of theological truth. In fact this potent spiritual blend includes a generous dose of the holy character of God, God’s judgment, and the price of our redemption! This rich and robust blend of truths should provide the stimuli we need to overcome our apathy while aiding the cultivation of holy passions.

In an effort to stir and stimulate holy motivations for spiritually muscular living, Peter lays out some of God’s most potent stimuli in the entire universe! It is correct to believe that we have a glorious salvation, but we must embrace the requirement of gracious sanctification also. God took us as we were, but He loves us too much to leave us like He found us. He thus has undertaken a life-long transformation and maturation process in each Believer. Growing Believers need biblical encouragements and appropriate challenges for real growth and to sustain spiritual changes. We need spiritual stimuli from God’s Word and not coffee beans from South America to sustain a passion for holiness. As a result, Peter launches into a series of challenges creating the momentum for these splendid biblical realities with the intention of stirring our appetites for holy devotion. To become deeply impressed by these truths is to discover the stimulation for holy living seven days a week. Like good coffee beans, holy desires must be cultivated!

At this juncture it is vital that I define my key term—“holy.” The general idea of holy is “different.” A holy person is not an odd person, but a different person. Such a life has a Christ-like quality making it quite different from the values and behaviors of society at large. His or her present “lifestyle” is not only different from their past way of life, but it is different from the “life-styles” of the unbelievers he or she may live and work with. A Christian’s life of holiness appears strange to the lost (1 Peter 4:4), but it should not be strange to other genuine Believers (Wiersbe, W.).

However, it is not easy to live in this world and maintain a holy walk. The anti-God atmosphere around us that the Bible calls “the world” is always pressing against us, trying to force us to conform (Rom. 12:2). Therefore, we constantly need to refocus our hearts on substantial and persuasive motivations from God’s Word to avoid becoming polluted by the world around us.  We often require powerful compelling stimulation to sustain a holy lifestyle. We need a large mug of holy java!

Message:

I.                  Spiritual Stimulation Involves Holy Preparation (1 Pet. 1:13-16).

The assurance of Christ’s Return is held out as a compelling motive for endurance through the storms and tribulations of life. “The revelation of Jesus Christ” is another expression for our “lively hope” (1:3) and “the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1:7). Christians live in the future tense; our present actions and decisions are governed by this future hope. Just as an engaged couple makes all their plans in the light of that future wedding, so Christians today live with the expectation of seeing Jesus Christ (Wiersbe, W.). Beloved, this is potent java indeed!

A.     Place the Hope of the Revelation of Jesus Christ before you (13).

1.      Be Strong-minded.  Prepare yourself to be strong-minded to think free of distraction (13).   “Gird up the loins of your mind” is the ancient practice of gathering up one’s robes when needing to move in a hurry; here, it is metaphorically applied to one’s thought process. The meaning is to pull in all the loose ends of one’s thinking, by rejecting the hindrances of the world and focusing on the future grace of God (Eph. 6:14; Col. 3:2). As they went out into a hostile world, believers were to avoid panic and distraction. In times of persecution, there is always the tendency to become rattled and confused. A girded mind is one that is strong, composed, cool, and ready for action. It is unimpeded by the distraction of human fear or persecution.

2.      Be Sober-Minded.  Prepare yourself to be sober-minded, stable and self-controlled (13).  This state of mental solidarity is further encouraged by the words be sober. This means self-control in contrast to hysteria. The sober spirit is poised and stable.  Spiritual sober-mindedness includes the ideas of steadfastness, self-control, clarity of mind, and moral decisiveness. The sober Christian is correctly in charge of his priorities and not intoxicated with the various allurements of the world.

3.      Be Future Minded. Prepare yourself to be future-minded, fix your hope in the grace of Christ’s Revelation (13).

                                                   i.      In light of our great salvation, Christians are urged to have the optimistic, forward-looking mind. The assurance of Christ’s Return is held out as a compelling motive for endurance through the storms and tribulations of life. Christians, especially those undergoing suffering, should unreservedly live for the future, anticipating the consummation of their salvation at the second coming of Christ (see 1:7 and Col. 3:2–4).

                                                 ii.      A believer’s hope is to be set perfectly—completely or unchangeably—and without reserve on the grace (1:10) to be bestowed when Jesus Christ is revealed—the Savior’s return and the accompanying ultimate stage of salvation (1:5, 7, 9, 13).

                                                iii.      The grace that is to be brought to you. Christ’s future ministry of glorifying Christians and giving them eternal life in His presence will be the final culmination of the grace initiated at salvation (Eph. 2:7). The revelation of Jesus Christ is generally taken to refer to His coming back to earth when He will be revealed in glory. However, it could also refer to the Rapture when Christ will come for His saints.

B.     Practice Holiness in all areas of Life because God is Holy (14-16).

1.      Know that God is Holy (1:15-16).

                                                   i.      The holiness of God is difficult to define. Most definitions are so technical that an average person gets lost in the words. In my attempt to simplify the concept, I’ll exercise caution to avoid distorting the truth. When a basic grasp is gained, more complex and complete explanations may be studied later.

                                                 ii.      In completely reduced form, holiness means “without sin.” To say that God is holy is to say that He is without sin.  He has never nor will he ever sin. 

a.       Another basic meaning of holiness is “set apart” or “separation.” Holiness has an ethical emphasis, indicating “He [God] is separate from moral evil or sin. ‘Holiness’ points to God’s majestic purity, or ethical majesty.’—Wm. G. T. Shedd

b.      Yet we must say more. Not only has God never sinned, He is incapable of sin. That is His character, His very nature.

1.      Holiness has an awe-inspiring emphasis, indicating “He is absolutely distinct from all His creatures and is exalted above them in infinite majesty.” –Berkhof, Systematic Theology

2.      Anything that is like God is not sinful. Anything that is not like God is sinful. It is not that He conforms to some high standard. He is the standard.

c.       In God, holiness is certainly absence of evil, but it must also include a positive righteousness and all of this measured against Himself as an absolute standard.

1.      “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

2.      Holiness means, on one hand, a complete absence of moral evil, but on the other hand it implies moral perfection. All that is good is bound up in God’s character. Anything that departs from God’s character is evil.

3.      An analogy may help in understanding this concept of holiness. What does it mean to be healthy? It means more than not being sick. Likewise, holiness is more than absence of sin; it is a positive, healthy state of being right. This is what John meant when he said that God is light (1 Jn 1:5).

                                                iii.      Holiness is God’s most clearly defining characteristic.  

a.       The one quality which God would have His people remember Him by more than any other is holiness.

b.      In the visions of Himself which God granted men in the Scriptures the thing that stood out most prominent was the divine holiness.

1.      This is clearly seen by referring to the visions of Moses (Ex. 3:1-7), Job (Job 42:1-6), Isaiah, and Peter (Luke 5:4-8).

2.      Some thirty times does the Prophet Isaiah speak of Jehovah as “the Holy One,” thus indicating what feature of those pure visions had most impressed him.

                                               iv.      We see two dramatic statements concerning the holiness of God in Scripture.

a.       One is in the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-9). From this passage, we learn why holiness is God’s most defining characteristic—holiness has no sin.

1.      This is a vision of the Lord in the temple. God is high and lifted up. Smoke is filling the temple. The whole temple, which was a solid, sturdy building, shook as the angel spoke. This was a terrifying scene. Try to imagine yourself in the picture. What would you do? I would fall to the floor and try to crawl into the nearest crack! It would scare the wits out of me.

2.      Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz? Do you remember when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion finally got into the Wizard's inner sanctum? A great, booming voice filled the room. Fire and smoke shot heavenward with mighty whooshing sounds. And the four visitors were terrified. Isaiah’s reaction was “Woe is me!” Why? Because he knew he had sin in his life (I am a man of unclean lips), and the One before him had no sin. He feared that he would die because he was in the presence of the Holy One (Anders, M).

b.      This shows us another characteristic of holiness. Not only does it have no sin, it cannot tolerate sin.

1.      It cannot be in the presence of sin. It is untouched by sin and untouchable by sin. There is a great gulf between man and God created by sin. God is holy. We are not. That is, until God works in us.

2.      When Isaiah repented of his sin God forgave him, which is symbolized in the hot coal touching his lips. When Isaiah repented and had been forgiven, he was accepted into the presence of God. Furthermore, when God asked “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”, Isaiah did not then shrink back from God. His sense of forgiveness took away his fear of being in the presence of this terrifying being. As a result, when Isaiah volunteered, God did not shrink back from Isaiah. Holiness had made the sinner holy and full acceptance followed (Anders, M.).

                                                 v.      Yes, God is holy. His holiness is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). There is no evil in holiness, and holiness will not tolerate the presence of evil.

a.       God, in the end, will therefore destroy all evil, all that is not holy. It is a cause for terror to those who have not been made holy by the work of forgiving grace through faith in Jesus Christ. To those who have, it removes the breach, and therefore the terror. The newly-made holy ones may call the eternal Holy One “Abba,” a term of endearment meaning “Daddy” (Romans 8:15).

b.      Would you like confirmation of this? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The “old” that has passed away is the old you. Ephesians 4:22 and 24 say, “Put off concerning the former conversation the old man … and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The new you have been re-created by God. And having been born again (John 3:3), your new person is holy, just as God is holy.

c.       Of course, this “new you” is still housed in an unchanged body, in which the power of sin still dwells (Romans 7:18–19). But the day will come when your new spiritual person will be joined with a redeemed body, and you will serve the Lord unimpeded by sin (Romans 8:23). In that day, in the fullness of all it means to be a holy creature, you will have full fellowship with a holy God.

2.      Live as Holy Children (1:14-16).

                                                   i.      Bear the Family Likeness as Children. 

a.       The Christian’s new nature and conduct should contradict his pre-salvation lifestyle.

1.      The reason for practicing a holy manner of living is that Christians are associated with the holy God and must treat Him and His Word with respect and reverence.

2.      We therefore glorify Him best by being like Him (1Pet. 1:16, 17; Matt. 5:48; Eph. 5:1; Lev. 11:44, 45; 18:30; 19:2; 20:7; 21:6–8).

b.      When John says that God is “light,” with no darkness in him at all, the image is affirming God’s holy purity!

1.      But this makes fellowship between God and the willfully unholy people impossible.

2.      Further, this requires the pursuit of holiness and righteousness of life as a central concern for every Christian (1 John 1:5–2:1; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1; Heb. 12:10-17). The summons to us believers, regenerate and forgiven as we are, is to practice a holiness that will match God’s own, and so please him!

3.      This is the constant requirement of the New Testament, as indeed it was the ideal in the Old Testament (Deut. 30:1-10; Eph. 4:17–5:14; 1 Pet. 1:13-22).

4.      “Because God is holy, God’s people must be holy too.” –Packer, J. I.: Concise Theology

                                                 ii.      Refuse to be Disobedient Children.

a.       Not like disobedient children who conform to lustful and ignorant lifestyles (14).  If we conform to the ungodly world, we are denying our heavenly character.

b.      The things we did in the days of our ignorance should be put away now that we have been illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The former lusts means the sins we indulged in while we were still ignorant of God.

c.       The ramification of this is obvious: “Walk in the light,” (Eph. 5:8; 1Jn. 1:7) A proper concept of holiness as a requirement for Christian living would end a lot of discussion about what is permitted to the Christian and what is not.

1.      It seems as though many are trying to see how close they can come to sin without being cut off from their particular Christian friends or clique instead of discerning the correctness of things on the simple basis of “Is it holy?”

2.      “Don’t be tempted to be a leader in or follower of the “let’s skate on as thin ice as possible” group; instead, be a leader in holiness. This will please God because it imitates Him.” –Ryrie, Charles Caldwell: A Survey of Bible Doctrine

                                                iii.      Choose to Be Obedient Children.  But like obedient children called by a Holy God to a holy lifestyle (1Peter 1:15-16).

a.       Obedient children should not indulge in the sins which characterized us in our former life. Now that we are Christians, we should pattern our life after the One whose name we bear. Instead of imitating the ungodly world with its fads and fashions, our lives should reproduce the holy character of the One who called us (1:15). To be godly means to be Godlike. God is holy in all His ways. If we are to be like Him, we must be holy in all of our actions, attitudes, and aspirations. In this life we will never be as holy as He is, but we should be holy because He is.

b.      Peter reaches back into the OT for proof that God expects His people to be like Himself (1Pet. 1:16). In Leviticus 11:44, the Lord said: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

1.      Christians are empowered to live holy lives by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Old Testament saints did not have this help and blessing. But since we are more privileged, we are also more responsible.

2.      The verse Peter quotes from Leviticus acquires a new depth of meaning in the NT. It is the difference between the formal and the vital. Holiness was God’s ideal in the OT. It has assumed a concrete, everyday quality with the coming of the Spirit of truth. –MacDonald: Believer's Bible Commentary

3.      Make Holy Living a Concrete Matter.

                                                   i.      First, seriousness—Approach God with great respect.  We should approach God with “reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). In the story of Moses’ approach to the burning bush, the smiting of the men at Bethshemesh, the boundary set about Mt. Sinai, we are taught to feel our own unworthiness. There is too much shallow glibness in our approach unto God. Eccl. 5:1–3 counsels us to take great care in our address to God.

                                                 ii.      Secondly, sin—Adopt right views of sin and confess them accordingly.  We will have right views of sin when we get right views of God’s holiness. Isaiah, the holiest man in all Israel, was cast down at the sight of his own sin after he had seen the vision of God’s holiness. The same thing is true of Job (40:3–5; 42:4–5). We confess sin in such easy and familiar terms that it has almost lost its terror for us.

                                              iii.      Thirdly, salvation—Approach God through the Christ and His Sacrifice.  Approach to a holy God must be through the merits of Christ, and on the ground of a righteousness which is Christ’s and which naturally we do not possess. Herein lies the need of the atonement. –Evans, William : The Great Doctrines of the Bible

Part two to this article will appear soon to give the final instructions about this all important matter of personal holiness and the pursuit of authentic devotion to God.