First Peter, chapter 1, verse 8. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the power of the of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which even angels long to look. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Our Father, we ask for Your blessing on our time together now. Lord, having partaken in the Lord's Supper, Lord, open our minds together now as we open the scriptures, we pray. Help us to see this high calling before us. Help us to walk in line with how You have called us to live. Transform us by Your Holy Spirit, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, throughout all of scripture, there is one truth that repeatedly stands out at the very center of who God is. It is the only characteristic that is emphatically ascribed to God three times in succession. The late R.C. Sproul put it like this. He said, "God is never said to be love, love, love. God is never, God is not justice, justice, justice. God is not even mercy, mercy, mercy." If you haven't picked it up already, I see, he says, "But He is holy, holy, holy." What does it mean for God to be holy? Well, put simply, holiness in its simplest form is separateness, separateness. That which is unique, that which is different from the common, that is, that which is set apart. And so to speak of God's holiness then is to speak of His complete and utter uniqueness in comparison to everything else in this universe. God, we might say, is in a class of His own. God is transcendent. He sits high above and is over everything and is separate from everything else in creation, for He created everything. He's not created. He sits high and above and lofty and is separate from all that is. And He is one of a kind and therefore He is of infinite value and infinite worth. And what the Bible does, it it it reveals then a a moral dimension to this separateness. Not only is God transcendent in His glory and His majesty and His power, which we've reflected on especially this morning so far, but He's also holy in His purity, in His goodness, in His love. And something terrifying happens when human beings begin to approach the source of all purity and goodness. We've read it this morning. As the prophet Isaiah has a vision which places him in the midst of the temple, the holy place, before the very presence of the Lord. And Isaiah, he catches a glimpse of God's holiness, His purity. And as Tom helpfully described, the seraphim even are covering themselves, covering their faces, covering their bodies. Why? Because they cannot stand to even gaze upon the transcendent beauty and beauty and purity of the Lord Most High. So Isaiah does what anyone of us would have done that day. He falls on his face, overwhelmed by the presence of his own sin. "Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amidst a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." God's perfect purity, God's goodness, acts almost like a spotlight, as we heard in the Lord's Supper, which exposes the lack of purity, the lack of goodness, the sinfulness of the human heart. But church, the most remarkable thing is this, that the story of all of the scriptures are attesting to the story that God is calling and commanding and making a people for Himself to be holy as He is holy. So starting with the people of Israel, God begins to mark out and separate from among the nations a people who would be called His own. People who would be holy, who would be set apart for His purposes. And what we're seeing this morning as Peter writes is that Peter picks up this command, and he applies it directly to you this morning. He applies it to the church, the gathered followers of the Lord Jesus. Do you see it there in verse 15? He says, "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" This is not merely a suggestion. It's not a recommendation. This is the calling placed upon every believer. Set apart by God, for God, to be like our God. And so as we consider both the calling to holiness of mind this morning and holiness of our conduct, it's my prayer, it's my hope that we ourselves would examine ourselves in light of this high calling, that we might by God's grace pursue it, and that we might see progress as He has called us to holiness. Church, with that in mind, would you turn back with me to verse 13. Let's look at this passage together. Verse 13. It begins, "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now, whenever we see a "therefore," do you see the "therefore" at the start? Church, you know the age-old saying? When you see a "therefore," you must ask ask yourself what? What is the therefore there for? Yeah. Very, very important. In in this case, the therefore is really, really important. Because what Peter is doing as he says "therefore" is he's linking back to the first 12 verses that we've that we've looked at in in in previous weeks. And he's saying essentially, in light of all that I have just shared with you, do you remember? In light of all that I have told you about the grace of God toward you in Jesus Christ, verse two, about this new birth into a living hope, verse three, in a a living hope that is that is guaranteeing your inheritance, that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, being kept in heaven for you, verse four. In light of your continual belief and love of Jesus Christ even though you do not now see Him, in verse eight. In light of this salvation that was foretold by the prophets of old, verse 10. In light of the fact that the angels even are desiring to peer into and catch a glimpse of these things. In light of all that God has done to bring you to Himself through Jesus, Peter says, "Therefore, therefore, preparing your mind for action." Prepare. Prepare your mind for action. The phrase literally means, "Gird up the loins of your mind." You have to love that from the King James Version. Gird up the loins of your mind. I doubt any of you have needed to gird up your loins recently. Well in the ancient world, men men commonly wore these long flowing garments, and it would make it quite awkward to run, to do hard labor in. And so to gird up the loins was the act of rolling up their their garments and tucking it into their belt to get ready for hard work, for hard labor. Our modern equivalent perhaps would be to roll up our sleeves, to prepare, to get ready for action. But to gird up the loins of your mind then is to roll up the sleeves of your mind. It's a call to prepare your mind for action. It's a call to to get your mind ready, ready to think clearly, ready to think intentionally, to ensure that our mind is not distracted or un- or unprepared, but ready to do whatever it takes to pursue holiness. And what does it look like then to to to prepare and to have a ready mind? Well do you see it there in verse 13? Being sober-minded. Being sober-minded. If you've ever been in the city on a Friday night, you would know what a sober mind and what an intoxicated mind looks like. A sober mind can think and reason clearly, it can respond rationally, it can it can it can appropriately adjust and respond to the situation at hand. Whereas an intoxicated mind, well, it can do very little, can't it? An intoxicated mind is irrational, it's uncontrolled, it's very often unrestrained, and incapable of reasoning. But what Peter is doing here is is quite profound. See, he's using the concept, this concept of intoxication, and he's painting a picture for something that that we all actually frequently fall into. See, much beyond even the intoxication of alcohol of the mind, he he speaks of an intoxication of the mind as it is filled up with the things of this world. Pleasures, comforts, the seeking out and searching of new experiences. A mind that longs after that next promotion, a spouse, children. Even a mind consumed and fixed on fear and anxiety, anything that that fills up our mental bandwidth, so to speak, to the point of making us drowsy and indifferent to the things of God. I love how Thomas Schreiner puts this. He says, "There is a way of living that becomes dull to the reality of God, that is anesthetized by the attractions of this world. When people are lulled into such drowsiness, they they lose sight of Christ's future revelation of Himself and concentrate only on fulfilling their earthly desires." This was a danger for the saints in Ephesus. Church, how much more is this a danger, a pressing danger, for us this morning. Do you feel the temptation to chase after pleasures and the comforts that are offered to you in this life? To daydream perhaps about the next holiday, to give your mind to things like sports, or gardening, or Netflix, to drink down and consume so much social media that your mind begins to to be intoxicated and consumed by the things of this world. That you begin to lose sight of Christ and His future revelation of Himself. But please don't don't mishear me this morning. Planning a holiday is a wonderful thing. Enjoying some sport on a Saturday afternoon, reading a novel, it's a wonderful thing. There really is, but but there is something subtle. There is something dangerous and crucial that we must be aware of for when those things begin to fill and consume our minds to the point of intoxication. A husband wakes up and immediately reaches for his phone. News, emails, notifications flood the mind. At work, he spends his day wanting to impress, wanting to get ahead, thinking constantly about that next promotion. He drives home, and his mind is full of anxiety, about finances, about the future, about the conflict overseas, about rising petrol prices, and rising interest rates. He arrives home exhausted and immediately reaches for the remote, the bottle, the phone. His mind drifts, his attention is consumed, he subconsciously seeks out a numbing of the mind filled with the things of this life, videos and content and articles and alcohol. But then he stops. He recognizes the drift. Not even sin necessarily, but a mind slowly being shaped by the trivial things of this life. He opens his Bible briefly perhaps, prays for his family. Then he gets up and he serves even in his tiredness. Nothing dramatic, but rolling up the sleeves of his mind, his goal, his aim is to be sober-minded. Church, God has called us to be holy. To be different from this world. And holiness begins with the mind. Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything excellent, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Paul says something similar in Romans 12. He says, "Do not be conformed to this world. Don't be conformed, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." And what is the goal then? What is the goal and the aim? What's the target that Christians are setting our minds upon? It is this, in verse 13. To set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. A holy mind is a mind that is set apart for God. It's one that is consumed fully by the fact that Jesus is coming again. It's a mind that in in Psalm 1 describes as one that is meditating on the law of the Lord day and night. It's a mind that is set on the scriptures and meditates and ponders about how it points us to Christ. Church, would you let me encourage you this morning to be on guard against the things that would consume your mind. To roll up the sleeves of your mind and be alert and aware of what you allow in. Church, you know what it's like to feel the temptations tug and pull for your attention. If this is if this was a concern for the church in Ephesus, how much more in our modern day? How much more given all of the the things of this world that would grasp and grope for your attention day by day? Earthly distractions that would have you spend all of your mental energy and bandwidth and time and intoxicate you. Church, refuse to be intoxicated this morning. Refuse to be intoxicated by the pleasures of this world that promise enjoyment and and relief and fulfillment and yet we know that they only leave us wanting more like salty water. May we ready our minds and be sober thinkers this morning. Well, if holiness starts in the mind, it doesn't finish there, does it? No, it it it must and it will culminate in a practice of daily life. That's where Peter goes next next. He naturally moves from speaking about the mind to our conduct. Would you look with me there at verse 14? Verse 14. "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" Did you notice the two contrasting commands there? There's one in the negative and then one in the positive. If you look at the negative one there with me, do not, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Will you do something with me this morning? Would you think back for a moment? Can you think back to a time where you did not trust and follow the Lord Jesus? Can you remember the the passions and desires, the goals that you had at that time? The desires that that resulted in the kind of person that you were. The desire to be known and liked, perhaps, which resulted in a kind of life and person that you were of of people-pleasing, of flattery, of insincerity, of constant comparison. The desire to be rich and wealthy, which resulted in overwork, neglect of other responsibilities, dishonesty maybe, manipulation, anything to climb to that next goal, to secure that next deal. The desire for sex and pleasure, which led to lust and all kinds of sin and broken relationships. The desire to be valued and respected, which left you seeking approval and love in all the wrong places. Perhaps a combination and a combination of all of these things. Peter points to those old passions that once dictated our lives and how we lived, and he says, "No more." Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, he says. Do not allow any more of your time, of your energy, to be spent in pursuit of those old desires. You chased after them, Peter says, when you were ignorant, ignorant of the gospel, living as if this world was all there was. Living as though maximizing your comforts and minimizing your pain was was the name of the game and was the only way to live. Peter says, don't go back there. Don't allow your old desires to squeeze you into the pattern of life that you used to live. The word conformed in this passage carries with it the meaning of being of of being pressed into a mold. Think of clay. Think of there being a mold and and clay being pressed into it and it fills out the mold. This world has a shape. And it's our old desires that would have us be squeezed back into the shape of the world that we once lived in. But the call to holiness this morning by definition is to be set apart, is to be and look and act different and contrary to this world. First John chapter 2 verse 15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. For for if anyone loves this world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, the pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." Likewise, James 4 verse 4 says, "Do you not do you not know that friendship with this world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Church, what fellowship has light with darkness? A life of holy conduct is first a turning away, a turning away from the desires that once governed our lives. But as it's also called, as we're also called to holiness, if the first part is a turning away, well the second part, and what Peter says in verse 15, is that it's a turning toward something else. Do you see it there in verse 15? It says, "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" Verse 16 there is a quote. If you're if you've been reading Leviticus in your quiet time, commend you. It's a it's a hard book. But you may be familiar with it if if you have because it's a quote from Leviticus 11 where He says, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." God is first says this to Israel as He gives them the various ceremonial and dietary laws, all of which serve a purpose. They, namely that they they teach and are showing Israel that they are a chosen people to be set apart from the nations. And so as they give themselves and as they wear clothes, as they pay careful attention to the clothes that they wear, as they pay careful attention to the foods that they can and cannot eat, it is a constant daily reminder to them that they have been called by a holy God to be holy, to be set apart from this world. To be holy then is to to call to increasingly reflect the likeness and the character of our God. And so as we turn away from our earthly desires, we are actually turning toward the purity and the goodness and the love of God Himself. Paul portrays a beautiful picture of this in Ephesians 4. I love it. He says, he says, "Put on the new self," almost like a garment, "Put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true holiness and righteousness." This new self that we are putting on is is created after the likeness of God Himself. And this is why, isn't it, holiness is hard. It's really hard. It's really difficult. True holiness looks like an entire life that is being turned upside down, is being shaped and molded and fashioned to be like the character of our God Himself. Because God is truthful, Christians become people of the truth. Because God is patient, Christians learn and instill in ourselves patience. Because God is merciful, Christians show mercy. Because God is pure, Christians pursue purity. Church, this is the calling placed upon us to become a people whose lives increasingly reflect the transcendent beauty and glory and grandeur of God Himself and His character. Now as we consider Peter's call to holiness this morning, the question then naturally becomes, doesn't it, how on earth is this even possible? Some of you may be here this morning and thinking, man, I I really just need to start trying harder. I need to be more disciplined. I need to to fix myself up. I need to to become a better Christian. Perhaps you're more realistic and you realize you feel the weight of such a high calling as this and you think to yourself this morning, there is no way I could do this. And perhaps that leads you to nihilism and you think to yourself, so so why bother even trying? How could I ever measure up or live up to this high calling? But church, look with me at verse 14 again. Please don't miss this this morning. Because the start of verse 14, Peter grounds all that he says in his call to holiness in that in those three little words. He says, "As obedient children." As obedient children. Church, the call to holiness is grounded on the fact that God has first adopted you into His family. The call to holiness is grounded on the fact that that God Himself has has caused you to be born again to a living hope. He's the same God who has brought you from death to life. He is the God who has redeemed you through the blood of of His very own Son who places His very own Spirit to live within you to cause you to walk in His ways. That's why the therefore is so important, isn't it? Because left to ourselves, none of us are capable of true holiness. None of us are capable of walking out the calling that is set before us this morning. We may be able to modify our behavior for a time. We can appear to others as being changed or being good, being holy, being religious, being respectable. But church, you know, true holiness is a supernatural reality. So how is holiness possible? Well, it's only possible if someone first becomes a child of the living God. If someone is first joined to the family of God. It's only possible if you are born again to a living hope. And so if you're not a Christian here this morning, can I can I invite you? Can I implore you this morning that God has made a way for you into His family. The Lord Jesus, through His death and His resurrection, offers you something of living water. And He beckons you to come, to come to Him and to drink and be satisfied. The pursuit of pleasures in this life will leave you empty. The pursuit of of comfort, a life spent intoxicating your mind with the things of this world will only leave you thirsting more and more and more. If you come to Jesus, friend, you will find satisfaction and your quench and your thirst will be quenched, and you will have life eternal. As Isaiah had the burning coal touch his lips, as the as the as the as that coal that was taken from the altar is impressed on his lips and his sin is atoned for, friend, come to Jesus this morning. Come to Jesus and He will fill you with His very own Spirit. There you will find forgiveness. There you will find atonement for your sin. There you will find the power to live a holy and transformed life. It is what you were made for. To live for Him and His glory. If you are a Christian here this morning, well, I think Paul paints a beautiful picture, a beautiful, a beautifully balanced picture that captures what Peter is getting at for us this morning in Philippians chapter two. See if you can catch the two sides of this. He says, he he first says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure." Did you catch the two? As Peter says, he says, "Friend, work. Pursue holiness. Put to death the deeds of the flesh. Turn away from your earthly desires that you once lived for. Prepare your mind. Fight the good fight of faith. And put to death the sin of the flesh. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And yet beneath it all, all of your effort and your striving, underneath it all is the deeper reality that God Himself is at work within you. God Himself is empowering and enabling you by His very own Spirit. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure." This is the life of a Christian. It's the, it's the calling and the way that we have been called to live. It's only possible as we pursue holiness, and as we find ourselves grounded upon what Christ has done for us. Apart from being united to Christ and filled with His Spirit, we will never see the holiness that we are called to. And as you would know church, it is a daily struggle, is it not? To cultivate the mind of Christ, to put on the new self, to walk the narrow way, to enter through the narrow door. All of us have bad habits, unhelpful patterns of thinking that have been ingrained over years and years. Ungodly ways of relating to others that we see the effects of in our relationships with others. So I want to leave you with a question this morning that I hope that you will be able to to ponder on and pray over. And it is this: Is there is there an area of your life which you've kept closed off from the Lord? Is there an area of your life which you have kept closed off from the Lord? A way of thinking perhaps, a pattern of behavior, a particular relationship even, some part of your life where where you're fine to follow Jesus over here and let His transformative holiness and love work within you and transform you, but not over here. This part's closed off. And so often, it's true, isn't it, that we don't even realize that we do that. Until we don't even realize until we're confronted with the sheer holiness and love of our God, which is both wonderful and unpleasant. But what a moment like this does is that it it gives us a moment like Isaiah's. It gives us a moment to open up to our failures. As Isaiah said, "I am a man of unclean lips." And as we catch a glimpse of the holiness of our God, we are reminded of God's love toward us in Christ, and the coal that has been pressed toward us, not as a coal from the altar, but as we heard this morning in the Lord's supper, in the person of the Lord Jesus, who beckons you to come to Him. For only there, friend, will you find atonement for your sin. And as you open up that part of your life that you have kept closed off, friend, you will find forgiveness. You will find his love transforms. His his holiness purges you like a consuming fire. And friend, it's only then that we are able to be transformed by his spirit within us. To live a life that he has called us to live. There you will find restoration. There you will find the empowerment to live, to become obedient to what we have been called to this morning, to be holy as our God is holy. Let me pray.