Open your Bibles, if you would,
the first Peter chapter two will continue our study in first Peter
chapter two. It's been wonderful to go through
this book and. Peter. Here in these next couple
of verses are going to give us a contrast to those he spoke
of in verse seven and eight, which were those who are disobedient
and those who stumble and and who Christ is an offense to.
And then he's going to give us the. Opposite of those, which
is the believer. Those people, let's start in
verse five, and we'll read the verse 10. He also is lively stones
are built up spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. There's a key portion of that
verse acceptable to God by Jesus Christ in and through Christ.
Wherefore, also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay
in Zion the chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore,
which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner. And the stone of stumbling, and
the rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. but
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation,
a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which
in a times past were not a people, but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So last week we considered verse
eight, and verse actually, yeah, verse seven and eight. And we
looked at how Christ is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
to the unbeliever. They stumble at who he is. They
stumble at his word. They stumble at the fact that
salvation is all in Christ. That it's not by anything that
we do. That it's all in Christ and he's
done it all. And we were like them. We were
like them before we were saved. We were just like them before
the Lord saved us. Today we will consider some of
the blessed benefits that Peter brings forth before the people
of God that they have in Christ. And remember again the setting
of the book is Peter's writing to suffering saints. They're
being persecuted for their faith. Last night we were talking with
some Dear brothers and sisters and one of our dear sisters brought
up the fact that we have it so easy here and we don't go through
persecution and these folks they were going through it. They were
going through it. They were they were they were
being ostracized. They were being disowned by their
families because remember if you were Jewish and you confess
Christ you were now disowned. You were no longer part of the
family and think of how hard it would be even There was people
who were being saved, the Lord's saving and they were at one time
manufacturing idols and stuff and because of guilds that people
were in back then. If you weren't part of that,
you'd be shunned and you'd be shunned by people who would be
selling different things. it could be almost a death sentence
upon a person to confess Christ. So Peter's writing to these saints
that are just going through trials and tribulations and suffering
for the cause of Christ. And he's writing to encourage
them. And we can we can glean great encouragement from these
scriptures as well now. So we also noted in the text
and considered that as the text proclaims that that those in
verses verse eight are are or verse seven, I'm sorry, are disobedient
to God's command for all men to repent. And we consider the
latter part of this verse in verse eight, where it says where
into they were they were appointed. God has mercy upon his people.
God has mercy upon his people. He chose them in eternity in
Christ and love. And he's chosen to leave. Others
in their sin. And to pass them by. And to pass
them by. And therefore, as a result of
their sinfulness, they are fully responsible. Fully responsible
for their own sin. As a result of their sinfulness,
they stumble at the Word of God and at Christ. Now, with the
latter portion there, I'd like us to look at the next two verses
with the latter portion in mind. Look at the next two verses,
because we see a contrast between those who are disobedient and
appointed to stumble at Christ and the Word, and those who,
as our text proclaims, are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A peculiar people. Those who have been called out
of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ. And the light
there is Christ. Which in times past were not
a people because that doesn't mean we weren't God's sheep.
That doesn't mean that. We've always been God's sheep
and we always will be God's sheep. What that means is what Paul
was writing about how in our minds we had enmity with God. We hated God before the Lord
saved us. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, which were not a people, but are now the people of God. And we're born again now by the
Holy Spirit of God and which had not obtained mercy before
we were saved, but now we've obtained mercy. So let's look
at verse nine, but G.R. chosen generation, a royal priesthood
and holy nation. kill your people, that ye should
show forth the praise of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light." So what a contrast we have here
in verse 9 with those in verse 8. Peter is writing to the same
saints who are scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia, those who are the elect of God according to the foreknowledge
of God. through sanctification of the Spirit and obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus in contrast to those whom Christ
is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Now again, let us
never forget that Peter's writing to those who have been taken
out of the same quarry of humanity. Now Peter's writing to those
in verse 9 here, but they've been taken out of the same quarry
of humanity as those in verse 8. The only thing that makes us
to differ is God. We're all hewing out of the same
rocks, aren't we? We've got to remember that. And
it's a God who's had mercy on us. It's God who's had mercy
on us. Peter brings forth some of the
benefits of the blessings that God's people have in Christ.
Turn, if you would, to Exodus 19. Now keep your finger in there
because we're going to be going back to this verse a couple times
in the message. So just put a mark there or keep
your finger there and keep your finger in 1 Peter 2 because we'll
be going back and forth. Peter brings forth some of the
same benefits and the blessings that God's people have in Christ.
And Peter brings this forth. And we see here, it's spoken
of old of the nation of Israel. And we know that Israel pictures
the church. Look what Exodus 19 verses 5
and 6 says, Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed
and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and holy nations. And
these are words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Now turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy 7, but keep your finger in that
Exodus 19, because like I say, we'll be going back there. Look at Deuteronomy 7, verses
6 and 7. And we see the similarity of
the writing that Peter's writing. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Now look at Deuteronomy 7, verses
6 and 7. For thou art an holy people unto
the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were More number than any
people. But you were the fewest of all
people. But note here, he says he calls them a holy people. And over there in exodus, he
had called them a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. A peculiar
treasure. So think upon this Israel out
of all the people of the world were chosen by God. for special
service and worship and to enjoy special privileges and benefits.
And we know that there was only a remnant within them, according
to the election of grace. Yet they were typical of God's
chosen people. They were typical of His elect.
In a special sense, who are chosen out of the world to be a peculiar
people, and we see that in our text. Let's go back again to
1 Peter. So Peter brings forth to the
saints here, the suffering saints, that they are a chosen generation
of people chosen by God in Christ. Look at this. But you are chosen
generation. First, Peter, Chapter two, verse
nine. Now, this could be said of all of God's saints. This can be said of all God's
saints, think of this. You're a chosen generation. You, who
are a believer, are chosen out of your generation. Think of all the people in this
world, in my generation and in yours,
and God's chosen you. Just makes that verse come alive,
doesn't it? So this can be said of all God's
people, there are chosen generation of people chosen by God in Christ. You who are a chosen generation
are objects of God's special, distinguishing, free and sovereign
grace. Right now. Right now. And his love has been set upon
you. There's nothing in you. And there's
nothing in me that caused God to love us so. He yet he's loved us with an
eternal love. And there's nothing in us that
caused God to choose us out of this generation. Nothing to us. In eternity, He chose us. And this is sovereign mercy.
This is sovereign mercy. He chose us out of our generation,
beloved. See, God didn't look down through
time and see who would choose Him. As the old timers say, He
looked down and saw no one. would come to Him. They're all
dead in trespasses and sins. And He chose us. Out of our generation, didn't
He? He knows the end from the beginning. This marvels us. It
brings election home even more to us. His special distinguishing
love was set upon us. You are a chosen generation,
beloved. A chosen generation. chosen by
God in eternity, all because it pleased Him to do so. It pleased
Him to do that. It pleased Him to pass other
people in our generation, and it pleased Him to save you. My, it never gets old. It never stops
being wondrous. It never stops being wondrous,
does it? God's grace, which is given to
the believer in Christ. A chosen generation. Look at
this, let's consider the next portion of this wonderful verse,
the next benefit we have. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood. Not only are God's people a chosen
generation, ones who are chosen from their generation, but the
scripture here proclaims before us we're a royal priesthood.
We're a royal priesthood. Go back to Exodus chapter 19
again. Remember over in Exodus 19, verse
5 and 6, Israel was called a kingdom of priests. And what a picture
we have before us as God's people, His elect are a kingdom of priests,
beloved. Exodus 19, verses 5 and 6. Now
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant,
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for
all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a what?
Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which
thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Let's go back to our
text, and it says you're a chosen generation and a royal priesthood,
beloved, a kingdom of priests. Oh, my. All the people of Christ,
whether Jews or Gentile, are a royal priesthood. Every single
saint. And it's all through our relation
to Christ, because we're in Him. He's the head, and we're the
body. See, that's why it's so important
to keep bringing up that He's the head and we're the body,
because in Him we are these things. Only in Christ. Only in Christ. That's why it's so important.
Keep that perspective before us. We are robed in Christ's
righteousness. We sit at the king's table just
as Mephibosheth did. Remember, Mephibosheth was off,
and David said, go fetch him. That's the Holy Spirit going
and fetching us. It's called fetching grace. I love that. It's so true. And then here's
Mephibosheth, and he says, why me? Why you have mercy upon a
dead dog like me? Oh, my. And then he sits at the
king's table, sits at the king's table below. Oh, my, my, oh,
my. He thought Dave was going to
lop his head off. Now, there had been a covenant made years
before he was born. And David had promised to show
mercy to Jonathan's family. There's a covenant made in eternity,
beloved. Oh my. And we're in Christ and God showed
mercy to us. Oh my. So we're kings and priests,
we wear royal apparel. You know what the royal apparel
is? The righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ.
We wear royal apparel. Oh my, we're a royal priesthood
being made so by Christ and through his priestly office we are anointed
with the Holy Ghost and sanctified by his grace. and allowed to
draw near to God and offer up spiritual sacrifices to God of
prayer and praise to our great God and King. Our text continues,
but you are a chosen generation of royal priesthood and holy
nation. Let us consider that we are called
a holy nation here. Again, I'll read Exodus 19, verses
5 and 6. Israel was separated from all
the other nations, all the other nations, and called the people
of God. So we who are the true Israel
are a special and holy nation. Look at this again in Exodus
19, I'll read it again, verse five and six. Now therefore,
if you will obey my voice and deed and keep my covenant, then
you should be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for
all the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a kingdom
of priests and holy nation. These are the words which thou
shall speak unto the children of Israel. So Israel of old is
separated by God from all the other nations. He's separated
by God from all the other nations. Set apart by God the Father.
Just so in God's eternal election of his people, we're set apart.
We're set apart. Sanctified and cleansed by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Made holy by Christ. Born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. And this is a work of God from
beginning to end. He's the author and he's the
finisher of our salvation. It's all him. And back in Exodus
it says, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me, above all people,
for all the earth is mine. Exodus 19, 5. Bring that alongside
our text, which proclaims next that the people of God are peculiar
people. Look at our text. Ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people,
that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The same thing
that's said of Israel of old is said of the church of God's
elect right here. And the word peculiar in the
Greek here speaks of possession. It speaks of possession. One's
own property. One's own property. We are God's
people in a most special way from all others in this world. We as others are his by creation
because he's the creator of all things, right? But his people
are his in a special way. Not only did he create us, but
he chose us to be a peculiar people. And he purchased us with
his own precious blood. We are his by creation, but we're
also his by choice, and we're his by purchase. Christ the God-man
purchased us. Turn if you would to Acts chapter
20. Christ the God-man purchased us with what? His own precious
blood. Purchased us from the slave block
of sin, beloved. He purchased us. He died when
he died as our substitute on Calvary's cross. And who did
he do this? Who did he die for on Calvary's
cross? For his people. He didn't die for the whole world.
That's a lie that's perpetuated out there by false religion.
He died for his people. He laid down his life for his
sheep. And look what it says here in Acts, chapter 20, verse
28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock.
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." It says
right there that God purchased the church with his own blood.
Jesus Christ is God incarnate in the flesh, and he purchased
the church with the shedding of his own precious blood. So
we're His by creation, we're His by choice, and we're His
by purchase. We're a peculiar people. We're
set apart from the rest of the world. We're chosen out of our
generation. It's wonderful. And we're born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. We're His workmanship, beloved.
We're His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
This is wondrous. This is wondrous. We are a peculiar
people, a special people. to whom God loves with an everlasting
love. And whom are favored with with
special blessings, which are all in Christ, which are all
in Christ. And we are a people whom God
takes special care of. He takes special care of us,
doesn't he? He does. We know it. We can we can see
it in our lives. He constantly takes care of his
people. He won't lose one of his sheep, not one. Look again
on our text, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood
and a holy nation, a peculiar people that you should show forth
the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. Why did God make us so? Why did
God make us a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people?
Why? Why are we a chosen generation as opposed to others that we
have no one in our lives who are just left in their sin? Why?
Because it pleased God. because it pleased God to do
so. It's all according to his will that we should be a people,
as our text proclaims, that should show forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And we have considered this before,
that we will be forever and eternity trophies of the grace of God
in Christ. for eternity. And we're praising for eternity
for what he's done for. We are going to give him praise
and glory for eternity for what he's done. For his mercy and for his grace. God, who is rich in mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace that he
saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come
he might show forth, he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ, trophies of
the grace of God for eternity. Oh, my. All because it pleased
God to make us so. It pleased him to make us so.
Turn, if you would, to Isaiah 43, 21, Isaiah 43, 21. And keep in light the latter
part of this verse. to show forth the praises of Him who hath called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light. That's the latter
part of our verse in verse 9. And look at this in Isaiah 43,
21. This people have I formed for myself. We were created for
this, beloved. They shall show forth my praise. Let that sink in, beloved. These
people have I formed for myself. Now he's created everyone, hasn't
he? But he's created us to be a peculiar people, a chosen generation. These people have I formed for
myself. This is God speaking to us. that
they shall show forth my praise. Now go back to our text again
and look at the latter part of our text, and I'll read the whole
verse. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a holy
nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his light. Isaiah,
speaking of God's people, beloved. Oh my, it's wonderful, isn't
it? It's wonderful. Peter proclaims
that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, holy people
in Christ, saved, that we should show forth the praises of Him
who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. My,
not with an external call by the ministry of the Word only,
but God has called His people with an internal, effectual,
special call, powerful, a heavenly calling, and it's all by the
power of the Holy Spirit of God. And this out of darkness here,
think of this, it's out of the darkness of the law, out of the
darkness of our sin and depravity. God has called his people out
of the great darkness that we were in. We were ignorant of
God. We were ignorant of our own sin.
We didn't know who Christ really was. We didn't even know who
God was. We thought we knew, but we didn't.
And we were in a great darkness, beloved. And God called us out
of it. He called us out of it. Think of this, the darkness of
our own self-righteousness. I was a religious Pharisee before
the Lord saved me. Oh my. Called out of the state of unregeneracy. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. Called out of that. We had no sight of who we were.
We did not know we were dead in trespasses and sins at that
time. Thought everything was fine. We had no sight of our
miserable state. We had no knowledge of divine
things at that time. No knowledge again of who God
is. No knowledge of who Christ was. No knowledge of the salvation
which was in and through him. I used to think my good would
outweigh my bad. Christ wasn't even in the equation.
Isn't that bad? That's sad, isn't it? But that's
how I thought. That's what God called me out
of. Oh, I'm so thankful. Oh, no knowledge of salvation
again by him alone. No, no knowledge of the work
of the Holy Spirit of God. And when we were in this state. We were bought by God and his
providence to hear the gospel. And the Holy Spirit made it effectual.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Called out of
the darkness that we were in. Brought out of the darkness into
what? Into the marvelous light. And that's Christ, beloved. That's
Christ. That's Christ. Let's consider
verse 10 now. Which in times past were not
a people, but now the people of God. Which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Turn, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter 2. From eternity past, beloved,
we've always been the people of God, right? We always have
been. We were given to Christ in eternity, represented by Christ
as our surety and His covenant of grace. But before Christ was
revealed to our hearts, and before we were born of the Spirit, we
were not His will and people. We weren't. We were dead in trespasses
and sins. We were not His servants at that
time. We were children of wrath by nature, by our nature. Just
as others. And look at Ephesians 2. Brings
that out very clearly. Look at Ephesians 2, when we
look at verses 1 to 5. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. And again, dead means dead there.
So, when it says here, we were not a people of God, it was in
our minds. We've always been God's people. That's not what's
being presented here. But in our minds, we were at
enmity with God, in our nature. and doeth he quicken who were
dead in trespasses and sins. Where in times past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our
conversations in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature,
right, that's the key right there, were by nature the children of
wrath even as others. You could not tell one of God's
lost sheep from a goat. And anyone who tells you they
can, they're lying because no one knows. God knows, but no
one else knows. And I just have to look back
on my life personally and look and say, oh, my gosh. How I used to speak about the
Lord, how I used to think. I can understand this verse.
Brother, we've talked about that many times. We can look at this
and go, oh my, that was me. We knew nothing of the mercy
of God in Christ. We didn't care about God or the
things of God. Look at verses 4 and 5 and how
it ties in with our text in 1 Peter as we now obtain mercy. Look
at this. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us. And when did he? How long has
he loved us? From eternity. Even when we were dead and sins
hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace you are saved.
So now tie that in with our verse here. Tie that in over with 1
Peter 2, verse 10. Which in times past were not
a people, but now the people of God. See, we were dead in
trespasses and sins. We've always been his people
from eternity, but in our minds, we had enmity with God. Now a
people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have
obtained mercy. So in our natural state, we were
unconscious of God's electing love. We were totally unconscious
of God's electing love towards us. We had no idea that
Christ had redeemed us. I had no idea that Christ had
redeemed me at Calvary. I had no idea. Did you? We didn't, did we? But he did. But we had no idea. We had no
idea at all. That he redeemed us at Calvary's
Cross. And this is the same sense that we are not a people, but
now the people of God. And look what our text continues
now. Now have obtained mercy. Now have obtained mercy, the
latter part of this verse. The Greek word there for now
means now let this sink into your soul. The Greek word for
the word that now there means at this time. The present. Right now, if you're a believer,
you've obtained mercy right now. We've obtained mercy in Christ
right now. Right now. and we're still obtaining mercy
in Christ, aren't we? Because his benefits daily are, we're
daily loaded down with benefits, daily loaded down with benefits,
beloved. Oh my. So let us rejoice in this
precious fact that we now at this time and forever have received
mercy by God in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now and forever.
Now and forever. Let us close thinking and pondering
this. Before conversion, there is mercy
in God's heart towards His elect. Also in the covenant of grace,
there is mercy shown to God's elect. And in the provision of
God by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, Substitute,
and Redeemer, there is mercy shown to God's people then, too.
In the mission of Christ and redemption by Him, God's mercy
to His people is manifested to us. Manifested to us. When we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, we have an evident display of God's mercy
towards His people. And the application of pardoning
grace and mercy through the blood and blood of His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, unto us, so we can say, mercy, mercy, mercy. God's people have received mercy. We've obtained mercy. It's been
given to us. We didn't earn it. We didn't
work for it. We didn't even desire it until
God made it so that we desired Christ. But we've obtained mercy. We've obtained mercy in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. It's wondrous, beloved. It's absolutely wondrous. Let
us rejoice today. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank you for this time. Thank you that we've seen that
we who believe are a chosen generation. My Lord, may we never get over
that, that of all the people in this world in our generation,
you chose us. and for nothing in us at all,
but simply because it pleased you to do so. Oh Lord, let us
leave rejoicing today and let us just be in awe and wonder
at this wondrous grace which has been given to us in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.