Passport to Heaven1 Peter 1:13-25

1 Title Slide

2 A passport is required when you visit a foreign land, because without that document you cannot move around inside another country. That passport says who you are, what nation you belong to… and it has a picture of you inside.

I read the true story of a woman who traveled a lot and eventually needed to get a new passport. She posed for a new picture, and as she handed in her 10-year-old passport she took one more longing look at the picture inside. Then she looked up at the clerk and sighed. "I like this original picture better.” The clerk smiled and said "Trust me. Ten years from now, you'll like this one."

She is not alone. One website noted that there is a universal loathing of passport photos. Everybody seems to hate their picture. Some people even believe that the passport office and the Department of Motor Vehicles employ the same people to take your picture. One person complained “(I) look like a convicted and unrepentant mass murderer.” Another wrote “I looked like a very happy pig.”

Many people stated that they didn’t think they looked like their picture. But whether they liked their photograph or not… they had better look like that picture. Because if they were to travel abroad or cross a border into another country, they would be asked to present their passport to the proper authorities. And if they didn’t look like their picture… they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Peter tells us that we are "strangers in this land,” and therefore, we need a passport. He describes the picture that appears on this passport, the picture the world will look for and recognize, the picture that tells the world who we are and whose Kingdom we belong to, the picture of Christ.

Everybody knows what that picture is supposed to look like. In fact – if we don’t look like that picture, people have a word to describe us: HYPOCRITE--someone who tries to look like somebody they’re not.

3 This message was spotted on the welcome sign in front of a church: “A child of the King should bear some family resemblance.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

4 A California driver’s license examiner told about a teenager who had just driven an almost perfect test. “He made his only mistake,” said the examiner, “when he stopped to let me out of the car. After breathing a sigh of relief, the boy exclaimed, ‘I’m sure glad I don’t have to drive like that all the time!’” That boy was like a lot of churchgoing Americans. They put on a good front when they know someone is watching, but the rest of the time they let down their standards. There’s not much difference between them and those in the world, except that they go to church a little more. The divorce rate among Christians is about the same as in society at large. In fact, the third highest divorce rate occupationally, after doctors and police, is pastors! Christians watch the same TV shows and movies for the same number of hours weekly as everyone else. Christian youths are involved in sexual immorality to the same extent as those not naming Christ as Savior. Many Christian businessmen have a bad reputation. It would seem that our Christianity doesn’t have much effect on the way we live and the way we look to the outside world.

5 “The Paradox of Our Time.” by George Carlin.The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences but less time. We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts but more problems; more medicine but less wellness.We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little of God’s Word, watch TV too much, fast too rarely, give too little, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life. We’ve added years to life, not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We’ve split the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less. We plan more but accomplish less.We’ve learned to rush but not to wait. We have higher incomes but lower morals. We have more food but less appeasement. We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever but have less communication. We’ve become long on quantity but short on quality.These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace but domestic warfare; more leisure but less fun; more kinds of food but less nutrition. These are days of two incomes but more divorce; of fancier houses but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom.Every part of that seems very true, but I was especially drawn to this sentence: “We’ve conquered outer space but not inner space.” The human heart seems as unruly as ever. Our scripture today, found in I Peter is our passport to this world, and describes what our lives and especially our hearts are to look like.

6 1 Peter 1:13a

7 This is one of the Boy Scouts’ verses of the Bible. Their motto is “Be Prepared.” The word here for being prepared is that of girding up the loins of your mind. Back in the days of the ancient Near East, both men and women wore flowing tunics. Around the tunic, they’d wear a belt or girdle. While tunics were comfortable and breezy, the hem of the tunic would often get in the way when a man was fighting or performing hard labor. So when ancient Hebrew men had to battle the Philistines, the men would lift

the hem of their tunic up and tuck it into their girdle or tie it in a knot to keep it off the ground. The effect basically created a pair of shorts that provided more freedom of movement. Thus to tell someone to “gird up their loins” was to tell them to get ready for hard work or battle. It was the ancient way of saying “man up!”

It would be like saying today, roll up your sleeves or take off your jacket. Peter tells us to prepare our minds, to realize that holiness in our minds will require effort, time and initiative. Holy living begins with our minds. What we think determines how we live. So we must guard what enters our minds as carefully as we guard what we eat. We wouldn’t think of eating garbage from the gutter because it would make us sick. If we feed our thoughts daily on the sensual, materialistic garbage on TV and in the other media and we seldom feed on God’s Word, we will not become holy. For as the phrase goes: garbage in, garbage out.

8 Phil.4:8, Proverb 23:7Right thinking will produce right actions. When a person thinks about things that are true and right, they seek after those things. They will DO those things.

Peter echoes this, telling us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Our mind is a battlefield. It does matter what we think. Be prepared. Get ready to foster the work of the Holy Spirit in us, renewing us to be more like Christ.

9 1 Peter 1:13a cont.

10 1 Peter 5:8

11 If a literal lion was on the loose outside, it wouldn’t be wise to go for a stroll out there! You wouldn’t be goofing off. You’d be on the lookout for any sign of it. You’d make sure your kids were indoors. You’d warn them sternly of the dangers. You’d take every precaution so that you wouldn’t become his next meal!

The point is, we live in enemy territory. If we feed our minds on the garbage of the world and don’t feed on God’s Word, it’s like getting drunk and staggering outside when there’s a lion on the prowl.

Peter tells us to be prepared to be self-controlled, which actually means to be sober. In other words, don’t become intoxicated either by drink or by life, by anything other than Jesus. Also, cultivate sober judgment, one that is not swept away by fads or the next new thing. As believers, rather than being self-controlled, we should desire want to be God-controlled.

12 1 Peter 13bPeter also tells us to be prepared by setting our hope fully on God’s grace. In this scripture, he focused on the grace that will be brought to us when Christ returns rather than on the grace we’ve already received because his readers were going through intense trials, and their faith was being tested. Peter was telling them, “You’ve already tasted God’s salvation in Christ, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Just hang in there and focus on the fact that God is going to bless you beyond your wildest dreams.” That future grace should motivate us to live holy lives right now.Peter is saying we must be prepared for what God will do in our lives by being hopeful. We are to live in hope, to be people who choose NOT to be pessimistic, fatalistic or judgmental. We are to be optimistic people, whose hope and trust is in Him regardless of the evil or negativity or even challenges all around us.

13 1 Peter 1:14-16Peter makes it clear that we should be prepared to be God’s obedient children. He was telling his readers that they should not slip back into their old ways of living. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2.

14 So, what were the elements of their old life that Peter was warning them about?The pagan world did not doubt the existence of God, but believed if gods or God existed, they were unknowable and completely uninterested in humans or in the universe. So, it didn’t matter what you did or how you lived. Therefore, the old life was dominated by the desires of the flesh.

Chastity and monogamy were rare. Jerome, a Biblical scholar, knew of one woman who was married to her 23rd husband and who was the 21st wife for that man. The cultural aim then was to find newer and wilder ways to gratify the flesh. The Roman poet Catullus wrote to his wife, saying, “Suns can rise and set again; but once our brief light is dead, there is nothing left but one long night from which we shall never awake.” In other words, live it up while you still can. When life is over, it’s over. Life without Christ was empty, without purpose, and hopeless. Not much has changed, has it?

15 I think this explains much of the shallow Christianity of our day. People “invite Jesus into their heart” because they’re told that He will give them an abundant life. But they never make a break with their past lives. They’ve never repented of sin or yielded to Christ as Lord. They have no desire to become obedient children. Instead, they still want to run their own lives, and live for the same selfish desires they have always lived for. The only difference is that now they try to “use Jesus” to fulfill selfish desires—ultimately they want to get to heaven without setting themselves apart for God. That’s like telling God – I want heaven, but I don’t you.As Christians our lives are to be made new in Christ, and we should begin to learn to model His character and His holiness. So what does it mean to be holy as He is holy?

16 Holy - Hebrew- “gadosh” which means to be set apart, sacred, hallowed, or pure. Greek- “hagios” which means to be different.The Hebrew word here for holiness is gadosh, which means to be set apart, sacred, hallowed, or pure. The Greek word here is hagios, which means to be different.We must be prepared. We must dare to be different because of Jesus Christ. Only God is holy, but if we spend time with Him and really learn from Him, we will begin to take on His character. Our lives are no longer our own. God set us apart from rest of the world. He expects us to behave, and think and live differently than those of the world. Holiness and obedience go hand in hand. We must obey God if we are to be holy. But what does it matter? Why should we be holy? Peter goes on to answer that question, in 1:14-21, he gives both a negative threat and a positive incentive which should motivate us to be holy people. We should be holy

because our Father is also our Judge and because He redeemed us at infinite cost.

17 1 Peter 1:17

18 God takes our sin very seriously and we see this on the cross. Therefore, we are called to live our lives in reverent fear. This is an attitude of the mind that allows us to always be aware of God's presence. Life is short and God sees all. He is our loving Father, but He’s also our impartial Judge! We can climb up on His lap and know that He will tenderly welcome us, but we dare not forget that He also scrutinizes our lives and that someday He will judge our entire way of life--how we conduct ourselves in thought, word, and deed at home, on the job, in the world, and in the church.

19 1 Peter 1:18-19For us to continue living in sin after such a price was paid would be comparable to a woman whose husband loved her dearly and gave his own life to save her from a rapist and murderer. After the funeral she sought out this vicious murderer and pursued a romance with him. Unthinkable! That is precisely Peter’s argument: Because God redeemed us at infinite cost, we dare not play around with the sin for which Christ shed His precious blood.

20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ympKXmC6c

21 Some years ago a terrible railroad accident occurred, killing a lot of people. A commuter train had stalled on the tracks just a few minutes before a fast freight train was due to arrive. The conductor was quickly sent to flag down the approaching train.

Those on board the commuter train weren’t concerned. After all, the railroad workers had everything under control. They just sat quietly, some even took a nap, while others sipped coffee and read the newspapers.

Then the unthinkable happened. The fast freight was seen just yards away and still traveling fast. It smashed into the rear of the commuter train, sending wreckage in every direction and screams from dying passengers. Train cars were stacked and thrown around like toys, but under them and

around them were dismembered bodies and corpses everywhere.

The engineer on the freight train had survived by jumping out of the cab of the locomotive just moments before the impact. He was brought to court in the investigation of the accident to explain why he had not stopped when he saw the conductor flagging him down.

Listen to his answer, “I saw the man waving a flag, but it wasn’t red, it was yellow and yellow flags mean slow down, not stop. I slowed down, but continued forward until I saw the back of the commuter train, but it was too late to stop before we could reach the train in front of us. I could do nothing at all, so I jumped.” The warning flag was then introduced as evidence and it truly was no longer bright red. It had been red at one time, but because of long exposure to the sun and weather it had become a dirty yellow. Neglect and abuse had turned a powerful warning into a deadly mistake.We need to make sure that the way in which we live our lives is not preaching a “false gospel” where the power of the blood of Jesus has faded away. A “yellow, weak, faded gospel, void of the red blood of Jesus Christ, cannot save a lost soul. If we don’t live the truth—lives of holiness and love, then we are doing nothing more than waving a yellow flag and many souls who have been looking to us for direction will be going to hell.

22 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 4:20

23 Hebrews 12:14Peter says that Jesus has bought us our freedom, and we now belong to Him, not to ourselves. As a result, we must love as Christ loves us. This love is the center of the Christian lifestyle, of being holy, of being different. It is self-giving, self-offering and selfless.

24 Every day of his life the High Priest dedicated himself to serving God. And when you LOOKED AT HIS FACE there was no mistaking who He belonged to. Because fixed to his turban – engraved on a golden plate - were these words: “Holy To The Lord.” This man was a walking billboard for God.

25 We do similar things with bumper stickers and t-shirts and signs in our yard. And that’s all good stuff. But Jesus tells us that there is a more powerful way to be that walking billboard for HIM. Lighthouses don't ring bells and fire cannons to call attention to their shining-they just shine.

26 Matthew 5:16

27 Does your passport picture tell the world who you are and whose Kingdom you belong to? Do others see Jesus in you?

28 A child of the King should bear some family resemblance. Do you?

29 References