When a doctor does open heart surgery, the patient and his family are counting on the doctor to do the operation fearfully knowing that a person’s life is at stake. Any act of carelessness, any forgetful move could end the patient’s life.

This morning we are going to see that God calls every Christian to fearfully live each day of his life, knowing that carelessness or forgetfulness could offend his Saviour and rob him of blessings on judgment day.

Transition

After commanding us to live holy as He is holy, God gives us another command and three motivations to obey that command.

First, Let’s Look at God’s Command (v.17).

“Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

1. God tells us who is to obey this command.
   1. He addresses all who are calling on the Father. The word translated “call” as used here refers to calling on someone for help.
   2. “If,” used as it is here, does not suggest doubt but rather implies since. Thus, since God is your Father and you are calling on Him (present tense) for help, the command applies to you.
2. God tells us why we must obey this command.
   1. God is judging our actions. God will often chasten disobedient Christians during this life (He 12:5-8), but the Christian’s judgment will be at the bema seat where he will receive rewards or loss according to his Christian conduct (2 Co 5:10). (See recent series on web)
   2. God does not respect persons, i.e. He is impartial and totally fair. He knows the secrets of our heart. He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. He knows all the facts.
   3. God is judging according to each person’s work.
      1. We are not saved by works. We are saved to work.
         (Ephesians 2:10) “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
         (Philippians 2:12) “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
      2. In the previous verses, God commanded that Christians hope in His grace and live holy lives. Now He is reminding us of our accountability to Him.
3. God tells us what He requires by this command.
   1. To sojourn is to dwell in a strange land. The readers were in a strange land, but in reality this world is not our home. Heaven is home, so the time of your sojourning is the entire time until you go to heaven.
   2. The command is to pass the time in fear.
      1. Literally “pass” means to turn over; to turn about.
      2. Allow the time of your sojourning to turn over in fearful respect to God.
         ² At one time, Daniel Webster [1782-1852] was considered the greatest of all living Americans. He was outstanding as a statesman, lawyer, orator, and leader of men. Twenty‑five national leaders attended a select banquet in his honour. One man at the banquet asked Mr. Webster, “Sir, what is the greatest thought that ever entered your mind?” Without hesitation, Webster replied, “The greatest thought that ever entered my mind was the thought of my responsibility to God.” As he spoke, he wept, excused himself from the banquet, and went outside to get control of his emotions. When he returned he talked for thirty minutes about man’s responsibility to God. Carl G. Johnson, Ready for Anything, Bethany Fellowship Press.
         ☆ Every Christian is to live daily in fear of displeasing God because he will give account to God who is impartial.

Now, Let’s Look at the Three Motivations to Obey God’s Command (v.18-21).

Here is why we ought to pass the time of our sojourning in fear.

1. Christ suffered to redeem us (v.18-19)
   1. We were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold.
      1. To redeem means to buy back by paying a price. We were doomed for hell, but Christ redeemed us. Money cannot redeem anyone from hell.
      2. God redeemed us from our old lifestyle.
      3. We inherited our former vain conversation (useless, unsatisfying lifestyle) from our ancestors.
   2. BUT we were redeemed with Christ’s precious blood.
      1. The sinless blood of Christ alone is precious enough to pay sin’s debt. Money cannot redeem us, BUT Christ’s blood can.
      2. Christ was like a spotless sacrificial lamb. He was totally without sin.
         (2 Corinthians 5:21) “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
         (Hebrews 4:15) “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
         ☆ Christ suffered to redeem us. That ought to motivate us to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear of God!
2. God planned and revealed Christ’s payment for our sins (v.20)
   1. God planned before Creation that Christ would redeem sinners. God in His all-wise heart and all-knowing mind he knew man, whom he had not yet created, would sin and he planned that Jesus, his Son, the second Person of the Trinity, would die for mankind.
   2. Christ’s redemption was revealed in these last times for us. Christ came, in these last times (4,000 years after Creation) and paid sin’s debt for Peter’s readers and for us. We are still in the last times 2000 years later.
      ☆ God planned and fulfilled redemption. That too ought to motivate us to sojourn here in fear of God!
3. Christ’s payment enables us to have faith and hope in God (v.21).
   1. God raised up Christ from the dead and gave him glory.
      1. God raised up Christ from the dead, completing salvation.
      2. God gave Christ glory – received him to His right hand – assuring us that salvation is complete.
   2. God did this so your faith and hope might be in God.
      1. Unbelievers place their faith in fate, in religion, in idols, in reincarnation, but not in God alone. They have no hope or confident assurance of heaven because their hope is not in God alone.
      2. God, through Christ, paid your debt in full so our faith and hope might be totally in God. If you repent of your sin and trust Christ alone for redemption, you have God’s promise of forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.
         ☆ Once again this ought to motivate us to sojourn in fear of God!

Conclusion

This morning we learned that God commands every Christian to sojourn in this wicked world in daily fear of God. We are to fear displeasing God because we will give account to God who never shows favouritism. If you are a Christian, God is evaluating your daily life. He sees whether you are living a holy life or not. He wants to be able to reward you at the Judgment Seat. Do you daily fear God?

Look again at the motivation God gives. If Christ has saved you, He redeemed you through Christ’s blood. God planned Christ’s suffering for you in eternity past. He completed it that you might believe and hope in Him alone. God had you in mind in eternity past. What an awesome motivation to please God!

If you have not yet placed your trust in Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life, God wants you to. Will you do it today?

Song: Have I Done My Best – 368
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Daily Fearing God
31 May 2015 AM – 1 Peter 1:17-21 – 1Pe15 – Scott Childs