1 Peter 1:13-16 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 at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The past couple of weeks we have been in 1 Peter, reading the Apostle’s directives to the “strangers scattered”, that is, to the Christian, the person saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the operation and movement of the Holy Spirit. We have seen that Christians are:

Chosen and called of God (verse 2),
Set apart by the Holy Spirit (verse 2),
Saved by the Sprinkled Blood of Christ (verse 2),
Born again and adopted of God (verse 3),
Given an eternal relationship with God (verse 4),
and are guarded by God as precious (verse 5).

God paid much for you, dear Christian.
You belong to Him! (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)

God has given you everything you need to be stable, happy, wholesome, and holy in this present world. But as believers you need to understand this: the battle is not over until we reach Heaven. We have an enemy who stands against us.

That enemy is NOT Republican, Democrat or Libertarian.
The enemy is NOT Liberal or Conservative.

The enemy is the same Serpent that enticed Adam to disobey God in the Garden (Revelation 12:9). The enemy is that same Tempter who came to Jesus in the wilderness, twisting the Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). The enemy is the same one called Legion, who entered into a madman and a herd of swine (Luke 8:30-33). The enemy is the same Satan that entered into Judas Iscariot (John 13:27), enticing him to sell our Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

Though it was “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all” (Romans 5:12), it was Satan and his forces that opened the door. As Christians we are in a battle – not against “flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).

We have an enemy who will stop at nothing to stop at nothing. His name is Satan. He is a real Being, a fallen Angel, and he has one play: defeat Christ. Satan will do all he can to bring confusion and mayhem into the world. The nonsense that we see in our world today is Satanic, devilish, evil, inhuman, spiteful, wicked. We are in a battle, dear Christians.

And we’d best wake up!

The Apostle Peter (and Peter was NOT a Pope, but an Apostle. Peter had a wife according to Matthew 8:14 and 1 Corinthians 9:5) gives us three commands today as Christians, things that we must do.

Realizing We Are In A Battle, We Must
“Gird Up The Loins Of Your Mind”

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind

Word Study: Peter uses a familiar term to his audience, though it is not familiar to us. “Gird up” is the Greek anazṓnnymi (pronounced an-ad-zone’-noo-mee) which means “to gather and bind long and flowing garments closely to your body with a leathern girdle”. In the ancient world people wore robes and overcoats that hung down around their ankles, covering their bodies from sand, biting insects, and heat. When a farmer or a warrior went to work, they would gather their robes and pull them up to their loins, binding the clothing under the leather belt. This freed their legs so they could move without tripping.

If you did not prepare yourself for the battle by binding those robes, you could end up tripping and dying foolishly.

If you did not prepare yourself for work by binding up your robes, you could trip and die under the feet of the oxen.

Peter tells the Christian to “gird up the loins OF YOUR MIND”. Take charge of your mind. Take charge of your thoughts. Protect the LOINS of your mind. Gather your thoughts. Can you answer the question

“Why do I believe what I believe?”

Illustrate: The devil is constantly attacking and influencing the world around us. The devil is constantly attacking Christ and His Church. Radio Host Jesse Lee Patterson was interviewing an atheist, and asked him, “What is a man?” The atheist replied, “I don’t know. What is a man?” Patterson asked him “Are you a man?”, and he replied, “Yes, I am”. So Patterson said, “If you don’t know what a man is, how can you say you’re a man?”. His reply was, “The word ‘man’ is very vague. It’s not just what our culture has said it is. … You have caught me in this. I am trapped. I’m a man, and I have no idea why.”

If you were interviewed by Patterson, and asked the same question, “Are you a man?”, how would you answer it? How would you justify your answer? If someone says, “gender is fluid – a man can be a woman, and a woman a man”, how would you respond to that? Today people respond with FEELINGS, and they trip over the ROBE of their FEELINGS. Are you a man? Are you a woman? How do you know?

Illustrate: I was listening to Nick Freitas (R), a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2015. I like Nick. He was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and served two tours in Iraq before being honorably discharged. He was talking to a young woman about her upcoming marriage, about how he raised his son to cherish and protect women,when she stopped him and said:

“We don’t subscribe to those types of traditional gender roles”.

He asked her what she meant. She said, “We don’t believe in this whole idea that a man has to PROVIDE and PROTECT”. Nick said, “Oh, okay. Let me ask you a question. You’re leaving dinner with your fiancee, and as you’re walking to the car someone jumps out of the alleyway with a knife. In one of the scenarios {your fiancee} jumps behind you, in the other scenario {your fiancee} jumps in front of you. Which scenario are you more attracted to your fiancee?” She replied, “That’s not fair”. Nick told her, “I think you just inadvertently answered the question”.

Why do we believe what we believe? Is it because of feelings, peer pressure, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In? Why does a Christian believe that there is even life beyond this one?

It is because of WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS.

You are a Christian because you believe what the Bible says. You believe Jesus died for your sins. You believe you are broken, and are broken because Adam failed to obey God and to protect his wife. You believe the Word of God is TRUE. Either the Word of God is TRUE, or the Word of God is FALSE. There is no in between.

If Radio Host Jesse Lee Patterson was interviewing ME, and asked me, “What is a man?”, I would say “I am a man”. If he asked me, “How do you know you’re a ‘man’”?, my reply would be “because Jesus said:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that HE {God} who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two {male and female} shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Illustrate: I can answer with confidence “I am a MAN” because of what the Bible says, and what my Lord Jesus affirmed. If Sherry and I were walking down the street and some idiot jumped out with a knife, I can say with CERTAINTY that I WOULD JUMP IN FRONT OF HER and then SHOOT THE KNIFE WIELDER DEAD. Why? Because the BIBLE says:

1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

If you’re not caring for your wife, YOUR PRAYERS ARE HINDERED. God will not hear you! Period.

In every case where men who claim to be women enter into women’s sports, they dishonor the women, and those who support that nonsense dishonor the women. Period. You may say, “Well, Preacher, that seems a bit extreme. After all, so and so and the Twitterattie have said that …. blah blah blah”. I could care less. I have “girded up the LOINS of MY MIND”.

You can go insane if you want to. I refuse to smile and say you’re sane when the Bible says OTHERWISE.

Illustrate: Someone asks me, “Why can’t WOMEN Pastor Churches? After all, it’s the rage! The Methodist Church down the road thinks it’s a great idea. Look at their sign! Let’s just get WOKE and go with the BROKE.” I say, I’m sorry, but NO! The BIBLE SAYS:

1 Timothy 3:1-5 … If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

I as your Pastor am to “care for God’s church”. Why? Because it’s what the BIBLE says.

In every instance where foolishness and confusion prevail, it is because people departed from the Word of God. When Israel was caused by God to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, it was because they rejected the Word of God in place of their feelings. It was by God’s Word that Israel was freed from Egypt. It was by God’s Word that Israel went through the Red Sea. It was by God’s Word the Lord told Israel to send out spies into the land (Numbers 13:1-3), and then God told them to take the land. But Israel refused to obey God’s Word (Deuteronomy 1:28-33). Because of that, Israel wandered for 40 years until that unbelieving generation died out. When Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land, God told him:

Joshua 1:5-9 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law {God’s Word} that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. {Gird up the LOINS of your MIND!} 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The reason the Church is failing in free America but PROSPERING in Communist China is because the Christians THERE are MEDITATING ON and DOING ALL that God said. The Christians here are COMPROMISING and CONFUSED!

Illustrate: The world wants the Church to join the madness – and many are complying. The Christian group Turning Point USA recently asked college students, “Should we allow adult men who identify as toddlers to compete in preschool soccer? No? Why not? They identify as a child. We want them to be comfortable. That’s a real thing. Having people think they are in a different body is a real thing. People think that they’re dogs. People think that they’re cats. And some people think they’re children still. They never grow out of it. … So shouldn’t we accommodate fully grown 50 year old men who want to play t-ball?” The college students couldn’t answer the question. I can. No! Grow up. Turn to Jesus, and give Him your brokenness. Let Him take possession of your life, and quit being the devil’s stooge!

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind

View all things through the lens of Scripture. Ask yourselves, “What has GOD said”?

It doesn’t matter what AI thinks.
It doesn’t matter what a GUY thinks.
It doesn’t matter what the CROWD thinks.
It matters what GOD OUR CREATOR thinks.

Illustrate: One of my favorite Bible stories is one I rarely hear – and it’s not about a Christian or a great Israelite. It’s about a Syrian Army Commander – a Gentile like us – named Naaman. Naaman was a great general that God used to give victory to Syria (2 Kings 5:1). But Naaman had a problem.

Naaman was a leper.

I love that picture, because it’s a picture of all humanity. I don’t care how much money you have, how much fame, how beautiful you are, or how powerful: everyone has some brokenness. Naaman was a leper. But Naaman had a servant girl who cared for him, and told him to contact God’s Prophet Elisha – that Elisha would fix him. When Naaman went to Elisha’s home, Elisha would not even come to the door, but sent his servant to tell Naaman:

2 Kings 5:10 “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

That upset Naaman! Naaman is an IMPORTANT person, a DECORATED General, and that Elisha would not even come to the door to greet him … how dare he! But here’s the thing. What Elisha told Naaman to do was not HIS opinion, but what GOD told Elisha to tell Naaman. Well, Naaman went away mad – and leprous! When he went home Naaman began to nitpick the Word of God:

2 Kings 5:12 … “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

Naaman did what so many people do today. They want to ADVISE God, instead of OBEYING God.

And Naaman was still leprous. Nothing was changed – nothing at all. Then some people who loved him came to Naaman and said,

“it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (vs 13)

Have YOU done what God said? Have you “GIRDED UP the loins of your MIND”? God has given you a promise. YOU ARE SEVEN DIPS FROM RELIEF. Won’t you just try it? So Naaman went to the Jordan. “Plunk!” he dips himself the first time – he’s STILL LEPROUS. “Plunk!” There is no change. “Plunk – Plunk – Plunk – Plunk”. Six times and no change. If Naaman FEELS it won’t do any good, and stops here, he will remain LEPROUS. But then Naaman goes down for the last time.

Goin’ down for the last time,
That’s how You found me,
Let Your love surround me,
I was, goin’ down for the last time,
Then You came, Callin’ my name.

You got the power to save me,
And it’s made me love You so much,
Well I’m learning to live, You’ve got so much to give,
Lord You fill me up,

You show me the right direction,
And there’s nothing that I won’t do,
Cause with every hour,
I know that You got the power to save me. (Evie)

Naaman was healed on that seventh dip. Every person is seven dips from salvation. Are you there? Have you trusted Him?

Realizing We Are In A Battle,
We Cannot Be Drinking The Devil’s Liquor

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober…

Word Study: The Christian is commanded to “be sober”, the Greek nēphō means “to not lose your wits, to abstain from alcohol, to be calm and collected in spirit, temperate, dispassionate, circumspect”. The world is drunken on feelings and humanism and false gods and foolishness. If you go into battle drunken, you will be killed! This word is used frequently throughout the New Testament. Later on in this Book the Apostle will say,

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch nēphō unto PRAYER.

While the world listens to the talking heads who care nothing about you, the network media that makes merchandise of you – ignore them and SPEAK TO HIM WHO LOVES YOU. Pray! Talk with your Father. Talk to Jesus. Call on the Holy Spirit. Ask God to rally around you, and protect you as His Child. Peter says:

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, nēphō be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The devil is always wandering around looking for someone who is DRUNK, who has gotten away from the FLOCK. He loves that! The devil loves to eat up professing Christians who have wandered off the reservation. He loves to watch their lives go up in smoke, while they stagger about with the devil’s crew. The Apostle Paul said:

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. {nēphō} 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober {nēphō}, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

The world drinks the devil’s liquor, and loves the devil’s love. We who belong to God have a different standard. We are told:

1 Peter 1:15-16 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

We who are Christians are born again children of God. We are to be OBEDIENT children.

We are to be HOLY, as God is HOLY. We are to imitate God. If God says it’s bad, it’s bad. If God says it’s good, it’s good. Peter is not talking about working your way to salvation. He is talking about living within your Divine Design. You became a Child of God, according to the Scripture, by faith in Jesus.

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

We who are saved are Children of God, not Children of Adam. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Now saved, now justified, now born again, we as Christians are to live within our Divine Design. God made you to be a world changer, not to be changed by the world. You do not fashion yourselves according to the former dead life, but live sanctified, separated, or holy lives as the Spirit and the Word directs you. Are you saved? Then the proof of your inward change is your outward dedication to the Lord. The focus of the Christian must be soundly on His Lord Jesus, and on the Word of God. We are told in:

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Christian feeds on the Word of God, and imitates the God Who saved us. We affirm what Word God has given us. We live for His glory. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear Children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

As Christians, We Place Our Hope
In The Lord Who Saved Us

1 Peter 1:13 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 at the revelation of Jesus Christ

We do not quit. We do not cave. We keep trusting the Word of God, and doing as our Lord has bid. We remember the Scripture:

Galatians 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

In “due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. We as Christians are to “not be weary in well doing” (2 Thessalonians 3:13). In the Parable of the Sower, our Lord Jesus spoke of a man who, in Matthew 13:3-9 “went out to sow his seed”. He sowed the Gospel seed regardless as to the ground or weather condition. The sower just sowed, in hope that his sowing would put seed on fertile ground (Matthew 13:23). We are to trust in God, and keep on sowing. We are NOT to depart from God’s Word for a “better result”. That is foolishness. We are to hope in God, trust His Word, and Sow. May God guide us to do so, for His glory. Amen and Amen.