SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to a message preached at Front Range Baptist Church by Pastor Dean Miller. It is our prayer that this message will be a help and an encouragement to you in your spiritual walk. Now, here's Pastor Miller.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Verses over the last few weeks in our church, we've been studying these 12 verses as Peter is laying out to these believers who have been scattered. He's laying out to them a solid foundation. He wants them to have a rock, solid foundation. They've been uprooted from their homes, their transplants, they're scattered, they're pilgrims out of their normal uh homeland. And so Peter's wanting to put them on stable ground. And so what did he do? He he told us everything in verses 1 through 12, everything that God has done for us. Peter has told them, listen, God elected you. God foreknew you. God sanctified you by his Holy Spirit. God sprinkled you with the blood of Jesus Christ. God gave you new birth in verse 3. He's begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's given you an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God. He's keeping you. This is what you've been given. You've been given that. You're not earning it. It was given to you. You're not working for that. He worked for that. It's the finished work of Jesus Christ. I mean, do you understand what you have today? So great salvation. Now, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. And on that foundation, Peter transitions and says, Wherefore? Now everybody listen very carefully. He said, Wherefore? Because of that, because of that, look at it, 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. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lust in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if you call in the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as you know you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. What is Peter saying? He's saying, God gave you this great foundation of faith. It's firmly fixed on his election, his sanctification, the sprinkling of Jesus' blood, the new birth that we have in Christ. It is firmly kept by the power of God. We are not keeping ourselves saved. He is keeping us in our salvation. And this salvation is so miraculous that angels have desired to look into this thing. It is an amazing salvation. And because of that, because of that, we should live clean in a dirty world. That's the message. We should be different. I mean, we should be different. The Christian should have a different life than the world has. I mean, and listen, it goes without even saying. I mean, if God has done all of this for us, and I love this because this is the biblical order. The biblical order is God has given of us his grace and favor. We give to God back our life of obedience and holiness. See, religion reverses that, and it's a subtle difference. But religion says, you live a certain way so that you can obtain God's grace. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You'll go to hell believing that. You cannot earn God's grace. God has given us grace. And because of God's grace, we live that out. It's the grace of God in Titus 2. It's the grace of God that brings salvation that teaches us to deny ungodliness and unrighteousness and to live godly, righteously, soberly in this present world. It is not me earning this, it is me receiving this and then living it out. Peter said, You have this, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. So if we're gonna be different, I mean drastically different, and by the way, with that kind of a salvation, we should be drastically different. Can I at least get somebody to just not at least nod your head a little bit? We should be drastically different than the world. So if we're gonna have that, then Peter's gonna give us these commands. Here's the commandments. Number one, if we're gonna live clean in a dirty world, if we're gonna live drastically different than this world lives, number one, you have to prepare your mind. Look at verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Now I just want to tell you right now, in 21st century America, that means nothing to us. If I told you to gird up the loins of your mind, what does that mean? To gird up the loins of your mind. You have to understand that he's writing to first century believers, and in this first century, the way that they dressed is they wore robes. And their robes were loose, their robes were long, and uh and they had a belt about them that would carry all of their belongings, and so they would put on an under robe, and then they would put a girdle on, a belt on, and then they would put a tunic on over that, and uh that's how they would dress. Now, when a man was going to go to battle, or a man was gonna go to work, or a man was gonna get uh he was gonna run somewhere, he would take the loose ends of his garments and he would bring them up and bind them into his belt so that he would have nothing to inhibit his feet, nothing would tangle him up, nothing would restrict him, nothing would get in his way. Here's the way we would say it today. We would say it today this way: we would say, uh, hey, roll up your sleeves. It's time to roll up your sleeves and go to work. It's time to roll up your sleeves and fight. You want nothing to restrict your movement, you want nothing to stumble you and trip you. Now, notice what he says. He says, I want you to gird up the loins of your mind. To prepare your mind, to gird up the loins of your mind. Why is he saying your mind? Well, I want to tell you, because this is where the battle is, Christian. Hey, hey, hey, this is where every one of us fight our spiritual battles, is in our mind. This is where Satan gets an inroad in your mind. The apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse number 3, Paul said, but I fear. Now I want to tell you something. When the apostle Paul says that something made him afraid, I sit up and take notice, because that little guy, nothing made that guy afraid. He got stoned in Lystra, shook off the stones, went into the city and preached again. He got bit by a snake, a venomous snake, and shook it off in the fire and preached the gospel. He was shipwrecked and hung onto a board for three days and three nights in a ship. The apostle Paul went into a jail and was chained in a jail and he shook the place with the power of God. The apostle Paul, nothing made him afraid. In fact, in fact, it was when Paul stood before kings that he made them tremble. Everybody with me on this? Paul wasn't really afraid of a lot. So when Paul says, hey, this is what causes me to fear, I take notice. What made Paul afraid? Paul said, But I fear. Now watch this. Listen, lest by any means, it doesn't matter what it takes, lest by any means, as the serpent, who is that? Who is the serpent?

unknown 9:20

Satan.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Satan. As the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. You know what Paul said, you know, you know what kept Paul up at night, and what kept Paul in prayer, and what made Paul tremble? Paul trembled at the subtlety of Satan that he would put things into our minds that would get us away from Christ. See, it's interesting. The first temptation, when Satan deceived Eve, remember this, he was a serpent. He didn't have any hands to give her the fruit. He didn't give her the fruit. He had a mouth to give her a thought. And when he gave her a thought, she took the fruit. So that's what the devil does to you. He'll give you a thought and then you'll run with it. And when you let your mind, listen, when you let your mind run, you're in trouble. This is why the mind is so important in the Christian life. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 3. But I fear lest by any means Satan will corrupt your mind. Romans chapter 12 and verse number 2, and be not conformed to the world. But be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. He says in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. This is what you think about. He said in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5, taking every thought into captivity, girding it up, putting it under the belt, bringing every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. Listen, I put this belt on today, and I want my pants to obey that belt. Amen. And I even cinched it up a little bit tighter today. I want everything to be brought under the obedience of that belt. And when we gird up the loins of our mind, we're bringing our mind up under the obedience of Christ. What does this mean? It means then, listen, listen, you cannot have a rock solid faith and a careless mind. So what Peter's saying here is he said, listen, if you're going to, if you're going to protect your mind, if you're going to prepare your mind, here's what it needs to be. It needs to be a single mind. Everybody say single mind with me. It needs to be a single mind. It needs to be a single mind. Notice what he says. Girt up the loins of your mind. So when you gird it up, you're putting it all under one belt. You're putting all of the garment under one belt. It's a single mind. Let me tell you something. When you let your mind wander, when you let your mind flow, what is this garment gonna do down on my feet? It's gonna get into the dirt. It's gonna get into my feet. It's gonna entangle me. It's gonna entrap me. When you let your mind flow, let me tell you, and then by the way, let me tell you where my mind flows. And I may just be the only one making confession today, and the rest of you might think, well, man, you got problems, Pastor. But let me tell you where my mind goes. If I just let my mind flow, let me tell you where it goes. It goes to fear, it goes to anxiety, it goes to comparison, jealousies, lust, fantasy, suspicion. Where does your mind go? If you just let your mind run, you're gonna wonder, what do they mean by that? Well, why can't I have that? Well, why isn't my life going that way? Are we gonna, uh is this cancer? Your mind, if you let your mind run, it is gonna run to all of those things. It's gonna get into worldly thinking. So Peter says, gather it up. Bring all your thoughts into single control. In other words, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Single mind. Not only a single mind, but a serious mind. Everybody say serious mind. It's a serious mind, be sober. Notice in verse 13, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober. Now that word sober has the idea of right mind, clear mind, a controlled mind. It's a mind under control. It's in the belt now. It's a sober mind, it's a serious mind. I will tell you something. Listen, when you have a sober mind, you're thinking clearly. The world will intoxicate your mind. The world will intoxicate your mind with entertainment, with materialism. You know what's gonna make me happy if I bought that. You know what's gonna make me happy if I moved there. You know what's gonna make me happy if I had that car? You know what's gonna really satisfy our life if we could just if we could just get more stuff. Listen, it's materialism, entertainment. You know what the world will intoxicate your mind with? Politics. Everything's political. The world will intoxicate your mind with pleasure, with fear, with sensuality. In other words, listen, listen, here's what the devil's gonna do. He's gonna provide to you in your mind constant distraction. Look, a distracted mind is not a serious mind. When you get serious about something, you gotta focus. When you really need to get something accomplished, you gotta bring your mind into control. And you've got to have a sober mind, a clear mind. A serious-minded Christian will see life through the lens of eternity. Listen, church, don't let the world do your thinking for you. And especially young people, listen. The world will let you scroll all the way to a wasted life. You're just gonna scroll. I mean, in two scrolls, you're laughing hysterically in one scroll, then you scroll a couple more times, then you're crying about, oh, that's a share, share, like. And we're just scrolling our life away. What are we doing? We're distracted. You young people, listen, it's earbuds, it's video games, it's television, it's prime video, it's Netflix, it's all of these things, uh, TikTok and all of the social media things that you get. Your mind is constantly being engaged with everything because it's not a serious mind. What could you accomplish if you put your mind to it? If you could gather all of your thoughts up and you could be in control of your mind and have a serious mind about it, what could you do in your marriage? What could you do with your children? And Peter's saying, Listen, you've been given this salvation. Get a sober mind. Think rightly about this. And then he says, I want you to have a steadfast mind. Hope to the end. Look at verse 13. And hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus Christ is the great revelation, it's the apocalypse, the unveiling, the uncovering when Jesus comes in all of his glory. It's the book of Revelation. There's coming a day when Christ is coming in all of his glory. Hope to that. Get your mind steadfast to that. We're not living for today, we're living for that day. So have a steadfast mind. Have a mind that can weed through all the transient things of life. Have a mind that can sort through all of the shifting sands of life. And it doesn't just get up and the ups and down with the downs and get left and get right. It's a mind that stays focused, single-minded on Christ, sober-minded on Christ, and steadfast mind on the coming of Christ. But have a mind that is focused on what is coming and who is coming. Listen, our future here is uncertain. So we hope in that thing that is sure. Peter does not say, hey guys, hey guys, uh, get your mind together and hope that Rome gets better. Hey guys, gird up your mind and let's just hope that we get a different Caesar than Nero. Hey guys, get your mind bound up and let's hope that the economy improves. No, Rome is gonna be Rome, Nero's gonna be Nero, the economy is gonna be economy. Listen, our minds are not fixed on all these things. Our minds are fixed on Christ, they're steadfast in Jesus Christ. Everybody with me? Look, if you do not gather up the loins of your mind and put them under the belt of Christ, your garments are going to be spotted by this world. You're gonna drag the loose ends of your mind through the mire of this world. I promise you that. So he said, gird it up. Number two, not only do we prepare our mind, but we pursue holiness. Pursue it. Look at verse 14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. That word conversation means behavior, lifestyle, conduct. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Listen, the believer has been given this incredible salvation, and the apostle is telling us, Peter is telling them, listen, you've been given this salvation, pursue holiness now. Now, don't understand, the order is right. He's not saying pursue holiness so you can be saved. He's saying you are saved, pursue holiness. Everybody with me on that? There are three kinds of obedience. There is the servant master obedience, and that is obedience because I have to. There is employer-employee obedience, and I obey because I need to. But then there is child and parent obedience, and it's obedience because I want to. You pursue holiness because your father is holy. You pursue holiness because it's your family trait. And so if I'm gonna do that, then here's a couple things I want to give you about that. Peter says, if you're gonna do that, you're gonna pursue holiness because your father's holy, then do not look back at the old pattern. Look what he says. Verse 14. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts and your ignorance. He said, Hey, there was a time when you were ignorant, and all you did was you lived by what you desired. You lived by what you wanted. What do I want to do today? What makes me happy today? What makes me feel good today? What would please me today? That's how we lived in the time of our ignorance. We lived according to the desires of our flesh. No, no, no, no, no, no. We pursue holiness now. Holiness does not ask the question, what do I want? Holiness asked the question, what does he want? Holiness does not ask the question, what would be pleasing to me today? No, no, no. Holiness asked the question, what is pleasing to him today? Jesus said, I do always those things that please the Father. Holiness does not ask the question, what do I want? Holiness asked the question, what does he want? It is the not my will, but thine be done. Lord, I want to watch this, but do you want me to watch it? I want to wear this, but do you want me to wear that? I want to go there, but do you want me to go there? I want to say this, but do you want me to say that? I want to be with them, but do you want me to be with them? It is no longer my will, but thy will, no longer my pleasure, but your pleasure, no longer my desire, but your desire. It is pursuing the heart of God. It is pursuing holiness, not in the old pattern of your life. See, when you got saved, you brought your old life into your new life. So you have old habits, you have old desires, you have old routines, you have old friends, you have old proclivities, you have uh what J I love what the what the Bible says, the old King James language with James. He says The superfluity of naughtiness. Isn't that a beautiful term? That just warms your heart. Superfluity of naughtiness. What does that mean? Super meaning overabundant. Fluity is fluid. Nottiness is sin. The overabundance of sin. See, when you got saved, there had been, there was an overwhelming amount of sin in your life. So here's the thing: God cleans your cup, but you still got sin in the saucer. You've got a flesh. You've got your own mind. You've got your old habits. You've got your old routine. There's residual sin from your old life. Listen, well, that's why when a man gets saved, he can sometimes bring a pornography habit with him. When a man gets saved, he brings his alcoholism with him. When a man gets saved, he can bring his drug use with him. When a man gets saved, he brings some of his old friends with him. And he's, and here, here's what Peter's saying. Peter's saying, if you're going to pursue holiness, you've got to leave all that behind. Not your former lust and your ignorance. So do not pursue the old pattern of your life. Pursue the new pattern of your life, which is, as he which hath called you is holy, so be he holy. He's your father. Notice verse 15. But as he which hath called you. See, here's the pattern. The pattern is not what does Dean want, the pattern is what does my father want? He's my father, I'm his son. Now, many of you have met my dad. How many of you have met my dad? Okay, my dad is Charles Dean Miller Sr. He goes by Dean Miller, I go by Dean Miller, but I'm not a junior. My oldest brother is junior, my other brother, so it's Charles Dean, Matthew Dean, Daniel Dean, my mother was Gerald Dean. Dude, we were all deans. And every year I made the dean's list. I literally at one point in my life was the dean of men at a college. I was Dean Dean. So, so when we when you meet my dad, some of you have said this, say, man, I see a lot of your dad in you. Well, you should. There are things that I do now that I realize I'm doing them, and I'm like, oh, that's my dad. Right? I mean, the other day I was driving down the road and I saw somebody in the car next to me, and I threw my hand up and I waved at him with the back of my hand. My dad does that. I'm like, hey, how you doing? Like, who are you waving at? I'm waving at me and you kind of at the same time. Like, hey. That's totally my dad. Hey. I do stuff all the time. It's like, that's my dad. Well, you know why I do stuff like my dad? Because he's my dad. He sired me. He fathered me. I have his nature in me. The Bible's gonna tell us in 2 Peter chapter 1 that you and I have become partakers of the divine nature. The nature of our fathers in us. So let me tell you something. There should be some holiness in you. Because that is the nature of your father. He is holy. And listen, I'm thankful that Peter did not say, hey guys, I want you to be more holy than the world. Well, that'd be a low standard. All of us would feel pretty good today if we could look at this world and say, the goal is to do better than them. Well, uh the goal, the standard is not to just do better than my fellow church member. Hey, be holy as uh you know more than your church members. No, no, no, no. It's be holy as he is holy. The world is not your standard, the neighbor is not your standard, God himself is your standard. So let me ask you a question. Is your life measuring up to the holiness of God? That's a sobering thought, and it should be. Holiness means to be set apart unto God. Holiness has two components in it, and I think many Christians only get the one component. Holiness has the idea to be separated from the world. I cannot be out in the world, of the world, part of the world, having fun with the world, living like the world, and be holy. No, no, no. The Bible says, come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. But that's only half of the equation. I am separate from the world, I think differently, behave differently, act differently, look differently, I my I deport myself differently than the course of this world. I come out from this world, but wait a minute, I'm separated unto God. So my standard is just not, I'm not doing what the world does. My standard is I am now doing what my father does. The works of my father I work. The things that my father is pleased with, I do. I'm walking in the standard of God Himself. And by the way, he says you're to do this in every area of your life. Look at verse 15. He says, but so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Hey, that's your phone life. That's your that's your text messages, that's your DMs, that's your scrolling life. Holy in that. That's your entertainment life. That's your friend life. Holy in that. It's your language. It's your thinking. It's public and private. It is your finances. It is your marriage. I'm different than this world in my marriage, but I want a marriage like unto God. I was getting my hair cut yesterday, and uh I'm a procrastinator, and when you procrastinate, you limit your choices. Anyone with me on that? How many of you are psychopathic and you fill your gas tank up at a half a tank? How many of you do that? Okay, psychos. How many of you are normal like me and you fill your gas tank up when you've got two miles to empty? How many of you got that? They give you the counter on there for a reason. When the fuel light comes on, that means nothing. I still got like 30 miles. Is anybody with me on this? I'm preaching the Bible today. And if they didn't, if it didn't mean something, they wouldn't put it on there. You got 10 miles, nine miles, eight miles. I got plenty of time. But you know, the longer you wait, the less choices you have where you're gonna get gas. Now you've got to go to the place where it's $18 a gallon. So yesterday I procrastinated, I meant, I gotta get a haircut. So I went. And the young lady that cut my hair, she's in her late 20s. She's cutting my hair. She's asking me, Do you have any kids? And I said, Yes. And we started talking about my kids, talking about my family. We just married off our last daughter. And we were talking about all that. And I was explaining to her how they met and how they got married and how my girls all had kind of short engagements. They they just met men that they knew that they were gonna marry, and they met good men that love God, love them, and and um, and all my girls are stay-at-home moms raising babies. And there was this hunger in this young lady's life for that. And she said, I was with a guy for three years, but I found out he's just talking to other girls the whole time, and I don't think there's any men like that left in the world. She said, I just I just wanted to be married to a good man and have children. She had a desire for that. But she's trying to get that the way the world gets that. And you know what the world's telling her to do? You don't need a man to tell you what to do. Go out and find this man that's willing to play and have all the fun and then uh and then and then and then and then see if you can settle down with that. Well, let me tell you, he ain't settling down. And if you have a baby, he's gonna tell you to abort it. Because he doesn't want the responsibility. See, the world thinks differently than we do. So as a Christian, when we come out from the world, we don't think like that anymore. We we now but we turn to God and we say, okay, God, I'm gonna do it your way. And then the Lord leads us into his pattern of holiness. See, listen, when I got saved, Jesus became Lord in my life. And he's to be Lord of all of my life. He's not just Lord of my church life, he's Lord of my phone life, my friend life, my private life, my entertainment life. He's Lord of all. See, holiness, listen to me, church, holiness is not trying to get God to love me. Holiness is my response to the love of God in me. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. I first loved you and I laid my life down for you. So my love for you, I died for you. Your love for me, you live for me. It's holiness. Then thirdly, and we'll be done. I said, number one, prepare your mind. Peter is saying, if you're gonna live clean in a dirty world, prepare your mind. If you're gonna live clean in a dirty world, pursue holiness. If you're gonna live clean in a dirty world, practice godly fear. Look at verse number 17. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Now notice what he says here. If you call on the Father, now what is Peter doing? Peter's again reminding us that we are obedient children and that we have a heavenly father. He's reminding us of our relationship. It's a father and son relationship. Listen, because I have a father-son relationship with God, I can come boldly into his throne. Because I have a father-and-son relationship, I can have intimate knowledge of God. Because I have a father-son relationship with him, I have a freedom to come into his presence and to be with him, and I have no shame and nothing to inhibit my fellowship with my father. Why? He is my father and I am his son. But he's also my judge. He judges according to every man's work. See, I can come boldly into his throne room because he's my father, but I also come boldly into a throne room where my father is holy and righteous and sovereign and almighty God. So I do not come in casually or flippantly, I come in reverently. See, grace has been so misplaced. We have done a disgrace to grace. We have made grace out to be this thing that, well, you know, God just loves us and God has all this grace, and we can just do whatever we want because God loves us however. Listen, that is not true. Something like, well, God, God hates sin, but he loves the sinner. Well, God doesn't put the sin in hell, he puts the sinner in hell. See, God hates that, and what happens is God has designed salvation where men come into Christ. And when men come into Christ, they are received by his grace. They are graciously invited to come to Jesus. And sinners who are enemies of God are transformed by the grace of God. Grace does not eliminate reverence. Grace enhances reverence. For us to receive the grace of God and then to play flippantly with that is a disgrace to grace. It's like saying that God's grace gives me permission to do what I want. No, God's grace gives you freedom to do as He pleases. Let me say it this way: Grace does not allow you to live as you want. Grace gives you the power to live as you should. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. So what is grace? Grace is an agent that God gives me to conquer my sin. It's the grace of God that brings salvation that teaches me how to live righteously, godly, and soberly in this present world. Grace does not give me a cloak to cover up myself and whatever I want. Everybody with me on that right now? Okay, so relationship. God says, I want you to understand, I'm your father, but I'm your judge. I had an intimate relationship with my dad. My dad and I have been hunting together and fishing together, and dad and I have been on road trips together. I have a wonderful, I just I talked to him this morning. We talked nearly every day. We have a wonderful relationship. But I will tell you something, when I was in his home, dad and I, he was my dad, and we had a wonderful intimate relationship, but we were not buddies. Did you see that phrase in that verse that he is not a respecter of persons? Did everybody see that? And if we call on the Father, who without respect of persons, how many of you saw that phrase? And without respect of persons, what does that mean? God has no spoiled brats. God doesn't play favorites. God doesn't say, well, you know what? You get a pass on that. No. I am your father, I set the rules, I've given you grace, we have a wonderful relationship. I am going to give you all things necessary for godliness. I'm going to give you my life. I'm going to give you my nature. I'm going to give you my characteristics. I'm not ashamed to call you my own. But I do expect you to behave like it. I do expect you to take care of my name. So here's what he's saying. He's saying we practice godly fear because of our relationship. We practice godly fear because of our stewardship. He judgeth according to every man's work. What does that mean? He's judging there means that he searches out. Do you know what a good parent does? A good parent looks into their children beyond their behavior, and a parent looks for motivation. A parent looks for what's going on in my child's life. What is driving this behavior? What is driving this thinking? And a good parent steps in and says, we're not behaving this way, and this is why. My a good parent gets into not just behavior modification, but gets to the heart. That's what God's saying here. I am judging, I am searching out in your life. And I am looking at your works. Now listen, he's not looking at our works for us to be saved. We are saved by his work, the finished work of Jesus Christ. But he finished the work and gave us salvation, and then he has told us, now work out this salvation with fear and trembling. And I'm going to tell you, that's missing in our Christianity today. This is stewardship. You say, well, why should we do that with fear? Well, let me just give you a verse. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. He is going to search out. When I stand before him. Now listen, unsaved people are going to the great white throne. And that's a judgment where you will be judged according to your works, and you will go to hell if you are without Christ. But saved people go to the judgment seat of Christ, where he says, Here, I gave you this salvation. Let me see what you did with it. I gave you this new life. Let me see what you did with it. Show me your heart. Show me your hands. Let me see your works. And the things that we did in our flesh, wood, hay, stubble, they are burned. Only the things that are done for Christ, gold, silver, precious stones, things that are eternal. When they are judged under the fire, they are purified of their dross, and they're more precious to give to him. Listen, I'm just telling you, and the Bible says there will be those that are ashamed at his coming, and I would remind you that Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, he said, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. He's talking about Christians. You better understand when he shows up and he has given you these things, you better understand that he is going to have an expectation for what you've done with these great things. When I was a little boy, I'd go to the store and I would beg my mother for a bicycle. There was a bicycle. How many remember Kmart? Alright, Kmart. There was a Kmart, Kmart, Kmart. I remember one time I even said to my mom, Mom, I want this bike. And she said, I don't have any money. I said, Write a check. You don't need money, just write a check. I begged her for this bicycle. My birthday rolled around and I opened up some of my birthday presents and they were all nice and I was so glad. But then my dad said, Oh hey, I think I forgot something. He went back to his room and I heard, uh-uh-mm-mm. And dad came rolling out with that bright red bicycle, man. I remember it was one of my favorite birthdays. I flipped out.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 39:32

I got on that bike, I was riding around, I wouldn't let anybody touch it. No, no, no, you can't ride my bike. Get off my bike. Don't touch my bike. Man, I would I would take my bike to a specific spot in the garage, I'd put that kickstand down, I would lean it there, I would clean it. For a little while. But I was like nine. I remember one night my dad was gonna come home late, and I heard my dad just honking the horn in the driveway. And my mom said, Little Dean, dad wants you. I was weird, so I ran outside. It was pouring down rain. My dad's in his buick, red buickle saber. And there was my bike laying in the driveway in the rain. In the way. And my dad saying, come get your bike. I think I got tore up that night. I had been given this gift, and I had just carelessly left it in the driveway, in the rain. You don't think that God, who sent his son to shed his blood, to purchase our redemption, to purchase us the church, and then we treat it glibly, flippantly, casually. You don't think there's gonna be a mm-mm? Hey, this thing the angels desired to look into, this thing that was eternal weight of glory, you just left it. You you came, you, you, you, you read your Bible when it was convenient. You had fellowship with me when you needed me. You came to church so long as it was convenient to the family. Church was never, I mean, I shed my blood for this, and it was not even priority for you. Everybody with me right here? Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Because God is going to judge it out. You know, before the days when the kids ran the home and parents were parents, I remember those parent talks. My parents were in charge of the home, and they expected us to obey what they said, and they called us to account. When my dad looked at us and said, Go to your room, there was much fear and trembling. We weren't abused, but we were judged. In our world today, see, we we we don't we don't want to ever be held accountable. And the Lord said, if if you're gonna live clean in this world, you better practice fear. Don't become casual. Remember your citizenship. You're just sojourning here, you're not living here. This is not your home. You're just passing through. You don't go to a hotel room and put your pictures up. Put your bedspread on the bed. You don't go to a hotel room and move your furniture in. You're only staying there for a couple of days. You don't come to this world and make yourself at home. I'm just sojourning here, remembering that I'm going there and that I'm gonna give an account when I get there. And I remember my restoration. I was not redeemed with corruptible things. The word redeemed here is to be bought back. So in Roman days, when Paul, when Peter's writing this, there were hundreds of thousands of people who had been put into slavery, debtor's slavery. They had debts and they were sold into slavery to pay off their debts. And if they could ever raise enough money or somebody could ever get enough silver and gold, they could go to their master and they could buy their freedom and buy them back. A family could go out and scrape together money and then go to a man and say, Here's enough gold, can we have our dad back? And they would redeem their dad. They would buy back their wife, they would buy back their mother. And the Bible says, you were not redeemed like that. Not with silver and gold, not in empty things. You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. You were redeemed with something that is unspeakable value. And because of your redemption, protect your mind, pursue holiness, practice godly fear. Don't tread lightly on things that God has purchased with eternal things. Be sober-minded. Gird up the loins of your mind. Let me ask you a question. How are your garments today? Are they unspotted from the world? Our garments under the control of Christ? Are we pursuing holiness? A little girl was told by the teacher that the superintendent of the school was coming to check on the cleanliness of the school and the tidiness of the school. And a little girl said, I'm gonna clean up my desk tomorrow. And the teacher said, But what if they come today? Oh, well, I will clean up my desk this afternoon. But what if they come this morning? The little girl said, I'm gonna clean up my desk right now and keep it clean. Peter said, Christ is coming. Let's clean it up and keep it clean. Our Father, I pray today.