Clear Mind Full Heart

seated. Good morning. Good to see everyone on this Father's Day. If you got your Bibles, I want you to go and grab them. We're going to jump straight in to 1 Peter 4 7-9 as we continue in our message. And the dads get it a little bit lighter than the moms did because on Mother's Day, we taught about how to submit to your husbands.

And so, um, today today, uh, we are, you know, just where we're at in First Peter. We're going to be talking about the idea of having a clear mind and a full heart. A clear mind and a full heart. And the big idea here that we're going to be walking through or looking at is the fact that Christ is coming. And so, get your mind right and spread the love of Jesus. Christ is coming.

So, get your mind right and spread the love of Jesus. That's the big idea for our passage. this morning, but we're going to be looking at verses 7 through9. 7-9, just three verses for us. So, let's start out in verse seven here. Peter says, "The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore, be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Let's pray for this this morning because we can't pray enough. Father, we thank you so much again that we just have this opportunity to get together as the body of Christ, to get together as sinners who have become saints because of the work of your son Jesus and his life, his death, and his resurrection. and that he has caused us to be born again to a living hope, to an inheritance that is undefiled and unfading.

And it is in this living hope that we get to live out the rest of the days of our lives. And it is in this hope that you have provided for us the opportunity for us to live with clear minds, to be self-controlled and sober minded, but to also to experience this this earnest love that you have shown us and pursued us with that then is produced in us so that we can live it out towards others around us as well. And so I Father, I just pray that as we see the fruit of what it means to live this way, I pray that this is not a message that we just hear and just think, well, that's great. That's good. I agree with it. I pray that it is also a message that as we unpack this word, this truth that you have provided for us, that it continues to reveal to us the areas in our lives where we are not living self-controlled and soberminded.

and that it would help us, strengthen us to be able to live lives in step with your spirit. And that it would produce full hearts that seek to love one another earnestly. and that we would begin to leverage our lives with hospitality in mind and to do it in such a way that we're not doing it because we have to or obligated to do it that we do it without grumbling that we do it with joy before us because of what it'll produce and bringing more people to come to know and treasure Jesus above all. So, Father, we ask you to help us in this. We ask that your Holy Spirit guides us in understanding the truth this morning and that not just in understanding it, but that it transforms us to become more like your son Jesus. It's in his name we pray.

Amen. Amen. I want to begin with the beginning of this verse, verse seven. I think it's a good place to begin where it starts off saying the end of all things is at hand. Because that's kind of the context that's that Peter is kind of drawing on essentially saying, "Hey, the end of all things is at hand." And so therefore, we need to make sure that we have clear minds, full hearts, and that we have a winsome spirit when it comes to showing hospitality to others.

And so when we look at this idea of the end of all things is at hand, honestly, if you just read that portion of it, you're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. You're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. Because here's the thing, I love conspiracy theories. I love conspiracy theories. I love sitting around. I mean, me and my dad, he's in town for Father's Day this week and for other things, but last night we were sitting around a bonfire and we're just looking up at the moon and you know where we're going to go.

I mean, it's like, did we like did we really get there, you know? And so, I love that kind of idea of just throwing out and talking about any of those kinds of crazy things. Um, when you just read this verse and you look at the end of all things is at hand. I mean, there are countless resources out there of people who take that and run with it and speculate all kinds of crazy things. 88 reasons why Jesus is going to come back in 1988. Well, that didn't happen.

And so, it can get you in trouble. It can get you in areas where it gets you distracted. It gets you off course of what he's actually talking about. I mean, just for starters, Peter says, "The end of all things is at at hand." And yet, he wrote that 2,000 years ago. We're still reading that in the same context.

The end of all things is at hand. And yet, the end of all things is taking 2,000 years so far. So, it can't just mean that we're trying to figure out the date of when he's coming back. It's got to be more than that. It's got to be more than that. But to wet your appetite a little bit, there's at least three interpretations that people kind of draw in on to try to figure out the context.

And I'll eventually tell you which one I believe it ultimately is. I think there can be some combination to these, but there's at least three interpretations that most theologians look at when looking at the context of what Peter's writing in the context of his time. What's about to happen, what's planning to happen, but what's ultimately happening. For starters, one of them is the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD. 70. This was an event that happened.

Rome came in and they ransacked Jerusalem and they destroyed Jerusalem and they destroyed the temple in AD70. This is going to be literally about five or six years after Peter is writing this letter. And so some take it to mean that Peter was prophesying about that event. And I'll just simply say maybe, but not likely. Not likely. And what he actually ends up commanding of them, honestly, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if they come and ransack Jerusalem in the end. It doesn't change anything in regards to the commands that he's going to be given to the people. Maybe a bit of sense of urgency, but it doesn't change anything. A second interpretation is that it's just the coming end of our lives in the sense that we're all going to die. Well, that one's almost just, well, yeah, Captain Obvious. We are all going to die.

And so, yeah, we should live with self-controlled, sobermindedness. We should have full hearts and loving earnestly towards others. We should show hospitality. But again, that one fits for for everybody. It doesn't matter. The third one is Peter's not setting a date for our destruction, nor is he setting a date for our death.

But because Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, and Christ's ascension is now behind them, they are simply living in the last era, the last days leading up to Christ's second return. And the beauty is is that if you look at all three of them, really, it doesn't matter. What actually matters is the commands that he gives us. Because of what Christ has done and because Christ has told us, I'm coming back. So be ready. Be prepared.

Be prepared. And so we don't know when that's going to be. I mean, that's why he says it's like a thief in the night. You're not going to know the day or the hour. We can know essentially to a degree the time and seasons. But again, even in that, he says it doesn't matter.

What matters is what you're doing with the knowledge that you have in regards to his life, his death, and his resurrection, the good news, the gospel message, and the fact that you're going to die or Christ is coming back and going to return. Either way, those are set in stone, and those are going to happen. And so we're living in this middle stage of from his gospel to his return. And while we're here, what do we do? What do we do? And because people love to speculate, and because people love to to kind of dive into trying to interpret all the different myth mythologies and and silly myths, and even the rest of the New Testament literally warns us, don't get caught up in that stuff.

Instead, stay the course. Be prepared. Be soberminded. Prepare your minds for action. Prepare your minds for gospel work, gospel growth, gospel message. Like, prepare your minds for advancing what is necessary for other people to come to know Jesus, to treasure him, and to have their eternity secured.

Because just diving in to like going around and trying to help someone figure out the exact moment when Jesus is going to return does not actually save them. It doesn't save them. But helping them understand what Christ has already done for them, that's the good stuff. That's the good stuff. And so as we are living in these last days, and even Peter in one of his first sermons after Pentecost talks about this in Acts 21:17, he says, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh." He finishes off that sermon down in verses 20 and 21 before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So even when he is talking about living in the last days, what he is drawing their attention to is making sure that everyone calls upon the name of the Lord. That's what he's drawing their attention to. And therefore, he's wanting to them to focus in and hone in on that specific reality. And so it's honestly it's it's it's a little bit less of are you ready for Christ's return and rather are you living in view of Christ's life, death, and resurrection and then knowing that his return is coming? Are you living in view of that? And how is your life actually being worked out with how you spend your time, how you spend your days?

And so with that in mind as the context, Peter commands us to have a clear mind, full heart, and a winsome spirit. And so those are the three things that I want to talk to you about this morning. The first one is live with a clear mind. Look at verse seven again. This carries the idea that we are to be disciplined and undistracted so that we can pray effectively and efficiently. Verse 7, therefore be self-controlled and soberminded for the sake of your prayers.

I want to start off with self-controlled here. It just carries the idea of being disciplined. Living life in an honest pursuit of Christ. And so, what are the things that the scriptures have demanded of my life? Like when we look at the scriptures, because again, it's not that we just receive the gospel. I believe in Jesus, therefore I get to live however I want to live.

like that is that's not what the scriptures have said. When we follow Jesus, we have a new commanderin-chief. We have a new master and we are slaves to Christ. We are servants of Christ. And so we are now looking to our Lord and Savior who is our master and we are asking the question every single day like an act of worship is asking the question, how do you want me to live my life today? That's an act of worship to him.

And the wonderful thing is we actually don't even have to ask the question. He just goes ahead and tells us through his word. He tells us here's exactly how you are to live your life as you are following me. I'm going to lay it all out for you. And so the wonderful thing is that there's a thousand different things throughout the New Testament. There's a thousand through I mean it's it's unending.

This is why the beauty of studying the scriptures is that you get to figure out for the rest of your life what he has commanded of you on how to live your life. There's never a moment in which you're going to come to your senses and say, "I figured it all out." like I've got the three-step process on how to live my life for Jesus. No, we're we're constantly learning and growing in what the scriptures I mean, we don't even have I think um I've heard different pastors say there's there's 59 one anothers in the scriptures. We don't even have those mastered. 59 one anothers.

and how you love one another, how you serve one another, how you encourage one another, how you edify one another, how you submit to one another. We don't even have those figured out. But yet, those are commands for us to live a disciplined life for Jesus. A disciplined life simply means what has the world discipled me in that is not God-honoring and worthy of Jesus? What is the world disciplining me? How do I repent of that?

stopped doing those things and now I'm being trained and discipled to follow Jesus and live the life that he has ultimately caused me to live. So disciplined is saying no to this and yes to this. And we're able I need to understand this. We are able to do that because of the spirit of God that dwells within us. We once were not able and now because of the spirit of Christ that comes and lives within us, no longer do we live for the flesh, but we live for the sake of Christ. We live for what God has called us to.

And so you can do the one in others because the one who lived the perfect life that we are trying to model is now given us the helper to help us live how he lived. To live how he lived. And it's not because we're trying to earn God's favor. It's not because we're trying to earn God's righteousness. No, it's because we have it that we now live from it. We live from his favor.

We live from his righteousness that he has provided for us. Therefore, now that we treasure him and we treasure his way of living more than this way because we've seen the fruit over here and it ain't good. It leads to death and destruction. This leads to life and the good stuff. And so now we're able to say, "No, we don't want that anymore. We want this.

We want this because the spirit of Christ dwells within me and I want what Christ wants." And so we don't need to get creative with it. We don't need a new program that is a silver bullet on disciplehip. What we just need is simply more Bible and more prayer. That's all we need. More Bible and more prayer.

And you'll figure it out. You'll figure it out. So Peter tells us to be self-controlled and soberminded. Let's let's click on sober minded and go a little bit deeper with this. Soberminded simply just means undistracted. undistracted.

Like I'll be watching a show on TV with my phone in my hand. Kelsey will ask me a question about what happened in the show. Guess what? I got to back it up because I don't know. I'm distracted. I don't know what's going on.

And yet, we can live our lives in a similar way. We got to be ready. We got to be clearminded when God calls of us. and especially with what he is um commanding of us on how to live our lives with prayer in mind since that's Peter's aim here. You can't pray with Instagram open. I mean just be honest about it.

It's really hard. You can't I mean it's I I used to kind of use my commutes as a time to pray and I figured out that's hard because y'all know as I've shared before cards on the table when I drive I don't like the way other people drive. And so I could be praying for God to, you know, hey God, could you just help soften soand so's heart? You know, this has been difficult conversations I've been having with so- and so. Why in the world are you pulling in front of me right now? Distracted.

Easily distracted. And so I think because his aim here, you can't pray with distractions. This world and your own flesh are going to tempt you with all kinds of vices in order to keep you from praying. In order to keep you from praying. And I think every single one in this room, if I were to ask you, who in here feels like they need a better prayer life, we're all going to raise our hands. And if I were to ask the question, what keeps you from having a better prayer life?

You're going to already have a list in your mind. You already know what it is. You already know what it is. And so, we need to kind of understand what is causing the distractions. James 1:14-16 puts it this way. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

So what are your own desires? What are the things that keep you from the good things? Like if if if really what we're talking about with with uh clear minds and full hearts like if it is more Bible and more prayer because I mean that's what when when you look at the apostles and they're talking about leading the church. They're saying the number one thing that we need to do is the ministry of the word and prayer. The church needs more of the Bible and prayer. And so then they're fleshing out the rest of their scriptures by basically telling them, "Here's all the things that are distracting you from the word and prayer."

You got to throw those things off that are entangling you and trust this one thing. And so we need to know ourselves. We need to study what are the things that are distracting us. What are our own desires? Because as verse 15 continues on in James 1, the desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin. And so if the word and prayer is what helps us live a life of worship to God and we get distracted by that by our own desires, where does that lead us?

It leads us into sin. And then we're now in that again wrestling back and forth constantly of like, well, we're running back into the garden to hide from God because we've gone and sinned against him. And he's saying, well, you know, if you would have just seen your issue here, what distracted you? You have the opportunity and the ability to say no to it. So, own it. Ask for forgiveness.

Come back. Let's continue working on this and growing in righteousness. And that's why I think James even finishes off in verse 16 telling them do not be deceived. So this is a mind thing. Do not be deceived. When you are devoting yourself to God's word and prayer and and and a desire pops up, don't be deceived by it.

like be smart enough in the mind of Christ to be able to see what that thing is and to know that that's not where I want to go. That's not where I want to go. Even if the thing is not even a sinful thing. Is it a sin to open up Instagram? No. But is it a sin to let Instagram distract you away from what is good?

Yeah, absolutely. But fill in the blank. Anything like that can be a thing. And so those who are watchful, who who stay spiritually alert and sober minded are the ones who will not be tempted, but make the best use of their time. Make the best use of their time, especially in these last days. I mean, that's language that Paul uses.

Listen to what he says. This will not be on the screens, but Ephesians 5 6-18. He says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words." I mean, that's social media, right? Now, there's a lot of good things on social media. I always harp on social media.

I learn a lot of things through social media because I'm I'm following pastors. I'm following guys who who are constantly uh uh sharing Bible verses or sharing theological points or whatever it looks like. So, you can learn absolutely through those things. But at the same time, there's also I mean it's the Aropagus of our day. It's the place where people go to talk about all kinds of crazy views and it's discipling people. It really is.

And so he's saying here, "Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not become partners with them. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk then as children of light. So Paul's essentially telling them, hey, you were this.

You're not that anymore. So now walk as you are in Christ. Live out this way. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. Verse 10, he says, "And try to discern, again, use your mind here. Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. So if anyone ever says, "Well, it's not right for you to be able to tell someone else what they can't do." Excuse me. The scriptures say, "Do it. Expose it. How else will they know?

For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, and again, think about this in in regards to our passage for today, awake, oh sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Awake, be sober minded. Be self-controlled.

And that's why he then lands with look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time. Why? Because the days are evil. It's another way of him saying we're in the end. Therefore, do not be foolish. We don't have a lot of time.

Don't waste it. Don't waste it. Understand what the will of the Lord is. And then I love this again. Think about sobermindedness. Paul lands in verse 18, don't get drunk with wine.

So don't be under the influence of something that causes you to not be clearminded and have a full heart for the Lord. for that is debauchery. Instead, be filled with the spirit. And so, if think about our mind, our heart, just like just like your stomachs, we fill our stomachs every single day. And it's either with good stuff or it's with bad stuff. And and you're going to feel a certain way either way.

You eat good stuff, you're like, "Yeah, I got energy. I feel good. I don't feel bloated. I feel great. Like, I'm able to do the things that I want to do." You eat a bunch of junk, you feel junk.

You feel awful. Well, think about that with your mind and your heart. What are you feeling with your time? Is it leading you to be self-controlled and soberminded? Or are you fogging up your mind with a bunch of junk? Are you putting stuff in that is honestly just simply not wise?

Not wise. And then we wonder, why can I not hear God? Why can I not understand what he wants for me? Why can I? Well, because we're clouded. We're clouded.

We're fogging up our realities. And he's saying we need to be self-controlled and soberminded. We need to live with clear clear minds. Again, for the sake of your prayers, I love this. As RC Sproul puts it, we are to be ever vigilant. This is kind of his way of saying like, how do you be self-controlled and soberminded?

We are to be ever vigilant, ever watchful, ever ready for the Lord, for we know not when he comes. And therefore, we need to stay dependent dependent through prayer on him. And that's why I think Peter lands here with stay watchful for the sake of your prayers. And I have to believe I have to believe that when Peter is saying this and teaching this that he's drawing on some personal experience that he had in falling asleep when God asked him to pray. Think about that. Matthew 26:40 and 41 when when Jesus is going to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and as he is praying he's bringing Peter and a couple of the disciples with him and he wants them to do the same thing.

So that why? so that they don't get deceived into temptation. He wants them to remain clearminded. And yet, what do they do? They get tempted and fall asleep. Not a place that would be considered awake.

He says this in Matthew 26:40-41. Jesus came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So could you not watch with me one hour?" Again, being alert. Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And I love this. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so essentially Jesus is telling him, you have the strength of God to be able to watch and pray, but your flesh is what's weak and will cause you to go to sleep. So which one are you going to fuel here? Which one are you going to feed here? You need to trust the spirit of God and you'll be awake.

And if you don't and you try to trust your flesh, you're going to fall asleep. And I think there's so many times for us we fall asleep through life because we're trusting in our flesh rather than the spirit of Christ that dwells within us. And what we're called to do from this is redeem this time or as the young kids would say, it's time to lock in. We got to lock in and redeem this time that is an everyday situation. It's an every moment situation that the world is going to be calling our flesh. Hey, come back.

Come back. Come back. And Christ is reminding us of who we are in him. And he's saying, stay here. Be watchful. Be self-controlled and soberminded for the sake of your prayers.

Peter now post Pentecost after being filled with the Holy Spirit he understands that the spirit of God in him gives him the ability to stay awake to be self-controlled and soberminded. God will not command of us something that he does not also equip us with the ability to carry out. I love that. So when he tells us, hey, stay awake, be watchful, have a heart inclined towards the things of God, not the things of this world, not only does he command us to be that, but he provides with us or provides to us what we need in order to accomplish that. This is Ezekiel 36:26-27. Listen to this.

I will give you a new heart. Well, thank you, Lord, because the old heart was terrible. It was an idol factory, as John Calvin says. It causes us to do all the things that deserve hell. And so, the only way for us to get over here is if he removes the heart of stone and gives us a new heart that then causes us, listen to this, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I think when Peter's as he is is is growing in the Old Testament scriptures and studying them and coming to Ezekiel 36 and seeing that it says, "I will put a new spirit within you."

Yeah. I think that's where he remembers what Jesus told him when he was at the garden. The spirit is willing because I'm giving you a new spirit. He says, "I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I'm removing the dead heart and I'm giving you an alive heart that is beating beating for the things of Christ and I will put my spirit within you." Again, who's the active and passive characters in this?

I mean, God is the active one and we are passively receiving what he is giving to us. I will give you. I will put my spirit within you. And what does that spirit do? Look at it. Causes you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

So, how do we do this over here? How do we live out the commands of God, man? We trust in the spirit that he has already granted to us. We trust in the heart that he has given us. And so when we're met on a daily basis with all of the things that are going to distract us or pull for our time and attention, he says, "Trust the spirit of Christ that it dwells within you that causes you to walk in my statutes and obey my commands. Trust in that and then live it out.

Walk in step with it." In other words, I mean to make it as clear as day, say tomorrow morning 8 o'clock before work gets started, you want to do this and you just simply put it back in there and you have the ability to open this. So just do it as Nike would say, not to quote a Greek god. Second thing I want you to see here, a clear mind before God should produce a full and loving heart towards others. So the second point is don't stop loving. You can sing it with the journey tune if you want.

But verse eight, that one that didn't land. All right, that's great. Verse eight says, 'Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. Above all. And so as Peter is teaching these sojouring believers as they are dispersed throughout the regions, he's telling them love sits at the top of his list. Love sits at the top of his list.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. Again, RC Sproul tells us that there are 613 specific laws contained in the Torah. The Torah is the Old Testament law. 613 laws. Specifically, as humans, we love to categorize and prioritize the importance of laws, do we not? I mean, which is more important, breaking the speed limit or murdering someone?

We categorize laws and we give them priorities. Well, when it comes to the commands of God, love is a top priority. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 22:34-4. The Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, which just meant Jesus won in that argument with the Sadducees because that's what Jesus does. The Pharisees then gathered together and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

Again, this is what we love to do. We love to categorize, love to prioritize. And he said to him, Jesus responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all of the law and the prophets."

So in other words, he's saying, take those 613 laws and then all of those extra things that you Pharisees have added to them, you need to understand two things. What matters most is that you love God and that you love others. That's what matters most. If we're going to prioritize it here, John 13:34-35, Jesus puts it this way. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another. So he's saying the greatest thing for you to do is be able to love God and be able to love others. And not only that, but the greatest marker for the world to recognize whether or not you follow Jesus is based on that love that you have for God and the love that you have for one another. And so if you don't have love, then how is the world going to be able to understand whether or not you belong? You actually just end up looking like the world.

And I think this the way he starts to um characterize how to love and to the degree in which we love is going to be different than the world accomplishes because it's a God type of love. Keep loving. So just the fact that you love is not what he's actually getting at here. Because in the month we're in right now, they would say this is our core belief, love. And love is love. And anyone can love anything.

So that's not what we're talking about. It's not just that you love, but that you love a specific way just as Jesus loved. When you think about just as Jesus loved because that's what he says to his disciples, love one another just as I have loved you. That as is a very specific word because as Jesus loved us was him going to the cross and dying in our place. Man, you talk about loving someone to the point that you're essentially giving up everything for them. I don't see that being celebrated in this day and age.

I see it being ridiculed in this day and age. Keep loving one another earnestly. I think you could if you could draw from that just as I have loved you. If you could draw a string from that as to earnestly, that's going to help define one another. Earnestly, this is a type of love that is ongoing. It is persistent.

It is costly. It is stretched out. It is never ending. It is never ending. And it is completely selfless. Completely selfless in order for someone else.

So, it's essentially saying, I'm willing to give up and literally love to the point in which I give out in order for you to receive love and be filled up to the point of having life eternally because they come to know Jesus. That's a different kind of love that the world is not teaching right now. We were we've started doing a thing on Thursday mornings. It's not closed. It's open. and anyone that ever wants to come.

8:00 a. m. Thursday mornings, we're starting to just look at the the the passage for the week and everyone kind of brings their observations, interpretations of of what God is showing us from the text. And in our conversation this Thursday morning, Mike put it this way. This is a love that is not dictated based on its performance, but rather it's stretching out and straining to the limit. It's doing whatever it takes to love regardless if that love is ever reciprocated.

So, it's it's pouring. It's it's having the mindset that we are pouring ourselves out because he's commanded us to do so. Even if it's never reciprocated. Even if it's never reciprocated because again, love, look at it here as it goes on, covers a multitude of sin of sins. Now, that is not talking about atonement. you loving them does not cover their sins by the blood of Jesus.

That's not what he's talking about here. And it's also not ignoring sin in the sense that you just continue I love you so much you just continue doing whatever you're doing we'll sweep it under the rug. It's also not talking there. Again, remember what we've already looked at. Expose like like it's good for us to expose sin. But what this is doing is it is a love that forgives.

It is a love that refuses to keep a record of wrongs. This is a love that overlooks personal offenses. So if they're if you say something and they don't like it and they punch you for it or they stone you for it or they ridicule you for it, again, we shouldn't be surprised. That's what Peter's been talking about in the whole context of first Peter. Hey, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they malign you, when they ridicule you, again, God will judge and vengeance is his, you don't have to repay in that moment. Again, you keep loving until the point where it stretches you out.

I mean, this type of love I see played out with Stephen where he so loved and provided truth and spoke truth that they stone him for it. And as they are stoning him for it, he keeps loving them by even praying the same thing that Jesus prayed from the cross. Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. This is a type of love that does not take it personally when people malign you and ridicule you for your faith in Jesus. But instead we realize and understand as Peter has also encouraged us in first Peter 1 that they are just living out their ignorance. And as he's called us again, don't don't live based on your former passions that were in ignorance.

Live according to the spirit of Christ. They're unable to do that. Hence why he's sent you to them in order to share the gospel with them so that they can come to their senses and realize that we're living the wrong way. We need to live the right way. We need to put our faith and trust in Jesus so that our sins can be forgiven. So this is a love that overlooks personal offenses because father forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing. And it's a love that seeks reconciliation rather than retaliation. A church in the last days, in other words, should be marked by grace, not grievance. Grace, not grievance. Love is not merely something we feel, but love becomes visible through action.

So again, he provides some application for us here. What does it look like for us to love earnestly? The third thing I want you to see here is that we open our lives to love. And you've heard me use that language before when we get up here. Really, the two bike pedals that help us grow as a church is we open the Bible to learn and we open our lives to love. We need to hear from God what it is that he is shaping us into.

And then as we are shaped into that, we go out and perform that to the world around us. We engage the world around us. We open our lives to love. Verse nine, show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Show hospitality. Show hospitality to one another.

Again, I think there's there's three ways that we talked about on Thursday that this can kind of work itself out. Hospitality, the easiest one is in our homes. in our homes where we invite someone over for dinner where we entertain them. But that's the lowhanging fruit, inviting someone over for dinner. I think he actually takes it deeper in a lot of this. When was the last time we let someone live with us who was homeless?

Now, I'm not saying like that's that that that that that is a um a bold application, but is there a willingness to show this type of hospitality? I mean, think about the good Samaritan and what he did for the guy caught in the ditch. I mean, he went above and beyond and out of his way of his own resources, of his own time, his own energy, setting this guy up, making calling a physician to be able to come and help nurse the guy back to health. I mean, it was a lot. And I'm sure, and again, I know this is this is a story. This is a almost a parable, if you will.

But at the same time, for this guy to have these types of resources, it means he's probably has businesses that he's managing and tending to, families, his own estate that he's attending to. So, he's probably not just a guy with a ton of free time on his hands, but is going above and beyond with hospitality. Hospitality can be our homes. It it's it's our resources. It's our resources. It's not what we have left over.

It's our first and best. It's our first and best. Hospitality can be ourselves, our time and energy. The more we get to this middle where we're able to say, "All right, we're tempted to do this thing for ourselves and the more we get into the word and prayer." What it does is it helps you stop thinking of yourself and start considering the interest of others. It just moves you in that direction because that's what it's producing in you.

It's producing in you to become more like Jesus who emptied himself and took the form of a bondervant even to the point of death on a cross for the sake of you becoming a sinner to a saint in order to glorify God so that he gets the worship that he rightly deserves. Man, that's the whole narrative of the Bible. And this is a hospitality that he has called us to. Kind of think about it this way. It it's it is taking it a step further where it's the difference between babysitting someone's kids for one night versus fostering or adopting a child and bringing them into your home. It's that kind of hospitality.

It's that kind of hospitality. And here's the thing, too. where we're at in our context. It's it's honestly it's easy for us. Think about the ones he's writing this letter to. They're sojouring.

They're exiles. So, they're they're they're not at their home estate. They're not on their own properties. They're they're scattered. And he's calling them to this level of hospitality. Which is why I think he goes on to say without grumbling because it's going to be easy.

The temptation for them is going to be seriously we don't have jobs. We don't have homes. We don't have a place to lay our own heads. And you're wanting us to make sure that there's a second pillow. He's saying, "Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly what I'm saying.

The spirit is willing. The flesh is weak." Which one are you trusting in? Trust in the spirit. You can do this, church. That's what he's telling them.

You can do this. So do it without grumbling. Hospitality is costly. Again, not when we have extra, but rather our first and best. It's inconvenient. Not when we have free time, but that we plan for it.

Like for example, I remember um the first church that I was a part of, First Baptist Church, White House, Tennessee. Uh, one of the costly things that they would constantly push out to the church is, uh, it was always the last week of June. They would say, "Hey, you're pro you probably get two weeks of vacation. I want you to take one week of vacation and you devote it to a mission trip." And that was the whole thing. I mean, they talked about that every year.

They probably still talk about it. My parents are still members of that church and Lannne is also a member of that church. Um, but that was just a big thing that I remember growing up that's like, yes, have your vacation, but also if you get if you get two weeks, man, devote a week to serving the Lord. And the the I remember we'd get to the end of the summers, what we would always say is somehow you go and you exhaust yourself for a week and you come back more refreshed and renewed than when you went to the beach and sat on sand for a whole week. Somehow you come back renewed and refreshed. Maybe a little physically tired and exhausted, but you're ready to go.

You're ready to go. I think the Lord, he just he sustains us when we walk in what he's commanded of us. It's sufficient. And the heart behind this is that God does not merely care that we serve, but he cares how we serve and even to the extent of our service. He cares about that. So the where I want to close with today is just simply looking at Jesus because I know a lot of this can be man it's just it's it's hard.

It's difficult and we think about the things that distract us in our minds. All right. Well now I got to let me create a task list in order to say no to these things and yes to these things. Okay. You want me to also keep loving people earnestly. Like you want me to love to the point of being stretched out.

And so yeah, I got to dive back into these relationships that I have. I got to figure out when to get coffee with this person or dinner with this person. You're filling up my calendar, Dwayne. And then you're also telling me to show hospitality that is basically opening up my entire life so that I'm being poured out in order for others to be filled up. How in the world am I going to be able to do that? Well, it's a good question.

We look at Jesus and we trust in Jesus and we trust in the efficiency and sufficiency of Christ and his strength that he did it already and then says we get to have the same spirit. The same spirit. And therefore, I like to say we're living in a spirit that dwells within us that is a Ferrari that we drive like a Honda. That's what we're doing. We We have the spirit of Christ within us that we putt around with on a daily basis. Trust Jesus.

Jesus was sober minded. Jesus prayed faithfully. Jesus loved earnestly. Jesus covered a multitude of sins. Jesus welcomes strangers into the family of God. This is the gospel story.

He's not asking you to do anything that he's not already done. And because he's already done it, he says it can be done. And therefore, you go and do it, and I'm going to give you everything you need in order to accomplish it. It's a home run. It's a guarantee. Do we trust that it's a guarantee?

again. I mean, he stretched himself out completely. Romans 5'8, God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for us. And through Christ's death and resurrection, the father adopted us. I mean, think about the hospitality there.

He adopted us and he welcomed us into his home. I always say the gospel starts in a courtroom with us trying to defend ourselves for the the the the crimes that we've committed against God. And Jesus comes into that courtroom and says, "I am a courtappointed attorney and I'm going to come and sit next to these idiots who have sinned against a holy and righteous God. We are sinners. I mean, let's not dumb it down. We are absolutely ignorant."

And he comes and sits next to him. And God lays out as a judge every single offense that we have accomplished against him and looks at us and says, "What do you have to say? What do you have to say?" And if we simply say, "Lord, have mercy on my soul. I am a sinner and I am in need of a savior." Jesus turns and looks at the father and says, "I have paid their penalty.

in full. It's finished on the cross. They're free to go. They're pardoned. And as we get up thankful, dusting off the sin that was entangling us and keeping us from a holy God, the judge says, "Hold up one second. Not only was this a pardoning of your sins, but this is also an adoption ceremony.

you're mine and you're coming home with me. And happy Father's Day. We have a father who's adopted us and he brought us home. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness to us, the hospitality that you've poured out, the love, the great love that you have and that you share with us. We're so thankful for that.

the mind that Christ has that you also give to us. We thank you. None of this was anything that we could accomplish ourselves, but only through the work of your son, Jesus, living a perfect life we could not live, dying a death that we deserved. Because your wrath was satisfied, he rose three days later, defeating death, defeating sin, defeating evil. And the spirit that raised Christ from the grave is the same spirit that raises us from being dead in our sins and trespasses to now being alive in Christ forever for all eternity. Oh God, thank you so much for that.

And we just pray that the rest of our lives would be marked by your love that you have for us. And it's displayed in the love we now have for you and the love that we also have for others. And may we love you to the end of ourselves. And may we love others to the end of ourselves because we know ultimately you are going to continue filling us with your spirit and therefore we'll never give out. Thank you Jesus. It's in your name we pray.