Well, good evening. It is wonderful to be here with you. But even as I stand here and I'm happy to be here with you, there is something on the horizon that I dread greatly. I'm not looking forward to the next few months here in America. I'm not just talking about COVID-19, although I just had a bout with that illness that leveled me for a few weeks. I'm talking about something that has dominated the news for the last several weeks. It dominates the news almost every day and we're going to be hearing about it non-stop between now and November and it's the presidential election that's coming up. Every election in my adult life arouses partisans who are very enthusiastic for their candidate but something seems different in the air of America right now. There seems to be a combination of factors that is toxic. Certainly we have the unprecedented disruption caused to our country by the pandemic and all of the rules that go along with the pandemic and the disruption to the economy and the education system and to our leisure and entertainment and travel and everything else. We have all the racial tension that seems to have exploded because of the killing of George Floyd that has spread The racial tension has spread. The highlighted fact of the issues have spread. Seems like there's natural disasters and calamities happening all the time. And when you add it all together, it's a toxic mix for an election year. Things have the potential over the next few months to be very ugly. They're already ugly. If you watch the news, it's everywhere. So I stopped watching the news. Listening to politicians, to me, has become like fingernails on a chalkboard. I can't stand it anymore. And if you're very young, ask your parents or grandparents what fingernails on a chalkboard mean. That means, of course, I don't pay attention. I want to be a good citizen. I read a lot. But I'm constantly, if I'm watching TV, I'm muting commercials because I don't want to see it. I'm not going to the news channels because I don't want to hear it. I'm done with the election and it hasn't even happened yet. I know the outcome already. Whoever God wants to be President of the United States is going to be elected. And you got to come to grips with that because God might not pick who we would pick. He might. We never know. God's ways are better than our ways. But my concern is that I think the election is going to be a huge distraction from what's really important for believers over the next few months because we're Americans as well. We're a part of this culture in this country. I'm already fighting in my heart that distraction when I go to the mail and there's mailers that I'm throwing away as quickly as I can and I've already mentioned to you that I can't stand to hear the politicians talking. Because all of the issues and all of the buttons they're trying to push arouse the worst parts of me. I have the way I want things to run. I have the issues that I care about. And I don't always respond well. And I don't think I'm the only one. And as Christians, it matters greatly. I get angry in my heart. I start looking at certain people and I see them as enemies of America and I realize I don't have the compassion of Christ for them. We sing the songs that we sing and it convicts my heart that I don't have the love I should have for people who don't think like me, that don't know Christ. And the election season can very easily cause all of us to see human beings who need the gospel as enemies that we wish ill upon. Again, don't misunderstand me, the election has consequences, it's important, but it's not the most important thing. What's most important is living your life day by day in accordance with the will of God. The last time I had the opportunity to preach, I preached on a scripture in 1 Peter, and you can go ahead and turn to 1 Peter chapter 1, that's where we're going to be studying tonight. But the text that I preached on was in chapter 1, verses 14 to 16, and it says this, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. That's God's will for His children. The application of it applies in many ways to each one of our lives. We all have our own challenges, but God's will for us is not complicated. Be holy as He is holy. That's God's will for you right now, today. That's God's will for you tomorrow. And that's going to be God's will for you the day after the election on November 4th, 2020. Be holy as God is holy. And as I've thought about the distractions of all of the things in the world to my own heart, including this election, it coincided with Pastor Steve offering me the opportunity to preach in the evening service for a while, as we transitioned to two services. All that got delayed because I got very ill, and I'm very thankful to Pastor Jack and Pastor Bruce for stepping in and helping with me. But what I'm going to be covering is a portion of Scripture in 1 Peter that addresses this very issue. How are we, how do we become holy? How do we live holy? How do we do this simple task of being holy as God is holy? 1 Peter, I believe, deals with these issues directly, as does much of the rest of Scripture. But over the time I have, over the next several weeks, we're going to be covering a series of Scriptures that apply and elaborate on being holy. I know it's timely for me because the things going on in the world challenge my sanctification. They appeal to my flesh, not necessarily to the Spirit who dwells within me. So my prayer for me and for you as we have the opportunity to study together is that these lessons will help you respond correctly to the issues that we face. Perhaps these lessons will help you process the election correctly as all of the things come together. So as we're preparing to study for Sometime in 1st Peter, I'm going to give you a little backdrop of where we find ourselves, just a quick summary, and it's going to set the stage for what's happening over the next several Sunday nights. 1st Peter was written to a group of Christians who were besieged by the world around them. They were experiencing hardship, they were experiencing difficulties, and their lives were tough. They were looked down upon by society. Many of them were persecuted relentlessly. Some by the government. Some by their masters in the master-slave relationship. Some had horrific marriages. Over and over they were enduring hardship. And Peter was writing to encourage them to be holy as God is holy, even if they were enduring hardship, even if they were being persecuted, even if they were enduring great trials. And as he began the book, he really laid out some powerful theology about what they have in Christ, because he didn't want to invite them to a pity party. He wanted to remind them, even in the midst of very real hardship, the blessings that they had already received in Christ. as bad as things were on earth, they already had eternal riches. They were born again because of God's mercy. The hardships they were experiencing weren't God's curse on them, they were an opportunity God was giving them to prove the genuineness of the faith that they had in Christ. And they had a perfect hope and a glorious future in heaven with the Lord. Jesus is alive. One day they would be alive with Him for all eternity. So rather, in the midst of hardships, reflecting and being sad, Peter was reminding them, you have everything. You are blessed. But he understands living in a fallen world, dealing with hardships, is challenging. And so beginning at verse 13, he starts addressing an important issue. It has to do with how we think, which translates into how we live. Beginning in verse 13, chapter 1. Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, he was telling them, you've got to already be working to get your mind focused on what you have in the future so that you aren't weighed down and immobilized by the trials that you face right now. And that led into his call, that I believe is the foundation of the entire book, and it really is the foundation of our entire lives in Christ, to be holy as God is holy. So we have to be fixing our hope on Christ, we have to be transforming how we think, And then we're called to put aside how we used to be, those former lusts, and embrace God's holiness because He is holy. And that's all to lead into tonight's text. And I think tonight, the text we're studying really is preparing us for holiness. Holiness is not natural, so to speak. We're not born holy, we don't live holy apart from Christ, and even in Christ, the flesh still pulls us away from holiness. So as Peter begins to explain what it means to be holy as God is holy, as he begins to lay out practical instruction, tonight we're going to see in verses 17 to 21, basically steps that will prepare us for holiness. So follow along with me while I read this section that we're going to be studying. I've got a simple three-part outline and we'll jump right in. Beginning at verse 17. If you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth. knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. So when preparing for a life of holiness, I'm going to go over three things that jump out from the text. And the first thing is this. Preparing for a life of holiness, rekindle your fear of the Lord. Rekindle your fear of the Lord. There is a lot of theology in these verses. As you go through, there's so much depth here. But at the beginning, Peter says something simple, but it doesn't necessarily jump out depending on which version of the Bible you're reading. He says, if you address as Father. Now, he's not really saying some people do, some people don't. He's saying every believer does this. In fact, some translations change the word if to since, and that really is the gist of what's going on here. And what Peter is talking about is believers' prayer. He's saying that each one of us calls out to God, reaches out to God as our Father. So as he's making a point, he's stating a reality of every believer, which is this, you address, you pray to God as Father. If I could paraphrase it, he's really saying, since you call on your Heavenly Father in prayer, all of what follows? And this idea of Father is very precious. It's very tender. It's hard to fathom that sinners like us, before the holy, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God of the universe, we're His children. He is our Father. That's precious truth. Galatians 4, 6 says, because you were sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. There's a tenderness there. When Jesus in the Lord's Prayer was teaching His disciples to pray, it was our Father who is in heaven. But even as Peter is emphasizing, and he's reminding us, yes, we pray to our Heavenly Father, we call out to Him, we address Him, that's what we do. He says something about our Father that should give us pause, that should cause us to hesitate for a moment. If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, Now the phraseology here is not really hard to understand. God, our Father, is an impartial judge and he judges everyone's work. Scripture teaches over and over from the Old Testament and the New Testament that God is a righteous judge. We have corrupt earthly judges. We have some honest earthly judges that make mistakes. God is not corrupt. He doesn't make mistakes. He always gets it right. If you stand before God, His judgment is always 100% true. Psalm 98 verses 8 and 9 says it this way, Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge with righteousness and the peoples with equity. But Peter's talking about an aspect of God's judgment that won't necessarily sound right in one sense. He's talking about judgment as it relates to us, His children. Now, why doesn't that sound right? Because Jesus Christ was judged in our place, and He was. Romans 8, 1, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I cling to that. But there are ways in which God does look at and evaluate our behavior after becoming believers. One involves our time here on earth, and one involves us in the future standing before the Lord. Here on earth, we refer to it as God's discipline. For time's sake, I won't read it, but for example, in Hebrews 12, 5 and 6, there's a discourse of it. God disciplines those He loves. And while it transcends just disobedience, I've taught on that text in Hebrews, every bit of life is disciplining us, there are times when if we sin, God, in a restorative sense, will place His hand of judgment upon us not to condemn us. We're still righteous before Christ, but God's trying to stop us from sinning further. There's also a future judgment that has to do with the rewards we receive for how we lived our lives. Again, for time's sake, I won't read it, but you could look at 1 Corinthians 3, verses 12 to 15. It lays it out to see what we were actually doing Is what we were doing something worthwhile that will survive or will be burned up in God's judgment? Not to cause us to lose our salvation, we're saved, but we won't get some of the rewards we might have otherwise received had our motivations and actions been true. So let me bring that back to us and why it even matters. Peter says, if you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work. In other words, he's reminding us that your heavenly father is still paying attention to what you do. Be holy as God is holy and recognize God's still watching you. We fool ourselves if we ever think that God is asleep, that God ever misses anything. If you're like me and you reflect on how much you still struggle with your own sin, you praise the Lord that He's merciful, that He's forbearing, that if we confess our sins today, He's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But what I think Peter is addressing here is a reminder in this phraseology of what is said in Hebrews 4.13, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." That includes God's children, that includes me and you. So all Peter's reminding us is that God sees what we're doing and He's an impartial judge. In other words, He calls it accurately. If your motivations are wrong, God's not impressed. We can fool each other, we can't fool God. So here's the point of all this. It's supposed to affect how we live. Again in verse 17, if you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth. That's what's so crucial. That ultimately is the point. When I said we've got to rekindle our fear of the Lord, that's exactly what he's talking about. He's not saying that believers walk around terrified. He's not saying that as believers we walk around waiting for God to strike us with lightning and destroy us as though He's some punitive dictator. No. We don't have to have that type of fear because we're in Christ. Romans 8.15, For you have not received the spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father. But there is a fear, a reverent awe, a serious holiness that we should have in the presence of God. Proverbs 9.10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. I don't have it in my notes, but as I was thinking about my message, I was reminded of the passage where Isaiah walks into the presence of the Lord, and he sees the holiness of God, and he goes, woe is me. Because he recognized immediately how unclean he was. Again, the fear that Peter is encouraging us to cultivate in how we walk daily and how we conduct our lives and how we live our lives isn't a terror the same as unbelievers would feel before God. God is still our Father, but we have to be respectful and mindful of who He is. It's a holy awe that we should all have in the presence of God And it would be easier if we remembered that we're always in the presence of God. His Spirit dwells within us. Our entire lives we're in the presence of God, even the thoughts of our mind, even when we're alone, even when no one else is watching, God's there. I think it's easy for any of us, and it certainly is evident in the popular culture version of Christianity that inadvertently we can trivialize God. We can be so caught up with Him as our Father that we forget that He's still holy and all-powerful and righteous. I've been in environments before in the many years that I've been a believer where I thought that people probably thought if Jesus walked in they would go and high-five Him. The reality is if Jesus walked in in all His glory, we would be on our faces. We need to rekindle that fear every day. Peter specifically tied this idea of conducting ourselves in fear to the duration of our lives on earth, during the time of your stay on earth. Some translations use the term exile. In reality, Peter is addressing with the language, although it's not as clear in the way that it's translated in the New American Standard that I preach from. Our time on earth, we're sojourners. This isn't our home. One day we're going to be in heaven with perfect glorified bodies, no more struggle against sin, but we're not there yet. Here, we're strangers. We're aliens. Peter's already alluded to that. He'll allude to it later that we're aliens and strangers. All of Scripture says that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven. The challenge for us is to rekindle that fear of the Lord. We're not always here singing together. Something about music moves my heart. It reminds me of these things and then I walk away and the world crashes in. So the first step for preparing for a life of holiness is to rekindle your fear of the Lord. The second step is remember the price paid to redeem you. Remember the price paid to redeem you. Peter continues in verse 18, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Now again, this is preparation for holiness because Peter is challenging us to think correctly. to make sure that our thinking is lined up with what we already know. And the things he's stating here are things that if you are in Christ, you already know. But he's painting a contrast. He's reminding them of something that's very important, and the original imagery would have been tied to the culture in which they lived. During the time that this was written, slavery was still very common. Certainly, our country has a horrific history with slavery, but our slavery was a little bit unique and different because we enslaved a particular people group, people from the continent of Africa. Those were our slaves. At the time of Rome, slavery was much more widespread. If the Romans conquered somebody, they became slaves. At different times, the majority of people in the city of Rome were slaves, according to historians. And slavery encompassed many details. You could make yourself a slave. You could sell yourself into slavery. Somebody could sell you into slavery. You could be born into slavery. If your people were conquered, as I mentioned, you could be slaves. So slavery was part of the fabric of life. And also for Jewish people, slavery was part of the fabric of their history because they were slaves in Egypt. In fact, every year, the Passover that was celebrated reminded them of God redeeming them out of slavery. So when Peter uses that term redeemed, he's really talking about a simple transaction. It's the process of purchasing a slave's freedom. Someone's in slavery, they're made free, The word being used here, redeemed, is talking about that transaction. And what Peter is saying is we were bought out of slavery, we were redeemed out of slavery, but it was not with something so silly as money. Scriptures make it clear over and over, as unbelievers, we are slaves to sin. Again, for time's sake, I won't read it, but Timothy 3.3 says, we were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. If you came to faith in Christ as an adult, that has greater significance to you, I think. It doesn't mean that a child's not enslaved to sin, don't misunderstand, but there's something about realizing that as an adult. You know what you've been saved from. It's powerful. And Peter's saying you weren't redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life which you inherited from your forefathers. In other words, he's describing the existence of every unbeliever of all time. Futile. It's not saying that there's not value in human life. What he's saying is the daily transactions of life, all the things we do, even when we think we're doing good, all of those transactions before a holy God looking at our lives are futile. They're worthless. They count for nothing. And we inherited this futile way of life from our forefathers, It's a generational passing down of sin after sin after sin. And if you look at human history, I'm fascinated by human history because I look at redemptive history overlaying secular history. What you see is society after society does just that. They have their rituals, they have sometimes their religions, and they pass it down generation after generation, stumbling blocks, Blinders that keep people enslaved to sin that don't bring them any closer to Christ. And we were saved from that futile way of life. We were saved out of that. And Peter's saying, look, you know this. You weren't bought with money. God didn't walk around paying other people off. Our debt was to God. And it's not as though silver and gold didn't have real value at that time, but he was saying in an eternal sense, they're worthless. Jesus talked about that with, where's your treasure? The things on earth, they corrode, they rust, they're destroyed, they could be stolen. That's not true treasure. So Peter's just trying to remind us, how is it that you became a child of God? Your life was futile. You were rescued from something horrific. How did that come about? It wasn't with money. It was with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. And there's a lot built into this imagery, certainly in the Old Testament. Sacrificial animals had to be blameless, they had to be spotless. Leviticus 22, 21 is representative of this. When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no defect in it. That was Jesus. He was the ultimate sacrifice. In Hebrews 9, 11, and 12, it provides a good theology of what Jesus did. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Peter is just trying to cause us to think rightly about everything going on around us. It's so easy for our minds to get off track. But he's appealing to what they already know and it's what we already know. We're not saved because of something corruptible, because of something like money. We're saved because Jesus came and bled in our place. Romans 6, 17, and 18 describes it this way, but thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. It all happened because of the blood. And when we think about the price that Jesus paid to redeem us, it helps us out of gratitude desire to be holy as He is holy. There's one final point that we'll cover from this text. Preparing for a life of holiness, we would rekindle your fear of the Lord. Second, remember the price paid to redeem you. And third, rejoice that you were included in the eternal plan of salvation. Rejoice that you were included in the eternal plan of salvation. Again, Peter is giving us thought principles. He's not yet saying do this, do that in terms of what choices you make in life. He's reminding us of what motivates those choices. We don't get to step a step, we have to have the right mental outlook. And he says this in verse 20 and 21, and he's talking about the eternal plan of redemption. And there's deep theology here, but there's personal application. For He, Christ, was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. And these truths are taught elsewhere, but there's a depth here that I can't do justice in one message. But ultimately, I think we can get enough, and as we reflect on it, we understand what has transpired. Summarizing, Peter is really emphasizing that Jesus, the spotless Lamb, the perfect One who shed His blood, that wasn't God's plan B. In other words, God didn't create the world, find out that sin happened and go, now what do I do? Okay, I'll do Jesus. No. He's saying, before the foundation of the world, this was the plan. The spotless One, Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of believers was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Not just that God knew of him, Jesus is a part of the Trinity, God planned everything. For time's sake I won't read, but you can see in Acts chapter 2 verses 22 to 23, even Jesus' death was part of the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. Even the acts of sinful men to unjustly kill the Savior was a part of God's plan. Here's the point, God always planned before there was a world, before there was an earth, before there were humans, God had always planned to send Jesus to shed His blood. The foundation of the world is really just talking about Genesis 1.1, John chapter 1, the creation of everything. Before that ever happened, God knew what was going to happen. God knew what He was going to do. Now this is the part where this theology can, if we're not careful, tempt us to say, well, so what? Yes, that's true. There are heart-stopping words here. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but it has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. He's talking about Jesus appearing, meaning coming in the incarnation, being on the earth, That's how he could live the perfect life and die the atoning death. But what Peter is saying to these believers applies to us. All of that plan of God, all of that that was known before the foundation of the world was for you. The term is plural, talking about all believers, but this has to be personalized. If I could stop and talk to every one of you, I know you know this, but I would try and remind you. Think about the fact that the God of the universe, before He even created the universe, cared about your soul. He knew what you would be. He knew every sin you would commit. He knew your family legacies, who your parents and your grandparents would be, the forefathers. He knew how miserably you would fail over and over again. He knew about your hardships. He knew about your physical limitations. He knew about your difficulties. He knew about you. And He cared about you. Jesus came for you. He paid that incomprehensible price of redemption for you. God did it. And God has brought you to where you are today because He loves you. If you're one of His children, all of your life didn't happen by chance. God doesn't just know what's going to happen as one of the commentators have read. He's the author of history. Ephesians chapter 1 states something similar in terms of the personalization of what Peter is talking about. Ephesians 1, beginning at verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. God's love for us should be a significant motivating factor in us obeying His commandments. As Jesus said, if you love Me, you'll obey My commandments. In the midst of the craziness of the world, we are not important. We get lost. In fact, one of the things that can be so disconcerting to believers, certainly it's true to all humans but believers, is in the midst of everything, when life is coming unglued and the world seems out of control, it can seem like you're forgotten. For some of us, we have great family structures and a lot of people check on us, and for some of us, nobody ever picks up the phone and calls. And one of the tools that our adversary Satan uses as he's prowling around looking for those he can devour, is to convince God's children that God doesn't care about them. Go back and reread Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 to 5, Satan's first interaction with humanity when he convinced Eve to sin. The first thing he says, God's holding out on you. My terrible paraphrase. God's holding out on you. He told you you would die. Give me a break. He knows that if you do this, you'll be like him. In other words, God doesn't want what's best for you. He's trying to keep you away from something. Jesus said, Satan's a liar and the father of lies. He started then, he hasn't stopped. And can I tell you, in the midst of a crisis time like what we're dealing with, in the midst of an election where people like us get trampled and run over, in the midst of chaos, Satan wouldn't hesitate to whisper in each one of our ears and say, God didn't really care. When your life is one trial after another, Satan can whisper, God doesn't care. When an election goes your way or it doesn't go your way, Satan can whisper, God doesn't care. When a pandemic shuts down everything and destroys your income, or when you catch COVID and are laid up by yourself, Satan can whisper in your ear, God doesn't care. Why bother? In fact, nobody will even see the sin. He doesn't really care. Let me encourage you, don't believe the lies of Satan. God cared enough to send His Son to die for you, and He knew how wicked you are. God cared before the foundations of the world for your soul, and He redeemed you at great cost. Because He loves you and He does care for you. The trials of life and the hardships in a society that's gone haywire isn't evidence that God doesn't care. Because none of that compares to the reality of Jesus dying on the cross for sinners like us. That's what Peter's explaining. In verse 21, "...who through Him are believers in God." In other words, no one comes to God the Father except through Jesus Christ. And it was God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory. Even now He's seated at the right hand of the Father. So that our personal faith and our hope are in God. Brothers and sisters, in the midst of chaos, remember your place in God's plan of salvation and rejoice. It's hard to comprehend. We're nothing amongst the billions of the people on the earth except that we're valuable to God. He sent His Son to die for us. Don't forget that. We want to be holy as God is holy. And it starts with remembering what God's done for us so that we're motivated to gratitude. So even as we fear God, and we live in fear of Him, and we remember that He's watching us, it's not for the purpose of condemnation, it's for the purpose of loving care and concern. So let me encourage you. As we come into a tumultuous election season, as we're knee-deep in it, or waist-deep in it, and pretty soon to be neck-deep in it, don't get caught up with the affairs of this earth. In fact, I know for me, the election just shows that I still am too tied to the affections and the things of this earth. That's why I'm annoyed. Because I lose sight of the glory of heaven and what's waiting for me and I get so preoccupied with what's here and now. Does what's here matter? Yes, it does. Because it's our opportunity to be holy as God is holy and be a light to a world that desperately needs it right now. So let me encourage you. Reflect on these texts. and prepare yourselves for holiness. Please join me in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You tonight for our salvation. Lord, for those of us who have been believers for a long time, it's easy to take for granted what You've done for us. Lord, we live day by day and we get numbed to the reality of what we were and what we've been saved from, and we lose sight of the great price paid for our salvation. And Lord, likewise, we lose sight and we forget that You're ever-present with us watching. Not to beat us down because You hate us, but to lovingly redirect our paths because You care for us and You want us to be holy as You are holy. Lord, I pray for all of my brothers and sisters that are hearing these words. Lord, I pray that you'd apply them to our heart. Countless distractions are on the horizon every day. We're bombarded with things that would allow us to get distracted and think that you're not in control and that the world is spinning apart from you. Lord, remind us. that everything is happening according to Your perfect plan, and help us rest in that. And Lord, I realize that even as I'm relaying and teaching words of Scripture that were prepared for believers, that there are some who hear my voice that may not truly know Jesus Christ. Lord, apart from You, they are still in that futile way of life that they inherited from their forefathers. And you're the God who impartially judges, but if they're not clothed in the blood of Christ, the judgment will be a source of terror. I pray that you would pierce through the darkness and the blindness, and that you would open those individuals' hearts to recognize that they are sinners before a perfect, all-powerful, all-seeing, holy God who will judge sin. But Lord, help them understand that the precious blood of the spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, is sufficient and there's enough blood to continue to save sinners. I pray that You would convict their hearts of sin and that they would cry out to You for mercy through Jesus Christ. Lord, we love You and we pray that You would care for us and protect us and do whatever work is necessary in our individual lives so that we will be holy as you are holy. We love you and we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.