1 Peter 1:17-21
Prepared for Judgment

  1. Conduct yourselves in reverent fear
    1. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ
      1. How can this be? Yet Scripture clearly says so
      2. And worse yet, Peter affirms that God judges impartially. Hadn't we really been hoping all along that our deeds done in the flesh would not receive the same judgment as the deeds of unbelievers? But they will.
      3. 2 Co 5.10 "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
      4. Must avoid two errors
        1. We won't really have to pass through that judgment day
        2. We will and therefore you'd better be good little boys and girls. (I.e. a way of motivating you now that this irritating concept of grace has found its way into your heart)
      5. Maybe a related concept will help make this clear
        1. Rev 14.4 — 13Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them."
          1. Remember, the works follow them (as fruit)
          2. They do not precede as justification
        2. But what works?
          1. The works of our flesh, of lust and greed and a former manner of life pursued in ignorance? Hardly!
          2. The judging and discerning eye of Christ will root out those works in the day of his appearance if not before
          3. But in fact, we are encouraged that this judgment has already begun
            • The sufferings of this life = "The time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God" (1 Pe 4.17)
            • Thus the genuineness of your faith is to be refined by fire (v. 8) that you should be taught that this world is not your home and you can put no faith or hope here.
      6. Note Paul above. Therefore we make it our aim to be well-pleasing, i.e. to lay hold of Christ by a living faith that bears the fruit of that faith, because only those works will survive the day of judgment.
      7. Every deed you ever did in the flesh and every treasure you laid up on earth (whether money or prestige or comfort or self-righteousness) will be weighed in the balance of Christ. And they will all be found wanting and thrown away.
      8. In that last great and terrible day, all the remaining impurities of your sinful flesh and doubting heart will be swept away by a burning fire and an intense heat that destroys with it the whole, corrupt old creation. And the new will be brought in.
      9. Naturally, we long for this day because we hate our sin
      10. But the knowledge of this day also must fill us with a reverent fear and affect our hearts and minds and conduct.
    2. So live before the Father in fear
      1. Peter's way of saying "Don't sin that grace may abound."
      2. You call on God as Father and that is an amazing privilege (and one alluded to when Peter called you "children" [v. 14])
        1. You pray "Our Father...."
        2. The Spirit in you cries out to God as Father, i.e. as one who loves you and will supply all your needs.
      3. Will you, as disobedient (faithless, unhearing) children take from God and spend it on your pleasures?
      4. God forbid! It is the Judge whom you call Father.
      5. Therefore live in reverent fear.
      6. Remember 2 Pe 3.10ff. "10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
      7. Live as though Christ might at any moment return and all of your deeds whether done by faith or in the flesh will be laid open to his scrutiny
      8. Live knowing that the deeds done in the flesh will be judged and done away with.
      9. If you live for earthly pleasure, then it makes sense to pursue and adulterous affair, or lie to get a promotion, or to amass great wealth, or to seek glory in an earthly reputation.
      10. But if you know that these things are destined for destruction, you will have no zeal in pursuing them.
      11. I had an enjoyable time this week just looking at the material world and thinking to myself that it's all passing away.

TRANSITION: But for this thought to be complete, you need to know more than that this world is passing away. You need to know of the coming world, its eternal nature, and the nature of your participation in it. —> points II and III

  1. For you have been granted an eternal redemption
    1. You have not been redeemed from futility to futility
      1. When God bought you, he didn't pay money for you
        1. because gold and silver are corruptible; even they will pass away in the day of judgment
          1. They participate in the character of this world
          2. They offer no hope of the resurrection, for indeed they perish (1 Pe 1.7)
        2. And as such they would symbolize the nature of your redemption—temporary and passing away
        3. If this were so then you would have every reason to believe that the purpose of your redemption was that you should have pleasure and profit and glory in this life.
        4. And since your redemption is perishing, you would want to get the benefit of it before it expires
        5. You would not live patiently in godly fear but frenetically, trying to garner as much pleasure as you can before the whistle blows.
        6. You would be like those people who win raffles and are allowed 5 minutes to race through the grocery store, filling their shopping carts for free
        7. Your hope and faith would be in the here and now and if you weren't happy here and now, then something must be wrong with the way God is providing.
      2. But that doesn't describe your redeemed life, only your former futility
        1. "aimless" translates the word often translated "futility" or "vanity"
          1. It is used frequently in OT to describe idols
          2. It is used over and over again in Ecclesiastes
          3. Paul uses it of death and corruption and places it in opposition to resurrection (Rom 8 and 1 Cor 15)
        2. This is how you used to be, thinking that this life is all there is
          1. If you sought God at all it was for help in this life
          2. And the thought of not receiving immediate help but the promise of eternal life—that was irrelevant and ludicrous.
    2. But you have been redeemed with blood of infinite value
      1. With the precious blood of Christ—indeed of infinite worth.
      2. He is a lamb without blemish (blameless) and spotless
      3. He was chosen (loved) by God from before the foundation of the world
        1. I.e. he is eternal and therefore able to save you to the uttermost
        2. And he is precious. Foreknown means so much more than simply known ahead of time
      4. And he has been made manifest, brought into time and history, in this last of the ages
        1. Not like the "last time [different word]" of 1 Pe 1.5)
        2. But the last of the times, the last period in history before history comes to a close
        3. The new creation has already been established at the resurrection of Christ
        4. So it is clearer now than every before that this world is passing away.
        5. There is nothing more God needs to do before he discards this old creation and establishes forever the new
        6. As John said, brothers, it is the last hour
        7. Prepare to meet your maker and Redeemer

TRANSITION: So why has he been made manifest?

  1. That your faith and hope might be in God
    1. He's been manifested for you
      1. It is for your sakes that Christ has come—for you who believe in him
      2. For he is the very means by which you are enabled to believe (through him you believe in God)
      3. If God is for us, who can be agains us
    2. That you might look to the coming glory
      1. What God did Christ, he'll do for you
        1. He has already judged Christ and found him acceptable
        2. He has raised him from the dead and given him glory
      2. This he will do for you as well
      3. Your glory and permanence are yet to come, but they have already been reserved in Christ
      4. Thus your faith and hope are not directed to the things of this world but to what God is bringing in the day of Christ Jesus

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