An Aimless Condition (Part 1)

Take your Bibles and open them to 1 Peter chapter 1, find verse 17, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 17, and I'm going to read the entire text, the larger text that we've been looking at for now several Sundays.

We've been making our way through a series of commands, four commands. Peter issues to his readers and the Holy Spirit through Peter issues to us four commands, and our focus for the last couple of Sundays has been on the command to conduct ourselves in fear, verse 17. And so let me begin with verse 17, and we'll read all the way through to verse 21.

1 Peter chapter 1, and if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. Now there's the command.

1 Peter chapter 1, verse 17, verse 17, Who, through him, believe in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Tremendous text. Do you remember where you were when certain significant events took place in your life? And right now you're kind of scanning your thoughts, your mind, as to just which significant events.

We may have some here in the building who were born sometime prior to 1945. I don't know who you are, but we may have some who may remember V.E. Day.

Anybody here remember V.E. Day? Got a few. V.J. Day? All right? Some of you, more of you, possibly, will remember when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

How many of you remember that event? Do you remember where you were then? You don't need to tell me right now. Some of you remember, and most of you do not. I'm one that does not remember where I was then.

Now my wife, who remembers everything, could tell you exactly where she was. And so it was a significant event, and we can remember maybe where we were, what we were doing that day when the event took place.

Let me see if I could include more of you with this next one. How about 9-11? Any of you here remember where you were? I will never forget it.

Never forget it. I was in the hospital. Not in the hospital myself, but visiting one of my members in the hospital. And I can picture the room. In fact, it was in one of those hospital rooms that is kind of the waiting area before surgery.

And we were in there, and the young man who was going to have surgery was in the bed. His wife was standing there. And right up above my head, I can just almost look up and see it, is the TV in the room.

And I glance up, and the image I see is one of the towers with smoke bellowing out of it. And of course, you know the rest of the story.

I'll never forget that event. Never forget where I was and what I was doing when that happened to me. It didn't happen to me, just to me, but to our country.

I remember that time. And sometimes, you know, it is a good thing to remember specifics of certain events that take place in our lives.

Kind of go back and refresh our memory. Not just refresh our memory about the events themselves, but more importantly, the significance of those events.

And it's a good thing, very positive thing, a productive thing sometimes to do. Like, for example, 9-11. I mentioned 9-11, and most everyone here remembers that event. And so, let's just ask the question, what was the significance of 9-11 for Americans?

And we might come up with a number of things. I thought of three. We learned, I think, as Americans, the vulnerability, our vulnerability to terrorist attacks.

We learned that. And made steps and took measures to protect ourselves. And some would argue that we went too far with that. I don't know. But that was a significant thing that occurred as a result of 9-11, didn't it?

I think we might also say that we learned something about unity as Americans. That it was, albeit maybe temporary, a unifying factor for Americans.

See, here's an event that took place. And we understand or recognize the significance of the event itself. We might even say that as a result of 9-11, and this certainly was temporary, that we as Americans renewed, at least many Americans, renewed their interest in the importance of God.

Or the power of God. Or the need for God. Or the need for His blessings. I mean, after all, to turn on the TV and to watch and listen as the entire United States Congress sings, God bless America.

Never thought that would ever happen. I don't think it's happened much since. So these are significant things about the event. And America will never be the same as she was prior to 9-11.

Never be the same in many ways. And so without a doubt, it was a significant event in American history. Right? Now, I'm just calling your attention to an event.

And I'm pointing out the need to sometimes remember the event. And remember the significance of the event. And, of course, we're going to Scripture here.

And so I would say to you as we tie this together, tie this in, that for many of us here today, the single most important event that has taken place in our lives was our salvation in Christ.

Would you agree with that? Single most important event. Our salvation. Or to put it in terms of an event itself, our conscious memory of the event.

It was our conversion experience. When we were converted to Christ. An event that took place in our lives. Now, I would ask you, do you remember when and where you were when that happened to you?

I already see some heads shaking like this. And some are not shaking their heads at all. Perhaps you don't remember much about it. Huh? Perhaps you remember very few specifics about that event.

When you were saved. And so, by the way, how important is it to remember all the details of your conversion experience? Some would argue that it's very important.

In fact, I've even heard some argue that it's crucial that you remember that. And if you don't remember that, then it probably didn't happen. I've heard some argue that point. Let me ask you a question.

What is the indisputable proof? That 53 plus a few months, 53 years plus a few months ago, my mother gave birth to your pastor.

What's the indisputable proof of that to me? I was there. I don't remember a single thing about it.

I really don't. I have a birth certificate. But, you know, documents can be faked and doctor's signatures can be forged. And so, how do I know?

How do I know that I was born? I'm alive today. It's indisputable. You can't argue the point.

You can say, well, I don't know. You know, you don't look very alive today. Maybe after a week at Falls Creek, maybe I'm not as alive as I once was. But I am alive. I'm standing here breathing. Blood is flowing.

And my muscles are sore, thanks to that alpine tower. But I'm alive. And so, there is indisputable proof, at least to me, that I was born.

What, then, may I ask you? Or how, then, do I know for sure that I was born again?

I was there. But, you know, I don't remember very much about it. I remember some things about it, but not very much. I don't remember very much about last week.

Well, I do remember some things about last week. How do I know? I'm alive in Christ today.

I'm alive in Him today. That, for me, is proof. Proof. Now, I know you can fake that life, but I would give my testimony to you that I know Jesus.

And I love Jesus. And I follow Jesus. And I live for Him. I'm alive today in Christ. Now, all this is leading somewhere, by the way.

Because, you see, Peter is talking about our new birth. He's talking about our salvation here in the text. In fact, the entire chapter, from the very beginning, from the get-go, his subject is salvation.

And we've already discussed a lot of that. And so his subject in the text, our text for this morning, the larger text and the smaller text that we're going to be looking at this morning, the subject is salvation.

But, really, technically, it is a specific aspect of salvation that is Peter's focus. It's redemption.

Redemption. You see, salvation, the word salvation, speaks of the whole saving work of God. The word redemption speaks of what it cost God to save me.

And it cost Him plenty. That's what redemption is all about. It's the cost. The cost of salvation. That's Peter's subject here. Redemption, as I explained last week, simply refers to the purchasing of someone out of slavery and setting them free.

And so in the theological, doctrinal sense, in the spiritual sense, all of us were at one point in our lives in bondage to the control of sin.

And not just the bondage and control of sin as a principle in our lives, as a pollution of our bodies, but also we were in bondage to the condemnation as a result of that sin.

And so redemption is the price paid for our freedom from that.

That's what redemption means. And so I would say that the purchase cost is the ransom. We could use the word ransom.

And in a sense, redemption, ransom are kind of interchangeable ideas here or concepts. Though the ransom really speaks specifically to the cost itself.

What has been paid. And Jesus said in Matthew 20 and verse 28, The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

A ransom. Of course, He did that at the cross, right? Yes, He did. But in terms of time, that costly ransom paid at the cross became effective in my life and in your life, if you are a born-again Christian today, became effective in my life at the time of my new birth.

My new birth, it became a reality to me at my conversion. My conversion to Christ. Something happened to me that day. Something happened.

Something definitely happened to me that day. Something changed in me that day. Something significant took place in my life.

And if you have the same testimony as I have, you're a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then all those things happened to you. Or that thing happened to you there at your conversion.

And how much do you know about what happened that day? Hopefully, you know quite a bit about that. I mean, how much do you know about your redemption?

The past several Sundays, we've been singing about redemption. Jonathan has just wonderfully led us in worship and focused our attention through Scripture and through words filled with Scripture.

Focused our attention on redemption. How much do we know about it? How much do you know about your redemption?

Well, Peter is rehearsing the details of redemption for his readers. That's what he's doing. And he's doing it for us, too. And he is taking these details, taking us step by step through these details, and he is doing so, and I'll remind you of this, he's doing so in order to offer a powerful motivation for obeying the command to conduct our lives in the fear of God.

That's his reason for doing it. And so we're going to take these things step by step and milk this passage for all it's worth the subject of redemption.

Last Sunday, we saw that the plan of redemption began with a timeless decision. Would you look at verse 20 again?

He indeed, that is Christ, was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

A timeless decision. Second, and this is what I want us to focus on this morning, God redeemed us from an aimless condition.

Borrowing the word from the New King James Version of this text. An aimless condition. That's what you and I were redeemed from.

It began with a timeless decision in the heart of God, and the plan was to redeem us from an aimless condition.

A worthless condition. A pointless condition. A life of utter futility. That's what you and I were redeemed from.

Though we may not know it that way, or not thought of it in that way. Not necessarily something that we have learned from experience. But that's what we have been redeemed from.

Futility. Worthlessness. An aimless condition. Spiritually. Look at verse 18. Knowing that you were not redeemed from, or with corruptible things like silver or gold, from, and here's the phrase you need to pay close attention to, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.

Aimless. An aimless condition. Now, you may not remember what you said, or what you did when God saved you. You may not remember any of the details of that. And if you were young when you were saved, like I was young when I was saved, you probably do not remember what your life was like prior to your salvation.

You may not remember those things, but you can know from Scripture, if not from experience, you can know the truth about yourself apart from Christ.

You can know that. You can know the truth about your desperate, sinful condition prior to salvation, and why your salvation was so costly to God.

You can know that from Scripture, and this is what Peter is giving us here. Peter gives us a pretty clear picture of who we were, who you were, who I was prior to my redemption in Christ Jesus.

And he gives us, in this text, four truths about the kind of life you and I were redeemed from. That's our focus.

Not only today, but also next Sunday. Number one. This aimless condition from which God redeemed us was a life dominated by godless passion.

Now just get that down. God redeemed us from a life absolutely, totally dominated by godless passion.

He did. He did. And we need to go back to verse 14 to see this one. We've already looked at verse 14, but I did not spend time on one part of that verse and this is where we're going to look this morning.

He says, As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts. There it is. That's what you were redeemed from.

Lust. I know the word lust just brings up all kinds of images. Actually, not all kinds of images. When we hear the word lust, we think of only one thing.

Usually. The word in the Greek text is epithumia. The root of that word is thumos.

We get our word thermal from it. So it means what? Carries the idea of heat. It carries the idea of fire.

Burning. Right? Epithumia, then, means, or it could be defined this way, it is defined by a passionate or heated burning desire of any kind.

That's basically the definition of epithumia. Without any particular reference as to evil or good. Matter of fact, the word appears a number of times in the Bible, but only three times does it refer to something positive, something good.

That is, in the sense of having a good lust. That's difficult for us to put good and lust together in the same sentence. And yet, the word can refer to something good.

Something good. I'll give you those three verses. Luke 22, 15. You don't need to turn to it. Let me read it to you. Jesus said to his disciples just before he was about to go to the cross, he said to his disciples with fervent desire.

That's the word epithumia. Could be translated lust. Though I wouldn't want to translate it that way. With fervent lust. Or desire.

I have desired. In fact, the word appears twice in the text. With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

And so it's used in a very positive sense. Philippians 1, 23. Paul struggled against his, quote, desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

It's the same word. Used in a positive sense. That's a good desire. Though Paul said, but it's better for you if I stay. But the burning passion of my life is to leave this world and go to be with Christ.

Now, if you want to have a good lust, that's a good one to have. Third, again, Paul is speaking and he used the word to describe his relationship with the Thessalonian believers.

And in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 17, he said, but we, he and others of the disciples, we endeavored more eagerly to set our face or see your face, rather, with great lust.

Well, it says desire. This is the word lust. Those are the only three times you'll find it in the Bible where it has a good connotation.

Every other time, and it appears many times in Scripture, every other time the word appears in the New Testament, it carries a sinful connotation. Where Paul uses the word here in verse 14 of 1 Peter, chapter 1, it is certainly used in the negative sense.

He says, not conforming. Do not conform your life to your former lust. lust. Epithumia.

Your godless passions. That's the idea. Godless passions that burn inside of you, that control you.

Control the unredeemed. And can control the redeemed. And so, what I want to do primarily this morning is to explain the nature of sinfulness in the lives of both unredeemed sinners and redeemed saints because it works the same way in both with one very important, one very significant difference.

And we'll get to that. It begins with temptation. temptation. That's number one.

Just write that down. Temptation. That's where it begins. Sin begins with temptation. That is, the temptation to commit a lawless deed according to God's law.

A temptation to commit a sin. I don't guess we need to define what sin is. I think we all know what that is. And so it begins there. It begins with temptation.

Now the temptation is not the sin. Let's make sure we have that clear in our mind. Temptation is not sin. The fact that you and I are tempted to sin is not in itself sin.

Jesus, by the way, the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15, Jesus was tempted in every way just like you and I.

Yet, He was without sin. So the temptation is not the sin. But it begins there. And we need to acknowledge that and recognize that that when it comes to the whole scope of the working of sin in our lives, it begins with a temptation.

There is a temptation that occurs. And then the second step is perception. That's the second word.

Temptation then perception. In fact, there really is not a temptation in your life apart from a perception of it. That is, it must enter the mind.

It must enter the thoughts. And that's the idea here. Temptation enters your thoughts. And you start thinking about the temptation. Just very quickly.

Temptation is there. The thought about it. Alright? But now, let me also tell you that just thinking about the temptation is not sin. That's not the sin.

I mean, if you're walking behind someone on the sidewalk and you see a $10 bill slip out and fall out of his pocket, then your mind takes note of the temptation.

But the sin is not there. Right? The temptation. What's the temptation? Pick it up and put it in your pocket. But now, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

We'll get to that part here in a minute. That's another step. We're talking about temptation entering the mind. Temptation to perception. Alright? There's the second step.

Temptation is registered in the mind. You ever just taken this, the nature of sin, the characteristics of sin, and just put it out here like a diamond to look at all of its facets?

That's what we're doing here. so that we can understand it. Now, if that perception of the temptation goes unchecked, goes unchecked possibly for even a fraction of a second, if it goes unchecked, that is, you begin to dwell upon the temptation, then the perception of the temptation leads to imagination.

That's the third word. It's very simple. And when you kind of put it in these terms, you begin to think, oh yeah, I see that very easily.

Imagination is the third step. that is, you perceive in your mind the temptation to sin.

And you begin then to feed that thought. Begin to feed it.

and then you begin to imagine what it would be like. Imagine what it would be like to sin that sin.

You start kind of fantasizing. It's awfully quiet.

You know exactly what I'm talking about. Begin to fantasize. You start constructing little scenarios of sin.

Started with the temptation. There it is. Your thought went to it. You perceive it. And then you just kind of stay fixed on it for a moment.

And then you start to imagine. You imagine how you would do it. how you would commit that sin.

The steps. You begin to imagine what it would be like. How it might make you feel. You begin to imagine little little scenarios in your mind about whether or not it would benefit you in any way.

I mean we we could just kind of go on and on with these little stories we begin to develop in our minds about it. We even kind of imagine whether or not we could get away with it.

Whether anybody would find out. Or how we might do you know some clean up after it.

Cover our tracks. Imagine well if they do find out what might I say and it just kind of branches out into all kinds of scenarios.

We're talking about the imagination. It's a powerful powerful thing. Isn't it? You know the Bible speaks often about the imagination.

Did you know that? in Genesis 6-5 God said this the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every this translation says intent of the heart of the thoughts of the heart that the word is really best translated imagination.

It's yatzer in the Hebrew and it talks about an intellectual framework. You start framing the thoughts in your mind.

That's why I think the better translation is imagination. King James uses imagination. And so God said here as he looked down upon the earth the world of man this is after the fall in the garden and some years have passed and wickedness sin has blossomed in the creation and God looks down and he sees that the wickedness the sinfulness of man is great on the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

That's a description of unredeemed man. Genesis chapter 8 verse 21 similar thing the Lord saw said in his heart I will never again curse the ground for man's sake although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

Imagination. The imagination is where you construct your thoughts about what you're going to do thoughts about good as well as evil.

You begin to develop scenarios in your mind. Now for a Christian our imaginations can be good.

We can entertain both evil and good thoughts. Evil and good imaginations and scenarios we'll get to the difference between the redeemed and unredeemed in a moment.

But we're talking about the imagination. Are you getting this here? Temptation Temptation perception.

Perception perception unchecked motivates the imagination. And then imagination ignites passion.

There's the next word. Passion. It ignites it. I use that word because of the root meaning of the word passion. A burning.

It inflames the passion. See, your imagination begins to work out all of these kind of stories and possibilities and what you might do here and what it will get you and how it might feel and you imagine all of these things to the nth degree and it inflames it ignites passion or lust that is specifically godless passions or to put it another way unholy desires or to put it another way sinful lusts put it another way fleshly cravings we could put it a host of different ways I think you get the picture get the idea that is I want that that's what passion said you've worked out the scenario in your mind because the temptation's there and you perceive it and you begin to imagine going that direction and whatever that temptation is you want it that's what godless passion does for you

I want it it it would make me feel good it would bring me happiness it would promote me in some area of my life it would hide this certain thing in my life it would get for me something I really want I mean we could just I don't know how to describe it in every possible detail it's impossible you can do that in your own mind can't you godless passion that's what the imagination sparks because godless passion is in there it's in us it's right there waiting for something to set it on fire and our imaginations do that let's just complete the process passion then engages volition that is the will I will do it you understand it's not complicated is it even though all of this this kind of this process happens in a fraction of a second in fact it happens so quickly it's barely perceptible sometimes it is because you dwell on something and you kind of reason things out and imagine but it can usually happen just that quick or quicker and you go from temptation to the will to do it and the will or volition leads to action that's the last step the act of sin itself the act of sin itself do you see the process that's how it works that's how sin works that's that principle principle of sin that

Paul spoke quite often about temptation enters perception perception motivates imagination imagination ignites passion passion engages volition and volition triggers action that's how it works and it happens just that quick and James 1 14 if I might read that passage to you real quickly James 1 14 starting verse 13 he says let no one say when he is tempted I'm tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust!

desires! And enticed then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death there is how it works we've kind of filled in some of the some of the blanks there in that process how it begins to move through our lives let just illustrate it this way with a few scenarios of my own okay Janice has a co-worker by the name of Peggy and Janice doesn't particularly like Peggy but Peggy dresses better than she does and Peggy seems to be more attractive to other men and Janice just doesn't like Peggy very much because she's kind of snooty and you know and one day

Peggy or Janice rather goes into the office lounge to get a cup of coffee and there is sitting her boss boss is there and her boss says Janice come over here a moment and sit down with me I want to talk to you about something and then he shares with Janice that he is considering offering Peggy a promotion a promotion that Janice wanted for herself and her boss asks Janice about Peggy can you tell me anything about her as a co-worker Janice has heard some things about Peggy in fact she picked up a little tidbit of gossip about Peggy's past and now her boss is asking

Janice about Peggy temptation perception imagination and Janice begins to think do I tell him about what I know about Peggy maybe I should tell him about Peggy and add a little flavor to the story and sweeten it up a little bit and maybe he will turn away from Peggy and choose me for the promotion you see how it worked passion I really want that promotion I really don't like Peggy I will do it in action you see let me give you a second scenario

Jim loves to listen to music and the latest CDs from two of his favorite artists have just been released and he really wants them both CDs he's been counting the days for when they would be available and now the release date has come and so he gets in his car and treks on down to Walmart he only has enough money to buy one of the CDs and so he buys that one and a few other items that he needed and when he gets home he notices from the receipt that the sales clerk failed to charge him for the CD temptation right off there it is perception imagination I want both

CDs now I got one of them free I have enough money to go and buy the second and no one will ever know I'll do it because I really want it I want both of them I'll do it and no one will ever know in action see how it works I'll give you a third John is mowing his backyard and it's one of those sunny summer days and his neighbor's teenage daughter is sunbathing by their pool and John or Jim no John John happens to see her through a crack in the privacy fence while he has stooped down to pull up some weeds and he sees her there sees her there in her all too revealing swimsuit temptation perception perception imagination and I won't describe the imagination but I'm telling you fellas that John in this scenario has a fraction of a second to pull his eyes away before the imagination begins to blossom in his mind and the scenarios begin to develop and though they all may just stay there imagination imagination

Jesus said something about lusting in the heart committing adultery there imagination strong powerful thing one more Jane is with some other of her girlfriends enjoying a ladies night out the conversation turns to talking about some other women they all know and some of the stories are pretty ugly pretty degrading and Jane listens as all the ladies snicker and laugh at the stories and she has one to tell it's come to her mind temptation perception imagination all the ladies are laughing at the stories

I want them to laugh at my story if I tell this story it will kind of elevate me in this kind of circle of friends and besides that it's fun to make people laugh and after all it's harmless just having fellowship imagination imagination begin to reason in her mind I don't know if it's true but it doesn't really matter maybe I'll sweeten up the story a little bit and get a bigger laugh imagination is just such a powerful thing then passion is ignited by that because we want to be liked we want to fit in we want to be popular we want to be a part of it we want people to laugh at us and our stories volition let's do it action the sin is committed that's how it works temptation to deceive temptation to lie temptation to steal be dishonest temptation to fear that can enter in there as well the temptation to hurt with words the temptation to disobey authority the temptation to break the law the temptation to cheat the temptation to hate the temptation to be a little bit ugly right and on and on we could go temptation perception imagination passion volition action now here's the important thing to understand though

I hope you understand all of that the impulse the impulse of this entire process the fuel is passion godless passion that's the impulse for it all from the thought of sin to the act of sin it is godless passion or the lust of the flesh that's the impulse for it and I've got news for you it is present in every one of us I don't care who you are believer unbeliever alike it's present in every one of us that impulse that lust that godless passion it is present in every one of us and James 1 15 says lust gives birth to sin but here's the difference for the unsaved the unredeemed the unregenerate sinner lust and evil imaginations that is the all controlling factor of life for the unsaved the all controlling factor they cannot escape it they cannot get away from it they don't want to escape it

I'm talking about the unredeemed I'm talking about the unsaved they cannot escape this it rules every thought it rules every decision it is there with every desire even the righteous acts they do the Bible says is as filthy rags to God because of the pollution of sin but for the believer the blood bought born again redeemed regenerate child of God the control of godless passions wicked imaginations is what our redemption freed us from we need to get that we need to have every confidence in that we are no longer helplessly captive to the pollution of sin in our hearts because of our redemption that's

Peter's main point here now don't misunderstand me at this point that pollution of sin is still there it's still in us that principle of lawlessness and sinfulness is still in us we don't have to but we can still allow godless passions to control our lives and quite often we do quite often we do that's why Peter tells us to not conform ourselves to our former lives the implication being that we don't have to but we still can and that's why we need to guard our imaginations people men and women boys and girls if you are a child of god then you need to guard your imagination and and redemption and the resulting regeneration the new birth gives us the power to do that let's not forget that gives us the power to do that and see if you feed and this is a

Christian can do this if you feed your imagination with fantasies of sin if you feed it it will ignite lust engage the will and trigger sin it will do that every single time it will if you feed your imagination with fantasies of sin and by the way in our day and I'm speaking primarily to the men here because this is a sin that is part of a male experience primarily we don't even have to make up our own imaginations our own scenarios because if you are allowing yourself to take in sinful immoral scenarios through the TV or through the internet then you've got a plentiful supply of them in your mind and all you have to do is see and perceive the temptation and if you don't check it right there the imaginations are plentiful in your mind and you begin to construct them in your mind right then and there that's why pornography is such a pervasive evil in our country in our culture and in the world see it's all about the imagination for us we don't have to be controlled by sin we don't have to be we've been freed from that we've been set free from the domination of sin in our lives as a ruling principle of life now we can submit to it and allow ourselves to conform to those former lusts again but we do not have to but if we feed the imagination sinful fantasies then it will ignite the lust engage the will and then ultimately trigger sin but if you feed your imagination with the truth of God's word if you do that it will activate purity it will activate godly passion it will activate holiness david said i hid your word in my heart and i might not sin

Thank you.