Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110515.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part II: Disciplined Thinking Based On An Edifying Orientation To God
(1 Peter 1:13)
  1. Introduction
    1. The spiritually hostile world the believer faces tempts him to feel defeated, especially if he listens to a lot of conservative talk radio that always complains of the "evil" advance of unbiblical entities in the world.
    2. 1 Peter 1:13 in its context offers a directive to combat this defeatism, one we do well to heed (as follows):
  2. Disciplined Thinking Based On An Edifying Orientation To God, 1 Peter 1:13.
    1. Peter commanded: "Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you . . ." in 1 Peter 1:13 KJV, and the inferential conjunction, "Wherefore" (dio, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 792; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 197) reveals this directive is built on the truths revealed in 1 Peter 1:1-12.
    2. Thus, we review those 1 Peter 1:1-12 truths to discern the application of Peter's 1 Peter 1:13 directive:
      1. Though 1 Peter 1:1-12 could have been a depressed part of Scripture with the author, Simon Peter, living with the memory of Jesus' prophecy that he would die by crucifixion (1 Peter 1:1a; John 21:15-19) writing to believers facing a hostile pagan world (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1757, "Introduction to the First Letter of Peter"), Peter nevertheless wrote of greatly rejoicing, 1 Peter 1:6a.
      2. Such rejoicing amid humanly disheartening persecution from a hostile world was to arise from a focus on key truths about the believer's orientation to God as stated in 1 Peter 1:1-12 (as follows):
        1. God had eternally chosen believers foreknown of God to face their sufferings to live upright lives amid their persecutions, so they were to hope that such upright living was attainable, 1 Pet. 1:1-2.
        2. God was reserving an eternally incorruptible heavenly inheritance for believers, so they were to rejoice in that hope amid seeing their earthly possessions confiscated in persecution, 1 Peter 1:3-4.
        3. God was providing unconditional salvation security for believers to be able one day to possess that heavenly inheritance, so they were to rejoice amid their persecutions, 1 Peter 1:4, 5.
        4. God was using their persecutions to build in these believers a pricelessly mature faith (1 Peter 1:6-9), so Peter's persecuted believing readers were to rejoice in the Lord.
        5. God led esteemed Old Testament prophets to write about the things believers in Christ have today, and that though these prophets only partially knew these things, and failed to gain full knowledge of them though they inquired and searched diligently for them, they were to write them for the benefit of present Christians, so believers today are to rejoice in God's great grace to them, 1 Peter 1:10-12.
      3. Accordingly, when Peter directed his readers to "gird up the loins of your mind" in 1 Peter 1:13a KJV, an expression meaning to "be disciplined in your thinking" (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 1 Peter 1:13), Peter's readers were to counter the lure to feel depressed from the pressure of a hostile world's persecution by disciplining their minds to focus on the edifying orientations to God expressed in 1 Peter 1:1-12!
      4. In addition, these suffering believers were to "be sober" (1 Peter 3:13b KJV), that is, "self-controlled" as the NIV puts it (from nephontes, meaning "self-possessed, well-balanced, self-controlled," Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 540). So, instead of letting themselves be carried into depression by the impact of what they suffered so as to end up defeated by it all, they were to focus on the great blessings in store for them for overcoming their sufferings by focusing on the riches of their orientation to God in 1 Peter 1:1-12, thus controlling their mental orientation to keep their attitude joyful!
      5. These suffering saints were to hope to the end of their sufferings, however long they lasted, not thus yielding to the temptation to feel defeated by their sufferings, and to hope for the grace that would be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ from heaven at the rapture, 1 Peter 1:13c.
Lesson: Though persecution from a hostile world tempts the believer to feel depressed and defeated by the human suffering involved, GOD directs him to FOCUS on the HEAVENLY view of blessed spiritual victory that is his by a life of faith IN those SUFFERINGS, and thus to remain joyful!

Application: By the Holy Spirit's power (Gal. 5:16-23), may we focus our minds on our orientation to God in godless persecution to live above defeatism and stay joyful in our Lord Jesus Christ!