Today, on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Why are we to be holy? Because God is holy. God commands us to be holy, but we are to be holy as He is holy. This is the heart of holiness.
Here's Peter's pattern for holiness. Be mentally alert. Be sober-minded. Be hopeful. Be obedient.
Be like Jesus. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, Senior Pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a world that is increasingly hostile to biblical truth, How can we live holy lives? Today, John continues our series in 1 Peter with a practical blueprint for holiness, five key principles that transform our character from the inside out, and help us reflect God's holiness in an unholy world.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with the pattern of holiness. What's your goal in life? Take a minute to reflect on that. God's goal for your life is holiness. We're learning from 1 Peter chapter 1.
That God says, you shall be holy. for I am holy. None of us by ourselves is holy. But we praise God that our salvation is not based on what we do trying to be holy, but rather is based on what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
And now We who have been forgiven And have received the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, are called to live holy lives. Last time we thought of some false patterns of holiness. Let's now focus on the biblical pattern. As laid down by Peter in chapter 1, verses 13 through 16. First Peter One.
Verse thirteen. Peter says, therefore preparing your minds for action. And being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will 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. God's goal for your life is holiness.
You shall be holy. For I am holy.
Now, this goal to be holy presents all of us with a tremendous problem because even the best of us are tainted by flaws and failures to say nothing of our sin. And we by ourselves cannot make ourselves holy. By ourselves, we can't live holy lives. God is holy. In Him, there is no darkness at all.
And yet it is at this very point, when we think of the holiness of God and our own unholiness, that the gospel shines in such brilliant good news. Because we learn from scripture that our salvation is not based on anything that we do. It is not by our works, but it is based on what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in His death, His burial, and His glorious resurrection. And that is all of God's grace. And so for the believer in Jesus Christ, good works are not the cause of our salvation, but the consequence of our salvation.
They're not the root of our salvation, but the fruit of our salvation. That our good works don't save us, but because we are saved, because we are forgiven, we're now going to live a different kind of life. Because not only did Jesus die for our sins, and be and was buried he rose again this demonstrating That He's God. that he is eternally alive. And when we personally receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, our lives are radically changed.
I think we've forgotten this in our contemporary church.
Somehow, people can claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but their life is no different from the atheist who lives next door. or the man who says, I really don't believe that. No. True salvation results in transformation. Paul says to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5.15 that for the Christian, we no longer live for ourselves.
That's what most people do. They live for themselves. Their personal happiness, it's all about them. It's all about their little circle. All about making life comfortable and successful for themselves.
They've made themselves a God. No. Following Jesus Christ is radically different. Jesus Christ not only is our Savior, He is our Lord. And now, we who take the name of Christians are commanded in Scripture to live differently.
For the one who died for us, says Paul, and rose again, 2 Corinthians 5:15. We're not to live for ourselves. But we're called to live holy lives. That's our subject, holiness. Last time we considered the call of holiness.
Today, our subject is the pattern of holiness. In our Immoral and unholy world. How are we to live? Holy Lives. It's a very important question, isn't it?
Really, that's what Peter is writing.
Now what is Peter's pattern? Let's look. Verse 13, what does he say? Therefore, Preparing your minds for action. You want to live a holy life?
Know where it begins? We can send your mind. Preparing your mind for action. There is a constant need For spiritual and mental Alertness. Don't be lazy in your thinking.
The old King James says, gird up the loins of your mind. A literal translation. The picture is of the person with long, loose, flowing garments, and he's running and he puts them in, he tucks them into his belt so that he or she is free to run. That's the picture. A spiritual And mental resolve is critical to holy living.
Some of us are very sloppy, very lazy in our thinking. Doing God's will, being holy, involves a transformation. Paul says, by the renewal of our mind, Romans 12 verse 2. How about your mind? Is your mind prepared for action?
Do you think spiritually about things when you're making decisions? Are you clear in your thinking? Is your mind daily being renewed? How is it going to be renewed? It's going to be renewed by the Word of God.
Holiness demands Spiritual Alertness. Resolving to live in a certain way. Prepare your mind for action. You're about to start a new job tomorrow, you're going into an office, a bank, a school, you don't know people or what is necessary, you've got to prepare your mind for action. You're going into potentially hostile territory.
You're a follower of Christ. You're seeking to live a holy life. You gotta prepare your mind for action. I think many of us don't do that. We just kinda drift through life, don't we?
No. We're going to be critical thinkers. We've got to learn how to think. I've told the story before that when I started in law, the first class, The professor stood up and welcomed us to the law school and said, ladies and gentlemen, You'll do well at Edinburgh University Law School if you do th Three things. We want you to read before, come on.
We were reading since we were four years old. But you wanted the serene.
Well Nope. We want you to write. It's a bit more difficult, isn't it? And then he said the third thing is to think. And we kind of laughed because we thought, well, of course we can read, of course, we can write, of course, we can think.
No, he's making a very important point. In the training of lawyers, there's a way of thinking In a legal way of analyzing the statutes and so on. He was wanting us to think as good lawyers. As a Christian I'm to think. as a follower of Christ.
Not taking in the thinking of a hostile world, no. Peter is writing to people in a hostile culture. I want you to prepare your minds for action. Secondly, he says, be sober-minded. This goes with preparing your mind for action.
This is being clear-minded. Clear in your thinking.
Some translations say be self. controlled. That's very important in this holiness, isn't it? Holy people are disciplined. People.
Holy people have lives which are well Balanced. The command to be sober-minded. rules out excess in our lives. Spiritually speaking, is your life balanced? What about your eating habits?
Eat too much, too little? What about your finances? Are they under the lordship of Christ? What about your spending habits? What about your sexuality?
So self-control. Do you speak to people? What were your thoughts? That's more convicting, isn't it? Am I thinking clearly?
Biblically sober-minded, self-controlled. What about your time? How do you use your time? Is there self-discipline, self-control? We live in a society, isn't it, where many people are out of control.
Can I say to all of us, particularly our younger people, Do not wreck your life through substance abuse. Scripture says no. Be sober-minded. Be sober. Then clearly.
Don't allow alcohol or drugs. or sexual promise duty to dictate how you live. These are going to take over. These are going to be your master. You're going to be their slave.
As you get into these addictions, and the more you pursue them, the darker and darker the hole. And God's grace, God's grace is greater, and God can lift people out of that. life of alcoholism and drug addiction and so on. But do not start That path. You tempted?
Men.
So is your drinking get getting out of control? Yeah. You say, well, I'm not an alcoholic. Ah, but you're sometimes drunk, aren't you? You sometimes feel you can't get through a day without that drink.
Peter is saying, listen, if you live a holy life, Be sober. Mind it. Live a life. of discipline. A life of Balance.
Here's the third one. Again, verse 13, preparing your minds for action, being sober-minded, set your hope. Fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I love this one. We've seen this before in Peter.
They're living up we are people of hope, aren't we? The Christian Even in the darkest hour, In the most difficult of circumstances. Yes, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we are people of hope. We're not people of despair. There's so much despair today, so much anxiety.
So much blackness in our society.
So much with people's lives out of control. We are different. A holy life is I am Says Peter. To set my hope. Fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
He's told them, you're pilgrims, you're strangers, you are to live in the light of eternity. You're here on earth, but you're not going to be here forever. I want you not to so much look down. Yes, your life is difficult. You're being persecuted.
You're being thrown out of your home. You're difficult to get a job because you're a Christian. Yes, there's illness. Yes, the circumstances are difficult. I don't want you to keep looking down.
I want you to look up. To set your hope. Isn't it beautiful? on the grace That is, that will be brought to you. At the revelation.
Of Jesus Christ. You see, when we Set our hope on God's grace. Do you know what it's easy to do then? It's easy to see the difference between that which is holy and that which is unholy. We like to navigate the grey areas, don't we?
So, this young man who's starting this new job at Bank of America tomorrow, he's going into the office. If he's setting his hope on that grace, if he's looking up, he's going to make wise decisions. He's going to see his life. He's going to see his companions around him. He's going to make decisions in the light.
Of that grace that is going to be brought to him when Jesus Christ comes. That is, the values of the kingdom of God are impacting how he lives today. Isn't that what Jesus taught? about the kingdom of God. that we live today.
We have been transferred, if we're Christians, out of the kingdom of Darkness into the kingdom of God's Son. I'm I'm I'm different. God has saved me. Yes, the situation is very difficult, but I'm looking up. I'm preparing my mind for action.
I'm sober-minded. I understand the importance of self-control, and I am. Hopeful. I tell our pastors however we see people And we see people as many of you do, and humanly speaking, their situation is hopeless. I sometimes cried, literally cried.
with people when I hear of their terrible situation.
Some people come from terrible. backgrounds of abuse. And it's horrible. We can hardly take it in and no, we cannot give. a little prayer and everything goes right.
But what we can do, yes, we can pray for them. And they can leave with hope. Hope. Hope of the gospel. Hope in Christ.
Hope that my life is secure in Christ. That one day Jesus Christ is going to come. There's going to be the revelation of Jesus Christ. And I'm living today, however difficult it is, in the light of that day. We are people of hope.
And then. Number four, be obedient. Did you notice verse 14? We don't like this one. I don't like this one either.
to be obedient. As obedient children. Notice what he says. God is our Father. We belong to the family of God.
And we are to bear the family resemblance.
Now, as I look around, we're very, very different. You're going to meet some new members and There's tremendous diversity in this congregation, and we thank God for it. But we're not talking about physical appearance certain ways. We're talking about virtues. We're talking about moral qualities.
And we who are in the family of God We Resemble God. as we are obedient to him. Uh uh uh last month my brother and his wife from Scotland came and Spent over two weeks with Goodney and myself. We had a great time. He's ten years younger, and he found it.
Funny, he's not as mature as I am. He found it funny when he. met people to introduce me as his father. And I thought, I'm going to get a step ahead of my brother.
So when I came to people, I said, I want you to meet my twin brother, Richard. And people said, okay. Ten years younger. But If you saw my brother Richard and me, you would know. They're from the same family.
There is a family resemblance, isn't there? We had the same parents, were brought up the same way, largely, although he is 10 years younger. There's a family resemblance. And one of the characteristics of being part of the family of God, which is a tremendous privilege, is to obey. Obedient children.
Jesus says, if you love me, You will Keep My Commandments. I demonstrate my love for Christ. I demonstrate I'm living for Christ in humble obedience. in submitting my will to his. That's the path of holiness.
May not be what you want, but we are to be obedient. For example, we're called to worship. We've obeyed the Lord today. God calls us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
Some people have, but we are obedient. We come. to worship. We obey the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. We read the Word of God.
We seek to go out with the gospel. We're commanded to. to do certain things. And here is a command. Be holy.
And we demonstrate that we belong to the family of God. when we are obedient. Who's in charge of your life? Without obedience, there is no holiness. Here's the final one.
Number one, prepare your minds for action. Number two, be sober-minded. Number three, be hopeful. Number four, be obedient. Number five, be kind.
Christ-like, be like Christ. You notice what Peter does? Verse fifteen, but as he who called you is holy. He's reminding them that it is a holy God who called you. You also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written.
You shall be holy, for I am holy. He said the same thing twice. Why are we to be holy? Because God is holy. God commands us to be holy, but we are to be holy as He is holy.
This is the heart of holiness. If you ask me, John, what's the essence of holiness? Yes, it separated from evil, separated to God. But In essence, The holiest person Sitting here today, And I don't know who that person is. is the one who is most like Jesus.
He's perfectly holy. Be you holy, for I am holy. This is the essence of holidays. We're going to think of this more deeply next week. See, as you follow Jesus Christ, You become more lighter.
Goodney and my sister-in-law were saying that Richard and I. Uh we laugh at the same things. Our humor tends to specialize in irony. Order. Enemies call it sarcasm.
We don't call it sarcasm, we call it irony. We laugh at the same things. We have the same view of things. I know what he's thinking of a situation. Why?
Because we came. from the same family. Isn't this wonderful? That the more Time I spend with Jesus. The more I like him.
The closer I follow him, The more I become like him. The more I listen to his word as I Read his word. And as I pray, I'm becoming Supernaturally, through the work of the Holy Spirit, more. And more like Jesus. You want to be like Jesus, don't you?
Of course you do. You wouldn't be here if you didn't want to be like Jesus. You want to take that in your home? You want to take that in your relationships so that when people see us. They know.
This person is different. There is a peace. There's a holiness. There's a patience, there's a kindness. There's a love.
Here is the command today. Do you hear it? Be holy. For God is holy. Here's Peter's pattern for holiness.
Be mentally alert. Be sober-minded. Be hopeful. Be obedient. Be like Jesus.
Will you pray this with me? Lord, I'm yours. I'm set apart for you. Use me today. in your service.
Strengthen me. Help me to keep my eyes on Jesus. and to be more and more. Like um Our Father, we thank you for this passage of Scripture. It's very convicting to us.
Because all of us are unholy, and yet we thank you. That the Lord Jesus took our unholiness and bore it in his own body on the tree. And now, We seek to be holy in our Yeah. In Christ's name we pray. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe.
and a message titled, The Pattern of Holiness. If you'd like to revisit any part of this message, visit our website at theverdict.org. Today, we'd like to offer you a free copy of John's insightful booklet titled For the Time is Near. This compelling resource helps you develop a biblical big picture perspective on the book of Revelation. You'll discover the centrality of Christ, gain a clear overview of God's prophetic calendar, and understand what the Bible actually teaches about judgment, spiritual warfare, and heaven.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with closing remarks.
Well What's your verdict? Have you been pursuing one of these false patterns of holiness? Perhaps you've been looking for a certain experience or feeling rather than obeying scripture.
Some preachers present the secrets of holiness. or a technique of holiness. But Peter knows nothing of this. Put your eyes on Jesus, the Holy Son of God. Be mentally alert, clear-minded, and embrace the glorious hope of the gospel.
Next time, we'll continue on our study of holiness from 1 Peter and think of the goal of holiness. you won't want to miss it. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
