Sermon or Lesson:  1 Peter 1:13 (NIV based)
[Lesson Questions included]

TITLE:  Comprehensively Change, Establish, And Orient Your Thinking And Your Life
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

READ:  1 Peter 1:13, with vv.8-9 for context

BACKGROUND:
- - God intends that believers maintain a mindset in which they greatly rejoice about the future blessings that are coming for them, which will sustain believers as they endure trials and suffering in the present during this life.  (v.6)
- - Through the proving of our faith within adverse trials, we true believers will be prepared to give tremendous praise, glory, and honor to God and to Jesus Christ when He is revealed at His second coming.  (v.7)
- - Persecution and adversities in our life are designed and intended by God to develop and strengthen our faith, which will produce the outcomes that God will bless us for greatly.  (vv.8-9)
- - During this time in human history, God has now provided completed revelation about the grace and salvation that has come through Jesus Christ.  (vv.10-12)
- - Through the preaching of the gospel to us humans, God supplies completed revelation about how each of us humans can acquire "the salvation of our soul" through Jesus Christ.  (vv.10-12)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

v.13 - READ

[Lesson Question:  Expound on the characteristics and applications of the first principle cited in this verse 13.]

SECTION POINT:  We believers are to comprehensively change our thinking and our life to align with what God wants for us, as a proper response to the salvation that we have been given from God.

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action;"
- - Because the grace and salvation from God has been completely revealed to us now through the preaching of the gospel (vv.10,12), "therefore" we who have become the recipients of that grace and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ are to "prepare [our] minds for action". 
- - We true believers are to "tie up" whatever of our thinking or beliefs that may hinder us or slow us down from establishing and maintaining the thinking and beliefs that God desires for us.  (Strong's #0328)
- - Essentially then, God wants that we be ready, willing, and adaptive to change our thinking and beliefs.

-- Logically, changing thinking and beliefs would entail several steps:
- - - - 1. eagerly pursue learning what God wants us to learn, such as biblical truths, principles, sound doctrines, spiritual lessons from experiences, and etc.;
- - - - 2. permanently adopting all of these biblical truths, principles, sound doctrines, spiritual lessons, and etc. that God wants us to learn;
- - - - 3. immediately discarding all of our thinking and beliefs that stand contrary or opposed or hindering to these biblical truths, principles, sound doctrines, spiritual lessons, and etc. that God wants us to learn;  (cf. Hebrews 12:1)
- - - - 4. comprehensively applying in our life all of these biblical truths, principles, sound doctrines, spiritual lessons, and etc. that God wants us to learn;
- - - - 5. repeating this process, adding more biblical truths, principles, sound doctrines, spiritual lessons, and etc. that God wants us to learn.

- - By changing our thinking and beliefs in this thorough step-by-step manner, we are thereby actively cooperating with and collaborating with God to transform us into a new creation.  (cf. Ephesians 4:20-24; Romans 12:2)
- - And notice all of the action that is involved: pursue learning; adopting; discarding; applying; adding more; cooperating; collaborating. 
- - If any one or more of these actions are not taken accordingly, then the whole process breaks down, malfunctions, or stops entirely - thereby stunting our spiritual growth or making our spiritual growth vulnerable to reversing or sliding backwards into carnality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lesson Question:  Expound on the characteristics and applications of the second principle cited in this verse 13.]

SECTION POINT:  We believers are to comprehensively establish and maintain self-control in our thinking and our life, as a proper response to the salvation that we have been given from God.

"be self-controlled"
- - Because we true believers have become the recipients of the now-revealed grace and salvation through Jesus Christ (vv.10,12), we "therefore" are to also "be self-controlled".
- - We have been graciously given salvation, so now God expects us to henceforth conduct ourselves in accordance with that salvation - in accordance to what He is and what He says.  (cf. v.16)
- - We are to "keep sober", which by definition would involve self-restraint, and self-control, and propriety of conduct and character in such aspects as: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, morally, relationally, socially, financially, and etc.  (Strong's #3525)
- - We are to be "heedful of our circumstances and their potential consequences", always "exercising good judgment, common sense, and godly wisdom".  (from AHD: "circumspect" - Strong's #3525 (Zodhiates p.1011), "prudent")
- - And, we are to establish and maintain ourselves comprehensively self-controlled in all of these ways, consistently. 
- - Therefore, to successfully accomplish this God-mandated self-control, much attention and self-monitoring and determined effort are required of us each moment of each day and night.
- - And of course as usual, we need to cultivate collaboration with and reliance upon God to further empower us to succeed at this ongoing struggle to "be self-controlled" in this God-approved manner.  (cf. Galatians 5:22)
- - We crucially need God's assistance to "be self-controlled" successfully in a godly manner, because we are battling our own natural desires, weaknesses, and sinful inclinations.  (cf. Ephesians 4:17-19)
- - We are also battling a constant bombardment from the world around us that opposes godly self-control - feeding us worldly philosophies, inciting us to self-indulge, tempting us to respond sinfully, inviting us to participate in ungodly activities, encouraging us to exert our own will, deceiving us into acting foolishly, pressuring us to conform, and etc.  (cf. Colossians 2:8,4,16)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lesson Question:  Expound on the characteristics and applications of the third principle cited in this verse 13.]

SECTION POINT:  We believers are to comprehensively orient our thinking and our life in accordance to and anticipation of our receiving blessings at the glorious second coming of Christ.

"set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."
- - As recipients of the now-revealed grace and salvation through Jesus Christ (vv.10,12), we true believers "therefore" are to furthermore "set [our] hope fully on the grace to be given [us] when Jesus Christ is revealed".
- - God is instructing us to establish and maintain in our thinking and perspective an ongoing awareness of what is coming in the future - the reality that God will certainly implement for us and upon us, for our great benefit.
- - "When Jesus Christ is revealed" at His second coming to Earth, true believers will not only be present with Him, but apparently they will experience the receiving of the "grace" and salvation that God has promised them - completely and permanently fulfilled.  (cf. v.7)
- - The tone and content of this phrase in verse 13 and in verse 7 imply that this accompanying Jesus Christ at His second coming and simultaneously receiving the promised grace and salvation will be an extremely exhilarating peak experience for each of us true believers, "filling us with an inexpressible and glorious" "jumping for joy" "with joy" - literally 'jumping with extreme double-joy'.  (v.8, Strong's #0021, #5479)
- - So, we have abundantly motivating and compelling reasons to obey the directive here to "set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed".

-- A practical approach to obeying this directive would be:
- - - - to place our hope fully in this coming reality - the aspects of this coming reality fortify, energize, and fuel our hope;
- - - - to fixate our attention on this coming reality - we plant and firmly establish the hope of this coming reality in the conscious part of our active thinking, periodically drawing on it for strength and endurance, especially when the spiritual struggles of life are threatening to overwhelm us;
- - - - to prepare for this coming reality - we personally strive to make the most of every opportunity to further the Kingdom of God, so on that day of the second coming God will determine us to be a "good and faithful servant";  (cf. Ephesians 5:15-16; v.21 in Matthew 25:3,14-31 - 'the Parable of the Talents')
- - - - to eagerly await the coming of this reality - eagerly anticipating and watching for the arrival of this glorious day;
- - - - to view everything in our life in light of this coming reality - this perspective pervades and exerts influence upon how we regard the circumstances, situations, and events that happen to us in our life;
- - - - to let nothing divert or pervert our ongoing consideration of this coming reality and our orientation towards it;
- - - - to recognize and remember that God is giving us the double-joyous experience of this coming glorious event by His grace, His favor that we do not deserve.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BIG IDEA:  In response to the salvation that we have been given from God, we believers are to change, establish, and orient our thinking and our life in all the ways that God wants for us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS:

- - For those of you who are not a true believer, if you remain in your state of unbelief in Jesus Christ until the moment that you die, the Word of God clearly pronounces that you will have permanently lost any possibility of ever receiving grace from God for salvation.
- - The goodness that you produced during your life will not have earned you grace from God for salvation.
- - The self-control that you exhibited during your life will likewise not have earned you grace from God for salvation.
- - And, you will have utterly failed to sufficiently prepare for your eternal future and for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
- - Sorry, but God says that without the salvation that comes through proper faith in Jesus Christ, your eternal future will be filled with the consequences of His wrath rather than the blessings of His grace.  (Romans 1:17-19)
- - Rather than experiencing blessings such as 'jumping for double joy', you will instead forever experience the reality of non-stop grieving, weeping, pain, burning, isolation, gnashing of teeth, and darkness.  (Matthew 8:12; 13:42)
- - Perhaps a wise course of action for you is to re-evaluate the eternal destination that your current beliefs will land you in one day in the near future and lock you into forever.  Re-evaluate right now, before it is too late.

- - For those of you who are a true believer in Jesus Christ, do you seriously regard your response obligation to God for having granted you grace and salvation?
- - Have you been ready, willing, and adaptive to change your thinking, beliefs, and behaviors to align with what God instructs in His written Word?
- - Do you actively pursue learning, adopting, discarding, applying, and adding more of what God wants you to learn and do?
- - Or instead, are you spiritually asleep?  Or perhaps spiritually comatose?  Or spiritually apathetic?  Or spiritually prideful?
- - During sermons and Bible studies, does your mind usually drift off into thinking about some unrelated subject, or are you checking the messages on your phone, or are you playing a video game on your phone?
- - When you are confronted by a biblical principle that warrants you making a change in your thinking or life, do you respond with denial or avoidance?
- - Can you honestly claim that "your mind is prepared for action"?

- - Are you "self-controlled", self-restrained, and proper in your conduct and character?
- - Have you established in your thinking the discipline of continuous self-monitoring?
- - Or instead, is your self-control sporadic, frequently being out-of-control?  Or unwillingness to become under control?  Or wandering around beyond control?  Or perhaps worse yet, being under demonic control?  Or being under inebriated control?

- - Do you maintain in your thinking and perspective an ongoing awareness of the glorious experiences that God is bringing for true believers in the future?
- - Do you see and regard life from that perspective - the reality of great benefits that God will certainly implement for true believers, starting one day in the near future?
- - Or instead, do anxiety and depression dominate your thinking and perspective on life?
- - Or does discontentment, desires, and cravings propel you along in life each day?
- - In what does your hope reside?

- - God is always right, always correct, and always trustworthy to keep His Word.  God certainly will bless us true believers if we now change, establish, and orient our thinking and our life in all the ways that He wants for us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Additional Lesson Questions to ponder (optional, if time allows):
- - What kind of spiritual life would be expected for believers who do not "prepare [their] minds for action"?  Describe.
- - What kind of spiritual life would be expected for believers who do not implement "self-control"?  Describe.
- - What kind of spiritual life would be expected for believers who do not "set [their] hope fully on the grace to be given [them] when Jesus Christ is revealed"?  Describe.
- - What kind of spiritual life would be expected for believers who do not appreciate the grace and salvation that has been given to them (vv.10,13)?  Describe.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited:
The American Heritage Dictionary (AHD). 3rd ed., ver. 3.6a (CD-ROM). Cambridge, MA: SoftKey International Inc., 1994.

Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 1992.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyrights:
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Copyright © 2016, 2018 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be used, copied, and distributed non-commercially to non-profit organizations, individuals, churches, ministries, and schools worldwide, provided the copies are distributed at no charge and retain this sources documentation as supplied herein. This document is not for sale, resale, or for use as a gift or premium to be offered in connection with solicitations or contributions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
File name:  1Peter1_13-SermonOrLesson.___ (.htm, .rtf, .doc, .pdf)
Translation used:  NIV, quoted or referred to in various places within this document
Source:  www.BelieverAssist.com